Brantley GutierrezIt’d be foolish to suggest that the guitar has fallen out of its place of supremacy in the indie rock universe – the six-string remains ubiquitous – but there’s a case to be made that the guitar solo is on the wane. And I’m not talking about the concise melodic instrumental break but the full-on, 32 bar, eye-closing, fuzz-spraying, fret-shredding SOLO. That, you don’t see as much of these days.

So for those of us for whom that’s not a positive development, the impending June 23 arrival of Farm, Dinosaur Jr’s new record and second since reforming the original lineup, is good news. Because where there’s Dinosaur Jr, there’s soloing. Lots and lots of soloing. Farm doesn’t stray far from the template J Mascis has worked from for pretty much his entire career – sleepy, croaked vocals over loud, hook-laden tunes and saturated with guitar – but definitely maintains the sense of rejuvenation that made their last album, Beyond, so much better than most expected.

I’ve still not seen Dinosaur Jr live in any of their incarnations – the 2006 Broken Mascis Scene benefit concert with Broken Social Scene was as close as I came – so I’m hoping that the rumours that they’ll be playing Pop Montreal implies a Toronto date come October. In the meantime, a session the band recorded for Daytrotter has been made available to download, featuring a couple of songs from their debut Dinosaur as well as Beyond. There’s also an interview with drummer Murph at Chart.

MP3: Dinosaur Jr – “I Want You To Know”
Video: Dinosaur Jr – “Over It”

Doug Martsch is another fellow who’s been known to take a guitar excursion or two, and there’s sure to be more than a few of them on the next Built To Spill album, which should be arriving this year. Martsch talked to both Pitchfork and Sterogum about how things are going on There Is No Enemy, due out in October. Denver Westword also has an interview, and there’s also rumours of a Toronto live date percolating… more on that when its available.

Sonic Youth are also no strangers to the abuse of six-stringed instruments. Their latest, The Eternal, leans towards the more conventional side of their oeuvre, but with Sonic Youth that’s a very relative statement. They’re the subject of an interview at Billboard and another on-camera two-parter at Pitchfork TV. PFTV also has another installment in their A>D>D video session with the band, who’re at Massey Hall on June 30.

Guitar heroics aren’t necessarily the first thing one thinks of when they think of Wilco, but with Nels Cline in the band, they shouldn’t be much further than the second or at most, third. CityBeat has a conversation with with Cline about his work both within and without Wilco, while Metromix caught up with Jeff Tweedy while the band was in Spain to discuss their new record Wilco (The Album), due out June 30.

Muzzle Of Bees asks five questions of Son Volt’s Jay Farrar. Their new album American Central Dust is in stores July 7.

JAM talks to Steve Earle. He’s playing Massey Hall solo on July 11.

Under The Radar has details on the forthcoming Drive-By Truckers rarities compilation The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008), out September 1. The band’s performance for Austin City Limits will also be released on CD and DVD on July 7, and Patterson Hood’s new solo record Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) is out June 23.

MP3: Patterson Hood – “I Understand Now”

Blurt has information on goings-on in Pernice Brothers-land. Joe’s first novel It Feels So Good When I Stop is set for an August 6 release and it will be accompanied by the release of a soundtrack album – essentially a cover album – which will be out August 4. There will also be string of live dates that seek to combine the book reading/concert performance mediums into, well, some combination of the two. Only a few of the dates have been announced yet, none in Pernice’s adopted hometown of Toronto. Come on, Joe. Do it.

Wheat are offering an MP3 from their forthcoming album White Ink Black Ink, which has pushed back May and June release dates and is now set to be out July 21. Any bets on August? PopMatters readies itself for the new record by revisiting the greatness of their first two, Medeiros and Hope & Adams, both recently reissued together.

MP3: Wheat – “H.O.T.T.”

MPR is streaming a session with Grizzly Bear.

Killabeez talks to Caroline Polachek of Chairlift, who’ve just released a new video.

Video: Chairlift – “Bruises”

Jet will be at the Mod Club on July 6, tickets $25.50.

Jenny JimenezAs I’ve been complaining to anyone who’ll listen, the fact that it was the first of June yesterday – less than three weeks to Summer – and only ten degrees centigrade on my bike ride to work (that’s 50 Fahrenheit for you residing in non-metric backwaters) was simply unacceptable.

But maybe it’s the result of some sort of climatological karmic balancing act to make up for one of the Summeriest records of the year so far, the almost self-titled debut (the record title has an “!” tacked on) from Seattle’s Telekinesis, being released in the dead of Winter back in February. The brain-child of Michael Lerner, Telekinesis is a delicious glob of chewy power-pop goodness that has moments as infectious as anything you’ve heard this year – hear the chorus to “Tokyo” just once and you’ll be ready to sing right along by the time it comes around again. The record strays from the recipe enough to offer sufficient variety over its barely-half an hour running time to establish that they’ve got range beyond just peppy hooks – there’s some quieter, melancholic moments and slightly more ragged rockers – but all share the most important ingredients, namely Lerner’s unaffected vocals, the unfussy and effective arrangements, and an unerring sense of melody. There’s not much new here, but complaining about that is like complaining your cold drink on a sunny afternoon is like your last cold drink on a sunny afternoon. Shut up and enjoy.

Telekinesis, who gear up as a full band for live performances, are currently on the road and will be in town next Wednesday, June 10, for a show at the Horseshoe. God willing, it’ll have warmed up some and feel a bit more like Spring, never mind Summer, by then. Decider interviews Lerner and Rolling Stone has a profile of the band, and another one on Aussies An Horse, who are also on the bill with locals Oh No Forest Fires. This will be an excellent show.

MP3: Telekinesis – “Coast Of Carolina”
MP3: Telekinesis – “I Saw Lightning”
Video: Telekinesis – “Tokyo”
Video: Telekinesis – “Awkward Kisser”

Daytrotter has The Submarines in for a session.

Clash and MusicOhm have interviews and Spinner’s Interface a session with Grizzly Bear. And Drowned In Sound has basically gone Grizzly-crazy the last week and a bit. The Grizz are at the Phoenix on June 5.

Stereogum gets a status report on Heartland from Final Fantasy – look for it before the year is out, but no further specifics were forthcoming.

Pitchfork reports that Sigur Ros are working on a new album with an eye towards an early 2010 release.

Son Volt have a new album in the can called American Central Dust and will be releasing it on July 7.

MP3: Son Volt – “Down To The Wire”

Exclaim has the official announcement of Ohbijou as the newest signing to Last Gang Records. Which makes perfect sense, as I’d always thought they would be the perfect labelmates to Crystal Castles. Beacons is out now in the UK and here digitally and will get a physical release June 16 – there’s a release party at the Opera House on June 25.

VIMBY has a backyard performance and video interview with Great Lake Swimmers’ Tony Dekker. Paste also has a video performance, but they stay indoors.

Two Hours Traffic tell CBC Radio 3 that they’ve completed work on their sophomore effort and will be releasing Territory on or around September 8. More endless touring to follow.

Sprung from the ashes of Mclusky, Wales’ Future Of The Left are staging a North American tour this Summer in support of their new album Travels With Myself And Another, out June 23, and will be at the El Mocambo on July 15, tickets $10. The Washington Post and Clash have interviews with the band’s Andy Falkous.

MP3: Future Of The Left – “Arming Eritrea”
Video: Future Of The Left – “The Hope That House Built”

Minnesota’s Now Now Every Children have a date at the El Mocambo on August 2 with Bad Veins. Their new album Cars has been on fairly heavy rotation all this past weekend – there’ll be a proper review sometime in the future – but for now I’ll just say I’m very much looking forward to this show.

MP3: Now, Now Every Children – “Everyone You Know”
MP3: Now, Now Every Children – “Sleep Through Summer”
MP3: Now, Now Every Children – “Cars”
MP3: Bad Veins – “Gold And Warm”

The Weakerthans are returning this Fall for a gig decidedly more intimate than their April Phoenix gigs – look for them at the Mod Club on September 23. Via NXEW.

And if you think late September is way too far into the future to start blocking off time, you may not want to know about the Destroyer date just announced for the Horseshoe on October 3, or the fact that tickets will be $13.50. There’s no new album news to report but there will be a new vinyl/digital EP released on August 18 with the epic-length “ambient disco” track “Bay of Pigs” as the a-side. In the meantime, here’s some stuff from his last excellent full-length, Trouble In Dreams.

MP3: Destroyer – “Dark Leaves Form A Thread”
MP3: Destroyer – “Foam Hands”

Frank YangA typical Sunday evening for me can go any number of ways. Catching up on the past week’s television, working ahead a bit on the blog, taunting the cat with a piece of string, whatever. What is not a typical Sunday evening is standing in front of a PA cabinet with obnoxious dance music being pounded into my ears and midsection. And yet, this was my past Sunday at the Drake Underground.

The why was because I had been invited out to see the next buzzy thing in British electro-pop, the ’80s-adoring duo called La Roux, who had been tipped as one of the BBC’s Sound of 2009 acts but who had yet to really begin to capitalize on that cachet – this made a tiny club show like this appealing for bragging rights, if nothing else. So I acquainted myself with their entire recorded output thus far – two singles clocking in at under 10 minutes total – liked what I heard, and off I went.

The DJ went about 20 minutes longer than I’d have liked – dude, when no one is dancing you’ve failed – but eventually gave way as the keyboard half of the band, Ben Langmaid, took the stage to kick off “In For The Kill” and frontwoman, voice and hair Elly Jackson followed soon after. Without a whole lot of material to draw on, their set was necessarily short – just seven songs – but it was enough to get a sense of where their fortunes might lay. On the plus side, they obviously have a distinctive look – Jackson’s coif was as impressively vertical as one would hope – and even separated from her backing tracks her voice is distinctive and impressive, not quite falsetto and with an almost vocoder-ed quality. And while none of the songs quite reached the inescapable catchiness of “In For The Kill”, it was mostly solid material throughout.

On the con side, it was very evident that the live performance end of things was still new to them. Langmaid was fine, hidden behind his banks of equipment, but Jackson never seemed especially comfortable onstage, preferring to perform with eyes tightly closed and microphone in death grip and occasionally working in some tense dance moves. It was good to see that her “no smiling” policy of publicity photos didn’t carry over live – she was friendly in banter if a bit awkward and cracked a couple jokes – but there wasn’t a lot of charisma on display. If there’s a positive side to that, it’s that with her nervousness and rather… eclectic fashion sense, she seemed quite genuine, and that’s not necessarily the first attribute you’d expect to find in potential electro-pop divas.

I’m sure the La Roux live experience will improve with more shows, but if there was ever a case study for a synth-based act who could benefit from some more live instrumentation, it’s them. They should look up to the top of that BBC list at Little Boots for an example of the difference a live drummer can make. Either way, I do feel fortunate to have gotten to see them perform such an intimate show – when their debut album is released in June, I’m sure that the hype will buoy them to much larger performances. I just hope they’re ready for them.

The Times has an interesting feature following La Roux as they try to convert buzz into hype into real success.

Photos: La Roux @ The Drake Underground – April 5, 2009
MP3: La Roux – “Quicksand” (Joe & Will Ask remix)
Video: La Roux – “Quicksand”
Video: La Roux – “In For The Kill”
MySpace: La Roux

The Toronto Sun talks to White Lies.

Natasha Khan discusses the distinctive style of Bat For Lashes with The Quietus. Scotland On Sunday and Digital Spy also have interviews. Two Suns is out today and their April 25 show at the Mod Club is nearly sold out.

The Rumble Strips talk about their new album Welcome To The Walk Alone, out June 8, with Clash.

Billboard talks to Mark Olson about making the Jayhawks Green Grass-era reunion official. Good Times also has an interview with Olson.

The New York Daily News talks to Bishop Allen’s Justin Rice while Art In The Age has video of a recent in-store performance in Philadelphia.

Metromix has an interview with Jenny Lewis. According to Chart, a documentary detailing the making of her last solo record Acid Tongue is in the works.

So Neil Young’s new one Fork In The Road is finally out today – don’t y’all trample each other at the store getting a copy, now – and in addition to the little webcam videos he’s been making for the songs, there’s also a mini-film entitled Get Around which basically features Neil driving his Lincvolt around America whilst singing along to the album. They do use better quality cameras, however. You can “rent” the thing at Jaman and while you have to register, it does appear to be free.

Trailer: Get Around

Son Volt will release their new album American Central Dust on July 7 – details at Billboard.

The Martlet profiles Chad Van Gaalen.

The Young & The Hungry talks food with Ra Ra Riot. The Daily Orange, despite being named for food, talks to them about music.

The Guelph Mercury and Exclaim! talk to Julie Doiron.

Bradley’s Almanac is sharing a recording of The Mountain Goats’ recent show in Somervile, Massachusetts last month including a couple of new songs.