My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree

Toward heaven still.

And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill

Beside it, and there may be two or three

Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough.

But I am done with apple-picking now.

Excerpt from…..After Apple Picking, by Robert Frost

……Leaves turning to brown.  Frost on the window.  Blood on our Hands?  Holiday season is a heavy sales period for the records you’ve put the groundwork into months previously.

The New Pornographers should be our hottest selling title over the holidays.  The new album, “Challengers” has been selling solidly with some radio support and a bit of video support….and most of the world hasn’t yet seen or heard “Myriad Harbour”, my favorite track on the record.  The Toronto show at the Phoenix a couple of weeks ago was phenomenal.  You don’t see Toronto crowds ask for a double encore very often.  I wish I had seen their Webster Hall show in NYC – from everything I’ve read it was epic.  In case you missed them, check these links to our friends at KCRW and NPR – streaming New Pornos 24/7 for all the world to hear.  YouTube nation stepped up to the NPs challenge…check out the winning entry here.  Watch for new music from Carl and friends on iTunes in December….(ho ho ho!)

Boys Noize is hitting hard, even harder than expected.  The critical raves for Oi Oi Oi are dropping like the leaves on the pine tree outside my house.  In the words of Resident Advisor, we should all believe the hype.  We are about to announce the imminent release of a Boys Noize remix EP, as well as more eagerly anticipated North America tour dates….watch for all of this in early 2008.  Talking about his WMC set in Miami, Kid Millionaire said, “It was the best DJ set I’ve ever seen…I really think he’s the future”.  Your President was there too….it was insanity.  Go see him play, trust me.

I’ve seen over 100 Metric shows.  If you were at the Fonda on October 5^th you saw one of the best Metric shows of all time.  YouTube’s got some clips.  The lights, the energy, the sound…the smell of Fall in the air!  And all of this the day before they performed for MySpacers around the globe for “Hey, Play This!”…(which I’m happy to say set an all time viewing record in Myspace land.)  Metric are putting it all into their live show, playing a bunch of new songs and hitting another level with consistently inspired performances….worth the price of admission.  The buds of a new album are about to blossom and Spring/Summer 2008 should be time for this band to take their rightful place amongst the Art Rocker elite.  Their first DVD, titled “Live At Metropolis”, is readied for release February 12^th, 2008 (check out the trailer).  And just to get the Metric faithful through the holiday break, we are releasing a live audio/video EP in early December featuring highlights from the Metropolis show….all bundled in a nice package on iTunes for 99-cents!….(breaking the mold even Jay-Z couldn’t).

Crystal Castles hit the road with Metric for all of their recent U.S. dates, flew home and finished tracking their album, then flew off to the UK to start the UNITAUR! tour sponsored by our friends at Vice.  They will do a few weeks of European dates before heading back to the UK to open for Mercury Prize winners, The Klaxons….to be followed by a visit to Japan and Australia before coming back home to Canada for the holidays.  We are currently planning their February/March 2008 U.S. tour and look forward to bringing the new album with us!

Was that Chromeo on Jimmy Kimmel?  Was that Chromeo on MTV (the REAL MTV??!!!) many, many times?  Is it true they are working with Hall & Oates??  Hell yeah!  These gentlemen bring the real spirit of Rick James to the party….(and they don’t even have to hire impersonators to play it live).  Their new video for “Bonafide Lovin’” is golden delicious…check it here on LGR.TV.  MTV is playing the video everyday….though our good friends at MuchMusic are still holding out – help Dave1 and P Thug get some video love by requesting it here through MOD.

Mother Mother continue their Exclaim! presents cross-country trek with Most Serene Republic and Dragonette.  An odd bill that seems to be working – especially for MM.  They’ll be back in the studio very soon working on the next recorded installment.

Let’s Go To War played their first show ever…..but you wouldn’t know it from the clip that Aaron put together for us – it’ll be up on LGR TV very soon.  We are working on releasing their first piece of vinyl in early 2008. The whole city’s got a cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An apple a day.

Your President.

__________

……First we take Manhattan, then we take… September marked your President’s first visit to Berlin.  It was very nice…candlelight and Dubonnet on ice.  Ironically, I booked the travel to hang out with Boys Noize and he was on tour in North America while I was in the Deutschland.

As Xavier of Justice says, “Boys Noize makes the words ‘german’, ‘techno’ and ‘dj’ sound cool again”. Listen to his album (Oi Oi Oi released everywhere September 25^th) and go see him DJ…..things will melt – like a Richie Hawtin set at Watergate….overlooking the Spree River at 4, 5, 6, 7 in the morning???  “I’ll pick you up around 1:30AM and we’ll go out – is that too early?” “huh?”.  Daddy’s flown across the ocean leaving just a memory snapshot in the family album.

Metric and Crystal Castles are on tour together across the U.S. right now.  Metric are using long sound checks to work on new material for their forthcoming album which we hope will be out next summer. Like a fine wine…it’s going to take some time.  New York and LA were maddness…..did you see them at Webster Hall?  If not, you can catch them in San Francisco at the Download Festival…..or better yet, live on the World Wide Web via our friends at MySpace (Emily and crew will be taking requests from YOU…all you gotta do is send them in – check out the details here – “Hey, Play This!”.)

The debut Crystal Castles album is being mixed now and readied for a February 19, 2008 release.  In the meantime, Last Gang will release a single/EP for CC’s featuring, “Crimewave”, “Untrust Us” and 2 or 3 other tracks to be released digitally in North America in November.  (Don’t fear international friends……it will also be released on Pony Canyon in Japan and Shock in Australia this February…..stay tuned for UK info next month.)  San Francisco massive see them at the Mezzanine if you couldn’t get in to see them with Metric.

The New Pornographers continue to make friends.  Their album “Challengers” debuted at #34 on the U.S. Billboard sales chart and continues to climb to Gold here in Canada.  See their newly minted video on LGR TV very soon.  The NME says “[Challengers] is a staggering masterclass in indie-pop songwriting that will make your brain melt and send firecrackers around your heart.”……seriously.  Have you seen the NPs contest on YouTube?……AC tells you all about it here.

Chromeo just played a handful of shows with the Beastie Boys in Montreal and Toronto.  Dave 1 and P-Thugg…working hard to bring the “2-step” to sold out arenas nation-wide.  Check back next month for the debut of their new video “Bonafide Lovin”…..

Let’s Go To War – (a fitting band name for a blurb about Berlin) –…….are coming……check the video for “Life We Live”.  They’ll be dropping it hard at Pop Montreal (Oct 5 @ FouFounes Electriques and Oct 6 @ Les Saints), CMJ and beyond.  Push Up Ya Lighta!!!!! Say “hello” to our friends at A.D/D. for working with us on this one.  If you’re gonna throw a party, why not do it with the professionals?  Long live Circa.

MSTRKRFT continues to circle the globe. You gotta wonder where they’ll find the time to make their next masterpiece…..but now is the time since Boys Noize and Justice have raised the bar.  If anyone can jump that high it’s JFK and Al.  Let’s just make sure they are wearing parachutes.

Als die Wand heruntergekommen ist, haben einige Leute nicht gemocht, was sie auf der anderen Seite gesehen haben.

Good bye.

Your President.

__________

LL puts the sizzle on the steak sometimes with 16 pt font.  MG cracks the whip when passport photos need to be done.  Lana B. is balling and knows it all.  TDawg is Spock in disguise and is wise beyond his years.  Scoots is quiet but effective.  Pinky is eating for 2 and keeping the pixels in check.  Kayla, Alex, and Julien form an essential intern legion.  Francis makes sure bleed recommendations are followed.  TSim and Shaun fill application after application that our government puts before us.  Jo, Sophie and Kathryn hit up the press.  GMac, Steller, and Sloan knock on radio’s door.  Gazza helps us edit ourselves.  RickDick crucifies campus radio where we live and dominate.  Mr. Shio cuts the cheques and Deke makes sure they don’t bounce.

We are a song away from getting on the map.  We are 2 songs away from becoming a serious business concern.  We are 3 songs away from believing.  We are 4 songs away from being one of the best labels on this continent.  We are 5 songs away from becoming a cultural force.  We are 6 songs away from becoming semi-legendary in indie circles.  We are 7 songs away from being able to cross every velvet rope.  We are 8 songs away from dominating.  We are 9 songs away from being able to truly take care of our families.  We are 10 songs away from thinking we’ve got it all figured out.

Crystal Castles are coming home from the UK where they played the massive Reading/Leeds Festival and nearly destroyed legendary record shop, Rough Trade….see for yourself.

Metric’s new music made the hair on my arm stand up.  Wait until you hear it live as they tour across North America this month and next with openers Crystal Castles…check the tour dates here.  They have some great interactive things lined up for this tour leg…..check their site for details.

Bang Lime just finished their maiden voyage and have returned home…..alive.  Their new video for “Death of Death” is a poignant commentary on the pressures inherent in post-modern society….or maybe it’s just best friends in love dressed in animal costumes?  You be the judge.

The New Pornographers are getting married, appearing on Letterman, making the cover, and selling boatloads.  We are happy with all of the above.  Effortless writers and a dream addition to the Last Gang family.

Boys Noize is dropping “Oi Oi Oi” September 25^th…..so heavy it’s been hard for us to keep up.  His tour dates are here.  His WMC set nearly tore my head off at Studio “B”.  Seeing and hearing is believing.  Check the preorder from our friends at Insound….ya just might get a free t-shirt!

We are almost there.

This month’s PP is dedicated to Haydain Neale.  A father, a husband, a friend and a crackerjack songwriter.  I’m thinking about you everyday Jacksoul.

Your President.

__________

….Killin’ in the name of….. User generated content without the exclamation points.  Do I really have to use those every sentence?  Can’t you tell I’m excited?  Makes you wonder what they are trying to hide with all them damn exclamation points.  In the dancehall when it gets hot they shout “Murdah!!”…and fire off a few rounds.  Booyakah.  Summer time and the living is easy……unless you have so many amazing records coming out…..

We just dropped Metric’s, “Grow Up and Blow Away” which has charted at # 6 on the CMJ chart after only 3 weeks.  This album was recorded in the early part of the decade, but the music is as inspiring today as it was back then.  Full of hope and naiveté…..just the way you still find them today.  Of course, as any band looking to the future would, they downplay how great the record is….but fans are speaking loudly.  Check the iTunes reviews for starters.  Kids are voting with their pocketbook and their hearts! Sometimes they vote by spending even more time making their own videos…..Thank you.

Emily Haines’, “What is Free to a Good Home” will be released July 24^th (Canada/USA)….a day before she and the Soft Skeleton perform at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto (ticket info is here).  The EP is a companion piece to her father’s book (see last month’s PP).  Emily’s busy in the studio….writing and recording new material with Metric mates….and just returned from NYC where she filmed a feature interview for ABC….check back here for broadcast details.

August sees the release of The New Pornographers; their album is called, “Challengers”.  I’ve officially overdosed on the songs and have stopped listening.  More about that masterpiece next month.

MSTRKRFT are taking some baby time off until August as JFK learns about breastfeeding and diapers – and I’m not talking about pictures found at www.lastnightsparty.com.  What is it with our DJ’s and their ability to reproduce?  First Tiga and now JFK.  Welcome to the club boys….7AM wake up calls just took on a whole new meaning…huh?  In between, we design sweet t-shirts…..and the next record progresses – wait until you hear it. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!  More kids voting with their hands and their videos.

Could Claudio of Crystal Castles be far behind???  The CC’s just returned from a 2 week stay in LA working with Squeak E. Clean, although I prefer to call him “Squeaks” because I hear he hates that.  Very excited to see what the recordings and the 4 (…yeah 4!!!) videos look like.  They ripped the roof off the Social in Toronto last week….is that you in the picture?

Boys Noize joins the LG club via our joint venture with Turbo.  Get ready for his album to drop this September.

Mark your party calendar as Last Gang and Turbo celebrate Last Gang’s 5^th Year in show business with gala events at Pop Montreal (October 5^th) and CMJ (October 19^th) featuring: MSTRKRFT, Tiga, Boys Noize, Chromeo, Crystal Castles, Let’s Go To War (more about them next month) and other members of the LG famalia.  Did we just build North America’s dance-floor powerhouse?  These evenings are shaping up to make history. With 3 months notice, do you really have any excuse to miss it?  Is the great clash of the dance-floor and the distorted guitar finally reaching its apex?  Will Metropolis and Studio B melt down into a molten pile of turntables and vocoder rubble?…….

Book your plane tickets and your hotels. We ARE going to kill somebody.

“My mama always used to tell me: ‘If you can’t find

somethin’ to live for, you best find somethin’ to die for.’”

Tupac Shakur

Your President.

Now I can see why…….when times got tough and they wanted to get weird, Jim Morrison and Tony Soprano both headed to the desert.  Last month we again ventured to Indio, California for the annual Coachella Festival where MSTRKRFT laid down a bone-crushing performance.  Picture this – 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 Celsius), 8000 people in tent at 5 p.m., an endless supply of Jack Daniels, Photomatic MC Andrew doing shout-outs, and a posse of about 100 on stage……check the videos and see for yourself.  And on and on and on it went…..it was abusive.  Some hints for Coachella:

1. Bring sunscreen.
2. Don’t expect your phone to work.
3. Pace yourself.
4. Stay home if you hate seeing Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, or, other famous people cozying up to your favorite rock stars (they are everywhere like the empty water bottles littering the park)
5. If you’re at Frank Sinatra’s old house, don’t stand too close to the pool….and bring a gas mask too just in case the cops decide to use pepper spray next time.

Metric have returned from a brief west-coast tour…..did you see them at Vfest?  The band is toiling away in the studio writing the new album.  I tried to film some studio stuff for you….but decided it wasn’t yet fit for human consumption.  We have finally readied “Grow Up and Blow Away”, the band’s previously unreleased album recorded in the early part of the decade… delivered to you with all the love and attention it deserves.  It will be available June 26^th in stores (Canada/US)….or if you live somewhere where they don’t have it, you can buy it online through iTunes or get a mail order copy through the LGR store.  It could become your favorite Metric album.  Enter here and you just might win a copy….and some other cool stuff too.

Josh and Joules – known to the faithful as Bang Lime – have taken time out of their busy schedule with Metric to put the finishing touches on their debut album “Best Friends In Love”…..coming to record shops and websites near you on August 14th (Canada/US).  Tour dates coming in August.

Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton will release an EP, “What Is Free to a Good Home?” on July 24^th (Canada/US).  The EP features all new tracks along with a Massive Attack/Mad Professor inspired remix by TodorK….you can check it out here.  The EP accompanies the release of Secret Carnival Workers which is a collection of Paul Haines’ writing, compiled by his daughter, Emily and family.  Paul isn’t with us anymore, but I can tell through his writing that he would have been a professor in the desert…. schooling Wyatt, Morrison and Carla Bley.  I didn’t know the man but I feel blessed to have his daughter as a part of my life – no matter how hot it gets.

Mother Mother are in the midst of some heavy duty touring across the country.  (Did Perez tip you off?)  They’ll be sharing the stage with the Carey Brothers through the US this July…..you can see all the dates here.  The band just finished their debut video for “Touch Up”….as always, premiered for your viewing pleasure on LGR TV.  Help show the band some video love by requesting “Touch Up” at Much and MTV….

Chromeo have released their, “Fancy Footwork” to the masses.  Listen to Tenderoni once and tell me if that’s a joke.  No one is bringing it like these guys.  Remixes, videos and other good stuff coming soon…. They’ll be making a ton of noise this summer touring North America with Flosstradamus….all the dates and more are here.

Crystal Castles continue to burn up the UK.  Check back for tour summer announcements.  We are busy assembling the first full-length album for international release before the end of 2007.  What darkness lurks in the minds of these kids that refuse to be interviewed and won’t show their eyes?

Here comes the sun.

Here comes the sun.

It’s alright………

(Music and lyrics by, George Harrison)

Your President.

……. Oh Lord. Have mercy on us.

March came in like a kitten and went out like a lion.  Four industry conferences: Canadian Music Week, South by Southwest, Winter Music Conference and the Juno Awards (Canada’s Grammys).

MSTRKRFT’s Diamonds Tour 07 followed the yellow brick road all the way to Pacha in New York where it wrapped up last week.  The traveling DJ spectacle, featuring MSTRKRFT and progressive-house pioneer John Digweed, hit most major cities in the USA throughout March.  There were simply too many highlights to mention them all: Ruby Skye, The Vanguard, Karma, Jett, Spin, Pawnshop…..Ultra Music Festival….and on and on.  Visit the Diamonds Tour official site to see the madness in all its glory!  And in case you missed it, MSTRKRFT have teamed up with Puma to develop a limited edition shoe, the MSTRKRFT 5000m edition….enter here for your chance win!  We’re already busy planning Diamonds 08….send us your DJ suggestions. Did we miss your town?  Did we forget to return your women?  Respect to Urge, Puma, Trevor, Andrew, Michael, Darrin and Mr. Digweed for making it a trip to remember.  Put your hands in the air! The sun is rising and the Crown Royal is plentiful.  Now, touch the sky!  Hallelujah.

Mother Mother brought their holy water to the Lone Star State and performed a baptism for the uninitiated.  This 6 string religion is gonna spread across the land!  Three years ago our blessed DFA1979 performed at the same hallowed venue in Austin and set the world on fire.  It was incredible to get the same feeling watching our Reverend Ryan lead the flock through a barnstorming set that had Germans, Belgians, Japanese, Brits and Americans all drinking the Kool Aid.  It was verbatim.  It was shaking.  Now if I can just digest that Southern brisket and be done with it…..

Metric head into the studio this month to work on new material.  They’ve booked several dates for the third week of May around the Vancouver VFest.  Emily and crew will be busy writing/recording the new record for, God willing, an early 2008 release….however, keep your eyes open for a few more summer tour announcements.  Did you see their feature in Playboy Magazine?  (Read all about it on Pitchfork.)  Their new video for “Empty” just debuted on LGR TV.  Thanks go to Jaron for another fabulous job!  Show them some love by requesting it on Much Music, MTV and wherever else they play your favorites….

Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton are planning a tour of the UK/Europe from May 28-June 10 (dates still being confirmed).  Plans are also in the works to shoot the second video (“Our Hell”) in support of Knives Don’t Have Your Back…watch out for it!

Chromeo’s been busy spreading the gospel as part of the Exclaim! Spring Fling 2007 Tour (alongside You Say Party We Say Die, Malajube and Champion).  Have you heard Tenderoni?  Read the cover story here.

Tiga’s new video for “Louder Than A Bomb” has finally been released to the world – some serious boyznoise!!!!  Expect nothing less from the man recently honored in the pages of L’Uomo Vogue for being one of the “40 People Who Steal the International Scene”…read the full article here.  Also, check out his official podcast series “My Name Is Tiga” for exclusive interviews and remixes (LCD Soundsystem, Guy Gerber, Soulwax….)

Last Gang welcomes Crystal Castles to the LGR fold.  They’ve been making serious waves with their remix work (Klaxons, The Little Ones and Bloc Party) and critically acclaimed EP Alice Practice.  We’re readying their pew at the altar….

Pull on your Last Gang hoodie….heads down everyone…

It’s time to pray for our sins.

Your President.