Kandle Osborne

They’ll get a chance to sleep in their own beds and do some laundry, though, as the itinerary now includes their first hometown date since the Trinty-St. Paul’s album release show way back in April – and it’s coming at the decidedly fancy digs of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on November 26. Tickets for that show are $25 in advance and despite it being a seated venue, will be general admission; they’re on sale today at 10AM. And the merch table at this and other shows will have a little something special in the form of vinyl reissues of the first two independently-released Timber Timbre records – Cedar Shakes and Medicinals – dating from when the band was a pseudonym for Taylor Kirk solo.

The band have also released a new, appropriately creepy animated video from Creep On Creepin’ On and over at BlogTO, violinist Mika Posen talks about the Polaris nomination.

MP3: Timber Timbre – “Black Water”
Video: Timber Timbre – “Too Old To Die Young”

Tasseomancy have released another video from their just-released record Ulalalme, which was co-produced by Taylor Kirk. They’re playing The Great Hall on October 20 and will support Austra at The Phoenix on December 1.

Video: Tasseomancy – “Soft Feet”

Also with a new video from a Polaris-shortlisted record is Destroyer, from Kaputt.

Video: Destroyer – “Savage Night At The Opera”

Julie Doiron has a couple of local live dates lined up, as she usually seems to, with a free in-store on September 10 at 3PM to inaugurate the recently-opened Kensington Market location of Sonic Boom. She will also open up for Ohbijou at Trinity-St. Paul’s on September 30.

MP3: Julie Doiron – “When Brakes Get Wet”

If you’re the sort of person who needs an introduction to the works of Sloan, then you’re probably not someone who’s hung around here much – welcome! – but if you do, head over to Noisetrade to grab a pay-what-you-can 17-track sort-of best-of compilation. And yes, you can pay nothing if that’s how you roll.

The Line Of Best Fit gets acquainted with Chad VanGaalen and his unique brand of interview awkwardness. VanGaalen is at The Mod Club on October 28.

Rolling Stone has gotten on the Louise Burns bandwagon, having a quick chat with the singer and offering a new track for download.

MP3: Louise Burns – “Drop Names Not Bombs”

Beirut have discovered one of the perks of staggered digital and physical releases – double the press cycles. There were a flurry of pieces when The Rip Tide came out through online sources back at the start of August, and now that the vinyl and CD are available? Features in The National Post, Vanity Fair, Huffington Post, Irish Times, Paste, Pitchfork and Time. That Zach Condon is a clever boy.

The Line Of Best Fit talks to Jason Lytle about the legacy of Grandaddy on the occasion of the vinyl reissues of The Sophtware Slump and Sumday.

The Fly gets a courtyard video session from The Antlers.

NPR has a KCRW session with My Morning Jacket.

Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard talks drinking and excessive drinking with Spinner.

The Grid and NOW chat with Peter Bjorn & John, who kick off a two-night stand at Lee’s Palace tonight.

Altsounds

Now, almost two years since first causing a fuss, the duo of Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey are ready to release their full-length debut which they’ve christened Welcome To Condale and set for a decidedly un-Summery October 31 release. Financed via Pledgemusic fan support and produced by Pulp’s Steve Mackey, the 12-track long-player only carries over one track from last year’s Young EP and that most likely re-recorded. And that’s probably just as well – as delectable as that release was, they’ve certainly had enough time to write all-new material and goodness we want some new tunes.

Clash has details on the release and you can stream the first single over at long-time band supporter Gorilla Vs Bear; some of the older material is available to hear and watch below. And while it’s probably a bit much to hope for any touring on this side of the Atlantic, it’s worth pointing out that despite their two-piece, heavily programmed configuration not seeming like it’d lend itself to a compelling live show, they were one of the uncontested highlights of SXSW this year.

MP3: Summer Camp – “I Want You”
MP3: Summer Camp – “Ghost Train”
MP3: Summer Camp – “Veronica Sawyer”
Stream: Summer Camp – “Better Off Without You”
Video: Summer Camp – “Ghost Train”
Video: Summer Camp – “Round The Moon”

Also announcing album release details this week was Florence & The Machine. Clearly hoping to find its way under Christmas trees, Ms Welch and company’s second album will be out on November 8, and while it still doesn’t have a title, it does have a video for the first single. Check it out and read an interview with Welch about the new record at Pitchfork.

Video: Florence & The Machine – “What The Water Gave Me”

If you, like me, are thinking about going to see Londonites Male Bonding at The Horseshoe next Friday night – September 2 – but want a head start on hearing their new record Endless Now before it’s officially out on August 30, head over to Punk News as it’s streaming in whole right now, while Spin has a chat and a tune available to download. And if you can’t make the show or it’s not enough, the band are also playing an instore at Kops that evening at 6PM.

MP3: Male Bonding – “Tame The Sun”
Stream: Male Bonding / Endless Now

One of the more hilariously reviled British guitar bands of recent memory – Viva Brother (formerly just Brother) – will put Toronto’s Anglophilia to the test when they bring their debut Famous First Words to the Horseshoe on October 13, tickets $13. There’s interviews at The Belfast Telegraph and BBC.

Video: Viva Brother – “Darling Buds Of May”

You cannot understand how happy I was to hear that Anna Calvi – whose Toronto debut in May I missed due to being in Spain – was coming back for a show at Lee’s Palace on December 8, tickets $15. I was, like, super-happy. Also making me super-happy is this set of videos of Calvi performing on the rooftop at Spin.

MP3: Anna Calvi – “Blackout”

NPR has a World Cafe session with James Blake, who will be at The Phoenix on September 30. And if you’re curious about the Fall Creek Boys Choir project he’s working on with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, The Quietus has a stream of the first taste of the collaboration.

Stereogum checks in with Ladytron on the status of their new record Gravity The Seducer, due out September 13. They play The Phoenix on October 5.

Lucky talks sartorial style with Emmy The Great.

Via a blog post, Billy Bragg responds to the London riots by declaring it high time that people started making political music again.

The Alternate Side has a video session with Art Brut while The San Francisco Examiner talks comics with Eddie Argos.

Sweden’s Little Dragon will bring their acclaimed third album Ritual Union to town for a show at the somewhat less acclaimed Hoxton venue – nee 69 Bathurst – on October 12. Many are hoping that demand for this show forces it into a larger venue… There’s a session with Little Dragon over at NPR.

MP3: Little Dragon – “Feather”
Video: Little Dragon – “When I Go Out”

Back to the mysterious duo meme for a moment, jj continue to disregard conventions of album cycles, getting paid for their work or song title length by posting a new MP3 on their blog this week for free download.

MP3: jj – “You Don’t Know How Much It Would Hurt Me If You Said That You Were In Love With Me”

NPR have posted a KEXP session with Peter Bjorn & John, in town at Lee’s Palace on September 2 and 3. Cleveland.com also has an interview.

France’s Revolver appear set to make a return to Toronto, having scheduled a show at The Horseshoe for October 16.

MP3: Revolver – “Get Around Town”

Jane Birkin will be performing the songs of Serge Gainsbourg at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on December 7, tickets $34.50 in advance.

Video: Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg – “Je t’aime”

And coincidentally – or maybe not so – their daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg has released a new video for the title track of her forthcoming Terrible Angels EP, out September 6 – details on the release at Pitchfork. A new double-album, Stage Whisper, will follow on November 8.

Video: Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Terrible Angels”

And once more with the Euro duos. Disco-pop outfit Keep Shelly In Athens, who actually hail from the Athens in Greece and not Georgia – usually a no-brainer except when you’re talking indie-centric music – will be embarking on their first North American tour this Fall, including a November 16 date at Wrongbar in Toronto. Tickets are $15 in advance but you can win some by posting when and where you’d like to see them on their Facebook.

MP3: Keep Shelly In Athens – “Running Out On You”
MP3: Keep Shelly In Athens – “Fokionos Negri Street”

Frank Yang

Pallett’s presence wasn’t just happenstance – he worked on their 2007 album The Flying Club Cup and they with him on his Spectrum, 14th Century EP and they’d toured together in the past. So lots of history there and thus completely appropriate that Pallett opened his set and the show with a reading of “Cliquot”, the song he co-wrote and sang lead on from The Flying Club Cup. Normally it wouldn’t be notable that Pallett played the first couple songs of the show on his own as with a few exceptions he’s been a solo performer for much of his career, but this was one of the first shows billed as Owen Pallett & Les Mouches wherein he was joined by Rob Gordon and Matt Smith, his bandmates in said pre-Final Fantasy trio. I was curious as to how this would work, not just because I’ve always loved the one-man orchestra aspect of Pallett’s live shows but because my memories of Les Mouches circa seven or eight years ago aren’t especially fond (personal musical taste).

It didn’t take long for any potential misgivings to be put to rest, however, as Smith and Gordon’s contributions to Pallett’s compositions were stunning. The drums were used less for rhythm than as accents and filling in the orchestral space, alternately evoking tuba and timpani parts, while Smith’s guitar was put to work simulating a brass section or pizzicato sings; only on the rare occasions where they were intended to sound like conventional guitar and drums did they sound at all odd. They were at their fullest-sounding when Kelly Pratt of Beirut joined in on trumpet but as their set wound down, it was back down to Pallett on his own. Les Mouches were meant to rejoin on “This Is the Dream of Win and Regine” but technical difficulties scuppered that visit to Has A Good Home, meaning the two final songs were a terrific cover of Caribou’s “Odessa” and finally Heartland‘s “Lewis Takes His Shirt Off”. By rights, an artist of Pallett’s stature shouldn’t be opening up for anyone, particularly in his hometown, but I’m certainly more than happy he did.

I’ve only ever been a casual Beirut fan, mostly indifferent to Gulag Orkestar while everyone else was losing their minds for it. It took a rousing SXSW 2007 set and some time spent with The Flying Club Cup to win me over and even then, I didn’t make it to any of their local shows since then. All of which is to say this would be my first proper Beirut concert experience, and it was a good one. I’d go so far as to say that having only a moderate degree of familiarity with their records enhanced my enjoyment of it as the twists and turns of the songs – all horns and swoons, loping bass, wheezing accordion and martial drums and on a few occasions Pallett’s violin – were made all the more exciting from the not knowing what could come next. And of course, it would be remiss to not mention Condon’s rich, sonorous voice which for all the swirling instrumentation remains the core of Beirut. He’s blessed with pipes that can make just about anything sound timeless and romantic, which he uses to full effect and when combined with the theatricality inherent in the act of stepping back and raising a horn to your mouth, it’s hard not to put on a stirring show.

The set list covered all points of the Beirut discography including more than half of The Rip Tide, which suited me just fine as in my estimation it’s their finest work yet; more song-focused than their earlier works and leaner-sounding while remaining plenty lush. I was a bit surprised that the March Of The Zapotec/Realpeople Holland got as much play as it did, but pleasantly so as in peeling away the more overt electronic elements from the Realpeople material turned them into some of the highlights of the show, particularly main set closer “My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille”. At an hour and fifteen minutes including encore, the show ran a bit shorter than I’d expected but the arc of the journey was pretty much perfect.

BlogTO was also on hand for Thursday’s show while The Globe & Mail, Exclaim and The National Post offered thoughts on the Tuesday night show.

The Rip Tide is streaming in full at NPR up until its August 30 street date.

Photos: Beirut, Owen Pallett & Les Mouches @ The Phoenix – August 4, 2011
MP3: Beirut – “My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille”
MP3: Beirut – “Postcards From Italy”
MP3: Owen Pallett – “A Man With No Ankles”
MP3: Owen Pallett – “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt”
MP3: Final Fantasy – “The Butcher”
MP3: Final Fantasy – “Ultimatum”
Video: Beirut – “Elephant Gun”
Video: Beirut – “The Concubine
Video: Beirut – “Postcards From Italy”
Video: Owen Pallett – “The Great Elsewhere”
Video: Owen Pallett – “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt”
Video: Final Fantasy – “Horsetail Feathers”
Video: Final Fantasy – “The Butcher”
Video: Final Fantasy – “He Poos Clouds”
Video: Final Fantasy – “This Lamb Sells Condos”
Stream: Beirut / The Rip Tide

Jens Lekman has made the title track of his forthcoming EP An Argument With Myself available to download. It comes out September 20.

MP3: Jens Lekman – “An Argument With Myself”

Pitchfork has got Peter Bjorn & John preforming the whole of their latest Gimme Some on camera. They play Lee’s Palace on September 2 and 3.

The North American dates in support of Bryan Ferry’s latest Olympia have been announced and a Casino Rama date on October 8 is standing in for a proper Toronto show.

Video: Roxy Music – “More Than This”

The Guardian profiles Devonté Hynes of Blood Orange, whose debut Coastal Grooves arrives August 30.

Laura Marling has released the first video from her next album A Creature I Don’t Know; the album is out September 13 and she plays The Great Hall on September 23.

Video: Laura Marling – “Sophia”

Spinner and The San Francisco Chronicle interview Ellie Goulding.

Frank Yang

These were the sorts of concerns I had leading up to the Toronto debut of Allo Darlin’ – in all the way from London – at the El Mocambo on Saturday night. None of the band, tour or show seemed to be particularly well-promoted (though I did my part) and even if they were, the timing was tough as the indie/Brit-pop contingent also had Gruff Rhys and Architecture In Helsinki shows that evening to choose from. I had fallen quite in love with the band’s self-titled debut, but had fears of walking into the El Mo and finding a near-empty room.

Happily, such was not the case and by the time the foursome took the stage at half-eleven, I guesstimated just shy of eighty or so people in attendance. Not a packed house by any means, but certainly a respectable one and one that got treated to about as adorable and entertaining a show as anyone could have hoped for. Their hour-long set was a study in fun, with frontwoman Elizabeth Morris proving that the ukulele was as headbanging an instrument as anything else, dancing and pogoing around the stage. And really, for a band that’s rather instantly and mostly fairly pigeonholed as twee-pop, they brought some seriously punk rock energy to the proceedings, Morris’ sweet voice and phrasing taking an unexpected but entirely welcome Louise Wener-ish edge in the live setting.

In between some colourful banter – apparently the show in Montreal the night before was interrupted when someone smashed the club doors with a sledge hammer – they melted hearts with a selection of songs from their debut, a few new tunes from their second album – entitled Europe and presumably finished though apparently not out anytime too soon – and a cover of The French’s “The Wu Tang Clan” to close the main set out. By this point a call for an encore was assured and they obliged with their hilarious single “Henry Rollins Don’t Dance”, wrapping a wonderful little set. Morris mentioned earlier in the show that she heard Toronto doesn’t get much in the way of indie-pop coming through town, and that’s probably true enough. If they want to up our regular dosage of Allo Darlin’, I won’t complain a bit.

Allo Darlin’s North American tour has less than a week to go (though they’ve sworn to reschedule the week of west coast shows cancelled on account of late vias) – if you’re in one of the cities remaining on the itinerary, go. Just go.

Photos: Allo Darlin’ @ The El Mocambo – June 11, 2011
MP3: Allo Darlin’ – “My Heart Is A Drummer”
MP3: Allo Darlin’ – “Dreaming”
Video: Allo Darlin’ – “My Heart Is A Drummer”
Video: Allo Darlin’ – “If Loneliness Was Art”
Video: Allo Darlin’ – “Dreaming”
Video: Allo Darlin’ – “The Polaroid Song”

A couple big British concert announcements over the last couple days; The Horrors will follow up the July 26 release of Skying with a Fall North American tour that includes a September 27 date at Lee’s Palace. Tickets $20 in advance.

MP3: The Horrors – “Sea Within A Sea”

And at long last, Elbow are coming back to Toronto for their own, non-Chris Martin-tainted show as part of a Fall tour. Not even the fact that the September 28 show is at The Sound Academy can dampen my happiness about this. Tickets are $38.50, on sale Saturday.

Video: Elbow – “Open Arms”

White Lies have a new video. They’re at The Phoenix on August 3.

Video: White Lies – “Holy Ghost”

Spin puts Arctic Monkeys on their latest cover. Well, one of their latest covers.

Emmy The Great has posted an unabridged version of the feature that ran in The Guardian last week, making a worthy read even better. The Stool Pigeon has also posted a mixtape from Emmy as relates to her new album Virtue.

Nouse have an interview with Slow Club, whoe are gearing up for the release of their second album with a new website and a new video for their new single “Two Cousins”, though you have to sign up to their mailing list to watch the thing.

Belle & Sebastian have rolled out a new video from Write About Love and are teasing the release of another one coming later today – I’ll update when it’s up. And while we wait for the future to arrive, Magnet takes us back to the past by posting their cover feature on the band circa 2006, back when they were a magazine and had covers.

Video: Belle & Sebastian – “Come On Sister”
Video: Belle & Sebastian – “I Didn’t See It Coming”

Sons & Daughters are streaming their new record Mirror Mirror at The Guardian. It’s out now in the UK but not until July 12 in North America.

Stream: Sons & Daughters / Mirror Mirror

The Irish Independent, Star-Observer, Irish Times and SX News have feature pieces on Patrick Wolf, whose new album Lupercalia is out next wek.

NME talks to Stornoway about what they might have planned for album number two.

The Guardian declares that Pulp are more important, culturally speaking, than ever.

NPR has posted a World Cafe session with a couple of songwriting legends currently on tour together, Richard Thompson and Loudon Wainwright III. Thompson is here solo on September 8 for a show at Koerner Hall.

Danish post-punk teen act Iceage will be at Parts & Labour on August 17 in support of their debut album New Brigade, out next Tuesday. Pitchfork has full tour dates.

MP3: Iceage – “Broken Bone”
MP3: Iceage – “White Rune”

Spin and NPR have video and audio sessions, respectively, with Peter Bjorn & John, while The Huffington Post talks food with John Erikkson. They’ve got a two-night stand scheduled for Lee’s Palace on September 2 and 3.

Frank Yang

The identity issue might have also applied to the support, as Apex Manor is the new band of Ross Flournoy, who used to front Los Angeles power pop outfit The Broken West, who once upon a time were called The Brokedown. Got that? Good. Though advance listings had stated that this show would feature Apex Manor as an acoustic duo – presumably Flournoy and bassist Brian Whelan, also from The Broken West – but when things got underway it was just Flournoy, his Martin acoustic and a brace of songs drawn mostly from Apex Manor’s debut The Year Of Magical Drinking. And though the stripped-down nature of the set necessarily diminished the “power” half of the equation, the “pop” of things was still very much in effect thanks to the sophisticated hookiness of the material. It was good to be reminded of how good a band The Broken West were – particularly when Flournoy busted out their song “Down In The Valley” – and satisfying to see that carried over into their new incarnation.

No one would accuse Jonny of being an overly serious side-project, but assuming that Childs and Blake – the former with a couple of keyboards to go with his acoustic guitar and the latter handling guitar, drum machine and laptop duties – would treat it as a joke would have been a mistake. Okay, that’s not entirely accurate; there were plenty of jokes as the duo bantered back and forth in a manner worthy of a seasoned stand-up duo, their ultimately aborted attempt to cover the Saxons’ “It Ain’t Right” was more comedy sketch than musical performance and there were running gags of a sort with Childs’ collapsing homemade keyboard stands and Blake’s orchestration of the drum machine, but with the talents on hand, even the silliest songs were immaculately executed.

Considering the Jonny album barely clocks in at 40 minutes, their set was considerably longer than you might have expected. Of course some of that was for the aforementioned between-song back-and-forth, but they also included a number of non-album songs and made what could have been a brief-ish affair not only feel like a full and proper set, but one that reinforced Jonny as its own entity, separate and distinct from the resumes of the two artists who made the band up. Not so much, however, that one of the biggest highlights of the show was the encore wherein each of them busted out a couple of the former/other bands’ tunes. Jonny was charming and all, but hearing “I Don’t Want Control Of You” and “Spanish Dance Troupe” was the guaranteed way to close the night on the highest possible note.

Photos: Jonny, Apex Manor @ The Drake Underground – June 4, 2011
MP3: Jonny – “Candyfloss”
MP3: Jonny – “Gloria”
MP3: Apex Manor – “Under The Gun”
Video: Jonny – “You Was Me”
Video: Jonny – “Candyfloss”
Video: Apex Manor – “My My Mind”
ZIP: Jonny / Free

With reunions must come reissues, and so Pitchfork reports that Pulp’s first three albums – It, Freaks and Separations – will be reissued with bonus material come August 8.

The Independent finds out Elbow frontman Guy Garvey’s secrets to staying grounded while The Sydney Morning Herald chats with guitarist Mark Potter.

Emmy The Great offers a guide to staying virtuous to Clash. Her new album Virtue is out next week.

Exclaim and Metro interview James Blake, in town at The Phoenix on September 30.

Gruff Rhys has released a new video from Hotel Shampoo, just in time to wrap up the North American tour that hits The Horseshoe on June 11.

Video: Gruff Rhys – “Honey All Over”

TapeDek gets The Vaccines to indulge in some old-school Britpop trash talk. The National Post also has a chat.

Clash interviews Ladytron, whose new album Gravity The Seducer arrives September 13.

Beatroute interviews The Raveonettes.

Billboard has got a live video session from Peter Bjorn & John, while Metro, The Province and OC Weekly have interviews. They play Lee’s Palace on September 2 and 3.

aux.tv talks to The Naked & Famous, in town at Lee’s Palace on August 9.

Austin’s Ume have finally announced details of their new long-player; The AV Club has all the details but the key information is that it will be called Phantoms, be released on August 30 and the band will be in town on June 15 at the Drake Underground as part of NXNE. This is not a song from the new record but a good reminder of why they’re a band worth getting excited about.

MP3: Ume – “The Conductor”

The War On Drugs, last seen hereabouts opening up for Destroyer back in April will be back on August 24 at a venue to be named in support of their new record Slave Ambient, out August 16. Pitchfork has full dates and check out the Springsteen-ish first MP3 below.

MP3: The War On Drugs – “Baby Missiles”

Peter Hook brings his new band the Light and their rather questionable re-production of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures to The Phoenix on September 24. “Atmosphere” isn’t from Unknown Pleasures but this video should give you an idea of how they’re doing it. The Spectator has an interview with Hook.

Video: Peter Hook & The Light featuring Rowetta – “Atmosphere”

Once again announcing a new show before their last one has actually happened yet, Foster The People will be at The Sound Academy on October 1, tickets $23.50. More immediately, they’re at The Mod Club on June 18 but that’s sold out.

MP3: Foster The People – “Pumped Up Kicks”

Officially back from Europe/vacation, and let me tell you I am thrilled about it. THRILLED.

Frank Yang

Before coming here, I had very little history with Spain, at least from a pre-conceived or pop cultural sense. I’ve seen a number of Almodovar films and started (but have not yet finished) Don Quixote, but had nothing of the romantic notions about the place that I do for, say, Britain or New York City. A few days here have rectified that, however, and I am now in a general state of wonder about this place, on so many levels. In no particular order:

The civic planning and infrastructure. This is an old city, and yet it seems to have been laid out in a way that it perfectly accommodates modern needs. Their main boulevards are massive, allowing fast movement of cars, buses and taxis while also providing extensive bike lanes and pedestrian thoroughfares and there’s lots of scooter parking, too. And they do this while largely maintaining an almost perfect grid-pattern through much of the city and allowing for giant fountains and monuments at key intersections, though if that’s all too orderly for you there’s the old-school European narrow streets and alleys of Barri Gotic. Add in the fact that the subway is extensive, modern and reasonably priced? Getting around is a joy.

The architecture. Everyone knows about the works of Gaudi – and they are unique and breathtakingly strange, existing out of time and place – but most everything else in the city is just as beautiful in their own way, with a pleasingly sort of old world classicism unifying many of the structures but all with their own distinct character. All of which is to say, everywhere you look, there’s something beautiful.

The culture. This applies to most places in Europe I’ve been, but it’s reinforced a thousand-fold here, seeing the value they put into things like their galleries, their opera house, the music festivals they host, the sheer appreciation for art. It’s so completely opposite to how cultural institutions are regarded in North America, it’s astonishing. The creative things they invest in simply because they understand their value beyond monetary terms is inspiring and depressing (because such thinking seems to be anathema to so many at home).

The food. Holy cow. Never has pointing randomly to colourful presumably edible things on menus or in counters ever been so tasty. There has been much tapas consumed on this trip, and hopefully more before I leave – question to 416-ers; where is there good tapas in Toronto? I need to know where I can go to obnoxiously declare that the food is not as good as in Barcelona. I also ate at my first – and at those prices possibly my last – Michelin star restaurant this trip and while it cost more than I care to recount, it was a gastronomical experience I won’t soon forget. I wish Coke wasn’t quite as expensive as it is – I’ve had carbonated cola cravings since I’ve been here – and it’s been harder to find a to-go coffee shop than it should be, but by and large the food? Dang, son. Dang.

The women. Hola!

Photos from the trip thus far are up on Flickr and for those of you who care not one whit for my travelogues – which is fair, you heartless bastards – here’s some music-related links.

The Quietus has assembled a retrospective piece on the glory of Pulp, which may be instructive to those of you who didn’t live through the Britpop era and may not understand why it was necessary for me to get on a plane to see them perform.

Even though they were indeed just here at the start of the month, Peter Bjorn & John have put together a Fall tour that brings them back for two nights at Lee’s Palace, September 2 and 3.

Video: Peter Bjorn & John – “Second Chance”

NOW talked to Lykke Li in advance of Sunday night’s show at The Phoenix.

New Raveonettes video!

Video: The Raveonettes – “Appartitions”

Pitchfork has a stream of the first track from the new Horrors record Skying, set for a July 26 release.

His time with Pavement again winded down, Stephen Malkmus has reconvened The Jicks and with the assistance of Beck as producer, will put out a new album in Mirror Traffic on August 23. Details at Pitchfork.

Spinner talks to Superchunk about their legacy.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Steve Earle. He plays The Molson Amphitheatre on August 20.

Billboard has posted their upcoming cover story on Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, whose new record Bon Iver is out June 21. They play The Sound Academy on August 9.

MP3: Bon Iver – “Calgary”

Charleston City Paper chats with Neko Case.

Spin checks in with Broken Social Scene’ Kevin Drew about his favourite things. Surprisingly, the answers are broader than just “Kevin Drew”.

Handsome Furs have released another MP3 from Sound Kapital, due out June 28. They’re at The Garrison on June 18 and The Horseshoe on August 1.

MP3: Handsome Furs – “Repatriated”

Fucked Up frontman Damian Abraham lists off some of his influences for Spin. David Comes To Life is out June 7 and they play two NXNE shows – Yonge-Dundas Square and Wrongbar – on June 16 in addition to their August 9 engagement at the Air Canada Centre.

Spinner looks into the longevity of Sloan. They’re at The Mod Club on June 21 and 22.

Yep Roc

I’ll offer more complete thoughts on it at a later date, but for now it warrants pointing out that Exclaim is streaming the whole of the new record until Monday and CBC Radio 3 has got the band’s complete discography – including the new album and non-album tracks collected on their B-Sides Win digital comp – available to stream on their Radio 3 page. Randomly clicking through the enormous list of tunes is the perfect way to remind yourself of why they were and are still, on occasion, one of Canada’s greatest pop bands.

The band plays an album release in-store set at Sonic Boom next Saturday, May 14 at 4PM and have scheduled a full gig – their first regular Toronto show in recent memory – at The Mod Club on June 22. Tickets for that are $22.50 in advance.

MP3: Sloan – “Follow The Leader”
MP3: Sloan – “The Answer Was You”
Stream: Sloan / The Double Cross

Fucked Up have made good on their promise to release four preview MP3s in advance of the June 7 release of David Comes To Life. Grab them all below while reading through the website they’ve set up for it.

MP3: Fucked Up – “The Other Shoe”
MP3: Fucked Up – “Ship Of Fools”
MP3: Fucked Up – “A Little Death”
MP3: Fucked Up – “Queen Of Hearts”

NPR has posted a studio session with Caribou, recorded at Los Angeles’ KCRW.

The Line Of Best Fit interviews Timber Timbre.

Southern Souls have collected all of the Rural Alberta Advantage church-set videos that have been surfacing – three so far – in one place while VBS visits the band’s rehearsal space.

PJ Harvey has completed the video series for her latest album Let England Shake, premiering the final clip at Vanity Fair, along with a chat with director Seamus Murphy about the clip, while NME have helpfully gathered all the other clips together in one place.

Video: PJ Harvey – “All And Everyone”

Exclaim reports that Radiohead will perform The King Of Limbs in its entirety for BBC broadcast on July 1.

Elbow have released a little mini-doc to go along with their new album build a rocket boys!

Video: Elbow: Rocket Science

BrooklynVegan talks to Faris Badwan and Rachel Zeffira of Cat’s Eyes.

dose.ca, The Boston Globe and The Chicago Sun-Times interview Peter Bjorn & John, in town for both an in-store at Sonic Boom and full show at Lee’s Palace on Friday.

And apologies if you’ve been experiencing site slowness the last few days; been trying to figure out what’s going on, whether it’s WordPress install, my PHP server, database, hosting, whatever. None of the evidence points to a single cause but it has definitely been grindy lately. And if you’re someone who’s good at troubleshooting stuff like this and feel like helping out, please get in touch.

Richard Dumas

The lavishly appointed box consists of five discs (shiny plastic or black vinyl), some of the contents of which have never been released. And while I’ve not heard the whole set, the selections that I have heard are largely instrumental, though Stuart Staples’ distinctive croon does make some appearances, and lush, dark and gorgeous throughout; in other words, vintage Tindersticks. For most bands, a collection of film scores might seem like a fans-only curiosity but this set feels like as necessary a part of their discography as any studio record.

Filter and The Quietus talk to Stuart Staples about the art of scoring.

MP3: Tindersticks – “The Black Mountain” (from Lintrus)
MP3: Tindersticks – “The Children’s Theme” (from White Material)
MP3: Tindersticks – “La Rallye” (from Vendredi Soir)
MP3: Tindersticks – “Opening 35″ (from Rhums)
Video: Tindersticks – scenes from Lintrus
Video: Tindersticks – scenes from White Material
Video: Tindersticks – scenes from Nénette et Boni
Video: Tindersticks – scenes from Rhums

The Aquarian and The AV Club talk to Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai.

The Fly reports that the Franz Ferdinand covers 10″ EP, wherein the Scots were reinterpreted by the likes of LCD Soundsystem and The Magnetic Fields and was one of the hot items for Record Store Day in the UK, will be getting a proper CD release on May 2. Probably still only in the UK but people can at least hear the whole thing, regardless of where they live, via Soundcloud.

Stream: various artists / Franz Ferdinand Covers

Clash interviews Roddy Woomble.

Interview talks to Guy Garvey and Music Radar to Mark Potter of Elbow.

The Music Magazine reports that former Oasis songwriter/guitarist Noel Gallagher is finished his solo debut and is targeting an October release. Meanwhile, The Irish Times talks to little brother Liam about his new outfit Beady Eye, which is at The Sound Academy on June 20.

NPR has got PJ Harvey’s pre-Coachella show in San Francisco available to stream or download while The Guardian has an extensive feature piece and video session. Two more video from Let England Shake has been released, with Spinner talking to director Seamus Murphy about the “Bitter Branches” clip.

Video: PJ Harvey – “Bitter Branches”
Video: PJ Harvey – “In The Dark Places”

Clash talks to Noah & The Whale.

Notion has one of those annoying Flash-based “ooh look it’s like a real magazine” interfaces but their feature on Patrick Wolf makes it kind of worth enduring. Wolf’s new record Lupercalia is due out June 20.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of the finale of British Sea Power’s recent North American tour while For No One has got a video session with the band up.

DIY converses with Those Dancing Days.

Ever wonder how long Daytrotter keeps sessions in the can? They just posted one with A Camp, who haven’t toured in almost two years.

PopMatters interviews the members of Junip.

Mashable has a video documentary and interview with Peter Bjorn & John, who’ve got a show at Lee’s Palace on May 6 and an in-store at Sonic Boom earlier that same evening.

Magnet Q&As The Soundtrack Of Our Lives, who are running roughshod over their website this week. They will do the same to Lee’s Palace on June 4.

NPR serves up a World Cafe session with Phoenix.

Tiny Mix Tapes contemplates the theological aspects of Nick Cave.

Leslie Sisson

But that special occasion aside, the band’s signature blend of shimmering vibraphone, humming Farfisa and dreamy guitarwork has been silent with frontman Andrew Kenny trading his Jazzmaster in for an acoustic guitar and lending his gentle vocals to a new band, The Wooden Birds. AmAnSet had been extremely consistent in sound and vision throughout their existence, so it’s not surprising that despite the change-up in instrumentation and addition of female vocals from sometime AmAnSet member Leslie Sisson, The Wooden Birds’ 2009 debut Magnolia could easily have passed as a new Analog Set record. It’s more earthy than ethereal, thanks to its simpler presentation, and less drifitly droning but if you were an AmAnSet fan, it’s hard to imagine not finding much to like about The Wooden Birds. Unless, of course, you were all about the vibes, in which case you may want to keep walking.

The Wooden Birds have set a June 7 release date for their second album Two Matchsticks and having passed us by on all tour dates in support of the debut, it’s exciting to see that the first North American dates finally include a Toronto date at The Drake Underground on July 10 – the first time back as bandleader for Kenny since November 2005 (he may well have been here as a member of Kevin Drew’s “Presents…” band). And while you might not guess it from listening to the records, The American Analog Set were always a fantastic live show thanks to the mesmerizing and hypnotic nature of their sound. I expect similar head trips from The Wooden Birds. Tickets for the show are just $12.00 in advance.

Samples from Two Matchsticks aren’t available yet, but there’s no reason to believe the new material strays too far from what surfaced on Magnolia. Update: One of the new songs is streaming at MTV Hive.

MP3: The Wooden Birds – “False Alarm”
Video: The Wooden Birds – “Hometown Fantasy”

There’s been no word of a follow-up to last year’s Goodbye Killer nor would I expect one, given the pace at which Joe Pernice works, but he’s taking the time out of whatever it he’s doing to play a show at The Dakota on May 6, tickets $20.

MP3: Pernice Brothers – “Jacqueline Susann”

That same evening, Peter Bjorn & John will warm up for their show at Lee’s Palace with an in-store at Sonic Boom at 7PM. Admission is free with the donation of canned goods.

Video: Peter Bjorn & John – “Second Chance”

With a new greatest hits compilation in Golden Greats, No. 1 just released, Sweden’s The Soundtrack Of Our Lives have made a date at Lee’s Palace for June 4. Tickets for the guaranteed rock spectacle are $18.50 in advance.

MP3: The Soundtrack Of Our Lives – “Karmageddon”

His show at Lee’s last month apparently a roaring (or dead silent) success, Mark Kozelek is coming back for a pair of even more intimate shows – he’s at The Drake Underground on July 8 and 9, tickets for each show $24.50 in advance.

Video: Red House Painters – “24″

The National Post Q&As Joey Santiago of Pixies; they close out their two-night stand at Massey Hall tonight.

The Antlers are giving away an MP3 from Burst Apart, out May 10. They’re at The Mod Club on June 14.

MP3: The Antlers – “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out”

Daytrotter has posted a session from The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, in town at The Opera House on August 2.

I Am A Mermaid questions Stephin and Claudia of The Magnetic Fields about mermaids.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of Sharon Van Etten’s homecoming show in Brooklyn this past weekend and Express Night Out has an interview.

Pitchfork has a feature interview with TV On The Radio.

The Baltimore Sun and Philly Burbs talk to Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, who have a new video from their new record Civilian. NYC Taper is also sharing a recording of their show in New York last week.

Video: Wye Oak – “Fish”

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of a recent Mountain Goats show while The Sound Of Young America has an interview with John Darnielle.

Hear Ya, Madison Eagle, Jam Bands, Blurt and Paste talk to Jason Isbell, whose new record Here We Rest is out now and who leads The 400 Unit into The Horseshoe on May 22.

Want to hear some of the new My Morning Jacket record, Circuital? You can download the title track below, hear it played live on VH1 Storytellers via Pitchfork and stream another new tune over at Antiquiet. The record is out May 31 and they play The Kool Haus on July 11.

MP3: My Morning Jacket – “Circuital”

Pitchfork 3D – which is exactly what you think it is – has launched with a video session featuring Deerhunter.

BBC talks to Michael Stipe of R.E.M..

NPR is streaming the whole of Steve Earle’s new album I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive a week ahead of its April 26 release. Earle plays The Molson Amphitheatre opening up for Blue Rodeo on August 20.

Stream: Steve Earle / I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive

Spinner caught up with Rhett Miller of Old 97′s before their show in Toronto a couple weeks ago.

Spin, Clash and The Line Of Best Fit have features on Explosions In The Sky, whose new album Take Care, Take Care, Take Care comes out next week and is streaming in whole right now at Exclaim.

Stream: Explosions In The Sky / Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

The Line Of Best Fit reports that Memory Tapes will release a new album in Player Piano on July 4.

Crawdaddy interviews Liz Phair.

aux.tv has a video session with Warpaint while Relix offers an interview.

Spinner talks to Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes. Their new record Helplessness Blues arrives May 3 and they’re at Massey Hall on July 14.

Frank Yang

Though I’d corresponded with A Classic Education frontman Jon Clancy for some years and despite Clancy being an Ontario ex-pat now based in Bologna, Italy, this was the first time they’d made it to Toronto. Probably on account of the fact that they’re based in Bologna, Italy. But I’d managed to see them a couple years ago at SxSW and was impressed with the scope of their musical vision, even if I didn’t think their grasp quite matched their reach yet. Interestingly, in the time since them they’ve seemingly adjusted course to point towards a simpler, more ’50s-influenced style of rock and while their scope still retains some of that grandness, mostly thanks to sophisticated little flourishes in the arrangements, but the delivery is more compact and streamlined and the net result actually suits them better. Interestingly, for as long as they’ve been around there’s still not been a full-length release – their last issue was the Hey There Stranger 12″ EP last year. Hopefully that gets rectified soon.

British Sea Power has certainly grown, both in size and maturity. To the former, multi-instrumentalist Phil Sumner and violinist Abi Fry are now apparently full-fledged band members and to the latter, well they simply don’t get up to the tricks they used to (see above). It’s as though their gawky acting act has transmuted into a sort of stateliness, and accordingly they’re not in any rush to get where they’re going – they know it’ll get there eventually. Which is why it’s sort of alright that the show, like the last couple I’d seen, seemed to start off a bit slowly despite opening with a couple of Valhalla‘s more hopped-up numbers, though the fact that Hamilton had lost his voice and couldn’t take lead on some of the songs as he normally did might have had something to do with it as well.

Still, by the time they hit the Valhalla-era non-album track “Zeus”, they were clearly warmed up. The epic-length track was played with extra vigor and from there on, the second half of the show came with loads more drive than the first – thanks, no doubt, to the inclusion of ragers such as “Spirit Of St. Louis”, “It Ended On An Oily Stage” and “Lights Out For Darker Skies”. The four-song encore brought some dynamics back into it, pairing the anthemic “Waving Flags” and “Carrion” with the more elegiac “The Great Skua” and “All In It”, but the real highlight came with the second encore which revived some of the old-school on-stage anarchy soundtracked by “Apologies To Insect Life”. Antics included but were not limited to Yan giving local “super-fan” Kayvon a ride on his shoulders before doing a reverse double stage dive into the crowd – I hope Kavon was warned of it beforehand – and Noble, who had apparently hit a critical point of inebriation, going for a crowd surf after the song had ended in order to get to the bar as quickly as possible. Okay, maybe British Sea Power haven’t matured that much. Thank goodness.

BBC America has an interview with Martin Noble and NYC Taper is sharing a recording of the New York stop on this tour.

Photos: British Sea Power, A Classic Education @ Lee’s Palace – March 24, 2011
MP3: British Sea Power – “Who’s In Control?”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Zeus”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Come Wander With Me”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Atom”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Please Stand Up”
MP3: A Classic Education – “Gone To Sea”
MP3: A Classic Education – “I Lost Time”
MP3: A Classic Education – “Toi”
MP3: A Classic Education – “Stay, Son”
Video: British Sea Power – “Who’s In Control”
Video: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”
Video: British Sea Power – “Waving Flags”
Video: British Sea Power – “No Lucifer”
Video: British Sea Power – “Water Tower”
Video: British Sea Power – “Please Stand Up”
Video: British Sea Power – “It Ended On An Oily Stage”
Video: British Sea Power – “Childhood Memories”
Video: British Sea Power – “The Spirit Of St. Louis”
Video: British Sea Power – “Carrion”
Video: British Sea Power – “Remember Me”
Video: A Classic Education – “Gone To Sea”
Video: A Classic Education – “Toi”

Clearly I’m being punished for going to Euro at the end of May. How else to explain the number of excellent tours coming through town while I’m away, which now include 2010 year-end listers Stornoway, who are bringing Beachcomber’s Windowsill back to North America and specifically the El Mocambo, where they dazzled last December, on May 24. Tickets $13.50 in advance.

MP3: Stornoway – “Zorbing”

But the one that really hurts is that Anna Calvi has made good on her promise to make up all the March dates cancelled because of her wrist injury, and the make-up date for Toronto will be May 27, also at the El Mocambo. Funny how I went from potentially seeing her a good number of times across CMW and SxSW to not at all… though it is some consolation that while she’s soundchecking a 10-minute walk from my apartment, I’ll be on the shores of the Mediterranean listening to Pulp. Under The Radar has full tour dates and tickets for the Toronto show are $12 in advance. Paste has an interview and Calvi has just released a new video.

MP3: Anna Calvi – “Blackout”
Video: Anna Calvi – “Blackout”

PJ Harvey has released a couple more videos from Let England Shake. Spinner has an interview with Polly Jean.

Video: PJ Harvey – “England”
Video: PJ Harvey – “The Colour Of The Earth”

It’s session time for Two Door Cinema Club as NPR has them visit The World Cafe and Daytrotter has a set available to download.

Daytrotter has also posted up a session with The Futureheads.

State talks to Rab Allan and Herald Scotland to James Allan of Glasvegas about their new record Euphoric Heartbreak, out next week.

Sons & Daughters have announced their new record Mirror, Mirror will be out on June 14, and based on the first MP3 made available, they’ve gotten as far as possible from the shiny glam of 2008′s This Gift. The Line Of Best Fit has details on the release.

MP3: Sons & Daughters – “Silver Spell”

The Guardian, Gigwise and Metro talk to Patrick Wolf about his new record Lupercalia, due out May 31.

Spin finds out the origins of The Joy Formidable’s name while The Asbury Park Press have an interview and NPR is streaming one of their SxSW sets. They are at The Horseshoe this coming Saturday night, April 2.

The Guardian has a feature piece on Adele, while NPR is streaming a World Cafe session. A couple people in the last few days have asked me how they might go about getting tickets to her May 18 show at the Kool Haus. It made me laugh. Update: And now who’s laughing? The show was just moved to the Air Canada Centre. It it’s a full arena setup, that’s like an eightfold increase in capacity. Even the theatre configuration is like two and a half times the Kool Haus.

Friendly Fires have confirmed a May 16 release date for their second album Pala; Ed Macfarlane speaks briefly to Purple Revolver about the writing process. They play The Phoenix on May 30.

Exclaim has an interview with Liam Gallagher of Beady Eye, who’ve managed to sell out their show at the Sound Academy on June 20. You know they’re not playing any Oasis material, right? No matter how much you plead? Okay, just checking.

DIY, Billboard and BBC talk to Elbow and learn that the band have plans for North American touring later this year (yes!) and collaborator Richard Hawley is currently in the studio working on a new record (yes!).

Brett Anderson of Suede tells NME that the reunited band is working on new material but that it won’t necessarily translate into new recordings.

Radiohead’s new record The King Of Limbs is now streaming in whole at Spinner. They will also be releasing a limited edition 12″ single for Record Store Day, April 16, featuring non-album tracks “Supercollider” and “The Butcher”.

Stream: Radiohead / The King Of Limbs

Clash checks in with Charles Watson of Slow Club about how work is progressing on the duo’s second album.

The Georgia Straight interviews Esben & The Witch.

Spinner talks to Reuben Wu and Clash to Mira Aroyo of Ladytron.

The Quietus profiles Cat’s Eyes, the new project from Faris Badwan of The Horrors and opera singer Rachel Zeffira. Their self-titled debut is due out April 25.

NPR interviews Lykke Li, who is at The Phoenix on May 22. A new track from Wounded Rhymes is available to download.

MP3: Lykke Li – “Youth Knows No Pain”

Clash, Spin and DIY have features on Peter Bjorn & John, whose new record Gimme Some is out now and available to stream. They’re at Lee’s Palace on May 6.

Stream: Peter Bjorn & John / Gimme Some