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There’s no way that labels like those could herald anything less than grandiose ambitions, so the question is really whether the 21-year old Newcastle-Upon-Tyne native who gives the band their name can deliver on them. And the answer is an unequivocal, “yes”. Nature has given Houghton not only a richly smoky voice and operatic range, but a tremendously vivid imagination upon which to draw on for her songwriting. All these gifts are combined to impressive effect on Cellophane Nose, which is by turns whimsical and dramatic, dark and technicolour and enchanting throughout.

Houghton’s roots as a folkish/singer-songwriter are perceptible in the record’s quieter moments, but more often they take a backseat to the ornate, often baroque-ish arrangements that adorn everything. By rights they should be overpowering, even with veteran producer Ben Hillier on hand to keep things on track; a case of too much too soon for an artist let loose in the sonic costume shop filled with horns, strings, choirs and harpsichords. And yet, rather than collapsing under the weight of it all, Cellophane Nose finds Houghton not only standing straight and tall in all her finery, but galloping off towards greater things. Hooves of destiny, indeed.

DIY and The Quietus have interviews with Beth Jeans Houghton.

MP3: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny – “Dodecahedron”
Video: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny – “Sweet Tooth Bird”
Video: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny – “Liliputt”
Video: Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny – “Dodecahedron”

NPR is streaming the whole of the new Field Music LP Plumb, ahead of its release next week. MusicOhm also has an interview with the David half of the Brewis brothers.

MP3: Field Music – “A New Town”
Stream: Field Music / Plumb

Though The Big Pink’s second album Future This has been out a few weeks now, the band has only now made a track from it available to download. So download it. And read these interviews with Milo Cordell at The Skinny and The Province.

MP3: The Big Pink – “Give It Up”

The video for M.I.A.’s new single surfaced last week, just in time for her appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show this weekend. It’s her video that’s got everyone talking, right? Right?

Video: M.I.A. – “Bad Girls”

The Line Of Best Fit welcomes Lianne La Havas for a video session; her debut album is due out in the Spring, to be preceded by the Forget EP on March 6 in North America.

Video: Lianne La Havas – “Forget”

Daytrotter sessions up with Anna Calvi.

The 405 enlists Summer Camp’s Elizabeth Sankey as an advice columnist.

A Heart Is A Spade and STV have interviews with The Twilight Sad and Le Blogotheque offers up a Take-Away Show with the band. No One Can Ever Know is out today and they’re at Lee’s Palace on February 29.

Band Of Skulls will follow up the release of Sweet Sour next week with a North American tour that hits Lee’s Palace on May 15, and if you can’t wait that long they’re also at The Phoenix on March 30 opening for We Are Augustines. The band takes Gigwise and Spin through the new record track-by-track, with Spin also offering a stream of the whole thing. And over at The Independent, bassist Emma Richardson talks about her painting.

MP3: Band Of Skulls – “Sweet Sour”
MP3: Band Of Skulls – “The Devil Takes Care Of His Own”
Video: Band Of Skulls – “Sweet Sour”
Stream: Band Of Skulls / Sweet Sour

Ca Va Cool caught up with Los Campesinos! on their recent Canadian tour for an interview.

In conversation with The Daily Mail, Noel Gallagher reveals he thought that the Iron Lady was great. No, not the movie.

Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye sounds off to The Daily Mail about fashion, fitness and family.

The Quietus talks to XTC’s Andy Partridge about the making of English Settlement.

Dose gets to know First Aid Kit, in town at The Great Hall on April 4.

The video for the first single from Ladyhawke’s forthcoming Anxiety is now out. The album arrives March 27 in North America.

Video: Ladyhawke – “Black White & Blue”

Neil Thomas Douglas

Firstly, We Were Promised Jetpacks have finally scheduled a second North American tour in support of last year’s In The Pit Of The Stomach; they did a leg of touring Stateside in the later part of the year but routing didn’t bring them up through town that time. This time, they’ve got an April 27 date at Lee’s Palace, with advance tickets running you $15 in advance. I wasn’t quite bowled over with their 2009 debut These Four Walls, but am on record as saying that Stomach shows some pretty significant artistic growth. And their live shows have always been good, loud and intense so yeah. Mark this one down.

MP3: We Were Promised Jetpacks – “Act On Impulse”
Video: We Were Promised Jetpacks – “Human Error”

Meanwhile, labelmates and countrymen The Twilight Sad continue to ramp up to the February 7 release of their new record No One Can Ever Know. They’ve released a second video from the record and there’s also an interview with frontman James Graham and guitarist Andy MacFarlane at The Spill. They’ll be at Lee’s Palace on February 29.

Video: The Twilight Sad – “Another Bed”

Exclaim reports that Belle & Sebastian are will be curating a second Late Night Tales compilation which, in addition to including tracks selected by the band, will include a cover of the Scots covering The Primitives’ “Crash”. That’s one to file under, “worth the price of admission”. It’s out March 26 and will hopefully keep fans appeased while Stuart Murdoch continues to round up funding for his God Help The Girl film project.

No Ripcord interviews Allo Darlin’, whose second album Europe will be out in April.

Florence & The Machine has released another new video from Ceremonials. Florence Welch talked to MTV about her staging plans for their just-announced US tour, which doesn’t have a local date. I’m genuinely curious where she’ll play (and how much it’ll cost) when she eventually winds her way up to Canada – I’m guessing Air Canada Centre, even if just theatre mode, but wouldn’t be shocked if they went for the whole hog. Anyways.

Video: Florence & The Machine – “Lover To Lover”

There’s a new Laura Marling video taken from A Creature I Don’t Know, and a clip for a live reading of “Night After Night” has also surfaced.

Video: Laura Marling – “I Was Just A Card”
Video: Laura Marling – “Night After Night” (live)

They Shoot Music goes hunting for Wild Beasts and finally corner them in a Copenhagen freight elevator. Video ensues.

Drowned In Sound meets Metronomy, who have a date at The Hoxton on April 2.

DIY reports that Brighton’s Blood Red Shoes have set a March 26 release date for their new record In Time To Voices. Steve Ansell – the non-guitar half of the duo – penned a piece for Drowned In Sound about the state of guitar music in the UK right now.

If it seemed like Arctic Monkeys have been releasing a tonne of videos from Suck It And See, well they have. And now they’ve released a clip for the b-side from the forthcoming “Black Treacle” single, a tune which features vocals from the inimitable Richard Hawley.

Video: Arctic Monkeys – “You & I” (featuring Richard Hawley)

The Guardian reports that Saint Etienne are giving away a track from their first new album in seven years via their website in exchange for your personal details. Word is the album will be entitled Words and Music by Saint Etienne, no word on release date.

Stream: Saint Etienne – “Tonight”

Richard Thompson talks to Billboard about his plans for his next album, which will be electric, recorded in a trio format and probably be out before the end of the year.

Kate Bush has released a new animated video from 50 Words For Snow.

Video: Kate Bush – “Elder Falls At Lake Tahoe”

The Psychedelic Furs have made a date at Lee’s Palace for March 29, tickets $36.50 in advance.

Video: The Psychedelic Furs – “Love My Way”

Fanfarlo are paving the road to the February 28 release of Rooms Filled With Light with the release of a series of live session videos of songs from the record. The first is for the lead single from the record. They’re at The Mod Club on March 24.

Video: Fanfarlo – “Shiny Things” (live session)

The Line Of Best Fit has premiered a track from The Mary Onettes’ forthcoming Love Forever EP, due out February 28.

MP3: The Mary Onettes – “Love’s Taking Strange Ways”

Australians The Jezabels have made a headlining date for The Mod Club on April 18; tickets are $15.50 in advance.

MP3: The Jezabels – “Try Colour”

Just a week after wondering when that first single would show up, DIY points to a stream of the first taste of Ladyhawke’s Anxiety. The US release date for the record has now been pushed back a week to March 27.

Stream: Ladyhawke – “Black, White & Blue”

Ladyhawkemusic.com

There’s no preview track or advance single yet – “Black, White and Blue” will be released on February 19 – so at the moment, the only taste of Anxiety available is the trailer below, and I dunno, don’t I hear synths in there? Hmm. Oh, and if the trailer doesn’t work in the streaming player thing, click through on it to watch directly on YouTube. There’s also a collaboration with Tim Burgess of The Charlatans entitled “Just One Kiss” that will see the light of day at some point, though it doesn’t appear to be on the official tracklist so maybe it will be a non-album single. NME also talked to Burgess late last year about that tune.

Trailer: Ladyhawke / Anxiety

The new single from Loney Dear’s gorgeous Hall Music is available to both watch and download. Do both.

MP3: Loney Dear – “Loney Blues”
Video: Loney Dear – “Loney Blues”

The Line Of Best Fit has a video session with First Aid Kit as they ramp up to the January 24 release of The Lion’s Roar. They’ll play The Great Hall on April 4.

Having had to cancel their North American tour last Fall, The Boxer Rebellion are trying again and have set a course that includes a May 2 date at The Mod Club, tickets $18.50.

MP3: The Boxer Rebellion – “No Harm”

The Big Takeover talks to Greg Hughes of Still Corners.

Why should you care who Lightships is? Because it’s the solo project of Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love. There’s details on the project at the Fannies website and there’s a video for the first single from the debut album Electric Cable, out April 2.

Video: Lightships – “Two Lines”

Artrocker reports that Suede are releasing a live CD/DVD of their reunion show at the Royal Albert Hall last Spring, set for release on the second anniversary of the show on March 24. And while Brett Anderson confirmed to BBC6 that the band are recording new material, he also reiterated his position that unless the new songs are up to snuff, they won’t see the light of day.

Drowned In Sound interviews The Horrors.

Sky Larkin have posted an update on what they’ve been up to lately – hoping for something new in 2012 – and also posted the final video they’ll be releasing from 2010′s Kaleide.

Video: Sky Larkin – “Tiny Heist”

The National Post chats with Milo Cordell of The Big Pink while news.com.au gets some of Robbie Furze’s time.

We knew it was called Valentina and would be arriving in March, but The Wedding Present have finally announced details about the new record, which will be out as of March 20 – just in time for their March 25 visit to The Horseshoe.

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But the record is finally done and according to the press release from Domino (their new European home to go with Fat Possum Stateside), it’s Pierce’s tribute to old school rock’n'roll in the spirit of The Beach Boys and Chuck Berry. I can only hope it turned out better than their last stab at raw rock as Amazing Grace is the go-to Spiritualized album for precisely no one.

The Guardian has an audio interview with Jason Pierce about the making of the new record and also a live video of the album’s leadoff track, recorded last weekend at the Other Voices festival.

Video: Spiritualized – “Hey Jane” (live at Other Voices)

Also at Other Voices and recorded by The Guardian were Wild Beasts, whose entire set is available to watch.

Exclaim reports that Tindersticks have confirmed details of their new record: The Something Rain will be out on February 21 and a stream and video for the first single from the album are available now.

Stream: Tindersticks – “Medicine”
Video: Tindersticks – “Medicine”

DIY talks to Veronica Falls frontwoman Roxanne Clifford about their plans for following up a pretty swell 2011; plans which include a February 14 date at The Garrison in Toronto.

SYFFAL – yes, it’s an acronym – has words with Charles and Rebecca of Slow Club.

In conversation with The Creator’s Project, Jamie xx says that the new xx album should be done and out in time for the Summer festival season, which is to say the front half of 2012.

The Leeds Guide speaks briefly with David Gedge of The Wedding Present, in town at The Horseshoe on March 25.

Alex James tells NME that Blur are planning a holiday get-together and in addition to exchanging gifts and drinking egg nog, they may well do some recording.

Emmy The Great ponders to The Daily Star why there are so many indie Christmas albums being released this year, including her own.

Kaiser Chiefs are still around and Under The Radar reports they’re following this Summer’s The Future Is Medieval with a new album less than a year later in Start the Revolution Without Me, out March 6. The first MP3 is available to download at RCRDLBL – also still around – and they’ll be at The Phoenix on April 17.

Video: Kaiser Chiefs – “Little Shocks”

Coldplay are at the Air Canada Centre on July 23. Last time they were here in 2009 it was the Rogers Centre; stadium band to arena band, oh the indignity.

Video: Coldplay – “Paradise”

The Line Of Best Fit and The Edinburgh Journal talk to James Graham of The Twilight Sad, whose new record No One Can Ever Know is out on February 7.

Exclaim gathers five bits of Stone Roses trivia for your enjoyment.

Cat’s Eyes, the debut album from Cat’s Eyes, continues to yield new videos. Like this one.

Video: Cat’s Eyes – “The Best Person I Know”

As is usually the case when a band with a breakout album does a tour of woefully undersized venues that are sold the hell out, M83 has announced a Spring tour that brings the French electro-gaze act back to town for a show at the Sound Academy on May 6, tickets $25 in advance. And while normally I wouldn’t bother hitting a second show for the same album having just seen them last month, I’ll definitely be there. Why? I Break Horses are opening the whole tour. I love I Break Horses, and their debut Hearts. How much? I’ll tell you next week.

MP3: I Break Horses – “Winter Beats”
Video: M83 – “Midnight City”

Cheers to Ja Ja Ja for finding and posting this live Loney Dear studio performance of “D Major”.

The Raveonettes are marking the holidays with a new video for the cryptically-titled “Christmas Song”.

Video: The Raveonettes – “The Christmas Song”

The Jonsi-scored soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s latest film We Bought A Zoo is now up to stream at Rolling Stone.

Stream: We Bought A Zoo original soundtrack

NPR has posted a KEXP session from Icelandic merrymakers Of Monsters & Men. Their first North American release will be the digital Into The Woods EP on December 20, followed by a domestic issue of My Head Is An Animal in the Spring.

Australia’s Gotye has a date at The Phoenix on March 31.

Video: Gotye – “Bronte”

Interview talks to Hayley Mary, lead singer of The Jezabels.

NME reports that the long-awaited (by me, anyways) second Ladyhawke album will have a title of Anxiety and release date of March 19. And they’ve got some video of Pip Brown at work on said record.

Gunnar Bjorling

This reductive one-liner approach isn’t intended to be dismissive because though I may poke fun at them for wearing their influences on their sleeves, they wear them like goddamn supermodels. Islands brims with grandly romantic songs built on shimmering guitar figures, swelling synths and soaring melodies and tempered by the distinctive Scandinavian melancholy that makes the best Swedish pop so delectable. Some of the numbers drift by, well-meaning if a touch anonymous, but the hits are bullseyes, particularly if you’ve a weak spot as I do for the sounds and styles that are their primary inspirations – “Puzzles” and “God Knows I Had Plans”, in particular, are clean sniper head-shots of awesome.

Frustratingly, like most of their labelmates, The Mary Onettes aren’t given to a lot of touring on this side of the Atlantic – they just wrapped a four-date jaunt in the eastern US which got some high profile attention but probably won’t be a precursor to more extensive visits in the future. I still maintain that a Labrador traveling caravan tour across North America with a pile of their bands on the bill would… probably lose a tonne of money, but certainly make for some great music.

Strange Glue has a song-by-song walkthrough of Islands from frontman Phillip Ekstrom. RCRDLBL has a second MP3 from the album available to download.

MP3: The Mary Onettes – “Puzzles”
Video: The Mary Onettes – “Puzzles”
MySpace: The Mary Onettes

Coincidentally, labelmates Sambassadeur – whose one-line mandate could be “twee-folk Camera Obscura meets orch-pop Camera Obscura sometime in the ’80s” – have gotten a new record ready for a January 2010 release. The first MP3 from European is available to grab below.

MP3: Sambassadeur – “Days”

Norwegian shoegaze/drone merchants Serena-Maneesh return after a five-year hiatus with a new album on 4AD in March 2010. I think I liked these guys alright – I recall their live shows were ridiculous but honestly, it’s been so long, I don’t remember.

Video: Serena-Maneesh – “Drain Cosmetics”
Video: Serena-Maneesh – “Sapphire Eyes”

Though Editors won’t release their new album In This Light And On This Evening doesn’t get a North American release until January 19 of the new year, that’s not stopping the PR engine over here from getting started – Spin talks to frontman Tom Smith about the title track of the album while Spinner is streaming the whole record for a week.

Stream: Editors / In This Light And On This Evening

The Guardian has the premiere of the new Patrick Wolf video from The Bachelor, presumably the last single because 2010 is supposed to be the year of the sequel, The Conqueror! Pedestrian.tv has an inerview with Wolf.

Video: Patrick Wolf – “Damaris”

Spinner goes behind the scenes of the latest Ladyhawke video for “Magic”. She talks to WA Today about the confusion/controversy arising from different countries wanting to lay claim to her success (born in New Zealand, started her music in Australia, now resides in Britain).

Video: Ladyhawke – “Magic”

I had to stop ragging on Joe Pernice for never playing any local shows since becoming a Toronto resident after his wonderful Dakota Tavern show in September and it seems the return to live local performance has stuck. Joe will be performing at the Music Gallery on Wednesday night along with D-Sisive and The Reveries as part of “Songs For Jesse Presley”, an art project named for Elvis Presley’s stillborn twin brother and co-presented by Zoilus, who has more information on the show.

The AV Club talks to The Swell Season’s Glen Hansard.

Some of you who’ve been visiting a while may recall a few years ago, I auctioned off a copy of Emily Haines’ super-rare first solo record Cut In Half And Also Double as a fundraising effort for Pat Spurgeon, drummer of Rogue Wave, who needed a kidney transplant. Not that Metric or Rogue Wave had anything in common, but it was the most potentially valuable music-related thing that I didn’t have any need to keep. I consider the efforts a success, netting $177.50 USD, and Spurgeon eventually had the necessary transplant and is feeling much better now. And he’s also the subject of a documentary film called D Tour, which follows Spurgeon in his search for a suitable transplant while continuing to live the rock’n'roll dream.

Trailer: D Tour

Brian Taborello

Season two of Flight Of The Conchords ended exponentially stronger than it started (which was pretty weak) and so the resulting second album I Told You I Was Freaky – out October 20 – should have a healthy quotient of parodic hilarity. Don’t know if there’s anything quite on the level of genius of “Inner City Pressure”, “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros” or “Foux du Fafa”, but “Sugalumps”, available to download below, was pretty great and “Too Many Dicks On The Dance Floor” is pure Gondry gold.

And further, Eugene Mirman – who plays landlord Eugene on Flight Of The Conchords – also has a new album out in God Is A 12-Year Old Boy With Aspbergers. It’s a straight stand-up recording and is chock full of LOL and LULZ moments, though I don’t think a bear was actually heckling as heard in the sample MP3. It’s out on Tuesday.

And that photo is pretty funny, too. Look, Jemaine is trying to bribe some miniature toy policemen. And he and Bret are also miniature!

MP3: Flight Of The Conchords – “Sugalumps”
MP3: Eugene Mirman – “Vancouver, Detroit & Bears”
Video: Flight Of The Conchords – “Sugalumps”

And oh yeah, David Cross is in town for two shows at the Queen Elizabeth theatre tonight, early and late. He’s labelmates with FOTC and Eugene Mirman so I thought I’d throw that in there. There’s interviews with Cross at eye and The Pitch.

MP3: David Cross – “Certain Leaders in Government Look or Act Like Certian Pop Culture References”
MP3: David Cross – “My Wife’s Crazy!”

Sentimentalist talks to A Place To Bury Strangers about their new record Exploding Head, out next Tuesday. Look for them at the Mod Club on October 27.

Asobi Seksu are offering tastes of their two new releases – a video for the title track of their “Transparence” 10″ single and an MP3 of the Hope Sandoval cover from their acoustic Rewolf album, due out November 10. The latter should give a sense of what to expect when they play the Horseshoe on October 13. There’s also an interview with the band at The Georgia Straight.

MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Suzanne”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Transparence”

Hope Sandoval will herself be in town next week, with a show at the Mod Club on October 7. Interview has an interview.

I’m not usually one for posting remixes but this xx re-imagining of Florence & The Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love” is more cover than remix, with the young London outfit basically replacing all of the original with their own recorded tracks and vocals, saving only a bit of Florence for the chorus. Of course, Florence’s version is itself a cover of Candi Staton, so… yeah. Florence is at the Mod Club on November 2 while The xx are at the Phoenix on December 2. The Times has an interview with the latter.

MP3: Florence & The Machine – “You’ve Got The Love” (xx remix)

The Joy Formidable are giving away a new song via last.fm which is just about as good as anything on their superb A Balloon Called Moaning mini-album. They’re also putting out a limited-edition live CD entitled First You have To Get Mad, recorded this past Wednesday night (!) in London – it’s officially released on November 16.

MP3: The Joy Formidable – “Greyhounds In The Slips”

eMusic, The List, The Skinny and MusicOmh interview The Big Pink. They’ve a date at Lee’s Palace on November 29.

Clash interviews Editors. In This Light and On This Evening is out next week.

NME reports that Elbow are re-issuing their 2001 debut Asleep In The Back on October 26 enhanced with a second disc of bonus and live tracks and a DVD. I’ve fallen in love with all of their subsequent records but their debut still leaves me unmoved. I doubt this edition will change that, and I’m okay with that.

Mum have premiered a new video for the sort-of title track from Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know over at Stereogum. They play the Phoenix on October 27.

Video: Mum – “Sing Along”

Ladyhawke has released a new video. The San Francisco Examiner has an interview.

Video: Ladyhawke – “Magic”

Built To Spill are streaming their new record There Is No Enemy at their MySpace in advance of next Tuesday’s release date. They’ve got two dates at Lee’s Palace on October 6 and 7.

Stream: Built To Spill / There Is No Enemy

St. Vicent’s Annie Clark talks to Pitchfork about her contributions to the new Twilight soundtrack.

An MP3 from the Alela Diane EP Alela & Alina – out Tuesday – is now up for grabs. She plays the Horseshoe on October 16.

MP3: Alela Diane with Alina Hardin – “Bowling Green”

Canadian Interviews talks to Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers.

Though he’s in town on Monday at the Mod Club opening up for Bob Mould, Miles Anthony Benjamin Robinson has already scheduled a return engagement for after his new album Summer Of Fear is released on October 20. He’ll be at the Drake Underground on November 17 with These United States, who themselves have a new record out in Everything Touches Everything.

MP3: Miles Anthony Benjamin Robinson – “The Sound”
MP3: These United States – “I Want You To Keep Everything”

Luxury Wafers interviews Matthew Clark of White Rabbits. They’re at the Horseshoe on October 24.

And the Malajube show originally scheduled for that date at the ‘Shoe has been postponed to November 26.

Decider chats with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

Wye Oak are the subject of feature pieces at Slap Magazine, LAist and Honest Tune.

Exclaim talks to Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance of Merge Records.

Frank Yang

Any degree of schadenfreude, however, was tempered by the fact that the lineup was now down one good headliner – I’ll just add this to the ongoing list of Ida Maria near misses (two cancelled SxSW appearances in March due to visa issues and her dropping off the Glasvegas tour early in April – and it was really the people who were going to show who were losing out. I was still committed to attend thanks to the continued presence of Ladyhawke on the bill. Semi Precious Weapons also remained in the lineup and the Toronto bill was rounded by a couple of hometown acts, Woodhands and Anjulie.

Anjulie I knew from the posters for V Fest, where she’d been one of the Radio stage performers, and that was enough to make me think I wasn’t going to be particularly interested in her. And no, while urban/r&b pop is not my thing, there’s no discounting that this girl is good at it – great voice, great look and thankfully not given to oversinging or the diva hand, and a #1 Billboard single to boot. Playing with a tight band and backing singers, she delivered a short but varied set covering a good range of styles and had enough old-school Motown and soul nods to please, which still sounding wholly contemporary. Hometown girl done good, indeed.

So while I kind of suspect Anjulie would have been a special guest whether Ida Maria had been on the bill or not, Woodhands were almost certainly an eleventh-hour addition to fill out the bill. And while a Perez Hilton show might seem a weird place for the local indie synth-rock heroes to show up, sonically they actually fit in quite well with the sort of dancey pop theme of the evening/tour – big beats, fat synths and frantic and fun delivery from Dan Werb. Though they’ve got a reputation as one of the most enjoyable live acts in the city, I’d never actually seen them in full, plugged-in fashion before and now that I have? I’ll give ‘em the thumbs up.

The audience had been slowly filling in through the evening and while not nearly sold-out – I would put attendance at around 450 tops, and that includes the local acts’ probably-sizeable guest lists – it was pretty jammed up near the front for Semi Precious Weapons and why not? This was the first act of the night that the people would have actually paid to come and see (besides Hilton himself, who was not in attendance. Instead, we got weird little video-screen introductions with him looking like Max Headroom). Which went well with the Perez-curated video clips that constituted the between set music, giving me a look at top-40 music that I really didn’t need. Anyways.

I’d been told that if nothing else, Semi Precious Weapons were fun to photograph and yeah, they would have been if the entire night hadn’t been defined by horrid backlighting that made getting anything decent pretty much impossible. Which meant that I head to enjoy them on their musical merits which, I have to saw, were few. They offer transgressive glam-rock for the mall-punk set, which basically means a lot of swearing and sophomoric pottymouth banter about boobs, sex and general self-aggrandizing interspersed with high-energy if unremarkable rock songs and shout-along choruses, all delivered with over the top costumes and on-stage antics. If that sounds specifically formulated to get a response, that’s because it is and it does. This isn’t to say it wasn’t entertaining and the excitement elicited from the crowd a real boost to the evening’s energy, but not necessarily something I need to see or hear again.

Unsurprisingly, the crowd did thin out some following Semi Precious Weapons but it was still a decent-sized and enthusiastic audience on hand to welcome Pip Brown for her first Toronto appearance – and hey, less people means more room on the floor to dance. I had seen her play at SxSW and while the quality of the tunes from her self-titled debut – recently re-released with more goodies – were unimpeachable (if you like hook-laden, ’80s-flavoured synth-rock), the performance itself was generally workmanlike and not especially noteworthy and as such, my expectations weren’t the highest. It was a pleasant surprise, then, to see that Brown has upped her game in the live setting or perhaps that night at Stubb’s had been an off one – either way, her show this time out was much better. It’s hard to quantify how or why, exactly – she’s still not the most animated or charismatic performer – but she seemed much more comfortable on stage and that looseness carried over into the music. Delivered by a five-piece band, the Ladyhawke material sounded much more guitar guitar-driven live than on album – all the necessary synth parts were accounted for, but the guitars were louder and rawer. They dished out all the singles and “up” tracks from the record plus an old b-side for about 50 minutes of pop bliss. Never mind the sponsor, never mind the circus, this show was Ladyhawke’s show and it was great.

There’s a review at ChartAttack. City Sonic has a video feature on Woodhands and the Don Valley Brickworks, site of one of their most memorable – and illegal – gigs. Long way from that to Perez Presents.

Photos: Ladyhawke, Semi Precious Weapons, Woodhands, Anjulie @ The Opera House – September 17, 2009
MP3: Ladyhawke – “My Delirium”
MP3: Semi Precious Weapons – “Semi Precious Weapons”
MP3: Woodhands – “Dancer”
MP3: Woodhands – “I Wasn’t Made For Fighting”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Paris Is Burning”
Video: Ladyhawke – “My Delirium”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Dusk Till Dawn”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Back Of The Van”
Video: Semi Precious Weapons – “Magnetic Baby”
Video: Semi Precious Weapons – “Rock N Roll Never Looked So Beautiful”
Video: Semi Precious Weapons – “Her Hair Is On Fire”
Video: Semi Precious Weapons – “Semi Precious Weapons”
Video: Woodhands – “I Wasn’t Made For Fighting”
Video: Anjulie – “Boom”
Video: Anjulie – “Love Songs”
Video: Anjulie – “Day Will Come Soon”
MySpace: Ladyhawke
MySpace: Semi Precious Weapons
MySpace: Woodhands
MySpace: Anjulie

Aussies The Temper Trap, finally turning some early-year buzz into success thanks to (500) Days Of Summer, will be in town for a free show at the Horseshoe on October 20.

Video: The Temper Trap – “Science Of Fear”
Video: The Temper Trap – “Sweet Disposition”

Also free at the ‘Shoe the following week – October 27 – is Seattle garage rock outfit The Blakes, whose new record Souvenir is out October 13. Check out a track from the new record courtesy of Under The Radar.

MP3: The Blakes – “Ramshackle Hearse”

It’ll be an east-meets-west thing at the Horsesehoe on November 5 as Victoria’s Immaculate Machine meet up with Halifax’s Dog Day, tickets $10.

MP3: Dog Day – “Rome”
MP3: Immaculate Machine – “Sound The Alarms”

Patrick Watson has a date at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on December 12, where he probably hopes to be introduced as “two-time and current Polaris Music Prize winner”.

Which segues nicely into the fact that the Polaris Prize is being awarded tonight. Exclaim ran a feature last week wherein the examined the possible gender and geographic biases that exist within the jury, though I have to say that as a Toronto-based male, I don’t see what all the hubub is about. Har Har. Oh, I am also the latest (last?) subject of the “Better Know A Juror” feature on the Polaris website. Read it and know my most innermost thoughts and feelings. So let’s talk about your feelings. Who do you think will win? Should win?

Frank Yang

Well it may have come a little later than expected but Monday night’s show at Wrongbar in Toronto – the first of her North American tour – could well have been mistaken for one. You’d have had trouble finding anyone in the packed, sweaty club who wasn’t ready to declare the pint-sized electro-pop artist the greatest thing to happen to music since the invention of the Victrola. Okay, perhaps that’s a bit of an overstatement but people were indeed excited and anxious. And as the wait dragged on, restless and bored.

Openers Yes Giantess from Boston had done a decent job of warming things up. Collegiate-looking and casually dressed in t-shirts and plaid shirts, the quartet looked like they should be strapping on guitars and playing disaffected garage rock but instead, they were three keyboards and a drummer and turned out punchy, catchy synth-pop that offered more enthusiasm than sophistication but was enjoyable nonetheless. Over the course of their short set – barely a half hour if even that – the club had begun to fill in nicely and as they loaded out, the room began to pack in.

Exactly why it took an hour to set up the stage for a three-piece band, two-thirds of which were synths, is unclear, but as the clock ticked past 11:30 – half an hour past the scheduled start time – the anxiousness was palpable. Surely it wasn’t some ploy to build more anticipation? Does that actually work? Apparently it does. When her band finally took their places and they opened up with “Meddle”, the place went nuts, and didn’t stop for pretty much the duration of her set. Unsurprisingly, she stayed away from the slower numbers from Hands and stuck to the big, anthemic dancefloor bangers and while that made for a shorter set than you may have wanted for the price of admission, there was no skimping on the energy of the show.

Hesketh was pretty much always in motion, dancing and working both sides of the room when not tending to her keyboard, theremin and tambourine. Her signature Tenori-On and Stylophone were also on hand but as with the two previous times I’d seen her play, exactly what they did remained a mystery. She complained that the Tenori-On wasn’t working before the start of main set closer “Remedy” but they went on to play it exactly as I’d have expected it to sound if it was all systems go. Following a short break, they returned for their cover of Freddie Mercury and Giorgio Moroder’s “Love Kills” before going into an extended “Stuck On Repeat” which was as close to a jam as a largely synthesized and sequenced band could get. The only disappointment on the night was “Symmetry”, in which the absence of duet partner Philip Oakey was keenly felt. Both Hesketh’s drummer and keyboardist were mic-ed and tried to cover the boy parts, but were too low in the mix and un-Oakey-ish to properly compensate. But that’s a minor complaint, and was to be expected.

As they proved at SxSW, Little Boots sets a fine example for electro-pop acts hoping to succeed in the live setting – bring a live drummer, a willingness to keep the energy levels dimed for the duration of the show and oh yeah, have some terrific tunes. Worth the wait, and if the reception at the other stops on the tour come close to the one she got in Toronto, critics may want to reconsider writing Little Boots off.

Chartrigger, Time Out Chicago and Time Out Dubai have interviews with Hesketh.

Photos: Little Boots, Yes Giantess @ Wrongbar – September 14, 2009
MP3: Little Boots – “Love Kills” (Buffetlibre vs Sidechains remix)
MP3: Little Boots – “Meddle” (remix)
MP3: Little Boots – “Earthquake” (Yes Giantess remix)
MP3: Yes Giantess – “You Were Young”
Video: Little Boots – “Remedy”
Video: Little Boots – “New In Town”
MySpace: Little Boots
MySpace: Yes Giantess

The Star Observer talks to Elly Jackson of La Roux.

Check out the new video from Glasvegas, who are not making a stop in Toronto on this current Fall tour even though they totally could. There’s an interview with drummer Caroline McKay at JAM.

Video: Glasvegas – “It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry”

PitchforkTV visits DC Comics HQ with Eddie Argos of Art Brut.

The Globe & Mail talks to Nick Cave about his new novel The Death Of Bunny Munro. He’s at the Indigo in the Eaton Centre this evening for a Q&A and reading.

The Grates discus their new record Teeth Lost, Hearts Won – now out in North America – with Blurt.

Paste asks Karen O about her work on the soundtrack for Where The Wild Things Are, the new trailer for which was released this week. The movie is out October 16.

Trailer: Where The Wild Things Are

The Chicago Sun-Times chats with Ida Maria, who apparently had a breakdown of some kind in Boston the other night… here’s hoping she gets it together in time for tomorrow night’s show at the Opera House. Co-headlining that show is Ladyhawke, who is the subject of features at Flavorwire and The Independent. There’s also a remix contest going on over at Filter, where you can have your way with “My Delirium”

Check out the title track from Thao with The Get Down Stay Down’s forthcoming album Know Better Learn Faster, and note that pre-orders of the album – out October 13 – will come with a ticket to a show on their upcoming tour including the November 1 date at the El Mocambo in Toronto.

MP3: Thao With The Get Down Stay Down – “Know Better Learn Faster”

The Daredevil Christopher Wright, whom you may recall from this post, will return for a show at the Free Times Cafe on October 7.

MP3: The Daredevil Christopher Wright – “The East Coast”

Vampire Weekend – who just announced details of their second album Contra, due out January 12 of next year – will preview the new record with a pair of Canadian dates including an October 8 date at the Horseshoe. Word is tickets go on sale tomorrow morning via Ticketmaster only.

MP3: Vampire Weekend – “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa”

Also pending further details is Fucked Up’s fourth annual Fucked Up Fest, happening over Hallowe’en weekend – information on participants and dates at Exclaim.

Florence & The Machine will make their Toronto debut on November 2 at the Mod Club, thus scuppering my plans of seeing Monsters Of Folk make their Toronto debut at Massey Hall that same night. Tough call, but I think I have to go with Flo. And M Ward wouldn’t let me take pictures anyways. Tickets $15.

MP3: Florence & The Machine – “Kiss With A Fist”

The Rural Alberta Advantage have set a date for Lee’s Palace on November 4, tickets $15. Lee’s! They grow up so fast!

Apostle Of Hustle will also be doing a hometown show at Lee’s – look for them on November 19.

MP3: Apostle Of Hustle – “Perfect Fit”

And here’s an interesting/exciting announcement – DEVO is coming to town for the first time in a quarter-century. They’ll be at the Phoenix on November 23 and 24, playing Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are DEVO! and Freedom Of Choice in their entirety, respectively. And there’s no reason to believe the energy domes will not be along for the ride. Tickets will be $48.25 with premium tickets including a meet and greet with the band available for $99.75. Either price tier will get you a bundle of demo MP3s to download. Those will go on sale on September 18.

Video: DEVO – “Whip It!”

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros will be at the El Mocambo on November 24, tickets $12.50. There’s a session with the band at Daytrotter and a Q&A at Denver Westword.

MP3: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – “40 Day Dream”

Their last gig at the Phoenix being such a triumph, Phoenix will return for a show at the Sound Academy on December 5 and to make sure things go just as well as they did that show, they’re even bringing Amazing Baby back to open. Tickets for that are $28.

MP3: Amazing Baby – “Bayonets”
Video: Phoenix – “Lisztomania”

MySpace

And what better way to begin than with a second taste of what is one of my most-anticipated new records of the Autumn – Bonfires On The Heath from The Clientele. It was exciting enough that Stereogum premiered the new MP3 yesterday, but I was over the moon later in the day when a digital promo of the album – not out till October 6 – showed up in my inbox. I’m not gloating, honest.

“Harvest Time” is a slow, sepia swoon bidding farewell to the Summer with the band’s signature tremolo-ed arpeggios and is a fine counterpoint to the jauntier first-released MP3, “I Wonder Who We Are”. Together they’re a good representation of the loveliness that resides behind this also-lovely album cover. Expect further gushing as I immerse myself in the record with further listens, but know that if it’s true this record will be the band’s last, they go out on a true high note.

There will be touring to support, but don’t expect the band on these shores before mid-Winter. Or so I’ve been told.

MP3: The Clientele – “Harvest Time”
MP3: The Clientele – “I Wonder Who We Are”

The Daily Mail gets to know Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. Her debut Lungs is out in North America on October 13.

Spinner and The Wrexham Chronicle talk to Noah & The Whale frontman about the heartache that inspired their second album First Days Of Spring, set for a North American release on October 6. For Folk’s Sake also reports that the band’s drummer and Fink’s brother Doug has left the band to attend medical school.

They Shoot Music filmed an acoustic session with Micachu in Berlin recently. They will be at the El Mocambo on September 29.

LiveDaily has a rather gorgeous black-and-white video session with Fanfarlo.

The Skinny talks to The Twilight Sad. Their second album Forget The Night Ahead is out September 22 and they play The El Mocambo on October 10.

PitchforkTV has been running a Cemetery Gates video session with Camera Obscura all week. See them in the slightly livelier environs of the Phoenix on November 26.

Out chats with Patrick Wolf.

Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch discusses the band’s new record The Fountain, out October 12, with Rolling Stone. They play the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 20 with an orchestral rendition of Ocean Rain and presumably a few more tunes – because that record isn’t all that long. And sad news – former Bunnyman keyboardist Jake Brockman was killed in a traffic accident.

Johnny Marr gives an extensive interview to The Daily Mail about his current projects, his love of guitars and the polite answer to the question of whether there’ll ever be a Smiths reunion. Marr is currently playing with The Cribs, whose new record Ignore The Ignorant, is only going to be available digitally in North America starting next Tuesday. If you want the CD, you’ll have to do the import thing.

Video: The Cribs – “Cheat On Me”

Filter solicits a list of her favourite things from Ladyhawke’s Pip Brown. They also point out that a deluxe edition of her self-titled debut has just been released, featuring five bonus tracks. She’s at the Opera House on September 17.

Entertainment Weekly has premiered a new track from The Raveonettes, whose new album In And Out Of Control is due out on October 6. They play The Phoenix on October 22.

MP3: The Raveonettes – “Last Dance”

Letter To Jane has an interview with Peter Moren of Peter Bjorn & John. They’re at the Phoenix on November 11.

Chartattack chats with the boys of Two Hours Traffic, whose new album Territory is out next Tuesday and who play Lee’s Palace on October 16.

Soundproof talks to Ohbijou’s James Bunton about the Friends In Bellwoods project and community.

Shout Out Out Out Out have scheduled two dates at Wrongbar on October 16 and 17.

MP3: Shout Out Out Out Out – “Bad Choices”

American Songwriter talks to the American songwriters who comprise the Monsters Of Folk while Black Book solicits some of their favourite traveling tunes. Their self-titled debut is out September 22 and they play Massey Hall on November 2.

Soundproof and American Songwriter profile St. Vincent’s Annie Clark.

The Daily Texan talks to Lauren Larson of Ume.

Venice Is Sinking are sharing an MP3 from their forthcoming Okay EP, out September 22 and accurately named as it features the track of that name from their AZAR album and two covers of San Francisco band Okay and rounded out by two more alternate versions of AZAR songs that are better than okay. They band have also raised sufficient funds via Kickstarter to finance their third album.

MP3: Venice Is Sinking – “Compass”
Stream: Venice Is Sinking / Okay

The Bird & The Bee have released a new DLR-saluting video from Ray Guns Are Not Just For The Future.

Video: The Bird & The Bee – “Diamond Dave”

Paste catches up with Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne. Their new album Embryonic is out October 13.

R.E.M.’s forthcoming live record Live At The Olympia In Dublin, out October 27, will come with a bonus live DVD entitled This Is Not A Show and comprised of footage from those same shows. There’s a trailer and performance clip from the film now available to watch.

Video: R.E.M. – “Drive” (live in Dublin)
Trailer: This Is Not A Show

Magnet plays over/under with the Husker Du catalog. And speaking of the Du, The Guardian reports that Grant Hart will release his first solo album in a decade in Hot Wax, out October 6. Bob Mould kicks off his tour in support of last year’s Life And Times next month, starting here in Toronto with a date at the Mod Club on October 5. Support for the first few dates of that tour comes from Miles Anthony Benjamin Robinson, whose new album Summer Of Fear is out October 20.

Rolling Stone talks to Black Francis of Pixies about gearing up for their Doolittle tour.

LastFM

Both Maria’s Fortress ‘Round My Heart and Ladyhawke’s self-titled debut are irresistibly catchy, the former by means of giddy, boozy energy and the latter with big, retro synth-pop hooks. I should have seen both at SxSW back in March but visa issues kept Ida Maria from making any of her scheduled appearances (save Hilton’s party) and while Ladyhawke’s set wasn’t the most dynamic show, just hearing those songs live was plenty to get excited about.

So despite the name that will surely be posted in big, neon letters above the marquee (figuratively speaking), I will trek out to the Opera House on September 17 to see Ida Maria and Ladyhawke along with Frankmusik, another act apparently with the PH seal of approval, and hope that wonderfully sugary pop wipes out the bad taste of the tour sponsor. Whether you’re able to do the same is between you and your conscience. Full dates at The Music Slut.

MP3: Ladyhawke – “My Delirium”
Video: Ida Maria – “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked”
Video: Ida Maria – “Oh My God”
Video: Ida Maria – “Stella”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Paris Is Burning”
Video: Ladyhawke – “My Delirium”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Dusk Till Dawn”
Video: Ladyhawke – “Back Of The Van”

The Verve reunion that went so triumphantly last year? Exclaim and The Guardian report that it’s – wait for it – history.

BBC talks to Mani Mounfield of The Stone Roses on the occasion of the band’s 20th anniversary, which will include a multitude of reissues of their debut album at all price points as of today. The Guardian, meanwhile, has gotten some video footage of the band in the studio recording “Fool’s Gold”.

QRO talks to Aleks Campesinos! of Los Campesinos! about her impending departure from the band and subsequent reclamation of her surname.

NME has some info on Sigh No More, the debut album from Mumford & Sons, finally ready for an October 5 release in the UK.

The Boston Globe talks to Bat For Lashes’ Natasha Khan.

The Telegraph is the latest media outlet to catch onto the ’80s revival trend in pop music, talking to La Roux’s Elly Jackson about the movement.

Also mentioned in that piece is Little Boots, with whom The Telegraph has a separate feature interview. She’s at Wrongbar on September 14.

The Quietus talks to The Big Pink. There’s a new video from A Brief History Of Love, out September 22, and they’ll be at Lee’s Palace on November 29.

Video: The Big Pink – “Dominos”

Ambient/post-rock outfit Sian Alice Group have a date at the Drake Underground on October 16 as part of a massive Fall tour in support of their new album Troubled, Shaken, Etc..

Video: Sian Alice Group – “Close To The Ground”

Shonen Knife will be at the Horseshoe on October 18, tickets $15.50. Their new album Super Group is out August 25.

MP3: Shonen Knife – “Super Group”
Video: Shonen Knife – “Super Group”

Stereogum has premiered the next video from Yo La Tengo’s Popular Songs, out September 8. They’re at the Opera House on October 3.

Video: Yo La Tengo – “Avalon Or Someone Very Similar”

Sweet Oblivion has an interview with School Of Seven Bells, who have a date at Lee’s Palace on October 15.

Paste gets to know Chairlift.

Bradley’s Almanac is sharing MP3s of a Telekinesis show in Cambridge, MA from earlier this year.

Decider talks to Kim Deal of The Breeders and Pixies, the former of whom are at Lee’s Palace this Saturday and the latter at V Fest on August 29.

I didn’t realize that Magnet was slowly putting their back issue feature content online. This is fantastic news, as they’ve had some terrific stories over the years including this one about the Minneapolis scene of the ’80s, focusing on The Replacements and Husker Du. As I recall, the interviews with the three members of Husker Du were particularly fascinating reading. I’ll be looking through my back issues of Magnet to see what other goodies might have found their way online.

And while looking back to the past, a request from a friend – back on November 20, 1999, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros played a ridiculously good show at the Warehouse in Toronto at which he and I were in attendance. Apparently this show was webcast with state-of-the-art 1999 webcasting technology, possibly also broadcast via radio, and apparently bootlegs exist. My question to any and all out there reading – do you have a copy of this, and if so, can you share? Please and thank you? Thanks.