Frank YangIt’s not especially unusual for bands active in the ’90s to be doing the reunion thing these days – it’s more unusual when a band who had any kind of following 15 to 20 years ago to NOT at least feel out the market for a comeback – but an extra degree of excitement is warranted when you’re talking about the Elephant 6 collective. Now granted, when you’re talking about a scene as broad and loose as E6 was/is, it can be argued that it never went away and sure, Of Montreal and Elf Power and myriad side-projects and less high-profile acts with ties to the scene continue on – albeit without the curly “E6″ logo on their releases – but most of the first wave of bands who emerged from that generation of Athens, Georgia bands faded into myth before the end of the last century with really, only Robert Schneider’s Apples In Stereo continuing to plug along.

And while most of the attention in 2011 has surrounded the return of Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum from the wilderness to the stage, by rights there should be a comparable amount of buzz around The Olivia Tremor Control’s return to touring. The melding of experimental found soundscapes and indelible pop classicism of their two albums Dusk At Cubist Castle and Black Foliage are basically a clinic on creating a unique and vivid world out of just sound and how to bend one’s mind with melodic hooks. It’s unequivocally great stuff and on Friday night, it came to Toronto for the first time in who knows how long (six months if you count the OTC-heavy Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise tour that came through in March, but for argument’s sake let’s not).

Opening up was Elephant 6 stalwart Julian Koster, who since the disbandment of Neutral Milk Hotel has been operating as The Music Tapes. I’d never seen him before, but reports of his highly-developed sense of whimsy were widespread and happily accurate. His stage setup involved as much thrift store trinkets and gewgaws as musical instruments, and between he and his two bandmates, there were a lot of instruments with Koster focusing on the singing saw and bowed banjo. Songs were offered in about equal quantity as stories and skits and sometimes the two were one and the same, as with their marching band expedition into the audience. It was all wholly entertaining – you didn’t notice the hour go by – and it was nice to realize that for all the stuff going on around the songs, the band were talented musicians and arrangers. And as for the stories about the carnival performers pulling cities out of their mouths or the great uncle who turned his shadow into an elephant – I don’t expect that there was any truth to them but oh I wish there was.

Much of The Music Tapes stage clutter was cleared out before The Olivia Tremor Control took over, but it seemed that every piece of set dressing that was removed was replaced by a musician. Though it’s Bill Doss and Will Cullen Hart who are the key figures in that band, they numbered eight and sometimes nine, including two-thirds of The Music Tapes and Scott Spillane of The Gerbils (which also made for half of Neutral Milk Hotel, but the E6 family tree is really more of a wreath and not worth dwelling on).

As implied earlier, listening to Olivia Tremor Control records is an immersive and occasionally disorienting experience, though generally in a good way. I can now say with first-hand knowledge that the live show does a pretty good job of reproducing this. It probably would have been relatively easy to extract the proper songs from their recordings and perform them as such without complaint from their fans, but it wouldn’t really be Olivia Tremor Control without that anarchy, would it? Accordingly, their 100-minute set was like a primordial soup of sound created by a pawnshop orchestra – guitars, keys, samples, clarinets, saw, percussion – from which they would pull out both beauty and chaos – sometimes at the same time – with only occasional breaks for tuning, drinks or chatter. It wasn’t always tight or pretty but if they wobbled a bit on the straightaways, they took the corners like a pro and nailed every key hook and those Doss-Hart harmonies – when not occasionally lost in the mix – sounded glorious.

It’s funny, as happy as I was to see and hear OTC live, they weren’t one of the bands that I’d always held out hope would get back together and take it on the road. I attribute that to the fact that their records were such fully-formed worlds unto themselves that the idea that these songs might exist in the real world, outside of the context of those albums, was like trying to imagine cartoon characters as flesh and blood. Yet here they were, sounding great and playing with a sort of chemistry that made the fact that they hadn’t performed regularly as a unit in so many years hard to believe. That the band is working on new material – NPR premiered the first new OTC song in over a decade a little while back – is good news for all, and maybe we’ll start seeing that E6 logo on some records again.

Exclaim also has a review of the show.

Photos: The Olivia Tremor Control, The Music Tapes @ Lee’s Palace – September 16, 2011
MP3: The Olivia Tremor Control – “Hideaway” (live in Athens, GA – April 15, 2005)
MP3: The Olivia Tremor Control – “NYC-25″ (live in Athens, GA – April 15, 2005)
MP3: The Olivia Tremor Contro – “Jumping Fences” (live in Athens, GA – April 15, 2005)
MP3: The Music Tapes – “Majesty”
Video: The Music Tapes – “Majesty”
Video: The Music Tapes – “For The Planet Pluto”
Video: The Music Tapes – “The Minister Of Longitude”

A couple of unreleased Neutral Milk Hotel songs which will be appearing on that box set that is being released on November 22 is available to stream.

Stream: Neutral Milk Hotel – “Little Birds (Unfinished version 2)”

Magnet talks Obscurities with Stephin Merritt.

Sigur Ros have finalized details on the release of their live Inni film/album; it’ll be out on November 8 and be available in either double-CD or triple-LP formats, the former coming with the option of DVD or Blu-Ray and the latter only with DVD, or digitally-only if that’s your thing. There’s also a super-fancy limited edition box set which you can read about at Exclaim. One of the live tracks is available to download and Toronto screenings of the film begin October 28 at the TIFF Lightbox.

MP3: Sigur Ros – “Festival” (live)

The Line Of Best Fit chats with Barry Burns of Mogwai.

Emmy The Great has released a second video from her second album Virtue.

Video: Emmy The Great – “Paper Forest (In The Afterglow Of Rapture)”

Also with a new video are Arctic Monkeys, for the title track of Suck It And See.

Video: Arctic Monkeys – “Suck It And See”

And Manic Street Preachers have a clip for the single off their forthcoming best-of collection National Treasures, out October 31 – it’s a The The cover.

Video: Manic Street Preachers – “This Is The Day”

The Von Pip Musical Express reviews Ladytron’s latest Gravity The Seducer and talks to vocalist/keyboardist Helen Marnie about it while The San Francisco Chronicle talks to Reuben Wu. They’re at The Phoenix on November 5.

Arcade 44 talks to Greg Hughes of Still Corners. Creatures Of An Hour is out October 11 and they play The Drake Underground on October 25.

Clash lists off ten things you didn’t know about Damon Albarn.

Frank YangSome were disappointed when Empire Of The Sun’s long-awaited Toronto debut on Tuesday night was moved from the lakeside Echo Beach venue to the generally loathed Sound Academy for undisclosed “production issues”; it turned out to be a blessing as the weather finally got the memo that Autumn was here and, well, it would have been awfully cold down outside on the water at Ontario Place. Plus, there was the novelty of having the show take place right across the street from where Cirque du Soleil had pitched their Totem tent, and while one technically had nothing to do with the other, it was hard not to appreciate the convergence of solar-themed entertainment. Well I thought it was neat, anyways.

Another benefit of the new venue was the ability to close off portions of it to squeeze the people in, for although those who were there were rightfully excited that the Australian band had finally made it to town – they had to cancel a show last Summer due to scheduling – there weren’t really that many of them; maybe 1500 tops at the show’s peak in a room that could hold twice that, but still better than an outdoor venue where everyone could lie down and make sand angels without touching a neighbour. However it wouldn’t be fair to say that a fraction of that total were on hand when openers and fellow Aussies Miami Horror took the stage at the stroke of eight to kick things off – you could count the attendees on two hands and maybe a foot.

Regardless, it was the scheduled time for the party to start and so Miami Horror started the party. Apparently Miami Horror can refer to either producer/keyboardist Benjamin Plant doing DJ duties or the live band, which we saw this night, and which belonged instead to singer/guitarist Josh Moriarty. While his bandmates remained pretty static tending to their keys, bass and drum duties, Moriarty was living out every kid’s rock star dreams up there, channeling not a little bit of Prince in his guitarsexy moves (points for sporting a reverse-headstock thinline Stratocaster) and solos over a bed of New Romantic-approved synths – there were more than a few plectrums pointed heavenwards, it was just that kind of night – a bit gratuitous but entertaining. Over the course of their set the crowd swelled from a handful to hundreds, most happily dancing their way in from the doors to the party anthems coming offstage and as the vibe improved, so did the material. By set’s end, it was evident that their debut Illumination had a few genuinely solid songs to recommend the band, not just the ability to soundtrack a party.

I am pretty sure that the last time Luke Steele was in Toronto, it was some eight years ago when his old/other band The Sleepy Jackson (who are still technically a going concern even though Personality came out a half-decade ago) at Lee’s Palace opening up for My Morning Jacket – very different company and environs, indeed. That Luke Steele was a slightly pudgy guy with a big mess of curly hair, dubious moustache and questionable fashion sense; that was not this Luke Steele.

No, the Luke Steele who strode onto his elevated stage platform as the scrim obscuring the stage dropped was sleek, space-age and clad in an elaborate blue headdress and cosmic kimono – a cosmic messiah who came to save us all with insanely harmonized guitar solos… though still with a hint of a moustache. Understand that Empire Of The Sun is as much a visual experience as an aural one, with the set costumes and set dressings carefully matched to the elaborate artwork of and videos from their album Walking On A Dream. Going in, I’d wondered if there’d be some kind of narrative to the show to justify the costumes and over-the-top visuals – within a couple of songs, I put those thoughts out of my mind as it was clear that no justification was needed – they were being fantastical for the sake of being fantastic, and that was plenty.

Musically, they were a three-piece – Steele on guitar and keys, Nick Littlemore on guitar (I think it was the prodigal co-conspirator back there – I missed the intro but it looked like him) and a live drummer – playing over many backing tracks. And while the live instrumentation certainly added a dynamicism and volume that the album sometimes lacks, you had to be careful not to listen too too closely; I was standing right in front of their guitar amps at a few points and the rhythm parts being played were… not exactly tight. But stepping back and taking in the spectacle of it all, any human imperfections became insignificant against the grandeur of it all.

As crucial a part of the performance as the band were the dancers, numbering four but with dramatic costume changes and choreography for every song, ranging from the shiny pink jumpsuit outfits for “Half Mast” and “We Are The People” to become furry blonde cavorting swordfish that for “Swordfish Hotkiss Night”, they were arguably the highlight of a show made up of nothing but highlights. Steele also changed outfits a few times, even getting his hair done between a songs at one point, all without missing a beat or a cue in the tightly-produced show, which makes sense considering they’ve been touring almost this exact show around the world for nigh on two years now (though some past festival sets seem to have been even more elaborate in costumes and staging). I suspect that if I went to more or any Top 40/pop shows where costumes and spectacle are de rigeur this might have been less impressive, but I don’t so it was all wow.

It wasn’t all rigidly scripted, though – Steele broke whatever character he was playing a few times to say hello to the enraptured fans and declare how happy he was that they’d finally made it to Toronto; he also brought his daughter Sunny Tiger out on stage to say hello towards the show’s end, and then immediately followed that tender moment by smashing his guitar to pieces and tossing the wreckage into the crowd. It was that kind of night. And it wasn’t over – while they were following standard concert convention in leaving the stage before playing their “hit”, they were putting the time to good use, returning for the encore of “Walking On A Dream” with the dancers dressed in intergalactic geishas and Steele in a dazzling white samurai outfit in front of a fountain of fire video projection; truly a show-stopper. I’m not sure what was up with the giant grim reaper puppet they wheeled out for the song, but if there’s one thing to be learned from an Empire Of The Sun show, it’s to not ask why – just be dazzled by it.

Exclaim and Panic Manual also have reviews of the show.

Photos: Empire Of The Sun, Miami Horror @ The Sound Academy – September 13, 2011
Video: Empire Of The Sun – “Half Mast”
Video: Empire Of The Sun – “Without You”
Video: Empire Of The Sun – “Standing On The Shore”
Video: Empire Of The Sun – “Walking On A Dream”
Video: Empire Of The Sun – “We Are The People”
Video: Miami Horror – “Holidays”
Video: Miami Horror – “Echoplex”
Video: Miami Horror – “I Look To You”
Video: Miami Horror – “Moon Theory”
Video: Miami Horror – “Sometimes”
Video: Miami Horror – “Don’t Be Down On Her”

Cut Copy have premiered a new video from Zonoscope.

Video: Cut Copy – “Blink And You’ll Miss A Revolution”

Howling Bells frontwoman Juanita Stein pens a column on fashion for Clash.

Junip have released a new video from 2010′s Fields.

Video: Junip – “Without You”

Jens Lekman’s new EP An Argument With Myself is available to stream ahead of its September 20 street date.

MP3: Jens Lekman – “An Argument With Myself”
Stream: Jens Lekman / An Argument With Myself

El Perro Del Mar is streaming a new song inspired by the London riots, probably not set to appear on her new record Pale Fire when it comes out next year. Thanks to The Line Of Best Fit for the tip.

Stream: El Perro Del Mar – “What Did You Expect”

Clash gets to know Maria Lindén of I Break Horses.

More screenings of the Sigur Ros live film Inni have been announced, including at Toronto’s TIFF Lightbox starting on October 28 – I am assuming there’ll be more than just one since they say director Vincent Morriset will be on hand at select screenings. The live CD/DVD set for the film is due out in November.

Video: Sigur Ros – “Klippa”
Trailer: Sigur Ros: Inni

British dreampop newcomers Still Corners have released a new MP3 from their forthcoming debut Creatures Of An Hour, out October 11. They’re at The Drake Underground on October 25.

MP3: Still Corners – “Into The Trees”

KCRW has a session with The Horrors; they’re at Lee’s Palace on September 27.

Wears The Trousers chats with Emmy The Great.

The New York Times, AV Club and Los Angeles Times check in with Nick Lowe, whose new album The Old Magic is out just in time for his two shows opening up for Wilco at Massey Hall this Friday and Saturday nights.

FacebookRoving gang of musical Welsh nogoodniks Los Campesinos! announced the existence of their fourth album Hello Sadness just last week, but they’ve already followed up that news with both the first downloadable MP3 from the record and video, both for the record’s leadoff track – a song which despite the band’s supposed claims to welcoming despair into their lives, sound pretty damn peppy. Or shouty, at least.

And while you’re getting down to that, they’ve also announced a handful of – well, four – American tour dates to preview the record. Note that doesn’t the crew won’t be crossing the border north of the US this time, but seeing as how they’ve never been averse to visiting Toronto and Canada repeatedly, expect a date when broader touring plans are announced.

MP3: Los Campesinos! – “By Your Hand”
Video: Los Campesinos! – “By Your Hand”

Noah & The Whale – who proved their ability to get super-sad with second album First Days Of Spring – return to town to party like it’s the Last Night On Earth at The Phoenix on November 8, part of a full North American tour; admission is $20 in advance. Interview has a chat with violinist Tom Hobden.

MP3: Noah & The Whale – “The First Days Of Spring”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Tonight’s The Kind Of Night”

Baeble Music has a Guest Apartment interview and session with Laura Marling. A Creature I Don’t Know is out Tuesday and she plays The Great Hall on September 23.

Beatroute, The Edmonton Journal, OC Weekly and The Calgary Herald have feature pieces on The Joy Formidable.

Even though there’s really no need to reissue an album that was just released in February, Yuck will get a deluxe edition of their self-titled debut on October 11 that includes a 6-track bonus CD – you can stream one of the new offerings at Pitchfork. They play The Horseshoe on September 27.

Stream: Yuck – “Cousin Corona”

The Guardian is streaming Mogwai’s new EP Earth Division, out next Tuesday, as well as notes from Stuart Braithwaite. So go and stream it and read. Go.

Stream: Mogwai / Earth Division

Also streaming and out next week is Acrobat, the second album from Peggy Sue.

MP3: Peggy Sue – “Cut My Teeth”
Stream: Peggy Sue / Acrobats

Music Broke My Bones and The Whiteboard Project have interviews with Slow Club, the latter of which is hilariously conducted via whiteboard. Paradise is out next week.

Grantland sends Chuck Klosterman to interview Noel Gallagher. A pretty great read regardless of your opinions of either character ensues. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds release their debut album on November 7 and play Massey Hall on November 7 and 8.

Wears The Trousers chat with Esben & The Witch.

DIY has a feature interview with Patrick Wolf and the singer-songwriter fesses up to Clash about his love of waterslides.

Though he’s supposed to be gearing up for the Horrors tour which brings him to Lee’s Palace on September 27, Faris Badwan tells Exclaim that his side-project Cat’s Eyes plans to release two more records in 2012. Which is good news because Cat’s Eyes was great. And Badwan talks Horrors with The Illinois Entertainer.

Beatroute has an interview with Arctic Monkeys.

Artrocker has the new video from Sons & Daughters, taken from their latest Mirror Mirror.

Video: Sons & Daughters – “Rose Red”

Goth godfather Peter Murphy brings his new solo record Ninth to town for a show at Lee’s Palace on November 23, tickets $29.50.

MP3: Peter Murphy – “I Spit Roses”

Though the media cycle on New Order of late has mainly been about irrevocably rent asunder they are with the acrimonious departure of bassist Peter Hook, Spinner reports that it’s a bit of a zero-sum game as original keyboardist Gillian Gilbert is back in the fold for a couple of charity gigs in October. Unsurprisingly, Hooky is unimpressed. Which makes me wish that Ian Curtis was capable of issuing press releases so we could find out what he thinks about what Peter Hook is up to.

Fanfarlo have completed their second album and while it’s still untitled and has no release date, it does have a video for the leadoff track.

Video: Fanfarlo – “Replicate”

The Line Of Best Fit goes on an in-depth expedition into The Radio Dept.’s discography with founders Johan Duncanson and Martin Larson as sherpas. The Radio Dept are at The Mod Club on November 17.

Exclaim has some details of Swedish sister act First Aid Kit’s second album; The Lion’s Roar will be out on January 24 of the new year and you can see them supporting Lykke Li at The Sound Academy on November 15.

Little Dragon have released a new video from Ritual Union; they’re at The Hoxton on October 12.

Video: Little Dragon – “Brush The Heat”

Pitchfork has a new video from Sigur Ros taken from their Inni live film and album, due out November.

Video: Sigur Ros – “Klippa”

If you like Howling Bells and are willing to admit as much via Facebook, you’ll be able to stream their new record The Loudest Engine. It’s out Monday.

Stream: Howling Bells / The Loudest Engine

NME talks to Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele about their plans for album number two. But before that, they will play The Sound Academy on Tuesday evening, September 13.

Robin SilasThrowback-style pop is nothing new – sounding old is really kind of the point – but there’s something special in the way English quartet Veronica Falls goes about it. It’s like they’ve got a foot in 1970′s New York, with no small amount of Velvet Underground goodness in the mix as well as echoes of their followers and the other in swinging 1960′s London with the irresistible catchiness of the British invasion. Taken together and you’ve got a brew that’s buoyant, yet somehow sinister and wholly memorable.

Their set was one of my highlights of SXSW this year, so I’m excited that they’re going to be undertaking a Fall tour in support of their self-titled debut which is out September 20 in North America. Somewhat less excited that said dates are in support of The Drums, whom I’m mostly indifferent to, but I’ll still likely be at their show at The Mod Club on October 1.

BrooklynVegan has some details about the record and full tour dates and a new song from the album was just made available to stream this week, to go along with a couple preview MP3s which have already been circulating.

Stream: Veronica Falls – “Bad Feeling”
MP3: Veronica Falls – “Come On Over”
MP3: Veronica Falls – “Found Love In A Graveyard”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Come On Over”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Beachy Head”
Video: Veronica Falls – “Found Love In A Graveyard”

Also notable in the support department – English folk singer Alessi’s Ark will be opening up for English folk singer Laura Marling at The Great Hall on September 23. Her new record Time Travel is out September 27 in the US but available to stream at her Facebook now.

MP3: Alessi’s Ark – “The Robot”
Stream: Alessi’s Ark / Time Travel

Stereogum talks influences with Yuck. Some is exactly what you’d expect, some not. Yuck play The Horseshoe on September 25.

DIY and Contact Music talk with Still Corners about their full-length debut Creatures Of An Hour, due out October 11. They play The Drake Underground on October 25.

Clash talks to Dev Hynes of Blood Orange. His Coastal Grooves arrives August 30.

The Guardian interviews Faris Badwan and Rachel Zeffira of Cat’s Eyes about music and home decor.

The Quietus, Tourdates UK and DIY get re-acquainted with the no-longer-on-hiatus-at-least-for-the-moment Electrelane. They also recently recorded a Black Cab Session.

Producer Paul Epworth reports that the new Florence & The Machine record is finished – details and quotes at NME.

Spin has a video of Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison performing a cover of current tourmates Death Cab For Cutie.

Spinner discusses the art of war with PJ Harvey.

Drowned In Sound and Sunshine Coast Daily check in with Mogwai.

Brett Anderson tells XFM that Suede will indeed be going back into the studio to record new material, but will only be releasing it if it’s worthwhile. All that after he’s done promoting his new solo record Black Rainbows, out September 26. He’s just released a video from said record.

Video: Brett Anderson – “Brittle Heart”

Proving that post-Oasis bickering and name-calling need not be a strictly family affair, Beady Eye guitarist Andy Bell offered up some choice thoughts about former boss Noel Gallagher and his version of how their former band ended to Japan Times.

Consequence Of Sound reports that the Inni video teaser that Sigur Ros posted to their website last week is a live film recorded by director Vincent Morriset at a series of London shows in 2009 that will make its debut at the Venice Film Festival at the end of the month. So no, not a new album but maybe there’ll be an accompanying soundtrack…? Update: The Audio Perv reports the soundtrack will be a double-disc set plus film DVD out in November. Sweet.

Trailer: Sigur Ros: Inni

Currently celebrating their fifteenth anniversary, Pitchfork talks to Bjork about her last decade and a half. Her new album Biophilia is out September 27. Update: Pitchfork also has the album art for Biophilia. It’s very Bjork.

Australia’s Howling Bells will be back with their third album The Loudest Engine on September 12; they’ve released a video for the first single.

Video: Howling Bells – “Into The Sky”

Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele confirms to NME that creative partner Nick Littlemore is back in the fold and together they’re working on a new album. Empire Of The Sun play Toronto’s Echo Beach on September 13.

The Naked & Famous have released another new video from Passive Me, Aggressive You; they play The Phoenix on October 6.

Video: The Naked & Famous – “The Sun”

Frank YangIf Alan Sparhawk is looking to avoid Neil Young comparisons with his Retribution Gospel Choir work, you wouldn’t know it. Taking the stage at the Drake Underground on Monday night, the Low frontman was almost a tribute to Shakey boasting an impressive pair of muttonchop sideburns complimenting his black, P90-equipped, Bigsby-ed Les Paul. Okay, you’d probably never catch Neil dressed as classically dapper as Sparhawk and his bandmates, but sartorial concerns aside, you don’t have to look to hard for at least one source of inspiration.

And, of course, you could hear it. Their new album 2 – which they would technically be able to sell as of midnight – is a fiery document of rock filled with the sort of extended solos that Sparhawk only occasionally gets to showcase in Low. Not as all-out chaotic as the sort that Young wrings out of Old Black – Sparhawk’s technique is decidedly more precise if no less furious – but of the same spirit. And though their set was relatively compact at an hour including encore, there were plenty of epic guitar excursions to astonish the modest-sized Monday night crowd not to mention their intensely focused songs. The fittingly titled “Electric Guitar” was a particular standout, a sonic atom bomb in a set filled with explosive numbers.

In between aural assaults, there was an almost reverent silence from the audience, almost as though they thought were at a Low gig and chatting was verboten. The band took the opportunity to engage in some hockey banter, Sparhawk mentioning he’d recently fallen on his ass while skating and drummer Eric Pollard pre-emptively congratulating us on winning the Olympic gold. “Who’ve you got in net? Luongo? Aubin? You’ve got Aubin? Fuck.”

The News-Herald has an interview with Alan Sparhawk and 2 is currently streaming over at Spinner.

Photos: Retribution Gospel Choir @ The Drake Underground – January 25, 2010
MP3: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Hide It Away”
Video: Retribution Gospel Choir – “Hide It Away”
Stream: Retribution Gospel Choir / 2
MySpace: Retribution Gospel Choir

Drive-By Truckers will be hitting the road in support of the March 16 release of The Big To-Do, and are opting to do multi-night stands in smaller rooms this time around – case in point, their April 6 and 7 dates at Lee’s Palace with Langhorne Slim opening. They’ve also let loose the first MP3 from the new album and will be the subject of a new documentary film entitled The Secret To A Happy Ending, which will begin screening at festivals starting next month.

MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “This Fucking Job”

Wolf Parade will return to active duty with a short eastern Canadian tour accompanied by We Are Wolves, possibly timed around the release of their third album which is rumoured to be complete. The Toronto date is April 7 at the Phoenix, with tickets $20 going on sale January 29.

MP3: Wolf Parade – “Language City”
MP3: Wolf Parade – “Call It A Ritual”

Following up last November’s utterly sold-out show at the Mod Club, Florence & The Machine are coming back on April 10 for a show at the Phoenix, tickets $20. Holy Hail will support.

MP3: Florence & The Machine – “Kiss With A Fist”
MP3: Florence & The Machine – “I’m Not Calling You A Liar”

The Reverend Horton Heat will be at the Phoenix on May 20 with Cracker in tow.

Though yesterday’s pre-sale for the June 8 National show at Massey Hall sold out lickety-split, another block of pre-sale tickets goes on sale today at 10AM – same link and password as yesterday and, sadly, same big-ass service charges.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have released a new video from It’s Blitz!.

Video: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Skeletons”

Holly Miranda is featured in video sessions at Yours Truly and PitchforkTV, while The Guardian declares her their “New band of the day”. The Magician’s Private Library is out February 23; here’s another track from it.

MP3: Holly Miranda – “Waves”

Clash labels The Antlers “one to watch for 2010″, which is interesting considering they’d have a pretty hard time topping their breakout 2009. They’re in town on February 16 at the Phoenix opening up for Editors.

And Editors have offered up a track from their latest album In This Light And On This Evening to download.

MP3: Editors – “Papillon”

Despite what was promised just last week, The Radio Dept.’s third album Clinging To A Scheme will NOT be coming out in March. Instead it will be out in April. The 21st of April, to be precise. That’s right, an actual firm date. Firm until they move it, anyways.

And Jonsi tells Spinner that contrary to previous reports, there will be no new Sigur Ros record out this year, or in the foreseeable future. So enjoy his solo record Go when it hits on March 23, because that’s all there’s going to be for a while.