Illinois on Vinyl & Bonus Track "The Avalanche"

Asthmatic Kitty Records is finally releasing Sufjan's Illinois on vinyl. The album will be a double vinyl, double-gatefold set, including all the songs from the CD plus a bonus track--The Avalanche. The vinyl version also features new art work...nothing special really, just a trio of balloons replacing Superman or blank space (depending when you bought the album). The Illinois vinyl will be available in stores Nov. 23rd and is now available on Asthmatic Kitty's website.


Tune:

Sufjan Stevens - "The Avalanche"



Buy Illinois on vinyl here.

OK Jones

I get emails from bands looking for exposure on a regular basis. Most of them are pretty good bands, but not exactly the caliber I would recommend to you guys via this site. Once in a while I do get contacted by a band that I actually enjoy and I do not hesitate to point people in their direction. This is the case with OK Jones. They are from Lawrence, KS and they remind me of the Jayhawks, the Old 97s, and even early-era Wilco. Singer/songwriter Richard Gintowt's alt.country-tinged pop tunes are uncommonly enjoyable. Dodge over @ MOKB likes them too...that alone should be enough to convince you. Grab a few of these .MP3s from their new album Push/Pull and keep an eye out for these guys.


Tunes: (right click, "save target as" for all files)

OK Jones - "Portable Heart" (recommended)

OK Jones - "Besides Fall in Love"

OK Jones - "Mean Guy"

OK Jones - "Broke and Lonesome"



Buy Push/Pull here.

More OK Jones music here.

OK Jones MySpace page.

Head of Femur

So I came across Head of Femur on the Southgatehouse website when I noticed they are opening for Andrew Bird on Saturday November 19th. I headed over to their website, listened to the generous number of mp3s available (6 total, 4 from the newest record), and quite enjoyed what I heard.

Their most recent album Hysterical Stars was released in early June and received impressive reviews from critics: "Head of Femur has released one of the better weird pop records to come along in the last few years. Put aside your Yoshimi and give something new a chance." - Stylus Magazine (B+) "There are so many elements to mentally catalog that the first listen is a severe shock to the senses, a musical equivalent of what Dorothy might have felt like when first stepping out of her house into Oz." - pitchforkmedia.com (7.9).

Head of Femur is a Chicago octet formed in November of 2001 by Nebraska natives Mike Elsener, Ben Armstrong, and Matt Focht. In their official bio, they list 18 different band members, but it is apparent that the band is essentially the 3 original members and a rotating cast of charaters backing them. Recently, they opened for Wilco and are currently opening for Andrew Bird (as a trio) on his current tour. They play enjoyable psych-pop with catchy hooks. Grab a few tracks...you'll like 'em.





Tunes from Hysterical Stars: (right click, "save as" for all files)

Head of Femur - "Elliott Gould"

Head of Femur - "Ringodom Or Proctor"

Head of Femur - "Skirts Are Takin' Over"

Head of Femur - "Percy"


Visit Head of Femur's website.

Ryan Adams - 29 artwork, tracklisting, & live cuts

The ever-diligent kids over at fansite Ryanadams.org have uncovered the info surrounding Ryan's 3rd! album to be released in 2005. Lost Highway Records has set the release date of 29 to December 20th. This release follows closely on the heels of Ryan's newest album Jacksonville City Nights. 29 was produced by Ethan Johns, who produced Ryan's first two records: Heartbreaker & Gold. Both Cold Roses (his first album released in 2005) and Jacksonville City Nights featured his backing band The Cardinals, however, 29 is pretty much a solo affair and will only feature Ryan, Ethan Johns, & Cardinals guitarist J.P. Bowerstock. Although this album is the last to see release, it was actually the first of the three 2005 records to be recorded.

Here is how Ryan described the record in a somewhat recent interview with Pitchfork:

"That one's really fucked up. It has nine songs, and all the songs are nine minutes long, they're all story-songs. And it's basically just me and a piano, me and a guitar, with Ethan. It's really cerebral. The theme of it was that I wanted to write a record where I could write myself out of my twenties. So for each year of my life, in my twenties, I kind of assigned different parts of my character, I gave them names. The last song is a song from the perspective, believe it or not, of a ghost. When it's just passed out of a body, and it goes "Don't go to the light/ I'll show you how to haunt." This spirit is trying to conjure this dead child, this dead person, back to the house where they died. So they can haunt it. It's really fucked up."

OK. There are indeed 9 songs, people who have heard the promo have said the song are (thankfully) not all nine minutes long. Here is the tracklist with some live versions of the tracks I've obtained so far.

1. 29

2. "Strawberry Wine"

3. "Nightbirds" : YouSendit link | Rapidshare link (recommended)

4. "Blue Sky Blues"

5. Carolina Rain

6. Starlite Diner

7. "The Sadness"

8. "Elizabeth, You Were Born To Play The Part"

9. Voices



Read the rest of Ryan's Pitchfork interview here.

Stream Neil Diamond - 12 Songs

Neil's anticipated upcoming album 12 Songs drops Tuesday. The album was produced by Rick Rubin, who famously helped to rejuvenate Johnny Cash's career in his twilight years. 12 Songs is a stripped-down affair with most songs recorded with Neil playing and singing at the same time. Newsweek's Lorraine Ali called the album "the best work Diamond has done in 30 years."

Stream 12 Songs on Neil's MySpace Page.*

*i personally find it humorous that even Neil "fucking" Diamond is on MySpace.

Any would-be Neil haters need to watch Saving Silverman or his jump-suit clad performance of "Dry Your Eyes" w/ the Band in The Last Waltz and get back to me.