Trevor WaurechenI love it when the alliteration takes care of itself.

Last month went into the history books as being the first time on record that Toronto received no snow in November. No such luck for December, as the first major storm of the year is bearing down on us today… so I guess it’s time to bust out the winter coat and boots, start thinking about buying gifts for people and accept that for the next three weeks or so, it’s going to be Christmas music anywhere and everywhere I go.

Generally this is taken as a thing of awfulness, but one set of holiday tunes that most people can abide, if not actually enjoy, is the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, with its jazzy take on some holiday standards as well as a few original compositions which have become classics in their own right. It’s kind of the Christmas album that even people who hate Christmas albums can appreciate.

And it’s the basis for a new charitable compilation assembled by the folks at Canadian digital retailers Zunior. A Peanuts Christmas: The 2009 Zunior Holiday Album is a tribute album that features a wide cross-section of Canadian artists re-interpreting the Guaraldi record, including The Awkward Stage, Jill Barber and The Violet Archers. More important than the names involved, however, is the fact that the album is a fresh yet familiar take on the original record, preserving its intrinsic coolness without copying its moves. And more important than that is the fact that all proceeds from this digital collection will go to the Daily Bread Food Bank.

The album is selling for a very reasonable $8.88 Canadian, exclusively at Zunior.

MP3: The Awkward Stage – “Christmas Time Is Here”
MP3: Jill Barber – “The Christmas Song”

Also getting in the spirit of the season with another charitable musical effort is Toronto hardcore act Fucked Up. Even before they officially won the Polaris Prize in September, they were committed to putting the funds to charitable use and they’ve made good on that promise. Matablog reports that their take on Band-Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas” is about to be released with all proceeds from the single going to three organizations committed to the cause of missing or murdered Aboriginal women in Canada – Montreal’s Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Vancouver’s DTES Power of Women Group and Ottawa’s Sisters in Spirit. But don’t think that their cover is all just Damian Abraham bellowing out the song – they’ve enlisted a pretty impressive and eclectic lineup of guests to lend their voices to a worthy cause. The track also features the vocal talents of Yo La Tengo, GZA, Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Bob Mould, Tegan & Sara, Andrew W.K., TV On The Radio’s Kyp Malone, Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and everyone’s favourite analrapist, David Cross. The single became available on iTunes last night and will come out as a 7″ single in February of next year.

Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy gives Filter a list of his top ten records of 2009. He releases Heartland on January 12 and plays a show at the Mod Club that same evening.

3VOOR12 has a video session with Basia Bulat recorded atop an Utrecht rooftop in the Netherlands. Her new album Heart Of My Own is out January 26 and she plays Trinity-St. Paul’s on January 16.

The Line Of Best Fit interviews Beatrice Martin of Coeur de Pirate.

The Rural Alberta Advantage has released a new video from Hometowns, which features the trio playing McNulty and getting up on the wire. Or something.

Video: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Drain The Blood”

Sweaty synth-rockers Woodhands, with whom The RAA share drummer Paul Banwatt, have set a January 26 release date for their second album Remorsecapade. Details at Chart, MP3 below.

MP3: Woodhands – “Pockets”

Lightning Dust plays a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR.

Michael Cera talks to MTV about the Scott Pilgrim film, of which a complete cut now exists. I spent this past weekend re-reading all five volumes and am just a little bit tingly with anticipation for this film. And volume six. I want it. I want it now now now nownownownownowNOW.

thekills.tvWhile I’m very much on record as believing The Kills’ 2008 release Midnight Boom to be a superb album, I’m sure part of that was due to the fact that it was the first Kills record I’d heard. Their reputation to that point was as a garage-blues-scuzz-punk rock duo and that’s not generally my thing, so discovering them to be – at least on that record – all those things but also exceedingly pop was a most pleasant surprise. But this shift in direction, while garnering new fans like myself, probably cost them some as well. Such is the karmic balance of the universe. And with the reissue tomorrow of their debut album Keep On Your Mean Side, The Kills that those long-time fans fell in sleazy lust with is fully on display.

Whereas Boom had me wondering how the duo would recreate all the sounds and textures in a live setting (answer: quite well), there’d have been almost no such question circa Mean Side. Besides some basic drums, Mean Side is all about VV, Hotel, two guitars and a healthy dose of sneering attitude. The prevailing aesthetic is loose and raw, like delta blues by way of The Velvet Underground, and made noteworthy by Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart’s remarkable presence. The songs aren’t all that memorable individually, but collectively they create a definite atmosphere – gritty, grimy and driving – and while what they’re doing isn’t exactly fresh, their execution and charisma commands attention.

Or it did, circa 2003. Since then, The Kills have taken their sound and gone downtown, less juke joint and more nightclub but most importantly, still seedy. I’m not sure what the impetus for this reissue is, and according to this interview with hour.ca neither does Hince, but the most obvious answer is to capitalize on the success of Boom and perhaps get new fans to pick up the old stuff and use the five bonus tracks to reel in some of the older ones. To the former, it’s far enough removed from where they are now to offer another fix while waiting for album four and to the latter, five extra tracks – one new song, one dictaphone piece and three covers – probably isn’t enough to justify the expenditure but either way, there it is.

The Kills are at The Phoenix on Thursday night, May 7, and courtesy of Against The Grain and Outside Music, I’ve got one prize pack to give away consisting of a pair of passes to the show and copies of both Midnight Boom and the Keep On Your Mean Side reissue on CD to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want The Kills” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body. Contest closes at midnight tomorrow night, May 5.

And for this week only, PitchforkTV is streaming the 2005 Kills tour documentary I Hate The Way You Love.

MP3: The Kills – “Black Rooster”
MP3: The Kills – “Cat Claw”
Video: The Kills – “Fried My Little Brains”
Video: The Kills: I Hate The Way You Love
MySpace: The Kills

Ear Farm and Billboard interview Thomas Mars of Phoenix, who will release Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix on May 29 and follow that up with a show at The Phoenix on June 15.

Each Note Secure talks to Aaron Pfenning of Chairlift.

Blurt, Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly talk to Flaming Lip Wayne Coyne about the absurd controversy over their “Do You Realize?” being named the Oklahoma state song.

Beirut’s Zach Condon gives Filter a guide of Santa Fe, New Mexico. They have a date at the Phoenix on July 9.

If you didn’t know, the June 12 Malajube show at Lee’s Palace is free, tickets at Rotate This and Soundscapes and also at the door. Don’t ask why, just go.

The Brother Kite continue to work on the much-anticipated follow-up to Waiting For The Time To Be Right, and a sneak preview of some of the new material in progress can be heard at Bandcamp. And unsurprisingly, it sounds marvelous.

New York Magazine and Decider interview Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes.

Deer Tick have a date at the Horseshoe for July 17. Their new album Born On Flag Day is due out June 23.

MP3: Deer Tick – “Easy”

This tweet from Labrador certainly seems to imply that we’ll see a new EP from The Radio Dept this Summer in advance of the release (fingers crossed) of Clinging To A Scheme this Fall. Alls I know is that in less than two weeks, I’m going to be in New York City to see the reclusive Swedes live for the first time and I am stoked. And also for Shake Shack. Stoked for Radio Dept and Shake Shack. And Coney Island. I think I’m going to go to Coney Island.

Still not sure if I’m going to make it out to see Thao With The Get Down Stay Down at the Bowery Ballroom the night I get in, though. Will play that one by ear. There’s an interview with her at the Idaho Statesman.

The National Post has an extensive feature piece on Scott Pilgrim, both the comic and the film, and gets creator Bryan Lee-O’Malley to identify and annotate various locales around Toronto that play roles in the comic and will, presumably, make appearances in the film. Filming is ongoing around the city right now and video blog entries on the film’s website now number four.

And a reminder that the Toronto Comic Arts Festival will take place this coming weekend at the Toronto Reference Library at Yonge and Bloor (another Pilgrim location!) and feature appearances from both Lee-O’Malley and Phonogram artist Jamie McKelvie. Issue two of The Singles Club finally came out last week, by the way, and was worth the wait though that shouldn’t be taken as permission for issue three to take another five months to put together, no sir.

Frank YangEven before setting foot in the Opera House on Tuesday night, you knew it wasn’t going to be a typical evening – security wasn’t bothering to check anyone’s ID, as the odds of someone underage wanting to sneak into a Tindersticks were pretty much slim to none. The audience for the veteran Brits, on their first North American tour in half a decade in support of their first album in just as long – last year’s The Hungry Saw – skewed older to say the least.

Support on the Canadian dates were Montreal’s Elfin Saddle, a duo expanded to trio for live performance and whose principals set up seated behind small fortresses of unusual musical instruments. They sounded like what you might expect to hear if you were traversing the hills of medieval England and just happened to stumble across a Japanese temple built into a Gregorian monastery – a strange and fascinating combination of Eastern and Western sounds from long ago, not so much blended as tied together with wire and string. Definitely unique.

I’ve fully admitted to being a Tindersticks neophyte, but after their show I can also declare myself a total convert. They began with each player taking the stage one by one as they built up “Introduction”, the instrumental opener from The Hungry Saw, from nothing to perfection and thus set the tone for the night and that tone was one of effortless elegance. The seven-piece band of guitar, bass, drums, keys, horns and of course Stuart Staples’ inimitable croon were the very definition of class up there, grand yet understated, in creating an atmosphere like a suspended breath or the very last dance of the evening – like one of those fleeting moments you want to last forever.

And while not forever, their 90-minute set still felt like a gift, one which the enraptured crowd didn’t take for granted if their almost utter silence throughout the show was any indication (enthusiastic applause aside). Though Staples’ interaction with the audience was minimal – we got a “hello” and an “I already said hello” – it was obvious from the looks on he and founding guitarist Neil Fraser that they were fully enjoying this return to action after so long away. The setlist – punctuated with lovely instrumental interludes throughout – drew heavily on The Hungry Saw, so even though my knowledge of their catalog was limited the show still felt warm and enveloping. And as for the songs I didn’t know, while their words and melodies may have been unfamiliar, their language of sumptuous melancholy was one I’m quite fluent in and nothing was lost in translation. Simply a stunning show, top to bottom.

eye also has a review of the performance. The San Francisco Examiner has an interview with Stuart Staples, hour.ca talks to Elfin Saddle.

Photos: Tindersticks, Elfin Saddle @ The Opera House – March 10, 2009
MP3: Tindersticks – “The Hungry Saw”
MP3: Elfin Saddle – “Temple Daughter”
Video: Tindersticks – “Can Our Love…”

Frank YangWhile most bands spend their entire careers trying to nail down that elusive “signature sound”, actually achieving that goal can be as much a curse as a blessing. In the case of New York’s Asobi Seksu being “that band that sounds like J-pop meets My Bloody Valentine” certainly set them apart, but there’s only so much you can do within those boundaries and considering they damn near perfected it with their last album Citrus, the very real question facing them heading into album number three would have been, “what next?”

Their answer was to first strip the roster down to just principals Yuki Chikudate and James Hanna and then head back into the studio with much more Spector on their minds than Shields. And as you might expect, the resultant album Hush requires that the listener’s expectations be adjusted. Though things aren’t nearly as subdued as the album title might imply, they have traded in much of their fuzz-pedal squall for fluffier clouds of reverb and while the leaner sonic approach actually suits them quite well, it also seems their pop instincts were dulled in the process and by making their songs more atmospheric, they’ve also lost some substance. The record sounds more like a band in the process of creating a new identity rather than presenting a completed one.

Their live show, however, remains quite familiar as Tuesday night’s engagement at the El Mocambo proved. Though they’d paid a visit just five months prior, they still managed to draw a very healthy crowd and regardless of the band’s new creative direction, if they came expecting to be assaulted and battered by sound they weren’t disappointed. Apparently all the distortion pedals that didn’t make it into the studio were in the band’s touring van, because they had all their noisemaking toys along with them and weren’t afraid to use them – their signature Christmas and strobe light stage setup was also along for the ride. I was pleased to see that they’ve also developed a distinctive stage presence, with Hanna pacing the stage looking for pedals to stomp on and Chikudate cooly cooing into the microphone and whipping her hair around. And mixed in with the Citrus material and given the more muscular delivery, the Hush songs sounded much more alive, providing a bit of respite – but only a bit – from the sonic tumult of the older songs. If Asobi are looking for some pointers on where to take their sound, perhaps listening to a recording of one of their shows would be a good start – for my money, they’ve got the perfect formula right there.

Tourmates Bell also hailed from New York and the duo – frontwoman and namesake Olga Bell on keyboards and Jason Nazary on drums and both on laptops – were excited to be on their very first tour, this being the second show. Their sound is an interesting take on electronica, melding Bell’s powerful and elastic vocals with unconventional melodies, pop structures and dynamic live drumming. It’s the sort of thing that draws you in, then pushes you away and then pulls you back, sometimes all at once. Kind of strange but definitely intriguing.

Decider has an interview with Asobi Seksu, Gothamist has one with Bell.

Photos: Asobi Seksu, Bell @ The El Mocambo – March 3, 2009
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Me & Mary”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Familiar Light”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “New Years”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Thursday”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “I’m Happy But You Don’t Like Me”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Let Them Wait”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Sooner”
MP3: Asobi Seksu – “Walk On The Moon”
MP3: Bell – “Magic Tape”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Me & Mary”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Thursday”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Goodbye”
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Walk On The Moon”
MySpace: Asobi Seksu
MySpace: Bell

Black Book interviews Anthony Gonzalez of M83.

Ben Curtis of School Of Seven Bells talks to Drowned In Sound and This Is Fake DIY.

Pitchfork solicits a list of this and that from Stuart Staples of Tindersticks while NOW, The Washington Post, Express and New York Press settle for interviews. They play the Opera House on Tuesday night.

NME has details on Jarvis Cocker’s forthcoming album – relevant points are that it’s out May 19, but is still untitled now entitled Further Complications (via PF) and was produced by Steve Albini… now that’ll be a 180 from the Richard Hawley-helmed romantic lushness of the first record. Can’t wait.

Clash has an extended and thoughtful interview with Ian Brown about the history of The Stone Roses on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of their debut album. Yes, the “r” word comes up. No, don’t hold your breath.

Magnet Q&As Frightened Rabbit and NPR welcomes them to for an interview and session.

Gemma Hayes has released a new video from last year’s The Hollow Of Morning. I think the “swoon” is implicit anytime I write about her, is it not?

Video: Gemma Hayes – “Home”

Wireless Bollinger, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and Clash interview Howling Bells, whose new album Radio Wars is – I’m sad to say – being rather justly pilloried. It’s just not very good and considering how much I’d been looking forward to it, is quite a disappointment. Not giving up on the band but it’s a let-down.

MP3: Howling Bells – “Into The Chaos”

Pitchfork reveals that one of the tracks on the new Wilco album – still untitled and set for a June release – will feature a duet between Jeff Tweedy and Feist.

To mark their upcoming tour in support of Neko Case, Crooked Fingers have released a new digital EP for “Your Control”, the closing track from their last album Forfeit/Fortune which is a duet between Eric Bachmann and Case. The EP also features a couple covers of Crooked Fingers tunes by Spoon and Lambchop.

Neko Case gives Spinner some of the ground rules for being in her band and talks to JAM about the naturalist themes that run through her work. She also talks to The Los Angeles Times and The Globe & Mail. She’s at Trinity-St Paul’s on April 17 and 18.

The Ithaca Journal and NOW talk to AC Newman, who is playing Lee’s Palace next Wednesday night.

Peaches has a date at the Phoenix on May 20. Her new album I Feel Cream is out May 4.

Grizzly Bear have mapped out a massive tour in support of new album Veckatimest – the Toronto date is June 5 at the Phoenix. The album is out May 26.

The National Post recorded a video feature on Ohbijou circa their show at Lee’s Palace last November, including a street corner performance backed by The Acorn. And more clarity on the status of Beacons – the band has signed a deal in the UK with Bella Union, making them labelmates – at least over there – with Fleet Foxes and Andrew Bird. Pretty good company. Beacons is set for a June 8 release there and plans are afoot for the North American release and rescheduled tour dates to fall in line with that.

Paste talks to Craig Finn about The Hold Steady about their forthcoming live CD/DVD set A Positive Rage, due out April 7.

Blurt reports that Richard Thompson will be the subject of a four-disc box set entitled Walking On A Wire: Richard Thompson (1968-2009) and due out June 30.

NOW talks to creator Bryan Lee-O’Malley and director Edgar Wright about the upcoming Scott Pilgrim and its Toronto roots.

Update: Sad news – Dutch concert webcast site FabChannel is closing its (virtual) doors next week – you have seven days to go root through their massive and beautiful archives. Get to it.

MySpaceSay what you will about Taunton, Massachusetts’ Wheat, but you can’t deny that they refuse to stay down. Once upon a time one of my favourite bands (circa Medeiros and Hope & Adams), they became a cautionary tale against the major label machine with 2003’s ill-fated Per Second Per Second Per Second Every Second (which I chronicled back in 2004 and 2005) and essentially disbanded in the aftermath.

They unexpectedly returned in 2007 with Everyday I Said A Prayer For Kathy And Made A One Inch Square, again independent and down a member, but even then they were beset with label problems and delays. And the record itself was free of the excessive gloss of Per Second, it was decent at best – unfocused and only evidencing glimpses of the rough magic that defined their earliest releases. It pretty much came and went and I figured that that was the end of the band, again. They’d returned in order to finish on their own terms.

Or not. There were rumblings of a new record late last year and though there’s no release date as of yet, it has a title – White Ink, Black Ink – and a sample of it has surfaced on the band’s profile for SxSW, where I fully intend to see them play. Obviously not enough to form an opinion on, though it sounds like they’re sticking to the sonic cut-and-paste aesthetic of Kathy. I find I remain curious and still a little excited about the prospect of new music from Wheat – this news prompted me to revisit those magical first two records and they still give me tingles.

And those first two records – Medeiros and Wheat – are being reissued together along with a bonus disc of rarities and whatnots from the era entitled 30 Minute Theatrik (thanks to Mark for the tip). It’s set for a March 10 release but you can pre-order it now and get all three records digitally immediately. If you’ve never heard either one, well, you should. And here’s your chance.

More Wheat info and downloads available at thiswheat.com.

MP3: Wheat – “El Sincero”
MP3: Wheat – “Move = Move”
Mp3: Wheat – “What Everyone Keeps Telling Me”
MP3: Wheat – “World United Already”
Video: Wheat – “Don’t I Hold You”
Video: Wheat – “I Met A Girl”
MySpace: Wheat

Drowned In Sound declared this week just ending “slowcore week” and followed that up with extensive features on personal favourites like Low, Galaxie 500, The New Year and Early Day Miners. They’ll have a new album out sometime this year entitled The Treatment.

The Democrat & Chronicle interviews Blitzen Trapper, playing a sold-out show at the Horseshoe tomorrow night.

CBC Radio 3 talks to Casey Mecija of Ohbijou, who will release their second album Beacons on April 14 and follow that up with a CD release show at the Opera House on April 18.

The Thermals are hitting the road in support of their new album Now We Can See, out April 7. Pitchfork has the full North American itinerary, which includes a May 3 date at the Horseshoe.

MP3: The Thermals – “Now We Can See”

Mogwai have announced a North American tour for this Spring which will make up their cancelled The Hawk Is Howling dates from last Fall when drummer Martin Bulloch’s pacemaker threatened to escape from his chest. The Toronto date will be May 4 at the Phoenix – those who won passes to the cancelled show, I’ll be in touch about the make-up date.

MP3: Mogwai – “The Sun Smells Too Loud”

With their new album What Is?! coming out domestically on April 12, King Khan & The Shrines will be at the Phoenix on May 12 to promote.

Vetiver have a date at the Horseshoe on May 15 in support of last year’s Tight Knit.

MP3: Vetiver – “Everyday”

Leonard Cohen has announced a North American tour – closest local date is May 19 at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton. Second closest is May 24 at John Labbat Centre in London. Tickets on sale March 2.

Neil Young’s Fork In The Road has a confirmed release date of March 31. Archives? Don’t ask.

Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, will release her sophomore album in Actor on May 5. Full details on the release at Pitchfork.

Also out May 5 is Outer South, the second solo record from Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band.

Viva Voce will release Rose City on May 26.

The Broken West have turned out a new video from last year’s Now Or Heaven.

Video: The Broken West – “Perfect Games”

CHUD interviews Scott Pligrim creator Bryan Lee-O’Malley.