Frank YangOne to file under silver linings: Lissie – or Elisabeth Maurus according to her Illinois driver’s license – was supposed to make her Toronto debut at the El Mocambo back in October in support of her debut album Catching A Tiger, but that show along with a string of others was cancelled just days before on doctor’s orders after she lost her voice. The make-up show, which went off on Monday night, had a new venue to go with the new date – the twice-as-large Opera House which still managed to completely sell out. Okay, maybe that’s not such a silver lining for those who would have preferred to see her in a more intimate setting, but if you were one of the 400 people who wouldn’t have been able to see her if not for the bigger room then you weren’t complaining.

The evening didn’t go off completely without a hitch, though, as tour support Dylan LeBlanc was held up at the border necessitating locals Bahamas to be parachuted in as openers. Not that I would have been there in time to see either of them anyways. Lissie, however, showed up precisely on schedule to the strains of the Twin Peaks theme and roaring applause – this may have been her first time here, but clearly she had an impressive local fanbase already. And though she’s technically still a new artist, she worked the room for the next hour and change like a seasoned veteran with years of performing under her belt.

I’d seen her perform at SxSW 2010 and was impressed with how good she was without having any sort of angle or gimmick – just a great voice and great country-rock songs. Tiger also impressed but introduced a little doubt with regards to the unexpectedly slick production values; the songs were still superb but the delivery seemed like it was trying a bit too hard, and unnecessarily. “Slick” was not an adjective that had any place in this show, however, as it was just Lissie, a lead guitarist and combination bassist/drummer on stage – it’s not physically possible to work any gloss into the proceedings with that configuration, so the evening was a welcome return to basics: Lissie, her songs and her hugely expressive and powerful voice – it was hard to believe just a few months ago she was at risk of losing it.

The hour-long main set didn’t fit as many songs in as you might have expected – there was lots of entertaining banter throughout – but the audience was adoringly rambunctious and demonstrated one of the perks of being an artist without a “hit” song; no one was here to hear the single and then head for the doors, they were here for the duration. Still, it can’t be ignored that for as good as her own stuff is, much of Lissie’s exposure came with her unexpected cover versions and after a moving “Oh Mississippi” to lead off the encore, she finished things out with her version of Kid Cudi’s “The Pursuit Of Happiness”… and not one of the songs I would have actually known (Metallica, Lady Gaga, Zeppelin). But still, a crowd-pleasing finish to a crowd-pleasing and excellent set.

Mountain XPress has an interview with Lissie.

Photos: Lissie @ The Opera House – January 24, 2011
MP3: Lissie – “Little Lovin’”
MP3: Lissie – “Everywhere I Go”
MP3: Lissie – “In Sleep” (live)
Video: Lissie – “When I’m Alone”
Video: Lissie – “Cuckoo”
MySpace: Lissie

Steve Earle will release a new record entitled I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive on April 26 and a novel by the same name on May 12. He talks to Billboard about the two and the themes of mortality that pervade them.

Explosions In The Sky have clearly decided that the sky is not exploding enough of its own accord and will thus release a new record in Take Care, Take Care, Take Care on April 26 to pick up the slack. Pitchfork has specifics.

The Chicago Sun-Times, Baltimore Sun and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have words with Liz Phair.

NPR interviews the reunited The Dismemberment Plan.

The Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer interview the reunited Jayhawks.

NPR is streaming a World Cafe with The Decemberists while Exclaim has made the band their cover feature this month. They play The Sound Academy on February 1 and just took The King Is Dead to number one on the Billboard albums chart.

The Antlers discuss the electronic direction of their next album with Pitchfork.

The Vinyl District goes record shopping with Nicole Atkins. Her new record Mondo Amore is out February 8 and she’s at The Horseshoe on February 26.

PopMatters, The Georgia Straight and Seattle Weekly chat with various members of Ra Ra Riot.

Nada Surf have put out a video from their Depeche Mode cover from their covers record if i had a hi-fi.

Video: Nada Surf – “Enjoy The Silence”

The release of Iron & Wine’s latest Kiss Each Other Clean has brought out the press, with Sam Beam interviews in Pitchfork, Drowned In Sound, Daily Utah Chronicle and The AV Club as well as a Take-Away Show at Le Blogotheque.

Spinner and Paste talk to John Vanderslice, who is marking the release of his new record White Wilderness by giving away a new MP3.

MP3: John Vanderslice – “Piano Lesson”

Pitchfork reports that R.E.M. do not plan to tour behind their new record Collapse Into Now when it comes out on March 8. You can stream yet another new track from the record via one of those lyric video things at Filter.

Trivia: The Thermals’ new video from Personal Life was shot on the now-unprocessable Kodachrome film. I did not know they made a Kodachrome movie film. Now I do. For all the good it does me.

Video: The Thermals – “Never Listen To Me”

Frank YangTo the person who said they’d hoped S. Carey would play a Bon Iver cover at the Horseshoe on Sunday night – really? Though to be fair, I can understand it – without the angle of Sean Carey also being Justin Vernon’s drummer, there might well have been far fewer people in attendance, and that’d have been a shame as Carey’s solo debut All We Grow is a jewel of a record on entirely its own merits. But even if they didn’t know that in advance, by that point in Carey’s set – nearing the end – any right-thinking person would have been so taken by the performance that they shouldn’t have even been able to muster a “Bon who?”

That should probably say “performances” – plural – because opener White Hinterland was pretty terrific as well. I’d only listened to Casei Dienel’s stuff in passing before, but clearly I’ve been missing out. With Shawn Creeden alongside her, Dienel crafted a set that was earthy and organic despite hardly utilizing a single acoustic instrument. Using keys, samples and loopers, Dienel would subtly loop and layer her birdlike vocals into a swirling cloud of folktronica that had more than a hint of Lykke Li-like sultriness. She also offered up a cover of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” (how I was able to recognize the song without ever having actually heard it, I do not know) before bringing out S. Carey to back her on a couple of songs, a favour which she would later return. I know I have a copy of her latest album Kairos kicking around somewhere… I really need to find it.

If White Hinterland’s set was an exercise in making something wholly organic-sounding out of inorganic instruments, S. Carey’s was a study in rendering a studio-crafted record entirely live. We All Grow is a record rich with layered sounds, clearly indebted to late-era Talk Talk, and I certainly wouldn’t have expected all of them to be recreated live… so I was very pleasantly surprised when they were. Fronting a five-piece band and sticking mainly to keyboards, Sean Carey led his bandmates through one of the simply prettiest hours of music I’ve experienced in recent memory. Be it the immaculate four-part harmonies or the masterful musicianship of all hands with through the gentlest atmospheric moments or the crashing crescendos, they sounded amazing and the only time the only thing greater than enjoying the moment was anticipating how they’d do the remaining pieces from the album justice. I appreciate this sounds a touch overly effusive but it really was lovely, and perfectly capped in the encore when Dienel came out contribute vocals to their cover of The Notwist’s “Consequences”. Just oh so pretty.

Photos: S. Carey, White Hinterland @ The Horseshoe – December 19, 2010
MP3: S. Carey – “In The Dirt”
MP3: S. Carey – “In The Stream”
MP3: White Hinterland – “No Logic”
MP3: White Hinterland – “Dreaming Of The Plum Trees”
MP3: White Hinterland – “Chant de Grillon”
MP3: White Hinterland – “Icarus”
Video: White Hinterland – “No Logic”
Video: White Hinterland – “Amsterdam”
Video: White Hinterland – “Icarus”
Myspace: S. Carey
Myspace: White Hinterland

Pitchfork and The Telegraph have interviews with The National while NYC Taper is sharing a recording of their set opening for Yo La Tengo during their Hannukah residency at Maxwell’s at the start of the month.

My Old Kentucky Blog interviews Nicole Atkins – her new record Mondo Amore arrives January 25 and she will be at The Horseshoe on February 26.

Interview talks to Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes about the rocking direction of their next record The People’s Key, out February 15 and the first MP3 from which is available in swap for an email over at Pitchfork. They’re at the Sound Academy on March 13.

aux.tv chats with Ra Ra Riot.

Spinner chats with Antony Hegarty of Antony & The Johnsons.

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was still waiting for Minnesota’s Now Now to make up their cancelled Summer 2009 date; good news is they’re finally making it here on February 13 for a show at the Mod Club, bad news is it’s part of a large bill of emo-punk-pop acts that I’d rather not have anything to do with (Hellogoodbye, Gold Motel, You Me And Everyone We Know) so yeah, maybe next time.

MP3: Now Now – “Neighbors”

Rocky Votolato and Matt Pond (presumably solo, sans PA), will be teaming up for a Spring tour that stops in at the Drake on March 23.

MP3: Rocky Votolato – “Red River”
MP3: Matt Pond PA – “Starting”

Frank YangWho: Ra Ra Riot
What: The biggest orchestral indie rock band to ever come out of Syracuse, or anywhere in upstate New York for that matter.
Why: Their last visit was a sort-of-but-not-really-secret-and-free show just after the release of their second album The Orchard. Now they’re back – same room – but whereas the first time was free, this time you have to pay.
When: Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Where: The Mod Club in Toronto (19+)
Who else: Support comes from labelmates (in Canada, anyways) The Most Serene Republic and Winnipeggers Imaginary Cities
How: Tickets for the show are $16 in advance, but courtesy of Collective Concerts, I’ve got a grand prize consisting of a pair of passes to the show and a copy of The Orchard on CD and a second prize of a pair of passes to the show to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Ra Ra Riot” in the subject line and your full name in the body, and have that in to me before midnight, November 28.
What else: The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix welcomes the band to the prairies for the first time by way of interview.

MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”
Video: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”

Dan DennisonBritish Sea Power have yet to top the UK charts – their last record, 2008′s Do You Like Rock Music? came closest at #10 – but their next album Valhalla Dancehall certainly had #1 on its mind. It was announced yesterday that it’d have a release date of January 1, 2011 – 1/1/11 for the numerologically-inclined – and as such has the distinction of being the first major new release of next year, at least in my cosmos.

It’s interesting to note that this album finds the lineup officially expanded to a six-piece, bringing their touring viola and keyboard players into the fold (and press photos). One might suppose that the extra personnel would make for a bigger, broader-sounding album, but BSP have never gone small or been blessed with an inordinate amount of focus, even when they numbered just four, so it’s hard to imagine them being even more out there with album number four than they’ve been in the past. Zeus, the taster EP for the new record, is certainly as eclectic over its seven tracks as anything they’ve done before.

Skiddle.com has an interview with the band and in addition to assembling a little teaser video for the new record, they’ve released a new MP3 from the album to get y’all excited.

MP3: British Sea Power – “Living Is So Easy”
MP3: British Sea Power – “Zeus”

Robyn has rescheduled her show from last Friday, which was cancelled at the 11th hour (or more like 3PM) the day of due to illness. It’ll now take place on January 26, still at the Sound Academy.

Video: Robyn – “Dancing On My Own”

Dum Dum Girls will be making up for their cancelled Fall tour with a Winter jaunt that includes a stop at the El Mocambo on February 26.

MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “D.A.L.”
MP3: Dum Dum Girls – “Jail La La”

Eric Elbogen, aka Say Hi – he stopped directing that at your mom a little while ago – has a new record coming out on January 25 entitled Um, Uh Oh and will be staging a huge tour to promote. Check out the first track courtesy of Spin and see him when he plays the El Mocambo on March 4.

MP3: Say Hi – “Devils”

NPR has got a World Cafe session with Ra Ra Riot, while Pique, The Calgary Sun and The Gauntlet have interviews. The band are at the Mod Club on December 1.

Drowned In Sound talks to Scott Devendorf of The National. The deluxe edition of High Violet comes out November 23.

Spin declares Warpaint to be “breaking out” while The Riverfront Times talks to drummer Stella Mozgawa.

Spoon have put out a new video from Transference.

Video: Spoon – “Nobody Gets Me But You”

Band Of Horses have opted to premiere their latest cinematically-styled video from Infinite Arms at IMBD.

Video: Band Of Horses – “Dilly”

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart talk to Spinner about “Heart In Your Heartbreak”, the lead single from their new record Belong, due out in March.

Elizabeth WeibergA note: I’m presently barely conscious after staying up way too late the other night doing the Polaris post-game, so I’m just going to start tossing up stuff that’s been collecting in the hopper over the last few days until I pass out.

And we’ll kick off with a new batch of fully realized, produced and presented songs from the inimitable John Vanderslice, collected under the title of Green Grow The Rushes. It’s being given away for exactly zero dollars in both high-quality MP3 and uncompressed WAV format over at his website. Why? Because he’s got these songs he wants you to hear and because he’s great. But if you want to thank the ‘Slice in some monetary way, perhaps pick up a copy of his last full-length Romanian Names? It’s not quite as free but still a great record.

MP3: John Vanderslice – “Thule Fog”
MP3: John Vanderslice – “I’ll Never Live Up To You”
ZIP: John Vanderslice / Green Grow The Rushes

Exclaim has some details on the new Iron & Wine album, entitled Kiss Each Other Clean and due out in early 2011.

Michael Benjamin Lerner of Telekinesis chats with The Washington Post.

The Thermals have released a new single from Personal Life which, in the parlance of our time, means that there’s a new MP3 to download.

MP3: The Thermals – “Never Listen To Me”

The Line Of Best Fit and Spinner talk to Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of The Posies. Their new record Blood/Candy is out September 28.

The Boston Herald talks to drummer Bob Nastanovich of Pavement. NYC Taper has also got a recording of their Williamsburg show to share.

Clash interviews Local Natives, in town at the Mod Club on October 19.

Spin declares Lissie to be “breaking out”. She’s at the El Mocambo on October 19.

Spin gets to the root of Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s name, while Filter has a track from their new record Buzzard available to download.

MP3: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – “Lunatic, Lunatic, Lunatic”

Spinner serves up an Interface session with Drive-By Truckers.

R.E.M. has completed work on album number 15 and are targeting a Spring 2011 release for it.

Drowned In Sound talks to Will Sheff of Okkervil River about working with Roky Erikson on this year’s True Love Casts Out All Evil.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of Spoon’s show in the teeny tiny Cake Shop last week.

The new Deerhunter record Halcyon Digest is streaming at NPR in advance of its release next week. They’re at Lee’s Palace the Opera House on October 19.

Stream: Deerhunter / Halcyon Digest

The AV Club, American Songwriter, The Boston Herald, Pinnastorm, The Awl and NPR have interviews with Superchunk. NPR is also streaming their show in Washington DC last week and NYC Taper offering downloads of the Brooklyn show, giving you a taste of what to expect when they return to Toronto to play the Sound Academy on December 9 opening up for Broken Social Scene; you’ll just have to imagine the pogoing.

The Sydney Morning Herald talks to Interpol.

PitchforkTV has posted a POV session with The Hold Steady.

Clash declares Holly Miranda “One To Watch”.

New York Magazine talks to Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner.

Spin gets a live preview of Nicole Atkins’ new record Mondo Amore, due out on January 25 of next year, and you can download a new track from the record over at Nicole’s website.

Daytrotter has posted a session with Ra Ra Riot, who have made good on their promise to come back to town in December – they’ll be at the Mod Club on the first of that month, tickets $16.

MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Boy”