Frank YangThere’d been some underlying confusion surrounding Sunday night’s show at the Mod Club since it was announced. First it was El Perro Del Mar. Then it was El Perro Del Mar and Anna Ternheim. Then it was El Perro Del Mar, Taken By Trees and Anna Ternheim. Then it was El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees. Then it was Taken By Trees and El Perro Del Mar, on account of their alternating closer, co-headliner arrangement. An arrangement that got turned around somewhere mid-tour and so by the time it was all said and done, it was Taken By Trees opening and El Perro Del Mar closing. And about as much reason as one would ever need to be sure to arrive at the venue on time, though I’d like to think that anyone attending this show would have the good sense to want to see both acts regardless of order.

I’d always felt that the greatest strength of The Concretes was how Victoria Bergsman’s sleepy vocals contrasted with the big pop arrangements underneath. Since going solo as Taken By Trees, contrast has been exchanged for compliment, as the gently orchestrated folk accompaniments of her new project mesh perfectly with her voice. Open Field had very much the sort of pastoral aesthetic you’d expect a voice like Bergsman’s to wrap itself in, but she mixed that recipe up a bit on her latest record, East Of Eden, which sounds very much a product of being recorded in Pakistan without being overwhelmingly so.

Though still quite demure, Bergsman seemed in much better spirits than her last visit to Toronto on the final Concretes tour in May 2006 – she visited Montreal once circa Open Field but for whatever reason didn’t make the trip down the highway. Thanks to the backlighting and smoky incense haze, she appeared more silhouette than anything, but what you weren’t able to see was more than made up for by what you heard. With the help of a terrific backing band, she was able to forge the airy folk-pop of her debut with the eastern influences of her latest into a strong and distinctive sound, with a welcome emphasis on the rhythmic elements of her songs. In fact, I liked Taken By Trees considerably more live than on record; the extra oomph served her well. Now if only we could get her to allow some light on her face, we’d be cooking with gas.

Henceforth, I swear to no longer describe El Perro Del Mar as “sad”. Despite the persona that comes across on her records, the Sarah Assbring that danced onstage to “Let Me In” from her latest record Love Is Not Pop was no melancholic moper. Sharing a band with Taken By Trees meant that Assbring only needed to strap on the guitar for a few numbers and spent the rest dancing and generally putting on the sort of show that I would not have expected.

The set drew mainly from the new record, which to be fair, does expand El Perro Del Mar’s sound well beyond the ’50s doo-wop that underpinned her first two records. Live, her sound was transformed further as the shimmering guitarwork and solid, danceable basslines gave everything a distinctively ’80s 4AD-ish sheen that really suited her. And considering one of her set’s highlights was an unexpected cover of The xx’s “Shelter” – done faithfully yet still sounding every bit like El Perro Del Mar – perhaps that’s a direction she’ll be moving further in in the future. Either way, it does seem certain she’ll be moving. And swaying. And dancing.

Chicagoist has an interview with Victoria Bergsman and Pitchfork has some audience video of El Perro Del Mar’s xx cover from the New York show. Panic Manual, Chart, Exclaim and It’s Not The Band I Hate It’s Their Fans also have reviews of the Toronto show.

Photos: El Perro Del Mar, Taken By Trees @ The Mod Club – February 21, 2010
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart” (Rakamonie Remix)
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Glory To The World”
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “Anna”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “My Boys”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “Watch The Waves”
MP3: Taken By Trees – “Lost & Found”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Glory To The World”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)”
Video: Taken By Trees – “My Boys”
Video: Taken By Trees – “Lost And Found”
MySpace: El Perro Del Mar
MySpace: Taken By Trees

New from Sweden this week and streaming at Spinner are European, the new record from Sambassadeur, Work from Shout Out Louds, who are also coming to town for a show at the Mod Club on May 8.

Stream: Sambassadeur / European
Stream: Shout Out Louds / Work

Spinner talks to Serena-Maneesh frontman Emil Nikolaisen about his distaste for music prizes and showcase festivals. Not that that’s stopping him from playing a showcase festival in Texas next month. Their new album S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor is out March 23 and they play The Great Hall on April 2.

Some other Norwegians coming to town – a-Ha will be at Massey Hall on May 11 as part of their farewell tour. I’ll have you know I listened to these guys a lot back in the day, and their first three records were pretty damn good. Much more than just “Take On Me”. Though that’s still a great tune. As is this one. Seriously thinking about going to this, though I don’t know if it’s quite how I want to spend my 35th birthday.

Video: a-ha – “The Sun Always Shines On TV”

The Raveonettes have rolled out a new video from In And Out Of Control.

Video: The Raveonettes – “Heart Of Stone”

Under The Radar talks to Simon Blathazar of Fanfarlo. They’ll be at Lee’s Palace on April 9.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Mumford & Sons.

The Tripwire has a feature piece on The xx, in town on April 4 at The Phoenix and April 20 at the Kool Haus.

Lucky Soul are giving away the title track from their new album A Coming Of Age in exchange for your email – believe me, it’s a deal and a half. The album is out on April 5 19 and is, no word of lie or exaggeration, awesome.

The Washington Post and Washington City Paper interview Alisdair Maclean of The Clientele, coming to town for a show at the Horseshoe on March 19.

Spinner has an Interface session with The Cribs.

Beyond Race and The Sentimentalist interview The Big Pink. They’re at the Mod Club on March 24.

NME has collected some of Jarvis Cocker’s finest bon mots over the years into an entertaining slideshow.

Barely six months after bringing their orchestral Ocean Rain to Toronto, Echo & The Bunnymen will return on April 23 for a show at the Phoenix. Presumably the only strings in play this time will be the ones on their guitars.

MP3: Echo & The Bunnymen – “I Think I Need It Too”

The Times discusses the political and the personal with Billy Bragg.

Music Snobbery interviews The Joy Formidable, who are putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length album and starting to book some North American dates for May – just NYC and the Truck Festival so far, but fingers crossed.

Frightened Rabbit are gearing up for the March 9 release of The Winter Of Mixed Drinks with a second video for new single “Nothing Like You” and a full steam of the new album on their MySpace. Scott Hutchison also talks to Tour Dates UK. The band are at The Opera House on May 4.

Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Nothing Like You”
Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Nothing Like You” (alternate version)
Stream: Frightened Rabbit / The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

Spinner reports that The Twilight Sad have replaced the low end supplied by recently departed bassist Craig Orzel. the new lineup will be in action for their upcoming North American tour which stops in at Lee’s Palace on May 26.

Aversion talks to We Were Promised Jetpacks.

PopMatters checks in with Glasvegas’ Rab Allen. The band is currently working on album number two.

Frank YangSome sad news out of Scotland this week when it was announced that Twilight Sad bassist Craig Orzel had decided to leave the band, effective immediately. He announced his departure in a blog post, though it’s not really clear what “waking up baw deep in a granny” means and if that had any effect on his decision.

Though losing a founding member is always tough on a band, the rest of the band are clearly ready to soldier on, with another single from last year’s Forget The Night Ahead – “The Room” – set for release on March 29 and a massive North American tour announced for the month of May. Unlike their Fall 2009 tour which saw them teaming up with their countrymen, this jaunt will pair them up with an outfit from considerably further away – Japan’s epic instrumentalists Mono. They have a new live album and film coming out on April 29 entitled Holy Ground: NYC Live with the Wordless Music Orchestra.

I’ve always wanted to see Mono – yes they’ve been through town a number of times, I just haven’t gone – and am always happy to be aurally assaulted by The Twilight Sad, so you can consider May 26, when the tour winds its way through Lee’s Palace in Toronto, circled on my calendar.

MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Reflection Of The Television”
MP3: Mono – “Follow The Map”
MP3: Mono – “Ashes In The Snow”

Other concert announcements this week include an in-store triple bill during Canadian Musicfest at Criminal Records. On March 13, they’ll play host to Aidan Knight, Dan Mangan and Hollerado, playing at 5PM, 6PM and 7PM respectively. As far as their festival showcases go, Knight is at the Global Backpackers Hostel on March 12, Mangan is at the Great Hall on the 11th and the Courthouse on the 12th and Hollerado at the Horseshoe on the 11th. CTV has an Olympics-themed interview with Mangan.

MP3: Hollerado – “Juliette”
MP3: Dan Mangan – “Road Regrets”
MP3: Aidan Knight – “Jasper”

Adam Green has a date at the Mod Club on April 17 in support of his new record Minor Love, tickets $13.50. Clash, The Line Of Best Fit and Spinner have interviews.

Video: Adam Green – “What Makes Him Act So Bad”

On April 18, the Drake Underground will welcome White Hinterland and Dosh, both of whom have new records en route. White Hinterland’s Kairos is out March 9 while Dosh’s Tommy will be available on April 13.

MP3: White Hinterland – “Icarus”
MP3: White Hinterland – “No Logic”
MP3: Dosh – “Subtractions”

Here We Go Magic and White Rabbits are teaming up for a Spring tour that will stop in at Lee’s Palace on April 27. Here We Go Magic’s new album is due out sometime in the Spring; White Rabbits are still working last year’s It’s Frightening.

MP3: White Rabbits – “Percussion Gun”
Video: Here We Go Magic – “Fangela”

Northern Ireland’s Two Door Cinema Club will wrap up a North American tour with a May 17 date at Wrongbar, tickets $10 in advance. Their debut album Tourist History is out on April 27, and if you like mondo-catchy, jangly-dancey guitar pop, it/they should probably be on your radar.

MP3: Two Door Cinema Club – “I Can Talk”
MP3: Two Door Cinema Club – “Something Good Can Work”

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings are back with a new record in I Learned the Hard Way, out April 6, and will be hitting the road, with a May 25 date at the Sound Academy in Toronto – tickets $25.

Behold the new clip from Caribou’s new album Swim, due out April 20.

Video: Caribou – “Odessa”

Phantogram’s Josh Carter tries to describe what they do to The Washington Examiner. Find out for yourself at the Drake Underground on Saturday night.

El Perro Del Mar’s Sarah Assbring talks to NOW about the Lou Reed influence on her latest record Love Is Not Pop. She is at the Mod Club on Sunday night.

The Daily Record talks to Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit about The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, due out March 9. They are at the Opera House on May 4.

BBC6 talks to Friendly Fires about working on their second album.

The Control GroupSadness is Sarah Assbring’s stock in trade, a point I’ve rather drilled home in my reviews of her output as El Perro Del Mar – the 2007 self-title and 2008’s From The Valley To The Stars. While both records were beautiful in their downbeat demeanor, you couldn’t help but hope that Assbring would find a way to cheer up, if only for her own emotional well-being.

Unfortunately for Assbring – but fortunately for her listeners – delectable heartache is still the order of the day, and her third album Love Is Not Pop is again chock full of it, but the record stands a good distance apart from its predecessors for other reasons. Rather than the spare, ’50s doo-wop stylings that defined her previous work, Pop draws on a distinctly different aural palette. The core songwriting style and Assbring’s signature forlorn vocals remain, but the introduction of electronic textures and rhythms and Shields-y glider guitar overtop the spare (but occasionally orchestrated) arrangements is unexpected and welcome. Of course, the fact that the album proper is only seven tracks long, and the rest is padded out with remixes adds to the impression that this is a fresher, more sonically adventurous and dance-friendlier El Perro Del Mar. Actually, danceable might be a bit of a reach, but the extra tracks do showcase Assbring with an extra spring in her shuffle.

El Perro Del Mar is at the Mod Club on February 21 as part of a co-headlining tour with fellow Swede Taken By Trees, with the latter closing out this particular show. This is exciting as Victoria Bergsman – she who is Taken By Trees – isn’t especially predisposed to life on the road and hasn’t been to Toronto since the last visit from The Concretes. Unfortunately, it’s meant that Anna Ternheim, previously slated to open for El Perro Del Mar, will no longer be appearing. But maybe it’s a bit of a consolation that another MP3 from Taken By Trees’ East Of Eden is now up for grabs and is, appropriately enough, entitled “Anna”.

MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”
MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart” (Rakamonie Remix)
MP3: Taken By Trees – “Anna”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”
MySpace: El Perro Del Mar

Also Swedish but totally not sad are Love Is All. Their new record Two Thousand and Ten Injuries is out MArch 23 and they’re at the Horseshoe on April 3. Check out another track from the new album.

MP3: Love Is All – “Repetition”

Danish orchestral post-rock outfit Under Byen will release a new album in Alt Er Tabt on April 6.

Magnet Q&As Los Campesinos!, whom they’ve made guest editors of their site this week. Hope they hid all the breakables. Spinner, Islington Tribune, CMJ and Wales Online also have conversations, but don’t hand over the keys to the car. Los Campesinos! are at the Phoenix on April 20.

Laura Marling talks to NOW, The Visalia Times Delta and The San Francisco Examiner about making her new album I Speak Because I Can, out April 6. She plays Lee’s Palace on Tuesday night.

Chart, The Georgia Straight, The National Post, The Aquarian, San Jose Mercury News and The San Francisco Examiner talk to various members of Editors, who play the Phoenix on February 16.

Spin asks Dev Hynes about the secret origin of Lightspeed Champion. His second album Life Is Sweet! Pleased To Meet You, out February 16.

State has a word with Massive Attack, who’ve released a new video from Heligoland, out next week.

Video: Massive Attack – “Splitting The Atom”

Ska fans prepare to skank: The Specials reunion tour will include a stop in Toronto – the two-tone pioneers play the Sound Academy on April 19 – tickets $36.50 for floors, $46.50 for VIP balcony and The English Beat have a date at Lee’s Palace on May 18, tickets $23.50.

Video: The Specials – “Message To You Rudy”
Video: The English Beat – “Mirror In The Bathroom”

Pitchfork talks to Phoenix’s Thomas Mars about how it feels to be a Grammy Award winner.

The Music Fix has details on the next batch of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds reissues, which will arrive in 5.1 surround sound and with a plethora of bonus goodies, on April 5.

Aux.tv has assembled a guide to the many, many online video session sites out there in the wilds of the internet. Not comprehensive – five more started up while I was typing this sentence – but a good start.

Frank YangIf you had told me that everyone piled into Lee’s Palace on Sunday night wasn’t, in fact, specifically a fan of The Big Pink but of British music from the ’90s in general, I’d have believed it. For much/most/all of the appeal of the London-based duo and their debut A Brief History Of Love centers around how effectively they combine the best bits of shoegaze, Britpop and Madchester into new tunes that are instantly familiar to those who’ve dog-eared a copy or two of Select in their day, but updated to be sleek and danceable by today’s standards.

In being such effective mimics, however, has cost The Big Pink something in the way of their own personality. Perhaps that’s the way it should be, the attention paid to the songs and not the musicians; certainly logical considering that Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell come from a more electronic background, less predisposed to rock star braggadocio. Combine that with the fact that for all it’s rock reference points, the record feels very much like a studio (lab?) project and a kick-ass live show certainly wasn’t a foregone conclusion.

Local openers Revolvers, on the other hand, had no problem establishing their rock credentials. The five-piece certainly shared some musical DNA with the headliners, but you’d have to go back to the blues and rock influences that informed the likes of Spiritualized into something akin to a less drug-addled Brian Jonestown Massacre or groovier (and less droney) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. With two very capable lead vocalists and some hot guitar work, they made a good first impression and though they might do well to play it a little less traditional and stretch out a bit, there’s a very solid foundation to build something great on.

Sounding too traditional was not a problem for Long Beach, California’s Crystal Antlers. Their debut Tentacles was notable as the final new release from the venerable Touch And Go label and their set was a dizzying collision of sounds, bursts of noise butting up against bursts of melody, all propelled by intense percussion, urgent Farfisa organ and strained vocals. On paper, it wasn’t the sort of thing I’d like but to my surprise, I rather enjoyed it. It helped that percussionist Damian Edwards was tremendously entertaining to watch, working his bongos and crash cymbal like man possessed. With dancing.

When a band’s stage setup consists of multiple banks of strobe lights and smoke machines, they’re either intending to deliver a massive rock show or hope that the effects provide the visual stimulation that they can’t. In the case of The Big Pink, it felt like a little of both. For the duration of their set, the stage was enveloped in smoke, strobe and darkness, but perhaps feeling freed by the fact that no one could really see them, singer/guitarist Furze actually showed off no shortage of rock star moves in bounding around the stage, playing dueling axes with bassist Leopold Ross (who himself engaged in some hair-whipping) and generally acting like a kid playing a tennis racket with the stereo turned up.

With Cordell on keys/synths/samples and Akiko Matsuura – who also played on the record – on drums, The Big Pink live had an organic dimension which you didn’t necessarily feel was lacking on the album, but provided an extra and welcome bit of dynamicism in performance. That said, the songs were rendered pretty closely to their studio versions. Not necessarily a problem, though I maintain that some of the backing tracks could have been played live by Cordell rather than just triggered. Slightly more of a problem was the brevity of the set – after a 25-minute delay from the scheduled start time, they clocked in at just 45 minutes and there was no encore. Matsuura came back out after the final song, but it was to wave the expectant crowd off and send us home, not play one final number. Granted, they don’t have a wealth of material to draw from but it’d have been nice to hear the album’s title track. No, I don’t know who would/could have covered Joanne Robertson’s parts. Maybe they could have used a taped track. Okay, maybe it’s better that they didn’t play it.

Panic Manual has a review of the show. OC Weekly has an interview with The Big Pink and MPR a streamable session. Hour.ca talks to Crystal Antlers.

Photos: The Big Pink, Crystal Antlers, Revolvers @ Lee’s Palace – November 29, 2009
MP3: The Big Pink – “Dominos”
MP3: The Big Pink – “Velvet”
MP3: Crystal Antlers – “Andrew”
MP3: Crystal Antlers – “Tentacles”
MP3: Crystal Antlers – “A Thousand Eyes”
Video: The Big Pink – “Dominos”
Video: The Big Pink – “Velvet”
Video: The Big Pink – “Too Young To Love”
Video: Crystal Antlers – “Andrew”
Video: Revolvers – “Rock y Roll”
MySpace: The Big Pink
MySpace: Crystal Antlers

The Quietus has posted the whole of their interview with Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce, a portion of which was run last week. Clash has followed suit, posting an excerpt of an interview with Pierce, the complete version of which will be available in the coming days/weeks. The 10th anniversary edition of Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space is out next week. Update: Part one of the Clash interview is now up. And part two.

Former Cocteau Twins singer Elizabeth Fraser gives a rare interview to Elizabeth Fraser about her new single “Moses” and possible plans for a new album.

Matador has all the details on the new album from Ted Leo & The Pharmacists but all you really need to know is it’s called The Brutalist Bricks, it’s out March 9 and it sounds like this.

MP3: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – “Even Heroes Have To Die”

A number of shows to look forward to in 2010 were announced yesterday. The Retribution Gospel Choir, rock-oriented project of the 2/3 of Low who are not Mimi Parker, will be at the Drake Underground on January 25, one day before their second album 2 is released. Tickets are $10 in advance.

Editors are following up the North American release of In This Light And On This Evening on January 19 with a North American tour – full date haven’t been announced yet but the Toronto date goes February 16 at the Phoenix. I don’t dislike Evening nearly as much as some, but I suspect I didn’t like the first two records as much as some so perhaps it all evens out. Prague Post has an interview with Editors frontman Tom Smith.

Video: Editors – “Papillon”

Tortoise will be at Lee’s Palace on February 18 in support of this year’s Beacons Of Ancestorship, tickets $18.50.

MP3: Tortoise – “Prepare Your Coffin”
Video: Tortoise – “Prepare Your Coffin”

Finally coming to town for her own headlining show rather than supporting others, El Perro Del Mar will be at hte Mod Club on February 21, tickets $15. Her latest Love Is Not Pop came out in October and Express Night Out has an interview with Sarah Assbring.

MP3: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”
Video: El Perro Del Mar – “Change Of Heart”

Their live album having done the job of keeping fans satiated/distracted, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club have announced details of a new studio album. Beat The Devil’s Tattoo will be out on March 9 and will be accompanied by a fairly massive world tour – the Toronto stop comes April 1 at The Phoenix.

Frank YangIt was just 51 weeks ago that The Rural Alberta Advantage first stepped onto the stage at Lee’s Palace, there as support for a co-headlining show featuring two of the most lauded indie acts in Canada – The Acorn and Ohbijou. They seemed a bit awed by the scale of their surroundings, having mostly played the smaller, cozier rooms of the city to that point, but were far from intimidated and deliver another wonderful set and as I commented at the time, “I’ve long said that people simply need to hear them to love them, and I think it’s finally happening”. Now I’m not going to suggest that I have any particular soothsaying abilities, but on that point, I daresay I nailed it.

The past year has been a fairy tale for the trio, particularly the last six months or so in which they’ve gone from local heroes to genuine international (hey, America counts as a foreign country) phenomenons, re-releasing their debut album Hometowns on a major independent label and touring the continent multiple times over, selling out larger and larger venues each time out and gaining fans and accolades along the way – people hear them and they love them. Simple. So while their completely sold-out hometown show at Lee’s Palace on Friday night didn’t mark the end of their whirlwind 2009 – they commence another US tour the second week of December – it did provide a tidy, full-circle point for those of us predisposed to tidiness in such matters.

Opening the night was Barrie’s Fox Jaws, whom I hadn’t seen since August 2007 circa their debut Goodbye Doris. They’ve since released their second record and despite the epic-length title – At Odds (or: Exercises In Separation While United In The Fall) – low-frills, spirited and soulful pop-rock is still the order of the day. The raw and raspy vocals of Carleigh Aikens remains their super power but in a sense, it’s also their kryptonite. It’s so evocative of the blues-rock belters synonymous with classic rock radio that even when they try to expand their sound beyond the more straight-ahead, it tends to overpower. Still, it’s not the worst problem to have and when they play to their strengths, they put on an impressive and entertaining show.

Though I’d never seen Bahamas before, their scorecard started at a handicap. I’d seen principal Afie Jurvanen a couple times some years back, both solo and fronting Paso Mino, and hadn’t been impressed so while I was wiling to give his newest project a fair shake, it was going to be a tough sell. And the boxscore went something like this: points lost for the popped collar on the lumberjack shirt, points lost for the affected, stoner-dude banter (the “nice, nice” shtick isn’t working) , points gained for a couple of really funny jokes despite the aforementioned demerit though it’s worth noting that he was only genuinely funny when he strayed off script and actually interacted with the audience, points gained for some seriously tasty guitarwork, points gained for having better and more memorable songs than from what I recall from his past shows, points gained for playing a funky old Silvertone rather than the titular Pink Strat of his album, massive points gained for starting to cover Prince’s “Purple Rain”, all points lost for not following through with it – only delivering a couple of verses and ditching it only a little ways into the solo. I know he could have knocked it out of the park, but instead just walked away. Such a shame.

By this point, I think I should be disqualified from trying to offer up any review of an RAA show – I’ve seen them too many times (this was occasion eight or nine) and have too much affection for them as individuals and their music to even try and pretend to be objective. So with that disclaimer in mind, take my declaration that they put on yet another great show for whatever you think it’s worth. Set up in line across the front of the Lee’s stage, the trio were visibly overwhelmed by the size and fervor of the congregation of folks who’d come out to see them. And it’s understandable – as recently as this Spring, they would play constantly around the city and while always appreciated, were probably taken for granted some. But to so quickly be in a situation where outside scalpers were plying their trade and inside the fans were jumping up and down and singing along to every word – that’s a trip.

Over the course of the hour-long set, all of Hometowns was aired (save for “The Air”) and though they’ve been working that material for as long as I’ve been following the band – nigh on three years now – they still perform it with as much energy as emotion as ever and just as they don’t seem to tire of playing the songs, I still don’t tire of hearing them played. That said, it was exciting to hear more and more new material working its way into the set – some of the songs more fully evolved than others, but all carrying the trademark RAA sound and style. With the new year bringing even more touring for the band, it’s hard to say when they’ll have a chance to get down to recording album number two, but you can hardly fault them for wanting to keep riding this wave, which shows no signs of abating. After all, as the cover of The Littlest Hobo theme which they slipped in mid-set says, “Down this road that never seems to end, where new adventure lies just around the bend… Maybe tomorrow, I’ll want to settle down, until tomorrow, I’ll just keep moving on”. There may already be a “Ballad Of The RAA” but for the moment, this is their song.

BlogTO and Narratives also have reviews of the show.

Photos: The Rural Alberta Advantage, Bahamas, Fox Jaws @ Lee’s Palace – November 20, 2009
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Frank, AB”
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Don’t Haunt This Place”
MP3: Fox Jaws – “Karmonica”
MP3: Fox Jaws – “Quarantine Girl”
MySpace: The Rural Alberta Advantage
MySpace: Fox Jaws

Tallahassee.com, The Star-Telegram and The St. Petersburg Times interview Neko Case.

John Darnielle discusses the Biblical themes of The Life Of The World To Come with Nashville Scene.

Califone has been added as support for Wilco’s upcoming Hamilton and London shows on February 23 and 24, respectively. Their latest album is All My Friends Are Funeral Singers.

MP3: Califone – “Funeral Singers”
MP3: Califone – “Ape-Like”
Video: Califone – “Funeral Singers”

The Von Bondies, last seen in these parts tearing up the tiny Boardwalk Stage at V Fest, have set a December 5 date at the El Mocambo as part of a benefit show for Toronto’s homeless. Tickets are $15 in advance, donations of winter coats or blankets gratefully accepted.

MP3: The Von Bondies – “This Is Our Perfect Crime”
MP3: The Von Bondies – “Pale Bride”

Baeble Music has a Guest Apartment video session with El Perro Del Mar.