Posts Tagged ‘Submarines’

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Blood Bank

Bon Iver and Lianne La Havas at Massey Hall in Toronto

Photo By Frank YangFrank YangFor a guy who made his name on being sad and lonely, Justin Vernon sure has a lot of friends. The first Bon Iver record, For Emma, Forever Ago, became the soundtrack for broken hearts when it was released in 2008 and with this year’s self-titled letting some sun into his secluded musical cabin, so to speak, his legion of followers continued to swell. As of this past Tuesday night, he could list two sold-out shows at Massey Hall (approximately 5500 people), four Grammy nominations and high rankings on countless year-end reviews amongst his accomplishments – not bad for someone specializing in writing anthems of being one.

I couldn’t count myself amongst his devoted followers, though. While I appreciated both records well enough, they never reached that crucial frequency of emotional resonance with me that they clearly had with so many others – one perk of not having gone through any kind of traumatic breakup in the last while, I suppose. But having not seen him/them perform since catching a bit of one of his sets at SXSW 2008 and being genuinely curious as to what the live experience was like now – particularly in one of the city’s hallowed venue filled with his devotees – I made sure I was at the first evening of the two-night stand.

Support on this tour came from London’s Lianne La Havas; a new artist but not an unknown, having already garnered much attention in the UK and a spot on the BBC Sound Of 2012 long list despite having only a 4-song 10″ EP in Lost & Found to her name (plus a free-to-download live EP). While she came out on stage solo with just a guitar, she immediately made friends by flashing a megawatt smile and asking to take a photo of the audience before playing a note, then being charmed turned into being impressed when she began to play. Singing with a calm, conversational delivery, she mined a jazz-pop sound with an immediacy that belied its sophistication and showcased her intricate, rhythmic guitarwork and rich, soulful voice. Though she’d come from London at Vernon’s behest, it wasn’t hard to imagine her back on this stage before too long based entirely on her own merits.

To recreate the solitary vibe of the recorded works, Bon Iver wouldn’t need to be anything more than Justin Vernon, a guitar and maybe some snow. So that Bon Iver was, instead, a nine-piece band armed with an orchestra’s worth of horns, percussion and guitars was the first sign that those expecting the show to be a celebration of sadness might be in for a surprise. Intimacy was not to be the tone of the evening, with the introverted nature of the songs checked in favour of grand, extroverted arrangements with big, jammy breakdowns, choral vocals and a constant trilling of horns and strings, all accented by a pulsing, occasionally strobing light show. No, no log cabin atmosphere here.

The way that opener “Perth” segued smoothly via instrumental breakdown into “Minnesota, WI” set the tone for the evening, with few breaks between songs or even much in the way of silence. Perhaps that responsibility was assigned to the audience, because they were pin-drop quiet throughout the show, utterly respectful and even reverent. It was notable that the devoted didn’t seem to mind at all that the songs that they had connected so directly and deeply to weren’t nearly as open-hearted as they were on record, the constant flurry of instrumentation effectively keeping the listener from getting too close. Some of the interludes worked, like Colin Stetson’s circular breathing clinic as his saxophone bridged “Holocene” and “Blood Bank”, but a lot of it felt overdone and unnecessary.

This was made especially clear when his bandmates left Vernon alone on stage for a tender solo electric reading of “Re: Stacks”, which he dedicated to Kathleen Edwards and was head and shoulders the highlight of the night. Even though it only lasted the one song, the moment of vulnerability echoed through the rest of the show which felt more open, more plaintive. Set closer “Skinny Love” pulled two-thirds of the band from their instrumental duties and cast them as a gospel chorus complete with hand claps and foot stomps and the show finale of “The Wolves (Act I and II)” struck the perfect balance of beauty and violence thanks to the room-shaking efforts of the dual drummers.

It’s odd that the person who went into the show demanding the least left as one of the few who expected more, but I’d have preferred more starkness, more of the sadness that I thought was what gave the Bon Iver records their power. But perhaps, given that things seem to be going pretty damn well for Vernon these days, trying to tap into that emotional well or act as though he had might have felt dishonest to him. Or maybe he just wanted to do something different. In any case, it’s completely and objectively true that Bon Iver, the live experience, was an impressive one and left the vast majority satisfied. And that on the way home, it began to snow.

The Toronto Sun, Toronto Star, and NOW have reviews of the show, while Paste has a feature piece on the artist who made their album of the year. Lianne La Havas is profiled in NOW, The Fader, and The Guardian and performed sessions for Le Blogotheque and Black Cab Sessions.

Photos: Bon Iver, Lianne La Havas @ Massey Hall – December 6, 2011
MP3: Bon Iver – “Holocene”
MP3: Bon Iver – “Calgary”
MP3: Bon Iver – “Blood Bank”
MP3: Bon Iver – “Skinny Love”
Stream: Lianne La Havas – “Don’t Wake Me Up” (live)
Video: Bon Iver – “Holocene”
Video: Bon Iver – “Calgary”
Video: Bon Iver – “Wolves (Act I & II)”
Video: Lianne La Havas – “No Room For Doubt”

Californian ambient-electronica artist Tycho will be at Wrongbar on January 14 as part of a tour to showcase his album Dive.

MP3: Tycho – “Hours”
MP3: Tycho – “Coastal Brake”

The Heartless Bastards will be at The Horseshoe on February 20 in support of their new record Arrow, due out the week before on February 14, tickets $15.50 in advance. The first MP3 from the album comes courtesy of Rolling Stone.

MP3: The Heartless Bastards – “Parted Ways”

Just here in October, Neon Indian have set a return engagement for their latest Era Extraña at The Phoenix on May 8. Admission $20 in advance, full dates at Pitchfork.

Video: Neon Indian – “Polish Girl”

So apparently Toronto has a new outdoor venue up at Downsview Park, and it’s called The Meadows and may be an inland equivalent to Echo Beach at Ontario Place. In any case, it’ll be hosting at least one show next Summer – Foster The People on June 19. The Grid has a little more info on the space.

MP3: Foster The People – “Pumped Up Kicks”

Rolling Stone talks to Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal about their new record Paralytic Stalks, out February 7. Pitchfork has a track from the album available to download.

MP3: Of Montreal – “Wintered Debts”

Spin has posted the first MP3 from the new Shearwater record Animal Joy and it sounds a damn sight tougher than anything off their last three records. Quite keen to hear the rest. It’s out February 14 and they’re at Lee’s Palace on February 21.

MP3: Shearwater – “Breaking The Yearlings”

Also in preview mode is School Of Seven Bells, showing off the first track from their new record Ghostory, out February 28. Ben Curtis and Ally Deheza talk to NBC New York about the new record.

MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “The Night”

JAM checks in with Matt Berninger of The National, who’ve begun work on their next record but make no guarantees about when it might be done. They play the Air Canada Centre tonight.

The Toronto Star and NOW profile The War On Drugs in advance of their show at The Horseshoe on Friday night.

Spinner chats with Annie Clark of St. Vincent. She’s at The Phoenix on December 15.

The Quietus talks to Real Estate. They’re at Lee’s Palace on January 20.

The Wooden Birds have released a new video from Two Matchsticks.

Video: The Wooden Birds – “Criminals Win”

How do you make Mates Of State even cuter? Put them behind a Tiny Desk. NPR did.

Daytrotter has posted up a session with The Submarines.

Having just confirmed the existence of their new record Reign Of Terror last week, Pitchfork reports that Sleigh Bells have given it a release date of February 14.

Andrew Bird has announced a March 6 release for his new record Break It Yourself; details at Exclaim.

The AV Club reports that bassist Shonna Tucker has amicably left Drive-By Truckers.

Quite a scare for Guided By Voices fans yesterday when word came that they had cancelled their European festival commitments for 2012 and had supposedly split up again. A clarification from the band’s PR confirmed that all live dates had been pulled due to “personal problems”, but that in addition to the January 1 release of Let’s Go Eat The Factory, the band were already working on a second album of new material entitled Class Clown Spots A UFO with a targeted release date in May.

But the silver lining of that cancellation was that it allowed The Afghan Whigs to confirm that they had reunited for their first shows in 13 years and would be taking GBV’s place at the May All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in May as well as curating their own event in New Jersey in September. Details at Spin.

Friday, April 8th, 2011

Off Ramp Up Ahead

This Record Store Day, buy some records and see a bunch of bands for free

Photo via sistermusic.casistermusic.caNext Saturday, April 16, is Record Store Day and no matter what your feelings on the event itself and its attempts to convince you that you really need those songs you already have on a coloured 7″, you can’t argue with some of the perks. Specifically, the fact that many of the local retail establishments around town like to entice you into their stores with the promise of free live music.

So far, Sonic Boom has the biggest lineup, running from day through night and pretty impressive. There’s no one quite the stature of Sloan, as they had last year, but there’s both Canadian indie rock veterans with pedigree and rookies with promise on offer this year. Things will shake down as follows:

1PM – Modern Superstitions
2PM – Teenanger
3PM – Bidniband (ex-Rheostatic Dave Bidni)
4PM – Light Fires (Gentleman Reg and Ohbijou’s James Bunton)
5PM – Ben Gunning (former Local Rabbit)
6PM – Sister (two-thirds of Scott Pilgrim-inspiring Plumtree)
8PM – Zeus
9PM – The Wooden Sky

MP3: The Wooden Sky – “Something Hiding In The Night For Us”
MP3: Zeus – “Marching Through Your Head”
MP3: Sister – “Orion”
MP3: Modern Superstitions – “Visions Of You”

Further downtown at Criminal Records, you’ve got a 7PM acoustic set from The Grey Kingdom, aka the solo project from Attack In Black’s Spencer Burton. They’ll also be the only ones with the vinyl edition of his debut album Eulogy Of Her And Her And Her, so if that’s your bag then that’s the place to be. And even if it’s not, the rather exhaustive list of RSD exclusives that they’ve ordered – and usually get at least some if not a lot of – should be enough to entice you.

If memory serves, both Kops and Sunrise had bands in last year – no word yet if they’ll do so again this year, but I’ll update if they do.

And not associated with Record Store Day but definitely worth your time and costing you exactly zero dollars will be The Sadies at The Toronto Reference Library as part of their Make Some Noise series – there’s no advance tickets, so show up before doors at 7:30PM on April 16 – the show starts at 8 – and enjoy. The Toronto Public Library has a chat with drummer Mike Belitsky.

MP3: The Sadies – “Another Year Again”

Ron Sexsmith will play an acoustic in-store set at Sonic Boom on April 21 at 6PM in advance of his sold-out show at Lee’s Palace that evening.

Video: Ron Sexsmith – “Late Bloomer” (live)

This one’s half-free – Cults’ show at Lee’s Palace on the Friday night of NXNE will be standard ticket/wristband/badge admission, but they’ll also be on whatever bill gets put together for the free shows at Yonge-Dundas Square the next day, June 18 – perfect if you’d rather, you know, go outside. Their self-titled debut will be out on June 7.

MP3: Cults – “Go Outside”

Twin Shadow is also coming to town for NXNE – he and his band are at Lee’s on June 18 – but that one will cost you unless you’ve got a wristband or badge and feel like walking into the shows just by flashing it is close enough to free for you.

MP3: Twin Shadow – “Castles In The Snow”

Back to the gratis but on a completely different scale is the opening event for this year’s Toronto Jazz Festival – which will feature the legendary (and that’s putting it mildly) Aretha Franklin at Metro Hall on June 24, showtime 8:30. Aretha. For free. PEOPLE.

Video: Aretha Franklin – “Respect” (live)

And on Canada Day, given that there doesn’t seem to be a Harbourfront Centre show for the first time in years, your best bet will be Shad – also at Metro Hall – starting at 5:30PM. Too early in the day for fireworks so we’ll have to settle for some freestyling.

MP3: Shad – “Rose Garden”

And finally, one you’ll have to pay for but should be worth it: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have added a bunch of tour dates through the Summer in support of new album Belong and their itinerary brings them back to Toronto for the first time since September 2009 – they’ll be at The Opera House on August 2. Blurt has an interview with frontman Kip Berman.

Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Heart In Your Heartbreak”

The Head & The Heart have released a new MP# from their self-titled debut which should be on every one of your shopping lists for Record Store Day (when it’s released).

MP3: The Head & The Heart – “Lost In My Mind”

Blurt is streaming the whole of The Submarines’ new record Love Notes/Letter Bombs. They play The Horseshoe April 22.

Stream: The Submarines / Love Notes/Letter Bombs

TV On The Radio is streaming the whole of their new record Nine Types Of Light at The Guardian. The album is out next Tuesday and they’re at The Sound Academy on April 18. Interview has an interview. Fancy that.

Stream: TV On The Radio / Nine Types Of Light

Friday, February 4th, 2011

Something's Turning Over

C’Mon Low, give us a new record and tour already. Oh you are? Great.

Photo By Sara KieslingSara KieslingIt might not have seemed like four years, what with Alan Sparhawk’s Retribution Gospel Choir putting out not one but 2 records in the interim, but it really has been that long since Low released their last album. The wait for a new record finally comes to an end on April 12, though, when their uncharacteristically breezily-titled ninth album C’Mon is released.

Whereas once you sort of knew exactly what to expect from a Low record – beautifully slow, slowly beautiful – they threw expectations out the window in 2005 with the unqualified rock squalls of The Great Destroyer and then followed that with the exceedingly dark and skeletal Drums & Guns. So what will C’Mon bring? Hard to say, but Dave Fridmann, who lent his unmistakeable sonic signature to those last two records is out as producer and Matt Beckley, whose resume skews decidedly top 40 has a co-producer on the record, so there’s that. The first MP3 from the record certainly sounds gentler and more organic than the last couple records, reminiscent of the warm tones of Trust, but obviously this is just one song of ten – the other nine could well be auto-tuned dance floor jams.

In conjunction with the new record, Low have slated a Spring tour that brings them to Toronto for a May 2 show at the Mod Club – their first visit since opening for Wilco at Massey Hall in June 2007 and their first headlining show since January 2006. Stereogum has an interview with Mimi Parker about the new record and how she spent the downtime, and props go to Bradley’s Almanac, who took the photo that’s being used as the cover art.

MP3: Low – “Try To Sleep”

Young Prisms, who are opening up for The Radio Dept.’s sold-out show at Lee’s Palace on the evening of February 7 will warm up with an in-store at Sonic Boom at 4PM that afternoon. And if these two appearances are insufficient or inconvenient, they’re back on April 21 at Parts & Labour supporting The Fresh & Onlys.

MP3: Young Prisms – “Sugar”

Phosphorescent, who had to cancel their show at The Horseshoe last July on account of all their gear being stolen (it was later miraculously recovered) will finally make it to town on April 10 for a show at Lee’s Palace. Their latest is last year’s Here’s To Taking It Easy.

MP3: Phosphorescent – “It’s Hard To Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)”
MP3: Phosphorescent – “The Mermaid Parade”

Parisian pop from Jamaica may sound like a geographic impossibility but it’s a real thing. Jamaica (the band) will release their debut No Problem in North America on April 12 and follow it with a North American tour that includes a stop at Toronto’s Drake Underground on April 19.

Video: Jamaica – “I Think I Like U 2”
Video: Jamaica – “Short And Entertaining”

And whilst on the topic of French pop, Yelle is giving away an MP3 of the title track from her new record Safari Disco Club, which will be released March 29. Her massive North American tour brings her to The Opera House on May 4.

MP3: Yelle – “Safari Disco Club”

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune talks to Ira Kaplan and James McNew of Yo La Tengo about the wheel of fortune controlling the destiny (and set lists) of the shows on their current tour – The AV Club examines the possibilities the wheel offers. Beatroute has a regular old interview with Kaplan.

NYC Taper is sharing a recording of The Hold Steady’s show in Brooklyn last week.

Pitchfork has a Q&A with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart as well as a stream of the title track of their new record Belong, due out March 29, while Spinner solicits frontman Kip Berman’s Super Bowl predictions.

Spin talks to The Submarines about their new record Love Notes/Letter Bombs, out April 5. They play The Horseshoe on April 22.

Crawdaddy talks songwriting with Sam Beam of Iron & Wine.

And finally, I – along with what seems like every other website in the country – has made the long list of CBC Radio 3’s survey of “Best Canadian Music Website, which is nice because it’s been a while since I’ve lost any awards. If you’re feeling like exercising your franchise and helping me lose by a smaller margin than usual, please head over there and vote because if you don’t, then the terrorists have won.

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Where You Are

The Snowtorious B.I.G. is coming. So are The Submarines.

Photo By Autumn De WildeAutumn De WildeWith a massive-ass snowstorm bearing down on most of the eastern half of the continent last night, the smart thing to do would probably have been to stay home and hunker down. I opted for option b), trying to beat the storm to the Sound Academy and back for The Decemberists, so today’s post is weather-shortened and consists of just show announcements.

Starting with adorable duo The Submarines from sunny California. They’re going to be releasing a new record in Love Notes/Letter Bombs come April 5 – their first since 2008’s Honeysuckle Weeks – and while the full tour itinerary to support it hasn’t been released yet, it starts in Austin, Texas in mid-March during SxSW and makes it up to Toronto for a show at The Horseshoe on April 22, tickets $12.50. Assume that any points in between there and here is fair game over the intervening month. Check out the first MP3 from the new record.

MP3: The Submarines – “Birds”

I’ve never fully understood what the deal was with the Verge Music Awards, sponsored by XM station The Verge, but the awards ceremonies usually feature a pretty solid lineup of acts. And so it is this year that on March 1, the Mod Club will host Gord Downie, Tokyo Police Club and The Acorn – tickets for the show are $20 in advance at Rotate This down on Queen St.

MP3: The Acorn – “Restoration”
Video: Gord Downie – “The East Wind”
MP3: Tokyo Police Club – “Wait Up (Boots Of Danger)”

Born Ruffians’s previously-announced cross-Canada tour now has a hometown finale – they’ll be at The Opera House on April 16, tickets $15 in advance.

MP3: Born Ruffians – “Sole Brother”

The Rural Alberta Advantage have also announced a homecoming date for their Spring tour in support of Departing, out on March 1. They’ll be at The Phoenix on April 29, tickets $18.50. Hey, remember when you could see these guys at a half-filled Boat? Yeah, those days are GONE.

MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Stamp”

Montreal’s Malajube have set an April 30 date for the Horsesehoe, tickets $15. Their new record La Caverne is out April 19 and there’s a video trailer thing for it.

MP3: Malajbue – “Porte Disparu”
Trailer: Malajube / La Caverne

Peter Bjorn & John have assembled a world tour to support their new record Gimme Some when it comes out March 29. Look for them on May 6 at Lee’s Palace, tickets $20.

Video: Peter Bjorn & John – “Breaker Breaker”

tUnE-yArDs has announced an April 18 release date for her new record w h o k i l l and talks to Pitchfork about it. They also have the tour dates, which includes May 12 at The Horseshoe.

MP3: tUnE-yArDs – “Sunlight”

And finally, that Sleigh Bells/CSS show which looked like it was going to be two jammed night at the Mod Club has congealed into a single evening at the Sound Academy, so stow that excitement. It goes down on May 17 and tickets are $20. And oh yeah, Sleigh Bells just put out a new vid.

MP3: Sleigh Bells – “Crown On The Ground”
MP3: CSS – “Alala”
Video: Sleigh Bells – “Rill Rill”

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

The Wait

School Of Seven Bells invites listeners to connect with Desire

Photo By Abbey DruckerAbbey DruckerSo yes, it was a wonderful little vacation, thanks for asking. Lots of sun (maybe too much), friends (never too much), good food and not a little shopping. And since it was a long weekend on both sides of the 49th, there wasn’t a whole lot of interesting stuff showing up in the inbox but there was some, including the fact that School Of Seven Bells had begun streaming their new record Disconnect From Desire at Rolling Stone, more than a week ahead of its July 13 release date.

Its predecessor, 2008’s Alpinisms, was one of my favourites of the year with its soaring synth-gaze anchored by tribally rhythmic underpinnings, and so obviously the follow-up was on my “hotly anticipated” list. And, a few listens in, there’s no chance it will end up on my “disappointments” list. The key facets of the Seven Bells sound – which is to say the gorgeous vocals and harmonies of the Deheza sisters and the guitars of Benjamin Curtis cutting through the meticulously programmed beats and textures – are wholly intact and even more refined than on their debut, but delivered with a sleekness that was only invoked only sparingly on Alpinisms. In doing so, Disconnect sheds some of the more experimental nooks and crannies that made its predecessor an occasionally difficult listen but also gave it much of its character. Luckily, the new record has opted to trade those quirks for more melodies and hooks as well as being more overt in its 4AD-ishness and love of ’80s synth-pop, and that’s a deal I’ll accept any day. It’s too early to state conclusively, but Disconnect doesn’t seem to reach the same stratospheric heights as Alpinisms, but does maintain a more consistently high cruising altitude throughout.

And speaking of cruising, the band’s upcoming Fall tour took an interesting and exciting dimension when I heard some first-hand accounts of their shows at New York’s Mercury Lounge last month – specifically, the fact that the trio were now playing with a live drummer. The couple times I’d seen them perform, they’d sounded great but the show’s energy definitely suffered for their reliance on prerecorded backing tracks. Now with live drums in the equation, I’m extra excited for their upcoming September 15 date at the Mod Club – not just to hear the new material, but to hear how it all sounds live. Now if they could just get Claudia Deheza a keytar so she can move around a bit on stage, we’d be cooking with gas.

MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Windstorm”
MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Babelonia”
Stream: School Of Seven Bells / Disconnect From Desire

Spinner has details on exactly what lineup of Guided By Voices will be taking the stage at the Palms in Las Vegas on the weekend of October 1 to 3, and they’re not kidding when they say it’s the classic lineup. Seeing as how they’ll be sticking to period-correct material, expect to hear lots of Alien Lanes, Bee Thousand and Under The Bushes, Under The Stars. Oh yes. Rolling Stone talks to some of the folks at Matador about how the sure-to-be-epic Matador 21 birthday bash came together; tickets and packages go on sale this Friday and the theatre that it’ll all be taking place in holds 2100. I’ll leave you to figure out just how long you can afford to dither. And yes, I am talking to myself there.

Bradley’s Almanac is sharing a recording of the Pixies doing Doolittle in Boston last Fall.

James Mercer talks to Spinner about his timeline for taking The Shins out of mothballs and making a new record.

Spin checks in with The Submarines as they plug away on a new album.

Sharon Van Etten has released details of her second album, and though Epic will only contain seven tracks, on scales of emotionality and beauty, it’s sure to more than live up to its name. It will be released on October 5.

MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Love More”

And a slew of show announcements, big and small. Well, mostly mid-sized. Phosphorescent will follow up their show at the Horseshoe this Saturday night (July 10) in support of new album Here’s To Taking It Easy with an in-store at Soundscapes on the following afternoon (July 11) at 5PM. American Songwriter has an interview with Matthew Houck.

MP3: Phosphorescent – “It’s Hard To Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)”

You may want to lump them in with the reunion bandwagon, but when Polvo and Versus roll into Lee’s Palace on August 13 for their first local shows in forever and a day, it’ll be in support of new albums – Polvo’s In Prism came out last year and was their first album in 12 years while Versus’ On The Ones And Threes will mark their first release in a decade when it finally comes out on August 3. Tickets for the show are $16.50 in advance, and yes of course they’ll play some of the old stuff.

MP3: Polvo – “Beggar’s Bowl”
MP3: Versus – “Invincible Hero”

Admiral Radley may not be a familiar name but the principals – Jason Lytle and Aaron Burtch, both formerly of Grandaddy, and Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murra of Earlimart, might be. And if they are, you may be inclined to check them out on their upcoming tour, which stops in at the Horseshoe on August 15, tickets $13.50 in advance. Their debut I Heart California is out next week and is streaming in whole at NPR. Filter also has an interview.

MP3: Admiral Radley – “I Heart California”
Stream: Admiral Radley / I Heart California

Denmark’s Efterklang will bring this year’s Magic Chairs back to town for a show at Lee’s Palace on September 8; tickets are $12.

MP3: Efterklang – “Modern Drift”

Having conquered England, Marina & The Diamonds sets her sights across the Atlantic with a Fall tour in support of her debut The Family Jewels that’s still to be formally announced but will include a September 8 date at the El Mocambo in Toronto. Tickets for the show are $16.50 in advance, and I’m pretty sure this one will sell out fast. The Queen just visited; our Anglophilia is at a fever pitch. The San Francisco Examiner talks to Marina Diamandis.

Video: Marina & The Diamonds – “Oh No!”

Swedish psychedelic merchants Dungen will trip people right out when they play the Horseshoe on October 10; tickets are $17.50 in advance. Their new album Skit | Allt is out on September 14 – details and full tour dates at Pitchfork.

MP3: Dungen – “Satt Att Se”

The legendary Nick Lowe will return to the Mod Club on October 13 and while it’s true he was here a few years ago at the same venue, this time he’s bringing a full band. Ticket $34.50.

Video: Nick Lowe – “Cruel To Be Kind”

And another legend coming to town – same-ish era, also immeasurably influential but different stylistic wheelhouse – is Gary Numan. Look for him at the Opera House on October 24.

Video: Gary Numan – “Cars”

Josh Ritter and his new record And So The World Runs Away will be at the Phoenix on October 26.

Video: Josh Ritter – “The Curse”