Concert Catch-Up: 4 Knots, Canada Day Concert, Ian Hunter at Maxwell's

Having fallen off the blog-posting wagon, we herewith present a round-up post of some recent concerts we've been to (two of them free, no less).

4 Knots Music Festival, South St. Seaport

Parquet Courts at the 4 Knots Festival.

The third edition of the successor to the Coney Island Siren Festival once again featured two stages with bands of varying styles. Most of the ones we saw at Saturday's festival were firmly in the indie pop/rock vein: The Men, Parquet Courts, The Babies, and White Lung (the latter having a punk feel to them). And then there was Marnie Stern, a New York singer/guitarist whose chops on the axe are impressive, but whose singing style resembles screaming too often for our tastes.

Sadly, we missed the two top-billed acts at 4 Knots, Reigning Sound and Kurt Vile and the Violators, because we had to head uptown for the next show..

Canada Day Concert, Central Park SummerStage

The Joel Plaskett Emergency at SummerStage.

The variety of styles at the three-act Canada Day concert was even more evident. The concert started with a performance by a First Nations group (native Canadians) group, followed by the roots-Celtic band Spirit of the West, pop-rockers The Joel Plaskett Emergency, and electronic pop star Lights.

Plaskett really got the crowd going with tunes such as "True Patriot Love" and "Nowhere with You," and then the teen girls moved to the front of the stage for the very popular Lights. Although she started out writing and performing her songs by herself on electronic keyboards, for her current live shows she performs with a full band, including a drummer and two additional keyboard/laptop artists (who also play guitar and bass).

It was a good night of music, and even the non-Canadians in the house had to be touched when all the show's musicians came out on stage to sing the national anthem, "O Canada," along with show host George Stromboulopolous.

Ian Hunter and the Rant Band, Maxwell's

Ian Hunter on stage at Maxwell's Tuesday night.

The final month of shows at Maxwell's is upon us, and the much-loved club is going out with a band with a schedule packed full of great gigs. Ian Hunter, who last year played the much-larger Highline Ballroom to launch his latest album, brought his six-piece band to the small stage in Hoboken for a sold-out out.

Hunter played songs old and new, from Mott the Hoople to his earlier solo works to a couple of tunes from last year's album "When I'm President." As with the Highline show, Hunter showed he can still rock, and his Rant Band is full of skilled veteran players (including former Hobokenite and Bongos member James Mastro).

The show was opened by the duo of Amy Rigby and Wreckless Eric, two performers who have played Maxwell's many times over the years, together and individually. It felt nostalgic to see them on the stage for the last time, one of many such moments to come over the next few weeks.

One big moment (or rather, set of them) will be when The Feelies play their final year of 4th of July weekend shows at Maxwell's. The Haledon, NJ band formed just a couple of years before Maxwell's open, and it has played the club many times (as have its various spin-off groups).

Free NYC Concerts this Weekend: Canada Day at SummerStage, 4 Knots, & More

June is going out with a loud musical bang this weekend, and for some people (including me) it'll be tough to choose between two favorite one-day festivals. That's because Saturday, June 29th features both the 4 Knots Music Festival at South Street Seaport and the return to SummerStage of the Canada Day concert.

The 4 Knots festival is one of several great free summer shows this weekend.

This third year of the 4 Knots Music Festival features another strong lineup (on two stages again), headlined by Philadelphia's Kurt Vile and the Violators (see lineup below). The festival runs from 1 to 8 p.m. near Pier 17 at the Seaport.

SummerStage used to have a Canada Day concert the weekend before the actual holiday (which is July 1st), but there hasn't been one for a number of years. This year it's back with a vengeance, as a whole-day event as part of Canada Day International (which includes a Great Canadian Picnic taking place for several hours before the concert).

The 2013 Canada Day concert is headlined by electro-pop musician Lights, and also features rocker Joel Plaskett and folk rock band Spirit of the West. Showtime is 6 p.m.

Young fan rocking out at last year's 4 Knots Festival.

SummerStage will host what sounds like another great show on Sunday: a live performance of the classic Big Star album "Third," featuring an all-star lineup of musicians including Mike Mills (of R.E.M.), Jody Stephens, Sharon Van Etten, Kurt Vile, Marshall Crenshaw, Pete Yorn, Mitch Easter, and Reeve Carney. Oh, and a chamber orchestra. The show starts at 7 p.m.

Here's the 4 Knots lineup, as listed on the poster. Set times have not yet been provided, but I'll insert them as soon as they're announced. [UPDATE: 4 Knots set times were posted earlier this morning here; I've entered the info below.] You can also see the 4 Knots Twitter page for updates.

Pier 17 Stage

• Steve Gunn, 1 p.m.
• Hunters, 2 p.m.
• White Lung, 3 p.m.
• Parquet Courts, 4 p.m.
• The Men, 5 p.m.
• Reigning Sound, 6 p.m.
• Kurt Vile & the Violators, 7 p.m.

Pier 16 Stage

• Heliotropes, 1:30 p.m.
• Fat Tony, 2:30 p.m.
• The Babies, 3:30 p.m.
• Marnie Stern, 4:30 p.m.

All of these shows are outdoors, of course, so let's hope for good weather. Enjoy!

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from Jack White, Dry the River, Norah Jones, & More

Jack White's debut solo album "Blunderbuss" is the proverbial 800-pound gorilla of the new and upcoming releases available for streaming now. It's available not through one of the usual streaming websites but through iTunes, which says only that you can preview it for a "limited time only." Since that could only be a few days, head to this link soon to preview Jack White's "Blunderbuss," which comes out April 24th. (Below see his recent "Saturday Night Live" performance of "Sixteen Saltines," which is on the new album.)

Also, Jack White will performing at Webster Hall on April 27th; tickets go on sale on Ticketmaster to American Express cardholders at 12 Noon tomorrow, April 17th, and to the public at 3 p.m. In addition, the show will be streamed live on Vevo (at www.youtube.com/JackWhiteVEVO), with Gary Oldman directing the webcast. [Update: Read a review of "Blunderbuss" by Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune here.]

What else is streaming this week? The latest album by Moonface (a.k.a. Spencer Krug, best known for his work in the bands Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown; see video below); new releases from indie bands the Arkells, Maps & Atlases, and Dry the River; Canadian alt-rockers Our Lady Peace, back with their first album in three years; And there's "The Pearl Sessions," a collection of music recorded by Janis Joplin during, as you'd no doubt guess, the sessions for her "Pearl" album.

NPR First Listen:

"Little Broken Hearts" by Norah Jones
"Orangefarben" by Sea of Bees
"The Body Wins" by Sarah Jaffe

Spinner.com's Listening Party:

"Beware and Be Grateful" by Maps & Atlases
"Shallow Bed" by Dry the River
"Cynic's New Year" by Horse Feathers

"Michigan Left" by the Arkells

"Signs and Signifiers" by JD McPherson
"With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery" by Moonface

"The Pearl Sessions" by Janis Joplin

"Butterfly Boucher" by Butterfly Boucher
"Transmissions From the Grand Stand" by King of Prussia
"To Walk Beside That Ghost" by Racing Heart
"Rescue" by The Commuters

AOL Music Listening Party: 

"Curve" by Our Lady Peace
"Poor Moon" by Hiss Golden Messenger
"Infinity" by Tatiana Kochkareva

2012 Juno Winners: Feist, Dan Mangan, Sheepdogs are Multiple Winners

 

Feist continued to win awards as well as critical acclaim, taking home three honors at this weekend's 2012 Juno Awards. Other musicians to take home multiple awards were singer-songwriter Dan Mangan and rock band The Sheepdogs, both winning two Junos. (You can see a Junos backstage interview with Feist here.)

The Junos are Canada's equivalent of the Grammys, and are put on by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Feist won the awards for Artist, Adult Alternative Album (for "Metals"), and Music DVD of the year.  This year's Juno Awards were held in Ottawa Saturday and Sunday nights; some awards were handed out the first night at a gala dinner, with a televised awards ceremony (hosted by William Shatner) distributing the rest on Sunday. (You'll find the complete list of Juno Award winners here.)

In some of the other major categories:

• The Arkells won for Best Group
• Dan Mangan received New Artist and Alternative Album honors (for "Oh Fortune")
• The Sheepdogs took honors for New Group and Rock Album for "Learn & Burn"
• The Wailin' Jennys won the Roots and Traditional album for "Bright Morning Stars"
• Malajube took home the Francophone Album award for "La Caverne"
• Hedley's "Storms" won for Pop Album
• Terri Clark snagged the honor for Country Album for "Roots and Wings"

A number of categories featured nominees with little in common except that they're Canadian; in the Artist of the Year competition Feist beat out rapper Drake, standards crooner Michael Bublé, rock band City and Colour, and house/electronic music producer Deadmau5. And although there were plenty of strong Canadian albums released, especially in rock, the Album of the Year competition featured nominees Avril Lavigne, Drake, Justin Bieber, Nickelback, and Michael Bublé. (Even stranger, the winner was Bublé, for his album of Christmas songs.)

Free Album Streaming: Radiohead Remixes; New Music from Indigo Girls, Dan Mangan, & More

The remix album of Radiohead's 'The King of Limbs" is one of the albums you can preview this week.

The new Radiohead remix album called "TKOL RMX 1234567" heads up the new releases that are up for online streaming this week. It features songs from the band's most recent album, "The King of Limbs," remixed by artists including Caribou, Four Tet, SBTRKT, and more. I'm generally not a fan of remixes (they generally come across like novelty songs to me), but since it's Radiohead I'll be giving a listen. OK, probably a few.

Paste says that the band had released a series of vinyl singles over the summer, each featuring a few of the remixes, and it is now assembling them into one double-length album, to be released Oct. 10th. To celebrate the occasion, Radiohead is holding a record release party the next night in London, featuring Thom Yorke and other artists playing DJ. (The article says it will be streamed online.)

What other new albums are streaming online this week: "Beauty Queen Sister" by Indigo Girls, "Reverie" by Joe Henry, "People and Things" by Jack's Mannequin, and "Oh Fortune," the latest by rising Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Mangan.

There's also the promising-sounding collection "Batman: Arkham City - The Album"with tunes by some of my favorite groups of the last few years: the Duke Spirit, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the Raveonettes, and the Boxer Rebellion, as well as Coheed & Cambria and Panic at the Disco.

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"TKOL RMX 1234567" by Radiohead
"Batman: Arkham City - The Album"by Various Artists
"Oh Fortune" by Dan Mangan
"Beauty Queen Sister" by Indigo Girls
"People and Things" by Jack's Mannequin

KCRW Album Preview: 
"On the Water" by Future Islands (streaming until Nov. 1)
"Reverie" by Joe Henry (streaming until Nov. 1)

Alright, what new albums are you looking forward to hearing or buying this week?

Canada Day 2011 in NYC: The Great Canadian Songbook Concert At Joe's Pub

Joe's Pub will be full of Canadian song tonight for its annual Canada Day shows.

Today is Canada Day, that nation's independence day, and in New York City that means it's the day of the annual "Great Canadian Songbook" concert at Joe's Pub. This show features a number of Canadian singers from different genres performing songs written by many of the famous Canuck songwriters of the last few decades.

There are two shows tonight, at 6:30 pm and 9:00 pm. You can find more information and buy tickets here).

Canada does indeed have a long and deep pool of excellent musicians and songwriters, and it goes well beyond Rush, the Guess Who, and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. At the Great Canadian Songbook concert you might hear songs from such greats as Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn, and many more... including Nelly Furtado, Gino Vanelli, Lighthouse, and Bryan Adams. And yes, probably some Burton Cummings, Guess Who, or BTO tunes.

The performers for tonight's show, from the Joe's Pub website:

Tyley Ross (East Village Opera Company, The Who's "Tommy"), Greg Naughton (The Sweet Remains), singer-songwriters Jamie Leonhart, Joe Hurley, Anthony da Costa, and Kate Schutt, cabaret spitfire Shelley McPherson, Tony Salvatore (BETTY, Pleasuredog), Shannon Connolly (Lez Zeppelin), and chanteuses Lezlie Harrison, Melissa Stylianou, and Victoria Cave (Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata, Cabaret, Steely Dan), all backed by the all-star "Workin' for the Weekend House Band" led by Music Director Peter Kiesewalter (Brooklyn Roadfunk Orkestrata, East Village Opera Company).

If you're in New York and want a fun musical way to celebrate Canada Day, check out the Great Canadian Songbook concert at Joe's Pub.

(Unfortunately, the NYC City Parks' SummerStage series no longer holds a Canada Day concert; this was a tradition for a while but there hasn't been one for several years.)

And as always, I want to thank CBC Radio 3, and especially Grant Lawrence's podcast, for keeping us all up to date on the latest in Canadian indie music.

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from The Antlers, The Cars, Sloan, Warren Haynes, More

The new album by the Antlers (shown here playing NYC's River Rocks series last summer) is available for free preview.

There are a lot of good new albums for free preview right now, especially from AOL Music/Spinner (AOL seems to have merged its Spinner album previews into AOL Music).

Of particular interest: the new Danger Mouse album, which features vocals by Jack White and Norah Jones; the Broadway cast recording of "The Book of Mormon," the no-holds-barred musical from the "South Park" creators; new albums from indie favorites The Antlers, Sloan, and Okkervil River; and the first albums in many years from new wave bestsellers The Cars and from Warren Haynes, guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule. Oh, and a greatest hits album from the Beastie Boys and new albums by Sloan, Booker T. Jones, and Kate Bush. (Note: I just realized the Warren Haynes Band is playing at NYC's Beacon Theatre Thursday, May 12th; you can get tickets here.)

As always, there are more offerings available than the selections shown below.

NPR First Listen:
"The Book of Mormon" Cast Recording
"Feel It Break" by Austra (Canadian band blending classical music and electronica)
"Director's Cut" by Kate Bush
"Follow Me Down" by Sarah Jarosz

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Rome" by Danger Mouse And Daniele Luppi (streaming until June 7)

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Burst Apart" by The Antlers
"I Am Very Far" by Okkervil River
"Move Like This" by The Cars
"The Road From Memphis" by Booker T. Jones
"Solid Gold Hits" by Beastie Boys
"Celebration, Florida" by the Felice Brothers
"She Was a Boy" by Yael Naim
"The Double Cross" by Sloan
"Man in Motion" by Warren Haynes
"Life Like" by Joan of Arc
"Collider" by Sam Roberts Band

Neil Young, Arcade Fire Win Multiple Juno Awards

Neil Young won three Juno Awards Sunday night in Toronto. Photo: Andrea Barsant via Flickr

Neil Young is on a roll: the crusty old rocker won three Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys) Sunday night, just weeks after winning his first-ever music Grammy. In a night otherwise dominated (on the rock side, anyway) by indie darlings Arcade Fire, the 65-year-old rocker took home Artist of the Year honors and Adult Alternative Album of the Year for "Le Noise," as well as the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award. The latter is said to be given to a prominent artist with a long history of humanitarian work, and the Spinner.com article says that it was given to Young primarily for his work in co-founding Farm Aid, the annual concert that benefits farmers.

Montreal's Arcade Fire took home some of the night's biggest awards, including Album of the Year (for "The Suburbs"), Group of the year, and Songwriter of the Year. Some other major Juno winners in rock and pop:

• New Artist of the Year: Meaghan Smith
  
• New Group of the Year: Said the Whale
  
• Rock Album of the Year: Matthew Good, "Vancouver"
  
• Producer of the Year: Daniel Lanois for "Hitchhiker" (from "Le Noise" by Neil Young) and "I Believe in You" (from Black Dub's self-titled album)
  

See the full list of 2011 Juno Awards winners here.

SXSW Music: Concert Podcasts, More Coverage

Brooklyn's The Antlers (shown here at NYC's RiverRocks festival last summer) will be webcast live on March 17th.

SXSW is in full swing, and you can get a lot of content online. NPR Music hosted its first live webcasts from SXSW 2011 today, and a couple are already archived for download (by the Smith Westerns and the oddly named, yet catchy, band known as Yuck). Others you can stream online, including Raphael Saadiq and electronic musician James Blake.

Thursday the 17th NPR Music will start webcasting at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, but I'll be checking in later on to listen to three acts I'm interested in: the new band Wild Flag at 3:30 (featuring Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss from Sleater-Kinney and Mary Timony from Helium), the Welsh group The Joy Formidable at 4:15, and The Antlers at 5:00.

For people like me who enjoy alternative Latin music, NPR Music's Alt.Latino blog takes a look at some of the new Latin musicians who are playing SXSW.

There are plenty of Canadian bands at South by Southwest, and CBC Radio 3 is doing some live audio webcasts. You can find those and the network's other SXSW coverage here. And check out their SXSW preview podcast, which spotlights some of the Canadians performing in Austin this week, with tunes by Jenn Grant, Said the Whale, and Oh Susanna.

For more international coverage of the goings-on in Austin, check the British newspaper The Guardian's SXSW section.

New Music Podcasts: Favorite Cover Tunes, Elvis Costello Live, Gospel Christmas Tunes, & More

Check out the free music podcasts below for holiday and non-holiday music for your Christmas travels. Photo: SteveStrummer 

Since lots of folks are traveling around Christmastime, how about some downloading some music podcasts to listen to to occupy the time? Here are a bunch of them, enough (we hope) to drown about the all loud cellphone conversations of the people around you at the airport or on the train. And the more raucus holiday arguments at the dinner table.

* Over at Coverville, you'll find a stocking full of recent podcasts. First off, there are the first two parts of the podcast's annual countdown show of listeners' 40 favorite cover tunes. Included is recent NBC "Sing-Off" contestant On the Rocks performing their a cappella rendition of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance."

Also on Coverville is the two-part tribute to the Talking Heads, performed by the podcast's listeners. As you'd expect, the quality and styles vary widely, but Coverville clearly has some very talented listeners.

And finally, Coverville offers its Christmas Cover Show 2010, with new versions of not-your-average holiday tunes, including remakes of "Christmas Wrapping" by The Waitresses and "Last Christmas" by Wham.

* The CBC Radio 3 podcast presents Home for the Holidays, a show in which listeners from all over the world make long-distance requests of their favorite songs by Canadian artists to send out to their loved ones.

* If your taste in Christmas music runs to the sacred side, download the podcast of the annual Christmas Eve Gospel Music program on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show. It includes tunes like Mahalia Jackson singing "Silent Night" and the Swan Silvertones doing "Great Day in December."

Also, the Lopate show today rebroadcast (and reposted the podcast of) a live set by Elvis Costello and band at WNYC from back in November. He plays tunes from his latest album, produced by T-Bone Burnett, which shows the country/bluegrass side of the British rocker.

* KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic has a new in-studio live set with Jamie Lidell, the British producer who, the station says, can be found "sliding into neo-soul songs as easily as he slices through spacey folk-blues." For some reason recent MBE podcasts don't show up on their webpage, bou can download the podcast through iTunes (and probably other podcast download programs as well).

Merry Christmas!

Free Music: Mellow Music Podcasts for Thanksgiving Weekend

Sixteen-year-old Canadian singer Nikki Yanofsky is featured in a live concert podcast from CBC Radio 2. Photo: Florian Kragulj

Since many of us here in the U.S. (including me) are still recovering from Thanksgiving dinner and are in a groggy turkey coma, here's a selection of mellow music podcasts for free download, much of it recorded live in concert. And interestingly, much of it is from Canada (where they celebrate Thanksgiving in October).

The Acoustic Long Island podcast has three new episodes in the last month with live performances by singer-songwriter Kat Mulvaney and the folk-blues duo Nini and Ben.

The Canada Live podcast from CBC Radio 2 has several good recent podcasts with singer-songwriters from up north:
* the Great Canadian Song Quest 2010 concert;
* the Rootstock concert featuring Sarah Slean, Joel Plaskett, Steven Page, Hawksley Workman, and others; and
* a concert from 16-year-old singing phenom Nikki Yanofsky, who wowed viewers around the world with her rendition of "O Canada" during the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympics earlier this year.

I'd never heard of the Canadian singer-songwriter Al Tuck, but apparently he's one of those individuals who is much-loved by his fellow musicians but is underappreciated by the masses. CBC Radio 3 devoted a recent podcast to Al Tuck, with songs by Tuck himself and covers of his tunes by a variety of Canadian artists, who also talk about what he has meant to them and their music.

Tonight: Land of Talk, Suuns, & Little Scream at Bowery Ballroom

I've been wanting to see Montreal indie rockers Land of Talk for a few years now, but missed them a couple of times. And then came singer/guitarist Elizabeth Powell's encounter with throat polyps, which caused the band to cancel its 2009 tour.

But now Land of Talk is back and sounding as good as ever, and with a new album "Cloak and Cipher" that came out in late August. Land of Talk plays Bowery Ballroom Saturday night on a bill with Suuns and Little Scream.

Suuns, also from Montreal, used to be called Zeroes but changed their name because of legal reasons. They made a big splash at last month's CMJ festival, and the NY Daily News said their music is "repetitious, distorted and sometimes as lumbering as a zombie trying to walk. But it's also got momentum, thrills and mystery to burn." The New York Times called Suuns "drone scholars."

Tickets ($15) are still available at the link above at the door. Doors at 8 p.m.; show scheduled to start 9 p.m.

Japandroids End Their Long Tour with a Rousing Maxwell's Show

Brian King (left) and David Prowse of Japandroids at Maxwell's Wednesday night.

During Wednesday night's show at Maxwell's in Hoboken, Brian King of Japandroids announced that this was their first ever show in New Jersey. As it turns out, he and bandmate Dave Prowse couldn't have chosen a more appropriate place for their first concert in the Garden State, which also happened to be the last date on their lengthy tour.

After more than a year and around 250 gigs, Japandroids wrapped things up with sore voices but energy to spare at the club that for more than 30 years has hosted a who's who of up-and-coming artists. R.E.M. played there in 1981 (back when Michael Stipe still had hair), and since then the Maxwell's stage has hosted performers ranging from Beck to The Fall to Throwing Muses, The Donnas, and Sleater-Kinney.

I had heard lots of good things about Japandroids over the last year and a half, but had never seen them live until last night, having missed three previous shows for a variety of reason. The show had all the sound and fury I expected, and though Japandroids have gotten enough acclaim and great press to have developed swelled heads, Brian King sounded remarkably modest onstage, several times thanking the crowd for coming out for a mid-week show.

By the time Japandroids tour again, their popularity may preclude them playing a venue as small as Maxwell's (which holds about 200); they've already played much larger venues in New York. But it was great to see them in such an intimate space.

Canadian Bands a Big Presence 2010 CMJ Music Fest

As a big fan of Canadian indie music, I'm glad to see a big turnout of bands from up north at events like this week's CMJ Music Festival. Brooklyn Vegan said it all in its headline yesterday: "Canadian invasion @ CMJ 2010." Invasion may be a strong word, but the always-notable Canadian presence at the jam-packed five-day New York City festival may be stronger than ever. (The CMJ Music Fest began Oct. 19th and ends on the 23rd.)

The largest assembly of Canadian talent in one place at once will be the M for Montreal CMJ showcase at Arlene's Grocery on the Lower East Side on Thursday, Oct. 21st. Here's the lineup:

7 p.m.: The Luyas
8 p.m.: Uncle Bad Touch
9 p.m.: PS I Love You
10 p.m.: Random Recipe
11 p.m.: Red Mass
12 a.m.: The Pack A.D
1 a.m.: Radio Radio

Besides the M for Montreal showcase, there are plenty of other gigs featuring Canadian acts at the CMJ Festival. The Brooklyn Vegan article notes many of them (including Woodhands playing Friday night and Two Hours Traffic on Saturday). And Dan Mangan plays the Mercury Lounge at 7 p.m.

Speaking of Thursday, there are plenty of other interesting acts playing that day, and night. Among the many, many performers on Thursday's CMJ schedule:
1:30 p.m.: Walter Parks at Gallery Bar
7:30 p.m.: Oberhofer at Public Assembly
8 p.m.: Eisley at Gramercy Theatre
8 p.m.: John Vanderslice at Mercury Lounge
8:30 p.m.: Susan Cowsill Band at Maxwell's, Hoboken

Notable Music Podcasts: Polaris Prize Show, Fall Music Preview, Jimi Hendrix Covers

Above: Montreal's The Besnard Lakes are one of the performers in the Polaris Music Prize podcast from CBC Radio 3. Photo: Nick Davis

Here are some of the more interesting or timely music podcasts that have come out in the last week:

* Canada's Polaris Music Prize was awarded Monday night, and Karkwa took home the top prize. All 10 short list nominees performed at the gala awards ceremony, and CBC Radio 3's latest podcast has live songs from all of them. This two-hour podcast has introductions to each of the performers, but other than that the focus is on the music, as it should be.

If you prefer, you can also stream the Polaris Prize performances and see photo highlights on the CBC's website.

* NPR Music is out its annual Fall Music Preview show. It looks at and samples of new tunes form upcoming albums from artists including Deerhunter, Sufjan Stevens, Brian Eno, Tricky, Sharon Van Etten, Belle and Sebastian, and Mark Ronson and the Business.

* The Coverville podcast presents a show of covers of songs written or performed by Jimi Hendrix in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the death of the 1960s Seattle guitar hero.

2010 Polaris Prize to be Announced Tonight

The winner of the 2010 Polaris Prize, recognizing the best album of the year by a Canadian musician, will be announced at the gala ceremony in Toronto tonight. The nominees and winners are "selected solely on artistic merit without regard to genre, sales history or label affiliation."

The awards ceremony will be shown live online at Much Music at 8 p.m. Eastern time, and televised on the network on Saturday, Sept. 25th at 9 p.m. Eastern. You can also listen to the proceedings on the CBC Radio website, CBC.ca and on Sirius satellite radio channel 86.

Here are the nominees on the final "short list" (you can find profiles of the Polaris finalists at Much Music). The short list was winnowed down from a "long list" of 40 albums.

• The Besnard Lakes, "The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night"
  
  
• Broken Social Scene, "Forgiveness Rock Record"
  
  
• Caribou, "Swim"
  
  
• Karkwa, "Les Chemins De Verre"
  
  
• Dan Mangan, "Nice, Nice, Very Nice"
  
  
• Owen Pallett, "Heartland"
  
  
• Radio Radio, "Belmundo Regal"
  
  
• The Sadies, "Darker Circles"
  
  
• Shad, "TSOL"
  
  
• Tegan And Sara, "Sainthood"
  

Broken Social Scene Rocks Central Park

The sprawling Toronto music collective Broken Social Scene took over Central Park's Rumsey Playfield last night for a sold-out show that featured many new tunes (and a few new members) but maintained the band's characteristic sound, with a horn section, flute, and plenty of electric guitars.

Kevin Drew announced at the outset that the band was going to just play for two hours, and he was true to his words. Aside from occasional pauses to introduce songs or various band members (and to send several of them crowd-surfing into the audience), the group went through one song after another.

As expected, there was an emphasis on its latest album, "Forgiveness Rock Record" (which came out in Spring), with the band performing songs including "Texico Bitches," "Forced to Love," "Art House Director," and "Water in Hell." But BSS played many of its older favorites as well, including "7/4 (Shoreline)," "Fire Eyed Boy," "Superconnected," "Looks Just Like the Sun," and "Lover's Spit."

Above: Andrew Whiteman (left), who also performs as The Apostle of Hustle, performs lead vocal on a song.

As always, the band included its founders Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, along with longtime BSS  core members Andrew Whiteman and Charles Spearin. Lisa Lobsinger is now the lone woman, singing the female vocals that were performed in the past by Leslie Feist, Amy Millan (of Stars), or Emily Haines (of Metric).

Drew remarked that the band had been together for 10 years, and several times thanked the audience for being fans and for coming out to see them over the years. He also thanked the crowd for coming out to the night's show, saying that they knew that there were many concert options in New York City.

Above: Several members of Broken Social Scene crowd-surfed into the New York night.


Broken Social Scene's tour continues through mid-December with dates in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Mexico. 

Metric Headlines Free Brooklyn Concert Thursday

Metric played a sold-out show at Manhattan's Terminal 5 a few months back, but on Thursday, August 5th they'll be crossing the East River to headline a free concert in Brooklyn.

The outdoor show, the latest in the annual Celebrate Brooklyn series, has Emily Haines and band leading a trio of female (or female-fronted) acts. Also appearing on the bill are Holly Miranda and Joan as Police Woman.

Gates open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7. Find out more details about the free Metric concert at Celebrate Brooklyn at show's the event page. (Although the show is free, a $3 donation is requested.)

Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to the free Metric concert, but the good news is that it's because I have tickets to see Arcade Fire at Madison Square Garden Thursday. That show, which also features Spoon on the bill, now has Canadian singer, composer, and violinist Owen Pallett as the the opening act, so it will be quite an evening for Canadian musicians in New York.

Canada Day Focus: Sarah McLachlan Back with New Album, Lilith Fair

OK, Canada Day is pretty much over (except for people on the West Coast), but thought I'd post this late article on one of the most successful musicians from the Great White North, Sarah McLachlan. She's just started performing on the revival of Lilith Fair (which, appropriately enough, played a show in Vancouver on Canada Day).

It's been 10 years since McLachlan first started Lilith Fair, which went on for three consecutive summers (she says she never planned for it to go on indefinitely), and there have been a lot of changes since then: for the music industry and for McLachlan.

Downloads (legal and illegal) are the biggest means of music distribution these days. As for McLachlan, she is now divorced and has two daughters. With the girls getting a bit older, she and her Lilith co-producers felt the time was right to resurrect Lilith Fair. And McLachlan is back with a new album, "Laws of Illusion," which dropped on June 15th.

It's definitely a challenging economic environment in which to stage a cross-country North American tour. The promoters announced today that 10 Lilith Fair dates had to be cancelled; others had previously been moved to smaller venues. (Fortunately the Lilith concert I'm attending, the July 31st New York/New Jersey show, is still a go.)

You can find a live session McLachlan did for Starbucks above (22 minutes). And you can read an article and see a bit of discussion and singing she did for the Wall Street Journal's "Speakeasy" blog.

Sarah McLachlan has gotten a lot of other press attention, too, which is good to see: you'll find a Los Angeles Times article on McLachlan here, and one from Reuters here, titled "Sarah McLachlan Resurfaces With New Album, Tour."

Good luck to Sarah McLachlan on Lilith Fair 2010, and Happy Canada Day!

Concerts in NYC Wed., June 23rd: FREE Shows by Brand Nubian, Solas, & the McCoy Tyner Quartet; Sarah Harmer at City Winery

If you're looking to hear some music on Wednesday night in New York, you're in luck: there are some very talented veteran artists in town, representing totally different genres. And three of the shows are free.

Hip-hop pioneers Brand Nubians bring their socially and politically conscious music to a free SummerStage concert in Crotona Park in the Bronx at 7 p.m. More information: info@SummerStage.org or (212) 360-2777. (Directions to Crotona Park)

Over at the SummerStage home base in Central Park, there's a concert that's long on jazz talent, as reflected in the show's name: "George Wein's CareFusion Jazz Festival with The McCoy Tyner Quartet featuring Ravi Coltrane, Esperanza Spalding and Francisco Mela and The Stanley Clarke Band featuring Hiromi." It's a mouthful, but that's a lot of jazz chops assembled in one show. For more info on the McCoy Tyner Quartet free show (which also starts at 7 p.m.), see the SummerStage info above.

Solas, a group that has long been influential in Celtic music, plays this week's free Madison Square Music series concert at Madison Square Park. Their Celtic roots sometimes branch out to incorporate blues, folk, country, and even jazz. Showtime is 7 p.m.

As much as I'd like to see the free Solas show, I'll be elsewhere Wednesday night. One of my favorite singer-songwriters, Canadian Sarah Harmer, came out with a new album, "Oh Little Fire," today, and will be introducing it to NYC with a record release party at the City Winery. While this isn't a free show, tickets are as little as $20 and are still available.