I don’t think it’s that much of a secret that John K. Samson is one of Canada’s most fiercely intelligent, talented, and flat-out important artists. His work with Propagandhi is the stuff of Canadian punk legend and his work with his current band, The Weakerthans, just keeps getting better and better. Case in point, Reunion Tour, one of the finest records of 2007.

Reunion Tour seems to have had a lengthy gestation period as it comes nearly four years after the last record by The Weakerthans – but the record is all the better for it. Each song manages to perfectly encapsulate a moment, a feeling or an idea. In the case of Elegy for Gump Worsley, for example, the band spin a delicate, subdued tribute to a Canadian hockey legend who passed away earlier this year.

In fact, this is one of the most “Canadian” records I’ve heard in a very long time. While the Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Feist, and the Wolf Parade/Sunset Rubdown/Handsome Furs conglomerate tend to grab most of the Canadian indie rock headlines, it is The Weakerthans that most accurately capture (whether intentionally or not) the sounds, the stories, and the psyche of Canada and Canadians.

This is not to say the record has a narrow focus, far from it. I really believe it’s a fabulous piece of work with universal appeal. From the crashing opener Civil Twilight through the melodic Sun In an Empty Room to the closing slide guitar of Utilities, Reunion Tour never falters. Seldom does a record come around that hits every note it strives for. Reunion Tour does.

Download
The Weakerthans – Sun In An Empty Room
The Weakerthans – Night Windows

My girlfriend is sick in bed while I’m up by myself liveblogging the Rugby World Cup. So I’m going to post Whitley’s new video for I Remember as I think she’ll like it for a couple reasons. First, she’s on a Japan kick these days and the video was shot in Tokyo. Second, it’s a great little song and she has a soft spot for male singer/songwriter’s that aren’t named Bob Dylan. Feel better Amanda!

Whitley’s debut album, The Submarine, is out now on Dew Process.

Photo of Tokyo was found here.

The National have announced an Australian and New Zealand tour for January! The dates so far are as follows:

15 JAN 2008: AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Studio
17 JAN 2008: BRISBANE, Australia – The Zoo
18 JAN 2008: MELBOURNE, Australia – The Corner

I believe only one of those dates conflicts with a Big Day Out date so I’m thinking of adding them to the long list of rumoured BDO 2008 performers (along with Interpol, Queens of the Stone Age, LCD Soundsystem, Bjork, Arcade Fire etc etc etc). We saw them back in June in Vancouver under very jet-lagged conditions so I’m looking forward to seeing the band again (hopefully not amongst a bunch of bogans in broad daylight). They are definitely a great live band.

Download
The National – Fake Empire
The National – All the Wine

Thanks to Joe for the heads-up.

In the midst of posting numerous coded messages on Dead Air Space (the latest hinting at a March release for LP7), Radiohead have also posted a photo of Thom in the studio singing Up On the Ladder (pic above).

This song has been kicking around since the Kid A sessions and was played live a number of times on the band’s 2002 Iberian tour but the song didn’t show up on Hail to the Thief. When I first started hearing recordings from the shows in 2006 I thought Up On the Ladder would fit in well with them. Perhaps the band agree. We’ll have to wait and see if the song shows up on LP7.

Download
Radiohead – Up On the Ladder (live 2002-08-07)

BEST NEWS IN AGES.

One of the three artists on my “Must See Before I Die” list is finally coming to Sydney. The Sydney Festival has announced that Bjork will be playing the Sydney Opera House (The Forecourt) on January 23. AWESOME. Tickets are on sale on November 2 and will be hella expensive. But who cares, it’s frigging Bjork. The news got even better when the SMH “confirmed” that Bjork will also be headlining Big Day Out 2008.

As I mentioned just a few days ago when I was spreading rumours, since the Arcade Fire share management with Bjork a tour by them seems to be on the cards for January as well. Just this morning FBi stated that the Arcade Fire would almost surely be playing Big Day Out. Well now with the Bjork confirmation I would almost guarantee that. Hopefully the Arcade Fire play a sideshow or two in Sydney as well. The end of January looks amazing. Start saving now, kids.

Rage Against the Machine will almost surely be playing Big Day Out as well. Expect the official Big Day Out announcement soon.

Bjork: Earth Intruders

(And here’s a recent Bjork setlist to get you stoked.)

UPDATE: Bjork.com has an info page set up, including a photo of the likely stage configuration.

I’m not familiar with a ton of Ned Collette’s work, but I really do think that the Melbourne-based musician is quietly working his way towards being “One of Australia’s Finest Songwriters.” He’s about to release his second album, Future Suture, this Saturday (September 29) in Australia and New Zealand and from the sounds of the first single it should be a pretty special record.

I can’t quite place what makes this song work for me. But it does. Oftentimes a first single gives you a pretty good idea of what the record is going to sound like, but I’m not sure if this is one of those times. The song just seems complete in itself that I’m really intrigued to see how it fits into a larger piece of work. Definitely check this one out.

Download
Ned Collette – The Country With A Smile

And I posted this earlier this year, but here is his TV on the Radio cover again.

Download
Ned Collette – Hours

Collette has a ton of shows lined up for Melbourne but keep your eyes open for other dates around the country very soon. If Joanna Newsom likes him enough to have him open shows you know you should take notice…

After nearly three months of silence, Radiohead began once again uploading artwork to their Hodiau Direkton page. They had promised a September comeback and they have returned with homework for their fans.

The Worm Buffet icons are actually coded messages that have sent fans on a suprisingly short-lived mission to crack the code (here’s a cheat sheet courtesy Citizen Insane).

So far the messages (which are archived here) have read (beginning with the one above:

YES
WE ARE
STILL
ALIVE

BLINK YOUR EYES
ONE FOR YES
TWO FOR NO
CODE
CODE
CODE

XENDLESS

Dead Air Space is also getting updated with codes as well. The most recent Dead Air Space post either has a new code or the band have deliberately posted nonsense. Discussion here. Fun times! There have also been rumours of the band meeting with a big US indie label…

Download:
Radiohead – Videotape (live in Amsterdam)

^^^ That will be on LP7.

With Rage Against the Machine announcing a couple Australian shows in late January it certainly seems as though they will be headlining Big Day Out 2008. I’m sure more rumours/announcements will be forthcoming soon regarding Australia Festival Season but I am getting really impatient for news about Arcade Fire and Bjork.

Bjork rumours continue to swirl around shows in February while Arcade Fire’s wiki page (which I know is beyond sketchy as far as concrete info goes) claims they will be touring Australia for the first time in “early 2008.” Amanda heard something about Rage and Arcade Fire making for a great festival on FBi this morning but didn’t catch it all. I HOPE that Arcade Fire are not headlining Big Day Out unless they do plenty of sideshows as I’d really like to avoid BDO, especially if Rage fans are out in full force.

One reason it make sense that both Bjork and Arcade Fire would come out around the same time is that they share management. They played a few of the same festivals this year and both acts played the same venue in my hometown within days of each other. I’m not saying they’ll be touring together, just that they’ve been in each other’s neighborhood a LOT this year.

Who knows more? Spill it.

Download:
Arcade Fire – Wake Up
Arcade Fire – Black Mirror

Here’s pretty much all I know about Melbourne’s Devastations:

They are now based out of Berlin, one of my favourite cities.
They have just released a brand new record called Yes, U.
They seem kind of dark. And kind of awesome.
Devastations is one of the best band names. Ever.
This song kicks ass:

Download:
Devastations – Mistakes

That is all.

While I was back in Vancouver in July I finally took it upon myself to check out a few Canadian bands I’d been hearing a lot about but had yet to get around to. The band that has stuck with me most are The Besnard Lakes.

The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse is an album that requires a great deal of time to really absorb (well at least it did for me). As it was so critically acclaimed I assumed it would grab me from the off…but it didn’t. However, I stuck with it and have found the record to be an incredibly warm, organic, beautiful work that sounds a bit different every time I hear it. Recommended.

Download:
The Besnard Lakes – And You Lied To Me

You can also check out the video for For Agent 13 here. But if it takes name dropping to sell you on a record: members of Stars and Godspeed (amongst others) help out on this album.

The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse is also one of the nominated albums for Canada’s Polaris Prize which will be awarded on September 24th.

Rage Against the Machine announced their Australian tour today. They will be playing the Entertainment Centre here in Sydney on January 22. They will be playing Melbourne on January 30. Guess who’s headlining Big Day Out? I think that is more than just a rumour now.