Robin Sharp

For an artist who has been so successful with the single format – a new track, or more specifically a new video – every few months to keep interest alive, the full-length could be a daunting proposition; after all, what works well in 4-minute portions may prove to be less-so over 40, particularly when it’s of as specific a sound and style as John O’Regan has defined Diamond Rings to be. So it’s to John O’s credit that Special Affections is strong enough to stand apart from the extravagant visuals that define Diamond Rings live and on video, though it does take on a different character in just the audio realm; more minor in key and sombre in tone and with the leanness of the sound even more evident. Still, he finds enough variety in the keys/laptop/voice DIY electro-pop recipe that forms the backbone of the record to fully engage anyone who’s ear was tweaked by any of the lead-up singles.

That said, it’s telling that the best moments on the record come when O’Reagan loosens the man-and-machine aesthetic and allows elements like the female backing vocals on “On Our Own” or the raw electric guitar he so ably wields in The D’Urbervilles into the mix. Beyond just elevating the songs they appear on, they point to a more interesting future for Diamond Rings – one where it’s more than a pseudonym but a proper project or even band. The long-term prospects of the current aesthetic are unclear, but if the sounds start clearly serving the songs and not the other way around, then the sky is the limit. But that’s a suggestion for tomorrow; for today, Diamond Rings is John O’Reagan and Special Affections delivers on all promises made.

X-Tra has a feature piece on Diamond Rings, whom after an intense CMJ festival this week, will be playing a number of Canadian dates before packing up his glitter and laptop for a jaunt to the UK. Record release day, October 26, will be spent at home with a special launch party at The Garrison and courtesy of Embrace, I have three pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Diamond Rings” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, October 22.

MP3: Diamond Rings – “All Yr Songs”
MP3: Diamond Rings – “Wait And See”
Video: Diamond Rings – “Something Else”
Video: Diamond Rings – “Show Me Your Stuff”
Video: Diamond Rings – “All Yr Songs”
Video: Diamond Rings – “Wait & See”
MySpace: Diamond Rings

Westword interviews PS I Love You, who are opening up for Diamond Rings on the 26th and have released a new video from Meet Me At The Muster Station; they’re playing a free in-store at Soundscapes at 7PM that same evening.

Video: PS I Love You – “Butterflies & Boners”

Pitchfork reports that the long wait for a new Destroyer record ends when the terrifically-titled Kaputt drops on January 25.

Born Ruffians have released a new video from their sophomore effort Say It and will put out an EP of unreleased odds and ends on November 2 called Plinky Plonk – it’s digital-only with physical copies only available at their shows.

Video: Born Ruffians – “Nova-Leigh”

Holy Fuck have gone cat-crazy for their latest video from Latin, further proving that cats = internet gold.

Video: Holy Fuck – “Red Lights”

Know what would be great? If for their just-announced Hallowe’en show at The Garrison, Fucked Up and The Sadies dressed up as each other. Pink Eyes in a Nudie suit, The Sadies in their underwear… actually, never mind. Ticket info still forthcoming; Times Square has an interview with Dallas Good of The Sadies.

MP3: Fucked Up – “No Epiphany”
MP3: The Sadies – “Another Year Again”

Forest City Lovers have announced an in-store at Criminal Records on November 4 at 6PM, the day before their big show at The Horseshoe. That’d be November 5. If it was unclear.

MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Light You Up”

Suuns will hold a record release show for their debut Zeroes QC at The Silver Dollar on November 26, even though the album has been out since last week. Chart has an interview with the band.

MP3: Suuns – “Up Past The Nursery”

So I’m off to Halifax for the Halifax Pop Explosion on Wednesday, and having never been to Halifax or further east in Canada than Quebec City, am soliciting suggestions for things to do and see whilst out there. Most recommendations I’ve gotten so far are beers – which is great though dangerous – but beyond the eat/drink, what else should I make sure to fit in? I’ve got Citadel Hill, the ferry to Dartmouth, Point Pleasant Park… and?

Joe Fuda

Starting locally, with The Rural Alberta Advantage. After one of the best and busiest 2009s on record, the trio has been relatively quiet through most of this year working on the follow-up to their debut Hometowns, as these photos (sort of) attest. But you can only keep road warriors in one place for so long and they’ll be on the road again starting at the end of this month with a pretty extensive Fall tour that takes them out across the prairies to the west coast of Canada, across the Atlantic for a slew of European and UK dates and then, finally, back home to Toronto for a show at Lee’s Palace on December 16 – their first proper local show in over a year. It’ll be good to hear some of the new material that will appear on album number two when it hits sometime next year, but mostly it’ll just be nice to see them again. Tickets for the show are $15 in advance.

MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Frank, AB”
MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Don’t Haunt This Place”

And more to the show announcements from the past week or so – Avi Buffalo will precede their October 18 show at the Horseshoe with an in-store at Soundscapes on October 17 at 7PM. It’ll be interesting to see if Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg can tear it up as fiercely on acoustic as he does electric. I am guessing yes.

MP3: Avi Buffalo – “Remember Last Time”
MP3: Avi Buffalo – “What’s In It For?”

Also doing it free for the kids is PS I Love You, whose just-released debut Meet Me At The Muster Station has been getting some impressive Pitchfork-love. They’ll be at Soundscapes on October 26 at 7PM before heading down to The Garrison to open up for Diamond Rings. The duo are profiled in The Province, National Post, Chart and Exclaim.

MP3: PS I Love You – “2012″
MP3: PS I Love You – “Butterflies & Boners”
MP3: PS I Love You – “Facelove”

Forest City Lovers have set a date at The Horseshoe for November 5, amidst a smattering of Fall dates. They’ve also just put out a new pensive-to-party video from Carriage.

MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Light You Up”
Video: Forest City Lovers – “Tell Me Cancer”

Horse Feathers and Anaïs Mitchell will team up for a show at the Drake Underground on November 8.

MP3: Horse Feathers – “Curs In The Weeds”
MP3: Anaïs Mitchell – “Flowers (Eurydice’s Song)”

The Balconies, who like The RAA were omni-present in 2009 but relatively quiet in 2010, are back for a show at The Horseshoe on November 9 – hopefully as a precursor to a second album.

MP3: The Balconies – “Serious Bedtime”

The Meligrove Band have put together both a North American tour for and a video from their just-released new record Shimmering Lights. They’re at The Great Hall on November 12 and there’s interviews at The National Post and dose.

MP3: The Meligrove Band – “Bones Attack!!!”
MP3: The Meligrove Band – “Halflight”
Video: The Meligrove Band – “Racing To Shimmering Lights”

Rufus Wainwright has a date at Massey Hall on December 4.

Video: Rufus Wainwright – “Zebulon”

Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy, has slated a North American tour in support of his new record It’s What I’m Thinking Pt.1 — Photographing Snowflakes. The record is out next Tuesday and will be available in a variety of deluxe and standard packages, as detailed at Exclaim. The Toronto date of the aforementioned tour is December 8 at The Great Hall, tickets $27.50 in advance.

Video: Badly Drawn Boy – “Too Many Miracles”

Interpol will be making good on the support slot for U2 this past Summer which was canceled along with the entire tour when Bono realized he was an old man. They’ll be at the Air Canada Centre on July 11 of next year.

MP3: Interpol – “Lights”

BeatRoute discusses The Age Of Adz with Sufjan Stevens. The record is out October 12 and he plays Massey Hall on October 13.

Murray Lightburn of The Dears talks to eye in advance of the band’s three-night residency at The Garrison next week, October 13 through 15, where they’ll play all of their new, as-yet untitled and release date-less album, start to finish.

The Oklahoma Daily and Austinist talk to members of Local Natives, who’ve put out a new video and have a sold-out show at the Mod Club on October 19.

Video: Local Natives – “Wide Eyes”

Spinner has an interview with Lissie, who brings her full-length debut Catching A Tiger to the El Mocambo on October 19. There’s also a new video from said record.

Video: Lissie – “Everywhere I Go”

Uptown and The Ottawa Citizen profile Rae Spoon, in town for a show at the Gladstone on October 21.

Stars, who are playing Massey Hall on October 26, are interviewed by BeatRoute and The Huffington Post.

Spinner talks to Black Mountain. They’ll be dressing up as a band playing The Phoenix on Hallowe’en.

Thanks Captain Obvious, The Village Voice and Spinner talk to Sharon Van Etten about her new record Epic. She is at Lee’s Palace on November 5 supporting Junip.

The Wooden Sky, who’ve got a date at Lee’s Palace on November 6, have just been featured in a Daytrotter session and a Gateway interview.

Wolf Parade have rolled out a new video from Expo 86. They’ll be at the Sound Academy on November 26.

Video: Wolf Parade – “Yulia”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Ra Ra Riot, in town for a show at the Mod Club on December 1. There’s also interviews at The Omaha World-Herald and Wall Street Journal.

Kevin Drew tells Spin why Broken Social Scene are called Broken Social Scene while Brendan Canning talks to The Georgia Straight and Andrew Whiteman to The Gateway. They are at the Sound Academy on December 9.

BeatRoute chats with Owen Pallett.

Pitchfork interviews Arcade Fire.

Spinner, The Gateway, See and BeatRoute talk to Holy Fuck.

Over at YouTube, Daniel Lanois offers a track-by-track analysis of Neil Young’s Le Noise from the view of the producer’s chair.

Didn’t The Flaming Lips just release a video from Embryonic last week? Yes they did. But here’s another one anyways.

Video: The Flaming Lips – “The Sparrow Looks Up At The Machine”

How do you know Of Montreal were just in the UK? Interviews with Kevin Barnes at Drowned In Sound, The Quietus and The Line Of Best Fit.

The Fly talks to the ladies of Warpaint about their forthcoming debut The Fool, hitting the streets on October 26.

MOVE talks to Mountain Goat Peter Hughes.

Craig Finn of The Hold Steady discusses the benefits of getting older with The Boston Globe.

And seriously, this isn’t even nearly everything I’ve had backlogged to post over the past week.

Young Turks

It was an experience which seemed positive enough that they released a now out-of-print split 12″ wherein each covered one of the others’ songs – Foals tackling the opening track from Holy Fuck’s debut LP and Holy Fuck transmuting one of the singles from Foals’ first record Antidotes. Neither sounds much like the original but sound pretty cool in their own right, and that’s really kind of the point, isn’t it?

Both Foals and Holy Fuck have released new records this year – Foals with Total Life Forever and Holy Fuck with Latin – and both are touring North America (though not together this time) and their paths will almost cross in Toronto next week – Foals are at Lee’s Palace on September 27 and Holy Fuck at the Phoenix on September 29. Red & Black has an interview with Holy Fuck.

MP3: Foals – “Super Inuit”
MP3: Holy Fuck – “Balloons”
Video: Holy Fuck – “Super Inuit”
Video: Foals – “Balloons”

Arnaud Bracke

MP3: Holy Fuck – “Latin America”
Video: Holy Fuck – “Latin America”

Miyuki Samata

Describing the Peelander experience isn’t so easy, particularly when their videos say so much, but punk rock power rangers is really about the size of it. Now neither of these venues offers either the open space or climbing apparatus to stage the kind of sheer insanity that they brought to the Mohawk in ’08 and ’09, but I have the utmost faith that Peelanders Red, Green and Yellow will find a way to make it memorable… and now that I think about it, the width of the Silver Dollar would make a great human bowling lane. They’ll ostensibly be touring behind their new record P-TV-Z, due out on September 28, but let’s be honst – the music is secondary to the antics. Which I’m not usually so fond of, but when the antics are as ridonk as theirs, it’s a-ok with me.

And photogs, you won’t want to miss this. It’s a good time. Mad Tiger!

MP3: Peelander-Z – “S.T.E.A.K.”
MP3: Peelander-Z – “Rocket Gold Star”
MP3: Peelander-Z – “Champion”
MP3: Peelander-Z – “Panda Punk”

Yesterday’s poorest-kept secret goes to the fact that Metric will be doing a free show outside of Union Station at 7PM tonight as part of the launch of a new cell phone. Odds that it will be a mad house and that Emily Haines will ramble nonsensically between songs are pretty much even.

Video: Metric – “Stadium Love”

Boston’s Caspian will be hitting the road this Fall and set up at the Soybomb space in Toronto (Bathurst south of Queen) on September 17.

MP3: Caspian – “Of Foam And Wave”

Obviously intending to be around town in time for the Polaris Prize gala the following Monday, Caribou have scheduled a show at the Phoenix for September 17. Tickets are $15 in advance.

MP3: Caribou – “Odessa”

The midwest rises as Indianapolic gothic country-rockers Murder By Death team up with Oklahoma’s Samantha Crain for a Fall tour that stops in at the Horseshoe on September 26.

MP3: Murder By Death – “Foxglove”
MP3: Samantha Crain – “Traipsing Through The Aisles”

Holy Fuck are at the Phoenix on September 29.

MP3: Holy Fuck – “Latin America”

Scout Niblett has slated a Fall tour in support of her latest, The Calcination Of Scout Niblett. She’s at The Garrison on October 2.

MP3: Scout Niblett – “Kiss”

Perfume Genius, the pseudonym of singer-songwriter Mike Hadreas, will undertake a short Learning that includes an October 7 date at the Drake Underground. Check out the video session he did for Matador Records, a short interview with him conducted by Huh

MP3: Perfume Genius – “Learning”

Basia Bulat will be joining Josh Ritter on his Autumn cross-Canada tour that includes an October 26 date at The Phoenix. Paste debuted Ritter’s latest video from And So The World Runs Away.

MP3: Basia Bulat – “Gold Rush”
Video: Josh Ritter – “Rattling Locks”

I guess calling it the “None More Black” tour would have been overly obvious, not to mention probably karmically putting their drummers at risk, but The Black Angels are teaming up with Black Mountain for a Fall tour that they’ve dubbed “Dropout Boogie” that will stop in at the Phoenix on October 31, tickets $20.50. Even odds that everyone in attendance will be dressed up as stoners for Hallowe’en and will be fully committed to the role. Both acts have new albums out on September 14 – Mountain with Wilderness Heart and Angels with Phosphene Dream. Spin has a chat with singer Alex Maas about the new record as well as a song to download, while Pitchfork has a tour-previewing download of Black Angels covering Black Mountain.

MP3: Black Mountain – “Hair Song”
MP3: The Black Angels – “Telephone Blues”
MP3: The Black Angels – “No Satisfaction” (Black Mountain cover)

With the magic eight ball apparently having come up, “keep milking Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix for all it’s worth”, Phoenix are doing North America again and this leg includes a Toronto date – October 22 at the Ricoh Coliseum with Tokyo Police Club and Wavves as support, tickets $40 to $45.

MP3: Wavves – “Cool Jumper”
Video: Phoenix – “Lisztomania”
Video: Tokyo Police Club – “Wait Up (Boots Of Danger)”

Facebook

The ambient/electro psychedelic pop of Fetus Dreams has got some of that meandering Grizzly Projector Collective vibe that the kids are so into these days – probably a selling point for some but not really for me – but they maintain focus sufficiently to make sure that the pop side of things doesn’t take a back seat to the trippy. There’s a few punchy guitar rock moments that speak to the shoegazer in me but what I find most compelling is how they manage to so effortlessly evoke the golden era of Elephant 6, particularly the Olivia Tremor Control camp, without sounding like they’re trying. In fact I would be surprised if asking them whether they preferred the songs of Will Cullen Hart or Bill Doss was met with a blank stare (though I also wouldn’t be surprised if the had a shrine erected to them in their rehearsal space).

Point being, while they don’t necessarily transcend their influences, they use them well while hanging onto their own personalities. They’re on to something and that something is good. There’s no local dates on the horizon but I’ll be keeping an eye out.

MP3: Heartbeat Hotel – “Fins Of A Shark”
MP3: Heartbeat Hotel – “Walls Of Dry Clouds”
MP3: Heartbeat Hotel – “The Hello Barrel”
Album: Heartbeat Hotel / Fetus Dreams
MySpace: Heartbeat Hotel

The Georgia Straight profiles Wolf Parade.

Radio Free Canuckistan offers some ruminations on hanging out with Arcade Fire on the (figurative) eve of release of The Suburbs while The New York Times has a feature and Exclaim talks to bassist Tim Kinsbury. The official release date is this coming Tuesday but local retailers appear to have the go-ahead to start selling the double-vinyl this weekend. Arcade Fire play the Toronto Islands on August 14 and their show at Madison Square Garden next Thursday will be streamed live on YouTube starting at 10PM EDT, and the show will be directed by Terry Gilliam – which means you can expect a giant foot to come down and crush the band at the climax of “Power Out”.

The Sadies have released a new video from Darker Circles. They join Arcade Fire on the Island on August 14.

Video: The Sadies – “Cut Corners”

Sarah Harmer has released a new video from Oh Little Fire

Video: Sarah Harmer – “Captive”

FFWD profiles Dan Mangan.

Chart talks to Mark Hamilton of Woodpigeon about his upcoming record(s). The vinyl edition of Balladeer, which was originally released as a companion disc to this year’s Die Stadt Muzikanten, now exists and will be available for sale soon. Woodpigeon play a noon-hour show at Yonge-Dundas Square on October 6.

Jason Collett will make up for his cancelled show at Mod which was supposed to happen last week with a solo acoustic date at the Church Of The Redeemer on November 11, part of his coast-to-coast “Undressed Tour”.

MP3: Jason Collett – “Love Is A Dirty Word”

Spin asks Metric where they got their name. Metric explains.

They were originally supposed to unveil a new video from Forgiveness Rock Record, but Broken Social Scene have decided to keep that under wraps until next week. PitchforkTV has your BSS video fix, though, as the band is featured in the debut of a new interactive multi-camera video session series called POV.

The Line Of Best Fit and A Pocket Full Of Seeds talk to Tokyo Police Club. There’s also a video session with the band at Baeble Music.

Born Ruffians tell Chart that they dig Bill Murray. And if you do too, then this interview at GQ and this bit of satire (yes) at Christwire. Because they’re funny.

Black Mountain are sharing a couple MP3s from the forthcoming Wilderness Heart, out September 14.

MP3: Black Mountain – “Hair Song”
MP3: Black Mountain – “Old Fangs”

Boise Weekly talks to The New Pornographers’ Carl Newman.

Caribou talks to aux.tv whilst dropping a new video from Swim.

Video: Caribou – “Sun”

Spinner talks to Holy Fuck.

Pitchfork is streaming Fucked Up’s new epic-length single “The Year Of The Ox”, which will be out on 12″ come September 28.

The Toronto Star talks to Daniel Lanois about the new Neil Young record, which he is producing. He intends to premiere some of the new songs at Nuit Blanche in October. The Guardian also has some details on the forthcoming Archives : Volume Two due out… oh let’s not even play that game.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World director Edgar Wright is the cover story in this month’s Exclaim and CTV has a feature piece on the comic. And head over here for a sweet Google Maps mashup of Scott Pilgrim’s Toronto.

Ryan Marr

The answer comes in the form of Carriage. Their third album, released this week, is the sort of record that you always hope that a band you believe in will make, but don’t really expect for fear of being disappointed. Somehow Forest City Lovers have managed to make a game-changer of an album without actually changing their game – the core of their sound, Burns’ insightful and evocative lyrics delivered with her gentle, hint-of-smoke vocals, are intact and front and centre but this time out they’re cast against type in some big pop arrangements and damn if they don’t more than rise to the challenge.

Bookended by different versions of both sides of last year’s Phodilus and Tyto 7″, Carriage comes with a wealth of fresh ideas and it seems the more unexpected the turn, the more rewarding the outcome. Perhaps the best example of this is the confidently off-kilter “Minneapolis”, whose two minutes and forty seconds boasts one of the most infectious choruses you’re likely to hear anywhere this year. It’s pretty much the sort of song that you’d have thought Forest City Lovers would be great at but never would have expected them to write, and that feeling of both surprise and satisfaction permeates the record. The presence of new drummer Christian Ingelevics is surely a big part of the album’s heightened energy – he’s certainly brought such to their live show – and perhaps the decision to work with an outside producer for the first time is also part of it, though the record still maintains much of the of intimate, unvarnished vibe of the earlier recordings. But I think that most of the growth on Carriage can be attributed to a band that was simply ready to take that next step and decided to make it a huge leap forward. So very, very rewarding.

I Heart Music also has a review of the album and is offering a download of “Minneapolis”, also his pick as the key song on the record. Exclaim couples their review with a quick interview and Soundproof, The National Post and Chart have features on the band. Forest City Lovers start a three-week North American tour this weekend and will play a hometown record release show at the Great Hall on August 12, preceded by an in-store at Soundscapes on August 10, before heading back out on the road in September.

MP3: Forest City Lovers – “Light You Up”
MP3: Forest City Lovers – “If I Were A Tree”
Video: Forest City Lovers – “If I Were A Tree”
MySpace: Forest City Lovers

Left-field Vancouver art-poppers Apollo Ghosts are touring their Polaris Prize-nominated album Mount Benson right across Canada and are making two stops in Toronto – on July 27 for an in-store performance at Criminal Records at 7PM and then after hitting the east coast, will double back and wrap things up on August 6 at Sneaky Dee’s with Dog Day.

MP3: Apollo Ghosts – “Coka Cola Admen”
MP3: Apollo Ghosts – “Things You Go Through”

The Take interviews The Balconies.

Chart talks to The Sadies, who will ring in Canada Day with a free show at Harbourfront Centre tonight.

Great Lake Swimmers have released a new video from last year’s Lost Channels.

Video: Great Lake Swimmers – “River’s Edge”

Also with a new video are Black Mountain, whose Wilderness Heart is out September 14. They’re at the Horseshoe on July 23.

Video: Black Mountain – “Old Fangs”

The Line Of Best Fit talks to Mark Hamilton of Woodpigeon. They’ll be back in town on October 6 to play a free noon-hour show at Yonge-Dundas Square.

Washington City Paper and Philadelphia Weekly talk to Carl Newman of The New Pornographers, whose performance in Washington DC last week is available to stream over at NPR.

Pornographer going solo Kathryn Calder has released another MP3 from her forthcoming debut Are You My Mother?, out August 10.

MP3: Kathryn Calder – “Arrow”

CBC, Chart and Exclaim interview members of Stars. They are at Massey Hall on October 23.

John O’Regan of Diamond Rings offers The Line Of Best Fit a guide to his Toronto.

The Vancouver Sun talks to Shad, who’s at the Kool Haus on October 1.

Clash interviews Emily Haines of Metric. The video for their Twilight theme song is now available to swoon at. They’re at the Molson Amphitheatre on Friday, July 9

Video: Metric – “Twilight (All Yours)”

Supporting Metric on that show are Holy Fuck; hour.ca has an interview.

Rae Spoon will release Love Is A Hunter, the follow up to 2008′s excellent Superioryouareinferior, on August 17 and the first MP3 is available to download.

MP3: Rae Spoon – “You Can Dance”

The Hidden Cameras will play two intimate shows at the Lower Ossington Theatre on August 5 and 6 as part of the Summerworks theatre and film festival. According to Chart, they will be taking the opportunity to reimagine their last album Origin: Orphan as a theatrical work. Tickets for the shows are just $10.

MP3: The Hidden Cameras – “Walk On”

Half of this Take-Away Show with Land Of Talk was posted a couple weeks ago but the second video posted at Le Blogotheque, presumably a track from Cloak & Cipher, is the real jaw-dropper. So very excited for this record, which will be out August 24.

Exclaim talks to members of Wolf Parade.

PunkNews interviews Mike Haliechuk of Fucked Up.

Harbourfront Centre’s Love Saskatchewan festival will feature free performances from Rah Rah and Library Voices on July 23 and July 25, respectively. And with lots of Saskatchewan-related goodness in between.

Tourisme Montreal talks to Basia Bulat, who was there last week for the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Wired interviews Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright and star Michael Cera. Hilarity ensues. Pitchfork also talks to Broken Social Scene’s Brendan Canning about their contributions to the film soundtrack.

The National Post examines the state of the Summer concert season.

Happy Canada Day, everyone. I am marking this auspicious occasion by leaving the country. I’m off to New York City for an extended long weekend – I think these are called vacations. We’ll see how it goes.

Frank Yang

I was there when despite being surrounded by a legion of players and a forest of gear and despite looking more like a high school gym teacher than a rock star, James Murphy made bellowing into an old-school, CB-style microphone with either his talk-singing or Bowie-crooning vocals the most riveting thing you’ve ever seen. Never mind working the drums or the cowbell. I saw the rock kids and the dance kids and the punkers and the ravers and the jocks and the hipsters came together for almost two hours of insanely tight and irresistibly rhythmic common ground and make it feel like this discofied union is how things should always be. I heard James Murphy make the case for LCD as music for moving the ass while stimulating the brain. I heard James Murphy make the case for LCD as music for deep thought while shaking the ass. I was there when he made the case for being old as being awesome. I saw LCD Soundsystem turn a concert into a party.

I heard Murphy touchingly dedicate a stirring rendition of “All My Friends” to legendary and beloved Toronto artist and impresario Will Munro, who passed away from cancer this weekend. I was there when they busted out the laser show. I was there during the encore when things got a little rough up front and Murphy had to stop “Losing My Edge” to let security do their thing. I saw him ask the audience, while emphasizing that he was coming from the most positive place, to bring their enthusiasm down just a notch so as to not hurt anyone. I was there when they closed out with “New York I Love You” and its “Empire State of Mind” coda and despite this being Toronto, we felt that love and returned it.

I was there. And it was awesome.

Panic Manual was there. Chart was there. eye was there. Exclaim was there. The Georgia Straight and Montreal Gazette weren’t there but they have interviews.

Photos: LCD Soundsystem @ The Kool Haus – May 25, 2010
Video: LCD Soundsystem – “Drunk Girls”
Video: LCD Soundsystem – “All My Friends”
Video: LCD Soundsystem – “Someone Great”
Video: LCD Soundsystem – “North American Scum”
Video: LCD Soundsystem – “Tribulations”
Video: LCD Soundsystem – “Daft Punk Is Playing”
Video: LCD Soundsystem – “Movement”
Video: LCD Soundsystem – “Losing My Edge”
MySpace: LCD Soundsystem

Baltimore-based but Anglo-influenced synth-pop trio Future Islands will be at Double Double Land (209 Augusta in Kensington Market – it’s okay, I had to look it up too) on June 7. Their debut album In The Air came out earlier this month. Apparently they’re quite good live, and are Guardian-approved. The Santa Barbara Independent has an interview.

MP3: Future Islands – “Tin Man”
MP3: Future Islands – “In The Fall”
Video: Future Islands – “Tin Man”

Philadelphia Weekly, The Sydney Star Observer and The Village Voice chat with Holly Miranda.

Pitchfork has details on The Orchard, the sophomore record from Ra Ra Riot, due August 24. They are at the Molson Amphitheatre on August 28 supporting Tegan & Sara and City & Colour.

The Daily Emerald talks to John Roderick of The Long Winters.

The AV Club talks to Ben Bridwell of Band Of Horses, who are playing the Toronto Islands on June 19.

Paste talks to Broken Social Scene drummer Justin Peroff. BSS play the Toronto Islands on June 19. The trailer for the Bruce MacDonald-helmed Broken-themed/set/soundtracked-yet-fictional film This Movie Is Broken is now available to view; the movie opens on June 25, details over at Exclaim.

Trailer: This Movie Is Broken

Carl Newman of The New Pornographers may now reside in America, but he’s still Canadian enough to teach The New York Times a thing or two about maple syrup. The New Pornographers are at the Sound Academy on June 15.

NME reports that Arcade Fire’s third album will be entitled The Suburbs and be out on August 2 in the UK, presumably August 3 in North America. It looks like this. The single for the title track is out today. It is streaming at their website. They play the Toronto Islands on August 14.

Chromeo are at the Phoenix on August 3 with Holy Ghost! – who opened up for LCD on Tuesday – as support. Their new record Business Casual drops August 17.

Video: Chromeo – “Night By Night”

MusicOmh and Chart interview Holy Fuck. They are at the Molson Amphitheatre on July 9 opening up for Metric.

Tiny Mix Tapes, SEE and The Washington Post talk to Dan Snaith of Caribou.

Frank Yang

For my part, I was almost as taken with You Forgot It In People as everyone else in 2002 and 2003 – I say “almost” because some people love(d) this record A LOT – and was as excited as anyone to see the attention that it brought on a city that, to that point, didn’t seem to have a real face in the burgeoning indie rock world and for a while, they and their offshoots – anyone remember the show at Lee’s in June 2003 featuring BSS, Stars, Feist, Apostle Of Hustle, Jason Collett and Amy Millan? Seriously – theres photographic evidence – could do no wrong.

But that perfect, You Forgot It moment could only sustain for so long, and when the self-titled follow-up came out in 2005, the bloom was coming off the rose, at least from my point of view. Though it had some epic high points, Broken Social Scene felt overly long and meandering; there may have been a great record buried in there but it was in desperate need of an editor. These are points that only became clear to me later – the record still made my 2005 year-end list and 2006 Polaris Prize ballot – but that was more me wanting to like it more than I did at the time. By this point, the band seemed to have become even more ubiquitous than before – something I’d have not thought possible – and when they closed out the inaugural Virgin Festival Canada in 2006, I was grateful for both their amazing full-band performance and promise to take a break and go away for a little while.

They didn’t, of course. Rather than hibernate, they multiplied and both Broken bandleaders – Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning – released sorta-solo records that were essentially Broken albums, but without the weight of expectation that would accompany a proper BSS release. Neither really grabbed my attention, but to be fair my Broken Social burnout was still very much in effect and the records would have had to be pretty spectacular to get me past that… which they weren’t. And, of course, they continued toured as Broken Social Scene albeit with relatively pared-down lineups. Hiatus? Not so much.

And so seemingly without ever actually going away, they’ve returned with Forgiveness Rock Record and I, well I can’t say as that I’ve been hankering for a new Broken Social Scene record, but would like to think that I’m in a place where I can again regard them objectively. The decision to record with Tortoise’s John McEntire behind the boards rather than longtime sonic architect Dave Newfeld has an interesting effect on their sound, as McEntire’s more tidy and precise aesthetic is rather diametrically opposed to the “capture the chaos on tape” approach that’s defined their recordings thus far. Quantitatively speaking, Forgiveness is definitely cleaner than past efforts, with the sonic spaces more clearly defined and songs marginally more structured and compact, but just as you can’t catch water with a net, even a shiny new net, you can’t contain Broken Social Scene.

With the new record, there’s still a sense that the band are throwing things into the pot, creatively speaking, and seeing what kind of alchemy (if any) results. As such, it has the sort of maddening unevenness that’s practically a BSS signature, where really the most you can hope is that the highs are enough to offset the lows. Amongst the peaks on Forgiveness are the sprawling leadoff jam “World Sick”, punchy jangle anthem “Texico Bitches” and “All Is All”, a shimmering, almost completely un-BSS-like electro-pop jewel starring Reverie Sound Revue’s Lisa Lobsinger. And as for the valleys… well the record isn’t filler-free but it never gets as lost as Broken Social Scene did and all things considered, that’ll do. It doesn’t recreate the glorious sense of possibility and excitement that existed around the band circa 2002 and 2003 – which are completely unrealistic expectations, I will be the first to admit – but it does provide a solid argument that any reservations I have over all things Broken and Social may be my issues and not theirs.

I’ve talked before about the wonderful in-store culture that’s developed in Toronto, and on Sunday, Broken Social Scene helped push that along with an ambitious four-shows-in-one-day itinerary that saw them play sets in each of the city’s four major independent record stores, starting at Criminal Records and winding down Queen West to Rotate This, up to Little Italy’s Soundscapes and wrapping up in the Annex basement of Sonic Boom. With tickets given out to those who purchased copies of Forgiveness Rock Record, I’m not sure how anyone would manage to hit all four performances – short of buying four copies of the record – but I’m sure some found a way. I do find it remarkable that even though my relationship with BSS has waxed and waned over the years, so many remain utterly devoted to the band. And so it was that Criminal Records was packed front to back on Sunday afternoon as the band – numbering seven or eight, I think there was a horn player hidden behind one of the monitors – shook off the previous night’s drive back from New York to kick off their mini-tour.

They started off easy like Sunday morning (or early afternoon) with You Forgot It‘s “Lover’s Spit”, giving themselves the space to get tuned in for the marathon day to come before moving into the new material. Interestingly, Kevin Drew went guitar-less, instead working a bank of keyboards or just handling vocals. I hadn’t seen BSS live in almost four years so I didn’t know if this was a new development or something that had been in the works for a while. Either way, it wasn’t as though there was any sort of stringed instrument deficit up there – all of Brendan Canning, Andrew Whiteman, Charles Spearin and Sam Goldberg were armed with guitars or basses, but unlike past performances where it seemed that many guitars were just piled on top of one another, they seemed to be working with very precise arrangements. It wasn’t math-rock, but definitely not just jamming it out. All of the Forgiveness material – “Texico Bitches”, “Ungrateful Little Father” and “Forced To Love” sounded pretty solid if delivered a bit low-energy though Whiteman did more than his part to liven things up with some running man moves and jumping jacks. He also took the mic for the final song of the set, another return to Forgot It with “Looks Just Like The Sun” though it was preceded with some debate amongst the band as to exactly how the song went and what the lyrics were. Not that tidy, then, and I’m sure that they picked up some steam with each subsequent show as well as members as they woke up, but this was a pretty cool start to a very cool idea and a great hello and thanks from the band to their fans, their record stores and their city.

Broken Social Scene play a full and proper hometown show on June 19 at the Toronto Islands, and just announced a massive North American tour for the Fall. Dose, Beatroute, Torontoist, Pitchfork, Macleans, Blurt, The Aquarian, Interview and Chart have feature pieces on the band and their return.

Photos: Broken Social Scene @ Criminal Records – May 9, 2010
MP3: Broken Social Scene – “World Sick”
MP3: Broken Social Scene – “Fire Eye’d Boy”
MP3: Broken Social Scene – “Hotel”
Video: Broken Social Scene – “7/4 (Shoreline)”
Video: Broken Social Scene -”Fire Eye’d Boy”
Video: Broken Social Scene – “Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)”
Video: Broken Social Scene – “Her Disappearing Scene”
Video: Broken Social Scene – “Major Label Debut”
Video: Broken Social Scene – “Cause = Time”
Video: Broken Social Scene – “Almost Crimes”
Video: Broken Social Scene – “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl”
Video: Broken Social Scene – “Lover’s Spit”
Video: Broken Social Scene – “I’m Still Your Fag”
MySpace: Broken Social Scene

Torq Campbell of Stars talks to Spinner about the power of Twitter. Their new record The Five Ghosts is out on June 22.

Damian Abraham of Fucked Up, who helped Mr Campbell understand said power of Twitter, tells Pffffft his favourite things about Toronto. Not listed is the Toronto Reference Library, but you can be sure that Abraham likes it enough to undress – respectfully – when Fucked Up play a free show there on May 28. Beatroute also has a chat with the FU frontman.

Resonancity, In Your Speakers and Spinner all talk to Holy Fuck on the occasion of today’s release of Latin. They’re at the Molson Amphitheatre on July 9 in support of Metric.

Chart and Beatroute have features on Caribou, whose show in Washington DC last night is now available to stream on NPR.

The Besnard Lakes have released a new video from The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night. Beatroute and SF Station have interviews with the band, who are at the Mod Club on June 17.

Video: The Besnard Lakes – “Albatross”

Also with a new video are The New Pornographers, for the sort-of title track from Together. Beatroute, eMusic, Metro and The Quietus have interviews with Carl Newman, whose band will be at the Sound Academy on June 15.

Video: The New Pornographers – “(Your Hands) Together”

Clash talks to Mark Hamilton of Woodpigeon.

Beatroute has a feature piece on Hannah Georgas.

Previews of The Acorn’s forthcoming No Ghost just keep coming; the record is out June 1 and they play Lee’s Palace on June 11.

MP3: The Acorn – “Restoration”

Shad’s excellent new record TSOL is streaming at Exclaim this week, leading up to its release in two Tuesdays – May 25. He plays the Opera House on June 12.

Stream: Shad / TSOL

The Wilderness Of Manitoba has scheduled a record release show for their full-length debut When You Left The Fire, due out June 22 – they’ll be at the Music Gallery on June 25 with Evening Hymns as support. Before that, they’ll support Matthew Barber at the Mod Club on May 12 and Basia Bulat at the Phoenix on June 4.

MP3: The Wilderness Of Manitoba – “Hermit”

The lineup for this year’s Wolfe Island Music Festival has been announced and as always, it’s a great sampling of some of the best in Canadian music set in about as laid-back and chilled-out environs as you’ll find anywhere. Taking place in the Thousand Islands just offshore from Kingston, Ontario on the weekend of August 6 and 7, the Friday night will feature performances in the town of Marysville from The Sadies and Cuff The Duke, amongst others, and the Saturday lineup will feature The Weakerthans, Shad, Think About Life, Bahamas, The Acorn, Diamond Rings, Memoryhouse and Jim Bryson. I attended the 2007 edition of this festival, and it was a marvelous time – highly recommended.

Frank Yang

Though originally hailing from Newmarket, out on the outskirts of Toronto, Georgas is now based in Vancouver and it’s there that her just-released debut This Is Good was recorded. The title of the record might be an easy mark for critics, but by and large it delivers on that promise – she probably even could have gotten away with calling it This Is Very Good. It takes Georgas’ seemingly disparate jazz and folk influences and finds a common ground in the realm of radio-friendly pop music. Some of the stylistic ranginess smacks more of trying to cover bases rather than genuine eclecticism and the production could use a little less gloss and more atmosphere, but those quibbles fade in the light of the sheer catchiness of many of the numbers. Georgas has a flexible voice, possessing some of Feist’s breathiness, some of Sarah Harmer’s folksome twang as well as a quirky extrovertedness that’s hers entirely, and puts it to good use on standouts like “Chit Chat”, “Bang Bang You’re Dead” and the title track.

She put both her voice and songs on display Tuesday evening, when she marked both the release of her album and her issue of Exclaim with an in-store performance at Criminal Records, following a proper show at the Garrison the night before. Backed by a two-piece band, Georgas turned in set that showcased both her subdued and scrappy sides (alliteration unintentional) in front of a decently-sized, if maybe overly respectful audience. Not to suggest that there should have been acting out, but sometimes the between-song silence at in-stores just feels… awkward. But she seemed grateful for the attentiveness, and in return proved that while it’s probably overreaching to suggest she’ll ever attain the status of either of the acts she bumped off the Exclaim cover, it’s pretty much certain that for the next little while, at least, you’ll be hearing more of and about Hannah Georgas.

The Vancouver Sun has a feature interview with Georgas.

Photos: Hannah Georgas @ Criminal Records – April 27, 2010
MP3: Hannah Georgas – “Chit Chat”
Video: Hannah Georgas – “Thick Skin”
Video: Hannah Georgas – “The Beat Stuff”

The San Francisco Chronicle talks Forgiveness Rock Record with Broken Social Scene’s Charles Spearin. The record is out next Tuesday and the band play the Toronto Islands on June 19.

Also out next week is The New Pornographers’ Together. The National Post talks to that band’s Kathryn Calder; they play the Sound Academy on June 15.

The Calgary Sun, Georgia Straight and JAM talk to Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes, who will be at the Mod Club on June 17 as part of NXNE.

NOW previews Caribou’s May 3 show at the Phoenix by talking to Dan Snaith.

Holy Fuck have released the first video from their new record Latin, due out May 11. They’re at the Molson Amphitheatre on July 9 opening up for Metric.

Video: Holy Fuck – “Latin America”

The Hold Steady are also making May 4 a day to hit up your local record store – their new one Heaven Is Whenever is out that day, and they talk to Spinner about some of the themes of the new album. They’re at the Kool Haus on July 17.

The Skinny talks to Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner of The National while GQ finds the band showered and blue blazered in a fashion spread, alongside some of their New York indie rock brethren. Their new opus High Violet is out May 11 and they play two nights at Massey Hall on June 8 and 9.

The Antlers, who open up both of those National shows, are featured in The Georgia Straight and their video session series at PitchforkTV ran three parts this week.

Interpol appear ready to get back in the game, offering up a new MP3 for free from their website and sporting a shiny new logo. They promise more information – presumably an album release date and touring news – soon, but in the meantime, offer you “Lights”. Not bright, just lights.

Under The Radar interviews Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand of Beach House at Coachella. They’re playing as part of the Toronto Islands show on June 19.

Le Blogotheque Take-Away Shows Quasi.

Clash gets a behind the scenes look at Disconnect From Desire from School Of Seven Bells – the new record is out July 13.

John Stirratt of Wilco tells Faster Louder the band are going to be spending the Summer recording and offers some speculation on what the next record might sound like.

Because apparently three months is all it takes for bruises to heal, Titus Andronicus are coming back to kick Toronto’s asses all over again when they play the Horseshoe on July 14. The Courier-Journal talks to frontman Patrick Stickles.

MP3: Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union”

The Specials have finalized their make-up date for the canceled Toronto show last week – they’ll now be at the Sound Academy on August 27.