Shawn Brackbill

But with Midnight Boom, they opened up the range of sounds with which they’d work, amped up the pop elements of their sound and generally tidied things up enough to make for their most accessible work yet; certainly it was the record that got me on board. Blood Pressures continues on in the same direction, but the balance of songs versus sonics seems to have swung decidedly in favour of the former. The groove-first, lyrics-second process that accounted for some of Boom‘s sleazy playground rhyme-like numbers has taken a back seat to more conventionally composed and structured songs, perhaps something Mosshart has brought back from her time in The Dead Weather. And though many are still built on unabashedly mechanical and grimy-sounding backing tracks, even those are sounding more organic and tidier than before.

None of this meant in judgement, just as observation. That The Kills would be getting more polished and sophisticated, even if just in relative terms, should come as no surprise – even from their first release it was inevitable, less a question of “if” than “when” and “how”. But with regards to judgement, as solid as Blood Pressures is – tunes like “Nail In My Coffin” and “Baby Says” are as solid additions to The Kills canon as anything they’ve done – but as a whole it doesn’t have the sense of reckless, unhinged fun that made its predecessor such a treat. It’s wholly on target as a satisfying Kills record but confirms that Midnight Boom was the bullseye.

Spinner and Clash talk to The Kills about their new record while Yours Truly solicits an acoustic video session… geoblocked. What the hell, people. They’re at The Sound Academy on May 1 and courtesy of Domino Records, I’ve got a prize pack consisting of a pair of passes to the show and a copy of Blood Pressures on LP to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Kills” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. Contest closes at midnight, April 25.

MP3: The Kills – “DNA”
Video: The Kills – “Satellite

The Guardian talks to Faris Badwan about his Cat’s Eyes project and their self-titled debut which is due out next week.

Video: Cat’s Eyes – “Face In The Crowd”
Video: Cat’s Eyes – “Cat’s Eyes”

The Boston Globe and Under The Radar talk to The Raveonettes.

Arctic Monkeys have a new video from the forthcoming Suck It And See. The album is out June 6 and they’re at The Kool Haus on May 21.

Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair”

Glasvegas guitarist Rab Allan talks to Billboard and RTE about new album Euphoric Heartbreak, out now in Canada but not until May 17 in the US. They play Lee’s Palace on May 29.

The Vinyl District interviews Eddie Argos of Art Brut about their new record Brilliant! Tragic!, out May 23. They’ve also released a video from said album and play The Mod Club on June 17.

Video: Art Brut – “Lost Weekend”

Oh look, a new Beady Eye video. They’re at The Sound Academy on June 20.

Video: Beady Eye – “Millionaire”

Filter continues Suede week by talking to some of the band’s producers and getting some discography commentary from Brett Anderson and Mat Osman as well as a two-part interview with the founding members. BBC America also talks to Brett Anderson.

Yours Truly has a video session from and The Arty Semite, Georgia Straight, The OC Weekly and San Diego City Beat have interviews with Yuck. They’re at The Phoenix on May 1.

Esben & The Witch have a new video from Violet Cries.

Video: Esben & The Witch – “Chorea”

Been wondering what happened to guitarist Nick McCabe and bassist Simon Jones since The Verve broke up for the millionth time? The Quietus has your answer – The Black Ships.

Ed O’Brien disappoints a legion of Radiohead-spotters by telling BBC that there will not be another album coming from the King Of Limbs sessions. There will, however, be a North American release for the “Supercollider”/”The Butcher” 12″ that they put out for Record Store Day in the UK – Exclaim reports that it’ll be out on June 14 and you can stream both sides right now at some dude’s Soundcloud.

Spin talks to PJ Harvey, who has another video to show off.

Video: PJ Harvey – “On Battleship Hill”

Drowned In Sound talks to Kate Nash about her record label and music education for girls endeavours.

Emmy The Great introduces and performs a new song inspired by the Royal Wedding for The Guardian. The song doesn’t appear on Virtue, due out June 13, but you can download one that does at RCRDLBL while Drowned In Sound has the artwork and tracklisting up. Emmy’s website has also relaunched and yes, I did check the cost of flights to New York on seeing she’s playing Pianos on May 5 (too much).

MusicOmh chats with Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey of Summer Camp.

Artrocker talks to Alan McGee, founder of Creation Records.

Seamus Murphy

Just posted to stream in its entirety at NPR, it’s a strange yet immediately compelling collection built around themes of nationalism and war. While has echoes of her past works – the urgency of her early records, the melody of her middle-period works and the stark beauty of recent recordings – it sounds completely fresh, with Harvey favouring the higher registers of her voice in a way that I, at least, haven’t heard before. I’m only a few listens in and already I’m finding myself connecting with it in way that I haven’t with her stuff before. This is an exciting development.

She’s only got three North American tour dates scheduled right now (Los Angeles, Coachella and New York) but considering she’s not toured over here properly in forever – her last Toronto date was in 2004 – I have to think or at least hope that more will be coming.

MP3: PJ Harvey – “Written On The Forehead”
Stream: PJ Harvey / Let England Shake

The Guardian and State interview Anna Calvi, whose self-titled debut is due out on March 1 and who will be at Wrongbar on March 11 as part of Canadian Musicfest.

The Quietus goes over their debut Violet Cries track by track with Esben & The Witch while Drowned In Sound gave them the keys to their whole website last week. Paste just interviews them. They’re also at Wrongbar on March 11 for Canadian Musicfest.

Billboard has a cover story on Adele in advance of the February 22 release of 21. NPR is streaming the album in its entirety as well as a half-hour live performance from the singer, who’s just announced a North American tour in suport of album number two, including a May 18 date at The Kool Haus in Toronto.

Stream: Adele / 21

NPR has a World Cafe session with Duffy.

PopMatters interviews Kate Nash.

Spinner talks to Mira Aroyo of Ladytron about their forthcoming Best of Ladytron: 00-10 compilation, due out March 29.

Micachu & The Shapes are still working on the follow-up to 2009′s left-field gem Jewellery, but in the interim will be releasing Chopped & Screwed, a collaboration with The London Sinfonetta that will be coming out on March 22. What’s it sound like? Click below and read this piece on the collaboration at Clash.

MP3: Micachu – “Everything”

Pitchfork talks to Jamie Smith of The xx about stuff both xx and not xx.

The Fly checks in with Friendly Fires, who are finishing up their second record Pala, due out in the Spring – certainly before their May 30 date at The Phoenix.

The Fly and The Scotsman profile The Joy Formidable, who follow up the North American release of The Big Roar with a date at The Horseshoe on April 2.

Magnet handed over the editorial chair of their website to White Lies last week. The Mirror has an interview.

The Boxer Rebellion have made a date at The Horseshoe for April 18 in support of their new record The Cold Still; tickets $13.50.

Video: The Boxer Rebellion – “Step Out Of The Car”

State, Exclaim and Clash interview The Go! Team, who bring their new record Rolling Blackouts to The Opera House on April 10. They’ve released a couple new videos and an MP3 from said record.

MP3: The Go! Team – “T.O.R.N.A.D.O.”
Video: The Go! Team – “Super Triangle”
Video: The Go! Team – “Secretary Song”

Guy Garvey discusses Elbow’s forthcoming new record build a rocket boys!, out March 8, with The Quietus.

Toronto fans disappointed there’s no official stop here for the upcoming Trash Can Sinatras tour would do well to look at their itinerary, email the address noted on the right and ask themselves just how much seeing them play an intimate house show is worth to them.

Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye discusses his new band’s debut Different Gear, Still Speeding with Spin. The record is out March 1.

Spinner reports that Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire is disappointed that their last single didn’t chart in the UK; perhaps they overestimated the appeal of an Ian McCulloch duet? Time to dig up Nina Persson’s phone number again, methinks.

The Quietus contemplates the legacy of Teenage Fanclub while The Line Of Best Fit has an acoustic session with Fanny side-project Jonny. Their self-titled debut is out April 12.

Billboard profiles Mumford & Sons.

NPR puts folk-rock legend Richard Thompson behind a Tiny Desk and makes him play a concert. The indignity.

Steve Gullick

One expects they’ll have the state of their gear checked and double-checked before their return engagement on April 30 at the Phoenix (tickets $16.50), though. And that’s fine because as memorable as that last show was, it’ll be nice to hear them showcase their Mercury Prize-shortlisted record Total Life Forever with two fully functioning guitars.

The date is part of a Spring tour that is presumably built around a Coachella appearance and will feature a rather odd bill of Foals, Brooklyn twee-poppers Freelance Whales, still touring last year’s Weathervanes, and hotly-tipped New Zealanders The Naked & Famous, whose debut Passive Me, Aggressive You will be out on March 15.

MP3: Foals – “Spanish Sahara”
MP3: Freelance Whales – “Generator Second Floor”
Video: The Naked & Famous – “Young Blood”

Other Mercury Prize alumni coming back to town are Friendly Fires, who’ve made a May 30 date at The Phoenix, tickets $20. There’s been no official announcement about the release of their second album but one assumes that it will be out before they head over here. Update: Full North American dates are up, album has working title of Pala.

MP3: Friendly Fires – “Jump In The Pool”

Australia’s Cut Copy have slated a North American tour in support of their new record Zonoscope, due out February 8. Look for them at The Sound Academy on April 7 and download a track from the new record over here.

MP3: Cut Copy – “Lights & Music”

Last week they announced the April 4 release of their new record Blood Pressures and now, via NME are this Spring’s world tour dates for The Kills; Toronto gets them May 1 at the Sound Academy. That’s right, groan away. I’ll wait.

MP3: The Kills – “URA Fever”

Milo Cordell of The Big Pink tells NME they’re considering a hip-hop direction for their second album.

The Scotland Herald talks to Stuart Braithwaite ofMogwai in Japan. Their new record Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will arrives February 15 and there’s a new MP3 and video from said record available to download. Mogwai play The Phoenix on April 26.

MP3: Mogwai – “San Pedro”
Video: Mogwai – “Pano Rano”

The Guardian has a feature piece on British Sea Power. They play Lee’s Palace on March 30.

“The World Is Yours”, the lead track from Glasvegas’ Euphoric Heartbreak, is currently available to stream – the record is out April 4.

Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good wins today’s Patrick Wolf news prize – they’ve got the name of Wolf’s new record – Lupercalia – and a download of the first single from the record, “Time Of My Life”. A quick look on the Twitter indicates that said album has been given a May 23 release date in the UK and a stream of the second single, “The City”, is available on Soundcloud. I daresay that if these songs are indicative of what the album will be like, Mr. Wolf has managed to outdo himself yet again.

Baeble Music has a Guest Apartment session and The Herald-Sun an interview with Kate Nash.

The Fly has an acoustic video session with The Joy Formidable, whose debut The Big Roar is out in the UK next week and in North America March 15.

Elly Jackson of La Roux discusses collaboration plans for album number two with NME.

Clash interviews Adele, whose second record 21 arrives February 22.

MusicOMH talks to Anna Calvi, whose self-titled debut arrives March 1 and who plays Wrongbar on March 11.

NPR has a second video from PJ Harvey’s forthcoming Let England Shake, due out February 15.

Video: PJ Harvey – “The Words That Maketh Murder”

In talking to Gigwise, Blur’s Dave Rowntree confirms the band will do “something” this year, but offers no more information than that. And yes, as I was typing that out I realized how pointless a news item this was but whatever.

MusicOmh has words with Richard Thompson.

And do swing by the recently-launched Aggregation Magazine, whose mandate is simple but too long for me to recap here but whose latest issue includes contributions from yours truly on topics that have nothing to do with music. And the latest issue of Under The Radar – the Sufjan cover – has an interview with myself and other music bloggers on the topic of blog hype; the issue has been out since December but I only just got a copy so I made sure I didn’t sound like a total ass before mentioning it. Only a partial ass, as per usual. End self-promo/flagellation.

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Oberst last played Toronto as Bright Eyes back in May of 2007 with a show at Massey Hall, but didn’t return with his own Mystic Valley Band solo thing. He did make an appearance last Fall with his Monsters Of Folk compatriots, again at Massey, but TO Conor-ites will finally get a proper fix next March when he leads whomever is in Bright Eyes this time out for a show at the Sound Academy on March 13. Not the classy digs he’s gotten used to over the last couple visits, no, but venue complaints aside you can bet that the date is being circled on a lot of calendars right now, especially if the rumours that this is Oberst’s final kick at the Bright Eyes can are accurate.

Tickets for the Toronto show are $34.50 for general admission (aka those who need to be as close to Conor as possible) and $49.50 for VIP (aka those who need to be as far from those who need to be as close to Conor as possible) and go on sale this Friday, December 17.

MP3: Bright Eyes – “Four Winds”
MP3: Bright Eyes – “Lua”
MP3: Bright Eyes – “Lover I Don’t Have To Love”

Connoisseurs of French pop will be pleased to know that Parisians Revolver have made a date at the Drake Underground for March 3, tickets $10.50 in advance. Their debut Music For A While was released domestically back in August.

MP3: Revolver – “Get Around Town”
Video: Revolver – “Leave Me Alone”
Video: Revolver – “Balulalow”

Those who missed Chicagoan glam-punk moppets The Smith Westerns last month when they opened for Florence & The Machine and played a tiny after show the same evening will be pleased to know they’ve slated a proper tour and will be back in town at the Horseshoe on February 28. And they’ve put out a new video, too. Their second album Dye It Blonde is out January 18.

MP3: Smith Westerns – “Imagine, Pt 3″
Video: The Smith Westerns – “Weekend”

The first sample of The Rural Alberta Advantage’s new record Departing is now up for grabs. The record is out March 1 and they play a sold-out show at Lee’s Palace tomorrow night.

MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Stamp”

Dodos frontman Meric Long talks to Pitchfork about their plans for album number three.

The Mountain Goats are giving away a new MP3 for a song that won’t be appearing on their next album All Eternals Deck when it’s released on March 29. But hey – new Mountain Goats.

MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Tyler Lambert’s Grave”

NPR has a World Cafe session with Johnny Flynn.

The Quietus interviews Titus Andronicus. The band, not the fictional character.

The first video from Nicole Atkins’ forthcoming Mondo Amore is now available for all to see. The record is out January 25 and she plays the Horseshoe on February 26.

Video: Nicole Atkins – “Vultures”

Colin Meloy previews some of The Decemberists’ new record The King Is Dead in session for NPR. The album is out January 18 and they play The Sound Academy on February 1.

The AV Club’s AV Undercover series from this Summer is over and done, they’re busting out the covers series for the holiday season with Holiday Undercover, which includes Shearwater covering Randy Newman’s bummer seasonal tune “God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind)” and Kate Nash taking on Slade’s “Merry X-Mas Everybody”.

And speaking of Randy Newman, he’s coming to town for a date at the University of Toronto’s Convocation Hall on March 26 of next year.

Video: Randy Newman – “I Love LA”

American Songwriter contemplates the career of Jay Farrar and chooses their 20 favourite songs.

Devonté Hynes

Except there apparently won’t be an album three. Even before Life Is Sweet came out, Hynes began writing, recording and gigging under the guise of Blood Orange – it didn’t sound worlds removed from Lightspeed, but the one-man home recordings certainly pointed at it being an outlet for his funkier, more groove-oriented side. And according to this new interview at Interview, Hynes is putting Lightspeed Champion out to pasture and making Blood Orange his main creative outlet – a debut single will be out in January and a full-length will follow in the early part of next year, and that means the Van Dyke Parks-enhanced Bye Bye EP coming out on December 13 will be prophetically-titled.

I will miss Lightspeed – Lavender Bridge remains a favourite from the past few years – and am especially sorry I wasn’t able to see him at the Horseshoe this past Summer, but if Blood Orange is what it – and he – is going to be, then I’ll be there.

MP3: Blood Orange – “S’Cooled” (demo)
Video: Blood Orange – “S’Cooled”
Video: Blood Orange – “I’m Sorry We Lied”
Myspace: Blood Orange

Oxford Student talk to Stornoway, who will be a the El Mocambo tonight and have just released another MP3 from their lovely Beachcomber’s Windowsill by way of enticement.

MP3: Stornoway – “Fuel Up”

BBC reports that Portishead are making plans for album number four and there are also rumours swirling that they’re intending to stage their first North American tour in forever next Fall. Fingers crossed.

The Yorkshire Post talks to David Gedge of The Wedding Present, who apparently lost bassist Terry de Castro as a member sometime in the Summer.

British Sea Power have released the first video from their forthcoming Valhalla Dancehall – out January 11 – and I can’t figure out if it’s playful, creepy, romantic or just plain weird. I am going to go with weird.

Video: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”

NME reports that Editors think three studio albums are enough to justify releasing a box set, and will do just that in February of next year – Editors: The Complete Collection will consist of seven 12″ records (album-length or single is unclear) and seven CDs of b-sides, rarities and other Editors ephemera.

Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch’s diaries circa The Life Pursuit and Dear Catastrophe Waitress have been collected in book form – The Celestial Cafe will be released in early 2011.

MusicOmh talks to Duffy. Her new record Endlessly arrives December 7.

The Vaccines, who are apparently set to be the next big thing out of the UK, will be riding the buzz through a free show at the Horseshoe on January 18. The Guardian and Von Pip Musical Express have profiles of the band, which should give you all the background you need to make like you’ve been a fan, like, forever when you’re jammed into the ‘Shoe with all the other Anglophiles in the city.

MP3: The Vaccines – “Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)”

Spinner chats with Kate Nash.

Kyle Johnson

And not to be content with just delivering musical sunshine via your speakers and/or headphones, Lerner and touring band will be hitting the road almost immediately after the record’s release to deliver it directly to your ears. Their North American tour takes them from west to east and back west again and includes a March 6 stop at The Horseshoe in Toronto.

MP3: Telekinsis – “Car Crash”

Spin talks to Colin Meloy of The Decemberists about their new record The King Is Dead, out January 18. No further details on the rumoured February 1 Toronto show but it occurred to me that if they’re looking to move up – capacity-wise – from their usual Kool Haus digs and Massey isn’t available… there’s the Sound Academy. Shudder.

MBV Music is streaming a new single from Sharon Van Etten, consisting of two tracks not found on her latest Epic. The 7″ is out November 16.

Spinner talks to The Radio Dept.’s Martin Larsson about some of the band’s less obvious musical influences. Their double-disc singles set Passive Aggressive is out January 25 and they play Lee’s Palace on February 7.

QRO, The Daily Tribune, The Quad and The Columbus Dispatch have interviews with Kate Nash, currently winding her way across North America and in town at the Phoenix tomorrow night, November 13.

Two Door Cinema Club talk to aux.tv. They’re back for their third local show in eight months on January 15 at the Kool Haus with Tokyo Police Club.

Modern Superstitions, who impressed when I saw them at the Halifax Pop Explosion, have released a new video and will have a release party/show for their debut EP All The Things We’ve Been Told at The Silver Dollar on November 19.

MP3: Modern Superstitions – “Visions Of You”
Video: Modern Superstitions – “Visions Of You”

The Journal has words with Dan Snaith of Caribou.

The Line Of Best Fit, Calgary Herald and See chat with Dan Mangan, who’s gone and gotten himself a shiny new website.

aux.tv asks five music and movie-related questions of Forest City Lovers’ Kat Burns.

Frank Yang

For anyone with even a passing affection for the British shoegazing movement of the early ’90s, it was hard not to be interested – My Bloody Valentine aside, this was the only first-wave shoegaze band in recent memory to reunite, let alone play shows in North America, in well over a decade (if anyone wants to fact-check that statement, feel free). And while Chapterhouse weren’t as seminal – in my eyes/ears, anyways – as the likes of Ride, Slowdive or Lush, their credentials are indisputable and their debut Whirlpool an essential listen for the genre. Which is basically another way of saying, “if you are a shoegaze fan and Chapterhouse come to your town, you go”.

Locals Fjord Rowboat know how that goes, but for them it was “if Chapterhouse comes to your town, you lend them your gear and open for them”. Which they did, and in return got to play an impressive show for probably a more receptive audience than they’ve ever had. I used Chapterhouse as a reference point their 2007 debut Saved The Compliments For Morning and that still holds for the just-released follow-up Under Cover Of Brightness, the band remaining faithful to the spirit of shoegazing while remembering, unlike many modern-day purveyors of the style, that what made the greats great was that underneath the layers of sound, there were solid songs. And in the interests of disclosure, I should mention that Fjord has two former bandmates in their number. High five!

I’d lived the Ulrich Schnauss experience twice before and thought I’d figured out the secret to appreciating his electro-ambient stuff – close your eyes. Then you don’t notice that the entire “live” set consists of Schnauss playing preprogrammed tracks off his laptop while adding keyboards overtop or mixing things in real-time, or at least I assume that’s what he was doing – I couldn’t actually hear anything changing in the mix as he clicked and fiddled. This time his set came with its own visual component – projections of European urban scenes, mostly looking as though they’d been filmed from a moving car, which held ones interest for a while but after they began to loop, one’s attention began to wander. By the end, I had a new way to enjoy Schnauss’ set – as a particularly cosmic soundtrack to a game of iPhone Civilization.

One of the first thing you notice about Chapterhouse is how young they all still look – all five are barely 40 (if even) and frontmen Andrew Sherriff and Stephen Patman still look remarkably boyish. This is less a comment on their skin care regimen than the fact that they were barely into their twenties (if even) when Whirlpool was released and so, returning to Toronto for the first time in nearly 20 years, they still seemed younger than many acts making their debuts. Also setting them apart from many other acts on the road today was the fact that they weren’t out trying to win over new fans or make a name for themselves – if you were there, you knew why and what you were going to get and were just happy to be there. This isn’t to suggest that the bar for performance was lowered at all, but any mistakes or less-than-perfection – and there was some, in the way of feedback (the bad kind, not the good kind), some awkward re-learning of songs onstage and a “Crystal” that wasn’t as tight or together as you’d want – were quickly and easily forgiven.

Instead, it was much easier to focus on the good. There was the seemingly endless rotation of my favourite guitars and the massive sounds the three guitarists coaxed out of them, including Simon Rowe whose status in Mojave 3 is as unclear as the band’s itself and who missed their last tour. There was their cover of The Beatles’ “Rain”, which got a pass on my usual “no Beatles covers please” rule, their pretty much perfect rendering of “Pearl” – more than making up for “Crystal” – and a set list that, while curiously light on their second album Blood Music, delivered almost all of Whirlpool and a selection of b-sides and rarities that they must have known would be appreciated by an audience of the faithful.

While they were hardly monsters of rock onstage, it was hard to imagine that their performances inspired the originally-derisive “shoegaze” label – sure, Rowe stood pretty much stock-still through the set but Sherriff and Patman moved around and hardly glanced at their feet. Of course, unlike many of their peers Chapterhouse have always been as much about the groove as the wall of sound, sometimes referred to as “baggy-gaze” and moving further towards dance and electronic sounds with Blood Music. None of which makes them sound any more contemporary, but no one was here for contemporary. We were here for 1990 and Chapterhouse brought it.

Prefix and The Faster Times have Chapterhouse interviews and Jess Barnett a conversation with Ulrich Schnauss. Exclaim and Panic Manual have reviews of the Toronto show.

Photos: Chapterhouse, Ulrich Schnauss, Fjord Rowboat @ Lee’s Palace – October 6, 2010
MP3: Chapterhouse – “Pearl”
MP3: Ulrich Schnauss – “Passing By”
MP3: Fjord Rowboat – “Carried Away”
MP3: Fjord Rowboat – “Paragon”
Video: Chapterhouse – “Breather”
Video: Chapterhouse – “April”
Video: Ulrich Schnauss – “Medusa”
Video: Fjord Rowboat – “Carried Away”
MySpace: Chapterhouse
MySpace: Fjord Rowboat

Beatroute and The Boston Globe talk to The Vaselines; they’re in town on October 30 for a show at The Horseshoe.

The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Record and DCist have feature pieces on Teenage Fanclub.

NPR talks to Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian. He and his band are at Massey Hall tonight and their new album Write About Love is also out today – the promo TV talk show put together for the record is streaming at PitchforkTV and the performance of “I Want The World To Stop” from said programme has been excerpted as the first official video from the record.

Video: Belle & Sebastian – “I Want The World To Stop”
Video: Belle & Sebastian Write About Love

A track from Idlewild’s latest (and final?) album Post-Electric Blues has been made available to download to mark the album’s North American release today.

MP3: Idlewild – “Younger Than America”

Drowned In Sound has gone a little British Sea Power-crazy, what with the release of the new Zeus EP in advance of next year’s new full-length – they’ve commissioned a number of features from the band, including their top five UK castles, ten things they wish they hadn’t done, the joy of knitting and a guide to keeping amused on the road.

Charlatans drummer Jon Brookes takes to the band’s blog to thank fans for their support as he convalesces from surgery for a brain tumour while Clash talks to frontman Tim Burgess. A track from their new record Who We Touch has been made available to download.

MP3: The Charlatans – “Love Is Ending”

Barry Hyde of The Futureheads tells Spinner they’re planning on releasing an a capella record early next year.

The Fly has a first listen to the new White Lies record Ritual, due out January 17 in the UK.

A whole slew of new videos in the past few days from the other side of the Atlantic – let’s start with Kele, who has a new clip from his solo record The Boxer.

Video: Kele – “On The Lam”

Foals have rolled out a new video from their second record Total Life Forever.

Video: Foals – “Blue Blood”

Mystery Jets have a new short from this year’s Serotonin. eFestivals and MusicOmh also have interviews.

Video: Mystery Jets – “Show Me The Light”

6 Day Riot have a video for the first single from their forthcoming record On This Island, available in the UK on November 1.

Video: 6 Day Riot – “Take Me Out”

Oxford University’s Cherwell talks to Kate Nash, who has a new single to coincide with her North American tour. It kicks off later this month and includes a date at The Phoenix on November 13.

Video: Kate Nash – “Later On”

For whatever reason, the powers that be have decided that the UK video for La Roux’s “In For The Kill”, out for over a year, just won’t cut it for American audiences and have commissioned a new one. I guess their focus groups demanded more snakes, less cars.

Video: La Roux – “In For The Kill” (US)
Video: La Roux – “In For The Kill” (UK)

The Telegraph talks to Duffy, who releases her second album Endlessly on November 30.

Word is Johnny Flynn’s October 18 show at Lee’s Palace has been postponed until mid-November; all other shows on the North American jaunt, including the 19th in Montreal, appear to still be on, so no idea what the problem with T.O. is. Anyone else hear “Kentucky Pill” on last week’s Weeds? Of course not, because no one with any dignity should admit to watching Weeds anymore. Me, I just heard about it. On the Twitter. Yeah.

Spinner talks to Elvis Costello about his new album National Ransom, out November 2. You can download a track from the record at his website.

Norway’s Serena-Maneesh have rolled out a new video from S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor.

Video: Serena-Maneesh – “D.I.W.S.W.T.T.D.”

NPR is streaming a complete show from The Tallest Man On Earth.

Frank Yang

First were supporting act and subject of some modest buzz themselves, Brighton’s Esben & The Witch, who made people take notice when it was announced they’d signed to Matador for the release of their debut album next year. And if Matador was looking to up the interesting/odd quotient of their roster, then Esben certainly fit the bill. The lazy comparison – which I’m obviously not above – would be a more primal and primitive Portishead, and not just because of the gender makeup of the trio. By whatever instrumental means necessary – including all three beating the tar out of a single floor tom simultaneously – they focused on creating an unsettling and foreboding atmosphere over which Rachel Davies’ vocals – sometimes like a ghost, other times like a banshee – could ride upon. The songcraft wasn’t as sophisticated as I’d have liked or even as the recordings I’ve heard, but it was evident that it was intensity and not refinement that they were interested in conveying in performance. I’d have preferred a better balance of the two, but will wait to hear the record before firming up any opinions.

I’ve already admitted to being late to the Foals party, but even though it took me until Total Life Forever to appreciate the band, I’d always heard and believed that they put on an impressive live show. And their punchy, dancey math-punk is tailor-made for a great show – powered by a taut, ultra-tight rhythm section and steered by the dueling, palm-muted guitar symphonies of Yannis Philippakis and Jimmy Smith, they’re all about escalation and after about an hour or so of steadily building musical momentum – just about a set length, coincidentally – they’d be ready to explode and send everyone home exhausted and satisfied. I’ve no doubt that that was and is the Foals game plan, when all goes well. On Monday night, Toronto got to see what it’s like when things don’t go according to plan, and it’s actually better.

Playing in front of a completely sold-out house, things got off to a great start with the title track off Total Life Forever – the set was front-loaded with newer material – and the band playing so tightly, it was as though they were tied together by some invisible wire that kept them in perfect synchonicity but also allowed spontaneous outbursts of chaos with a swift, sudden tug. About mid way through, however, it became clear that Smith was having issues with his gear and the rest of band found themselves jamming on extended intros and instrumental passages as he and the guitar tech tried to sort it out. It seemed, from the audience’s point of view at least, that they had things sorted a few times but the look on Smith’s face to side stage made it clear that no matter what guitars, amps or cables they swapped out, things weren’t getting fixed. And while the equipment woes were technically all Smith’s, watching Philippakis while all this was going on was far more interesting.

Though on the surface he seemed to take it all stoically, it became clear that he was getting angrier and more on the edge of violence as things went off-script and was channelling said anger through his guitar; never missing a beat or a note but absolutely raging while remaining stony-faced. Fittingly, as the set progressed and the spikier Antidotes material surfaced, he began acting out; knocking over mics and stands, pounding the hell out of his floor tom, taking advantage of his wireless guitar lead to descend into the audience, climb onto the back bar, set his mic up and play from the far front corner of the room and generally express his frustration in every way he could while keeping the show going – they even came back for their encore – and not completely flipping out and destroying everything. The intensity was not lost on the crowd, who fed on it and reflected it right back at the band and helped ensure that despite the obstacles, the night was a triumph. Though if anyone after the show saw a bonfire in back of Lee’s consisting of a couple of sweet Gibson guitars and guitar amp heads… those might have been Foals’.

Panic Manual, Singing Lamb, Exclaim and Chart have reviews of the show while The Toronto Star has an interview with Foals.

Photos: Foals, Esben & The Witch @ Lee’s Palace – September 27, 2010
MP3: Foals – “Spanish Sahara”
MP3: Foals – “Balloons”
Video: Foals – “2 Trees”
Video: Foals – “Miami”
Video: Foals – “Spanish Sahara”
Video: Foals – “This Orient”
Video: Foals – “Cassius”
Video: Foals – “Balloons”
Video: Foals – “Hummer”
Video: Foals – “Mathletics”
Video: Esben & The Witch – “Marching Song”
MySpace: Foals
MySpace: Esben & The Witch

DCist, The Phoenix and The Miami Herald talk to Tim Booth of James, who will be at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre tomorrow night, September 30.

The Vaselines are the subject of a feature in The Big Issue; they have a date at the Horseshoe on October 30.

The Joy Formidable have released a video for the lead single from their debut album The Big Roar, due early next year. They’ll be at the Horseshoe on November 3.

Video: The Joy Formidable – “I Don’t Want To See You Like This”

Support for Kate Nash’s upcoming Fall tour – which includes a November 13 date at The Phoenix – has been announced as British folk trio Peggy Sue. The Daily Titan has a conversation with Nash.

Video: Peggy Sue – “Watchman”

Ryan Jarman of The Cribs talks to Spinner about the band’s upcoming hiatus.

The Guardian has an update on the condition of Charlatans drummer Jon Brookes and an optimistic timetable for his return to the band.

The Von Pip Musical Express talks to Jim Reid about the 25th anniversary of The Jesus & Mary Chain’s debut Psychocandy.

The Quietus wonders if anyone remembers Irish trio JJ72, who made some noise a decade ago. Former frontman Mark Greaney does, and talks to them about the band’s accomplishments.

Video: JJ72 – “October Swimmer”

Bryan Lee-O’Malley

And so I present to you a selection of particularly interesting or entertaining links culled from the veritable ocean of Pilgrim-related articles, interviews, videos, games and online tchotchke related to the film. Or at least the ones I found. There’s this About.com interview with series creator Bryan Lee-O’Malley, these The Los Angeles Times and AV Club conversations with film director Edgar Wright, this The Toronto Star interview both Wright and star Michael Cera, this series overview for newbs from The Globe & Mail, this collection of fake Lucas Lee movie posters, this MTV cast interview video at their Lee’s Palace soundstage (with an explanation of why they didn’t use the real Lee’s as a set), this Newsarama interview with various cast members and this other Los Angeles Times piece interviewing music supervisor Nigel Godrich and contributor Beck about putting together the music for the film.

Advance reviews of the film are pretty good but I’m sure once you adjust for geekdom, it’s awesome. I will have to wait a while to see for myself, though, as other engagements will keep me from making it to a theatre probably until Monday or Tuesday. But to hold me over, I re-read the whole series last night and have this fascinating interactive trailer, this brilliant trailer assembled from frames of the comic, this video of Jason Schwartzman and Michael Cera doing the weather for an Atlanta news broadcast and as the domino that will finally get me to perhaps get a modern video game system (or at least borrow one for a while), the video game trailer. And both the soundtrack and original score of the film are available to stream in their entirety at Spinner.

Stream: Scott Pilgrim Vs The World Original Soundtrack
Stream: Scott Pilgrim Vs The World Original Score

Bradley’s Almanac is sharing a recording of Arcade Fire’s show in Boston a couple weeks ago while Zoilus has posted a transcript of an interview with Win Butler. They play the Toronto Islands this coming Saturday, and congratulations to the band on scoring #1 records in the Canada, the UK and USA.

Owen Pallett will release a new EP on 10″ come September 28 – details on A Swedish Love Story available at Domino Records.

Movie Entertainment profiles celebrity Basia Bulat while The Edmonton Journal finds out about her next project. She’s at the Phoenix on October 26.

Prefix interviews Stars, who will be setting up at Massey Hall on October 23.

PopMatters asks 20 questions of Tokyo Police Club, who will be opening up for Phoenix at the Ricoh Coliseum on October 26.

Paste talks to Liz Powell of Land Of Talk, whose new one Cloak And Cipher is out next week. They’re at Lee’s Palace on September 16.

American Songwriter profiles American songwriter Samantha Crain. She’s at the Horseshoe on September 26.

Spinner inquires about The Thermals’ Personal Life. It’s out September 7 and they follow it with a show at Lee’s Palace on October 9.

Daytrotter has posted a session with First Aid Kit and another with Ferraby Lionheart, who will be opening up for them at the El Mocambo on October 15.

The first video from Grinderman’s Grinderman 2 is out and yes, it’s 100% ridiculous. Grinderman 2 is out September 14 and they play the Phoenix on November 11.

Video: Grinderman – “Heathen Child”

Kate Nash, having played the deliberately undersized Mod Club back in April, brings her second album My Best Friend Is You back to town for a show at the Phoenix on November 13 as part of an extensive Fall tour. The Sydney Morning Herald has an interview.

Video: Kate Nash – “Do Wah Do”

The Cribs have just released a new video for a non-album single entitled “Housewife”.

Video: The Cribs – “Housewife”

This Is Fake DIY has got an acoustic session with Sky Larkin and The Yorkshire Evening Post an interview.

Blurt has a feature piece on The Wedding Present.

@superchunkband

Sporadic one-off live shows kept the flame alive but it wasn’t until last Spring when the Leaves In The Gutter EP arrived that the notion of Superchunk as an ongoing proposition begane to feel very real. And while it wasn’t an immediate precursor to a new full-length, Superchunk have finally put a date to the release of their ninth album and first in nine years – Majesty Shredding will be released on September 14 and the world will be a better place for it. Pitchfork has the salient details such as track listing and album art and a handful of Fall tour dates which do not, at present include anything north of the border. This is slightly less of an imperative for me as I finally got to see Superchunk live back at SxSW – a short set but one that completely affirmed that the ‘Chunk could still rock and pogo with the best of them – but I would still love to see them in a proper setting with a full set.

To be fair though, the band have put in more than their share of time on the road over the years and it’s not their fault i missed them all – if a visit to Toronto isn’t in the works then I will happily make do with playing the new album to death. And until that comes out, there’s this teaser video previewing some of the songs and showing scenes from the making of the record. And since you can only loop a one-minute video so many times before going batty, there’s last year’s comeback EP to enjoy. And oh yeah, a decade plus’ worth of albums and singles before that. Ohhhh Superchunk, welcome back.

MP3: Superchunk – “Misfits & Mistakes”
Stream: Superchunk / Leaves In The Gutter

The Toronto Star, eye and NOW prepare to welcome The National to town for their two shows at Massey Hall next week, June 8 and 9.

The Antlers, opening up both of those National shows, turn in a Black Cab Session. CMU also has an interview.

Spinner talks to Joe Pernice about the new Goodbye, Killer, due out June 15.

Clash talks to Robert Been of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

The new Christina Hendricks-powered video from Broken Bells is now available to watch. There’s an interview with James Mercer at The Boston Globe.

Video: Broken Bells – “The Ghost Inside”

Both The Dodos and Pixies are giving away live (digital) records on their websites in exchange for your email. The Dodos are at the Sound Academy on June 15 opening up for The New Pornographers; Pixies are not.

The Wall Street Journal and Huffington Post talk to Ben Bridwell and Liverpool Echo to Tyler Ramsey of Band Of Horses, who’ve just released a new video from Infinite Arms. They’re playing the Toronto Island Concert on June 19.

Video: Band Of Horses – “For Annabelle”

Carissa’s Weird, the Seattle band from whose ashes rose Band Of Horses, Grand Archives, Sera Cahoone amongst others, is releasing a retrospective collection entitled They Only Miss You When You Leave: Songs 1996-2003 on July 13.

MP3: Carissa’s Weird – “Die”

Phantogram return to town for a show at Wrongbar on July 8, tickets $14.50 in advance. You may wonder how good a two-piece electro-rock band could be live, and the answer is very good. Donewaiting is hosting a video session with the band, if you need more convincing.

MP3: Phantogram – “When I’m Small”
Video: Phantogram – “Mouthful Of Diamonds”

NYC Taper is sharing a live recording of The Depreciation Guild.

Four Tet will hit the road this Fall in support of new record There Is Love In You and stop in at the Mod Club on October 20.

The Music Slut asks eight questions of Mogwai’s Barry Burns. Their Burning/Special Moves live DVD and CD will be out on August 24.

Bandstand Busking invites The Twilight Sad to play one of their bandstand sessions. The Twilight Sad agree. The Washington Examiner and Nashville Scene also have interviews.

The Scenestar talks to Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison.

To all who asked – presale tickets for Belle & Sebastian’s October 12 show at Massey Hall will go on sale at 10AM next Wednesday, June 9 – password/instructions will be posted at www.collectiveconcerts.com. Prices range from $57.50 for premium floors/balcony to $47.50 for rear floors and centre gallery to $39.50 for side gallery, plus fees.

For Folk’s Sake and Gigwise interview Johnny Flynn about his new record Been Listening, out June 7.

Interview gets to know Peggy Sue. Their debut full-length Fossils & Other Phantoms came out this week and they’re at Sneaky Dee’s on June 13 to support.

Kate Nash has released a new video from My Best Friend Is You.

Video: Kate Nash – “Kiss That Grrrl”

The Line Of Best Fit talks to Richard Hawley, whose False Lights From The Land EP is out next week.

Kele talks to BBC about going solo with The Boxer, out June 21. He’s at the Mod Club on July 29.

The Phoenix has an extensive feature on Robyn Hitchcock, who has two intimate shows at the Drake Underground next week on June 11 and 12.

Paul McCartney – yeah, THAT guy – will be at the Air Canada Centre on August 8. Tickets will cost far too much yet still be easily rationalized.

And while pretty much obvious what with the radio silence all the way into June, it’s been made official that Virgin Festival Canada is taking 2010 off to regroup and hopefully come back next year.