If you were wondering what happened to all our snow, look no further. In yesterday’s email announcing their new video, Brooklyn’s Spanish Prisoners announced

into our new music video for “Know No Violence”.

So there you have it. The be-all, end-all explanation for what’s happened to our usually frightful winters.In all seriousness, I do love these guys, I streamed their track “Downtown Chicagoland”; and back in October I actually streamed the subject song of this video. So check out the video for yourself, and have yourself an extraordinary weekend (and if you’re looking for a show to see, the Sonic Band of the Month Showcase at the Pawn Shop (TONIGHT!) features a couple of bands I’ve talked about quite a few times – Scenic Route To Alaska; and One Way State).

Another Brooklyn band, Violens, is also set to release their sophomore album on May 15. Called “True”, it’s courtesy of one of our favorite record labels here at NMM, Slumberland Records. The trio’s sound is a beautiful washboard of sonic pop that harkens back to the early 90′s, with silky harmonies and extraordinary guitar hooks. Check out the song “Unfolding Black Wings” below.

Before the full album comes out, they’ll be releasing singles periodically, as well as a limited edition 7” on April 17 featuring “Totally True”, and the non-album track “Something Fall”.

Violens – Unfolding Black Wings

Exitmusic announced yesterday that their newest full-length is complete, and will be released May 22 (Secretly Canadian). Titled “Passage”, it was recorded at Rare Book Room in Brooklyn, whereas their debut EP “From Silence” was recorded at home. Sometimes you lose something in that transition, but it seems, at least from the title track (which you can stream below), that it’s done nothing but amped up the power, and the emotion, of what was already an incredible level of talent from this duo.

Check it out below; after which we’ve got their current tour itinerary as well.

Tour Itinerary

Young Liars released their debut EP – “Homesick Future” – on Nettwerk earlier this week. Now, to be fair, it’s seven tracks, which is the one number for which I never know whether it should be an “EP”, or an “album”. Hell, Braids (who regulars will know I absolutely love) received enormous plaudits for their “Native Speaker” as an album, which had seven new tracks (there were also two remixes).

Interestingly, Young Liars sort of reminds me a bit of Braids. A little unrefined, still finding themselves, but so laden with talent you may find your jaw dropping a few times while listening to the EP. A little eclectic, certainly different, not afraid to try something to see what happens, but at its base this album is what I would call electro-pop. Not unlike Grouplove, whose comparison I drew earlier this week as well. No surprise, since the similar styles also overlap in terms of a song called “Colours”.

The quartet, actually met each other while over in Paris of all things, quickly came to realize they had similar musical tastes and styles, and poof, once they returned to Vancouver they started playing and recording. And the result is obviously to our great benefit, with a peppy, toe-tapping selection of songs. “Echoists” is a pretty, precise little track with tinkling keyboards overcast with deep synthesizer tones. The next track is “Colours”, as noted above, my clear favorite track on the album. The title track “Homesick Future” is another memorable track, as is the longest track on the album, “Newton Forgive Me”.

The band do an amazing job of blending guitars with keyboards, hence the electro-pop notation, but the keys and synths are still pretty subdued, quite apart from what Braids does. The sheer nakedity of some of the tracks is also striking, with startling periods of nothing but drums, for example. The songs are neither short or long, but catchy, hook-filled indentations that you’ll likely find yourself humming or singing for days. An extraordinary first effort, and well worth checking out the next time you’re in front of your computer (or iPhone, or music store, or wherever you listen to new music).

Young Liars. Homesick Future EP. Now available on Nettwerk.

Metric (photo by Brantley Gutierrez)

Just received word that Metric, who I saw last September as part of the Sonic Boom festival, and whose cover of DFA’s “Black History Month” was my #4 song of 2011, will be releasing their fifth studio album on June 12th. Titled “Synthetica”, it will be released worldwide on the band’s own label, Metric Music International (apparently they’ve been hard at work behind the scenes undoing “all their business entanglements”).

Work on the new album began almost immediately after Metric finished touring “Fantasies” (which reached #6 in Canada) back in November 2010, returning to Giant Studios in Toronto, and finishing up a year later at Electric Lady Studios in New York. The album was produced by Jimmy Shaw (guitars/synthesizer/theremin); and mixed by John O’Mahony.

Vocalist Emily Haines “first envisioned the word ‘Synthetica’ as the name for a particularly resilient skin-job from Blade Runner, a female replicant who voices an inner monologue of all your human imperfections”.

That’s all the news we have for now on the album. I would expect a track listing and cover art in the next month or so, as well as details on a tour to support the album.

Little Scream, photo by Brantley Gutierrez

One of the artists that has been hanging around my inbox for some time now is Little Scream (aka Laura Sprengelmeyer) – currently on tour with Plants & Animals, and which will be touching down here in Edmonton on March 27^th at the Starlite Room (full itinerary below). Sprengelmeyer was born in Iowa, but is now embedded in the rich, emboldened music scene of Montreal.

I’m pretty sure the show was already on my radar (and I know I am back from the Czech Republic by that date), but even if it wasn’t before, it definitely would be now, because I absolutely love her track “Cannons”, which you can stream below (which is part of last year’s “The Golden Record”, long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize). Love. Love. Love. Eclectic changes of pace, choral chanting, slap-across-the-face percussion. Simply amazing.

Little Scream – Cannons

Tour Itinerary

Archers Of Loaf – Vee Vee (Merge)

Chad Valley – Point Of Go (Dovecote)

Cheap Girls – Giant Orange (Rise)

Cursive – I Am Gemini (Saddle Creek)

Earn – A Following Shadow (PPM)

Galactic – Carnivale Electricos (Anti/Epitaph)

Grimes – Visions (4AD). Of course NMM has mentioned this Montreal artist before. Definitely worthwhile checking out.

Jurado, Damien – Maraqopa (Secretly Canadian). Definitely different. But that’s often a good thing. Slow, dreamy ambient-like singer-songwriter from Seattle with a lot of crooked twists and turns, and significant homage to 70′s rock. How I’ve never heard of him before but he’s been making records since the late 90′s kind of boggles me, especially when he’s been on two of my favorite labels, Sub Pop and Secretly Canadian, but there you have it. Highly impressed in a quick preview last night, and I get the feeling it’s an album that could grow on me a lot. I’ll definitely be checking out more later this week (maybe it would make good ‘roadtrip’ material for upcoming weekend).

Lambchop – Mr. M (Merge)

Menzingers – On the Impossible Past (Epitaph)

Nervous Curtains – Fake Infinity (Greyday/Latest Flame)

People Of the North – Steep Formations (Jagjaguwar). A double LP recorded at the Ocropolis in 2010/2011m with just three “official” songs – Border Waves Part 1 (20m4s); Part 2 (20m5s); and Steep Formations (31m14s). The band features Kid Millions and Bobby Matador of Oneida. Pictured.

Perfume Genius – Put Your Back N 2 It (Matador)

Pontiak – Echo Ono (Thrill Jockey)

Princeton – Remembrance Of Things To Come (Hit City USA/Easter Everywhere)

Rose, Frankie – Interstellar (Slumberland/Memphis). One of two albums I’d definitely recommend checking out this week. Absolutely loved her as Frankie Rose & the Outs; not completely sold on this album yet but give me a few more listens.

Sleigh Bells – Reign Of Terror (Mom & Pop). This band’s 2010 album “Treats” was my #4 album for that year; and we more recently streamed a teaser video back in December for the new album. I remain unconvinced, much like Frankie Rose … but I’ll definitely be checking it out sometime this week regardless – I owe them that much at least.

Stelling, Christopher Paul – Songs Of Praise & Scorn (Mecca Lecca)

Terry Malts – Killing Time (Slumberland). Stream “Nauseous” from this California pop-punk trio.

Tindersticks – The Something Rain (Constellation)

Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know (Fatcat)

Young Empires – Wake All My Youth (n/a)

Young Liars – Homesick Future (Nettwerk). NMM streamed “Colours” off this album a couple weeks ago; and we’ve had the full EP for a week or so now. Expect a review later this week. Kind of remind me of Grouplove.

One of the albums that’s been getting a lot of spins on my Iphone since I first received it is Wooden Sky’s new release, “Every Child A Daughter Every Moon A Sun” – which drops February 28^th (Black Box). The Toronto band features an alt-country-folk with epic overtones – compelling, somber, inquisitive, with an overarching intellectuality; think Blue Rodeo meets Bon Iver. Much of the album was recorded at Montreal’s Hotel 2 Tango; other songs were recorded in various spots across Ontario and Quebec.

Check out the opening track below (“Child Of the Valley”), as well as live dates – with a lengthy tour that passes through just about every province, as well as some east and west coast U.S. dates.

Tour Itinerary

I was flying through my twitter timeline earlier this morning, and came across a youtube link. Didn’t think much about it at the time, but clicked through, and was greeted with the most amazing Travel Alberta video ever. Three minutes worth, featuring some of the most amazing cinematography I’ve seen in the last few years. And all through it, I’m thinking how amazing the song is too, and holy crap the voice sounds familiar. Sure enough, after it’s finished, I flip through the additional information, and the song is “Roam” from Calgary’s Wil Mimnaugh – who we’ve talked about a couple times in the past (and is currently starting a new tour; check out his itinerary below).

At any rate, check it out – great track; great video (you can watch it embedded of course, but in this case I definitely recommend viewing it full-screen). And if you’re from Alberta, or visited our lovely little province in the past, you’ll undoubtedly recognize a few of the locales. Seems pretty appropriate for a holiday that our former premier created and has quickly become one of the biggest getaway weekends of the year.

Tour Itinerary

Cleveland’s The Lighthouse And the Whaler are set to drop a new EP “Pioneers” ever so shortly, *and* will also be in Austin for South By Southwest in March. They’re also just finishing up their sophomore LP, which should drop later this year – produced by Ryan Hadlock (Ra Ra Riot, Blonde Redhead). Take a listen to the title track from the EP below, an elegant indie pop track that’s sure to set your toe tapping.