Hater Mondays: September will see the release of The Indie Rock Coloring Book, a compendium of illustrations by Andy J. Miller based on the oeuvre and aura of his favorite indie rock bands, including a “fill in Rilo Kiley’s hair” page and a “psychedelic” MGMT “playground”. We cannot front too hard because any proceeds the book collects will go to the Yellow Bird Project, which works with indie rockers to raise money for various charities. But the arrival of this illustrated tome forced us to delve into the psyche of such conceits—whose clear geneses reside in twee—which cherish an infantilized notion of “childlike splendor” and abhors the concept of “acting appropriately according to one’s birth year in relation to the present.” True, perhaps there are some extremely advanced children of coloring book age who will enjoy recreating the movie projector on The New Pornographers’ Twin Cinema album cover in crayon. More likely, we envision a gaggle of 24-year-old boy-men in rust-colored turtleneck sweaters using Utrecht-purchased colored pencil packs to fill in a Broken Social Scene maze (possibly while listening to ancient Beat Happening records). Caveat Emptor, amigos! Carpe Diem! This is not the new primitivism! Benjamin Button was a work of fiction! LIVE YOUR LIVES!

This past Saturday, stars aligned as Broken Social Scene reunited for a brief moment, with Emily Haines, Amy Millan, and Feist taking a break from their respective musical enterprises to jam with their former group at Toronto’s Harbourfront Center. This show is only one of many things on the band’s radar, including the recording of a new full-length, a book, and, apparently, starring in an upcoming film. Titled This Movie is Broken, the movie revolves around a fictitious couple attempting to score backstage passes to a BSS concert. The producers of the film are currently looking for footage of Toronto; to find out how to submit your filmic meditation on the lovely Canadian city, look here.

There is an abundance of footage on YouTube of the band’s performances from Saturday, check them out here.

(via Pitchfork)

Above is the troublesome cover art for The Real Feel, the real deal solo debut from Spiral Stairs, neé Scott Kannberg and co-founder of almighty Pavement. You may have already tinkered a bit with Kannenberg’s work fronting Preston School Of Industry, but The Real Feel marks his first outing under the pseudonym with which most music nerds still know and sorta miss him. Word according to the Matablog is that the recording went down in Seattle late last year and includes contributions from former members of PSOI and the Posies, as well as Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. That very same blog is currently streaming new track “Maltese Terrier.” Give it a listen, album’s out on Matador in every format imaginable on October 20th!

Words and interview by Kyle Rother
Photos by JENZ

Southern California’s Local Natives make it hard to draw comparisons. There are similarities here and there — Broken Social Scene and Fleet Foxes are among the contemporary names thrown around — but the Natives’ style is less erratic than BSS, more ballsy than the Foxes. Their harmonic style is indicative of the influence of hazy beach bums of 60s SoCal and Zombified Brit pop, while their percussion philosophy derives from somewhere more natural: a unifying connection between the five-piece developed over hours spent living together in their own guerilla hideaway in Silverlake, Calif.
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It has been 10 years since Explosions in the Sky formed at a local Austin, Texas pizza place and started playing together. Now, in celebration of their anniversary the band has decided to play four shows with some very special guests this summer.
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