Deradoorian

It always sucks to read about events that you missed out on but there wasn’t much I could do about this year’s SXSW. I will begin planning my hitchhiking plans for next year though; something along the lines of when Sideshow Bob hung on for his dear life to the bottom of the Simpsons’ car in that one episode. Okay, maybe I need to work on my plan a bit.

Even though I missed out on amazing acts such as PJ Harvey, Camera Obscura and Dinosaur Jr. the band that I was most excited to read about was Toronto’s very own Rural Alberta Advantage (of which a blog accidentally called the Royal Alberta Advantage). Something tells me that the trio’s appearance at this year’s festivities will mark the beginning of something big. Already, they’re receiving fantastic praise from Pitchfork,Brooklyn Vegan and Paste Magazine and now everyone is asking the big question: Why are these guys not signed yet? Even Pitchfork has said “This band could be huge.” Well The RAA are already huge to me, but Pitchfork is right – they are going to be bigger. Congrats, guys!

In other news…

Passion Pit has cancelled their upcoming Canadian tour, so please disregard my news yesterday about Ruby Coast. That is a bummer. (Thanks to nowhere for the tip)

Camera Obscura is going to be back in town on June 27th at Lee’s Palace.

Gregory and the Hawk will be at the El Mocambo on May 2nd.

Metric will be making an appearance (and performing) at The Edge 102.1 studios (228 Yonge St.) on April 14th (the same day their new album, Fantasies will be released). They will also be making an in-store appearance at the HMV Superstore (on Yonge, near Dundas) on April 9th from 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm. And last but not least, according to ‘For the Records’, Metric and Holy Fuck are apparently going to be at the Mod Club on April 14th (via Beggars Group Canada) but there has been no mention of this elsewhere. I’ll keep you posted; if this is actually true though, it sounds very exciting!

Holy Fuck will be playing a free show this summer at Harbourfront, as part of the annual Beats, Breaks and Cultures Festival on July 10th.

John Richman and Vic Chesnutt will be at The Great Hall on June 25th.

Jay Reatard will be at the Mod Club on June 29th.

Deradoorian has a new song out called “You Carry The Deed”. Listen to it here!

More of a Dirty Projectors fan than Deradoorian? Well you can listen to their recent set at SXSW here!

Buck 65 has formed a new band called Bike For Three! The band will consist of the MC himself and Belgium’sJoelle Phuong Minh Le (Greeting From Tuskan). Read more about it here.

i(heart)music is offering up live mp3′s of Hannah Georgas’ recent Radio 2 concert. Download it here!

The French Kicks will be at the Horseshoe on April 27th. Tickets are $11.50.

According to their MySpace, Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees will be back in town on June 17th and 18th for NXNE. Excellent!

And for those in Mississauga (because I know you’re out there, reading this), the Mississauga Waterfront Festival will be taking place June 19-21 (unfortunately the same time frame as NXNE) this year at Port Credit Memorial Park. The first night will include Sam Roberts and Kathleen Edwards, with Spoons and 54-40 on the second and Bruce Cockburn and Hunter & Collectors’ Mark Seymour on the third.

And playing on Canada Day in M-town will be the one and only Sloan. Pending on the line up for Harbourfront’s Canada Day festivities (as I’m there EVERY year), I may actually be in Mississauga this year. Wow. (Again, thanks to ‘For the Records’ for the news)

Happy listening!

Musically,

Melody

Young Galaxy

Lame phrase, but I like it.

As you can guess, The Singing Lamb is going to take a tiny, miniscule break from the site! Lambs have school work to catch up on too, you know! And don’t worry, by “Singing Lamb”, I just mean me (Melody). The rest of the staff should still be around, posting exciting news and features for everyone! And by “break”, I mean I’ll only be gone for 2 week, max! I’ll still send news updates over to others to post up so don’t worry, the News Updates will still be around!

May as well leave you with some fantastic news updates though!

Breaking news: Death Cab For Cutie will be at the Sound Academy on Sunday April 5th. This is an all-ages show and it’s a pricy one too – $40.50. But as a good side note, Ra Ra Riot and Cold War Kids will be opening.

The Vivian Girls are back, with Crystal Antlers, at the Horseshoe on May 8th.

The Dirty Projectors are opening for TV on the Radio on June 2nd at the Sound Academy. All-ages, $22.50, doors at 8:00 pm.

Lady Sovereign will be at Lee’s Palace on May 1st. 19+, $20.00, doors at 9:00 pm.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart return to Toronto on April 28th at Lee’s Palace. 19+, $10.00, doors at 8:00 pm.

Opening for Passion Pit on their rescheduled show at Lee’s Palace on April 3rd will be Cale Parks and Paper Route. 19+, $10.00, doors at 9:00 pm.

Murder By Death will play the Horseshoe on April 16th. 19+, $13.50, doors at 8:30 pm.

Hollywood Undead and Madina Lake will be at the Phoenix on April 23rd. All-ages, $18.50, doors at 7:30 pm.

Spinal Tap will be at Massey Hall on May 21st – but “Unwigged and Unplugged”. Read more here.

Lonely Dear will be at the Rivoli on May 8th.

Ohbijou’s April 18th show at the Opera House has been postponed as well as its release date. Further details TBA.

And last but not least, Montreal’s Young Galaxy have finally announced a new album! A release date has not been decided on yet but we do know that the new album is called Invisible Republic and the band has a new single out called “Long Live the Fallen World”. The song is fantastic; a slight departure from their debut self-titled album, but still possesses dreamy pop elements, fused with danceable beats and beautiful vocals from Catherine McCandless. To download the track right now, go to their website! The band will preview their new material on tour so I recommend you check out their set at the Horseshoe during CMW (March 14th, as part of Chartattack’s showcase)! Also, look out for a follow-up interview with lead singer, Stephen Ramsay soon!

See you soon and don’t forget – happy listening!

Musically,
Melody

Patrick Watson

Sorry for the late post but here’s what a couple of things I missed out on yesterday and today!

Patrick Watson has announced a new album called Wooden Arms. That is slated to be released on April 28th. Read more about it here!

Whispertown 2000 will open for Maria Taylor at El Mocambo on April 17th. Tickets are on sale now for $10.00.

So it’s settled, Depeche Mode will be playing at the Molson Amphitheatre. They’ll be there on July 24th.

Elvis Perkins will be in town on April 29th for a show at the Horseshoe.

And in big, exciting, no-way-they-actually-reunited news, No Doubt has announced a huge tour, which will thankfully include Toronto on June 16. They’ll be at the Molson Amphitheatre with opening acts Bedouin Soundclash and Paramore.

Passion Pit has finally released details of their debut full-length. Manners will be out in North America on May 26th. Read more here. Here’s the tracklisting:

Manners:
01 Make Light
02 Little Secrets
03 Moth’s Wings
04 The Reeling
05 Eyes as Candles
06 Swimming in the Flood
07 Folds in Your Hands
08 To Kingdom Come
09 Sleepyhead
10 Let Your Love Grow Tall
11 Seaweed Song

The Dirty Projectors have also announced a new album, entitled Bitte Orca. That will be out on June 9th. More info (and a picture of the wicked album cover) here.

And in exciting Singing Lamb news, we are proud to announce that we’re going to cover this year’s Canadian Music Week festivities! We’ve got our press passes and I just mapped out my schedule, so expect to see a very busy lamb running around the city!

Also, we apologize for our lack of shows updates on the shows page. That WILL be fixed soon! For now, please bear with us and check the news updates often as all concert announcements are made here too!

Happy listening!

Musically,
Melody

Passion Pit

You may remember a commercial that ran over the holiday season for Sony. The commercial itself wasn’t really anything special, just an image of a Sony PSP flying through various landmarks in Canada, before informing us that ‘Canada Plays PSP.’ God help us all.

But that wasn’t important. What’s important was the song that played through it all, by an up-and-coming band named Passion Pit, containing a high-pitched vocal sample (from long-ago harpist Mary O’Hara’s “Oro Mo Bhaidan”) that ran through a propulsive beat and an explosive vocal performance from lead singer Michael Angelakos.

The song has upped the band’s profile considerably, and it doesn’t hurt to be listed by the BBC as one of the fifteen best rising music stars, either.

The Boston-based group became locally popular even before the release of their EP Chunk of Change (the EP is wonderful, by the way. Buy it now.). Angelakos originally gave the EP as a Valentine’s Day gift to his girlfriend, and didn’t expect it to even see a wide release.

Currently wrapping up their first full-length album, Passion Pit are set to embark upon a tour that will include a show here in Toronto (woo!) at Lee’s Palace on April 3. Angelakos stated in an interview a while back that the band would kick off their tour in Canada, though apparently that is no longer the case – much to my personal dismay.

Synthesizer and sample-meister Ayad Al Adhamy informs us via e-mail:

The Singing Lamb: Since Chunk of Change was a Valentine’s Day gift that you didn’t think would get a wide release, have you guys run into any impossibly high expectations for the new album? Anyone saying, “Wow, I can’t wait to hear the official album?”

Ayad Al Adhamy: That is usually the way with bands who release EPs that people really enjoy but the LP is quite different and has progressed a lot. It has evolved, and most bands don’t usually differ too much between the EP and LP. That has allowed us to relax on any pressure we would of had, as we are expecting a different reaction!

So apparently you’re kicking off the LP tour in Canada. What made you decide that, and how excited are you for Toronto in particular?

Ayad: I don’t actually think we are starting off in Canada as we will be doing our last EP tour there before the LP comes out. That being said I can’t wait to go back! Montreal is a beautiful and fun city, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing Toronto.

I read someone who said that Passion Pit sound “like a cross between The Beach Boys and The Flaming Lips.” Do you think there’s any accuracy to this, or are your influences completely different?

Ayad: That is definitely one of the better crosses I have heard! We all have completely different and opposing influences, which is what makes us fun live. Nate DJs and listens to minimal techno, Michael grew up on bands like Aloha and is influenced a lot by Randy Newman. Ian is loves Wilco and Andrew Bird; and I learnt music playing thrash metal… But I think Beach Boys and Flaming lips works well…

Did you guys use any eclectic samples for the new album? And, for all the tech junkies, what kind of synths did you use?

Ayad: There are some very interesting samples – I remembering hearing one that was an african tribe going “yeee” that sounded amazing! But there isnt anything that stands out like the Mary O’Hara-Sleepyhead sample. In the studio there was a bunch of cool gear (Voyager, SH 101, Jupiter 6, MS-20…) but live we use a Fender Rhodes, Yamaha SK-15 (great under-appreciated series), Vintage Rolands synths (Juno 106 and Juno 60), and Moog Little Phatty. I could go on and on about synths and stuff!

Were you guys in any separate bands before Passion Pit?

Ayad: Yep. This is my first band since I moved to America for College, but the rest of the guys have been playing in bands with each other for a while now…

Did you and the band have a specific style in mind when you started the band, or did it just kind of materialize into what it is over time?

Ayad: Michael wrote the EP before we met, so it was pretty obvious. We just took the material and made it our own live show as a band.

How fast did the EP catch on around Boston?

Ayad: We sparked up pretty quickly in Boston, I’m not sure how the EP is doing, but we have gained a loyal following (which is amazing!) Our first show was barely over a year ago so…

Speaking of Boston, why has the Boston music scene been so active lately? It seems that in the last few years, the scene there has kind of exploded. Is there something in the drinking water?

Ayad: I don’t know! I hope we have had a part in that but I really can’t tell you! So many young intelligent college kids maybe?

I’m sure you’re getting tired of this question, but: When do you hope for an official release of the LP?

Ayad: Mid-May 2009.

We must know: where did the band’s name come from? Some sex bar in the heart of Boston?

Ayad: Haha, everyone somehow manages to incorrectly assume it is form the Traci Lords Porno, but in reality Mike picked up the phrase from a class – where a Passion Pit would the back of the Drive Thru (in the 50s) where people would make-out. There you go.

And, last but not least: If you were a singing animal, what would you be?

Ayad: Panda. Singing Kung Fu Panda. Or a Cheshire Cat.

For more Passion Pit, check out their MySpace or go see them live April 3rd at Lee’s Palace!