Stars' three show residency at Lee's Palace is now on sale here. If you don't want to pay ticketmaster's insane service fee, Rotate This and the Horseshoe have some still available (I picked up mine on my lunch break). According to the bartender at the Shoe, the tickets are going fast (they have been selling them since friday of last week). Get them before they're all gone.


Holy Fuck's debut self-titled debut album is incredible, and it comes out tomorrow. Check out their MySpace to stream a couple songs. Read BlogTo's interview with the band here. Think Tortoise, produced by DFA, playing instruments stolen from the sisters in Cocorosie. Total ass-shaking, body-rocking greatness.


Bell And Sebastian have confirmed the album title and release date of their next release. The Life Pursuit will be released in the UK on Feb. 7th (No North American release date as of yet). Check the fork for more info.

Concert News -
- The Most Serene Republic have announced a Toronto date at Lee's Palace on November 26, 2005. Tickets are on sale this morning from here and here.
- Blood On The Wall make their debut Toronto appearance at Lee's on December 11, 2005, ticket detailed to come.
- The Constantines supported by The Hold Steady and Detroit noise hipster Thunderbirds Are Now! hit Toronto Nov. 2nd. Tickets are on sale now.
- Stars play three shows at Lee's on Dec.16th and 17th (2 shows on saturday!!), no ticket details as of yet, BUT these shows are gonna go like crazy, so keep your eyes open for ticket info.

Some quick music news:

- The fork has finally reviewed the Joggers and the new Metric albums. I guess Brooklin Vegan's fork and A&C conspiracy theory can be laid to rest....but wait...Metric aren't on A&C...let the conspiracy continue!!! Ps. Check out the Joggers album, it made me RUN to the HMV near work and gobble it up at a ridiculous price (damn business district!!).
- LCD Soundsystem's Toronto show on November 18th has been moved from The Carlu to the Kool Haus. Tickets are on sale now. Note the late start time (10pm).
- Karen O from the YYY's talks to BANG! about their new album stated for an early 2006 release.
- Ukula's throwing a mini festival titledd Bright Lights Festival at the Distillery District on Novemeber 5th. It will feature sets by Elbow(only Canadian date in 2005), The Duke Spirit, Islands (featuring two members of the defunkt Unicorns), The Call Up (featuring members of The Stills and The Dears) amongst others. Tickets are only $25, get them here or here.
- Central Village has attended two Wolf Parade shows in the last couple days. Check out the reviews here. He also has a rare track (Disco Sheets) posted for your listening pleasure. Check Brooklyn Vegan's pictures from last nights show in Brooklyn.

I think the O.C. has really changed Death Cab For Cutie's fanbase. Surveying the audience while waiting for more than an hour outside the venue before their Toronto appearance at Kool Haus on October 15th, I noticed a pleather of Chanel and Louis Vuitton handbags present. It seems that people were coming to be seen and the music was secondary (the audience was ultra-loud during both Youth Group and DCFC's sets). Back to the line. The line streched around the entire venue almost an hour before the show. Scalpers (damn you all) were asking $200 a ticket, and one middle-aged mother was willing to trade two Gold Leaf tickets for two DCFC tickets. Kudos to the promoter of the show for releasing 50 tickets at the door, it forced the prices of the tickets on the street way down (I heard one person say that they got two for $160). Inside the venue, the bars were completely empty (the show was attended by masses of underagers), while the merch both was the place to be. Youth Group opened the show and played a strong set featuring songs from their Epitaph debut Skeleton Jar. Alas, they did not play their incredible cover of Forever Young.
DCFC hit the stage to a thunderous applause, and quickly launched into Marching Bands Of Manhattan, which sounds 400 times better live than on CD. Ben Gibbard's voice was surprisingly strong considering that the Toronto date fell mid-tour. The setlist consisted of a wide mix of songs from this years Plans and 2003's Transatlanticism. Ben and Co. even played a couple ancient tracks dating as far back as their first cassette release. The show could have been better had they sequenced their songs in a smarter fashion, more weight on standout fan-favourites would have held the audience's attention (they didn't play some of my favourite tunes including Title Track, 405, and A Lack Of Colour. Chris Walla shined as he jumped from instrument to instrument, he doesn't seem to get the praise he deserves as a musician. Here is the setlist from the show:

Marching Bands Of Manhattan
The New Year
Why You'd Want To Live Here
Summer Skin
Soul Meets Body
Different Names For The Same Thing
What Sarah Said
Crooked Teeth
President of What?
Pictures In An Exhibition
The Sound Of Settling
We Looked Like Giants
Expo '86
Title and Registration
A Movie Script Ending
Photobooth

Encore:
I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Tiny Vessels>
Transatlanticism

Ben's solo performance of I Will Follow You Into The Dark was breath-taking, and the double hit of Tiny Vessels and Transatlanticism was an amazing way to end a near-perfect evening.

Check out Chart's two part interview with Mr. Gibbard here and here.
Read Eye Weekly's review of the show here.
Get Ben Rayner's take on the show here.

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last week or so. I'v been crazy busy at work and weekends have been spent running around. Since my last post, I attended the gorgeous Antony and the Johnsons show at St. Pauls, and the DCFC show at the Haus.

First off, I believe the Mercury Prize must have really helped sell tickets to this show, as not only was it sold out, but an hour before the doors opened, the line streched around the block. CocoRosie opened the show, who I saw back in the winter open for Bright Eyes at the Phoenix. I didn't think much of them the first time around, but their latest release Noah's Ark (Touch And Go) has been getting hordes of press and decent reviews. They sound like a cross between Joanna Newsom (yup they have a harp too) and Cat Power. The Cassidy sisters supported by their angry looking beatboxing female friend played an awe-inspiring set that seemed to capture the attention of the entire crowd. Their set consisted mainly of material from Noah's Ark, but they also played a couple tracks off their debut La Maison De Mon Reve (including an stellar verison of Jesus Loves Me). The sisters use many found objects to create their brand of trashcan folk. Sierra uses a variety of children's toys, while Bianca plays more traditional instruments such as piano, harp and acoustic guitar. The only thing missing from the set was an impromtu duet with Antony on Beautiful Boyz (Antony sings the chorus on the album). Also, I would have liked to see less from the beatboxer, her presence on stage sometimes overshadowed the brilliance of the others. If your at all intrigued, check out this site.
Antony and his Johnsons arrived on stage to a standing ovation (not the only one of the evening), and launched into the beautiful, frail My Lady's Story. From that moment on, the entire crowd hung on every note he sang, every word he said. Antony has totally come out of his shell on stage. The last time I saw him (at the Drake), he rarely looked at the audience and never spoke between songs. This is no longer the case, Antony engaged the audience between songs with stories and jokes including a funny one about playing a spanish festival after a minor-piano celebrity and feeling like a "two fingered tranny". His set consists of almost all of I Am A Bird Now, a few tracks of his debut, and two brilliant covers, Leonard Cohen's The Guests, and The Velvet Underground's Candy Says. He also did a short hilarious cover of Whitney Houston's I Want To Dance With Somebody (sooo funny). It seems that he finally accepts his new found popularity and has embraced it. His new support band compliment his stripped down arrangements very well, especially Rob Moose on guitar and violin. Antony is currently on tour in Europe. Here are the upcoming dates:

October 25,2005 Barcelona - Barcelona Teatro Musical, October 26, 2005 Palma de Mallorca - Auditorium de Palma de Mallorca. phone: +34 971735328, October 28, 2005 Huesca - Periferias Festival, October 29, 2005 Valencia - Green Space, October 31, 2005 Lisbon - Coliseum http://www.ticketline.pt/ tel: +351 210036300, November 3, 2005 WIEN – Semper Depot "From Warhol To Madonna", November 4, 2005 Lille - Aéronef http://www.fnac.com/ tel: 0892 683 622 http://www.ticketnet.fr/ tel: 0892 390100, November 6, 2005 Nantes - Olympic http://www.fnac.com/ tel: 0892 683 622 http://www.ticketnet.fr/ tel: 0892 390100, November 7, 2005 Paris - Olympia http://www.fnac.com/ tel: 0892 683 622 http://www.ticketnet.fr/ tel: 0892 390100, November 9, 2005 Antwerp - Bourla http://www.toneelhuis.be/ tel: 0032/(0)3/224 88 44, November 10, 2005 Bruxelles - Ancienne Belgique (sold out), November 13, 2005 Oslo - Rockerfeller www.ticketmaster.no, November 14, 2005 Stockolm - China Teatern tel: 077-1707070 www.ticnet.se, November 15, 2005 Copenhagen - Vega http://www.vega.dk/ tel:0045 70 263 267, November 17, 2005 Helsinki - Tavastia tel:+358-600-11616 www.tiketti.fi, November 19, 2005 Roma - Parco della Musica , November 22, 2005 Wolverhampton – Civic Hall tel: 01902 552121, November 23, 2005 York - Grand Opera House www.getlive.co.uk/york (tel.) 0870 606 3595, November 25, 2005 Dublin - Vicar (tel.) 0818 719 390, November 27, 2005 Berlin – Volksbuhne tel: +49 30 247 67 72 / 247 76 94, November 28, 2005 Berlin – Volksbuhne tel: +49 30 247 67 72 / 247 76 94, November 3-0, 2005 Glasgow - Academy (tel.) 0870 600 100, December 2, 2005 Bristol - Academy tel: 0870 771 2000, December 4, 2005 London - All Tomorrow's Parties, December 5, 2005 London - Shepherd Bush Empire (tel.) 0870 771 2000, December 6, 2005 London - Shepherd Bush Empire (tel.) 0870 771 2000, December 7, 2005 December 8, 2005 Amsterdam - Le Carre tel:0900 2525 255 -(tix on sale on Sept. 10th), December 10, 2005 REYKJAVIK - Fríkirkjan, December 11, 2005 REYKJAVIK - Fríkirkjan.

I've run out of time, so my DCFC will have to wait until tonight.

Peace Out!