MySpaceIt seems a bit odd to be offering an “introduction” to a band that I, at least, have known for well over half a decade but aside from a live review in 2007 and come offhand mentions, I don’t think I’ve ever really talked at length about Toronto outfit The Wooden Sky, and that’s really a shame. I first caught them back in the Summer of 2003 in a random east end bar in their previous guise as Friday Morning’s Regret and my old band also played a show with them in the Spring of 2004 and both times they impressed with their polished yet rough-hewn roots rock.

It was with their 2007 record When Lost At Sea that they really seemed to step up their game, moving from a band seemingly content to operate proficiently within a musical idiom into one more interested in colouring outside those lines, offering up a record with much greater sonic and emotional depth than I’d expected, spreading out the high points equally between the rockers and weepers. It wasn’t a dramatic reinvention, but apparently a significant enough transformation that the band saw fit to shed the name that had served them well for so long and adopt a new one, The Wooden Sky, taken from one of the tracks on the new record. And though copies of When Lost At Sea had already been released under the Friday Morning’s Regret marque, subsequent copies came out as the first Wooden Sky record.

And now they’ve completed their next album and first wholly recorded as The Wooden Sky in If I Don’t Come Home You’ll Know I’m Gone, due out on August 25. It’s a touch less raucous than its predecessor but more than makes that up with greater beauty and elegance – “Oslo”, in particular, is a stunner. It doesn’t immediately come across as a record that will vault the band to the forefront of the national musical consciousness, but it is another confident step forward and if by some confluence of events The Wooden Sky do find themselves in the spotlight, Gone will find them ready for it.

The band are setting out on a cross-Canada tour in late July to lead up to the record’s release though the jaunt. Dubbed the “Bedrooms and Backstreets Tour”, it will find them playing cities big and small and some rooms that probably aren’t even proper rooms – I don’t think the July 23 listing for “Rooftop Affair” in Toronto is so much a location as a description. Expect more details on that and other shows to come out as the dates draw near. And in the meantime, enjoy a track from the new record and a couple plus video from When Lost At Sea.

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding For Us In The Night”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “North Dakota”
MP3: The Wooden Sky – “The Wooden Sky”
Video: The Wooden Sky – “When Lost At Sea”

Another of Canada’s greatly underappreciated roots-rock bands – Cuff The Duke – are gearing up for the release of their new record Way Down Here on September 8 and have also slated a slew of dates to promote. Locally, they’ll play the Festival Of Beer at the CNE Bandshell on August 9, then set out on a cross-country tour in September and October, including two nights – October 16 and 17 – at the Horseshoe in Toronto.

Julie Doiron has a new MP3 and video available from her latest record I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day.

MP3: Julie Doiron – “When Brakes Get Wet”
Video: Julie Doiron – “Consolation Prize”

Jenn Grant has a new video from Echoes and VUE has an interview. She’s playing a free show at Harbourfront Centre on July 24.

Video: Jenn Grant – “Heartbreaker”

Joe Pernice’s concert/book reading at the Dakota Tavern in support of his new book/album It Feels So Good When I Stop has been moved from September 15 to the 24th. The record is still out August 4 and the book is out August 6.

Decider talks to Mark Olson of The Jayhawks about the band’s reunion and just-released anthology, Music From The North Country.

Spinner has an acoustic Interface session with Phoenix.

Ilia HorsburghThe discography of Great Lake Swimmers is not unlike those “one self-portrait a day for 10 years” photography projects. From one record to the next, the differences might seem superficial or even non-existent, but jump from their 2003 self-titled debut to their latest, Lost Channels, and the growth is dramatic. You could be forgiven for not noticing, as the common threads running through each record – specifically Tony Dekker’s gently haunting vocals and the slow-motion beauty of his songwriting, steeped in history and geography – haven’t changed much, but the adornment and production around them certainly has.

In addition to the gorgeously stark songcraft, the most distinctive feature of the debut were the acoustics, recorded as the record was in an abandoned grain silo. The rustic aesthetic was less outwardly pronounced on subsequent records but the spirit of it remained, seemingly infused in Dekker’s voice itself – you could put the man in an anechoic chamber and have him sing, and it’d still sound like it was coming from another world. What also changed was the musical adornments – with each album, things grew more expansive and textured. It felt like the sepia-tones were slowly bleeding away and leaving a greater palette of colours – not blindingly vibrant by any means, but certainly richer in hue. This was most evident on 2007′s Ongiara, which saw Great Lake Swimmers sound more like a band than a solo project and the pop sensibilities that had always remained as more undercurrents to the folk bubble up to the surface – these weren’t tunes for driving around town with the top down, but there was an immediacy to some of the songs that hadn’t been there before.

That trend continues on Lost Channels, which takes even bolder steps into the pop realm without giving up any of the homespun intimacy that sets Great Lake Swimmers apart. There’s a newfound sprightliness and shimmer in the record’s more upbeat moments that provide a greater sense of dynamic alongside the quiet. It’s hard to imagine “Palmistry” having a place on the first record, but on this one, following Ongiara, it makes perfect sense as an opener and sets the table for what’s probably their finest collection of songs yet, at least until the next one. The understated nature of the band and their music probably hasn’t garnered them the amount of praise or attention they deserve and many are probably guilty of taking their unwavering consistency for granted – myself included. But stopping and taking a step back, it’s hard to argue they’ve quietly become one of Canada’s finest bands and Lost Channels is one more compelling reason why.

Guelph Lake isn’t technically one of the Great Lakes, but it’s a pretty terrific little body of water and unlike the big ones, you can actually swim there without fear. It also hosts one of the finest music festivals in southern Ontario every Summer in Hillside, and this year Great Lake Swimmers will be performing on the Sunday bill on July 26 and courtesy of Nettwerk, I’ve got two day passes (one pair, essentially) for that final day of the fest to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to be a Guelph Lake Swimmer” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. They also ask that if you’re Facebook-indoctrinated, that you join up with the Great Lake Swimmers Facebook page – honour system, I can’t follow up on ya. Contest will run until midnight, July 19.

There’s an interview with the Dekker at hour.ca.

MP3: Great Lake Swimmers – “Pulling On A Line” (zip)
Video: Great Lake Swimmers – “Pulling On A Line”
MySpace: Great Lake Swimmers

Exclaim examines the whirlwind last few months for The Rural Alberta Advantage, leading up to next Tuesday’s official release of Hometowns and their July 30 record release show at the Horseshoe.

I Heart Music has taken the time to MP3-ify Woodpigeon’s set from NXNE a couple weeks back.

The self-titled debut from Reverie Sound Revue was released last week but is available to stream this week over at Spinner. Still waiting on the second stop of their blog tour, which kicked off here last week.

Stream: Reverie Sound Revue / Reverie Sound Revue

SoundProof talks to Joel Plaskett.

Exclaim has details on Cuff The Duke’s new album Way Down Here, due out September 8. Their next local show is August 9 at the CNE Bandshell for Toronto’s Festival Of Beer. Yeah. You’re going to go to see Cuff The Duke, and that’s all. Sure.

Spiral Beach have readied their second full-length album The Only Really Thing for a September 22 release and are giving away a first MP3 from it.

MP3: Spiral Beach – “Domino”

Gentleman Reg has released a couple new videos from Jet Black and talks a bit about the one for “Rewind” on his MySpace blog. Reg is playing a free show at Harbourfront Centre on July 25.

Video: Gentleman Reg – “How We Exit”
Video: Gentleman Reg – “Rewind”

Murray Lightburn of The Dears doesn’t necessarily give JAM good odds on the prospects of the most recent lineup of the band sticking together. Hopefully long enough to make their free June 26 show at Harbourfront Centre.

So the fourth of the five Canadian Virgin Festivals was unveiled yesterday for August 8 and 9 in Calgary, Alberta, and like all the others so far, you certainly can’t say it’s a predictable lineup. On the plus side, it has arguably the biggest single headliner of them all so far in Pearl Jam but thing drop off a fair bit from there, filling itself out with mid-level Canadian acts like k-os and Tokyo Police Club. I supposed Metric and Billy Talent are reasonably big draws, but it’s pretty obvious they broke the bank securing Pearl Jam. Of course, this leaves just Ontario/Toronto/Orillia to be announced, and I’ve been told to expect something within the next week or so on that front. I’m not going to spill anything but I know some of what’s been booked, have strong hints/rumours about others and all I’ll say is that it’s not what you might be expecting. Though with pretty much every band you might expect already booked elsewhere that weekend, it really couldn’t possibly be.

Oh yeah, happy Canada Day. Celebrate with a cold one, and Radio Free Canuckistan’s list of 30 Canuck singles he couldn’t live without, The National Post’s list of 10 Canadian bands you should be listening to (not all the usual suspects, thankfully), The Line Of Best Fit’s second downloadable Canadian mix and Quick Before It Melts’ coast-to-coast salute to Canadian blogs (disclosure: I’m flattered to be on the list).

elliottbrood.caSo it’s Canadian Musicfest week! You all set for three days of club-hopping around a still sorta wintry Toronto? Got your wristband? No? Well. That could be a problem if you intended on hitting up Lee’s Palace on Saturday night for the rather splendid Billions showcase featuring Cuff The Duke, Elliott Brood, Basia Bulat, Herman Dune and Jon-Rae Fletcher since that show is wristband-only.

Or is it? Maybe not! Because courtesy of Billions, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away to the show which is quite possibly the first bill in history to feature two bands with proper names for moniker but who aren’t actually individuals. Wrap your head around THAT. Anyways, if this dost tickle thy fancy, drop me an email at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want a Canadian Music Week-end” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Get that in to me before midnight, Friday night (March 13).

MP3: Cuff The Duke – “Ballad Of A Lonely Construction Worker”
MP3: Elliott Brood – “Write It All Down For You”
MP3: Basia Bulat – “In The Night”

Frank YangGuilt and courteousness can be powerful motivators. Even moreso than self-preservation, which is why it was that rather than stay home Saturday night, safe and warm, I set out into the frigid, frigid cold to the Velvet Underground to catch a couple of bands who’d been politely and persistently inviting me out to their gigs for a while now – Receivers, visiting from Montreal, and locals Beth In Battle Mode. Of course it helped that I’d liked what I’d heard of both acts and had intended to catch either or both at some point – so why not both at once?

What I’d heard of BIBM past had made me associate them with New Wave power pop, thanks in no small part to their big keyboard sounds and devotion to the art of the hook, but live there was an extra oomph to the delivery that you couldn’t hide behind a skinny tie. In particular, singer/guitarist Ed Maher’s pipes are a lot more powerful than I’d expected, more reminiscent of a ’70s arena rock delivery with a touch of white boy funk-soul, though the transistor-y distortion of the venue’s PA certainly kept things honest and suitably lo-fi. A short set, but definitely sweet. The trio have just finished work on their second album Hot Science and aim to have it out in mid-March.

Receivers aspire to a noble end – to blend the noir-ish atmosphere of ’60s film soundtracks with concise and evocative pop song structures. It’s harder to do well than one might think, but I think Receivers are just about getting it. As with Beth In Battle Mode, the recorded samples I’d heard before the show painted an accurate and yet incomplete picture of the band. Emilie Marzinotto is a much more expressive singer live, though I suspect there’s still more upside to be tapped and the rest of the band was also more dynamic and ragged – in a good way – than on their debut Consider The Ravens. Most tellingly and probably importantly, the songs they introduced as new ones were easily the most immediate and impressive in their set.

I saw much promise in both acts, certainly worth leaving the house for (that is NOT faint praise, FYI) and even the venue – generally known as Toronto’s goth bar and now title-bearer for worst club lighting in the city as far as I’m concerned – left a favourable impression if for no other reason than starting off their club night, just as I was leaving, with The Chameleons’ “Up The Down Escalator”. If this is what goth kids are listening to, then hell – get me some mascara.

I don’t actually mean that.

Receivers will be back in town mid-March for CMW and BIBM will be having a CD release party for the new album around the same time.

Photos: Receivers, Beth In Battle Mode @ The Velvet Underground – January 24, 2009
MP3: Receivers – “Changing Of The Guard”
MP3: Receivers – “Matinee”
MP3: Receivers – “Petrograd”
MySpace: Beth In Battle Mode

Seriously, it’s an awesome song. Check it.

Video: The Chameleons – “Up The Down Escalator”

And because it’s an appropriate segue, there’s been a new communique from Joe Pernice, dispatched from somewhere in Toronto’s west end. In it (you can read it on the Pernice Brothers site), he mentions that his first novel It Feels So Good When I Stop is complete and will be released in September, and that there’s not one but two Joe Pernice albums in the works. The first is a set of covers intended as a soundtrack of sorts for the book, the second is of originals and entitled Murphy Bed, set to come out sometime this year. Though he refers to it as a Joe Pernice record, many of the players of Pernice Brothers – including Bob, the actual other Pernice Brother – appear on it so maybe it’ll carry the oh-so-slightly more marketable band name on release. Who knows. All I do know is that Joe has been living in Toronto for over four years now, and hasn’t done a show of any sort here since July 2005. Would it kill you to throw your new home a bone, Joe? Geez. Oh, and the segue I mentioned above? This Pernice Brothers cover of the aforementioned Chameleons song which I posted as Cover Of The Week waaaaay back in 2004. But which I still love.

MP3: Pernice Brothers – “Up The Down Escalator”

DeVotchKa turns in an unusually long set to NPR’s World Cafe.

Paste serves up not one but two features on Neko Case. Her Middle Cyclones is out March 3 and she plays not one but two shows at Trinity-St Paul’s on April 17 and 18.

Metro Vancouver talks to AC Newman. He’s at Lee’s Palace on March 11 and congratulations to Kaley, Bruce, Kelly, Garret and Alicia, all of whom won copies of Get Guilty.

Cuff The Duke will play a free show at the Natrel Ice Rink down at Harbourfront this Saturday night, January 31, as part of CBC Radio 3′s live broadcast that evening. On the plus side, free show. On the down side, the waterfront is NOT really the place you want to be at night in the dead of Winter. Just saying.