.: chromewaves.net v7.5 » Stephen Malkmus

Review of Ryan Adams’ Ashes & Fire and giveaway

Frank Yang — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:35:38 +0000

David BlackThat Ryan Adams’ retirement from music – declared at the start of 2009 as a result of personal, medical, and industry factors – wouldn’t last was never in question. You don’t go from being as prolific as he had been over the past decade and a half to radio silence without a relapse or two. That said, he made a pretty good go of it for a while, busying himself with writing and being Mr. Mandy Moore. By early 2010, however, he was clearly ready to get back to making music and soft-launched his post-Cardinals career with the limited, vinyl-only release of a metal album that had been sitting in the vaults for a few years, and then before the year was out, a final Cardinals record – also shelved for a few years – was released via his website.

So while it’s his third release in under two years, Ashes & Fire is notable for being the first in some time to contain newly-written and recorded material without The Cardinals and get a wide release. And for anyone expecting Adams to make his return with a grand, rock’n'roll statement, Ashes may come as a bit of a puzzle – it’s slow, understated and primarily acoustic, sounding more of a denouement than a declaration, but most of all it sounds peaceful. An unexpected place for alt.country’s one-time enfant terrible and someone known for being creatively and personally mercurial, but considering that Adams has basically grown up in public – that first Whiskeytown record came out when he was 21 – it’s rather comforting to know that he’s feeling more settled and contented now.

If approached without the weight of expectation, without hoping for another Heartbreaker as I’ll admit I have for a decade now, Ashes has much to recommend it. Adams is in fine voice, his raspy croon having aged nicely and perfectly suiting the material, and though it initially sounds quite skeletally-arranged, there’s a full band in there playing with delicacy and restraint. It’s easy to wish that maybe there was a little more of the fire that the album’s title promises, but even a token rocker would probably detract more from the atmosphere of the album as a whole than it would add. And anyways, the guy just put out a metal album – maybe hit that up if you need some volume. Ashes & Fire comes with a very specific sound and purpose and it fulfills that most effectively.

Though Ashes & Fire came out digitally and on CD last month, the vinyl edition won’t be out until next week and courtesy of EMI Music Canada, I’ve got three copies of the LP edition to give away. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want Ashes & Fire” in the subject line and your full name and mailing address in the body, and have that to me by midnight, November 11. And sorry, contest only open to residents of Canada.

Adams plays the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto on December 10. Paste, Adelaide Now and The Quietus have interviews and NPR an interview and session with WFUV.

Video: Ryan Adams – “Lucky Now”
Video: Ryan Adams – “Ashes & Fire”
Stream: Ryan Adams / Ashes & Fire

NPR welcomes Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks to the World Cafe for a session.

Rochester City Newspaper, The Portland Press Herald and Yes! Weekly talk to Joey Santiago of Pixies.

NPR has a six-song session with Wild Flag up to stream while The San Francisco Examiner talks to Carrie Brownstein.

Spin has posted a nice gallery that gets the likes of Justin Vernon and Johnny Marr to talk about their instruments.

Let’s play three – Tokyo Police Club have added a December 10 date to their run at The Phoenix in December, making it a three-night residency. As with the other two shows, Born Ruffians and Said The Whale will support. Tickets are $25.

MP3: Tokyo Police Club – “Party In The USA”
MP3: Born Ruffians – “Sole Brother”
MP3: Said The Whale – “Camilo (The Magician)”

Pitchfork are on board with Vancouver garage-soul outfit Chains Of Love, offering up the A-side of their new 7″, out December 13, and reporting that the band’s debut EP will be coming in early 2012. ~~They’re at The Horseshoe on Tuesday night, November 8, for a free show. Go.~~ Show appears to have been nixed. Sorry.

MP3: Chains Of Love – “Breaking My Heart”

The Edmonton Journal, Saskatoon Star Phoenix and Calgary Herald interview Dan Mangan.

Paste has a quick video session with Stars.

Toronto post-rockers Old World Vulture have released an MP3 as a teaser for their forthcoming album, due out in early 2012. Hear it live when they play Rancho Relaxo on November 12.

MP3: Old World Vulture – “Trophy Lovers”

Paste declares PS I Love You amongst the best of what’s next.

Tom Waits and other things that have nothing to do with Iceland

Frank Yang — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:31:29 +0000

Jesse DylanI promised you I was done with Iceland updates, and really you don’t get more un-Icelandic than Tom Waits. Of course, the only thing Tom Waits is really like is, well, Tom Waits and even then one era of Waits can be wildly different from the next. I say this as someone who’s only very recently begun exploring his expansive catalog and still has a long ways to go – but at least now I find his work intriguing rather than off-putting, as I once did. That’s progress.

I’m definitely glad to be coming around in time for the release of Bad As Me next Tuesday, his first album of all-new material in seven years. It’s available to stream right now at badasme.com if you’ve got an invite code and at first listen it sounds like a pretty good balance of out-there stompers and barstool laments. It’ll take some time but I can see myself getting into this. And if Waits elects to tour for this record and come to Toronto for the first time in what, at least a decade? Double bonus. I hear his performances are incomparable.

There’s interviews with Waits about the new record at Pitchfork, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and if you want to give Bad Like Me an advance listen, I’ve got five invite codes to hand out. They’re meant for friends but hey – you guys are my friends. Whoever you are. And if none of these codes work for you, I guess you’re too late… or you’re not my friend. Either way.

3vb-rhuym | 3cb-w6v03 | 6ob-gd8lz | l4b-6340m | ozb-p31m4

Stream: Tom Waits – “Back In The Crowd”
Stream: Tom Waits – “Bad As Me”
Stream: Tom Waits / Bad As Me

Rolling Stone is streaming the final R.E.M. single, taken from their forthcoming career-ending best-of Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011, out November 15. For their part, Spin has dug up some video footage of the band playing Neil Young’s Bridge School benefit in 1998.

Stream: R.E.M. – “We All Go Back To Where We Belong”

NPR and CMT talk reunions with The Jayhawks.

NPR solicits a Tiny Desk Concert from Wilco.

JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound, who caught some ears last year with a swinging soul cover of Wilco’s “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”, will be in Toronto on November 29 for a free show at The Horseshoe – that’s the same night as Kathryn Calder, so that’s double the reason to not stay home that night. Their new album Want More is out Tuesday but available to stream now at Paste.

MP3: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound – “Everything Will Be Fine”
Video: JC Brooks Uptown Sound – “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”
Stream: JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound / Want More

Stuff talks Galaxie 500 with Dean Wareham.

The AV Club and Edmonton Journal interview Ryan Adams, in town at the Winter Garden Theatre on December 10.

Blurt talks to Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers while The AV Club has one more rooftop performance video to share. They play The Drake Underground on November 8.

Dead Meadow will warm up for their show at Lee’s Palace later that evening with an acoustic in-store at the Annex location of Sonic Boom on October 24 at 4PM. The Pitch has an interview.

MP3: Dead Meadow – “Good Moanin”

Spinner, North County Times and Willamette Week talk to Stephen Malkmus, who has released a new video from Mirror Traffic.

Video: Stephen Malkmus – “Senator”

Matt Berninger of The National puts together a playlist of sad songs for dirty lovers for Rolling Stone.

The Alternate Side has an interview and session with Beirut.

The Georgia Straight profiles The Head & The Heart.

Pitchfork reports that Mazzy Star, after many years of saying they were back together, finally have something to show for it in the form of two new songs entitled “Common Burn” and “Lay Myself Down”, due to be released digitally on October 31.

The Washingtonian and DCist talks to Mary Timony PopMatters to Carrie Brownstein of Wild Flag while NPR has got a stream of last night’s show in Washington DC.

Ume have released a new video from their recently-released album Phantoms.

Video: Ume – “Captive”

CBS gets to know Savoir Adore, who are releasing a new 7″ single. Details can be found at Neon Gold and the A-side can be downloaded below.

MP3: Savoir Adore – “Dreamers”

Explosions In The Sky and Wye Oak at The Sound Academy in Toronto

Frank Yang — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:41:23 +0000

Frank YangI’m sure they didn’t intend to be away for so long – it wasn’t their fault that the 2009 edition of the Toronto Islands show for which they were the undercard was cancelled – but as of Friday night’s long-awaited show at the Sound Academy., it had been over four years since Explosions In The Sky last played Toronto and you could round up closer to five if you’re talking headlining shows. A long time for any active, touring band but an eternity for an act whose fanbase grew markedly in the years between 2007′s All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone and this year’s Take Care, Take Care, Take Care through key soundtrack placements and old fashioned word of mouth about how astonishing their cinematic, instrumental post-rock was.

Baltimore duo Wye Oak have been no such strangers hereabouts, their supporting slot marking their third show in Town this calendar year with one still to come. This was less a case of market oversaturation than simply keeping up with demand, though; specifically the demand of larger acts who wanted them to open up for them. And when the likes of The Decemberists, Explosions and The National ask you to come along on tour with them, you say yes. Since playing this same stage in February opening up for The Decemberists, Wye Oak had released their second album Civilian and toured it heavily, so even just eight months later there were noticeable differences in the band’s live show. The moodier Civilian must call for a leaner approach to things, as Jenn Wasner took fewer guitar excursions and Andy Stack seemed to be called on less to handle keyboard duties simultaneously with drums. It was as though the two were feeling more confident in their ability render the songs with just the guitars, drums and vocals, and when the keys were brought in, such as for some gut-punch bass, their contributions were extra-effective. In any case, it was mope-rock on a grand scale.

One of the most magical things about Explosions In The Sky, either live or on record, is how from the moment they begin to play you’re instantly transported to a world writ on 70mm film but left wide open. There is a universality to their music that allows it to be the soundtrack to the movie of each listener’s life, for them to write their own script and direct their own scenes, using the emotions and dynamics created by the band as cues. So I suspect that the people sitting, eyes closed, out of line of sight of the band were getting just as much out of the performance as the people jammed up front watching them actually play – or at least I’d like to think so; it’s possible they were just asleep.

It’s this intangible that allows them to transcend their formula and continue to connect and be remarkable. Their sound hasn’t really changed much since 2000′s How Strange, Innocence – they’re more adept at the push and pull of evoking emotional responses but any stylistic shifts over their career have been relative to the EITS aesthetic – they’ve never redefined, only refined. So even though Friday’s show pulled from their entire decade-plus repertoire, with a little extra emphasis on Take Care, it felt like a single, unified feature-length piece with gentle lulls and soaring crescendos in all the right places. One major difference from their last time through was for touring, they’d expanded to a five-piece with a full-time bassist which allowed for an even bigger sound with either a three guitar-attack or double-guitar, double-bass, all the sounding even more massive without losing any of the intricacies of their arrangements. As the final notes of “The Moon Is Down” rang out and the band bid farewell, hopefully without as long a wait between visits, I wanted to tell those gathered at the front pleading for an encore that the band doesn’t do encores, and if they wanted more they’d have to wait for the sequel.

The Toronto Star alos has a review of the show while aux.tv and The Detroit News have interviews with Explosions.

Chicago post-rock instrumentalist Russian Circles will be at Lee’s Palace on November 12 in support of their new record Empros, due out October 25.

MP3: Russian Circles – “Mladek”

Nicole Atkins is giving away a free live EP entitled …Til Dawn over at her Bandcamp in exchange for an email address.

The Georgia Straight talks to Kristen Gundred – aka Dee Dee – of Dum Dum Girls. They’re at Lee’s Palace next Sunday night, October 16.

NPR is streaming the new My Brightest Diamond record All Things Will Unwind in advance of its release next week. There’s also a new video at Stereogum and some live video performances posted at Le Blogotheque.

MP3: My Brightest Diamond – “Reaching Through To The Other Side”
Video: My Brightest Diamond – “Be Brave”
Stream: My Brightest Diamond / All Things Will Unwind

Beatroute talks to Annie Clark of St. Vincent.

DIY interviews Wild Flag, in town to melt your faces at Lee’s Palace tonight.

NPR is streaming Days, the new album from Real Estate, out next week.

MP3: Real Estate – “It’s Real”
Stream: Real Estate / Days

Clash, The National Post, DIY, Drowned In Sound and The Los Angeles Times all have interviews with Ryan Adams about his new record Ashes & Fire and Exclaim has a list of RyRy trivia, but only LA Weekly manages to piss him off. Bravo. He plays The Winter Garden Theatre on December 10 and has released a live studio video and proper “if MTV still played videos” video from the new album.

Video: Ryan Adams – “Lucky Now”
Video: Ryan Adams – “Invisible Riverside”

The Vancouver Sun and The Republic interview Stephen Malkmus.

Blurt interviews Matthew Sweet.

DIY talks to Girls.

The New York Daily News chats with Mates Of State.

The Alternate Side has an interview and session with EMA.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of The Antlers’ show in New York last week.

Wild Beasts at The Mod Club in Toronto

Frank Yang — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:28:58 +0000

Frank YangIt’s right here, in these very pages, the fact that I didn’t dig on Wild Beasts’ last record Two Dancers and only after some persistence was able to reach a point of understanding it if not appreciating it. But mayhap that exercise softened me up enough that even though it wasn’t as acclaimed as its predecessor, I took to this year’s Smother almost immediately and also put Two Dancers back into rotation. All of which is to say that while I had no problem skipping the band’s visit to the Mod Club last Summer, I was not going to be missing this year’s go-around last Thursday.

The quartet intended to make a dramatic entrance onto the stage but a technical hiccup a few bars into “Lion’s Share” sabotaged that, forcing them to sheepishly say, “hello” rather than just get into it but the net effect was endearing rather than embarrassing and it would basically be the only misstep the entire evening. Why did no one tell me how good of a live band they were? And while we’re at it, why did no one tell me that the swooping and swooning vocals on their recordings were not just courtesy of Hayden Thorpe, but also of Tom Fleming? Here I was thinking that it was Thorpe alone with the inhumanly multi-octave range, when in fact it’s both of them. Which is ridiculous. That they should both be equally adept at playing guitar, bass and keyboards whilst utilizing those voices is even more ridiculous. And that Katie Harkness of Sky Larkin was on board as touring keyboardist was just a nice surprise.

Trying to describe Wild Beasts live requires a lot of adjectives that are typically more suited to blue movies than live music, but that’s just how it is – it’s the sound of sex, however you like it, and quite the contrast from the sentiments of love that Elbow brought to town the night before.. Seductive and dangerous, romantic and rough, primal and sophisticated, they build off a deep, swaying groove heavy on toms and accented with exotic percussion and alternately powered by keys or guitars, their songs are lifted by the intertwined vocals of Thorpe and Fleming in a way that just induces shivers. They split the set about evenly between Two Dancers and Smother and threw long-time fans a bone with “The Devli’s Crayon” from their debut Limbo, Panto and apologizing for never touring their that album. So rhythmically hypnotic was their hour-long main set that when it ended with “Hooting & Howling”, you didn’t even notice the finale coming until it was done – you might say the “End Come Too Soon” but the band saved that one to wrap the encoure, which thankfully ran a good three songs and allowed you the time to mentally prepare to extricate yourself from the music’s embrace and ready yourself to go back out into the cold world.

Prefix, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal and The Daily Texan have interviews with members of Wild Beasts.

Billboard has posted their upcoming cover story on Florence & The Machine, whose much-anticipated Ceremonials is out on November 1.

Wears The Trousers points to a video session by EMA in Vienna wherein they reinvent “Butterfly Knife”; worth watching.

Exclaim and The Chicago Tribune have interviews and NPR a World Cafe session with St. Vincent.

Spinner, The Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News and Paste talk to Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls. They’re at Lee’s Palace on October 16.

Asobi Seksu recorded a session for Daytrotter, gave interviews to OC Music Magazine and The Vindicator and also posted up a Walkmen cover, well, just because. They’re at Lee’s Palace on October 23 opening for Boris.

The Von Pop Musical Express interviews Juanita Stein of Howling Bells.

NPR welcomes Ryan Adams for a World Cafe session. Toronto’s Winter Garden Theatre welcomes him for a show on December 10.

Gary Louris and Karen Grotberg take The Boston Globe down the long and winding road to the Jayhawks reunion.

The Illinois Entertainer talks to Craig Finn of The Hold Steady.

Men’s Health and The Sydney Morning Herald< talk with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco while The National Post gets some of Pat Sansone and John Stirratt’s time.

The Decemberists are still promising to take an extended break after they’re done working The King Is Dead, but that won’t be until after they’ve released the Long Live The King EP on November 1 – Exclaim has specifics.

Crystal Stilts are in town for a show at the Horseshoe on December 1.

MP3: Crystal Stilts – “Through The Floor”
Video: Crystal Stilts – “Through The Floor”

Okkervil River have released a new video from I Am Very Far, starring a very young Will Sheff.

Video: Okkervil River – “Your Past Life As A Blast”

Pitchfork takes Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks onto a New York City rooftop to play some songs. Or else.

The Quietus talks to Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields.

NPR has a KCRW session with Fleet Foxes.

Salon investigates why, in a time when record labels are supposed to be dying, Merge Records are thriving.

The Shins and Faces On Film at The Phoenix in Toronto

Frank Yang — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 12:30:36 +0000

Frank YangIf someone were to start one of those, “Who the eff are The Shins?” Tumblrs, there’d be no shortage of content to start with. They were once called Flake Music. They were the band who got a song with lyrics about having “dirt in your fries” to soundtrack a McDonalds commercial. They were the band that helped establish Sub Pop as the sensitive pop label for the new century rather than the sweaty grunge label for the last one. They were the band whose keyboardist was a hero to indie boys for dating one of the contestants on the first season of America’s Next Top Model and then a villain to all when he was arrested for assaulting her. They were the band that would change your life. And following the 2007 release of their third album Wincing The Night Away, which almost topped the charts worldwide (#2 in the US and Canada), they went into hiding and almost disbanded.

Or to be more precise, bandleader James Mercer opted to assert his bandleadership and essentially dismissed the rest of the band, then rather than release a new album went and worked with Danger Mouse on the largely unremarkable Broken Bells instead. Only this Summer did any concrete news about the status of The Shins emerge with a promise of a new record in 2012 and a run of tour dates through this Fall – including this past Thursday night in Toronto – with a new lineup of not-nobodies. Singer/songwriter Richard Swift, Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer, Crystal Skulls bassist Yuuki Matthews and singer/songwriter Jessica Dobson are clearly billed as the touring band for this jaunt and with no permanence implied. For the time being, these would be The Shins but for future reference, The Shins would essentially be a pseudonym for Mercer.

Boston-based openers Faces On Film knew a thing or two about one-man multi-member bands, being the project of one Mike Fiore. It took a few songs to pin down exactly what their slow-burning jangle-pop reminded me of but once I did, it was hard to hear anything else; if you imagined My Morning Jacket or Band Of Horses coming out of a northeastern college rather than the south, you’d have a pretty good sense of what they were about. Fiore has a big voice – far bigger than you’d expect to look at him – and perhaps more importantly, a penchant for interesting and structurally ambitious songwriting without being too obtuse about it. Cribbing a bit of either of those bands’ facilities for big moments wouldn’t hurt – some of the songs were heavy on build, light on payoff – but they were both interesting and entertaining and judging on audience response, left the stage with a few more fans than when they took it. And that’s really all an opener can ask for.

Reaching back in memory to the few times I’ve seen The Shins live – that’d be Summer 2002 at The Rivoli, April 2005 at The Kool Haus and Lollapalooza 2006 – the prevailing recollection was that James Mercer didn’t ever really seem to enjoy being onstage, and was perfectly happy to stand off to the side and let the more gregarious Crandall handle most banter and fan interaction. This jives with the sense that Mercer is a sort of cipher whose intensely catchy pop instincts help disguise the fact that his oblique lyrics, filled with odd and wonderful imagery actually offers little insight into the man himself. Which is not to say that songwriters owe their listeners a piece of themselves in their work, but success to the degree that The Shins achieved usually doesn’t come with the amount of privacy that Mercer has maintained.

None of which is really salient to this show, I suppose, and there’s plenty more relevant points of interest surrounding it to discuss. Like how, even though it’s only been four years since The Shins have been through town or toured to any great extent, that span is akin to a lifetime when your fanbase is on the cusp of adulthood as much of their post-Garden State demographic was when they broke out. Woud a Shins fan circa 2007 still identify as such in 2011? That was answered by the fact that there were enough interested to sell out the Phoenix and most were indeed still pretty young, though sadly most people look pretty young to me these days.

Whether they were diehards or nostalgists, they were all thrilled to hear The Shins live again (or finally, as the case may have been), no matter who was actually in the band. And why not? Whatever there might be to say about James Mercer as a boss, there’s little debate that he’s a gifted songwriter who has penned more than few tunes that are as catchy as they are quirky, and which have endured nicely – even the ones that hadn’t been heard in years and whose existence may even have been forgotten came instantly back within a few chords. Being veteran players all, there was no doubt the new lineup would be able to deliver exactly what was demanded of them and all were performed impeccably, if a bit louder and faster than on record, and with nice multi-part harmonies thrown in for good measure. Mercer was animated and affable in the frontman role, but you couldn’t argue he’d upped the charisma levels to fill Crandall’s absence; he and his crew were there to play the songs and that’s all.

The set included a couple of new songs which sounded identifiably Shins-y though didn’t jump out as instant classics and otherwise balanced equal contributions from Chutes Too Narrow and Wincing The Night Away – four apiece – with a lot of Oh Inverted World filling out the rest. And it was this earliest material that still had the most nuance, even when busied up some by the rhythm section, though it was hard to no remember that back in their salad days, the greatest charm of The Shins was their simplicity and sincerity. And a fixture of past Shins shows, the cover song, not only remained intact but was doubled upon with the encore closing with faithful covers of both Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” and Pink Floyd’ “Breathe” – and apparently the latter’s massive upcoming reissue/revival (but not reunion) is well-timed because the indie kids seem primed and ready to get their Floyd on.

If The Shins were using this tour to gauge how much of their audience remained, then based on the Toronto sample group it’s still pretty significant though it was a room half the size of the one they played their last couple times through. Still, it felt like more of a reminder that the band wrote some great songs and was still around rather than a forceful declaration of their continued relevance. Not that forcefulness has ever been The Shins’ forte – it’s been the songs. And if Mercer’s next batch of songs measure up to the work he’s done in the past, then it won’t matter who’s playing with him or even if he wants to be up there playing them at all. He’ll be able to point at the album and say, “this is what matters” and he’ll be right.

The National Post and Exclaim also have writeups of the show and Twentyfourbit has a nice piece on both The Shins’ performance at Outside Lands last month and their transformation from a band into a “James & Someone & Someone & Someone & Someone” t-shirt.

The Drums’ show at the Mod Club this Saturday night has apparently sold well enough that they’ve added an in-store engagement earlier in the evening to satisfy demand (or do some shopping). They’ll be at Sonic Boom in The Annex at 7PM on October 1. Admission free, canned good donation encouraged.

MP3: The Drums – “Down By The Water”

The band that people initially thought was a Michael Cera project but is really a Man Man/Islands/Modest Mouse (and Shins, if you count Joe Plummer’s hired hand gig) spin-off – Mister Heavenly – have put together a tour in support of their debut Out Of Love and will be at The Great Hall on November 16. Examiner.com talks to Nick Thorburn, the Islands half of the band.

MP3: Mister Heavenly – “Bronx Sniper”
MP3: Mister Heavenly – “Pineapple Girl”

The Baltimore Sun profiles Fleet Foxes.

The Des Moines Register talks to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

NPR can’t get enough Beirut, roping the band in for both a Tiny Desk Concert and World Cafe session. Zach Condon is also chatted up by the likes of The Guardian, The Independent, and The New Zealand Herald.

Stephen Malkmus talks to Pitchfork about choosing the cover art for his latest Mirror Traffic, to The Hook, hour.ca, and Metro about the contents of said album and The Vancouver Sun about Nirvana and R.E.M.

130BPM talks to Dean Wareham about revisiting the Galaxie 500 oeuvre.

The Los Angeles Times marks the release of Wilco’s new record The Whole Love tomorrow with a feature piece in the paper and a couple of extra pieces in their Pop & Hiss blog. And if you’re more the watch and listen than read type, there’s a stream of the complete set they played on Letterman available to watch at The Line Of Best Fit, a recording of their show in Central Park to download at NYC Taper and NPR will have last night’s show in Washington DC up to stream later today.

The Guardian and Billboard talk to Ryan Adams about his new record Ashes & Fire, due out October 11 but now available to stream at NPR.

Stream: Ryan Adams / Ashes & Fire

The AV Club interviews Will Sheff of Okkevil River.

Eric Bachmann of Crooked Fingers selects some sound sculptures for a feature in Impose. The new Crooked Fingers record Breaks In The Armor is out October 11 and they play The Drake Underground on November 4.

Matthew Sweet is giving away an acoustic EP in exchange for an email address over at Noise Trade, but if you want to leave a little something in the tip jar provided, that’s cool too. His new studio album Modern Art is out tomorrow.

How do you let people listen to a six-hour song? By being The Flaming Lips and having fans willing to hack into two-hour blocks and post them on Soundcloud. The Line Of Best Fit has gathered them together in one place… if you dare.

Stream: The Flaming Lips – “I Found This Star On The Ground”

R.E.M.’s disbandment last week led to no shortage of tributes and testimonials to their greatness, the full depth of which will probably be fully appreciated now that their career has that final punctuation point on it. And I don’t refer to their final studio album Collapse Into Now but the just-announced best-of set Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011 which will be out on November 15 and be the first compilation to compile material from both their IRS and Warner Bros. years. Of course, the label-specific comps – And I Feel Fine for the indie and In Time are more thorough, but the new set will also cover their final three studio albums as well as some extra material from the post-Collapse sessions. And hopefully the double-disc reissue series of their catalog will continue, because those are gold through and through. And if you want to read some of the better R.E.M. tributes, check out pieces at The Atlantic, Rolling Stone and Spin. Update: Rolling Stone also has an exit interview with Mike Mills.

Review of Deleted Scenes’ Young People’s Church Of The Air

Frank Yang — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:28:46 +0000

Laura RotondoIt’s too bad that Washington, DC four-piece Deleted Scenes didn’t time their upcoming visit to Toronto better so as to coincide with the Toronto International Film Festival, which wraps up this weekend. And not just for the topicality of their band name, but for the inherently cinematic scope of their sound.

Usually when “cinematic” is dropped as a descriptor, it implies for good or bad that the band aspires to a “big” sound that’s akin to a glitzy Hollywood Summer blockbuster; in the case of Deleted Scenes’ just-released second album Young People’s Church Of The Air, their ambitions are more modest and can perhaps predictably be likened to a contemporary independent film, reliant on a DIY aesthetic, quirky characters and a script that simultaneous seeks to bare its soul and remain obscured.

In musical terms, Deleted Scenes operate underneath sonics that are deliberately fuzzy and occasionally opaque, with Dan Scheuerman’s vocals – an instrument which other bands might seek to showcase front and centre – often pushed back in the mix so as to seem like he’s hollering from the back of the room while all manner of instrumentation cavort in the foreground. It’s an interesting balance and one that can either force the listener to pay closer attention than they normally might or tune out entirely; initial listens tended towards the latter, but persistence paid off with a record that was playfully psychedelic, yet possessed of a clear-eyed deliberateness where it counted. Rewarding stuff.

Deleted Scenes are currently on tour across North America in support of the new record and will be at Rancho Relaxo on September 22.

MP3: Deleted Scenes – “Bedbedbedbedbed”
Stream: Deleted Scenes – “The Demon & The Hurricane”
Stream: Deleted Scenes – “The Days Of Adderall”
Video: Deleted Scenes – “Bedbedbedbedbed”

NOW and Aquarium Drunkard have pieces of Olivia Tremor Control as the band rolls into Lee’s Palace tonight.

The Toronto Star, Exclaim and Montreal Gazette chat with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco as the band’s tour in advance of the September 27 release of The Whole Love stops in at Massey Hall tonight and tomorrow.

The Jayhawks’ first new record in forever, Mockingbird Time, is up for stream at Rolling Stone and the best thing you can say about it is it sounds like the classic Jayhawks lineup that made it – and that’s a good thing.

Stream: The Jayhawks / Mockingbird Time

Magnet – who are returning as a print publication in October and will thus be re-earning their italicized title – NOW and The Fly talk to Stephen Malkmus, who leads The Jicks into The Phoenix on September 23. The Portland Tribune talks to Jicks bassist Joanna Bolme.

MusicOmh has words with Merrell Garbus of tUnE-yArDs. She/they are at Lee’s Palace on September 24.

The Von Pip Musical Express talks to Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls in advance of Only In Dreams, out September 27. They play Lee’s Palace on October 16.

Pitchfork and Prefix have feature interviews with Christopher Owens of Girls, who’re at The Mod Club on September 27.

Aquarium Drunkard has an interview with Matthew Sweet while Rolling Stone is streaming his new album Modern Art in advance of its September 27 release date.

MP3: Matthew Sweet – “She Walks The Night”
Stream: Matthew Sweet / Modern Art

Nerve talks mating with Mates Of State while The Hartford Courant opts to play it safe and talk about the music. Mates Of State are at The Phoenix on September 28.

Pitchfork interviews Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal, who reveals the band will release a cassette box set of all the band’s albums on October 25 and a new album entitled Paralytic Stalks early next year.

NPR and The AV Club have posted interviews with St. Vincent, while Anika In London has posted the full transcript of her chat with Annie Clark which became the Line Of Best Fit feature interview from earlier this week.

Rolling Stone talks to Wayne Coyne to get the lowdown on the “six hour song” that Wayne Coyne says the band are recording.

Review of Widowspeak’s Widowspeak and giveaway

Frank Yang — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:27:56 +0000

Sebastian SlayterI’ve read a few things about Pacific Northwest by way of New York trio Widowspeak that reference the darkness of their music; the haunting tones, yearning vocals and occasional forays into guitar squalls. Perfectly fair. And most everything written about them mentions the smoky vocals of Molly Hamilton and its immediate reference points of Hope Sandoval and Cat Power. Also totally valid.

And yet listening to their self-titled debut, despite the truth of those points and the fact that I like amounts of all of these things in my music, what stands out the most to me is how much more they have to offer beyond those talking points. Though her voice has that alluring eyes-half-closed quality, she sounds far more awake and engaged with the song and melodies than Sandoval ever has (save, perhaps, her turn on “Sometimes Always”) and evokes neither the suicide-watch despair of early Chan Marshall nor the soul-diva stylings of her now. And musically, though perfectly capable of evoking sadness, they’re much more familiar with the major keys than some would have you believe. There’s a distinct ’50s doo-wop winsomeness running throughout, the guitars are as likely to throw off a twangy spaghetti western lick as drone menacingly and tunes like “Puritan” and “Fir Coat” are downright bouncy. All of which is to say that the critical praise they’ve garnered based on those aforementioned qualities are wholly deserved – they’ve just got much more to offer than you might expect.

Widowspeak are currently touring with Vivian Girls and will be at Parts & Labour in Toronto on September 16. Tickets for the show are $15.00 in advance but courtesy of Embrace, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away for the show. To enter, email me at contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to see Widowspeak” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight, September 13.

MP3: Widowspeak – “Harsh Realm”
Stream: Widowspeak – “Nightcrawlers”

The deluge of streams for September 13 releases mentioned earlier this week continues; Girls are offering a sneak preview of their sophomore effort Father, Son, Holy Ghost. Billboard talks to bandleader Christopher Owens, who leads his band into The Mod Club on September 27.

MP3: Girls – “Vomit”
Stream: Girls / Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Over at Rolling Stone, you’ve got a stream of Mountaintops, the latest from Mates Of State, a week before its release. They’ll be at The Phoenix on September 28 and Ology has an interview with band he-half Jason Hammell.

MP3: Mates Of State – “Maracas”
Stream: Mates Of State / Mountaintops

Wild Flag jumped the gun and put up a stream of their self-titled debut last week, but held a little something back for this week – their first video. Wild Flag are at Lee’s Palace on October 12.

Video: Wild Flag – “Romance”

Wilco offered up a stream of The Whole Love, out September 27, for a 24-hour period this past weekend and are prepping for next week’s kick-off of their tour with a fan video project wherein you can help them decorate their stage setup by submitting videos of the town in which they’re playing. And perhaps as a bit of inspiration, they’ve released a video from the new record and if that’s still not getting your juices flowing, dose has those video clips of Jeff Tweedy covering Black Eyed Peas last weekend that have been circulating. In any case, I’ll be interested to see what Toronto sends in for their September 16 and 17 shows at Massey Hall. And if you missed the stream, it’ll be back up on September 19.

Video: Wilco – “Born Alone”

Stephen Malkmus has put out a new video from Mirror Traffic and there’s an interview at The West Australian. He and The Jicks are at The Phoenix on September 21.

Video: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Tigers”

Wye Oak have a new video from their latest album Civilian. They’re at the Sound Academy on October 7 opening up for Explosions In The Sky, with whom Beatroute has an interview.

Video: Wye Oak – “Holy Holy”

Writers On Process gets into the creative space of Crooked Fingers mastermind Eric Bachmann. Their new record Breaks In The Armor is out October 11 and they play The Drake Underground on November 8.

The AV Club talks Archers Of Loaf reunion with bassist Matt Gentling.

The Baltimore Sun talks to National bassist Scott Devendorff.

Clash, Glide and Beatroute talk to Peter Silberman of The Antlers while The Georgia Straight chats with Darcy Cicci.

Salon and American Songwriter get some phone time with Zach Condon of Beirut.

NPR has a World Cafe session and CityPages an interview with Bon Iver.

Blurt documents two decades of the ups and downs of Superchunk.

The Big Takeover has posted the first part of an interview with Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev about their masterpiece Deserter’s Songs.

The War On Drugs at Soundscapes in Toronto

Frank Yang — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:26:05 +0000

Frank YangThe last time Philadelphia’s The War On Drugs were in town was as support for Destroyer, and by drafting on the interest in the “Best New Music”-ed Kaputt, played to a sold-out Lee’s Palace. This time out, they were headlining the smaller digs at the Drake Underground but were again buoyed by some Pitchfork love with the same seal of approval being awarded to their just-released second full-length, Slave Ambient.

As noted in my writeup of the Destroyer show, despite relying on the intersection of somewhat disparate styles The War On Drugs cultivate a very specific sound. Take an overtly ’70s-era Dylan approach to singing and lyricism, blend with some Springsteen/Petty-ish classic Americana stylings and a Velvet Underground-level appreciation for the art of the drone and serve doused in a psychedelic shimmer and you’re about there. It’s a vibe that’s immediate and engaging, but I find it gets a bit samey over the course of a long-player. For the span of an in-store length set such as the one the band played on Wednesday night at Soundscapes however, it was just about right.

Stopping in for the performance before even heading to the Drake to set up and soundcheck, they were able to set up as a fully plugged-in four-piece. And it’s just as well because it’s hard to imagine their songs without Adam Granduciel’s electric guitar in all it’s phased and tremoloed glory, seeing as how his expeditionary solos sometimes make up half the song. They played for about half an hour, both new material and old and while they were openly appreciative to everyone who showed up for the set, they seemed especially pleased to have requests for older material called out. It’s surely great to have a new audience take an interest in your work, but that also makes those who’ve been there all along that much more special. It’s hard to imagine they didn’t head down to the Drake afterwards feeling pretty good about that.

Death & Taxes, The Chicago Tribune and Philly.com have profile pieces on the band.

Photos: The War On Drugs @ Soundscapes – August 24, 2011
MP3: The War On Drugs – “Come To The City”
MP3: The War On Drugs – “Baby Missiles”
MP3: The War On Drugs – “Taking The Farm”
MP3: The War On Drugs – “Comin’ Through”
MP3: The War On Drugs – “The History Of Plastic”
Video: The War On Drugs – “Come To The City”
Video: The War On Drugs – “Baby Missiles”
Video: The War On Drugs – “Needle In Your Eye #16″

NOW and The Grid have pieces on Colin Stetson, who is playing the Drake Underground tonight.

Kathleen Edwards will be playing a special low-key show at the Dakota Tavern on Sunday night, August 28, with tickets only available at the door – they’ll run you $20. And if you’re wondering if the mister might make a guest appearance… well, Bon Iver isn’t on the road right now. So.

MP3: Kathleen Edwards – “Asking For Flowers”

The mark the release of The Rip Tide this coming Tuesday, Exclaim has made it four American cover artists in a row by putting Beirut’s Zach Condon front and centre for the September issue. Not that you can blame them – he’s so cute. The Irish Independent and Wall Street Journal also have feature pieces.

Head over to NPR to stream another new track from Girls’ forthcoming Father, Son, Holy Ghost. It’s out September 13 and they play The Mod Club on September 27.

Stream: Girls – “Honey Bunny”

NME, DIY and State talk to The Drums, releasing Portamento on September 13 and playing The Mod Club on October 1. They’ve also started a video performance series to tease the new record – here’s the first instalment.

Video: The Drums – “What You Were” (Visiomento)

St. Vincent has premiered the first video from Strange Mercy over at The Huffington Post. The record is out September 13.

Video: St. Vincent – “Cruel”

It’s hard to say what’s an official video these days, so for the sake of argument we’ll say that this in-studio clip Wilco released of their b-side cover of Nick Lowe is an official video. It’s great, either way. Both Wilco and Lowe are at Massey Hall on September 17 and 18 and Wilco’s new album The Whole Love is out September 27.

Video: Wilco – “I Love My Label”

Pitchfork, Drowned In Sound and The Quietus all have chats with one Stephen Malkmus. He and The Jicks are at The Phoenix on September 21 and you can watch a complete video of their recent Amoeba Records in-store set at Rolling Stone.

The Georgia Straight has a cover story on Dan Mangan. His new record Oh Fortune arrives September 27 and he plays The Queen Elizabeth Theatre on October 26.

Apparently Chairlift are still around. The released a new 7″ single in “Amanaemonesia” earlier this Summer and will apparently have a new full-length out before the year is over. And oh yeah, they’re opening for James Blake at The Phoenix on September 30.

Stream: Chairlift – “Amanaemonesia”
Video: Chairlift – “Bruises”

The first MP3 from Breaks In The Armor, the new Crooked Fingers record out October 11, is now available to download. They’re at The Drake Underground on November 8.

MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Typhoon”

Purveyors of one of the Summer tunes of 2011, Lousiana’s GIVERS are coming back to town with Los Angeles’ Lord Huron in tow for a show at Wrongbar on October 26, tickets $13 in advance.

MP3: Givers – “Up Up Up”
MP3: Lord Huron – “Mighty”

The Fly gets Chad VanGaalen to perform an acoustic session for them while The Prague Post and The List have interviews. He’s at The Mod Club on October 28.

Rhode Island’s Deer Tick haven’t released a new full-length since last year’s Black Dirt Sessions, but the release of a new single and a Fall tour that brings them to Lee’s Palace on November 16 implies that something more is coming. Or they just felt like releasing a single and hitting the road. Update: New album it is. Exclaim reports Divine Providence is out October 25 – thanks Phil.

MP3: Deer Tick – “Miss K”

Baeble Music has a Guest Apartment video session with EMA.

Pitchfork gets Will Sheff of Okkervil River to document his musical development through the years.

Writers On Process, The Riverfront Times and Louisville Courier-Journal talk to The Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn.

The Flaming Lips have released a video for one of their collaborations with Lightning Bolt.

Video: The Flaming Lips & Lightning Bolt – “I’m Working at NASA on Acid”

Rolling Stone checks in on the possiblity of a Replacements reunion with Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson.

I’m back from vacation. Stephen Malkmus’ new record is out. One has little to do with the other.

Frank Yang — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:23:03 +0000

Leah NashIt was only five days or so and not especially far, but this past weekend’s extended jaunt to New York City was a lovely break from both my jobs – the blog and the one that pays – so while I readjust to the reality that my lifestyle is NOT meandering about Manhattan, taking pictures and eating strange and delicious meals, I’m just gonna toss up some stuff that’s been accumulating over the last few days and go have a nap.

And I guess we’ll start with Mr Stephen Malkmus, whose Mirror Traffic – his Beck-produced, recorded pre-Pavement reunion but mixed post-reunion record with The Jicks, is out today. There’s plenty of press surrounding its release, but this piece at Salon is particularly interesting to me, anyways, as it’s written by fellow 90s college rock icon Dean Wareham of the dearly, dearly departed Luna and Galaxie 500… though I can’t help noticing that one of the questions not asked was, “so should I get the old band back together?” though I suspect the answer from SM wouldn’t be the one the Luna fan in me would want to hear.

There’s other conversations with Malkmus about the new record – though by less esteemed interviewers – at Billboard, Clash, New York Magazine, Nerve, Exclaim, MTV Hive and Interview. And a new video from the record just premiered over at The New York Times. The album is still up to stream in whole at NPR.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks kick off their North American tour in support of Mirror Traffic in just under a month; the second date is in Toronto at The Phoenix on September 21.

MP3: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Tigers”
MP3: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “Senator”
Video: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – “No One Is (As I Are Be)”
Stream: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks / Mirror Traffic

Spin gets Wild Flag – whose Janet Weiss is not a Jick this time around – to list off some of their favourite things while The Vine talks to keyboardist Rebecca Cole. Their debut self-title will be more than few peoples’ favourite thing when it comes out on September 13. They play Lee’s Palace on October 11.

The Decemberists have premiered a new video from The King Is Dead over at NPR. The Georgia Straight has a chat with bassist Nate Query.

Video: The Decemberists – “Calamity Song”

Also with a new video straight out of the Pacific northwest is The Head & The Heart. You can also stream their set at the Newport Folk Festival from a few weeks back at NPR.

Video: The Head & The Heart – “Cats & Dogs”

Under The Radar and AltSonds have interviews with Blitzen Trapper. Their new one American Goldwing is out September 13 and they play The Opera House on October 30.

Spinner reports – in decidedly first-hand fashion – that The Flaming Lips and Death Cab For Cutie will be collaborating on a new EP sometime in the future.

Erika Anderson of EMA chats with Spinner and talks fashion with Spin.

Low have released a new video from C’Mon.

Video: Low – “Especially Me”

Head over to The Jayhawks’ official Facebook page where the band have been giving away free live MP3s en masse as a lead up to the September 20 release of their new album Mockingbird Time.

The new Bon Iver video practically doubles as a PSA for Tourism Iceland. Colour me convinced – see you in October!

Video: Bon Iver – “Holocene”

St. Louis Magazine has an extensive feature on Wilco, including some acoustic performances of new material from Jeff Tweedy. The Whole Love is out September 27 and they play Massey Hall on September 17 and 18.

NPR has a World Cafe session with My Morning Jacket while You Ain’t No Picasso and Citybeat have band interviews. Paste talks to guitarist Carl Broemel about not only MMJ, but his latest solo record All Birds Say.

Magnet Q&As Of Montreal before making them guest editors of their website for a week. They’re going to be picking glitter out of the office furniture for weeks to come.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of Sonic Youth’s show at the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn last week.

They Shoot Music has a video session with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.

Details are coming out about the first new Tom Waits studio album in some seven years – Exclaim reports on the track listing of Bad As Me and indicates it will be out October 25. Expectations are also that a stream of the title track, which has appeared and disappeared online in the last little while, will be made officially available sometime today. As for the questions of will Waits tour behind it… well, Tom Waits does what Tom Waits wants to do, but the odds are certainly a lot better with a new album than without.

Stephen Malkmus covers The Replacements

Frank Yang — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:36:54 +0000

John ClarkStephen Malkmus can rightfully lay claim to “legend” status thanks to his works both fronting Pavement and his prolific solo career, but on a tour stop at First Avenue in Minneapolis in April 2003, circa his Pig Lib album, he honoured some of his college rock forebears – The Replacements – in their hometown with a spirited cover of the leadoff track from their greatest album Let It Be. Not the tidiest rendition, but the Mats were never about tidiness now, were they?

Stephen Malkmus’ new album with The Jicks – Mirror Traffic – is out this Tuesday, August 23, and they play The Phoenix on September 21. After a minor flurry of activity in the form of digital releases in 2008 and 2009, Paul Westerberg has been quiet, creatively. Mats bassist Tommy Stinson more than picks up the slack, however, being bassist of record in both Guns’N'Roses and Soul Asylum and will be releasing his second solo record in One Man Mutiny on August 30. Rolling Stone talks to Stinson about the album and has an MP3 from it available to download. Philly.com also has a chat and Deleware.com floats the inevitable reunion question.

And PS I’m just on vacation – regular posting will be back tomorrow or Tuesday, latest.

MP3: Stephen Malkmus – “I Will Dare”
Stream: The Replacements – “I Will Dare”