Media Party

Divine Fits at Lee's Palace

My Morning Jacket at Echo Beach

Sonny and the Sunsets at The Silver Dollar

Magic Trick at The Silver Dollar

Twin Shadow at Lee's Palace

Youth Lagoon at The Opera House

Father John Misty at The Opera House

Dirty Projectors at Danforth Music Hall

Purity Ring at Danforth Music Hall

Fiona Apple at Sound Academy

Spiritualized at The Phoenix

The Drums at The Phoenix

Craft Spells at The Phoenix

Acid Mothers Temple at The Garrison

Howlin Rain at The Garrison

Pretty Good Shjip

Interesting fact: the "j" in Wooden Shjips is not silent, it's pronounced like a "y" (ie. Wooden Shyips). Enigmatic name notwithstanding, the San Francisco psych rockers don't offer the most nuanced or varied live experience, in spite of the musical evolution they exhibit on their new album, West. If their repetitive droning, affectless vocals and abrasive jams don't win you over from the outset, you may as well head home because there's a lot more where that came from. Of course, if you're going in with an informed enthusiasm, you won't be disappointed. Volume alone made the band impossible to ignore during their November 7th show at The Horseshoe, even if their detached demeanour suggested a certain indifference (or obliviousness) to the audience. No words were exchanged and the band elected not to return for an encore, but in terms of stellar musicianship, they got the job done. Eleven days later, I'm still a little deaf. -- JD

Neon Indian at Lee's Palace

As a recording project, Neon Indian is almost exclusively the work of Alan Palomo. On the road, however, Palomo travels with a whole gang of musicians, leaving him free to focus on vocals... and dancing (he also finds time to occasionally fiddle with synthesizers and other electronic gadgets). Rather than simply recreate the tracks from his two terrific albums, Palomo and his band reinvent these tracks live. Below you'll see this practice in action in a pair of videos from the band's October 18th show at Lee's Palace. The first is set opener "Terminally Chill" (from 2009's Psychic Chasms) and the second is "Future Sick" (from this year's Era Extraña). -- JD

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks at The Phoenix

In the eyes of some, Pavement were to the nineties what R.E.M. were to the eighties: the decade's most consistent, influential and ultimately defining indie rock band. In the Pavement biography, Perfect Sound Forever, a diagram of the bands and albums that influenced Pavement was included -- and all six R.E.M. albums from the eighties made the cut. It's appropriate, then, that Stephen Malmus would offer some kind of formal response to the band's break-up on the evening that it was announced (September 21st, 2011). Band break-ups (and reunions) are old news to Malkmus, but on the night of R.E.M.'s big announcement, classic R.E.M. songs played before SM and the Jicks took the stage. The band also opened their encore with a cover of R.E.M.'s "Radio Free Europe". Other than that, most of the show was devoted to tracks from Malkmus' excellent 2011 album, Mirror Traffic, including "All Over Gently" and "Forever 28," which you can watch below (along with a video of opener Holy Sons). -- JD

Wilco at Massey Hall

While TIFF made it impossible for me to be as thorough about WIlco's Massey Hall shows as I was in 2009, I did manage to catch most of night one. As always, Wilco's affably raucous live show elevated the material from sixteen-plus years of (remarkably consistent) albums. Even the band's now familiar tropes (Nels Cline's guitar freak-out on "Impossible Germany," the tentative fan singalong on "Jesus, Etc.") felt fresh and the new material proved worthy of the old. Below you'll see a video of "Born Alone," one of the stand-out tracks from Wilco's terrific new album, The Whole Love. -- JD

Mudhoney at The Horseshoe

In the midst of the chaos at TIFF 2011, Mudhoney rolled-through town to play a pair of shows with Pearl Jam. During a night off from that giant arena tour (while their tour mates were enjoying the attention surrounding Pearl Jam Twenty), Mudhoney played a much smaller gig at The Horseshoe, site of another unforgettable Mudhoney show just three years ago. Once again, crowd surfers were in evidence -- though there was no ceiling fan for them to tear down this time -- and Mudhoney treated the crowd to several classics from the grunge era. See/hear two of their most memorably deranged tracks ("Touch Me I'm Sick," "Suck You Dry") below. -- JD

The War on Drugs at The Drake

The last time we checked-in with The War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel, he was excited about a mysterious double album they were hoping to release this summer. The album (Slave Ambient) came out on schedule and the reaction has been almost uniformly favorable, with most agreeing that this is some kind of breakthrough for the hardworking Philadelphia band. At Wednesday's Drake Underground show, Granduciel playfully reinvented his vocal melodies in a manner that evoked Bob Dylan, one of his primary influences. He also brought Destroyer saxophonist Joseph Shabason (the two bands toured together earlier this year) onstage for powerful renditions of several WOD tracks, including Slave Ambient highlight, "Come to the City." It should also be noted that opener Caveman left a strong impression on just about everyone in the room (Granduciel: "I love their songs. I love their vibe."). Their debut album, Coco Beware, comes out September 13th. -- JD

Closer to Paul

When Paul McCartney came to Toronto last summer, it seemed like an irresistible opportunity, the kind of experience every Beatles fanatic needs to have at least once in his/her lifetime. Much to my surprise, I found myself having this experience a second time last month in Montreal, thanks to a series of strange, fortuitous occurrences. While this year's set list was relatively similar to last year's, a quick comparison of the 2010 videos to the 2011 videos below should give you a sense of the giant difference some really great seats can make. Unfortunately, the combination of McCartney's white shirt and powerful spotlights transforms him into an abstract sheet of light in most of these videos, but rest assured, he doesn't glow in real life. Okay, maybe just a little. -- JD

Woods and Kurt Vile at Lee's Palace

Woods and Kurt Vile have been regulars in Toronto over the last couple of years -- and all the touring appears to be paying off. While Woods continues to balance moody, evocative pop songs with harsh, psychedelic jams, Vile's sound tends to vary from show-to-show. When Vile and his band opened for J Mascis in March, their set emphasized the more accessible, folky sound of this year's Smoke Ring For My Halo. This time around, Adam Granduciel (of The War on Drugs) was back on guitar and the band reverted to the more abrasive noise rock of their show last July at The Great Hall. Below you'll see samples of Woods and Kurt Vile, as well as first opener Arc In Round. -- JD

My Morning Jacket at Kool Haus

You don't really know My Morning Jacket until you've seen them live. As good as their recorded music occasionally is, nothing can prepare you for the nearly three-hour-long bonanza of jamming that their live shows usually become. The jam band label has always been a strange fit for MMJ, as they wisely avoid the wimpy conventionality implied by that designation, instead offering a much more eccentric and varied brand of rock. During their sweaty July 11th show at Kool Haus, they alternated between inventive classic rock and much more unusual, experimental sounds. At most shows, I'm ready to check out after about ninety minutes, but My Morning Jacket can play for nearly twice that long without losing any of their appeal. Below you'll find videos of two songs from this year's Circuital ("Victory Dance," "Holdin' On to Black Metal"), as well as classic tracks from Z ("Gideon," "Wordless Chorus") and It Still Moves ("One Big Holiday"). -- JD

Gang Gang Dance at The Horseshoe

If you've heard Gang Gang Dance's terrific new album Eye Contact, the peculiarities of their July 10th show at The Horseshoe probably came as no surprise. The deafening sounds of opener Nguzunguzu -- who were actually positioned in front of the stage -- continued as Gang Gang Dance began their set, making for a seamless transition. GGD then jammed for a while, before performing several of the best tracks off their new album. Eventually, singer Alexis Taylor headed to the back of the room where she spent some time dancing with a bandmate, whose primary role appeared to be cheerleading (he waved a garbage-bag-on-a-stick flag for much of the show). Below you'll see video of Eye Contact track "Adult Goth," as well as some of the aforementioned dancing. -- JD