Matias CorralIt gives me great comfort to live in a world where Ted Leo & The Pharmacists continue to put out records. When it comes to marrying punk fury with pop hooks and striking the right balance of lyrical cynicism and optimism, all served with a good dose of humour and via a relentless work ethic, there’s few better or more consistent. With the release of his newest record The Brutalist Bricks tomorrow, he cements that opinion even further into fact.

Like pretty much everything Leo has ever put out, Bricks is loud, punchy and pogo-friendly with a couple moments of acoustic thoughtfulness to punctuate proceedings, but within the frame of reference of his discography, it stands apart for a couple reasons. His last effort, 2007’s Living With The Living, was a sprawling effort both in length and stylistic forays and while you hate to suggest that ambition or experimentation are bad things, it didn’t have the impact or staying power as his prior works. And whether the follow-up is a reaction to that or not, Bricks is both tighter-sounding and more focused and possibly Leo’s most outright rocking effort since 2003’s Hearts Of Oak. It’s a comparison which makes it worth noting that Bricks is the first record to be recorded as a four-piece since Hearts, though once-and-again Pharmacist James Canty’s guitar is a decidedly more in-your-face presence on the new album than Dorien Garry’s keys ever were.

Stepping back to regain perspective, Bricks nestles quite comfortably alongside its fellows – if you were to randomly grab a Ted Leo record to spin and came up with this one, you wouldn’t be at all disappointed. It also won’t likely be anyone’s long-term go-to Pharmacists record – all in all, Hearts Of Oak and The Tyranny Of Distance remain his finest moments – but as a reminder that the world is a better place with Ted Leo in it and making music, it does quite nicely.

The Brutalist Bricks is streaming in its entirety over at Ted Leo’s MySpace and Spinner just posted an Interface video session with the band.

MP3: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – “The Mighty Sparrow”
MP3: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – “Even Heroes Have To Die”
Stream: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists / The Brutalist Bricks
MySpace: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

Annie Clark of St. Vincent tells Spinner about her contributions to Together, the new New Pornographers record, due out May 4.

Eater talks about the joys of being full of stomach with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

Headlights have released a new video from Wilderness

Video: Headlights – “Secrets”

Black Book talks to Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward of She & Him, who will release Volume 2 on March 23.

The Independent profiles Joanna Newsom, in town at the Phoenix this coming Saturday night, March 13.

Spinner talks to Ume about gearing up for this year’s SxSW.

If you, like me, are going to miss all three of Dan Mangan’s upcoming shows at Canadian Musicfest this week – Thursday night at The Great Hall, Friday night at The Courthouse and Saturday’s in-store at Criminal Records – take heart: he’s already scheduled a return engagement for April 22 at the Horseshoe, tickets $12.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Road Regrets”

Aussies An Horse are looking to make my first post of the year even more correct, having scheduled another Toronto show for April 26 at The Garrison. They’ll release Beds Rearranged, a remix EP of last year’s Rearrange Beds, on March 23.

MP3: An Horse – “Postcards”

Caribou have announced a massive world tour to go along with the April 20 release of Swim. Toronto can catch them on May 3 at The Phoenix.

Video: Caribou – “Odessa”

Vancouver disco duo Fan Death will bring their debut EP A Coin For The Well to Wrongbar on May 21.

MP3: Fan Death – “Cannibal”

PopMatters pays tribute to the late Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse while Blurt reprints an interview with him regarding the Dark Night Of The Soul project, which will finally see an official release this Summer. Hopefully the almost-completed last Sparklehorse record will eventually see the light of day as well. So immensely saddened by Linkous’ untimely passing.

Phil HarderDid anyone see this coming? I certainly didn’t. This question, of course, is only relevant to those of a certain age/era for whom the name, “Bettie Serveert” still means something. To everyone else: get off my lawn.

Aside for the unfamiliar: the Betties were the Netherlands’ finest rock export since Golden Earring and a staple of ’90s college rock with three albums on Matador full of crunchy guitar pop and Carol Van Dijk’s expressive vocals. Entering the 21st century, they explored side projects and released records less frequently and on a variety of labels. The best of them was 2000’s Private Suit, which seemed to usher in a new era of maturity and elegance for the band – different, sure, but excellent. Subsequent releases were more scattershot affairs, however, with their share of high points but lacking in cohesion and direction. It was a good run, but fans – this one, at least – figured their best was behind them.

At least until their new album Pharmacy Of Love, due out in North American March 23, arrived in my mailbox and promptly knocked me on my ass. Opening track “Deny All” is not the work of a band lacking purpose or phoning it in. Fast, loud and focused, it’s the sound of a band re-energized and rocking harder than they even did in their youth and sets the tone for the rest of the record. And there’s no over-compensation here, no sense they’re trying to prove they can still keep up with the kids – they simply are, and easily. Best of all, as thrilling as Pharmacy is on a visceral level, all of the best Bettie signature moves are in place – Peter Visser’s guitar lines weave, lurch and bite while Van Dijk’s voice has arguably never sounded better nor her melodies more memorable. I didn’t realize how much I missed Bettie Serveert until I got them back.

Pharmacy Of Love was released in January in Europe and is due out on March 23, with rumours of live North American dates to follow. They haven’t been back here since 2005 and that show at The Horseshoe was all kinds of awesome, even in support of a weaker record. Pharmacy Of Love live? Yes, please.

MP3: Bettie Serveert – “Semaphore”
MP3: Bettie Serveert – “The Pharmacy”
Video: Bettie Serveert – “Deny All”
MySpace: Bettie Serveert

Filter talks to Jonsi about his solo ambitions. His album Go is out March 23 and he plays the Sound Academy April 30 and May 1.

Aux.tv Q&As Under Byen about their new album Alt Er Tabt, out April 6.

Features in Time and The Wall Street Journal are a pretty good sign the mainstream has taken note of Joanna Newsom. She plays The Phoenix on March 13.

NPR has a World Cafe session with St. Vincent.

eMusic talks to Holly Miranda.

DCist and Encore have interviews with Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, whose new record The Big To-Do hits next week. “Zip City” showed up on shuffle on my iPhone the other day, and my anticipation for this record increased exponentially. They have two dates at Lee’s Palace on April 6 and 7.

Spinner talks to My Morning Jacket drummer Patrick Hallahan about their M.O. for choosing cover songs.

Pitchfork has details on the new album from Band Of Horses, entitled Infinite Arms and due out May 18. That gives you a month to learn all the songs by heart before they play the Toronto Islands Concert on June 19.

Also playing the Toronto Islands Concert are Beach House, who have a complete show in Brooklyn available to stream at Baeble Music as well as a video interview. CokeMachineGlow also has a chat.

Spinner, The AV Club and The Boston Globe talk to Rogue Wave.

The Line Of Best Fit, American Songwriter and NPR have feature interviews with Spoon. They’re at the Sound Academy on March 29.

Venice Is Sinking have announced details about their next album – Sand & Lines: The Georgia Theatre Sessions is due out June 15 and will showcase the band live, off the floor, with just two mics and no overdubs.

MP3: Venice Is Sinking – “Falls City”

Spinner talks to Minipop.

The Los Angeles Times has an interview and MPR an interview and streamable session with Phantogram. They’re at Supermarket on March 12 as part of Canadian Musicfest.

Also all over Canadian Musicfest are The Uglysuit, with two official festival shows next week – an acoustic gig at the Library Bar in the Royal York on March 11 and a fully plugged-in set at Lee’s Palace on March 12. The Brock Press has an interview with the Oklahoman collective.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs assemble a playlist for The Guardian.

OK Go will be at the Mod Club on April 23, hoping that their fans find them as entertaining live as they do on YouTube.

Video: OK Go – “This Too Shall Pass”

And know what I want for my birthday? High Violet. Yes. Just wait.

MySpaceRogue Wave’s 2003 debut Out Of The Shadow was aptly named, considering they’d spend the first few years of their existence trying to accomplish just that from their labelmates The Shins. Both helped Sub Pop shed its hard rock reputation and redefine itself as the go-to label for quality indie-pop, but it was The Shins that busted out into mainstream success while Rogue Wave toiled away to just modest acclaim.

Fast-forward a few (or more than a few years) and Sub Pop is now known as sensitive bearded dude central, The Shins are down to just frontman James Mercer and on hiatus, and Rogue Wave trundles on. No longer on Sub Pop, the lineup has changed a number of times – frontman Zach Schwartz and drummer Pat Spurgeon the only constants – and endured more than their fair share of hardships and tragedies including but not limited to paralysis, organ failure and death. But with their fourth album Permalight, due out March 2, they have come out through it all with possibly the most upbeat and enjoyable album yet.

Their sound has taken exceptionally well to the addition of electronic elements, the injection of synths and loops helping the record’s standout tracks reach an orbit that earlier albums had only hinted at. The simple folk-pop structures, sharp melodicism and gentle, dreamy vocals that have always lain at the heart of Schwartz’s compositions remain, but the production augments them, Steve Austin-style, such that the tunes feel tauter, more dynamic and hookier than certainly I ever thought they’d be able to deliver. Numbers such as “Good Morning” and the title track burst forth from the speakers with technicolour vim, sounding not like a band beaten down by life but buoyed by it, despite it all. Shins, the ball is in your court.

Rogue Wave on tour starting at the end of this month and through April in support of the new record. They’re playing the Mod Club in Toronto on February 26 – tickets are $15 in advance, but courtesy of LiveNation, I’ve got three pairs of passes to give away to the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to ride the Rogue Wave” in the subject line and your full name in the body – contest closes at midnight, February 22. And while you’re angling for free Rogue Wave stuff, head over here to trade your email for a download of the album’s opening track.

MP3: Rogue Wave – “Good Morning”
MySpace: Rogue Wave

The Scotsman profiles Spoon, in town on March 29 at the Sound Academy.

JamBase talks to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

Kurt Vile will play an in-store at Criminal Records on Friday, February 26th in advance of his show opening up for Fucked Up at the Opera House later that evening. Exact time to be determined. In-store goes at 6:30PM.

MP3: Kurt Vile – “Overnite Religion”
MP3: Kurt Vile – “Hunchback”

Pitchfork asks Ted Leo to list off his most profound musical influences at all ages from youth to today. His new album The Brutalist Bricks is out March 9.

Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields tells Chart that advances in technology have facilitated his return to synthesizers on his next record, while NPR has an interview and session.

Crawdaddy talks to Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, while Stereogum gets a look around his Oklahoma City digs.

Aquarium Drunkard interviews The Antlers. They’re at the Phoenix tonight opening up for Editors.

JAM has a feature piece on Wilco. They’re in the area next week with shows at Hamilton Place Theatre on February 23 and London’s Centennial Hall on February 24.

Westword talks to Annie Clark of St. Vincent.

Pitchfork interviews Beach House, in town at the Opera House on March 30.

Holly Miranda is currently streaming the whole of her solo debut The Magician’s Private Library at her MySpace a week ahead of its February 23 release.

Stream: Holly Miranda / The Magician’s Private Library

Illness has forced Kings Of Convenience to postpone their North American tour, which was supposed to start last week. That’s postponed, not canceled – the February 18 date at The Phoenix will be made up on June 8, same venue.

Sweden’s Sambassadeur are sharing another track from their forthcoming album European, due out February 23.

MP3: Sambassadeur – “Stranded”

Michael PalmieriWhen I wrote up Sharon Van Etten’s debut album Because I Was In Love back in October, I felt a bit bad about giving it just a passing mention as I liked it more than just a sentence or two might have implied. But at the time my web hosting was self-destructing and I wanted to get something out there before her local appearance opening for Rain Machine, so a cursory mention it was.

But with there seeming to be even more attention being paid to Van Etten and her record now than when it was initially released back in May 2009, now’s as good a time as any to revisit the album and, at the very least, elaborate a bit more on why it’s worthy of notice – and in a word, it’s the voice. Slow, rich and seemingly operating at the resonant frequency of melancholy and with the texture of tears, it’s the perfect vehicle for her spare, almost skeletal songs of longing and disappointment, transporting them directly through the ears and into the heart. That might seem a bit flowery a description, but I defy you to listen to the “ooohs” in “Much More Than This” and tell me otherwise. That voice, with the languid, low-key acoustic atmosphere and strategically-placed bits of electric guitar and piano make for a record that’s worth revisiting again not only a few months later, but again and again.

Blurt has a feature piece on Van Etten and Weather Vane Music has a stunning new song recorded for their Shaking Through series available to download. Sharon Van Etten opens up the sold out Great Lake Swimmers show at Trinity-St. Paul’s tomorrow night and returns on April 5 for a show at the Horseshoe with Megafaun.

MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “For You”
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Love More”
Video: Sharon Van Etten – “For You”
MySpace: Sharon Van Etten

The Skinny discusses Shearwater’s new record The Golden Archipelago with frontman Jonathan Meiburg. The record is out February 23, they play Lee’s Palace on April 1.

Midlake’s Eric Pulido talks to The Quietus about coffee while his bandmates discuss their music with BBC6 and The Independent.

Spoon are using a live studio performance for the first video off Transference. They’re at the Sound Academy on March 29.

Video: Spoon – “Written In Reverse”

PitchforkTV has padded out their special video series with Beach House with a few more songs and The Chronicle-Herald and New York Magazine have interviews. They’re at the Opera House on March 30.

A Sunny Day In Glasgow have put out a new video from their forthcoming Nighttime Rainbows EP, out March 2. They play The Garrison on April 2.

Video: A Sunny Day In Glasgow – “So Bloody, So Tight”

Beatroute, North County Times and The Georgia Straight talk to St. Vincent, who just released a new video/comedy sketch from Actor, featuring the thespian skills of Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, also known as ThunderAnt.

Video: St. Vincent – “Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood”

Paste has got a video session with Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea.

BeatRoute talks to Nels Cline of Wilco.

MusicOmn, The Line Of Best Fit, Montreal Mirror, Montreal Gazette, The Advocate, CBC, eye and NOW have conversations with Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, who are in town at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Monday night. There’s also an official trailer up for Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt & The Magnetic Fields, the forthcoming documentary film on the band, and an MP3 from the 69 Love Songs vinyl box set, coming out on April 20. And for folks in Toronto looking to pick this up, Criminal Records has got your best deal as far as pre-orders of the limited edition go.

MP3: The Magnetic Fields – “The Book Of Love”
Trailer: Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt & The Magnetic Fields

Paste gets some info on She & Him’s Volume Two, out March 23, from Zooey Deschanel.

Good news for Toronto roots-rock fans – in addition to their free show at the Horseshoe this coming Tuesday night, Those Darlins have slated a return engagement on April 6 at the same venue with Deer Tick. Bad news is that’s the same night as the Drive-By Truckers’ gig at Lee’s Palace. Good news is that the Truckers are doing a second night at the same venu on the 7th. Unless you were planning on hitting both, in which case I think you break about even.

MP3: Deer Tick – “Easy”
MP3: Those Darlins – “Red Light Live”

Speaking of the Drive-By Truckers, Billboard talks to frontman Patterson Hood about their new record The Big To-Do, which will be out March 16.

The Jon Spencer-powered Heavy Trash have a date at the Horseshoe on April 23. Their latest Midnight Soul Serenade came out last year.

Frank YangWhen Noah & The Whale made their debut Toronto appearance back in September of last year, I noted how effectively they were able to offset the inherent twee-ness of their debut Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down in a live setting simply by turning up the rock – not only did those songs survive being run through a distortion pedal, they actually benefited from it. That being said, the gig still only rated about an “all right” – they were a band who wrote some good pop songs and delivered them well, but I didn’t sense that certain something that implied they could be more than that.

Their second record First Days Of Spring certainly went a long way to changing that opinion. Both the emotional rawness of the subject matter and the spare, orchestral dressings were unexpected and certainly earned the band a re-think in these parts, so Saturday was dedicated to seeing them perform not once, but twice in Toronto. The first opportunity came courtesy an in-store performance at Criminal Records bright and early at noon – convenient for those with Hallowe’en plans that night but a bit of an ordeal for those unaccustomed to having to be doing anything, anywhere at that time on a Saturday. This apparently included the band, who looked a bit bleary-eyed as they got up to play in front of a fairly packed store of fans, including no shortage of under-agers who wouldn’t be able to attend the show later that night. Their set was short – four songs, I think – but sweet and highlighted by Spring’s “Love Of An Orchestra”, which one would have expected to be the most difficult to translate live with just a five-piece band but which they managed to do quite well. This boded well for the full show.

A show for which I missed most of opener Robert Francis’ set, thanks to a mix-up regarding set times. The couple of songs I did catch from the Los Angeles native, who’s just released his second album Nightfall, sounded alright in the earnest, rock-radio singer-songwriter sense, but didn’t make me especially wish I’d arrived earlier. And it meant a shorter wait for Noah & The Whale and an earlier finish time, both of which were alright with me. In the spirit of the season, the band had invited fans to come dressed as their favourite dead celebrity and for their part, they took the stage in simple but suitably corpse-like whiteface makeup and perhaps intended to satisfy the dead celebrity part of the theme with the covers that opened their set. Certainly Buddy Holly (“Everyday”) and Jackson C Frank (“Blues Run The Game”) no longer walk amongst us, but it’s not clear how “You Are Always On My Mind” was supposed to fit the meme – Brenda Lee, Willie Nelson and Pet Shop Boys are all decidedly alive. Maybe they were going for Elvis? Hard to say.

Following that opening trick-or-treat, it was all Noah & The Whale. They began with “Give A Little Love” from Peaceful but the bulk of the show would be devoted to First Days Of Spring, and Noah & The Whale are obviously believers in the adage of every problem looking like a nail when all you have is a hammer. In this case, the nail being the question of how to recreate their songs effectively on stage and the hammer being, well, volume. Just as they were able to beef up the older material and avoid having their lunch money stolen with a heavier approach last time, they were able to recreate the sense of scale of the new material, if not the delicacy, by turning up. This is not to say they bludgeoned the songs, far from it. Instead they showed just how effective a guitar, piano, bass, fiddle and drums could be when properly and dynamically arranged. And just as the depth of emotion underpinning the songs helped First Days Of Spring transcend some of Charlie Fink’s barer, more awkward lyricism, it also made the noisier interludes of the show feel more cathartic than indulgent. So while the show had a quotient of angst, it was still primarily a fun affair – there was no “Five Years Time” but it’s saying something that even without playing their biggest song, Noah & The Whale didn’t leave anyone wanting.

Mix talks to Fink about the recording of the record, there’s a video acoustic session with the band at They Shoot Music and Spinner reports back from a screening of the film portion of The First Days of Spring in New York.

Photos: Noah & The Whale @ Criminal Records – October 31, 2009
Photos: Noah & The Whale, Robert Francis @ The Horseshoe – October 31, 2009
MP3: Noah & The Whale – “The First Days Of Spring”
MP3: Noah & The Whale – “Blue Skies” (Twelves remix)
MP3: Noah & The Whale – “Blue Skies” (Yacht remix)
MP3: Noah & The Whale – “2 Bodies 1 Heart”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Love Of An Orchestra”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Blue Skies”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Five Years Time”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “2 Bodies 1 Heart”
Video: Noah & The Whale – “Shape Of My Heart”
Video: Robert Francis – “Nightfall”
MySpace: Noah & The Whale
MySpace: Robert Francis

Laundromatinee welcomes The Twilight Sad to their studios for an acoustic session. Acoustic Twilight Sad. Yes.

Friendly Fires tell BBC they’re working on album number two and are targeting a May release date. Expect to hear some of the new material when they play the Phoenix on December 2.

JAM, The Toronto Star and The Boston Herald interview The Swell Season, who’ve just released a new video and are at Massey Hall tonight.

Video: The Swell Season – “Low Rising”

Paste talks to Sufjan Stevens, whom they credit with creating the best album of the decade. Oh I’m sorry, did I ruin the list for you? NPR also has a short feature.

Pitchfork has details on the next Spoon record, entitled Transference and out January 26. Britt Daniel talked to Spinner about what to expect from the new album.

The Antlers are featured in a downloadable Daytrotter session.

Loft Life gets a tour of the fabled Wilco loft.

A gentle reminder that Austin’s Ume, interviewed recently by The Brock Press, are in town tonight for a free show at the Horseshoe. They’re on at 10:50PM – be there and have your face rocked off.

Austin City Limits (the television show) is streaming videos of performances from their shows online – check out this one featuring M Ward and Okkervil River or this one with Andrew Bird and St. Vincent to get started. And yes indeed, those archives do go back.

A note to Canadians that the Beautiful Noise concerts that were recorded at the Berkeley Church in Toronto last Spring are now airing on SunTV on Saturday nights. Almost makes me wish I had cable so I could watch them.