Video: Woodhands – “CP24″

Woodhands has released their video for their second album’s first single, “CP24.” While the album isn’t out yet, this is all we have to enjoy, and I’d say it’s a great amount on its own. It’s hilarious, witty and bouncy. Dan Werb and Paul Banwatt should anchor on CP24, no doubt.

I found myself laughing through the entire thing, but that might just be because I am a journalism student… ah well.

So, did you laugh as much as I did?

Take a Look: The First Joke & Other Matters

There comes a time in any rock critic’s life when a band that they used to look upon fondly, who had since broken up, moved around but brought two of the members back in a new light. In my case, this comes to The First Joke. (Ironic, no?)

I grew up in Buffalo, New York. Halfway through my high school years I found my place in the local music scene as a reporter for NeXt in the Buffalo News. I interviewed a ton of bands (and pretty much all of them have since broken up as well, but I’ll occasionally see people when I go back home, everyone’s doing well) but every single band looked up to the slightly older band, This Day & Age. Everyone was so charmed in their presence. I knew a girl that listened to their album every night before falling asleep. I found myself at many of their shows singing along with more oomph than I usually do at live shows. (Once, they played at Media Play-ha!- and they stopped short. I was still singing. Embarrassing.)

This Day & Age broke up a year into my university life, at the cusp of becoming something really big right after the release of their second album, The Bell and the Hammer. I don’t think I saw their last show (although memory is failing me right now, anyone care to fix this?) but I did make it to a show of theirs at Club Infinity in October 2006. It was bittersweet.

In the past few years, three of the members ended up in a band called the Reign of Kindo. I never really followed them. I was so busy learning new Canadian music. I regret such, but I am redeemed in the formation of The First Joke & Other Matters. Made up of the singer and drummer of TDAA, Jeff Martin and Steven Padin, they bring back what we all loved: the low-key late-night coos. What they didn’t bring from TDAA was the gut-wrenching yet still subtle wails, but you know what? That’s perfect. The First Joke shows how they’ve grown in music and their life paths, and those of us who knew TDAA still have those great memories.

The First Joke will be releasing their first album independently on January 19th. All of me wishes that it was just a few weeks earlier, when I’ll be home for the holidays. To have that kind of reunion would be great, and I’m sad I’ll miss out when it finally does happen in Buffalo. Hopefully Jeff and Steve will take this far or at least really put their love into it. These new songs show a lot of promise, like “Runway,” which will encourage your humming reflex to pick it up immediately and “Page in Book” is an example of the sweet harmonies Jeff & Steven have created for years now. It’s good to hear Steven taking more singing leads, such as in “Winston Was Here.”And in “Perelanra,” they’ve got a lil Latin flair.

Jeff revealed this information about the few of the songs on their blog: “a fun little fact about a couple of the songs.. i wrote the song “page in book” about this guy who realizes a bit too late of the damage he has done to his relationship. steve then showed me the music to what is now called “winston was here” and asked me to write lyrics for it.. (i did).. it then became the hopeful outlook of winston (the character from “page in book”) on the day after his wife leaves him, as he begins his new life.”

But hey, I’ll like just about anything these guys do if you couldn’t tell already. Definitely check The First Joke out, and pray they’ll get bigger and come to Canada one day.

The Reign of Kindo are still in formation, even making a new album, and you and I will do well to check them out too.

(P.S. Is that the Buffalo News in the picture?!)

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to release new album in March

Oh, it’s a happy morning over here at the RoundLetters residence. I received a lovely newsletter email this morning all about everything upcoming with one of my favourite bands, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

In the past year or so, the band once and for all lost their drummer Nick Jago, released a live DVD/CD set and did some tours that were not here, basically.

2010 holds not one but three amazing bits of news for this Califor-ni-ay band:

-Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been are introducing their new drummer, Leah Shapiro from The Ravonettes (yes! woman! making this band even more bad ass, who thought that was even possible?!)

-Releasing their fifth studio album Beat the Devil’s Tattoo on March 9 in US & Canada (album name suggests yes, they can be even more bad ass)

-and doing another crazy bout of touring, one day of which lands them in Toronto (April 1) at the Phoenix.

I’ve seen this band twice and both times were some of the most amazing performances I’ve ever seen. I’m not such a big fan of them playing at the Phoenix. I must say they really used Kool Haus well, but hey I can’t complain, I’ve also seen them in a tiny venue in Buffalo.

Here’s a video of them playing a different show in Toronto in 2005. Check out the bad ass!

P.S. I love how they update their website but still keep some old things intact, like their Press section in which there is the  interview I did with Hayes in 2007!

Interview: The Swell Season Feeling Lucky With Strict Joy

The following was originally published on Exclaim.ca.

Exclusive: The Swell Season Feeling Lucky with Strict Joy
10/16/2009 By Jessica Lewis

For Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová of the Oscar-winning duo the Swell Season, things just seem to be “written in the stars,” whether it’s the elements that went in to putting together their upcoming new album, Strict Joy, or just knowing one another.

Even though the record’s main themes seem to be about the romantic break-up between the pair, who had the surprise breakout hit with Once, they’re still strong enough to make another record. So it’s the technical background we can get interested in now.

Hansard and Irglová took just under a month recording the album in Connecticut with the Frames and acclaimed producer Peter Kadis in his home studio. Hansard and Irglová went to the studio because they were enamoured with Kadis’s past work with the National’s album Boxer, and ended up recording a handful of songs in a whirlwind.

“We just play songs out, to figure them out, to feel out what they’re doing, what they’re saying,” said Hansard in a recent interview with Exclaim! “And when you get enough of them, you go and put them down, and really, going into making a record sometimes, you’re not even set out to make an album. You’re just setting out to put stuff down. That’s what happened with this. It was a very easy record to make, we’re very happy with it.”

Irglová agrees. “It was written in the stars,” she said. “I think life is full of those magical moments, if you just allow them to happen. If you live your life deciding you’re going to go with the flow and trust life, then you do find yourself in places you never imagined yourself being and for me that’s what it’s all about.”

Hansard goes on to say that the luck isn’t just in the stars, but also in the unassuming business model, saying, “It was more just the main concern of any band is to put out decent work and to continue doing gigs where you can communicate your songs clearly and correctly. And hopefully, if you’re doing your job right, to be able to play the same room every time you come back to town or play a bigger one. Some bands might say, ‘Okay, here’s the end game, and here is what we need to do to get there.’ We pretty much made a record and said, ‘Right now we have a record. What do we do with it?’ So it is a slightly different way of looking at it. It definitely works for us so far.”

The duo commissioned Hansard’s fellow Frames members to be the support on the album after a tour, as well as included a few guests. What they ended up with was a full sound complete with just that: more voices, more sound and more ambitions.

Originally due out September 29, Strict Joy’s release date was pushed back a month due to artwork conflicts. It will now be released on October 27 through Anti-.

The Swell Season will be wooing Canada on these dates:

11/3 Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
11/4 Montreal, QC -; Olympia de Montreal
11/25 Vancouver, BC – The Center

Sidenote: You can now stream Strict Joy in full over at NPR.

Check out these upcoming free concerts in Toronto

Ah, I love free concerts. Well, I pretty much love anything free. This apparently is due to my generation, according to an editor of mine, but he’s right. How can you deny free concerts?! I think anyone would feel this way though.

So, to jump to the point: here is quite the list of free shows you can catch around Toronto soon. From the independent record stores to the public library.

Criminal Records

October 9 *TODAY!*: Said the Whale @ 6 p.m. Also their record release party for the new Islands Dissapear.

October 16: Dan Mangan @ 5 p.m.

October 31: Noah and the Whale @ TBA

November 20: You Say Party! We Say Die! @ TBA

Soundscapes

October 16: Two Hours Traffic @ 6 p.m.

Sonic Boom

October 16: Spiral Beach @ 7 p.m.

College and Shaw streets location of the Toronto Public Library

November 5: Grand Analog @ 8 p.m.

November 10: DJ workshop with Grand Analog @ 7 p.m.

North York Central Library location of the Toronto Public Library

November 7: Timber Timbre @ 8 p.m.

Bloor and Gladstone streets location of the Toronto Public Library

November 20: Katie Stelmanis @ 8 p.m.

For the library shows, it looks like there will be more shows coming.

Alright, get out there and have fun with all this free goodness!

Stream Two Hours Traffic’ new album, Territory

Resident awesome PEI band, Two Hours Traffic, are releasing their long-awaited sophomore album, Territory, next week on September 8th, but hey – we can still listen to it for free until then!

This month’s Exclaim cover band are not only all over that publication but everywhere else in Canada these days it seems. Well worth it. They deserve this success, and I’m sure the album will do really well when it comes out, even when we can listen to it online.

Go over to their website – there’s a player on the Audio/Video side.

It can also be found on their MySpace.

Here’s the new video for one of the new songs, “Happiness Burns.” The band look a lot more sophisticated, and there’s an intro from front man Liam, who appears to be talking out to a group of kids that we don’t know…

Two Hours Traffic will play with The Danks and Spiral Beach in Toronto at Lee’s Palace on October 16.

Young Galaxy speak out about split from Arts & Crafts

The following was originally published on Exclaim.ca.

Exclusive: Young Galaxy Speak Out About Split from Arts & Crafts
8/20/2009 By Jessica Lewis

Montreal-based dream poppers Young Galaxy have been eerily quiet since the debut of their self-titled debut album in 2007. Now, with the release of their sophomore effort Invisible Republic coming up fast, they’re speaking out about the changes within the band, as well as their departure from popular Canadian indie imprint, Arts & Crafts.

“The long and the short of it was we couldn’t see eye to eye about putting the second record out,” says vocalist/guitariest Stephen Ramsay of the split in a recent interview with Exclaim!

Upon intially signing with Arts & Crafts, Ramsay, girlfriend Catherine McCandless and a few now-former touring members had never played a show before as Young Galaxy. They were shocked with the label’s decision to sign them, but like any band, their excitement took priority. However, the debut album ended up losing, rather earning, the label money, and the offer towards the group’s sophmore effort wasn’t as helpful as the band had hoped. “As two businesses trying to work together, we couldn’t accept the offer,” says Ramsay.

However, he admits the split was amicable, and there are parts of business, such as publicity, that they have kept intact. “They’re totally responsible for being able to launch us as a band in the first place,” Ramsay says of Arts & Crafts.

As an independent act, Ramsay and company initally had trouble finding a new label, until Fontana North opted to distribute Invisible Republic. This came as a blessing, as well as a test of strength for an eager band.

“Most bands are inherently conservative and afraid to take risks,” says Ramsay. “When it comes to the business side of things, it’s very easy for a band to be a scapegoat for other people for not being successful and there’s nothing bands love to do more than complain about labels and the people they work with. But they are terrified of going out on a limb and doing it themselves. We actually don’t mind, we’re into the idea of living and dying like this — basically being responsible for our own terms for success. That was one of the hard parts about the first record, feeling like our successes weren’t successes in Arts & Crafts’ eyes, and vice versa. This time, success can only be measured by us.

“There are thousands and thousands of people who would think we were nuts for leaving that label, but we’re not the kind of people that wanted to be in that position.”

At the moment, Young Galaxy hopes success is waiting for Invisible Republic, which includes new member Max Henry, as well as Stephen Kamp, who has stayed on with the group full time. Liam O’Neill drummed on the album but has since left the band, leaving James Lynn as a touring drummer. And now with a fresh new line-up and a new mentality of everyone bringing the ideas in together, a third album is already in the making.

“We’ve been working a lot with computer-generated sounds, synthesizers, a lot of sequence music like Depeche Mode or Kraftwerk, where everything is tight and robotic,” says Henry. “We’ve been captivated with this idea with this kind of less impassioned, more kind of motored-machine, electronic-groovey vibe and kind of stripped down. A lot of stuff that we’re working with now [with] electronic drums, it’s very tightly done. We’ve got some really exciting things coming.”

Young Galaxy’s Invisible Republic is due out via Fontana North on August 25.

Tour dates:

9/9 Ottawa, ON – Zaphod Beeblebrox
9/10 Toronto, ON – The Drake Hotel
9/11 Montreal, QC – Il Motore

Stream Imogen Heap’s new album, Ellipse, for free

Photo by Jeremy Cowart

This is one of those great moments – when an artist lets their entire album be streamed before it actually comes out. I believe that’s great, anyway. Especially in the case of Imogen Heap, who will release Ellipse come August 25.

And another good thing – you can stream it while on RoundLetters with her handy portable player.

Listen to Ellipse:

Also – you can still check out her video for “Canvas”!

Take a Look: Silver Starling

There is a new side project super group in the midst, coming from the ever-evolving Montreal music scene.

Out of Arcade Fire, Young Galaxy, Stars, Zeroes, Parkside Jones, Marathon and more comes this pop rock band called Silver Starling.

Their self-titled debut, which was mixed by Peter Katis (who has worked with The National and Interpol) and Marcus Paquin will be released in the fall by Last Gang Records.

Four tracks are available on their MySpace. “Something Over Nothing” is a slow, dreamy sad ballad. “Caught in Your Glow” is another ballad, but much more upbeat, with a great string arrangement, building the song up in tempo. “Ghosts” is clearly the stand out track in terms of catchy, with cute banjo plucking and xylophones with frontman Pacquin’s whisper. “Closer” is also quite catchy and has a great bass line.

I don’t want to spend much time comparing them to Arcade Fire, but it’s undeniable Pacquin has a tiny bit of Butler’s vocals in him. However, he takes it in a more casual and fun direction. Other than that, Silver Starling are progressive and charming, and I’m excited to hear more from them in the future.

If you go to their MySpace, you can catch an acoustic video performance of “Ghosts” which really showcases their harmonies, coordination and ability to sing in the wind.

The band has tour dates lined up in Oro-Medonte, Montreal and Ottawa at the moment for Aug 30 – Sept 24.

The Swell Season perform six new songs for NPR

If you’ve been following this blog since before its WordPress inception, you’ll know that I’m quite the fan of The Swell Season (by entries like this one and this one).

So it’s safe to say that I’m giddy over the recent performance of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (even though they’re romantically broken up now… I think… sigh) on NPR’s cute Tiny Desk concert series. The pair performed six new songs and one more familiar track off of their upcoming album, Strict Joy. The album will be released September 29, but for now, enjoy the performance along with me.

The songs are played in this order:

“Maybe I Was Born To Hold You In These Arms”
“Low Rising”
“Fantasy Man”
“Paper Cup”
“Feeling The Pull”
“Back Broke”
“When Your Mind’s Made Up”

Can’t resist the cuteness, can you? Now, it’s a little awkward when Hansard explains the story behind “Low Rising” as it’s about a rough talk with “a girlfriend”, so it’s a little heartbreaking. But it sounds like and looks like they’re fine with one another, singing about love…

I remember seeing them play a few of these songs, if not all of them, when they came to Toronto last year. And I remember feeling all warm and fuzzy. I don’t need to remember though, as I feel it again, and it’s obvious the entire NPR office did too.

Tiny Desk concerts are available as audio downloads, but it’s a great thing to see visuals as well. Check out Canadian Julie Doiron’s video performance.