Try as we might, we can’t all be in New York’s Terminal 5 tonight. However, Broken Social Scene have teamed up with Bowery Presents and Youtube to stream their show live. The show starts at 9pm EST, or 2am if you are in the UK. The show will also be re-broadcast at a later date.

Head over to www.youtube.com/bowerypresents to watch the broadcast, and before hand watch the BSS Youtube playlist, which includes videos of Johnny Cash, Here We Go Magic, Stereolab, David Bowie and Geordie Heavy Metal titans Venom amongst others.

K.C. Accidental may be familiar to most people as the title of the opening track proper to Broken Social Scene’s breakthrough LP You Forgot It in People; yet the name comes with its own baggage and history, serving as the moniker behind which Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin operated in the late nineties. Curiously reissued by the band’s scene-inspiring label Arts & Crafts at this moment in time, rather than capitalising on the peak of the mid-decade Pitchfork-induced BSS mania, this double-pack of the band’s two self-released mostly-instrumental EPs – 1998′s Captured Anthems for an Empty Bathtub and 2000′s Anthems for the Could’ve Bin Pills – is an intriguing insight into the development of one of the noughties’ most acclaimed groups.

A distant ancestor of this year’s storming ‘Meet Me in the Basement’, ‘Nancy and the Girdle Boy’ kicks Captured Anthems off with a bang, as a pair of Eno-patented swooping Warm Jets guitars pirouette between two HUGE-sounding chords for five minutes. After such a gargantuan intro, the rest of the record seems tame by comparison, in thrall to the band’s formative influences in a big way; scattershot ratatat drums come over like organic reworkings of Autechre’s more human moments, and the spaced-out arrangements and dubby bursts of brass are pure Tortoise. Then again, the languid acoustic ballad ‘Save the Last Breath for Me’ sounds like an offcut from Mogwai’s masterpiece Rock Action, albeit three years before that album’s release, and the injokey ‘Kev’s Message for Charlie’ cleverly updates Sonic Youth’s ansaphone-ambient classic ‘Providence’ by incorporating a crude piano sketch left by Drew as a voicemail message into a gorgeous, fully-fledged song in its own right, all shimmering guitar lines and lightly-brushed cymbals (also, kudos to Spearin circa 1998 for having Pink Floyd’s ‘Interstellar Overdrive’ as his machine message). Still, the EP’s blissed-out analogue production works like a charm, coating its instruments in a crisp snow of static, but leaving the tracks on just the right side of lo-fi.

Fast forward two years to the arrival of K.C.’s second-and-final record Anthems for the Could’ve Bin Pills, which polishes up the production, expands the band’s musical palate and its lineup, incorporating dreamily floating chord sequences, and flourishes of horns and strings; indeed, both the washed-out pianos of ‘Ruined in 84′ and ’Residential Love Song’ – a longing waltz, awash with fuzzy acoustic guitars and skittering synths- could soundtrack any painfully indie romcom. Most significantly of all, however, is ‘Them (Pop Song #3333)’ – to all intents and purposes, the first embryonic flashes of Broken Social Scene as we know it. The band’s solitary vocal track – a duet between Drew and Emily Haines which comes over like a calmer take on the barnstorming ‘Almost Crimes’ – unassumingly judders out of the speakers, snaking through your head for seven minutes of meditative drums, snatched vocal samples and heart-melting strings. Of all the tracks on these two EPs, it’s on this one that it all falls gently into place, from its deadpan title on down (Forgiveness Rock Record, anyone?), and it’s a genuine thrill to hear a band’s sound practically crystalise right before your ears.

Both albums’ titles point the way to a track like ‘Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl’, which takes this basic template and turns it into something far more accessible – even though its vocals are heavily-vocodered, there’s no arguing with how emotional and personal that song sounds. Hearing these familiar elements in an unfamiliar context will be fascinating for any Broken Social Scene fan and, while you’d never pick Captured Anthems over your battered copy of Broken Social Scene, these two early experiments are definitely worth hearing.

What do you think of when someone says Switzerland? Cheese? Chocolate? Bankers maybe? Bet the chances are Canadian indie bands wouldn’t be very high on your list. Yet last week the little town of Vevey, situated on Lake Geneva between Lausanne and Montreaux played host to some of the biggest names in indie rock. What started as a dream for local record store owner Pascal Roth and his partner just a few months ago became a reality. Over four nights, the Salle de Castillo played host to the Heartland festival, with headline shows from Owen Pallett, Broken Social Scene and Do Make Say Think, ably supported by the great and the good of the Canadian music scene.

Whether it was the beauty of the setting, the respect that comes from an audience who are not normally able to see such acts, or the camaraderie induced by seeing familiar faces in strange surrounds, Heartland seemed to bring out the best in all the performers- giving the whole event a relaxed air and the spirit of collaboration. King and Queen of collaboration were Toronto duo Snowblink, who performed selections from their recently released Long Live album, patiently building folk-pop around frontwoman Daniella Gesundheit’s tender and expressive vocals. Having toured with Owen Pallett in their native Canada, it was little surprise that he should appear as a guest on their set. What was more surprising however was the choice of song: “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin (or the Theme from Top Gun as you might know it better). As the audience slowly recognised the song, smiles spread around the room. They were smiles that wouldn’t leave for the rest of the festival.

Following Snowblink was Andre Ethier, the former Deadly Snakes frontman, who belted out his love-lorn melodies, arms outstretched and voice impassioned as he worked through a set that called to mind Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review, mixing folk blues and occasionally moving in to classic soul territory, with swelling organs and the rhythm section from Toronto’s go-to party band Steamboat. Dan Bejar and Destroyer followed Ethier with a nervous energy that fed into his performance. Running through his acclaimed back catalog, guitars jangled as the lyrics tumbled from his mouth, throwing out references in his often near spoken-word delivery style. Bringing to an end the evening’s entertainment, Owen Pallett performed a now rare solo show. In a stripped down setting Pallett’s prodigious talents seemed amplified, the looped passages of “This is the dream of Win and Regine” filling the old hall to the rafters. Often known for live covers, he closed the evening with a pumping rendition of Caribou’s Odessa.

The party atmosphere spilt over into the next days Arts and Crafts showcase. With three multi-instrumentalists in the band there is no one focal point for Zeus, although the mustachioed Carlin Nicholson does seem to take to the spotlight with a twinkle in his eye. Nicholson throws poses that bear a striking resemblance to the nearby statue of Freddie Mercury while the band play their crisp take on 60s and 70s infused hook-heavy pop, all warm organ tones and fuzzy bass lines. Joel Gibb of The Hidden Cameras was also in the party spirit, and seemed to be delighted to be surrounded by so many familiar faces. Now resident in Berlin, this was the Hidden Cameras (European Edition). With both crowd and artists in good spirits the numbers onstage swelled as the set went on, including guest appearances from Daniella and Dan of Snowblink and the horns of Broken Social Scene. Gibb stalked the stage with aplomb, jousting with his cello player as the band ran through what amounted to a ‘best of’ set.

As festival organiser Pascal Roth pointed out before the band began, for Broken Social Scene to be playing a friday night in Vevey is quite a coup for the little Swiss town. Yet, from the moment the multi-limbed touring machine clamber on to the stage it is clear that they are the ones who feel privileged. Kevin Drew thanks the audience and the crowd for making the show a genuine “moment”. While the band has a reputation for delivering quasi-religious celebrations, tonight feels like a genuine moment, from the rampaging horns of “Meet Me In The Basement”, the hook heavy “Fire Eye’d Boy” to a sultry run through “Anthem For A Seventeen Year Old Girl”, which saw Snowblink’s Danielle Gesundheit take the stage once again to provide the harmony parts.

The final evenings show saw the most eclectic line up of the festival. Kicking things off early with an emotional performance were The Acorn, whose frontman Rolf Klausener quickly won over the crowd by revealing that his family were in fact Swiss and that there were several members in the audience. As the smoke billowed around them, the band tore through a dynamic set that drew heavily on this years No Ghost album, their two-drummer attack providing extra rhythmic muscle that drove the set forward. Montreal’s Timber Timbre followed, flooding the stage with red light and smoke for their haunting take on the blues, slide guitar and violin adding to frontman Taylor Kirk’s sinister and hypnotic croon. Once again, the collaborative urge took hold, and various members of other bands join the band on stage to add percussion and keys for “Lay Down In The Tall Grass”.

Taking a night off from supporting fellow Canadians Holy Fuck on their current Euro tour, Nova Scotian hip-hop hero Buck 65 (Rich Terfry) brought his twitchy dance moves to the stage, spitting his hyperactive mile-a-minute word flow over a broad range of samples that took in Electralane, The theme from Twin Peaks and far more besides. Jumping between scratching at the decks, and clowning and body popping at the mic, Terfry is a true performer, and the audience found it hard to take their eyes off him thought the frenetic show.

“I’m not one for big speeches, but you are about to see one of the best live bands in the world.” A bold claim on behalf of the organisers, but one that Do Make Say Think spend the two hours following this proclamation proving to be accurate. A one off show, and their only European date of the year, the band set about their powerhouse post-rock with a unique singularity of vision, negotiating shifting rhythms and surging instrumentals, and combining to create a wall of sound that seems to shake the very foundations of the building. As the band stand, exhausted but beaming at the front of the stage at the end of the show, guitarist Justin Small embraces the organisers and declares Heartland to be the best Canadian Festival that Canada will never see. He may well be right, at least until next year.

With Stag and Dagger no longer a going concern in this part of the country, and Live At Leeds a full six months away, the good people of Futuresound have blessed the people of Leeds with a new festival to keep independently-minded types going during the long winter months. Constellations takes place over two days – a pre-party at the Brudenell Social Club, and a three-stage extravaganza at the University of Leeds – and holds something for everybody: Four Tet, Gold Panda, Sleigh Bells, Local Natives and The Vaccines are just some of the bands that I didn’t see.

It’s Saturday night, and the six-foot tall singer stares, wide-eyed, into the sparse crowd. “This song’s for everyone who takes cocaine off the bar at work.” He pauses. “This is why we’re not playing Conste-LA-tions Festival!” Bitter, moi? Such is the force and arrogance with which pre-party openers Eagulls take to the stage. Their bluster isn’t necessarily misplaced – a mind-meltingly loud slackernoise explosion, the band definitely have the sound to back up their ramshackle delivery, but perhaps a little personal restraint might not go amiss. The exact opposite seems true of D/R/U/G/S, two cool dudes with hoodies, synths and samplers, whose painfully hip blog-friendly electro leaves a lot to be desired. After that, it’s understandable that Abe Vigoda begin their set to barely anyone, but by the end of their first song, the numbers swell dramatically. Their tropical disco punk is a hit, with the rainswept Leeds crowd even shaking off their parkas to dance like fools. Admittedly, some of their newer material – heavier on synth hooks and rapidstrum guitars – veers worryingly into Editors territory, but the band always know when to pull it back around. BEAK>, meanwhile, need never worry about being anyone but themselves; their curious set kicks out the drones for half an hour, before slowly evolving into more conventional material. The sound of Krautrock in a k-hole, their sparse, doom-laden jams are a surprising hit; hell, the goddamned hippies even finish with a gorgeously atmospheric cover of ‘Let the Sun Shine In’ from the Hair soundtrack and a Kyuss cover – proof, if proof be need be that they’d be just as comfortable with an album of more song-based material as with their motorik moods.

Night turns to day on chilly Leeds, as the tired masses start trickling into the University campus for the main event, and proceedings in Stylus begin with the cerebral AV club indie disco stylings of Breton; they perfectly capture the festival’s intended mix of art and music, and their aloof stage presence is augmented by some nifty stop-start background projections, but their architecturally precise pop (Foals and Phoenix spring to mind) doesn’t quite have the songs to make up a firm enough foundation. Hitting the stage in matching black military jackets, iLiKETRAiNS seem to have been together forever, but have puzzlingly never gained the popularity their epic sound suggests; they pull a substantial crowd at the Refectory, and their pounding tom toms and doomy reverb-laden arpeggios cast a pitch black pall over the PA, but you can’t help thinking a smaller venue and a later time slot might have better suited them. Wingman, however, are perfectly placed at Mine, the smallest stage on the bill; formed from shards of various Leeds mainstays like The Old Romantic Killer Band and Sketches, they party like it’s 1991, but their spirited slackpop explosion is ultimately pretty forgettable, and not helped by the venue’s terrible sound.

The day’s first true triumph comes from Sky Larkin; the unassuming local heroes bring their feisty indiepop to the Refectory stage and own absolutely every second of their set. Katie Harkin pulls all the rock god moves she can during tracks like ‘Fossil, I’ and ‘Still Windmills’, and her vocals sound absolutely natural – like The Sundays’ Harriet Wheeler having a rare, unguarded moment of rocking out; meanwhile, Nestor Matthews’ various facial contortions while he thunders several shades of shit out of his drums are worth the price of admission alone. “They say it takes a village to raise a child,” Harkin says, humbled, at the end of her band’s set. “You are that village and we are that child.” The audience, meanwhile, beams back at the stage like proud parents. After a set like that, the three silhouettes that make up Esben and the Witch manage to bring down the mood substantially; backlit by some rather nifty Victorian streetlamps, their hypnagogic minimalism can only be a dissapointment, struggling as it does to translate in the Refectory’s cavernous confines, and failing to draw a substantial crowd. Meanwhile, back in Stylus, the newly-minted five-man line-up of Liars eschews its weirder side. Angus Andrews remains as compelling a frontman as ever throughout the fuzzed-up set, crooning ‘Scissor’ like Iggy at his lounge lizard best, and attempting some kind of Nick Cave-like shamanic bedroom dancing for the rest of the time. ‘The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack’ runs straight 1into ‘Plaster Casts of Everything’, creating a fuck-me twofer of physically violent proportions, and the crowd can’t help but respond in kind, appreciating a touch of Brooklyn artschool cool in this stuffy redbrick campus.

Three costume changes, hanging upside down from a balcony, eating a microphone cable and skateboarding across the stage on a flightcase – hey, it’s just three songs in the life of Les Savy Fav. Cramming more antics into one set than most bands do in their whole career, LSF play arguably the most energetic set of the entire festival; Tim Harrington – who stalks the stage dressed as a college professor, and begins the set with a five-minute mock graduation speech – and co play to an absolutely rammed Stylus, all of whom are eager to see just what Beardo will get up to next. The tunes, however, don’t suffer a bit; where songs from Root for Ruin lagged on record, live they become angry writhing beasts, with ‘Let’s Get Out of Here’ already becoming a singalong classic. Sadly, after ‘Patty Lee”s disco workout sees Harington dryhump a stage invader, things take a turn for the worse, as the frontman tones down his antics for reasons that become clear at the end; over the course of his onstage striptease, someone has stolen Harrington’s t-shirt, a hand-painted gift from his four year old daughter. When the offending article of clothing isn’t returned, he sulks offstage – and understandably so – making for a bittersweet end to an otherwise riotous set. After that madness, all it takes is a quick jog across the union to catch the last four songs of Los Campesinos!‘s set – one of the day’s most painful clashes; playing to a packed Refectory, the band storm through the epic ‘The Sea Is a Good Place to Think About the Future’ with as much storm und drang as the venue’s sound system can muster. Then, after being told they had an extra ten minutes left, the band make a surprise detour into their back catalogue; introduced as “an old song, but not a popular one”, the neurotic waltz of ‘…and We Exhale and Roll Our Eyes in Unison’ becomes all the more forceful, thanks to the line-up’s new addition of tattooed powerhouse Jason Campesinos! on drums, while the closing blast of ‘Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks’ merely demonstrates how far they’ve come from their international tweexcore roots.

Unfortunately, the extra time LC! spend onstage may well have delayed headliners Broken Social Scene, who take to the stage half an hour late, rushing through what neon pink bobblehat-clad frontman Kevin Drew called “a punk rock set”  to make it to the strict 11pm curfew (punk rock, eh?). Still, what the band do play more than made up for the curtailed set; with a line-up that boasts four guitarists at any one time, the sound is fat-free, as the band blast through ‘Superconnected’ (with a curious Sandinista!-style dub sax break) and ‘Forced to Love’ with aplomb. Lisa Lobsinger’s vocals on Forgiveness Rock Record highlight ‘All to All’ and an always-welcome rendition of ‘Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl’ are gorgeous, but the biggest surprise of the night is ‘Cause=Time’, whose glorious cascading guitar break is bolstered by one-off guest star and serial indie rock guest star Johnny Marr. Storming instrumental ‘Meet Me in the Basement’ closes the night in energetic style, and while it doesn’t quite make up for the shortened set, it still brings the festival to a fantastic finish; sure, there’s some administrative tweaking to do, but after a first run like this, there’s no way Constellations doesn’t deserve a regular place in Leeds’s thriving musical calendar. Same time next year?

Before Broken Social Scene there was K.C. Accidental. The lo-fi bedroom recordings of Kevin Drew and Charles Spearin. The music they played was mostly post-rock and instrumental in nature, and self-released two EP’s: “Captured Anthems For An Empty Bathtub” and “Anthems For The Could’ve Bin Pills”.

Because they were released in limited numbers on Noise Factory Records, traded amongst friends and hidden in the pockets of Toronto’s independent record stores, these two records have been out of print for five years and have never been available outside of Canada. This November (date TBC), Arts & Crafts will be reissuing these seminal recordings in one package in 2-LP, 2-CD and digital formats. Additionally, Broken Social Scene will be selling this reissue on tour.

Tracklisting:
01 nancy and the girdle boy
02 something for chicago
03 anorexic he-man
04 save the last breath for me
05 kev’s message for charlie
06 tired hands
07 instrumental died in the bathtub and took the daydreams with it
08 residential love song
09 silverfish eyelashes
10 ruined in 84
11 them (pop song #3333)
12 is and of the

On, off and then on again, in that fractured career pattern that typifies the longer-serving bands, The Posies have, since the mid 1980s, been bringing us their deceptively effortless-sounding songs of love and life, wrapped up with some offbeat observations, arresting metaphors (“frosting on the beater” anyone?) and some of the most gorgeous, sunshine-drenched vocal harmonies this side of the Beach Boys.

In our recent interview with them, the band’s Ken Stringfellow told us that he thinks that this – studio album number seven – is “what we’ve been working towards all these years“; and with old rifts healed and the creative partnership of Stringfellow and Jon Auer very much back in full effect, that might not be too bold a claim.

At least two different ‘types’ of songs can be found here.  Complex, intricate tracks (both lyrically and musically) that switch around in style, sound and melody (‘Licenses To Hide’, ‘For The Ashes’, ‘Accidental Architecture’) are offset by the simpler likes of ‘Glitter Prize’ and ‘So Caroline’.  If it is in the latter that fans from the band’s earlier days will hear most that they recognise (the gentle, dreaming quality of the vocal; the instant-earworm melodies), it is perhaps the inclusion of the former that adds depth, weight and a longer-lasting resonance to the album.

‘For The Ashes’ opens with elegiac Let-It-Be piano, and is a moving contemplation of mortality – “Some day I’m gonna wake up dead I know / My breath released into the open sky“; while ‘Accidental Architecture’ too has both Beatles and Beach Boys musical references as well as a stunning set of different segments which vary musically, rhythmically, stylistically while still maintaining sufficient coherence to hold together as one track.  ‘Licenses To Hide’, meanwhile, with guest vocal from Broken Social Scene’s Lisa Lobsinger, is practically a mini Rock Opera rolled up into a 4 minute pop song.

On the other hand, the effectiveness and straightforward rock/pop pleasure of ‘Oh Caroline’ is also a highlight.  This is unshowy, gentle and fundamentally warm-hearted stuff which – along with ‘Glitter Prize’ and ‘Notion 99′ – serves as a reminder of just what gifted songwriters Auer and Stringfellow remain, and how lightly they (and their songs) wear their song crafting skills.

The lyrics touch on the usual themes of love and romance (‘Plastic Paperbacks’, ‘Glitter Prize’, ‘Licenses To Hide’), either with a youthful / teenage slant (“When will you stop those adolescent trends?”) or with a wiser looking-back-on-it-all perspective.  References to casualties along the way – from ‘Take Care’ with its damaged protagonist cutting “into your arms” to the incredibly moving ‘She’s Coming Down’ (“What a shitty way to end a life) – are more regretful and elegiac than angry or bitter: this is not music that would lend itself to a protracted depiction of bitterness.

This band has a clear love of the way certain words sound when combined, and lovely couplets like “What dynamic could feel the damage“, “… the glow and the glee“, “Brittle remains of the wide-open plains” and most of all “stucco ceiling with stars” [just try saying this out loud for an idea of how well it works] are included, and delivered, with obvious relish.

Often simply and lazily described as “powerpop”, The Posies have always been so much more.  Later on in that TLOBF interview Stringfellow describes their sound as “modern, brainy, melodic, literate etc. indie rock“, which is a better approximation.  On this album, though, they demonstrate just how varied, diverse, beautifully crafted and deceptively complex a band can become, while still somehow producing songs that speak to -  no: lift – the heart.

Well, this sounds like a perfect evening’s entertainment.

Broken Social Scene and Tortoise have been invited by those cheeky scamps at ATP to co-headline two dates at London’s Koko this November.

They’re playing Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th November.

Tickets go on sale this Friday. More information here.

This afternoon saw the announcement of the Polaris Prize Shortlist. Throwing up some repeat nominations, established names and TLOBF faves the Top 10 Shortlisted albums are as follows:

Besnard Lakes:The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night:

Broken Social Scene Forgiveness Rock Record

Caribou- Swim

Owen Pallett- Heartland

The Sadies- Darker Circles

Dan Mangan- Nice, Nice Very Nice

Tegan and Sara- Sainthood

Radio Radio- Belmundo Regal

Shad- TSOL

Karkwa- Les Chemins De Verre

The winner will be revealed at a ceremony on September 20th

The jury is well and truly out on the new Broken Social Scene album Forgiveness Rock Record, but one fact remains – Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and their Canadian massive blow up one hell of a shit storm in a live setting. Sebastien Dehesdin was at last weeks London Forum show to capture them on film.

Oh ATP, you kill me. I thought it would be fun, I thought it would be fine, but by the time I hit the bends of the A39 I could already feel last weekend’s hangover rising in my stomach.

At least this time I had a bed, although I arrived in Minehead long before my ticket. I’d given a couple of Cardiff friends a lift so we went and sat in a pub while I waited for my chalet mates to arrive. The first band I wanted to see were on at 5pm. Thankfully by half four I was checked into the chalet, and drunk.

My roommate Matt and I went to watch Avi Buffalo at Centre Stage.  They’re signed to Sub Pop, ridiculously young and ridiculously good. Live they were fantastic. The singer looks like he’s fifteen and has ADD, and it’s always nice to start a festival with a bit of a sing-along. Their album is out now. Get it.

Next up it was a trip to the Pavilion for Surfer Blood. Tight, confident and fun, they were sing-along two of the day. I’d put them on in Cardiff earlier this month so it was great to see them play again. Already the festival was getting busier too. Surfer Blood’s crowd was of a similar size to Iggy Pop’s the weekend before.

Surfer Blood

While Matt Groening’s ATP only sold around half the tickets Pavement sold out way, way in advance which made for a strange crowd. I met a lot of people over the weekend that’d taken their friend’s tickets at the last minute after year old plans had been forced to change. A lot of people weren’t bothered about watching the bands but just wanted to hang out in their respective chalets and drink, which I guess is half the fun of ATP.

By the time Surfer Blood had finished my friends from London had arrived so I stumbled round their chalet for, erm, more booze. The next band I wanted to see were The Walkmen, and I’ll be honest, mostly for ‘The Rat’. We were late getting to Centre Stage to see them but as I stepped onto the murky carpet a familiar chord rang out from the front and the crowd cheered. Apparently they’d already started playing the song before I arrived but an amp had blown and the band had had to wait for ten minutes before they could resume playing.

We got some food while Broken Social Scene were playing which was a dumb decision on my behalf because I had to keep running out the restaurant for a little dance each time they played a song I love (also, I say restaurant, I really mean chip shop). My friends later told me the veggie curry I kept describing as ‘really great’ was actually disgusting, I was just drunk every time I’d eaten it the past fortnight.

Mission of Burma were next on and were great, a large plastic shield separating Roger Miller from the kit and amps. Quasi were a little dull and then suddenly it was 1am and TIMES NEW VIKING time.

The pit for TNV was awesome; I stood further back and watched legs fly in the air and security guards crush stage divers. Later on I met up with Adam at the Crazy Horse and we went back to their chalet to shoot whisky. I don’t remember much apart from cutting Beth’s hair, wearing the hair as a moustache, and the moment where the sign language lady on the TV was mouthing the exact same words as the cassette that was playing.

I woke up the next morning on Surfer Blood’s sofa.

They were leaving that day and said they would leave their apartment open so we could hang out there as my chalet didn’t have a kitchen or living room. I dragged myself up and headed over to Reds to see Wax Fang do the whole of Prince’s Purple Rain.

No, really.

They were amazing. Dressed in full Prince gear they did the whole record from start to finish. I put them on in Cardiff a few days later and Scott told me the story of how it almost didn’t happen…

We were doing the whole Purple Rain thing and it was all last minute, we’d just been going back and forth, back and forth for two weeks with the festival ‘Yes you can do it but we don’t have any money to fly your keyboardist over’. And we’re like ‘OK, we can’t do it’. And then a friend of ours is like, ‘I’ll put up the money to fly him over’. It was a huge ordeal but we figured it out and then we got the final green light that we could do the show on the Wednesday before the weekend.

So then they were gonna fly him out on Thursday and get in on Friday. Thursday morning they go to get the keyboard weighed and it’s too heavy or doesn’t fit the dimensional requirements for the plane flight over, so he couldn’t take his keyboard and it had all the saved presets and everything on it.

So we got this news on Thursday when we were playing Great Escape in Brighton and coincidentally Brian Eno has a guest installation at one of the houses up there, like an audio installation, it’s pretty cool and we’re all, of course, huge Eno fans. So I was in the van sleeping but everyone else was at this exhibit and they’re all talking like ‘Oh my God, we have to find this keyboard in twelve hours’. And we were trying to find the exact same keyboard so he could export his settings, his midi settings, or just re-programme the keyboard.

So they were talking about it at the exhibit and one of the guys working the exhibit had overheard them so he comes up ‘I hear you guys are looking for a keyboard?’  or whatever. So he calls Brian Eno like, ‘Brian, there’s a rock band from America here and they need a keyboard, this is probably right up your alley’. So Brian Eno actually makes a few phone calls on our behalf and he arranges for us to be able to buy one from a shop there in Brighton, use it, and return it for a rental fee. Like, they ordinarily do not rent out gear. So we had Brian Eno working for us for five minutes.

Amazing. After Purple Rain I was sick and took a nap. Not so amazing. I got up in time for Fiery Furnaces who were just the right mix of mangled guitar and broken up beats to remind me of just how awful I felt. Still, I’d forgotten how much I love their records. Later I bumped into my friend Iain from Stricken City and we spent a good while singing ‘When I was single, my pockets did jingle’. I love that EP (EP? Album? Who cares, it’s ace).

Boris

I managed to start drinking again at Boris who were THE LOUDEST BAND OF THE WEEKEND, easily.  And suddenly it was time for Pavement. I went with my friend David who’s a bit older than me. He spent most of the set reminiscing about how ‘Never did the 14 year old me imagine I would be here right now’. It was so annoying I threatened to pour beer on his trousers so he looked like he’d wet himself if he didn’t shut up.

Pavement played the kind of set you always wish your favourite bands would play at a festival, but they never do because they have a new album to promote. Pavement don’t have a new album to promote, just a long line of very excellent, greatly loved ones. There was not a bad song in the set, which made trips to the bar/toilet difficult to time.

They opened with ‘Box Elder’, and if memory serves, ended on ‘Starlings of the Slipstream’ (last week’s plan to bring a notebook with me never really transpired).

I think the best thing about watching Pavement is it’s not very often now that there’s band who’s records you’ve owned and listened to for such a long time without seeing them play. I’d never seen Pavement live, and realising that everyone else punches their hands in the air and screams ‘No big hair!’ exactly like you do was a pretty great feeling.

After taking a moment to calm down, David and I went to Reds to watch Venom P Stinger. I guess everyone else had gone for food/post-Pavement drinks as there were only about thirty people in the room. And then the guy stood to my left turned round. FUCK. It was Mark Ibold. I looked up at the tallish man directly in front of me. I noticed the tuck of flannel shirt sticking out from under his jacket. Stephen Malkmus.

I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to disturb him during the band, and what do you say to a guy like that? I’d already embarrassed myself trying to talk to Thurston Moore at SXSW, and then I noticed, Stephen’s label was sticking out.

I considered tucking it back in, like to try and be cute or something. I stood behind him for half an hour trying to work up the courage to tuck his label in. I failed and went to watch Faust.

Faust had a fucking chainsaw. It was awesome. A FUCKING CHAINSAW! With sparks and shit. Atlas Sound was really dull in comparison. I stayed to watch him as I love Deerhunter and have seen Monotonix a million times before. All my friends went to the Monotonix show and said it got shut down after two songs.

I got a massage while Still Flyin were playing which was beyond awesome. It was so good. If you’re at either of the Xmas ATPs just get one. They’re only £5/£10 and totally amazing.

Omar Souleyman

Although not as amazing as Omar Souleyman. The problem with Pavement ATP was the line up. There were so many guitar bands it got a bit much after a while. Omar is from Syria. Apparently he’s made something ridiculous like 500 albums in his career. I’m not even sure how to describe his music; it’s like mash up electro bhangra. His show was the highlight of the weekend (apart from Pavement, obvs). Everyone went insane; crowd surfers, manic dancing, stage divers. Amazing. I don’t think I could listen to him at home though.

Later that night I went to the Crazy Horse and me and Neil from Los Camp! started the most awesome dance-off ever. There were like, 50 people in a circle passing a hat and showing off some stellar moves. Then I went to some lame chalet party where they were blasting really annoying funk and soul. We left and found an abandoned chalet and passed out in the beds until my friend Helen got scared that the cleaning lady was going to cut our wristbands off and forced us to leave.

Sunday was kind of boring. Wax Fang were great but then I just went and got pizza with the boys from my chalet. The Clean were good and The Fall were alright. I’d never seen them live before but my friends who had said they’d seen them play better. Apparently Mark E. Smith came back on for a second encore after everyone had gone, leaving fans running back across the Pavilion. I missed that. I was already watching The Raincoats.

The Raincoats played pretty much the same set as the weekend before. They even told the exact same joke. Something about a pessimist and an optimist. Whatever. It wasn’t funny last week either. The funniest thing about this ATP was the male to female ratio. It was a total sausage fest. Guys had to queue to use the toilet. It was brilliant.

After The Raincoats, Endless Boogie got a bit boring and I nearly fell asleep during Grails, which isn’t so much a criticism of the band, more a reflection upon my own lameness.

I went to bed at 2am. I just couldn’t face the next morning’s vomit inducing gear changes that result from staying up boozing. ATP had broken me. I need until Christmas to recover.

Live photographs by Valerio Berdini.

Once again, The Great Escape moved London down to Brighton for three days of excess by the seaside. Having taken on board complaints about distances between venues from last year, more venues have been taken on, making it easier to get between shows and to dip in and out of performances. As ever there is a mixture of unknowns, hot tips and established names, all playing in a variety of places. This year even saw The King Blues playing in Brighton’s sewers (insert your own joke here).

A festival for punters and industry alike, this means a plethora of national showcases, from the likes of Finland, France, Australia (who through a Barbecue of course) and no less than three official showcases from Canada: Nova Scotia, M for Montreal and Canadian Blast doing the honors.

With so much on offer over the three days, it can often be tough to pick what band to see. So, here are the highlights of TLOBF’s three days of galavanting around the Sussex Coast:

Ghost Bees:
As twin sisters Sari and Romy Lightman take the stage they ask the question: “Could we get a little darker?” Although aimed at the lighting man, it stands as a fairly accurate description of the direction their music has headed since they unleashed “Tasseomancy”on the unsuspecting world in 2008. Looping mandolin and fingerpicked guitars underpin the sisters haunting harmonies and tales of birth trauma and mausoleums. Delay pedals string out phrases and combine for an exquisite and spine tingling meeting of folk and drone.

Ed Harcourt:
Taking the stage with an 8 piece band is always an ambitious mission. Attempting to do it while on a stage “the size of a Gnome’s bedroom” is even more difficult. As a result Ed Harcourt arrived on stage over twenty minutes late. But was it ever worth the wait. Playing almost exclusively from his forthcoming record “Lustre”, every song felt familiar, once again demonstrating Harcourt’s knack with a melody and a turn of phrase. Put simply, Harcourt is one of the most underated pop songwriters currently operating in Britain, or anywhere else for that matter. Songs like the touching “Fears of a Father”, “Church of No Religion” and “Lustre” are earworms of the highest order, while the bouncy pop of “Do As I Say Not As I Do”, dedicated tonight to his mother in the audience, feels like it should be the soundtrack to a long hot summer. Forced to cut his set short, Harcourt finishes with “Until Tomorrow Then” before heading outside with his percussionist and trumpet player and playing a brief acoustic hits set, laughing and joking with the crowd and leading a chorus against the venue for closing the session down.

Final Flash, Joel Plaskett, Zeus and Jason Collett @ Canadian Blast Showcase:
Opening up proceedings where Montreal’s Final Flash, fresh from recording their debut album “Homeless” with Besnard Lakes frontman Jace Lasek. Proggy folk rock, done well, the band got proceedings off to a great start, double necked guitar and all. Next up was the second chance of the festival to catch Joel Plaskett. Twice nominated for a Polaris Prize, Plaskett is a master of the pop melody (don’t believe me? The guys one the pop category of the Great American Song Contest. 3 times). Playing mostly from his recent triple album (titled, cleverly, Three), he quickly enchants the audience with his quick wit and tales of growing up in Nova Scotia, and still not getting over not being picked for his high schools “spirited” performance of Grease. Stripped of backing singers and horn parts, Plaskett and fellow guitarist Peter Elkas improvise all the parts, from sweet falsetto to barber shop. If there is any justice it is only a matter of time before he attains the recognition here that he has in Canada. Rounding things off were the two for one deal that is Zeus and Jason Collett. Starting off life as Collett’s backing band, Last year saw the band step out from his shadows to release an album of their own. Cooing harmonies, instrument swapping, driving bass lines and fuzzy guitar solos abound as the band put on a power-pop masterclass in the sunshine, before toning things down a notch to close off proceedings backing up former Broken Social Scene man Collett.

Zeus:
Despite having seen them just hours before, Zeus merit a second mention. Having impressed greatly with their sunny power-pop in a small venue, something clicked up a gear when they moved up to the larger stage of the Corn Exchange for a support slot with Broken Social Scene. In the big room environment the band developed a swagger, mustachioed multi-instrumentalist Carlin Nicholson bring a touch of glam strut to the proceedings. With a glint in his eye, it was as if his facial furniture was tuning him in to the wavelength inhabited by Prince and Freddie Mercury, all be it dialed down a notch or three. Great stuff.

Broken Social Scene:
Having had what should have been a headline set shortened to just 40 minutes, Kevin Drew and his troupe came out of the gates hard and fast, bounding onstage and blasting through a defiantly rock setlist. Drew, stalking the stage in a beanie and throwing the occasional devil horn, came on like a man possessed, while besides him Brendan Canning high kicked his way through the set. Top marks as well for recruiting members of Brighton’s own Willkommen Collective to form part of the horn section.

Getting Sweaty at The Hope: Closing off the Saturday night proceedings, Vancouver’s The Pack A.D. took The Hope by storm. Dispensing with much of the bluesier side of their repertoire, their half hour set was more of a garage rock onslaught than a rock show, drummer Maya Miller pounding the drums while Becky Black careened around the stage conjuring riff after riff to the delight of the crowd. With queues out the door, by the time the set was over the band, the audience and even the walls were dripping with sweat. The way it should be.

The beauty of a festival of the size of the Great Escape is that you can move on from anything that you aren’t enjoying and go and see something better. That said, there were one or two disapointments over the weekend too, including a pitifully short 40 minute set length from Broken Social Scene (to their, and everyone else’s annoyance), lengthy queues for local favourites 80′s Matchbox B-Line Disaster and Esben and the Witch amongst others and no shows from The Walkmen, The Invisible and The Slits. Yet the positives by far outweigh the negatives, and with so many new bands (and other distractions) to choose from, if you are happy to avoid the “bigger names” in search of something a little different, it’s hard not to enjoy The Great Escape.

There is something inherently absurd in the rhetoric around rock and indie music (like that needed saying) that there is even talk of an album being a ‘statement’ or a band being ‘important’; but there’s no denying that there seems to be a certain aura around Broken Social Scene, something that steps slightly outside of this usual flappy discourse. I think it’s partly borne out of them, at least historically, undercutting all that scene bollocks by messing with the iconography, by capturing themselves in process – using improv and jazz modes, including take fuck-ups, having a rolling membership, being lyrically obtuse. However deliberate and calculated all that may be, they do seem to have become something apart. And people, the scene, whatever, do seem to expect a certain amount. All of which, aside from internal strife, probably accounts for the 5-year hiatus, and the near-diabolical sense of anticipation around the release of Forgiveness Rock Record. No pressure then.

You can sense all that bubbling behind the album title: Forgiveness Rock Record. It’s both pompous and playfully self-referential – musing on all that daft overblown rock rhetoric whilst acknowledging that this has probably been as hard an album to convene and record as any in the band’s history. It’s also a pointer to the content of what’s inside, as the band have made their most straightforwardly obvious rock record to date – it’s big and earnest and structurally at least, generally pretty gleeful. Lyrically, aside from the titles it’s not imposed itself on me yet, but generally speaking, it’s stuffed, lyrically. For a band that are known for lyrical patterns that tended towards either the spartan or the repetitious, Forgiveness… is positively garrulous. The other big change for me is getting John McEntire – Tortoise wizard and general production Ubermensch – on board. He’s got them sounding sleek and clinical, quite a change from that trademark cavernous warmth that has characterized the band’s sound to date.

The McEntire influence is particularly evident early on. ‘Chase Scene’ is so John McEntire – remove the vocals and the track could have been on Tortoise’s last album Beacons of Ancestorship. ‘Texico Bitches’ has a similar sheen to it, sounding at times like it might have been produced by Trevor Horn – add in some Dan Deacon keyboard squalls and you’ve got an atypical BSS track that somehow still sounds completely natural. ‘Forced To Love’ takes this template and legs it adding more of that Horn influence. If it had some fairlight synths it could be Field Music or The Week That Was. So far, so full, then. But as the album progresses, those tell tale moments of light and air steal in, revealing that the band haven’t lost that ability to pace and to pacify. This is particularly evident on tracks like ‘All to All’ (the first track to feature new vocalist Lisa Lobsinger, who has to fill Leslie Feist’s sizeable shoes) and ‘Ungrateful Little Father’, which builds from a typical rhythm and synth pattern coupled with a bitter Drew invective (‘ungrateful little motherfuck, built you a breakthrough device’) to a gorgeous ceiling-scraping drone. That said, my reaction to the record after living with it for a few weeks now, is that there aren’t enough of these of areas of shade. It feels too on and as such, it feels like too much of the album zips away unnoticed. The shade may well reveal itself over time.

It’s in a trio of songs towards the end of the record though, that BSS seem to completely hit their stride, and it’s during these three songs – the broad clattering tumult of ‘Meet Me in the Basement’, the Emily Haines sung wooze of ‘Sentimental X’s’ and ‘Sweetest Kill’ – that the realization comes that Forgiveness Rock Record is actually something of a disappointment, and another triumphant Broken Social Scene mess. And I use the word mess in the most complimentary sense here: it’s what made You Forgot it in People so refreshing, and so other, and a record, to these ears anyway that is still revealing itself. Forgiveness Rock Record isn’t YFIIP – it’s too late in the day for that in many respects, too much has happened to the band, never mind the way we consume and listen, for an album like to arrive fully formed – but it is evidence that even with the framework of what is a fairly standard rock record, they’re still buzzing with enough ideas and enough zeal, and simple doing more than most to be worth sticking with.

The initial line-up for this year’s Great Escape festival in Brighton has been announced, with an impressive list of bands.

The following have all been confirmed!
DELPHIC / CHASE AND STATUS / BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE / MARINA & THE DIAMONDS / ELLIE GOULDING / CRYSTAL FIGHTERS / SLOW CLUB / COLD CAVE / ESBEN AND THE WITCH / HURTS / JAPANDROIDS / REAL ESTATE / TIMBER TIMBRE / DARWIN DEEZ / BEST COAST / THE CHEEK / WILD PALMS / THE RUBY SUNS

Yikes – that’s pretty TLOBF friendly… BSS, Japandroids, Esben and the Witch… think I might have to find somewhere to stay in Brighton.

The festival takes place over 30+ venues throughout the city and hosts over 350 bands playing from May 13-15th.

More info when we get it folks!

Have TEN years really gone past? Madness! 10 years ago I was graduating with my whole life ahead of me… I’d never heard of Jens Lekman, Wilco or The National… my entire life sprawled in front of me like a contented cat in front of a fire… Where did that time go? As 2010 (the most sci-fi of all years) sharpens into view, it gives us a chance to look back. To have a think about the albums that have been released in the last 10 years and what they mean to us, how they’ve affected us and how they’ve augmented our lives. Without some of the albums on this list, like Wilco for example, TLOBF wouldn’t have existed. Myself and Mr. Thane would never have met. How scary is that?

So, we got our splendid team of writers to nominate their favourite albums of the last 10 years. This is what we reckon are the best, and must hear, albums since the noughties arrived!

= Listen on Spotify

30. Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala (2007)
Producer: Jens Lekman | Label: Service / Secretly Canadian
There are not enough songs about pretending to be your lesbian friend’s fiancé in front of her father to enable her to elope with her girlfriend. Luckily Gothenburg’s king of sampling and bombastic romantic swooning Jens Lekman is here to plug that gap with ‘A Postcard to Nina’, both lyrically hysterical with its description of her father’s lie detector, and touching with his promise that “Nina, I can be your boyfriend.” It’s bolstered by huge horns and Jens’ unwaveringly physical, if sometimes sinister, belief in love, where the strings burn with the gut punch of that first infatuation to wry Stephin Merrit-esque wit and an ambrosia bright glow.
- Laura Snapes

29. The Twilight Sad – Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters (2007)
Producer: Peter Katis, The Twilight Sad | Label: Fat Cat
The Twilight Sad find their strength in the control they have over the chaos they are able to produce. Behind every song on this album lays an unfathomable depth of textured noise, but unlike many noise rock bands, it feels as if it has to be there. The Twilight Sad don’t aim to create an abrasive listening experience that you must endure, they aim to fill a room with their power, and their texture, and they succeed. The Twilight Sad shouldn’t soar, most songs falling into what is almost a dark, treacle like mire, but they do, and your life will feel more empty when the noise stops, and you return to silence.
- Daniel Offen

28. The Avalanches – Since I Left You (2000)
Producer: Robbie Chater, Darren Seltmann | Label: Modular Recordings
As an impressionable early-teen, I along with half the nation fell in love with The Avalanches as a novelty-pop band, reciting all the words to ‘Frontier Psychiatrist’ to a bemused friend on the back of the school bus. But the rest of the record wasn’t funny, so I didn’t get it. Years later I returned to it and was mystified in an entirely more alluring way. Perhaps if the hazy range of corny strings, breathy voices, and danceable beats didn’t add up to the sound of some sort of eternal lost summer then they’d be more apt for a second album, but maybe one day The Avalanches will awaken from their eternal slumber and release something just as magical again.
- Tom Whyman

27. Bloc Party – Silent Alarm (2005)
Producer: Paul Epworth | Label: Wichita
With their taut, wiry debut, Bloc Party became poster boys for elements of the British rock scene who explore personal and political issues in roughly equal measure. Sometimes similar in sound and theme to The Rakes’ debut Capture/Release which was released a few months later, Bloc Party’s debut edged that record – and most of the others of the decade – out in terms of quality by being quite so inviting to listeners of different audiences and being so energetically gripping. Like other albums here, Silent Alarm is not just a great album of the decade, but a partial document of what it has been like to live in the decade.
- Andy Johnson

26. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (2008)
Producer: Phil Ek | Label: Bella Union / Sub Pop
Did Bella Union know? As they prepared themselves to release Fleet Foxes, did they have that sneaking suspicion that this was going to be the one? Their first record to be certified gold in the UK, heaped with praise by every respectable reviewer. Amid all the accolades though, it is worth remembering how wonderful the album truly is. Wrapped in a organic warmth, it sounds like vinyl whatever the media, music and voices sliding with an elegiac grace. Despite its wintery overtures it managed for many to soundtrack an entire year, ending with a final refrain of harmony as timeless as the album itself.
- Simon Reuben

25. Sigur Rós – Takk… (2005)
Producer: Ken Thomas, Sigur Rós | Label: Geffen / EMI
Sigur Rós’ all consuming beauty and ghostly grandeur has rarely been in doubt but after the celestial brilliance of their debut, it was Takk, some four years later, that re-imbued Jon Birgisson with the ethereal warmth that had seemed to have escaped him. Still evoking all of the snowflake imagery their debut conjured, the twin hit of ‘Glosoli’ and ‘Saeglopur’ cascaded the weight and vulnerability to slide you into an introspective hole but it was the playful melody of ‘Hoppipolla’, gloriously sidling alongside the album’s heavier bombast, that gave it its intermittent, resplendent starbursts of optimism and made Takk quite special.
- Reef Younis

24. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005)
Producer: Mike Mogis | Saddle Creek
Marketed as a double release, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning could potentially have been the mundane, standard Bright Eyes album of the two. Yet, where Digital Ash In A Digital Urn failed to coherently connect, I’m Wide Awake was Conor Oberst doing what Conor Oberst does best: writing melodic, emotively orchestrated and beautifully shaky bluesy folk songs. ‘Lua’ and ‘Poison Oak’ showed Bright Eyes at their lyrical, downbeat best, with ‘Road to Joy’ and ‘Another Travellin’ Song’ settling the balance. Filled with honest anecdotes, this was a ‘social commentary’ album that somehow sidestepped the label of poor man’s Dylan, the naval gazing mopery of Ryan Adams or indeed the pretension which may have befallen Oberst in recent times, instead producing sentiments and sounds far beyond his then-24-years.
- Lauren Mayberry

23. The Knife – Silent Shout (2006)
Producer: The Knife | Label: Rabid Records
In what truly was a great decade for Swedish music, Stockholm siblings The Knife stood apart from all their contemporaries (albeit shrouded in shadows and secrecy) by crafting sinister sounding, moody music for the indie set. Their sound is equal parts tension and melody, with the bulk of the menacing, beat-driven arrangements handled by Olof Dreijer, while Karin Dreijer Andersson’s angelically ominous vocals adds some humanity to music that often sounds sterile and bleak. Silent Shout proved to be an innovative, compelling album that continues to offer us clues to questions that the perpetually reclusive band will never answer themselves.
- Erik Thompson

22. Björk – Vespertine (2001)
Producer: Björk, Thomas Knak, Martin Console, Marius de Vries | Label: One Little Indian
Less caustic than Homogenic and shorn of the carnival of Post, Björk’s fourth album initially seemed something of a retreat from the vigour of its predecessors. Glacial in tone and possessed of an introversion a world apart from the pantomime of ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’, this was Björk looking inwards, openers ‘Hidden Place’ and ‘Cocoon’ inviting us into an amniotic half-light of music boxes and whispers that enchants and unnerves in equal measure. Fragile yet hauntingly affecting, there’s a beating warmth behind the ice that makes Vespertine easily the best of her work.
- Christian Cottingham

21. The National – Alligator (2005)
Producer: Peter Katis | Label: Beggars Banquet
The National is really the Matt Berninger show – the jaded lothario with the silver tongue. He’s like a filthier Robert Lowell (‘my mind’s not right’), or a New York Stuart Staples; and like Staples you pray he doesn’t find contentment – what would he write about? Every track burns. The band find a rough and rich romantic tumble to underpin some great vocal performances and some of the finest lyrics anywhere this decade. I could pick a hundred but I think if I was ever to write something as perfect as the chord change coupled with ‘we’re the heirs to the glimmering world’ I could die happy.
- Matt Poacher

20. At The Drive-In – Relationship of Command (2000)
Producer: Ross Robinson | Label: Grand Royal / Fearless
At The Drive In had been building a following with their incendiary live show since the mid 90’s, but they really exploded into life when Relationship of Command appeared in 2000.

A brutal hardcore assault from start to finish Relationship of Command was a phosphorous blast in the face. Taking the directness of punk, elements of Fugazi’s hardcore, and Cedric Bixler’s incandescent roar – At The Drive In were a shot in the arm for a world that strangely embraced Oasis’ Standing on The Shoulder of Giants as one of best the releases of the year.

Dismantling ‘One Armed Scissor’ on Jools in a whirling frenzy, Iggy Pop cropping up on ‘Rolodex Propaganda’ and the opening blitzkrieg of ‘Arcarsenal’ were just some of the many highlights.

The band’s split shortly after the albums release and the subsequent formation of prog-leaning The Mars Volta by Bixler and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez meant that the promise of the most exciting band to surface in the early 2000’s was never fully realised.
- Sam Shepherd

19. Beach House – Devotion (2008)
Producer: Beach House | Label: Bella Union / Carpark Recordings
Devotion, the second full-length from Baltimore’s Beach House, is full of desire and loss, laden with lovelorn pop songs. Released in 2008 on Bella Union in the UK and Europe and Carpark, the Washington label home to Dan Deacon and co, the duo’s penchant for delicate, clever and bright songwriting was made clear. Their 2006 self-titled debut had displayed organist/vocalist Victoria Legrand’s ability to wind a wistful and poignant melody over multi-instrumentalist Alex Scally’s crisp soundscapes, but this ability was inarguably honed on Devotion. Legrand’s classical training is downplayed but evident in her abilities, complimenting the autumnal sonic feel. From the sparse percussion of ‘Turtle Island’, to the glittering organs of first single ‘Gila’ and the deliciously home-made Velvet Undergound feel of ‘Some Things Last A Long Time’, this record surrendering none of that Beach House charm, their sound sweet but with a that inevitable hidden bite.
- Lauren Mayberry

18. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion (2009)
Producer: Ben H. Allen / Animal Collective | Label: Domino
The words ‘adobe slats’ have taken on unprecedented profundity since December 2008, when Merriweather Post Pavilion first leaked onto the web, sparking fervent blogging activity and file-sharing, creating an ever-spiraling hyperbole for what has been dubbed the band’s most accessible album.

So I’m sure that you’re already fat off all the acclaim and Pitchfork-heralding this album has inspired, having being fed adjective-upon-bloated-adjective describing the heavily layered tribal rhythms, swimming in the sounds of frogs chirping or caves dripping, and culminating in the euphoric pulse of ‘Brothersport’ or the undeniably intense and ethereal swirling mass of ‘In The Flowers’.

As Hipster Runoff’s ever-amusing ‘Carles’ put-it: “Animal Collective are a band created by/for/on the internet”, and one would only have to set up a Google Alert to see this as not only true, but instrumental in propelling the band’s progressive sounds into the Billboard Top 20, and raising the bar for all modern pop music to come.
- Sam Parfitt

17. PJ Harvey – Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea (2000)
Producer: Rob Ellis, Mick Harvey, PJ Harvey | Label: Island
Nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2001, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea marked a turning point for PJ Harvey: this was, undeniably, a pop album. But pop, according to Polly Jean Harvey, is no bland, straightforward affair. Packed with reverb and lush layers, Stories From The City was a beautifully melodic reaction to previous releases Is This Desire, Rid of Me and even arguable breakthrough LP To Bring You My Love, all of which possessed a certain unnerving, extreme and dark undertone. The songwriter’s vocals were more relaxed, as gorgeous as Harvey has ever sounded, but the passion-fuelled lyrics remained, complimented by the simple, driving rhythms and expertly executed riffs. With hooks evident from the first chords of ‘Big Exit’- potentially the paramount opening track of her career-, Harvey created an accessible, welcoming version of herself whilst maintaining all the elements which made her so revered, from ‘Good Fortune’ to ‘Beautiful Feeling’ and beyond.
- Lauren Mayberry

16. Low – Things We Lost In The Fire (2001)
Producer: Steve Albini | Label: Kranky
In spite of the austere title, Things We Lost In The Fire just so happens to be Low’s most exquisite and accessible work. Recorded by Steve Albini back at the beginning of the century, it uses a blend of hazy guitars, delicate percussion and truly heartbreaking vocal melodies of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker to really shine. Bitter-sweet ‘Sunflower’ and ‘July’ radiate a tenderness that, despite their undoubted quality, was sorely lacking from previous offerings. Even the bleaker tracks, like the edgy, overwrought ‘Whitetail’, and the sinister lullabies that are ‘Whore’, ‘Laser Beam’ and ‘Medicine Magazines’ have more emotional exigency, driven by their ominous interweaving harmonies. Finale ‘In Metal’, grows from a downhearted elegy into one of the group’s most uplifting tracks, reflecting the progression of their music. Sure the lyrics may seem menacing, but it exudes a warmth and hopeful tone which not only make this their most direct and gripping set of songs, but also one of the finest and affecting albums of this decade. Just beautiful.
- Ama Chana

15. Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights (2002)
Producer: Peter Katis, Gareth Jones | Label: Matador
Anyone who dismisses Interpol as purely a derivative rip-off of Joy Division clearly hasn’t been listening enough. There are few bands that can claim to have come to prominence and influenced the decade with such a bang. Of course, there are thousands of third-rate unsigned mate’s bands that try treading similar ground, but that can’t take away from the splendour of Turn on the Bright Lights. That the two follow ups didn’t quite match up was inevitable given the quality through – from the thudding brilliance of ‘PDA’ to the frenetic energy of ‘Roland’, there’s not a foot put wrong throughout. Downbeat whilst being danceable and filled with some of the better lyrics of the past 10 years, the album pivots on Paul Banks’ unique monotonous droll and still sounds more fresh and exciting than most of the crop of current hopefuls.
- Matthew Britton

14. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (2000)
Producer: Daryl Smith | Label: Kranky / Constellation
Lift Yr Skinny Fists… was the sound of a band absolutely at the heart of its own sphere of possibility: a summation of all that bluster and pomp and urgency that drove ‘F#A#’ and ‘A Slow Riot…’ The band also added new broad layers of dissonance and queasy ambience to their already dense palette and there was a self-confidence about the whole enterprise, as if they damn well knew that this was a defining album- and for once here was a double album that absolutely demanded the form. From the opening triumphal waltz of ‘Gathering Storm’ through Ephrain’s astonishing screwdriver-driven wailing guitar on ‘Monheim’ to the treated voices that close ‘Antennas to Heaven’ this feels like a record big (in every sense of the word) enough to warrant end of decade plaudits.
- Matt Poacher

13. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
Producer: The Flaming Lips, Dave Fridmann, Scott Booker | Label: Warner Bros.
Having already released The Soft Bulletin in 1999, it was almost unthinkable that The Flaming Lips would be able to match the majesty of what, at the time, was their most accomplished work. However, with the band on form and taking a slightly more electronic direction, they quickly went about consolidating their position as one of America’s finest bands. Wayne Coyne reached spectacular heights with his lyrics. The allegory of the pink robots is inspired, whilst the simply stunning ‘Do You Realize?’ made jaws drop, hearts pound, and eyes water. That song in particular showcased the Lips’ capacity to inspire, delight, and break hearts within the space of a few minutes. This year it was picked as Oklahoma States’ official rock song, which isn’t bad for a bunch of Fearless Freaks.
- Sam Shepherd

12. Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People (2002)
Producer: David Newfeld | Label: Arts & Crafts
You wonder if a record as huge and as rammed with disgustingly talented personnel as You Forgot it in People could happen today – appear fully formed out of nowhere, fit to bursting. Each nuance would be hyped and dissected before release, each member ransacked, interviewed, profiled. As it was, it seemed to drop out of the sky, and so perfectly timed. A suite of 13 beautifully crafted pop songs, ripe and tumbling over themselves with invention. And exactly how did they fit this many people and so many ideas into the space of one record? The truth is they didn’t, and it’s the secret to the albums rolling, almost improv-feel magic (‘come in after this, here we go Kev’)– these cavernous songs are still fresh and new now, things spill out of them and multiply into the middle distance.
- Matt Poacher

11. The Strokes – Is This It (2001)
Producer: Gordon Raphael | Label: RCA
The key to the Strokes’ debut album, Is This It, is the slacker attitude that permeates the record. The album’s title and title track certainly suggest as much. When Julian Casablancas asks the titular question, he’s wondering if it’s the end of a relationship, but he may as well be asking the question of himself, of the band, of the whole post-punk reawakening that occurred at the beginning of the decade. The question isn’t answered by the end of ‘Take It or Leave It’, either. Yet, it doesn’t matter because the care-free, shit-kicking ride was the reason behind it all, anyway. There is no explanation, and you squares don’t get it. Indeed, as Casablancas proclaims on ‘Last Nite’, “I said, people they don’t understand/ No, girlfriends, they can’t understand/ Your grandsons, they won’t understand/ On top of this, I ain’t ever gonna understand.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
- Steve Lampiris

10. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007)
Producer: Kevin Barnes | Label: Polyvinyl
Just how good this album is came as a huge surprise, even to long-time fans of the band. Eight albums into their career, of Montreal were already a pretty damn hot band. It’s just, there was nothing really that hinted at how hard-hitting this album would be. Previously they’d flirted with songs of this intensity, but never before had Kevin Barnes committed something of such beautiful and cutting honesty to record.

It’s the candidness that really makes it. No break-up album has ever so perfectly tapped into the psyche of a man staring into the bleakness of impending loneliness, the thoughts that cross and overlap and where nothing makes sense, “how can I explain? I need you here, and not here too.” The album’s bleakest points, lyrically, are underpinned by bouncy-rubber-ball basslines and Human League synths – see the wonderfully titled ‘Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse’ with it’s chorus of ooohs, or the massively Bowie-influenced ‘Suffer for Fashion’ for further evidence.

So there’s all that crap about manic depression, and bisexuality, and Barnes turning into a forty-year old “black shemale” called Georgie Fruit, and that’s all well and good, but somehow, despite the complicated “biographical” story Barnes is trying to tell, it remains to me deeply personal. I’ve never, to my knowledge, transmogrified into a transexual African-American. This album’s biggest triumph is, possibly, that of Montreal almost make me think I have.
- Adam Nelson

9. Joanna Newsom – Ys (2006)
Producer: Joanna Newsom, Van Dyke Parks | Label: Drag City
Maybe it was the tumbling flow of imagination, of words and lyrics meshing into stories. Maybe it was the sensual orchestrations, the rambling length of songs that somehow never got tiresome. Or maybe it’s the quirky way she said “meteorite”. Against all expectations (an album of five songs, most of them nearly 15 minutes long and by the way, it’s played mostly on a harp), a lot of us fell deeply in love with an unlikely album.

Joanna Newsom’s “Ys” was a powerfully feminine collection of songs, full of fascinating imagery, evocative story-telling and utterly gorgeous music, the equal to Kate Bush’s “Hounds of Love” where the idiosyncratic nature of the lyrics is never forced, or just for effect – it is always to enhance the tale and the emotional resonance with the listener. The songs are rammed with words and phrases as each individual tale unfolds, none more powerful than the epic “Only Skin”. The moment where Bill Callahan’s vocal emerges in the song’s twilight is akin to a sinister, creeping tendril, never failing to send the hairs on the back of the neck skywards.

Three years on, we still wait for a follow-up, but should be thankful that Newsom is not rushing her return, especially considering the transition made from her debut to “Ys”. This album shines as a beautiful connection with folk stories of old and the nature that surrounds us, and when all the noise has abated will continue to sparkle.
- Simon Reuben

8. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver (2007)
Producer: James Murphy | Label: DFA
Where the self-titled debut was a warning shot across the bows, Sound of Silver was the nuclear explosion. The exquisite blending of dance, disco and rock n roll, it was the sound of one man’s adrenaline fuelled rush through 50 years of music.

I remember hearing the opening, pulsing, beats of ‘Get Innocuous!’ and being floored. I literally stopped what I was doing to pay complete attention to the music. It was amazing. That noise, those beats, the cowbell. It was also an album that mixed the good times with intelligence. The tongue-in-cheek of ‘North American Scum’, the end of an era defining ‘New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down’ – it was astonishing stuff.

You can tell great albums by their legacy. Most of the indie world has spent the years since Sound of Silver desperately trying to emulate its greatness. Sure, the Nike project smelt a bit, but the fact John Cale graced us with an amazing cover of ‘All My Friends’ should be enough justification of greatness. And yes, the detractors will point to James Murphy’s Bowie fascination, but that’s fine. This was an album that freshened up a dying genre whilst creating a few new ones whilst it was at it. At the end of 2007 there was only one album of the year, only one work of art that everyone could agree on: Sound Of Silver.
- Rich Hughes

7. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)
Producer: Justin Vernon | Label: 4AD / Jagjaguwar
Who hasn’t wanted to escape the evils of the real world at some point in their life? The monotonous routine, the sprawling smog and traffic jams, the all engulfing maze of the concrete jungle. Why not decamp to the wilderness, live off the land, fight a grizzly and wear heavy work plaid shirts? Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) took just such a voluntary exile to a Wisconsin wood hut and returned with For Emma, Forever Ago; an album made and played out to the stars and the wolves.

An all-American Junglebook, it was a debut that absorbed its secluded surroundings with words swirling over valley chasms, bouncing off steep gorge walls and rolling across a moonlit canopy of fir. Vernon’s vocals ached and agonised with the contentment isolation as ruminative melodies intertwined with his now bewitching, hallmark vocal. Blindsided picked tentatively at Neil Young, the simmering mantra of ‘The Wolves (Act I and III)’ injected a small swathe of Spiritualized grandiosity and ‘Creature Fear’ hinted ever so slightly at the downbeat intensity of Elliott Smith.

If you listened closely enough between the swells and fades, you might have heard the crackle of a log fire. Immediately arresting and eerily superb, this was the real remote part.
- Reef Younis

6. Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)
Producer: Nigel Godrich | Label: Self-released
For the media, In Rainbows presented a problem. We all got it at the same time. The mainstream press prematurely spurted their views, foolishly scribbling during that initial listen (I am sure Pete Paphides of The Times regrets quoting hearing “I’m in the middle of your kitchen” on ‘All I Need’, and let’s not speak of Morley’s attempts at a live blog). This time, the blogs got it right, TLOBF’s editors wisely allowing a week for its writers to assess the album, as there was no point rushing things. For once, everyone was listening, in a truly communal experience.

And what an album, the perfect blend of all facets of their character and imagination, the static, frantic drums of ’15 Step’ taking us back to Kid A, the rolling, rhythmic guitar of ‘Bodysnatchers’ the finer moments of The Bends. And as usual with Radiohead, it was all in the details, the little touches. The wail of children on ’15 Step’ elevates the track with a sudden burst of adrenalin whilst the snap of snare drum leading to the crescendo of ‘All I Need’ heralds one of the finest moments they had committed. The monotony of ‘Videotape’ ends the album perfectly, urging you back to the album’s militaristically tight opening to start the whole process again.

The gimmick surrounding its release did not hurt sales, whatever you paid for it. Most of us bought the physical release, and a few of us dug deeper and bought the deluxe version. But all of us got to enjoy the moment, free from the jaundiced filter of opinion and critical analysis, judging the contents on their own considerable merits. Possibly the most exciting album launch of the decade, and certainly the one we all got to mutually share collectively.
- Simon Reuben

5. The National – Boxer (2007)
Producer: Peter Katis | Label: Beggars Banquet
82 years after F Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, one of the few things that had altered the pursuit of the American Dream is that prohibition is no longer in force. It’s evident from 2007’s Boxer, where Matt Berninger’s numerous alter-egos slip a slug of contraband into a bottle of lemonade, stand at the punch table swallowing punch and feel intoxication ebb from their centre like a drop of ink in a glass of water in pursuit, or perhaps avoidance of an ideal. But The National never use alcohol as a simple metaphor for escapism; that would be gauche. Instead it’s a prop, a tangible detail of the periphery of the awkward everyday acts in which the 12 songs here lay their scene. Despite having lost some of the lyrical abstractions from Alligator to move into a universal domestic reality, the lyrics here are chronicles of what happens away from the action – sometimes equally funny and pathetic, such as “I leaned on the wall, the wall leaned away” from ‘Slow Show’ to the recognizable conversational awkwardness and disconnection of “standing in an empty tuxedo with grapes in my mouth” in ‘Ada’. Painted by green gloves, being pink, middle class and blue-blazered is a portrait of capitulation to adulthood, of masculinity, set to a panoply of immeasurably beautiful horns, propulsive drumming, and pattern-weft guitars that form a backdrop to Berninger’s arc as subtly, yet on inspection, exquisitely detailed as a set piece from Mad Men. Matt’s joked that his resonant tones have been compared to every different type of whiskey – it’s a fitting simile, not least because of the addictive quality of it, the warmth, and the fact that every sip destroys you just a little bit more. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
- Laura Snapes

4. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois (2005)
Producer: Sufjan Stevens | Label: Asthmatic Kitty
Since its release and subsequent critical adoration in 2005 the second in Sufjan Stevens 50 states project is a record that is genuinely era defining and so befitting of the term Magnum Opus that you expect it’s graceful sprawl is the main reason for him discontinuing his 50 states project (if rumours are to be believed).

From the opening chords of ‘Concerning the UFO Sighting’ to the lo-fi fuzz of ‘…Metropolis’ this is an album that boasts numerous classics that which now can be considered indie staples. There is also a case for Illinois to be considered the most influential record of the noughties although the countless banjo toting imitators are yet to provide a fitting heir. Building on the solemn, minimal folk of Seven Swans, Sufjan added lush orchestration and an an ambition that came as close to possible to realisation.

And so to those highlights; ‘Chicago’ is as transcendently beautiful as upon first listen, ‘Casimir Pulawski Day’ heartbreaking and inspiring in equal measure (even I want to take up the banjo after listening) and ‘John Wayne Gacy Jr.’ takes the most gruesome subject matter and injects it with now trademark warmth and humanity. Proof perhaps that in a decade dominated by the religious right in the US and a growing form of particularly strident atheism in pop culture, that infusing your work with your beliefs didn’t have to mean preaching and could make it even more powerful. Christianity apart though, where on earth will he go next?
- Andrew Grillo

3. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
Producer: Jim O’Rourke, Wilco | Label: Nonesuch
“I am an American aquarium drinker. I assassin down the avenue…”

TLOBF’s third favourite album of the decade opens with what may be its greatest lyric. A postmodern take on Iggy Pop’s “streetwalkin’ cheetah” for the new millennium (how long has it been since you last heard that phrase?), the line works as a microcosm for the album with which Wilco made their name, and encapsulates the uncertainty with which they entered the 21st century.

Their first album with drum genius Glen Kotche, the self-produced Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is the sound of a band in flux; Jeff Tweedy’s scattered imagery – taking on the media, religion, and what exactly it means to be an American – is laced gracefully across some of the band’s most testing and endearing melodies. Paranoid lullabies like ‘Radio Cure’ and ‘Poor Places’ sit alongside the hymnal ‘Jesus, etc.’, the lyrics of which (“Tall buildings shake, voices escape singing sad, sad songs”) make an obvious case for why so many Americans held YHF to their hearts after September 11th – coincidentally, until Reprise dropped the band, also the album’s original release date.

Meanwhile, in the album’s latter half, the sumptuous pop of ‘Heavy Metal Drummer’, ‘Pot Kettle Black’ and ‘I’m the Man Who Loves You’ make for a perfectly-timed triptych which saves the album from caving in on its own dystopian vision; the former’s breezy nostalgic acoustics could be picture in reverse on the dashboard of R.E.M.’s ‘Nightswimming’, while the latter is one of the most riotously uplifting moments in the band’s catalogue.

The album paints a desolate picture – albeit one in which, in true patriotic fashion, there’s always a glimmer of hope; the Stars and Stripes may be reduced to ashes, but still the band salute. I had reservations about so many things this decade, but not about Wilco.
- Alex Wisgard

2. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
Producer: Arcade Fire | Label: Rough Trade / Merge
Funeral is the sound of winter’s past, of tragedies endured, of hope reclaimed. It’s an album that pulls at the heartstrings without sounding overwrought, an album that can make you dance (and maybe even jump around a little) without ever sounding basic or simplistic. And although it’s not the most immediate of albums, it’s one that pays back perseverance a hundredfold- at first, I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about, but when it finally “clicked” it was as an epiphinal moment as I’ve ever experienced. Opener ‘Tunnels’ is sheer perfection in song form- gloriously evocative both musically and lyrically, it’s beautifully put together; the sharp piano chords piercing the muted, shimmering production like children stomping through the snow, the crisp, sustained report of the snare drum and the breathtaking harmonies of the coda (which for my money is the single most sublime minute of music committed to record this decade). Some would contend the jerky, ramshackle chaos of ‘Laika’ or ‘Power Out’s scintillating assault on the senses is where Funeral excels, and it’s certainly an understandable point of view, but for me it’s all about the emotional rawness of ‘In The Backseat’ (an elegy to lost loved ones) or the sheer, unrestrained anthemic vitality of ‘Wake Up’. Perhaps the album is short on subtlety but there’s something endearing about a band so willing to wear their hearts on their sleeves- ‘Crown of Love’ is permeated by an earnestness that would be unpalatable in lesser hands, but it’s underpinned with such achingly beautiful passion it’s transformed into something truly joyous (and that cathartic orchestral-disco breakdown must rank as one of the most wonderful climaxes ever).

Meaningful and moving without collapsing under the weight of its own self-seriousness (a fate Neon Bible didn’t entirely avoid), it’s clear with Funeral Arcade Fire weren’t trying to be cool- you just need to look at any publicity photo for proof of that- they weren’t trying to capture the zeitgeist or jump on whatever bandwagon was rolling through the indie scene at the time. They were just a bunch of guys (and girls) putting all their hearts and soul into their music, wrapping it up it sumptuous arrangements and producing what remains a peerless testament to the joy and wonder the best music can elicit.
- Adam Elmahdi

1. Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
Producer: Nigel Godrich, Radiohead | Label: Parlophone / Capitol
Has there even been a band who’ve topped a strong first decade in such a magnanimous, definitive manner? In the late-90s, Radiohead were already being described in such certain terms as “the most important band on the planet”, OK Computer was near-universally lauded as the best album of the decade, a tour-de-force from a band at the height of their powers.

Height of their powers my arse. Going into the noughties, Radiohead were a band with everything to lose. It seems silly to even speculate about this now, but the potential for them to release albums of ever-decreasing impact and slowly fade into old age was pretty high, especially when you consider the stories of in-fighting and enmity within the band that leaked during the touring and recording before Kid A’s release. In retrospect, “doing a Kid A” was the only way to go.

Funny, isn’t it, how “doing a Kid A” has become such common lazy journalistic parlance for “a band changing their sound a bit”. Because the thing is, Kid A doesn’t really represent a massive leap from their previous work. Revisiting OK Computer with Kid A in mind reveals not a band at the height of their powers, but a band awkwardly trying to figure out what the hell those powers even are. “Doing a Kid A” should really refer to those rare occasions when a band tops an exceptional album with a truly, truly essential one.

And essential it is. Even only 9 years on, it’s easy to underestimate the impact and influence Kid A had on just about everything since. Not simply in the kind of music people were making, but the kind of music people wanted to listen to. The most important rock band of the ‘90s were suddenly responsible for a re-invigoration of serious dance music, and though I barely dare venture to suggest it, the huge popularity of dubstep in the latter half of the decade still feels as though it owes some debt to Radiohead making it not only acceptable, but necessary to indulge in that end of the musical spectrum. With one album, Radiohead shattered the elitist rockism that had reigned the ‘90s, from grunge through britpop to Radiohead themselves. The upshots of this were many, the downsides were bands like Keane thinking that having a synthesiser made them a radical creative powerhouse.

And yet, all this context is just bollocks, isn’t it? It might look good and sound good, but really, if you listen to Kid A and are sat there thinking about how different the musical landscape of the noughties would have been without it, then you probably don’t deserve to be listening to Kid A. The simple, undeniable fact is that Kid A is one of the finest albums ever written, recored and released. It transcends context and biographical waffle, it makes everything else into an irrelevance. It’s Kid freaking A.
- Adam Nelson

Want more lists? Check out our “Best of 2009″ feature here.

Amy Millan has the kind of impeccable indie-rock background most musicians would kill for – after the breakup of her rock-roots band 16 tons, Millan’s musical career began in earnest when was inducted into seismic indie-pop outfit Stars, where her glassy vocals were responsible for the band’s epic breakthrough single ‘Ageless Beauty’.

After her successes with Stars, she was invited to join legendary Canadian supergroup Broken Social Scene, and ‘be the girl’, and embarked on a prolific series of live tours with the band – and if the harem of stellar indie musicians that make up the Broken Social Scene alumni weren’t enough, she’s also collaborated with Apostle of Hustle, Kevin Drew, Gomez and Jason Collet and – to add to the indie cool – performed a tactfully rewritten version of ‘He Brings Out The Whiskey In Me’ (‘She Brings Out The Broccoli In Me’) on children’s TV show Mamma Yamma and Friends.

So with such a strong background in indie rock, it’s admirable that when Amy finally decided to release a solo record, she went for a whole new change of pace. Honey from the Tombs was released in 2006, and found Millan going back to her country roots. In direct contrast to the sleek, sonic bluster of Broken Social Scene and Stars, Honey from the Tombs was a traditional country affair – all weary heartbreak and mentions of whiskey brands and dilapidated hotel rooms. However, Millan’s fans – more used to the surging indie rock of BSS and Stars – felt a tad alienated. Clearly Millan is treading uncharted territory, and the announcement of her second solo effort found Millan standing at a crossroads – would she carry on with the folk of Honey From The Tombs, or would she retreat to her indie-rock beginnings?

From the first, plucked chords and woozy slide guitar that herald album opener ‘Bruised Ghosts’, it’s clear that Amy has stuck to her guns – however, on Masters of The Burial, Amy has let her country influences dilute slightly, letting her past works seep into this effort. The drizzling horns on ‘Bruised Ghost’ are almost identical to the horns in Broken Social Scene’s ‘I’m Still Your Fag’, and the rattling, rumbling guitars on ‘Run For Me’ more than faintly recall the guitars used on BSS’s self-titled. On Masters of The Burial Millan – after immersing herself in both the world’s of country and rock – has finally drawn a happy medium, and is all the more better – and wiser – for it.

On Masters of The Burial, Millan has also allowed herself to experiment slightly with her instrumentation (although the overall effect is still that of a country record) – the a-capella ‘Day To Day’ lets the subtle melodies in Millan’s voice shine through, the rumbling ‘Run For Me’ see’s Amy step out of her meek persona and into a sulky, Cat Power-esque swagger, and the grainy, DIY recording of ‘Lost Compass’ makes her voice seem even more piercing and high. Admittedly, she still seems shy – she isn’t exactly bounding into Fiery Furnaces-style experiments, but it’s heartening to see an artist slowly gaining confidence in her abilities.

Lyrically, Amy Millan has also matured – gone are the self-aware urban sophistication of her Stars lyrical contributions (‘I’m so hot for a rich girl, her heels so high and my hopes so low’) and the naïve romanticism of her lyrics on Honey from the Tombs (‘I’ll get over you when the moon gets tired of chasing the sun’) – her lyrics are still romantic, surely, but they have a kind of depth and cohesiveness missing from her debut. Amy may sigh ‘I’d rather love you than leave you, my darling’, but ultimately she decides ‘you’re not mine to give away… it’s never the same again’. This lyrical depth – rather than the throwaway, saloon heartbreak references on Masters of The Burial – provides the greatest emotional impact Millan has ever produced in her lengthy career.

However, the album centrepiece – the track that everyone will be talking about – is Amy’s cover of Death Cab For Cutie’s emo lynchpin ‘I Will Follow You Into The Dark’. Personally, I despise this song with a passion – the combination of Gibbard’s embarrassingly sincere vocals, the stark guitar chords and the ridiculously sentimental lyrics has always proved too much for me. However, Amy has managed to do the impossible, and actually made me like the song – she’s cleverly toned down the syrup by making the instrumentation as busy as possibly, loading on woozy slide guitar, trickling guitars chords and flickering banjo and by delivering the lyrics in her trademark meek deadpan. The sentimentality thoroughly neutralised, Millan’s version lets the gentle, rushing beauty of the song – obscured by corniness in the original – shine through nicely.

At first listen, Masters of The Burial may come off as bland and uninspired but the devil’s in Millan’s details – scratch the surface and there’s a veritable treasure trove of heartbreak and lost love. Masters of The Burial is bursting with subtly intelligent ideas, and my only hope is that Millan will continue to grow in confidence, and be able to expand on these ideas in her next efforts. Perhaps then – inside of floating in limbo between the indie-rock of Stars and the country of her past – she can finally begin to carve her very own niche.

Buy album from Amazon | [itunes link="http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/old-perfume/id327854954?uo=4" title="Amy_Millan-Masters_of_the_Burial_(Album)" text="iTunes"]

There’s pretty much one thing you need to know about Canada’s The Most Serene Republic: they’re signed to Arts & Crafts. A&C, for those not in the know, is the record label founded by Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew, essentially for the purpose of putting out his and his bandmates’ material, whether central to the BSS canon or side-projects. Cue early releases from Leslie Feist, Brendan Canning, Stars and naturally, Kevin Drew himself. In 2003, The Most Serene Republic became the first band not directly connected with the “BSS Massive” (as I believe is the name of their tentative hip-hop vehicle) to sign for the label. The lack of direct connection, though, didn’t prevent many – albeit justified – direct comparisons. Their debut album Underwater Cinematographer took way too much unjustified criticism, for sounding just like a Broken Social Scene record. Like that could ever really be construed as a bad thing.

So, the A&C thing is important for two reasons – the first, as outlined above, is that it gives you a pretty good idea of what the band are going to sound like. Much like the phrases “late-eighties Sub Pop”, or “early-nougties Constellation”, “Arts & Crafts”, in indie-music-journo-shorthand, refers to more than just a record label – it’s an ideology, a manifesto, pretty much a genre unto itself. The second important reason is that Arts & Crafts don’t really do bad releases. Whether through fortune or design, it’s difficult to recall a single album from the label that is completely lacking in merit, except that *god-awful* second Stills album.

The one thing you need to know about The Most Serene Republic, is that they are an Arts & Crafts band. It’s not lazy journalism, (well, maybe a little) it’s just that that fact stands up for itself. While MSR probably don’t have the same ear for a hook as Drew/Canning/any of that other band I’ve been favourably comparing them to, they still have an excellent sense of just how, I dunno, dreamy, pop music can be. It’s a real lie down and breathe it in sort of a record, the kind you can imagine falling asleep to in the garden on a lazy summer day, and then having it populate your dreams, before waking you up with the (frankly excellent) penultimate track, synthesiser-led dance anthem ‘Don’t Hold Back, Feel a Little Longer’. At least, it should be an anthem. It’d certainly get me dancing more than Mrs Gaga. While me falling asleep to it after too much Pimms isn’t entirely meant as an insult, MSR are certainly a band better served by not giving over your total attention – which is sad, because at times they’re genuinely interesting. Give them too much, though, and their weaknesses become irritatingly apparent.

All too often it gets sickly-sweet, in the way you’d expect Los Campesinos! to if they’d grown up in Ontario instead of Wales, like on ‘Heavens to Purgatory’ which lays on the intertwining male/female vocals and syrupy acoustic riff way too thick. There’s a real cluttered feeling to the album’s middle section, where the band tend to hit their real high-notes when the vocalists keep mum, leaving a little more room for their sound to grow out – see ‘Patternicity’, which, with its fantastic use of a large string section, genuinely sounds like an old Disney soundtrack. But an awesome one. It’s an album that’s soft in all the right places. Sadly, where you want to to be firm, it just sags a little too much. That sounds way too dirty.

The Most Serene Republic on MySpace

Widely credited as the man who bought out the melodic side and toned down the chaos of the many limbed mass that is Broken Social Scene, Andrew Whiteman has, until recently, maintained that The Apostle of Hustle was his main project. However, in a recent interview with Canada’s Exclaim! he mentioned that the project had become more a labour of love. His third album under the Apostle of Hustle moniker, Eats Darkness started life as an EP of studio experiments, to be released as a gift to fans. As he recorded more material, Whiteman’s A+R man, a certain Mr. Kevin Drew, convinced him the record should be given a full release. Seizing the opportunity, Whiteman created what he sees as a meditation on violence, war and the everyday battles of life.

Starting with a hail of gunfire and an ‘interesting’ and confrontational monologue about the hermaphroditic nature of the snake, the record soon moves in to familiar Apostle territory- slight Latino rhythms underpin the whirling guitar parts of ‘Easy Speaks’, while after a sinister rumbling intro strewn with trumpets ‘Soul Unwind’ reveals a sparkling indie-pop hook. Album highlights the bass-line driven ‘Xerxes’ and album closer ‘Blackberry’ both recreate the kind of sprightly melodic indie that Yo La Tengo do so well, the later built upon a fuzzy bass line and skittering drum rhythms that fade to a hushed vocal. There seems to be a summery positivity to the songs that is in a direct contradiction to the inclusion of a number of ‘skits’ on the record. At regular occasions gunshots and screams ring out and voices tell of Molotov cocktails, revolution and the creation of “music that people will be not only willing, but anxious to die to”. While they are intended to provide context for the record, the over reliance on these skits (they make up over a third of the albums tracks) actually serves to dilute the albums coherence.

Clocking in at just over half an hour, it is remarkable that Apostle of Hustle manage to fit so many ideas into such a short period of time. Fitting in cuban infused rhythms, indie-pop hooks and dubby experimentalism as well as the numerous sound collages. Eats Darkness is at it’s best when Whiteman allows his melodic tendencies full reign. However, too often the tracks here lose their way: the meandering guitar of the title track is pretty but ultimately insubstantial, while ‘Perfect Fit’s self-indulgent electro dub noodlings are more filler than essential. While the genre hopping may help to ease the hard-working Whiteman’s creative itch, it gives Eats Darkness a rather schizophrenic feel as an album.
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Apostle of Hustle on Myspace

Ohad Bechetrit, the musician behind The Years, plays a range of instruments with Canadian post-rockers Do Make Say Think, and is also a contributor to several other bands, most notably Broken Social Scene, but also Feist and The Hidden Cameras.  The Years is his solo vehicle, and he has described it as a compendium of material that has accrued on his hard drive, in bits and pieces: partially realised snippets from previous projects, that never before made a final cut.

This could, then, be seen in one of two ways.  If you are a cup-half-empty type, then you will no doubt be imagining a long player cobbled together from offcuts, rejected tunes, failed or awkward material that wasn’t quite up to scratch for its original purpose.  Those of a more positive or optimistic bent, however, may anticipate a quirky, uncategorisable, unusual but interesting set of tracks.

Happily, in this case, those theoretical optimists would have been closer to the mark.  This is a mainly instrumental collection, the only lyrics to be found featuring on the gently regretful ‘A Thousand Times A Day (Someone Is Flying)’ (“Some dreams fade, it’s true / Don’t be sad, some dreams say true”).  Many of the tracks have a distinctly classical feel to them.  The opener, ‘Kids Toy Love Affair’ sounds like a proper prelude, ushering in the tracks that follow in a beautiful string-based Rites of Spring type burst of optimism; and both ‘Are You Unloved’ and ‘44’ also benefit from orchestral arrangements, the latter ending the album in a beautiful, elegant and dignified manner.  Elsewhere, Spanish, or modern classical, guitar is the dominant instrument. The guitar-work on ‘Don’t Let The Blind Go Deaf’ and ‘The Assassination of Dow Jones’ is fast, nimble and intricate, all repeated theme-and-variation motifs and squeaking fingers moving along the fretboard, in a pleasingly organic manner.

As you might expect, there are also many tracks that are more easily pigeonholed as post-rock. Although occasionally resorting to some of the genre’s received ideas in a slightly predictable way (the main culprit being the nevertheless marvellously titled ‘Hey Cancer… Fuck You!’), these by and large work well in combination with the other music on offer here.  Indeed, ‘The Major Lift’ succeeds in combining nearly all the great elements dispersed elsewhere throughout the album: guitar, some dramatic and assertive brass, squelchy horns, flighty synths and melodious strings, all delivering up the most fully realised and memorable melody – like the theme music for a really rather good film.

As a whole, then, this is a collection of fascinating soundscapes, some of them not much more than snippets, some of them fully developed pieces.  All of them, however, fully deserve their appearance here, and it is good indeed to know that this lovely, often inspirational music has been rescued from the ignominious fate of languishing forever on Bechetrit’s hard drive.
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The Years on Myspace

Apostle of Hustle, Andrew Whiteman (lead guitarist of Broken Social Scene), bassist Julian Brown (Feist), and Dean Stone (Sarah Harmer, Amy Millan) on drums, have announced plans for a new album!

To be called Eats Darkness, the album will be out on July 6th on Arts & Crafts.

Says Andrew Whiiteman, “Eats Darkness is a serial poem about some struggles people go through. Battles, from the macro to the micro. Songs about tactics and attitudes needed in ‘life during wartime’. Each track is like tapas at the banquet of conflict. A small contribution to the articulation of a fucked and beautiful world.”

Sounds marvellous!

Apostle of Hustle on Myspace

Dan Mangan

Those of you who have been loitering around the security doors here at TLOBF Towers for a while now you have probably noticed the frankly phenomenal amount of great new music coming from Canada over the last few years. From the classics (Joni, Neil and Laughing Lenny), the big hitters (Arcade Fire/ BSS/ Feist) to the up and coming (The Acorn, Woodpigeon, Ohbijou) TLOBF has been committed to bring you the best of what the Great White North has to offer. So we figured it made sense to start a new column dedicated to uncovering the latest new talent emerging from Canada, to showcase some of the lesser sung acts, labels, and events that may not have shown up on the collective radar over here in the UK. So from The Acorn to Zumpano TLOBF brings you: Oh! Canada.

And what better way to start off our new column than a review of the Canadian Blast! showcase from this years recent Great Escape festival.

It seems strangely appropriate that the first artist covered by Oh! Canada is Vancouver’s Dan Mangan. After all, he has form when it comes to the Canadian National Anthem, having performed it at the start of a Vancouver Canucks (let’s go Canucks!) Ice Hockey game , he’s also scheduled to sing it again at the start of a Vancouver Whitecaps soccer game later this summer (it’s a peculiar quirk of North American Sports that at every level, no game starts without the anthem being sung, or played on a nose flute, or something). Mangan first came to prominence a couple of years back with Postcards and Dreaming which saw him draw comparissons to fellow Canuck Patrick Watson and coffee table favourite Damien Rice. But that was five years ago, and now he’s back with a less lush, more gritty sound on the Roboteering EP (given a glowing review here last week).

Having charmed the crowd of his headline show on the first night of the festival with tales of falling asleep during a Mudhoney concert, Mangan had an early start in order to accommodate the fact that he had to drive to Cambridge to support The Broken Family Band later that evening. And so it came to be that, joined by the string section of Hey Rosetta! he took to the stage at 12.15 on an overcast Friday afternoon. By rights, the venue should have been empty, but it is testament to Mangan’s growing following that it is almost filled to capacity, helped no doubt by the fact that he had snuck outside moments before to the venue’s balcony to have a quick practice before the show, causing members of the general public to come in to the cave like venue for a closer look. Mangan’s finely crafted Canadiana is perfectly accompanied by his hastily assembled swooning string section, his smooth to gritty vocal delivery just the right side of broken to appeal to the mainstream and the underground alike. About midway through the set, however, things start to go wrong, with guitar and microphone cutting out. Unfazed, Mangan simply unplugs his acoustic guitar, steps off the stage and continues the set from the middle of the crowd, who by now are in the palm of his hand. As the set draws to a close, he begins to lead the crowd in a stomping, hand clapping, sing-a-long take on EP lead track “Robot”. As the now capacity room sings in unison “Robot’s need love too/ they want to be loved by you”, it becomes clear that the future could be very bright for this young man from Vancouver. After all, as Mangan himself acknowledges: “This isn’t supposed to happen- You’re industry people, your clapping, singing harmonies and it’s not even 1pm”.

Ultimate Power Duo

Next up are Saskatoon’s brilliantly named Ultimate Power Duo. Naturally enough, UPD are in fact a classic power trio of riffs, pummeling drums all kept in check by a low end rumble to make Mike Watt jealous. Fresh from being hand picked as a support act for Bad Religion by Jay Bentley himself and a handful of dates with Canadian punk legends NomeansNo under their belt, The UPD are a vacuum tight punk rock unit, playing a self proclaimed ‘Demolition Rock”- theirs is the music that would be made if the neo-garage rock of The Hives or Rocket From The Crypt played a game of Chicken with The Minutemen and The Ramones and neither backed down. Clad in an all black uniform they know they’re R’n’R history, nodding to The Minutemen’s “If Reagan Played Disco” during the intro to the no-wave onslaught that is “Noam Disco”. The beauty of UPD is the clear delight they take in playing- a reminder that life is too short to not enjoy yourself and a celebration of living in, and for the moment. Their set ends with both non-drumming members performing Pete Townesend-esque windmills before launching their guitars into the roof of the building.

Hey Rosetta!

Having accompanied Dan Mangan early in the day, Newfoundland’s Hey Rosetta! string section clamber back on stage, with the rest of their band. The St. John’s septet are led by Tim Baker, a wiry, impassioned frontman with a fine line in bedsit angst and longing. Baker is in possesion of one of those gritty voices that cracks with passion when pushed to the limit, which it frequently is, driven along by the driving string arrangements and crunching guitars of his band. While there is no doubt a folk tint to the proceedings, more often than not Baker explodes in a jangle pop fury, utilizing simple start-stop dynamics that the Hold Steady would be proud of. This is in evidence on “There’s an Arc”, which sees him clamber aboard the drumkit as he careens around the stage. Maybe it’s the long dark nights out on the east coast, but Baker has clearly worked hard at his art, crafting epic, soaring indie pop-balladry without ever teetering over the edge in to middle of the road Snow Patrolisms. A bundle of energy onstage, his restless legs jangle as Hey Rosetta! come to the climax of their set, gang vocals and all.

The Arkells

Next up is Hamilton’s The Arkells. The most straight ahead commercial prospect featured in the Canadian Blast showcase. Having already played Canada’s V festival and opened for The Black Crowes, it seems likely that this is one of the smaller stages that they will grace in the UK. Good looking boys with bluesy rock riffs and singalong “Hey Hey Hey” choruses and piano hooks abound. There’s a clear love of early Springsteen in evidence here too on the uber-radio friendly “Pullin Punches”, and you can’t help but feel that before they make the transition to the pop-rock big time.

Ohbijou

Ohbijou’s headline set very nearly doesn’t happen, after a keyboard stand collapses onto their cello. Feedback howls from the monitors and sisters Casey and Jenny Mecija look at each other with doubt across their faces. They may not be able to hear themselves or each other, but the moment Casey’s delicate voice starts over her sisters swooning string parts it’s easy to see why Bella Union snapped up the rights to their second album, Beacons. Piano’s chime, drums pound and everything seems to click into place as the tales of doomed love and longing are played to an enchanted audience. As the rain begins to fall outside, Ohbijou wrap the crowd in a warm, comforting blanket of sound, that seems like it could protect you from whatever lies outside.

Ultimat Power Duo

The Arkells

That’s all from Oh! Canada for now but be sure to look out for more Canadian goodness courtesy of TLOBF . And don’t forget to download the Oh! Canada mixtape full of songs from the kinds of bands Oh! Canada will be introducing you to in the coming weeks and months!

After what feels like a never-ending loop of touring, quasi-solo albums and collaborations, Broken Social Scene are getting back to the business of being Broken Social Scene. They’re currently recording album number four at Soma Electronic Music Studio in Chicago with post-rock sonic mastermind John McEntire (Tortoise, the Sea and Cake), according to a message from Drew on the band’s site.

Drew: “I can’t tell you what this record will sound like, who from the other great bands will be involved, but I can tell you it feels amazing to be in Chicago recording.” So there we have it…

More news when we get it folks.

Jet Black is the fourth proper studio album from Gentlemen Reg, the recording moniker of Canadian songwriter Reg Vermue. He seems to be a quiet sort of character, but the kind that keeps good company. He’s performed with Final Fantasy and ‘guested’ with Sufjan Stevens. The Constantines regularly make up his backing band and he’s even managed to fit in the occasional appearance with the indie-rock behemoth Broken Social Scene.

For this, his first set of original material for Arts and Crafts, Reg immediately seems to fit in. There are definite strokes of some of his more luminous label mates here; the stylings of artists such as Kevin Drew and Andrew Whiteman immediately spring to mind as this album opens and Reg’s gentle, at times verging on beautifully strained voice starts to pick out little feathery melodies. Jet Black is immediately pleasing, if not ultimately completely satisfying.

Reg has admitted himself that his music sometimes requires commitment. It’s true that Jet Black is a grower album and that its charms develop with time and attention. Initially a breezy, pleasant experience for the listener, tracks such as the fresh, bright-eyed ‘We’re In A Thunderstorm’ and the bittersweet, evolving, slightly off kilter ballad ‘When Heroes Change Professions’ can easily become addictive. Sadly, however, a pinnacle is never really reached within the forty minutes Jet Black takes to flutter by. Killer moments are grasped at, but never fully mastered. The whole album goes down very smoothly, but fails to make a lasting impression.

By no means a classic, Jet Black is still a solid and likeable effort that shows glints of real promise. It’s been a few years since a ‘proper’ new release from Vermue, which perhaps has shown itself to be a shade too long. Between this release and 2004’s Darby and Joan, Reg’s profile has certainly grown. Hopefully with his new home on Arts and Crafts it wont be long before another release, because as far as Gentlemen Reg is concerned, it seems that the best is yet to come.
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Gentlemen Reg on MySpace

Arts & Crafts have announced details of a solo album from Broken Social Scene / Do Make Say Think main man Charles Spearin. The album is to be called The Happiness Project which will be released in the UK on March 23rd 2009.

In the album’s liner notes, Spearin took time to write a bit of an explanation on the idea behind the project. “These are my neighbours. My wife and I have two little kids and live in a multi-cultural neighbourhood in downtown Toronto.” Spearin explains,  “In the hot summer months all the kids in the neighbourhood play outside together and everyone is out on their porch enjoying each other’s company, telling stories and sharing thoughts. A year or so ago I began inviting some of them over to the house for a casual interview vaguely centered around the subject of happiness. In some cases we never broached the subject directly but none-the-less my friends began to call it my ‘Happiness Project’.”

If you head over to the official website here, you can download, for free, the track ‘Anna’, to give you an idea of what it’s all about…

Performing on “The Happiness Project”:
Charles Spearin – Guitar, Bass, Cornet, Piano…
Leon Kingstone – Tenor and Baritone Saxophones
Julie Penner – Violin
Michael Barth – Flugelhorn and trumpet
Julia Seger Scott – Harp
Ohad Benchetrit – Classical Guitar, Slide Guitar, Alto Saxophone, Flute…
Dave Clarke – Drums
Justin Small – Drums (Anna)
Christopher Ford – Piano (Ondine, Mr. Gowrie)
Ric Petit – Cello
Kevin Drew – Keyboards (Mrs. Morris reprise)
Evan Cranley – Trombone

Photo by Ama Chana

Things are going pretty well at the moment for Liz Powell… Not only is she the latest of a long line of Canadian musicians to be invited into the Broken Social Scene family (see Feist, Emily Haines, Amy Milan) but her band Land Of Talk have finally gotten around to releasing their eagerly awaited debut album Some Are Lakes. It was worth the wait too it seems.. Being greeted by some highly favourable reviews including here at TLOBF, the album has also garnered further attention by the fact it was produced by none other than Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. We caught up with Liz a few weeks back to give her the 20Q treatment..

1. Describe your sound in 3 words.
Unfettered, rad, and magical.

2. What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it?
I was just thinking about this the other day. It was actually my mom who bought me Beatles “St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”

3. What’s the best cure for a hangover?
Heroic doses vit-B complex, “Emercen-C” packets, LOTS of WATER (carry a proper reusable bottle with you at all times).

4. What’s on your rider?
Socks, berries, San Pelligrino, Hummus and pita, marzipan, water wings, post cards from the city we’re playing.

5. How do you get ready for a live show?
20 minutes of ridiculous vocal warm-ups, stretches, and a 2min hand-stand to get the blood flowing.

6. What’s your favourite song to play live?
A song off the new album called Yuppy Flu. The bridge section is 30seconds of awesome for a three piece.

7. What’s your guilty pleasure?
Producing really bad hip hop on my laptop.

8. Who would win in a fight, a stoat or a goat and why?
My boyfriend would bet on the stoat due to it’s lower centre of gravity. I didn’t know what a stoat was which is why I asked him.

9. Who’s your favourite new band at the moment? Tell us a bit about them.
School of Language because Sea From Shore is a great album. If you listen to it you will know what I mean. Other favourites are a Montreal band called The Luyas and I’ve been in love with The Dodo’s Visiter since it came out.

10. Who would play you in a film based upon your life?
Bill Murray

11. Dead or alive, what 5 acts would you have play with you at a festival?
See above favorite new bands, plus Dirty Projectors, and Amy Winehouse.

12. If push comes to shove, what is your all-time favourite album?
Mary Margaret O’Hara: Miss America

13. What’s your most memorable on the road story?
It involves people who would rather not be mentioned which would defeat the purpose of telling the story altogether. I know. Frustrating answer. Sorry.

14. If your life flashed before your eyes, what would be the highlights?
The unmentionable story (see above), family moments, falling in love, having made a life of music.

15. What’s the best piece of advice someone has ever given you and did you take notice?
My dad gave me this piece of advice: “Always try and make it (your life) better, but at the same time you don’t want to loose the uniqueness of the original structure (in other words you keep some of the key features like a door frame or a stair railing ). Like concrete you don’t want it to set too fast for it might crack. Instead, you want it to cure slowly so that it gains its full strength and can withstand much more stress and strain over a longer period of time. It is also a balancing act. You can get a little more cynical about people and their motives, but shouldn’t get too cynical, it may destroy you…”

16. If you had to leave a body part to science, what would it be?
All of it.

17. What’s the best book you’ve read and film you’ve seen in the last 6 months?
Terrence Malik’s “Days of Heaven”

18. What three things could you not live without?
Food, water, friends and family

19. Tell us a fact about yourself we probably don’t already know.
If I stop moving I fall into a deep sleep.

20. And finally, we’d like you to make us a mix-tape.
1. Pixies – Digging for Fire
2. Broken Social Scene – Fire Eye’d Boy
3 .Sparkle Horse – Spirit Ditch
4. Will Oldham – You Will Miss Me When I Burn
5. Bruce Sprinstein – I’m On Fire

bonus tracks:
The Breeders – Metal Man
The Motion Picture Soundtrack to David Lynch’s “Fire Walk With Me”

Land Of Talk on MySpace

This album is a hard one to review. Oh yes. Not because it’s bad, its brilliant, and I’m so impressed by That’s The Spirit (Ottawan native Ben Wilson, with some help from a few good friends) that to put into words how much i like this album would take up 3 pages and probably only consist of the word ‘incredible’. And that wouldn’t make a good review. When I do try, whenever I get a good point in my head, I automatically forget it because im too lost in the music. This album feels like an album. It isn’t a collection of songs loosely bundled together. It’s a positive cloud of music, something almost tangible. When Staying Places is playing, an atmosphere is created that is ethereal, almost dream-like and at the same time, a focused concentration of well placed instruments and vocal lines. In fact, if I wasn’t woken up slightly by the vintage piano introduction of ‘It’s Curtains For You’ (a track that drifts across your mental horizon halfway through this release, and then leaves after less than two minutes), Staying Places would have me in a trance from start to finish.

Anyone familiar with the current trend of Folk/Americana/Alt-Indie sweeping over the American and Canadian music scene will probably not be surprised by what they’re hearing when they first play through Staying Places. Well written music, gently sung, with obscure and ornate instruments popping in and out to add colour to what are essentially simple 3 minute minus pieces of music. For the uninitiated, expect from ‘Staying Places’ surprising and inventive songs that will mature greatly over multiple listens. One of the best parts of Ben Wilsons opus is the way that every time you play through the tracks, you hear them in different ways. A bit hard to describe, but you just notice something new every time. For example, the main thing I noticed on the first listen of ‘Always Coming Back’ was the way that it contrasted quite strongly to the first few tracks purely for having an afrobeat, stomping drum line. Second time through it wasn’t so much a “party” song, and I bypassed it completely only to get hung up on the sweetly plucked guitar lines in ‘Epic Advice’. It’s like there’s too much music for one album, and it’s constantly fighting for prominence. This competitiveness means that the next time your brain clocks onto a particular element of a track, or a song as a whole, you can be guaranteed that it won’t sound quite the same as the last time you heard it. This shows an astounding ear for song crafting. Not even songwriting, song crafting. It feels almost like Ben shaped the songs physically, putting little pieces in here and there to surprise or amuse, rather than just being sat in front of a mixing desk or apple computer.

Moving on, if I was to attempt to summarise the lyrical content of the album, I would probably refer you all to his press release. And before you shout out loud at such lazy journalism, its obvious to anyone that the best person to tell you about that is the artist himself (or at least his pr team), and as it was summarised so excellently, I would only butcher and misinterpret.

“From one angle, it’s a snapshot of the mind of the postmodern traveller – always wanting to be somewhere else, constantly in search of that idyllic exile, in a shrinking world with exhausted global space….From another angle, though, it’s a personal reflection of that age-old conflict of putting down roots versus extending branches – the comfort in routine, versus the challenge and excitement of the unknown and uncharted. From any perspective, Staying Places is meant to be a soulful, optimistic album for explorers and armchair travellers alike.”

There. But come on Ben, how was I supposed to guess that? Listen to the lyrics and actually put some effort into a review? Oh….that’s quite an idea!

…good answer.

Highlights of this album are many and commonplace, too many to go into without requiring a full dissection of the album. Clever use of natural reverbs, the way the almost brit-pop guitars of ‘Every City’ sit perfectly with Ben’s vocals, delivered with a soft throat comparable almost to Mike Love of Beach Boys fame in places. Indeed, comparisons to Brian Wilson may even be used when considering the composition of the album, which is always high praise. Shades of Grizzly Bear and Menomena can be found singing through at times, especially on ‘Unmake Me’ and ‘Orienteering’ respectively, to offer another two points for relation. However, it’s much easier (and feels a lot more validating) to say that this is a spotless, near-perfect release. Maybe I’ve just fallen in love with it, but i can see this album staying just as strong over time as it is now. It certainly packs a punch, albeit a punch covered in the fluffy woolen glove of spaced-out folk.

Canada, it seems, has its share of great artists making great music that combines quality songwriting and a skilled hand for lo-fi, delicate production. Sadly though, all we hear about on UK shores is Broken Social Scene and their in-house bands. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as Broken Social Scene are incredible songwriters and musicians, but if there was any justice in this world, Staying Places and indeed Ben Wilson would be household names in Blighty as much as Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Feist, Emily Haines et al. are. Fans of the previously mentioned should check this gentleman out, because he makes top drawer folk music, and can easily stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Bon Iver and Iron And Wine. And for a debut effort, this is an undeniably evocative and accomplished collection of songs. Let’s just hope the postmodern traveller in him doesn’t decide to settle down before he gets his music (and himself) over to Great Britain to chart the uncharted some more.
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mp3:> That’s The Spirit: ‘Orienteering’
mp3:> That’s The Spirit: ‘Every City’

That’s The Spirit on MySpace

Something For All Of Us is right, this album is easy listening of the highest order- further proof that Broken Social Scene are slipping increasingly away from shiny, clangy, epically breezy and anthemic indie-pop and towards, er, well nothing really. Far less distinct music. Kevin Drew’s album had its moments but was hardly what one might consider a record you’re going to want to play a lot all the way through- ‘Back Out On The…’, ‘TBTF’ and ‘Safety Bricks’ was all I ever wanted out of that particular collection, and here Brendan Canning does much the same thing, only forgets to put any *actually* irresistible songs on there (and you know with BSS, how they have that particular *kind* of irresistibility), so the whole thing is really just a quite pleasant vapour.

Well, not that there is anything particularly solid and/or liquid about Broken Social Scene’s earlier albums- they’re all really gaseous records, when you think about it, flow-wise. Just before they were a Really Awesome vapour, and then with Kevin Drew they were a Pretty Good vapour. But this is… well, its just a vapour. And its alright. But its also, um, kind of dull. Yeah. You can practically taste the bong fumes mixed up somewhere around it, too.

Is it 1972? Because in Broken Social Scene’s universe it pretty much is now. They’ve actually gone back in time to 1972, all of them. That’s what they used all their ‘You Forgot It In People’ Pitchfork-credos money for. Travelling back in time. The fact that they have the power to do this also makes them very dangerous. Now imagine what they could do if they also still had the power to write interesting songs. BURN.

Well… OK. So maybe that is *a bit* harsh. To be fair to old Brendan (and also to maintain consistency with that whole “Something For All Of Us is right” comment at the beginning), ‘Hit The Wall’ and ‘Churches Under The Stairs’ are both arguably good ‘Safety Bricks’ level of quality songs (not ‘Back Out On The…’ quality, oh god no- chancing upon seeing them soundchecking that in the morning of the Sunday of the EITS ATP with J Mascis ranks as possibly the single top BSS-related moment of my life- fast version of ‘Major Label Debut’ aside). On the other hand, though ‘Love Is New’ is truly horrific. Like some big-name rockstar in the 70s decided to do a funk track on his second solo record with whatever session musicians were hanging around his orbit at present. I can only assume there is at least one example of this happening. Either way, it was probably just as bad as ‘Love Is New’. Urgh.
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Links
Broken Social Scene [myspace] [label]
Brendan Canning [myspace] [label]

So the summer’s here. It may be September, but who cares. Tonight the capital is positively radiating good vibrations. The sun is out, people are enjoying the sunshine and, even though there’s a tube strike, it seems as though people are taking the long way home anyway and enjoying a few cool, refreshing beers. Amidst all this, Broken Social Scene are in town. Or, more specifically, a subset of Broken Social Scene. The posters hinting at the possibility that they’re just here to play Kevin Drew’s new album, Spirit If…, but then, with these guys, who knows.

Firstly though we had the weird-folk leanings of Noah and the Whale to contend with. A band touted for great things, the “Myspace Revolution” seems to have brought them to the fore. Now a proper touring band, their acoustic meanderings have been fleshed out with a violinist, percussionist, keyboardist and another vocalist. It was an odd set that flirted with greatness but failed to reach any sort of consistent quality. The crowd watched on as the sub-Bright Eyes acoustic folk was wretched in a voice that, at times, reminded me of Kermit the Frog. It was only when they let rip and put some energy into the songs did they become interesting. Set closer and upcoming single, Five Years, sees them embrace their indie peers and craft a song of such intelligence and romance that some similar bands might as well give up now. It also made the crowd wonder where these tunes had been in the previous 25 minutes of the set.

People talk about having religious experiences whilst at gigs. Now I never thought, in all my years at gigs, that I’d too have one of these experiences. Let alone at a BSS gig. Having now seen them twice, I’ve made my mind up; I prefer them live to on record. Tonight just confirms that. Stripped back of all the studio trickery and distortions, this gig just showcased what amazing songwriters and performers these guys actually are and revealed an intrinsic quality to all their material that might, at times, be drowned out by their ambition to push the boundaries in the studio.

Before they kicked off though, we have a little chat with Kevin Drew. He seemed nervous, as if the new material he’s releasing under the BSS banner might not live up to all that’s proceeded it. Keen to take the pressure off and disarming the crowd with his infectious meanderings, his constant declaration’s of “It’s ok! Everything’s alright” suggest that he wasn’t sure how it was going to go and yet was pleasantly surprised that (nearly) everything went off without a hitch. The stage and BSS themselves (for a six-piece band at least) were stripped back. Unassuming and dressed in plain t-shirts and shirts, the stage was dressed in it’s bare minimum. It was all about the music. As they kicked off the set with Lucky Ones and the album opener Farewell to the Pressure Kids it suddenly all made sense. The lyrics, the album and the members of BSS he’d taken with him – they’re all mates, speaking of Andrew Kenny later he’d mention that “He’s always got my back”, whilst him and Brendan Canning have been hanging out with each other for decades – all creating this relaxed and unassuming environment in which to play.

What this achieved though was a set devoid of ego but resplendent in music and good vibes. Playing most of the tracks from the upcoming record, Spirit If… the band proceeded to carve out a massive wall of sound. Canning’s infectious enthusiasm born out of his willingness to perform with any instrument put in front off him, his flicked kicks and thrown guitars poses bringing admiration from the crowd. As the evening progressed, the performance became better and looser. The songs took on another dimension as the crowd and the band became one. The band improvising elements of the songs and taking them in new directions. But instead of coming across like an over-hyped jam band, the songs grew and outstretched their recorded selves. They came alive. More than one rhythmic thread becomes apparent as you follow their twists and turns. They’ve also discovered a harder edge tonight. The Joe Mascis influenced Backed Out On The Cause requires a sing-a-long to the chorus and, whilst it’s dangerously close to Bon Jovi territory, there’s an aggression live that’s missing on the record.

As the evening draws to a close, Drew finally relaxes. Divulging that it’s both his and Canning’s birthday in the next 26 hours, there’s suddenly a party atmosphere. More beer is brought on stage and it really does feel like someone’s living room. Drew steps over the monitors, practically embracing the crowd. Singing directly to us and instigating a sing-a-long once again to the Spirit If… closer, When It Begins, a song about how coming to the end of something great needn’t be a bad thing, just remember how good it felt at the time. A little earlier, before crashing into a magnificent version of Lover’s Spit, Drew announced “My name’s Kevin Drew and I’m in Love…”. Tonight Drew, so are we. So are we.

To view more pictures from the evening, click here.

Links
Kevin Drew [myspace]

According to Arts & Crafts; “The video for Backed Out On The Cause happened last minute after a Dinosaur Jr show in Toronto where Joules Scott Key (of Metric), Lou Barlow and Murph (of Dinosaur Jr) all came to the shoot to hang out. John Caffery from ‘Kids on TV’ was hired to come and dance his ASS off and a spontaneous party was put into effect. There were seven mirrors, one disco ball, four lights, one bottle of rum, three bottles of tequila, 62 beers, four crew, and 17 people. It got put together on the day of the shoot and became the party of the year. It cost three thousand dollars to make… It was priceless.”

See for yourself in all its You Tube glory below. Oh, and just to get you even more excited about the Broken Social Scene Presents series, co-founder of BSS Brandan Canning is currently working on album number two in Toronto with a release date for Sping 2008 in the pipeline.

Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew – Backed Out On The Cause

Click here to view the embedded video.

[download] Kevin Drew - Tbtf (♫ mp3)