News and Notes 11/21/11

It’s Thanksgiving week, and today I am giving thanks that I can restart my computer.  Here are some of the dozens of tabs I have open right now.

Live and Reel Presents Andrew Combs

Live and Reel has released their third installment of their video recording sessions.  This month includes country crooner Andrew Combs.  If you’re into it, head over to Live and Reel’s webpage to grab some free mp3′s.  You can check out the vids for “Heavy” and “Devil Got My Woman” below.  This is technically country music and not really in my wheelhouse, but I definitely want to support the awesome efforts of the folks at Live and Reel.

La Blogotheque vid for The Rosebuds

Speaking of killer video sessions, it seems like Parisian filmaker Vincent Moon is constantly snatching up the hottest indie talent for some pretty cool video sessions.  Well, he teamed up with Pitchfork to film a pretty awesome video of The Rosebuds (who many of you might have seen open for Bon Iver at The Ryman earlier this year).  Of course, Pitchfork isn’t going to let me embed that vid, so you’ll have to click here to check it out.

Kurt Vile

How many of you guys saw Kurt Vile at Mercy Lounge back in August?  Man, that was an awesome show.  Well, he just released his video for the song “Baby’s Arms” which was shot entirely with cell phone camera.  It’s pretty killer.  You can check that out below, and then you can head over to Matador Records website for an interview, a Blogotheque vid of “Baby’s Arms”, and tour information.

Bruce Springsteen

If anyone cares, Bruce Springsteen is releasing a new record and touring.

Papa

Remember me telling you about the opener for Girls at Mercy Lounge back in September?  They are a band called Papa that is fronted by Girls drummer Darren Weiss, and they impressed me so much that I wrote up a “Get To Know” post for them.  Well, I just saw a video for their song “I Am The Lion King” complete with a naked Weiss doing somersaults.  Yay, fun!

Grouplove

Did you make it out to see Grouplove last month at Mercy Lounge?  I told you that they were up and coming, and you should check them out at the more intimate confines of Mercy Lounge before they blow up.  Well,  Paste Magazine just called them “the best of what’s next”, and, with accolades like that, it’s likely that you will get to see them again, but I just hope you can get tickets.

John C. Reilly & Third Man

Stereogum has reported that funnyman John C. Reilly recorded some covers of old country songs for Third Man Records Blue Series.  The only funny thing about it would likely be the Third Man king’s cameo as Elvis in Reilly’s Walk Hard.  The two singles are slated for release later this month.  The first has Reilly teaming up with Becky Stark to cover Ray Price’s “I’ll Be There If You Ever Want” and Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner’s “I’m Making Plans”.  The second single has Reilly teaming up with Tom Brosseau to cover the Delmore Brothers’ “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar” and “Lonesome Yodel Blues #2″.  You can have a listen to some previews of “I’ll Be There If You Ever Want” and “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar” below.

 

New Music Releases for 11/8/11

It’s time again for us all to get familiar with the new music releases of this week.  This without a doubt takes more time than any other post I prepare, and I wonder how much longer I will be able to devote a day to writing them.  In the meantime though, here are a few new records that I think might be worth a bit of your time.  I’ve done my best to find you both record streams (or at least a couple of songs to check out) and a review with each link.

Note: We only look at NEW music here, so I’m not talking about reissues, vinyl releases, and the like.

Let me know if you think I’ve left anything of the list, and what you are enjoying on this record release Tuesday.

Atlas Sound – Parallax
Bear & Moose – Bear & Moose
Caitlin Rose – Own Side Now (listen)
Cass McCombs – Humor Risk
DRC Music – Kinshasa One Two
Esben and the Witch – Hexagons [EP] (listen to a track)
The Jezabels – Prisoner (listen)
Jonathan Coulton – Artificial Heart
Kurt Vile – So Outta Reach [EP]
Lissie – Covered Up In Flowers (watch)
Quilt – Quilt (this is impossible to google)
Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale
The Black Belles – The Black Belles
The Oh Sees – Carrion Crawler/Dream
Zodiac Death Valley – Zodiac Death Valley

Kurt Vile and The Violators at Mercy Lounge on August 5th

Tonight in Nashville….

I can’t believe as I am writing this that tickets are still available!  It’s amazing.  This dude would literally sell out venues twice the size in a matter of minutes in other cities.  So, what does that mean?  Number 1, Nashville needs to know more about him…. and Number 2, you still have a chance to see a top notch performer on last minute notice.

Philly’s Kurt Vile has been making records since 2008 when he released his first LP Constant Hitmaker (via Gulcher Records, rereleased on Woodsist in 2009).  In 2009, Vile released the LP God Is Saying This To You (via Mexican Summer) and two EPs, Fall Demons (via Skulltones) and The Hunchback (via Richie Records).  He then signed to Matador Records where he has released the LP Childish Prodigy in 2009, the EP Square Shells in 2010, and the newest LP Smoke Ring For My Halo in March of 2011.  It is truly amazing that he has become such a widely acclaimed artist in such a short period of time.

Once compared to Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty, Psychic TV, and Animal Collective in the same review (for 2009’s Childish Prodigy), Kurt can bring to mind anything from Suicide to Leo Kottke to My Bloody Valentine, Bob Seger, Nick Drake, and Eastern ragas. Still, he pieces together these disparate elements so seamlessly and unpretentiously that such reference points are rendered pointless by the singularity of his sound. Kurt Vile might belong to a long lineage of classic American songwriters, but he’s the only one who’s alive and in his prime today. – Matador Records bio.

Vile was chosen by Animal Collective to perform at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival that they curated in May 2011. He kept on going and has been a touring machine right now in US with a number of European stops coming around later this summer and into the fall.  He also is playing some support for Bright Eyes later this fall, and will be hitting a few festivals along the way (including Austin City Limits festival).  And, think about it, he is playing tonight (with backup band “the violators”) at Mercy Lounge, and you can see it for only $10 ($12 at the door).  Get out and see some live music.

Below are some tracks for your end of the week enjoyment.

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