Araba FilmsIf there’s one thing Austin, Texas needs during Spring Break, it’s some live music. Particularly in the form of a day party. The past few years I’ve been very lucky to have been able to help put on some fantastic parties with some of my favourite blogger buds. And while the Hot Freaks marque has been put to bed for the time being, I’m very happy to be able to announce that You Ain’t No Picasso, My Old Kentucky Blog, Ultra 8201, Yours Truly and, uh, yours truly, will be presenting Eastbound & Found, a one-day, two-stage to-do that will be held on Thursday, March 18 at 1001 East 6th St – a location that’s a parking lot for 51 weeks of the year but on this occasion will be an epicenter of awesome.

What I like most about these blogger-assembled shows is how random the final results end up being. Without teaming up with a specific label, PR company or booking agency and just pursuing acts based on little more than a “what we like” mandate, we get shows that can veer from the sunny indie-pop of Freelance Whales to the insane guitar heroics of Austin’s own Ume, from the electro-glam of Diamond Rings (Toronto represent!) to giddy Anglo-folk duo Slow Club, right through to our headliner – GZA of the motherflipping Wu-Tang Clan. Eclectic? Yeah, a little.

This party is free and all-ages, though you do have to RSVP – information on that at the Sweet Leaf blog. Many many thanks go out to our sponsors Sweet Leaf Tea, Ziegenbock, Dos Lunas Tequila, Knuckle Rumbler and Car Toys for helping make this happen. And despite what the attached image from Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee & Cigarettes might imply, Bill Murray will NOT be making an appearance at the show. Unless he wants to. If any of you know Bill Murray, do let him know he’s invited?

The (almost) full lineup and set times are as follows:

Stage one:
12:15PM Ragen Fykes
1:10PM Freelance Whales
2:05PM Ume
3:00PM Warpaint
3:55PM The Morning Benders
4:50PM Here We Go Magic
5:45PM Maluca
7:00PM GZA

Stage two:
12:30PM Burnt Ones
1:25PM Diamond Rings
2:20PM Kid Sister
3:15PM Slow Club
4:10PM Danielson
5:05PM Delorean
6:00PM White Denim

MP3: Danielson – “Animal In Every Corner”
MP3: Diamond Rings – “All Yr Songs”
MP3: Freelance Whales – “Generator 2nd Floor”
MP3: The Morning Benders – “Promises”
MP3: Slow Club – “It Doesn’t Have To Be Beautiful”
MP3: Ume – “The Conductor”
MP3: Warpaint – “Elephants”
Video: GZA – “Liquid Swords”
Video: Here We Go Magic – “Fangela”
Video: Kid Sister – “Right Hand Hi”

And some concert news for Toronto folk NOT heading down to Texas next week – not content with playing two nights at The Horseshoe, The Black Lips have added a third local appearance during their visit. They’ll be doing an in-store at Sonic Boom on March 28 at 4PM; admission free with a canned good.

MP3: Black Lips – “Short Fuse”

Jakob Dylan has put together a new band to help perform his new solo record Women & Country, out April 10. They’re called Three Legs and you might know them better as a couple of women in country – Neko Case and Kelly Hogan. That got your attention, eh? Jacob Dylan & Three Legs will be at the Phoenix on April 25.

She & Him – yes, Zooey and Matt – will be hitting the road in support of Volume Two and are going to be at The Phoenix in Toronto on June 9. Tickets are $26.50, the album is out March 23 and the new video is just about the most adorable thing ever.

Video: She & Him – “In The Sun”

Stars have announced they will release their fifth studio album The Five Ghosts on June 22 – details at Chart.

Spinner talks to Metric in advance of their appearance at SxSW where they’ll be opening up for Muse at Stubb’s on the Friday night.

Broken Social Scene also talk to Spinner; they’re doing a couple of shows at SxSW and of course have that Toronto Islands show on June 19. Their new album Forgiveness Rock Record is out May 4.

Continuing on with the Spinner-SxSW interviews (there’s lots of them) – they chat with Venice Is Sinking, whose new album Sand & Lines will be out June 15.

Kunstlicher, The Georgia Straight, The Huffington Post and Spinner have interviews with Midlake. They’re at the Mod Club on May 25.

Spinner talks to The Uglysuit. They’re playing Lee’s Palace at 2AM on Friday night as part of Canadian Musicfest and their MySpace implies they’re making the most of their visit to Toronto with a bunch of other unofficial performances.

Spinner asks some pretty banal questions of Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea.

NPR has a World Cafe session with Holly Miranda.

Filter takes all of the fun out of The Bird & The Bee’s internet scavenger hunt for streams of their new Hall & Oates tribute album Guiltless Pleasures Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates , out March 23.

Spinner and NME have collected a number of tributes from musicians for the fallen Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse. And a couple of worthy reads and listens from the Boston area – Buffalo Tom frontman Bill Janovitz has an essay and Sparklehorse cover at his blog Part-Time Man Of Rock while Bradley’s Almanac is sharing some thoughts and a recording of Sparklehorse’s last show in Boston from 2007.

MP3: Bill Janovitz – “Gold Day”

Yannick GrandmontIt’s a bit eerie, but with the exception of an in-store in a couple weeks, details noted further down, I’ve got nothing going on in the way of live music for more two weeks until Canadian Musicfest starts on March 11. And that’s really just fine with me, because the double-shot of CMW/CMF and SxSW was exhausting when I was a younger man – these days, I am going to need the downtime to rest up in order to survive that gauntlet of concert-going, airport-hopping and breakfast taco-eating.

And to help minimize the impact of club-hopping during CMF, I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be co-presenting the Billions showcase at Canadian Musicfest, taking place March 12 at Lee’s Palace, meaning that not only will I be able to associate myself with a super-solid lineup of Canadian acts (and one foreign one), I’ll be able to plant my ass in one place all night. Made of win.

The decidedly Montreal/synthpop-heavy lineup kicks off at 9PM with electro-poppers Winter Gloves, still riding the wave of their 2009 debut About A Girl, then Toronto’s Russian Futurists will preview their new album The Weight’s On The Wheels, out this Summer, at 10PM. At 11PM, The Acorn, having been squirreled away for the last while working on their new record No Ghost, will come of hiding to show off what to expect when the album arrives in or around May. Plants and Animals, whose new record La La Land arrives April 20, will take the stage at the stroke of midnight and then come 1AM, Think About Life will have you thinking about both having a disco-punk dance party and how not to get killed by getting caught in the middle of a disco-punk dance party soundtracked by last year’s Family. And, if you’re still standing after all that, Oklahoma ’s The Uglysuit will usher in last call with the beautiful orch-pop of their 2008 self-titled debut. That is, unless Lee’s has also got 4AM extended drinking hours during Canadian Music Week. You’d think I’d know this but odds are I’ll have dragged myself home well before whether or not the taps are still flowing are an issue.

So while there’s options a-plenty for CMW/CMF – the schedule has really filled out the last few days and I’ll be doing a further preview closer to the festival’s start – I humbly submit that if you’re looking for a one-stop smorgasbord of tunes for Friday night, that Lee’s will be the place to be. And to help make up your mind, I’ve got a pair of passes to give away for the show – to enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Think About Canadian Music Week” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes midnight, March 5.

MP3: Winter Gloves – “Let Me Drive”
MP3: Russian Futurists – “Paul Simon”
MP3: The Acorn – “The Flood, Pt 1″
MP3: Plants & Animals – “Tom Cruz”
MP3: Think About Life – “Nueva Nueva”
MP3: The Uglysuit – “Chicago”

Ca Va Cool and Chart talk to Jace Lasek of The Besnard Lakes about their new album The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, out March 9. They headline the Thursday night of the Chart showcases at the Horseshoe for Canadian Musicfest on March 11, taking the stage at 12:10AM. As is always the case with the ‘Shoe during CMW/CMF/whatever, early arrival is recommended/mandatory.

Same goes for Two Hours Traffic, who are on at the same time on the Saturday night, March 13. But if you don’t get in and need a dose of maritime power-pop, note that they’ll be back on April 3 for a show at Lee’s Palace, tickets $13.50. They’ve also released a new video from their Territory record.

Video: Two Hours Traffic – “Noisemaker”

Chart talks to Paul Banwatt of The Rural Alberta Advantage and Woodhands about how he manages to balance drum duties in two bands, simultaneously blowing up right now. Woodhands are playing the Opera House on March 11 and the RAA at the Indie Awards at the Royal York on March 13. Vue has a feature piece on Woodhands and The RAA have been keeping a tour blog of their journey out west for the Olympics at Exclaim.

The Indie Awards will also feature a performance from Constantines, whose Daytrotter session went up for grabs last week and taught QTV how to play “Young Lions” on guitar.

Also offering a QTV a guitar lesson is Woodpigeon’s Mark Hamilton, who teaches them – and the whole internet – to play “Knock Knock”. The Concordian and Ottawa Citizen also have interviews with Hamilton.

The Montreal Gazette talks to Stars, whose presently untitled new album is apparently set for release in the first half of 2010.

Broken Social Scene have revealed the final details about their forthcoming album – Forgiveness Rock Record, their first proper album in almost half a decade, will be out on May 4 and you can get the first MP3 from the album, a 7-minute sprawler called “World Sick”, in exchange for your email at their website. Broken Social Scene plays the Toronto Islands on June 19.

The other big May 4 release from a Canadian supergroup is, of course, Together from The New Pornographers. The first MP3 from the album has been made available and is the almost-title track from the album.

MP3: The New Pornographers – “Your Hands (Together)”

Chart talks to Zeus, whose Say Us gets a release this week and is streaming until March 1 over at Exclaim. They’ve also scheduled an in-store at Soundscapes for 6PM on March 6 and will play Lee’s Palace on March 10.

MP3: Zeus – “Marching Through Your Head”
Stream: Zeus / Say Us

Canadian Interviews talk to Basia Bulat.

Thick Specs interviews Julie Doiron. Her current project Daniel, Fred & Julie, featuring Doiron, Attack In Black’s Daniel Romano and former Shotgun & Jaybird-er Fred Squire will bring their self-titled debut to the Horseshoe on April 15.

MP3: Daniel, Fred & Julie – “The Gambler And His Bride”

Anyone wondering about the set list for Fucked Up’s show at the Opera House this Friday need look no further than the back cover of The Chemistry Of Common Life – the band will be playing their breakout record in its entirety. And probably some more stuff on top of that.

Frank YangIt struck me about mid-way through Basia Bulat’s concert at Trinity-St. Paul’s on Saturday night that though it was an album release show for her eagerly-anticipated new album in Heart Of My Own, the album wasn’t going to be released for another couple of weeks yet – January 26, to be exact – and as such, many/most of the just under 800 people in the sell-out crowd had never heard the new songs. An obvious point, certainly, but one that I had overlooked since I’d been secretly nursing a copy of the record since early last Fall and so the new songs were almost as familiar to my ears as those from her 2007 debut, Oh, My Darling.

And that’s why it was even more remarkable that, contrary to typical concert etiquette which dictates that you sit politely through the new material while waiting for the familiar gems, people were responding to the Heart material almost as enthusiastically as they did the selections from Darling. I’m sure this was as much pent-up enthusiasm for Bulat’s return to her hometown stages, what with her having only played one show in the past year and a half, but also a testament to the quality and immediacy of the new material – it’s worth noting that the folks I was with, at least, were quite genuinely excited about several of the new songs, and continued talking about them after the show was done.

Of course, the delivery of the songs surely had something to do with the impression they made. Trinity-St. Paul’s may well be second only to Massey Hall as far as perfect musical venues in Toronto go, and you couldn’t have asked for a better setting to get re-acquainted with Bulat. She certainly couldn’t, mentioning several times through the night how excited she was to be performing in the space. Fronting a 6-piece band that had a couple of new faces since the last time I saw them, Bulat’s set featured much of the big, harmony-laden orchestral folk-pop that I’d missed the past year and a half, but also a few surprises.

Early on, she took to a grand piano set off to the side of the stage and almost completely out of sight, played “Run” from the new record and “Snakes And Ladders” from Darling, neither of which I’d ever heard on piano. I didn’t even know she could play piano. Similarly, “If Only You”, a jaunty, horn-inflected full-band number on the record, was performed solo with no loss of energy. The performance wasn’t without its stumbles; apparently an autoharp broke on the second song of the evening, a song had to be stopped and re-started because Bulat’s guitar was capo-ed into the wrong key and there were a couple of missed cues. But these minor missteps were handled with such grace and humour that it really became a case of the imperfections that helped make an evening perfect.

As far as show-stoppers went, there were two – the solemn, hammered harp-led “The Shore” was as much a highlight live as on the album, and at the end of the encore which again found Bulat alone onstage, clapping and stomping her feet as she sang the folk standard “Death Come Creeping” unamplified into the church for a stirring finale. I usually find that standing ovations are given out a little too freely at seated shows – they seem almost mandatory – but this one was justly and wholly deserved.

Opening up for the night was Montreal’s The Luyas, whom I’d seen last February and seemed at the time to be a work in progress, trying to find a balance between pop and experimentalism. Well it seems they’ve spent the last year entrenching themselves in that place between styles and their set was an interesting, and sometimes odd, demonstration of trying to make it work. On the plus side, the band – now expanded to a five-piece with violin and keys augmenting the french horn, guitar and drums – sounded quite polished, in an orchestral/post-rock sort of way. On the downside, the musical sophistication made the wavery, childlike vocals of frontwoman Jessie Stein seem much rougher than they were probably intended. Net result? Ambivalence, but not nearly enough to keep the night as a whole from being pure gold.

Narratives and BlogTO also have reviews of the show and Metro and Chart interviews. Also just announced was Bulat’s next show – a free in-store at Soundscapes on February 16 at 7PM. It goes without saying that you should be there and and be there early.

Photos: Basia Bulat, The Luyas @ Trinity-St. Paul’s – January 16, 2010
MP3: Basia Bulat – “Go On”
MP3: Basia Bulat – “Gold Rush”
MP3: Basia Bulat – “In The Night”
MP3: Basia Bulat – “Snakes & Ladders”
Video: Basia Bulat – “In The Night”
MySpace: Basia Bulat

The National Post, Dose, Kelowna.com and The Indie Files have interviews with Mark Hamilton of Woodpigeon. They have a show at the Drake Underground on February 11 and an in-store at Soundscapes on February 14 at 5PM.

The Guardian, Spinner, Clash and Chart have features on Owen Pallett, who offers a track-by-track walkthrough of Heartland to Drowned In Sound. He has a show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 8 with a pretty excellent guest if rumours are to be believed.

What We See Is What You Get has an on-location video session with The Wilderness Of Manitoba, who are at the Garrison this Thursday evening.

Chart has details on a forthcoming covers compilation that brings together artists like Stars, Dean & Britta and Tanya Donelly to reinterpret songs that are, well, quiet. Kind of a dubious theme but if it offers the opportunity to hear Neil Halstead do Kate Bush’s “Cloudbusting”, I’ll take it. Sing Me To Sleep is due out May 18.

And speaking of Neil Halstead, he quietly released a new video from 2008’s Oh! Mighty Engine late last year.

Video: Neil Halstead – “Witless Or Wise”

Also with a new video is Laura Marling, whose I Speak Because I Can is out March 22 and who plays Lee’s Palace on February 9. For Folk’s Sake has a bit of information on album number two and reveals that album number three is also planned for release this year, targeted for September 2010.

Video: Laura Marling – “Devil’s Spoke”

I mentioned last week how it seemed that Tuesday posts should be set aside for just concert announcements – well there wasn’t nearly the volume of news this week as last, but what there was was quality.

Like the fact that before their sold-out show at the Phoenix on Thursday night, Dinosaur Jr would be playing an in-store at Sonic Boom at 6:30PM. Did I say “.”? I meant, “!!!!!!!”. Dinosaur Jr. In-store. Sonic Boom. January 21. 6:30. Yes. Queen’s Journal has a chat with drummer Murph.

And to follow up last Thursday’s post, Ms Joanna Newsom will indeed be driving through the city, but also pulling off the highway and stopping in for a show at the Phoenix on March 13. Tickets are $22.50 and go on sale Thursday, and though it doesn’t appear to be a Canadian Musicfest-affiliated show, it’s also not in conflict as it’s an early gig – doors at 6, show at 6:30. Her new album Have One On Me is out February 23. Clash has an interview with Newsom about the new record.

And it’s a good thing that Newsom’s show isn’t overlapping the CMF stuff because The Brother Kite announced last week that they’d be playing the festival on Saturday, and I didn’t want to have to choose one or the other. Their new album Isolation is done and awaiting release – Popdose had them in for a living room interview and session last year. Even in such a casual setting, it’s absurd how good they sound.

I’d also mentioned that the April 1Black Rebel Motorcycle Club show had been moved from The Phoenix to the Sound Academy – well it’s now moved back to the Phoenix. To handle the additional demand, a second show has been added a week and a half later on April 11, also at The Phoenix. Their new record Beat The Devil’s Tattoo is out March 29.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre have set a February 23 release date for their new record Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? and will be at The Phoenix on June 2 to support.

Dustin Rabin/Epitaph.comBack in the Spring of 2005, two of the finest rock bands Canada had to offer came up with a great idea and a great name for that great idea. The bands were Constantines and The Weakerthans, the idea was a tour that would traverse all of Canada, not just the obvious markets, and the name they gave it was “Rolling Tundra”. And it was good.

Since then, both the Cons and Weakerthans have grown in audience and profile have released highly-acclaimed records in Kensington Heights and Reunion Tour respectively, but a good idea remains a good idea so next Spring, they’re totally going to do it again. As Chart reports, the 2009 edition of The Rolling Tundra Revue will kick off on March 19 in St John’s, Newfoundland and wind its way across our home and native land before wrapping up May 4 in Whitehorse in the Yukon.

As far as local dates go, they’ll be at the Phoenix on March 31 for an all-ages show – tickets are $25 and go on sale Thursday Friday – but looking at the itinerary, it’s notable that there’s two off days on either side of the scheduled date. Keeping in mind that the 2005 edition had three Toronto shows, one an all-ages matinee, do you think they’ve got a second date ready to go, at least? Yeah, me too.

MP3: Constantines – “Hard Feelings”
MP3: The Weakerthans – “Sun In An Empty Room”
MP3: The Weakerthans – “Night Windows”
Video: Constantines – “Credit River”
Video: Constantines – “Our Age”
Video: Constantines – “Hard Feelings”
Video: The Weakerthans – “Civil Twilight”
Video: The Weakerthans – “Tournament Of Hearts”
MySpace: Constantines
MySpace: The Weakerthans

Solo Pornographer AC Newman will hit the road in support of his new album Get Guilty!, due January 20, and roll into Lee’s Palace on March 11. Tickets $15. And cheers to Matablog for pointing the way to this New Pornogaphers show in Australia, available to watch in its entirety at Moshcam. Update: New MP3 and full tour dates now available!

MP3: AC Newman – “Submarines Of Stockholm”

The Toronto Sun talks to Stars frontlady Amy Millan. Stars are doing three nights at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre starting Thursday night.

Malajube will finally follow up their Polaris-nominated release Trompe-L’oeil with Labyrinthes, out February 10.

eye profiles Oh No Forest Fires. They’ll play Wavelength at Sneaky Dee’s on January 25.

It seems the rehearsals went well, because Blur are back – the first officially announced reunion gig will take place at Hyde Park in London on July 3, though more gigs around that date both before and after are likely to come. Details at NME. Hey V Fest, I think I’ve found your 2009 headliner. Make it happen.

Billboard gets a status update from Doves about album number four. Still untitled, but targeting an April release.

Clash talks to Maximo Park frontman Paul Smith about the making of their third album, which he describes as “Upbeat, upfront, uptight, uppity, uplifting”.

The Quietus talks to ex-Pipette Rose Elinor Dougall about going it solo. Her debut single “Another Version Of Pop Song” was released this week.

Drowned In Sound disassembles and examines the component parts of Florence & The Machine.

The AV Club has an interview with Gareth Campesino of Los Campesinos!.

Clash and Drowned In Sound chat with The Futureheads.

ES Magazine profiles Duffy.

KnotanWith her 2005 (2006 in North America) debut Until Death Comes, Swedish songstress Frida Hyvonen established herself as a distinctive new voice, capable of veering from stark confessionals to demented whimsy at the drop of a hat. I base this as much on my recollections of her deliciously entertaining March 2007 performance at the Mod Club as I do from whatever impression the album itself made because, well, I no longer seem to have a copy of the album around to refer to.

But I do have the follow-up, Silence Is Wild, and it does reaffirm those impressions. This time out, she chooses to frame her compositions in richer and at points, more theatrical trappings which suit her quite well – better, in my estimation, than the simpler presentation of the debut. The focal point is still her voice – huge yet fragile – and piano, but the grander arrangements lift everything up and offer a broader emotional and musical range that Death simply didn’t have.

Considering my favourite tracks from the album – “Dirty Dancing” and “London” – are also the biggest, I obviously like this change in tact for Hyvonen. The vivid imagery of her lyrics combined with the exuberance of their delivery strike just the right chord in me, and offer a stronger contrast to the smaller, more intimate moments of the album. But even with what some may consider to be a more conventional musical approach, Hyvonen’s innate eccentricity still shines through and sets her apart.

Ms Hyvonen did some solo dates on the east coast in October, so I don’t know if there’s any further North American touring in the cards. But if so I do hope there’s a band involved, even though it’s probably cost-prohibitive. As charming and engaging as she was in the solo context last time, I couldn’t imagine a lot of the new material being done proper justice without all the proper sonic accouterments.

Hyvonen picks her favourite song of the year for Line Of Best fit, gives Aquarium Drunkard a guided tour of her hometown of Flarken and subjects to herself to an interview at RCRDLBL, where you can also download an MP3 of “Birds” from the new album. And check out a live performance of “Dirty Dancing” at PSL.

MP3: Frida Hyvonen – “The Enemy Within”
MySpace: Frida Hyvonen

Clash talks to Lykke Li about her really big 2008. She’s at the Phoenix on February 6.

The video for the first single from A Camp’s forthcoming Colonia is now up. The album is out February 2.

Video: A Camp – “Stronger Than Jesus”

If you were one of those bummed about the cancellation of Noah & The Whale’s North American tour, maybe this Basement Tapes session with the band, recorded their last time through the continent and featuring downloadable live tracks, will ease the pain a bit.

MP3: Noah & The Whale – “5 Years Time” (Basement Tapes session)

The Courier-Mail discusses the art of songwriting with Mountain Goat John Darnielle.

LAist interviews John Dragonetti of The Submarines. They’re at the Drake Underground on February 15 and The Morning Benders have been added as co-headliners on the whole tour.

New York City’s Virgins have a date at the El Mocambo on February 5, tickets $12.50.

MP3: The Virgins – “Rich Girls”
Video: The Virgins – “Rich Girls”

Dose.ca, The Montreal Gazette and The McGill Tribune spend time with Stars, gearing up for a three-night stand at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre December 11 through 13.

Gentleman Reg, who is opening up the middle of those Stars shows (the 12th) as well as playing his own gig at the Drake Underground tonight, will release his new album Jet Black on February 24.

Le Blogotheque takes away a show with Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s.

Prefix talks to Mark Lanegan about working with Isobel Campbell.

JAM interviews Richard Thompson.