This Weeks New Releases

Now that the holidays and New Year are over, the '09 music releases can officially swing into full gear. Catch your breath, as the next two weeks unveil a heavy dose of big name indie releases. Here's some of what we thought you might find interesting.

New releases WK 1/20:

AC Newman- Get Guilty
Andrew Bird- Noble Beast
Animal Collective- Merriweather Post Pavillion
Antony & The Johnsons- The Crying Light
Anya Marina- Slow & Steady Seduction, Phase II
Ben Nichols- The Last Pale Night In The West
Black Gold- Rush
Bon Iver- Blood Bank EP
Clue to Kalo- Lily Perdida
Cut Off Your Hands- You and I
Flight of the Conchords- Angels (single)
The Kills (live session/iTunes)
Matt & Kim- Grand
Metronomy- Nights Out (bonus track version)
Modern Skirts- All Of Us In Our Night
Neko Case- People Got a Lotta Nerve (single)
Thom Yorke- The Eraser remixes
James Yuill- No Surprise EP
White Lies- self titled

The Naked Hearts: New 12" EP

The NYC indie duo of Amy Cooper & Noah Wheeler, The Naked Hearts, met in New York City back in '07 while both played seperately the same night at the same club. The pair who have worked together ever since, have just come out with a brand new 6 song EP, These Knees, which comes out today. The EP is available as a 12" vinyl, as well as digitally via iTunes. The band also have an upcoming East Coast tour scheduled, that kicks off thursd. night in NYC, with a CD release show at Cake Shop.
You can listen to three tracks from 'These Knees' over at the bands myspace.

These Knees tracklisting:
1. Cat & Mouse
2. Call Me
3. No One Nothing
4. One False Move
5. Crashing Horses
6. Only For You

Upcoming tour schedule:
Jan 22 THESE KNEES RELEASE SHOW! at CAKE SHOP New York, NY
Jan 23 THE FIRE Philadelphia, PA.
Jan 24 GARFIELD ARTWORKS Pittsburgh, PA.
Jan 25 THE TREEHOUSE Columbus, OH.
Jan 26 THE BLUE NILE Harrisonburg, VA.
Jan 27 NARA SUSHI Richmond, VA.
Jan 28 THE CAVE Chapel Hill, NC.
Jan 29 THE RED & THE BLACK Washington D.C.
Feb 6 Death by Audio Brooklyn, NY.

Listen to The Naked Hearts on myspace.

photo credit: Duly Lee

New U2: single streaming , album details

U2's new single "Get On Your Boots" from their upcoming album, No Line on the Horizon, debuted today around radio stations around the globe. The band have also made the track available for streaming over on their myspace page, as well as here. The brand new LP will be released March 3rd in the US & March 2nd in the UK and rest of the world, and it will come out in six different formats, which is starting to become a disturbing trend it seems. You can get the more traditional formats of CD, vinyl and digital, but then the album is also available as a magazine, a deluxe gatefold CD, which is accompanied by a video shot by Anton Corbjin, and as a boxed set. The new disc was recorded last year in Fez, Morocco, Dublin, London and New York, and sees the band working with longtime U2 producers, Brian Eno and Danny Lanois, with additional production provided by another U2 stalwart Steve Lillywhite.

No Line On the Horizon's track listing:

No Line On The Horizon
Magnificent
Moment of Surrender
Unknown Caller
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Get On Your Boots
Stand Up Comedy
Fez - Being Born
White As Snow
Breathe
Cedars Of Lebanon

U2's myspace.

Gregory and the Hawk- Moenie & Kitchi

The Meredith Godreau led project, Gregory and the Hawk already enjoyed a fair share of DIY success since starting out back in '06 with their 'The Boats and Birds' EP. The band have since signed on to Fat Cat Records, which might have raised expectations for their newest disc, Moenie & Kitchi.
The latest effort definitely sees the band expanding their sound, going with a broader array of instrumentation and much fuller arrangements than on previous works. There's no doubt that upon hearing Godreau's voice, that there is an unmistakable innocence and child like quality to it. But on Moenie & Kitchi she manages to make the latest batch of songs sound more mature, and in a sense gives them a timeless quality. Straight from the album's opener "Oats We Sow", you can tell that you're in for a much different G&H album, as the track is built around off kilter beats and strings, which come to a nice little flourish at the end. In fact, it should be noted that the drumming on the album from Adam Christgau is outstanding, and heavily steers the album at its core.
There are defining moments on the disc, like the tracks "Ghosts" and "Stone Wall, Stone Fence", where Godreau sets the tone of the record. While G&H's songs are known for their simple, delicately built manner, Godreau steers these tracks into different waters. “Ghost” is a departure, with more of a straight ahead electric feel to it, even adding trumpet, and much bigger sounding drums. “Stonewall, Stone Fence” has a much darker, menacing tone, that sees the track descend into a heavy industrial-electro led groove. Even the more classic sounding G&H filled tracks on the disc take on a different feel. Like the slow easy shuffle of "Doubtful", which builds into a noisy crescendo that never quite explodes, and the song "Harmless", where Godreau's voice takes a lower register, but yet still seems to float over the heavy strumming of her electric guitar.
The recording of 'Moenie and Kitchi' was said to have been somewhat different for the band, with many of the instruments & most of vocals being recorded simultaneously in just one take. Perhaps that is what gives the album its unique yet familiar feel for G&H, being built around that gentle foundation, but yet adding just the right edge to it.

Ghost - Gregory and the Hawk

Stone Wall Stone Fence - Grego...

Gregory and the Hawk myspace.

Dark Was The Night- Free download, tracklist and streaming info

One new album we've been totally stoked waiting for, is the new the new 4AD charity compilation Dark Was The Night. The 2 disc set will be released next month and comes in with 31 exclusive tracks curated by The National’s guitar section of Aaron and Bryce Dessner and the AIDS charity Red Hot. They have just made available a free download of the track "Knotty Pine" by The Dirty Projectors and David Byrne, as well as starting a streaming track-by-track premiere of the record. From Jan. 15th-Feb. 15th, each track, in order will be streamed for one day only at the Dark Was The Night myspace page, where you can grab the free download too. Check out the roster and tracklist below.

Disc one:
"Knotty Pine," Dirty Projectors and David Byrne
"Cello Song," the Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
"Train Song," Feist and Ben Gibbard
"Deep Blue Sea," Grizzly Bear
"So Far Around the Bend," the National
"Tightrope," Yeasayer
"Feeling Good," My Brightest Diamond
"Dark Was the Night," the Kronos Quartet
"I Was Young When I Left Home," Antony and Bryce Dessner
"Big Red Machine," Bon Iver and Aaron Dessner
"Sleepless," the Decemberists
"Die," Iron & Wine
"Service Bell," Grizzly Bear and Feist
"Blood," Sufjan Stevens

Disc two:
"Well-Alright," Spoon
"Lenin," the Arcade Fire
"Mimizan," Beirut
"El Caporal," My Morning Jacket
"Inspiration Information," Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
"With a Girl Like You," Dave Sitek
"Blood Pt. 2," Buck 65 remix featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti
"Hey, Snow White," the New Pornographers
"Gentle Hour," Yo La Tengo
"Another Saturday," Stuart Murdoch
"Happiness," Riceboy Sleeps
"Amazing Grace," Cat Power
"The Giant of Illinois," Andrew Bird
"Lua," Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch
"When the Road Runs Out," Blonde Redhead and Devestations
"Love vs. Porn," Kevin Drew

get to know: Great Bloomers

There's been a growing number of Canadian bands and musicians out there that have really been nailing down the Americana, roots based sound. Bands like, The Wooden Sky, and The Acorn, quickly come to mind. Well, there's another new band that you can add to that list, the Toronto based Great Bloomers. The band put out a self titled EP last year, that featured the instant classic, "Catching Up". They just recently announced plans for their first full length, Speak Of Trouble, which they just wrapped, which will feature 11 new songs from the band. There's no definite date set yet for the release, but according to the band it should be coming out sometime in the late Spring. In the meantime you can take a look at the video for "Catching Up."



Great Bloomers on myspace.

Radiohead- first 3 albums getting reissued with bonus material

Radiohead and Capitol Records didn't split on friendly terms, but that's not stopping the label from trying to squeeze a bit more cash from the bands name. The label is reissuing Radioheads first three albums, Pablo Honey, The Bends and OK Computer, in numerous forms. There will be expanded double and triple disc formats ,with each album getting the collectors edition treatment. What does that mean? Well all three will come out as a Collectors Edition 2 CD set, featuring the original album with a bonus disc of B-sides and live performances from the group. Then there's also a Special Collectors Edition, which adds on the regular expanded set with an added DVD with various music videos and live footage of the band. None of the discs actually feature any new previously unreleased material from the group. Capitol is putting out the reissues this March 24th.

Our new video series: 'Field Recordings' .... first performance w/ Sharon Van Etten

One of the projects we started up this New Year on the blog is a new video performance series called 'Field Recordings'. It's live performances in various settings and locales. Our first performance comes from Brooklyn's super talented singer Sharon Van Etten, who performed for us on a pier in Long Island City, Queens overlooking the Manhattan skyline.

Pt1: Sharon Van Etten- "It's Not Like"


Pt2: Sharon Van Etten- "I Am Giving Up On You"


Sharon Van Etten on myspace.

Video & Song of the Week: Loney Dear- "Harsh Words"

Swedish singer/songwriter, Loney Dear, has a new album Dear John coming out later this week (January 16th (US) & March 2nd (UK & Europe). He recently took some time out to stop by the cool UK site Bandstand Busking, which features up and coming indie bands performing in old bandstands across London. Some of their recent performers have been, Frightened Rabbit, Of Montreal, and The Acorn, to name a few. Loney Dear previewed some new songs from Dear John at the performance, one of which was the track, "Harsh Words".



Dear John tracklist:

1. Airport Surroundings
2. Everything Turns to You
3. I Was Only Going Out
4. Harsh Words
5. Under a Silent Sea
6. I Got Lost
7. Summers
8. Distant Light
9. Harm/Slow
10. Violent
11. Dear John

Loney Dear myspace.

Bat For Lashes- plans new album and tour dates

It's been over two years since the Natasha Khan led project Bat For Lashes has put out a full length of new material. Khan did keep herself busy in 2008 though, as she headed out on tour with mega-band Radiohead for some opening dates, as well as seeing her hit the studio to record a new disc. The UK singer has unveiled some details of her new upcoming work, called Two Suns, which is scheduled to be released on April 6th 2009 in the UK and April 7th in the US. Two Suns also sees Natasha working with the guys from Yeasayer and Scott Walker.

Horse And I - Bat For Lashes

Bat for Lashes UK dates:

April 7th - Manchester Ritz
April 8th - Glasgow Queen Margaret Union
April 9th - Newcastle Northumbria University
April 11th - Leeds Metropolitan University
April 12th - Birmingham Town Hall
April 13th - Oxford Regal
April 15th - Bristol Ansom Rooms
April 16th - Brighton Corn Exchange
April 17th - London Shepherd’s Bush Empire

Bat for Lashes myspace.

Harlem Shakes- debut full length in March

Brooklyn's Harlem Shakes have wrapped up work on their long anticipated debut full-length record, Technicolor Health. The new disc will feature 10 new tracks, and it will be hitting the streets this coming March 24th. The debut album is the follow up to their 2006 Burning Birthdays EP.
You can currently check out a new song from the forthcoming LP, "Strictly Game" which is up on the bands myspace.

Upcoming Harlem Shakes tour dates:

Feb 14 Southpaw w/ Shilpa Ray Brooklyn, New York
Feb 24 Lupo’s w/ Tokyo Police Club Providence, RI
Feb 25 Webster Hall w/ TPC & and Born Ruffians New York, NY
Feb 26 Black Cat w/ TPC & Born Ruffians DC, Washington DC
Feb 27 Swarthmore College w/ TPC Swarthmore, Penn
Feb 28 Mr Smalls w/ Tokyo Police Club Pittsburgh, Penn
Mar 1 Grog Shop w/ Tokyo Police Club Cleveland, Ohio
Mar 2 Basement w/ Tokyo Police Club Columbus, Ohio
Mar 3 Mad Hatter w/ Tokyo Police Club Covington, Ky
Mar 5 Earl w/ Tokyo Police Club Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 6 Downunder w/ Tokyo Police Club Talahassee, Fl
Mar 7 The Social w/ Tokyo Police Club Orlando, Florida

Harlem Shakes on myspace.

Paper Route- play Daytrotter session (download 5 free songs)

While out on their tour across the US last year, electro-indie band Paper Route made some time to record a live session with the famous Daytrotter people. The band played 5 songs, most of which are off of their latest EP, Are We All Forgotten, which came out last Summer. All the tracks are available to download here. The band is currently out on another leg of a busy tour schedule, which sees them hooking up with buzz band Passion Pit for some dates later on in Jan. Also in the works is a new full length from the band, no date has been set as of yet.

Daytrotter session setlist:
American Clouds
Empty House
You Kill Me
Are We All Forgotten
Only Words

Upcoming tour schedule:

Jan 10 The Note West Chester, Pennsylvania
Jan 11 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Jan 13 Drunken Unicorn Atlanta, Georgia
Jan 14 Exit/In Nashville, Tennessee
Jan 15 The Basement Columbus, Ohio
Jan 16 The Shelter Detroit, Michigan
Jan 17 Diesel Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jan 18 Fletcher’s Baltimore, Maryland
Jan 22 Le Divan Orange w/Passion Pit Montreal, Quebec
Jan 23 Zaphod Beeblebrox w/Passion Pit Ottawa, Ontario
Jan 24 Horseshoe Tavern w/Passion Pit Toronto, Ontario
Jan 26 The Pike Room w/Passion Pit Pontiac, Michigan
Jan 27 Schubas Tavern w/Passion Pit Chicago, Illinois
Jan 28 The Spot w/Passion Pit Cleveland, Ohio
Jan 29 Northside Tavern w/Passion Pit Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 30 The Summit w/Passion Pit Columbus, Ohio
Jan 31 Knickerbocker Theater Holland, Michigan
Feb 2 The Ottobar w/Passion Pit Baltimore, Maryland
Feb 3 Black Cat -Backstage w/Passion Pit Washington DC
Feb 4 Bowery Ballroom w/Passion Pit NYC, NY
Feb 6 Middle East Downstairs w/Passion Pit Cambridge, Mass
Feb 7 Iron Horse w/Passion Pit Northampton, Mass

Paper Route on myspace.

Bon Iver- streaming new EP

If your like us and you've been anxiously awaiting to hear new material from Justin Vernon's Bon Iver, the wait is partially over. His new 4 song EP, Blood Bank is now streaming in full over on his myspace. You'll have to wait a few more weeks though if you have to get your hands on a physical copy, as the new work will be hitting stores January 20 in the US & January 19 in the UK.

new video: Blitzen Trapper-"Furr"

Blitzen Trapper's 2008 effort Furr, clocked in at #8 on our top 20 best of the year list. Though the album and song of the same name have been out since early Fall, the track has never received the full video treatment until now. The new Jade Harris directed video captures the mellow old school tone of the track perfectly.

Blitzen Trapper-"Furr"

Whitest Boy Alive- plan new album

Erland Oye, lead man from Kings Of Convenience, has announced plans to release a new album under his The Whitest Boy Alive side project. The new disc, Rules is scheduled to be released on March 3rd. The Berlin and Denmark based band released their indie meets electronica debut album, Dreams back in 2006. In other related news, Oye has also been keeping himself busy working with Eirik Glambek Bøe on Kings of Convenience’s first album since 2004’s Riot on an Empty Street, which is being recorded in locales such as Bergen, Norway, and in Italy. No release date as of yet for that one.

Burning - The Whitest Boy Aliv...

Rules Tracklist
01. Keep a Secret
02. Intentions
03. Courage
04. Timebomb
05. Rollercoaster Ride
06. High On The Heels
07. 1517
08. Gravity
09. Promise Less Or Do More
10. Dead End
11. Island

The Whitest Boy Alive on myspace.

Ride shotgun with: East Hundred

East Hundred are a new five-piece from Philadelphia, who's lush and melodic sound has drawn comparisons to Denali, Land of Talk, and even Death Cab For Cutie. Next Tuesday January 13th, the band will self-release their first full-length effort, the 9 track LP, Passenger. East Hundred has an interesting backstory, as the group began as a small basement recording project in '04 when brothers Brooke and Will Blair (guitars and drums, respectively) invited Beril Guceri, Brooke’s then-girlfriend, to add vocals to their synth heavy downtempo tracks. Later in '07 just as work started to begin on Passenger, Brooke and Beril’s relationship ended. Rather than call it quits with the band also, the two trudged on with the recording, which resulted in a wealth of new material filled with new heartache, emotions and of course awkwardness. What was intended to be an EP soon became a full-fledged album. Below you can check out the track "Slow Burning" from the new disc.


"Slow Burning Crimes" from East Hundred on Vimeo.

East Hundred on myspace.

new discovery: Actual Water

The Toronto and Montreal region has brought us plenty of indie rock/pop goodness over the last several years. From Broken Social Scene and Stars to Arcade Fire and Feist. Our newest discovery that we stumbled across is, Actual Water. The group aren't what you would traditionally think of when you think of our neighbors to the North. The band has a disctinct retro/garage rock sound, something along the lines of Crystal Stilts came to mind upon first giving them a listen. The band are offering up two free LP's that they released in '08. Just follow these links...
The first one is Death Projections , which clocks in at 22 SONGS in 30:15 MIN
http://www.mediafire.com/?z0uygnyjhyt
the second is Double Negatives, which is 12 SONGS in 34:21 MIN
http://www.mediafire.com/?jmtumt4njym

Just a tip, but you might watch your volume as the mix is a bit off!

Actual Water on myspace

iTunes unveils new pricing plan

Apple's iTunes music store has come out with a brand new pricing plan, in an attempt to appease angry music industry executives. Music big-wigs have long ciriticised the 99 cents structure for songs, along with the DRM (digital-rights management) issue. Under the new pricing plan, which is scheduled to take effect April 1, back catalog tracks will be available for 69 cents, current songs for 99 cents and the price of hit singles will be raised to $1.29.
Apple also stated that the remeaining big three lables, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group will now allow songs to be sold without the controversial digital-rights management copy protection coding, that limits the amount of music players a song can be used on. EMI has allowed their music to be sold DRM-free since 2007. Apple stated that 8 of its 10 million songs are currently available DRM-free, and the remaining two million will be offered code-free by the end of March.
No word as of yet on what will happen with songs that have already been purchased.

Tindersticks add new dates

After a 5 year hiatus that saw the band undergo some major lineup changes, the Tindersticks came back in '08 with a new album, The Hungry Saw. The UK group, who have been around since the early 90's, have a dark and somber sound that has often been cited as being influential on bands like The National. The band have just recently announced some new dates, which see the lads kicking things off across Europe in Feb. before heading to Canada & the States for a handful of shows beginning in March.

The Hungry Saw - Tindersticks

Tindersticks- upcoming tour dates:

Feb 5 La Carene, Brest
Feb 6 L’Olympic, Nantes
Feb 7 Krakatoa, Bordeaux
Feb 8 L’Auditori, Barcelona
Feb 9 Teatro Haagen Dazs, Madrid
Feb 10 Teatro Victoria Eugenia, Donostia-San Sebastián
Feb 11 Capitol, Santiago De Compostela
Feb 12 Teatro Micaelense, Ponta Delgada (Azores)
Feb 13 Coliseum, Lisbon
Feb 14 Casa Da Musica, Porto
Feb 16 Teatro Cervantes, Malaga
Feb 21 Badminton, Athens
Mar 4 World Cafe Live Philadelphia, Penn.
Mar 5 930 Club, Washington DC
Mar 6 Masonic Temple, Brooklyn New York
Mar 7 Somerville Theatre Boston, Mass.
Mar 9 La Salla Rossa Montreal, Quebec
Mar 10 Opera House, Toronto Toronto, Ontario
Mar 12 Epiphany Episcopal Church, Chicago Ill.

The Ettes: new EP & live dates

Garage rockers, The Ettes will be coming out with a new 5 song EP, Danger Is this coming March. The EP includes two live tracks as well as two songs recorded with Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, who also worked with the band on an upcoming limited edition vinyl single. The new EP will be the follow up to 2008's Look At Life Again Soon. In other Ettes news, the 3 piece will be embarking on a tour of the US later this week which sees them hitting SXSW in March, then later crossing over to the UK in April.

Crown of Age - The Ettes

Upcoming live dates:

Jan 10 MERCY LOUNGE Nashville, Tennessee
Jan 14 THE HI-TONE MEMPHIS, Tennessee
Jan 15 THE CONSERVATORY OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma
Jan 16 THE ATOMIC CANTINA ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico
Jan 17 ROGUE WEST W/ THE LOVE ME NOTS PHOENIX, Arizona
Jan 21 SPACELAND LOS ANGELES, California
Jan 22 RICKSHAW STOP SAN FRANCISCO, California
Jan 23 SLABTOWN PORTLAND, Oregon
Jan 24 KEXP INSTUDIO SEATTLE, Washington
Jan 24 SUNSET TAVERN SEATTLE, Washington
Jan 27 VISUAL ARTS COLLECTIVE BOISE, Idaho
Jan 28 BURT’S TIKI LOUNGE SALT LAKE CITY, Utah
Jan 29 LARIMER LOUNGE DENVER, Colorado
Jan 30 THE 49R W/ BRIMSTONE HOWL OMAHA, Nebraska
Jan 31 THE WAY OUT CLUB ST LOUIS, Missouri
Mar 18-21 SXSW AUSTIN, Texas
Apr 1 CAPTAIN’S REST GLASGOW, Scotland
Apr 2 CLUB NME - ROCKHOUSE DERBY
Apr 3 DUTCHESS, YORK
Apr 4 KASBAH, COVENTRY
Apr 5 BARFLY - CARDIFF
Apr 6 THE WINDMILL - BRIXTON, LONDON
Apr 7 PORTLAND ARMS, CAMBRIDGE

The Ettes on myspace.

KaiserCartel- live performance "Oh No"

The duo of Courtney Kaiser and Benjamin Cartel, Kaiser Cartel, recently stopped by My Old Kentucky Blog's live performance series 'Laundro Matinee'. The band who are known for their lush harmonies performed the track "Oh No" from their 2008 album, March Forth. The group is currently gearing up for a new round of tour dates that will see them hit both coasts of the US. Check the full list of dates below.



Upcoming tour dates:

13.jan The Triple Door Seattle
14.jan John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts Eugene
15.jan The Seasons Performance Center Yakima
16.jan Doug Fir Lounge Portland, Oregon
17.jan Grizzley Rose Boise, Idaho
18.jan Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center Salt Lake City, Utah
19.jan The Grind Coffee House Cedar City, Utah
21.jan Silver Lake Lounge Los Angeles, California
25.jan Shuga’s Colorado Springs, Colorado
28.jan Hob Nob’s Coffee House Phoenix, Arizona
29.jan Plush Tuscan, Arizona
30.jan Burt’s Tiki Lounge Albuquerque, New Mexico
02.feb Replay Lounge Lawrence, Kansas
03.feb The Picador Iowa City, Iowa
04.feb Vaudeville Mews Des Moines, Iowa
04.feb Vaudeville Mews Des Moines, Iowa
07.feb AT NIGHT ART SHOW Indianapolis, Indiana
08.feb BrilloBox Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
13.feb The Space Hamden, Connecticut
14.feb Bamfest @ PCS Brooklyn, New York

KaiserCartel on myspace