Doves

Frank YangEven though there’s rarely a shortage of things to do in Toronto on any given night, it’s rare that I’ve ever faced a real dilemma about where I should or want to be - that was exactly the case this past Monday night when two tours hit town from opposite directions on the 401 and left me facing a difficult choice. A Camp at the Mod Club or Doves at the Kool Haus? Beautiful Swedish woman or pasty English guys? Lush pop or space rock? You could have flipped a coin and I’d probably have been content with the result, but in the end, even though I’d seen then numerous times before, I opted for the Mancunians - I was just in that Brit-rock kind of mood, I guess.

Consistency has been the hallmark of Doves’ recorded output since they first emerged with 2000’s Lost Souls - a trait that continued with this year’s solid but not revelatory album Kingdom Of Rust. Their live show, however, seemed to take a quantum leap forwards with their last visit four years ago - whereas their first visits featured a low-key band overly-reliant on backing tracks and projected visuals, their last visit featured an outfit decidedly more energetic and charismatic and that more extroverted delivery made all the difference in the quality of the live show.

The set leaned heavily on new material early on but the band eventually worked their way through their back catalog to the classic material and hit all the right notes, including the first reading of “The Cedar Room” on the tour so far. I was particularly impressed with how much they’d gotten away from using pre-recorded backing tracks, adding a keyboardist to help fill things out but largely finally content to allow the live renditions of their meticulously-crafted studio versions be their own loose-limbed creatures, the songs sounding much more organic and dynamic as a result.

Read more at Chromewaves →

Photos: Doves, Wild Light @ The Kool Haus - June 1, 2009
MP3: Wild Light - “Red House”
Video: Doves - “Kingdom Of Rust”

Elbow’s Guy Garvey discusses the band’s plans for following up their Mercury-winning The Seldom Seen Kid and plans for strategic worldwide domination with Billboard. Look for album number five in late 2010.

NME reports that Editors will release their new album In This Light And On This Evening this coming September.

Also coming soon is the new album from Arctic Monkeys - the record is still untitled but will be out on August 25, details at Pitchfork.

Little Boots, with whom The Times has an interview, is streaming the whole of her debut Hands in advance of its release this coming Tuesday. Exclaim reports that the North American release will be one of the first on the just-resurrected Elektra imprint - no word on whether the label intends to live up to their “neglectra” nickname during their second go-around.

Stream: Little Boots / Hands

Also streaming is Elvis Costello’s new album Secret, Profane & Sugarcane.

Stream: Elvis Costello / Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

Considering the band is formally on hiatus, I’ve been writing a fair bit about Belle & Sebastian lately. Most of that involves Stuart Murdoch’s God Help The Girl project, the album for which is being released June 23. Murdoch has contributed a blog post to The Guardian wherein he explains the impetus for the project and also features the first part of a making-of video series. The Guardian also conducted an interview with Murdoch last month. They’ve also made a b-side MP3 with Murdoch on lead vocals available to download.

MP3: God Help The Girl - “Mary’s Market”

- Frank Yang