NEWS BITES : June 4, 2010

FREE STUFF
Audio Blood does North by North East Festival! Get a FREE MIXTAPE including artists such as Dinosaur Bones and Leif Vollebekk.

On top of that, Audio Blood is celebrating NxNE by throwing a free, invite-only party at the top of the CN Tower with The Balconies (one of my favourite finds this year), Hollerado and The Meligrove Band playing. Go to their website to win tickets!


NEW MUSIC
Arcade Fire has The Suburbs, due August 3rd, up for pre-order. All orders, whether digital, CD or vinyl,  come with instant downloads of the two already released singles "The Suburbs" and "Month of May."

Mother Mother is in studio finishing their upcoming album following the huge success of their sophomore album O My Heart. It's due out in early 2011. In related news, they suddenly became a lot more prolific (and friendly-sounding) on Twitter.

Sam Roberts is in studio as well with their upcoming fourth studio release following Love at the End of the World. Unfortunately, some personality conflicts in studio.

St. John's The Mountains & The Trees, otherwise known as Jon Janes, will release his first full-length I Made This For You on August 10 after critical praise for his EP Hop, Skip & A Jump.

Pre-order Stars' upcoming release The Give Ghosts on iTunes in deluxe and you will also get The Séance EP, which includes tracks remixed by the Album Leaf, Montag and Of Montreal - as well as other bonus singles.

REVIEWS

Rah Rah's new album Breaking Hearts is thoroughly enjoyable and all-around stronger than their first release. Their indie pop polish, combined with their tendency of using pop rocks and confetti cannons in their live shows, don't fully conceal their old souls and turns of cynicism. The elaborate album artwork involves some unfortunate passengers falling off the side of a boat and being torn apart by sharks. hmm.

Shad's newest release TSOL sees him solidifying his formidable position in the Canadian hip-hop scene, which involved selling out his (adopted) hometown show in Vancouver last night at the Biltmore Cabaret. The quick rhymes and clever word play, not to mention profound lyrics which touch on everything from politics to the origins of his name, would satisfy the most elitist of English majors. I see it on the Polaris short list.

Jamie Lidell, UK-based soul/funkster loads latest release Compass with grimy, experimental explorations of how technology expresses, however inadequately, sexuality and desire. It leaves you hot and bothered and a bit agitated, kind of like waking up with your lover on a stuffy summer day. This latest effort is joined by friends such as Feist, Beck, Gonzales and members of Grizzly Bear and Wilco. One of my favourite tracks off the album, "I Wanna Be Your Telephone," is below.


I Wanna Be Your Telephone from Jamie Lidell on Vimeo.

TOUR DATES
Two Hours Traffic from P.E.I. have released 2009's Territories internationally, more specifically in Australia and in the U.S. They will be touring Oz with Dead Letter Chorus.

Said the Whale announces all-ages tour dates on top of their Malahat Revue tour dates with Hannah Georgas, Jeremy Fisher and Aidan Knight.

MISC.

Voting is open in NxEW's 2nd Annual Shadow Polaris Prize.

Contribute to the newly established Canadian Music Wiki, brainchild of Amanda Ash working with CBC Radio 3 and the UBC School of Journalism.