Frank YangWhat had been forecast as just some light snow on Saturday evening blew into town as more of a proper storm, apparently on the exact same route that Alela Diane was taking en route from Detroit and thus delaying her in-store performance at Toronto's Soundscapes by nearly an hour.

Considering that she had to get to the Horseshoe to soundcheck for her sold-out show supporting Blitzen Trapper, it would have been understandable if she’d bailed entirely but sending her band ahead to the venue, she still made it to the shop to perform for a crowd that’d thinned only a little from the scheduled start time - a testament, perhaps, to how much people wanted to see her perform in such an intimate environment.

Chances are they’d been won over by her just-released and critically acclaimed sophomore album, To Be Still. And it’s not hard to see why - it’s a beautifully constructed contemporary folk record, with Diane’s evocative songwriting perfectly supported by her clear, strong voice - it’s not a showy instrument, but one which lilts and yodels in exactly the right spots to offer emotional emphasis to the words. Diane is then surrounded by just the right amount of accompaniment - fingerpicked guitar, banjo, fiddle, steel, gentle percussion - to fill things out without ever threatening to overpower. It’s a balance that’s harder to achieve than you might think, but To Be Still gets it just right.

But stripped of that backing as Diane was at the in-store, she still impresses. Her voice is much more powerful than you might expect and has a bit of a rawer edge that’s not as evident on record, and across a brief set - maybe 20 minutes - she was mesmerizing. At the end of it, she thanked us for sticking around and we thanked her for making it out. Everybody wins.

MPR has a streaming session with Alela Diane.

Photos: Alela Diane @ Soundscapes - February 21, 2009
MP3: Alela Diane - “White As Diamonds”
Video: Alela Diane - “White As Diamonds”
MySpace: Alela Diane

I forgot to post up an MP3 from the new Hylozoists record L’Ile de Sept Villes when I wrote up their Soundscapes in-store a couple weeks back. Consider that rectified. And check out an interview with the band at Chart.

MP3: The Hylozoists - “Bras d’Or Lakes”

And the next Soundscapes in-store will be with Gentleman Reg - that’s tomorrow night at 6PM and marks the release of his new album Jet Black, which is currently streaming at his MySpace. He also plays the Horseshoe on March 12 as part of CMW. The Queen’s Journal has a conversation with Reg.

MP3: Gentleman Reg - “We’re in a Thunderstorm”
Stream: Gentleman Reg / Jet Black

Reg also makes a brief cameo in the new video from Brendan Canning, which in which he channels his inner Tony Manero in the streets of Kensington. Pretty hilarious stuff.

Video: Brendan Canning - “Love Is New”

Pitchfork and The Brooklyn Daily Eagle talk to Grizzly Bear about their forthcoming album Veckatimest, due May 26.

M Ward talks to Spinner and The Philadelphia Inquirer about new record Hold Time.

Colin Meloy discusses The Decemberists’ pre-tour preparation with Billboard. Their shows will consist of one set comprising their new record Hazards Of Love (out March 24) in its entirety and in sequence and another set of older material.

Blurt has an extended feature on Jenny Lewis.

NPR welcomes DeVotchKa to the World Cafe for a session.

Fever Ray, aka Karin Dreijer Andersson. the she-half of Swedish electro duo The Knife, will release her self-titled debut album on March 18 and will be in town at The Phoenix on May 25. She’s interviewed by Sentimentalist and Drowned In Sound.

Did the long-rumored, long-awaited Pavement reunion happen already?!? Sort of. Last night at Nashville’s 5-Spot, Stephen Malkmus, Mark Ibold, Steve West, and newly-married Bob Nastanaovich took to the stage apres-wedding, to knock out covers of “Come and Get Your Love,” “Love Train,” and “Rock This Party.”

Okay, so it’s not a real reunion, per se. But for a second, your pulse raced, didn’t it?

Full firsthand-recounting of the story over at Nashville Cream.

Thankfully, all that “EXCLUSIVE” silliness is now over, and you can freely download ALL 3 of the sanctioned Swan Lake MP3s from Enemy Mine.

MP3: Swan Lake – “Spanish Gold, 2044”
MP3: Swan Lake – “A Hand At Dusk”
MP3: Swan Lake – “Spider”

Dinosaur Jr Signs to Jagjaguwar (via Pitchfork)

This is the part where all the kids go, “who’s Dinosaur Jr?”

Apollo Ghosts - “Ghost, Get Out Of My Apartment” Though it comes as no surprise that a song about a guy bitching out a passive-aggressive, voyeuristic apparition would be more than a little goofy, it is something of a revelation that it would also be quite tender and moving. Even when paired with a sad, creaky guitar part that sounds as though it was lifted from some almost-familiar record from 50 years ago, the singer’s silliness on the verses doesn’t quite prepare you for the sweetness and aching sincerity in his voice on the chorus, which soars just when you expect him to go flat and understated. The genuine, slightly pained emoting opens the song up a bit, and draws out its subtext — sure, he could be going for the literal here, but it seems a bit more plausible that the ghosts haunting the singer are more along the lines of unpleasant memories and emotional baggage from his past.

Listen to the entire album here at MBV, and then buy it directly from the band.

NPR's Day to Day interviews Robyn Hitchcock about his new album, Goodnight Oslo.

The Boston Globe profiles singer-songwriter Juana Molina.

The Seattle Times profiles singer-songwriter-whistler Andrew Bird.

While Bird's albums are painstakingly crafted ("My approach to recording is like a long, drawn-out performance where I go into the studio for four days, hardly eat, hardly sleep, never take a break to lose focus"), his performances teeter on improvisational daring. They're captivating: Either solo or backed by a small band, Bird sings and plucks and whistles that strange, mournful whistle while simultaneously operating a digital looping machine with his feet.

Decider Milwaukee interviews Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers.

D: How would you describe the new record?

PH: It’s going to be a big, fun rock record. We’re all pretty committed to the next one being pretty rock. The last record certainly had its big rock moments, but at the same time a lot of it was pretty introspective and had a spooky mood to it. I thrive on that, but I’d like to see this one come out of the gate pretty much as a barnstormer. I think it’s time for us to make one of those kind of records.

Drowned in Sound interviews singer-songwriter Emmy the Great.

DiS: If you weren’t doing this, what do you think you’d be doing?

I always wanted to be a writer. My whole life I’ve wanted to be a writer. But…I would always try and write a story, then think of a plot, and be like, "I can’t be bothered to write it – I’ve already thought of the plot." Whenever I read a story, I’m not reading it for the style hardly ever – I’m always reading it for the plot. So that’s why I write songs maybe, ‘cause I find it easier. But if I stopped writing songs…I like writing generically. I’d end up doing something like writing for a 'paper about carpets. And then in the evening I’d write Mills & Boon or something like that.

Amazon MP3 is selling the 16-track P Is for Panda Mix Tape Vol. 1 for only $1.89.

Minnesota Public Radio's The Current had Antony and the Johnsons in the studio for an interview and in-studio performance.

SXSW has put a streaming music player of artists participating in the 2009 music conference.

Minnesota Public Radio's The Current features singer-songwriter Alela Diane with an interview and in-studio performance.

The Decemberists are holding a design contest for their NPR SXSW showcase performance.