Ale Mania – “Robust Universe” Ale Mania, a band formed by the former drummer of local San Diego garage heroes The Sess, have a slew of 7-inches lined up for Volar Records (one of which features the track above), and a 12″ lined up with the Blessure Grave guy’s Down In The Ground label.
(via Skull Kontrol)
Atlas Sound - “Logos” “Everything makes sense when you look at it from another way.” Well, yes, in theory. But what if you are dealing with someone who can’t do that? How do you deal with something like that? Bradford Cox could not sound more zonked out than he does on this track, and yet I’m sitting here waiting for answers from this song like he’s some sort of oracle. Bradford knows the answers, right? It certainly can sound as if he does, even if his reply is often a bit of muttering, a wobbly beat, and a wash of softened noise. He’s not even talking about what I’m thinking about, but I feel like he’s almost there, or giving some kind of hint. I need to pay closer attention.
Buy it from Amazon.
Field Music – “Measure” The title track from their forthcoming effort, out 2/16 on Memphis Industries.
The Mountain Goats
Crosshair, 2009
Frank YangDan Mangan's latest album, Nice, Nice, Very Nice, is something special indeed. Even since writing a glowing review, the record has grown on me even more and I was plenty anxious to hear it done live. Somewhat surprising was that while Mangan was touring as a four-piece (I think the fifth player on stage was a Toronto-only guest), they were performing drummer-less, instead building their sound with strings, keys and horns and while I’m sure it’d have sounded just as great with a conventional timekeeper in back, this setup seemed perfect for conveying and emphasizing the warm, easy, laid back feel of the material. And it’s that warmth that came across most strongly in the show – Mangan has a sharp, observational eye and if he chose to, could probably deliver it with just as sharp a tongue but there’s no mistaking the genuine affection for the characters that inhabit his songs, rich with both humour and sadness. It’s the same sort of gift that John K Samson possesses and while Mangan prefers a more rootsy vehicle for his tunes, Weakerthans comparisons are not out of line and should be taken as compliments.
Photos: Dan Mangan, Will Currie & The Country French, The Sure Things @ The Rivoli – October 16, 2009
MP3: Dan Mangan – “Road Regrets”
Video: Dan Mangan – “The Indie Queens Are Waiting”
Stream: Dan Mangan / Nice, Nice, Very Nice
Coeur de Pirate has released a new video from her self-titled debut.
Video: Coeur de Pirate – “Pour un infidele”
Also check out the new vid from Reverie Sound Revue, taken from their self-titled debut.
Video: Reverie Sound Revue – “You Don’t Exist If I Don’t See You”
Chad Van Gaalen gives The Georgia Straight an idea of where his head is at right now and where it might go for his next record.
Metric’s Emily Haines talks to The Montreal Gazette and recounts her top five Toronto gigs for The National Post.
Woodpigeon are sending the equivalent of aural postcards from their recent visit to Ottawa and their ongoing residency at the Banff Centre (an experience which Mark Hamilton described as, “holy shit”), posting new songs to their website almost daily. Something to keep your ears warm until their next record Die Stadt Muzikanten arrives on January 12.
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Mastering The Art Of French Cooking”
MP3: Woodpigeon – “In The Mountains”
MP3: Woodpigeon – “You’re My Only Home” (Magnetic Fields cover)
MP3: Woodpigeon – “Asleep & Dreaming” (Magnetic Fields cover)
MP3: Woodpigeon – “85″
Joel Gibb of The HIdden Cameras tells Chartattack their next album might take some dub directions. In the meantime, they will tour Origin: Orphan around North America, ending with a December 5 show at Toronto's Opera House.
Electric Six - “Egyptian Cowboy” Dick Valentine of the Electric Six is obsessed with deconstructing, satirizing, and critiquing modern masculinity, and so it’s not a big shock that his band’s heaviest album to date pushes its masculine horror to its most absurd extremes. Whereas last year’s Flashy was overflowing with barely concealed insecurities and naked desperation for sexual power, the most harrowing moments on KILL showcase characters whose cynicism and hopelessness run so deep that they’ve entirely surrendered to the idiotic depravity of their base impulses. The riffs have an oppressive weight, and bear down on the grooves like giant feet stamping out the character’s last burning embers of self-respect and decency. Throughout the record, Valentine vacillates between his own smirking self-awareness and inhabiting the role of a clueless beta male in Ed Hardy drag, unconvincingly selling himself as a badass. KILL is their bleakest, most grotesque album yet, but somehow it still comes out feeling fun and funny, thanks in large part to Valentine’s dark wit and total commitment to his premises.
Buy it from Amazon.
