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The Pines – Dark So Gold Released on Vinyl 7/17

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Red House Records officially announced this week that they have pressed The Pines’ latest album Dark So Gold on vinyl, available Tuesday, July 17th.

This is the second vinyl release from Red House Records since they decided to get back into the vinyl game with Pieta Brown’s One and All release. That release was a beautiful 180g pressing with a variation on the CD cover art. I was concerned that they weren’t going to continue doing vinyl when Brown’s Mercury album didn’t get the same treatment. Though there has never been an official statement about it, I suspect that the One and All vinyl didn’t sell as many as they’d planned.

When I talked to the mailorder folks at Red House, I expressed how happy I was that this album was getting a vinyl release, they commented that they felt this was a good one to release on vinyl. I also learned that the cover art matches the CD, and the center label has a black and white photo of the band.

Dark So Gold is easily one of my favorite releases for 2012, and my favorite Pines release to date. I wrote a review for Little Village Magazine in February.

For The Pines latest release, Dark So Gold, they’ve broken out the box of the same paints and brushes as before and laid to canvas landscapes made of soft-focused, almost half-remembered dreams. To the observer, only the smallest details of the picture are revealed—a conversation perhaps, a late-night glance to the sky, a heartfelt emotion lingering. As we reach for meaning we fill in little bits of ourselves.

You can read the full review here.

CLICK HERE to order your copy of Dark So Gold from Red House Records for $15 plus shipping and includes a digital download card. The record will be available at Pines shows as well.

More Daytrotter Vinyl Goodness! Daytrotter Presents No. 1: The Civil Wars & The Lumineers

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Though obviously not the first foray into vinyl releases by the gem in the crown of Rock Island, IL known as Daytrotter.com, it is the first of what I hope will be a long-running series of split releases of Daytrotter Sessions. There have been a few releases that have sported Daytrotter lineage– notably the 2011 Nathaniel Rateliff Live 10″ (still in the store!), the Iron and Wine/Low Anthem split plus some 7″es that included a track here and there.

The most recent release was announced this week, and is a split of Grammy Winners The Civil Wars backed with The Lumineers. This release is being touted as “Daytrotter Presents No. 1” and is available for pre-sale right now. The really nice aspect of this is although the ordering window is until July 3rd, Daytrotter is going to press as many as are ordered! Talk about a really nice way to accommodate collectors while also preserving limitedness! The vinyl will be pressed in 180g vinyl and will bear the trademark Johnnie Cluney representations of the two groups.

The album will be $35 plus shipping or $26.25 plus shipping for folks who support Daytrotter by subscribing as I do. Between this discount and the discount for the Barn on the Fourth of July Counting Crows show tickets, I’ve already paid for my year of subscription. But, if you are still on the fence about subscribing– if you buy a 1 year subscription for yourself of a friend, you get this record for free (well, you have to pay for shipping)! In fact, this is the cheaper route anyway, since the subscription is $24, you effectively save $2.25 off of the regular member price!

I’ve listened to both the Civil Wars session and the Lumineers session, and both are simpatico– beautiful acoustic folk sessions. A delightful way to kick off this series.

What sessions would you like to see in future installments of Daytrotter Presents? I’d like to see Gary Clark Jr., The Pines, Pieta Brown, Umphrey’s McGee, Moby (that version of “Ring of Fire” is fantastic!), Cowboy Junkies, a Dawes double!… The list goes on… Your votes in the comments!

Click Here to buy a subscription to Daytrotter and get the free Daytrotter Presents No. 1 (by July 3rd)

Click Here to buy Daytrotter Presents No. 1 without a membership purchase.

(Upcoming Show) Lindsey Buckingham at The Englert in Iowa City Sunday, 9/2/2012

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(Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Lindsey Buckingham is having the time of his life.

At the time of his sixth solo album The Seeds We Sow in 2011, Lindsey Buckingham is able to frame his life as a musician and family man in the context of his journey thus far. He attributes his peace to two things. The first is his personal life, “To finally meet someone and to have the family thing happen, that’s been a real gift,” he says. The other is musical. “If there is a level of contentedness that I’ve arrived at, part of it is because I think in the last three or four years what I experienced during the solo albums and then what I experienced on the last Fleetwood Mac tour I felt like I had come to a point where there was so much foundation that I had built for myself making incremental steps forward as a musician and as an artist.”

Certainly, the last few years have been very productive for Buckingham, starting with an out-of-the-blue solo album in 2006, a derailed follow up that morphed into a new studio album for a re-ignited Fleetwood Mac, a re-imagining of the derailed follow up in 2008, a live album and then The Seeds We Sow in 2011.

The Seeds We Sow represents Buckingham taking full control over his career handling all of the recording, production and also releasing himself. The album is a very up-close-and-personal perspective of Buckingham at times sounding like a really well-produced home demo, which I suppose it really is.

I consider Lindsey Buckingham to be a personal musical hero. His distinct sound and contribution to the canon of rock music with his solo work as well as his years in Fleetwood Mac have impacted me at a level that might be chromosomal. I started listening to music on my own around the time of Rumours and his music has been with me ever since. I have been fortunate to see him with the Mighty Mac three times in my life but never solo, so the news that he will be performing at the wonderful Englert Theatre in Iowa City on Labor Day Weekend is exciting news! He will be performing at 8PM on Sunday, September 2rd.

The presale for the show started on Tuesday for Friends of the Englert, and general sale for the show starts on Friday,  June 22nd at 1PM. Tickets are $55 for Tier One Tickets and $45 for Tier Two.

Click Here for more information about Lindsey Buckingham at The Englert in Iowa City, including how to order tickets.

Click Here to find out about how you can be a Friend of the Englert and get in on great pre-sale deals and other perks.

 

Ryan Adams – Live After Deaf Vinyl Box Set – The Details

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I make no apologies for being a Ryan Adams fan of the first order, nor do I apologize for feverishly collecting as much as I can of his recorded output– including the PaxAm Records releases. I have most of them and they are wonderfully well done and always targeted at the vinyl fans as Ryan himself is a collector.

This week a picture of a vinyl boxset titled Live After Deaf was posted to Ryan’s Facebook page by the dutiful Val (who runs his social media outlets) with “Live After Deaf. Friday. This will not be repressed.” This was followed on Wednesday with some more information: “144 tracks of live acoustic Ryan spread across 15 vinyl discs…with a download card featuring all 144 tracks PLUS an additional 74 digital-only bonus tracks (yup, that’s a total of 218 tracks) all in a heavyweight cloth box. Super Duper limited numbers available ONLY at http://paxamrecords.com/ beginning 1:30 p.m. EST on Friday, June 15.” We also found out that this limited release would only be $130 plus shipping (which would be pretty steep considering it apparently weighs in at 13 pounds!).

The title is obviously a reference to his bout with Ménière’s disease which temporarily derailed his music output back in 2009. Ever the heavy metal fan, the title might also be a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Iron Maiden live album Live After Death. We still weren’t sure what this box would contain. 15 LP’s certainly didn’t make a very encompassing live box set– was it just one performance of every song he performed during the extensive Ashes and Fire tour? All we could do is sign into the site on Friday to see what it would be.

On Friday, unfortunately, the folks at KungFu (the people who host his website and merchandise site) were not expecting the heavy traffic at 1:30PM. I signed in an hour before to make sure that my account information was still accessible. At 1:30PM the website became unresponsive. Looking at the posts on Facebook, they were scrambling to address the issue and an hour or so later the posted a resigned message that they would work over the weekend and try it again on Monday, June 18th at 4PM EDT.

In the meantime the rabid fans over at ryanadamsarchive dug up some details on the boxset (this is the thread that contains it). A poster who goes by “Cowboycat” somehow found a picture of what I assume is the back of the box with all of the tracks.

The  boxset is a compendium of the 2011 solo acoustic “Acoustic Nightmare” European shows, with each LP representing one show on the 15-date run. For each show to fit on an LP, Ryan had to edit the shows down to select songs, and possibly no inter-song banter that he’s known for. Another poster on the ryanadamsarchive board who goes by the handle hobbsy took the setlist database and showed what songs were and weren’t played for each show. Here’s the tracklist (thanks to hobbsy):

LP1: Cork Opera House, Ireland (7th June 2011)
01 Dirty Rain
02 Two
03 Blue Hotel
04 Carolina Rain
05 Crossed Out Name
06 Dear Chicago
07 Ashes And Fire
08 Avenues
09 Withering Heights
10 Desire
11 Please Do Not Let Me Go

LP2: Dublin Olympia Theatre, Ireland (8th June 2011)
01 Oh My Sweet Carolina
02 Everybody Knows
03 Damn, Sam (I Love A Woman That Rains)
04 New York, New York
05 In My Time Of Need
06 16 Days
07 Strawberry Wine

LP3: Stockholm Cirkus, Sweden (10th June 2011)
01 Firecracker
02 Please Do Not Let Me Go
03 Call Me On Your Way Back Home
04 Invisible Riverside
05 Dear Chicago
06 16 Days
07 Two
08 Come Pick Me Up
09 September
10 Halloween
11 Houses On The Hill

LP4: Oslo Foleteatret, Norway (11th June 2011)
01 Oh My Sweet Carolina
02 Don’t Fail Me Now
03 Let It Ride
04 Desire
05 The Rescue Blues
06 Dancing With The Woman At The Bar
07 If I Am A Stranger
08 Sylvia Plath
09 Friends

LP5: Malmo Concert House, Sweden (13th June 2011)
01 Firecracker
02 Damn Sam (I Love A Woman That Rains)
03 My Winding Wheel
04 Let It Ride
05 Desire
06 Cannonball Days
07 Star Sign
08 Chains Of Love
09 Lucky Now
10 Come Home

LP6: Copenhagen Kocerhauset, Denmark (14th June 2011)
01 Carolina Rain
02 Invisible Riverside
03 Jacksonville Skyline
04 This House Is Not For Sale
05 Halloween
06 New York, New York
07 Sweet Illusions
08 September
09 Sylvia Plath
10 Do I Wait

LP7: Lisbon Aula Magna, Portugal (16th June 2011)
01 Don’t Fail Me Now
02 If I Am A Stranger
03 Invisible Riverside
04 200 More Miles
05 This House Is Not For Sale
06 English Girls Approximately
07 Strawberry Wine
08 I Love You But I Don’t Know What To Say

LP8: Porto Teatro Sa Da Bandeira, Portugal (17th June 2011)
01 Off Broadway
02 Sylvia Plath
03 Carolina Rain
04 Firecracker
05 Damn, Sam (I Love A Woman That Rains)
06 Sweet Illusions
07 Two
08 Dancing With The Women At The Bar

LP9: London Barbican Night 1, UK (19th June 2011)
01 Oh My Sweet Carolina
02 Why Do They Leave?
03 Let It Ride
04 Carolina Rain
05 The Rescue Blues
06 In My Time Of Need
07 Bartering Lines
08 Come Pick Me Up

LP10: London Barbican Night 2, UK (20th June 2011)
01 To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)
02 Damn, Sam (I Love A Woman That Rains)
03 Everybody Knows
04 My Winding Wheel
05 Invisible Riverside
06 Ashes And Fire
07 Desire
08 English Girls Approximately
09 Amy
10 Stop

LP11: Brighton Dome, UK (22nd June 2011)
01 Bartering Lines
02 Why Do They Leave?
03 The Rescue Blues
04 Let It Ride
05 Everybody Knows
06 Firecracker
07 Jacksonville Skyline
08 Houses On The Hill
09 Come Pick Me Up
10 Strawberry Wine

LP12: Manchester Bridgewater Hall, UK (23rd June 2011)
01 Blue Hotel
02 Save Me
03 Carolina Rain
04 Sweet Lil’ Gal
05 Desire
06 To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)
07 This House Is Not For Sale
08 New York, New York
09 Amy
10 Why Do They Leave?

LP13: Glasgow Academy, UK (25th June 2011)
01 Please Do Not Let Me Go
02 My Winding Wheel
03 Sweet Illusions
04 To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)
05 16 Days
06 Sylvia Plath
07 Come Pick Me Up
08 English Girls Approximately

LP14: Oxford New Theatre, UK (26th June 2011)
01 Why Do They Leave?
02 Carolina Rain
03 Sweet Lil’ Gal
04 Everybody Knows
05 September
06 My Winding Wheel
07 I See Monsters
08 Come Pick Me Up
09 Strawberry Wine

LP15: Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Netherlands (28th June 2011)
01 Oh My Sweet Carolina
02 To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)
03 Carolina Rain
04 Firecracker
05 Let It Ride
06 Bartering Lines
07 New York, New York
08 I See Monsters
09 Two
10 Stop

It looks like a wonderful release, and Ryan’s solo acoustic shows have been really beautiful. Of course, people are hoping for a volume 2 that would include U.S. shows. It would be great to get those metal covers on vinyl (Ratt, “Round and Round” FTW).

(Upcoming Show) Surf Zombies “Lust for Rust” Release Show at CSPS 6/16/2012

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I reviewed the latest release from Cedar Rapids Surf Czars The Surf Zombies Lust for Rust in Little Village Magazine last month.

The latest incarnation of the Zombies has bit bit more edge than the previous albums thanks to the production and engineering of Ian Williams (guitars for the Zombies and also in The Wheelers) and lineups, and I think that Lust for Rust is by far the best release from the band to date.

Tonight at CSPS, the Surf Zombies are taking over the big stage at CSPS for their record release show at 8PM. Tickets are $15 at the door. I can’t think of a more enjoyable way to take in the Surf Zombies– galloping drums and bass, gigantic reverbby guitars and a fantastic selection of beer and wine in the recently-opened bar which is operated by the fine folks at Brewed Awakenings.

More details here.

New Calexico Album – “Algiers” Out on New Label Anti- on September 11th

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Back in April, I announced that Calexico would be releasing their first album since 2008’s Carried To Dust. Yesterday, the band announced the details around the new album as well as tour dates.

The album will be called Algiers, and will be released by their new US label Anti- Records as well as their long-time European label City Slang.

Along with this announcement is a pre-order for a very elaborate German boxset for $99, which includes Algiers on 180g vinyl with tip on and embossed cover, 2 CD (includes a bonus CD) digipack, a photo book, a screen print of the cover art, a sticker and an exclusive live performance on 180g vinyl. If that wasn’t enough, there is a download of three bonus tracks! Calexico did a great job with the vinyl boxset of the tour-only albums, so it’s great to see they are continuing to cater to the vinyl collectors!

Algiers Tracklist:

  1. Epic – 4:16
  2. Splitter – 3:30
  3. Sinner in the Sea – 4:14
  4. Fortune Teller – 3:57
  5. Para – 3:53
  6. Algiers – 3:42
  7. Maybe on Monday – 3:37
  8. Puerto – 4:23
  9. Better and Better – 2:33
  10. No Te Vayas – 4:15
  11. Hush – 4:22
  12. The Vanishing Mind – 3:54
Here is the first track from Algiers, “Para” (and you can download it):

Here is the video for “Para” directed by Jack Spiger:

In conjunction with this release is a fall tour with extensive European dates (from Casa de Calexico)

Date City Venue Country
08/04/12 Montreal, QC Osheaga Festival Canada
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09/14/12 Cologne E-Werk Germany
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09/15/12 Groningen TakeRoot Festival Netherlands
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09/16/12 Paris Le Trianon France
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09/18/12 London ATP Festival United Kingdom
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09/19/12 Brussels Ancienne Belgique Belgium
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09/20/12 Darmstadt Centralstation Germany
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09/21/12 Zurich Volkshaus Switzerland
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09/22/12 Vienna Wiener Konzerthaus Austria
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09/23/12 Berlin Huxleys Neue Welt Germany
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09/25/12 Hamburg Grosse Freiheit 36 Germany
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09/26/12 Copenhagen Vega Denmark
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09/27/12 Oslo Rockefeller Music Hall Norway
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09/28/12 Stockholm Berns Sweden
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09/29/12 Gothenburg Pusterviksbaren Sweden
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09/30/12 Malmö KB Kulturbolaget Sweden
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11/09/12 Madrid Teatro Kapital Spain
Address: Atocha 125. BUY TICKETS
11/10/12 San Sebastian Teatro Victoria Eugenia Spain
Address: Paseo de la República Argentina, 2 20004.
11/11/12 Barcelona Apolo Spain
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11/12/12 Montpellier Rockstore France
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11/13/12 Milan Alcatraz Italy
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11/14/12 Bologna Estragon Italy
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11/15/12 Basel Volkshaus Basel Switzerland
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11/16/12 Leipzig Werk 2 Germany
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11/17/12 Wangles Rolling Stone Weekender Festival Germany
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11/18/12 Wiesbaden Schlachthof Germany
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11/20/12 Luxemburg Den Atelier Germany
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11/21/12 Amsterdam Paradiso Netherlands
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11/22/12 Rennes Le Carré Sévigné France
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11/23/12 Massy Espace Paul B France
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11/24/12 Strasbourg La Laiterie Artefact France
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11/26/12 Linz Posthof Linz Austria
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11/27/12 Zagreb Tvornica Kulture Croatia
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11/28/12 Salzburg Republic Austria
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11/29/12 Munich Muffathalle Germany
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(Upcoming Show) Counting Crows Bring Tour to Codfish Hollow Barn for 4th of July!

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Codfish Hollow Barn in Maquoketa, IA Ready to Be Stormed

As many things do any more, it all started with a tweet.

Around the time that Dawes played the “Barn on the Fourth” show in Maquoketa, IA at Codfish Hollow in 2010, Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows tweeted that he wanted to play in a barn. Last month it was announced that Counting Crows would be performing in Cedar Rapids as part of their RAGBRAI event. At that time, I speculated that it would have been a good time to do a Daytrotter Barnstormer show and mentioned it to Tiffany Biehl (Tiffany and her husband organize the Barnstormer shows on their farm) on Facebook, and she responded with “I wish.”

For the last couple of weeks Daytrotter has been featuring some of the notable sessions from the previous Barnstormer shows, so when Codfish Hollow posted to Facebook yesterday about some big news coming up, I figured it was going to be a Barnstormer announcement since Codfish Hollow has had the distinction of being the home base for these shows.

Wishes apparently come true! This morning Counting Crows sent out an e-mail to their fans about their decision to release their newest album of covers Underwater Sunshine for free via BitTorrent. Included in this e-mail was an update about their upcoming Outlaw Roadshow summer tour, which included this:

The first leg (Featuring Counting Crows, Good Old War, Foreign Fields, and Filligar) has already been onsale for a week. It starts in Asbury Park and heads north through Connecticut and upstate NY to Ontario then criss-crosses down through the Great Lake States and the Shenandoah Valley, passing back & forth through Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, and Virginia before traveling down south to Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi just west of the Tennessee state line. It ends in Maquoketa, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois where all the bands will celebrate Independence Day at Codfish Hollow Barn playing a Barnstormer show and then retire to Rock Island to record Daytrotter Sessions. (emphasis mine)

The details for this show are only just finalizing right now, so there isn’t any information about tickets yet, but considering that the venue (also known as a “barn”) has a reasonable capacity of around 500, these tickets will be as rare as hen’s teeth, as they say. I’ll update this post with any information that I get.

What a wonderful opportunity for Eastern Iowa!

You should consider signing up for a subscription to Daytrotter— a fantastic deal at $2 per month for some amazing sessions and other perks.

Click Here to listen to Counting Crows last Daytrotter Session.

UK Anglo-Folk Band Red River Dialect IndieGoGo Campaign In Its Final Hours…

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When M.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger and Dave Heumann of Arbouretum both recommend a new band, I immediately check it out.

Red River Dialect is a Cornwall, UK-based band fronted by David Morris that has earned some well-earned praise and recognition since their inception in 2009 or so. Some live show bills with bands like Pontiak, Arbouretum and Hiss Golden Messenger have helped expand Red River Dialect’s fanbase.

The band is attempting to self-release their second full length album, which was recorded last summer– a follow up to their 2010 debut album White Diamonds. Their goal is to raise $2,000 (US) via IndieGogo to press up CD’s and vinyl of this album, titled awellupontheway. With less than 24 hours left, they have raised $1,408 of the $2,000 needed– so they are really close. If they don’t make the full $2,000, they will still certainly release the CD and digital downloads.

Not surprisingly maybe, the sound of this band is somewhere between the spiritual wanderings of Hiss Golden Messenger and the Anglophilic Folk predilections of Arbouretum. Their songs also recall the BritFolk sound of bands like the Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention with more psychedelic leanings. In the first free mp3 download of “Dawns Man” I hear some Nick Cave and Joe Strummer as well. In any event, I’m really impressed with the release, and am happy to bring it to you, my gentle readers for consideration for support. The indiegogo campaign has the usual spread of options one might see on a kickstarter campaign (kickstarter doesn’t allow non-US campaigns, so they chose indiegogo) from digital only, all the way up to deluxe options with vinyl, CD and a CD-R of some demos. For the U.S., we can get vinyl plus a CD shipped for $28 which isn’t bad considering the shipping charges.

I, for one am looking forward to the possibility of spinning this album on my turntable, so I hope they make it!

Click Here to visit the Red River Dialect IndieGogo page for awellupontheway.

Here are two free downloads from the new album, plus a sampler of all of the track on Bandcamp:

They are going to include a CD-R of a recent live performance opening for James Blackshaw for anyone who contributes to the campaign. Here is a sample of that show:

 

New Single “You Know I’ll Always Love You” From Karyn Paige Released Today

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It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Bay Area Pop Funk Chanteuse Karyn Paige. Today, I’m happy to announce that she’s dropping a new single to tide us over until she finishes her full length album.

Consistent with her first release, The KP EP (I reviewed here), her latest single “You Know I’ll Always Love You” pays tribute to the Pop R&B heyday of the 80’s with swelling and buzzy synthesizers. Ms. Paige transforms from the sexy fuming diva sitting on the bed in “Stay Away Tonight” to a sunny girl in love that reminds me of Paula Abdul’s great singles.

The smartly spare arrangements, and loping percussion draws us very close to Karyn’s lovely soprano with an adopted affected stuffiness that recalls 1920’s and 30’s jazz singers. Factor in the slightly-kitschy talk box harmony vocal effects and you have one perfect pop song.

I asked Karyn why she chose to release this single ahead of the full length album she’s working on.

“The motivation for releasing the song  ahead of the full LP was simple: Fans who have seen us play it live are constantly asking when we are going to put it out. People are really drawn to it, from music heads to moms. I wanted to give my fans something new to enjoy until the LP comes out. It was written by my co-producer and keyboard player Matt Berkeley, and I’ve always been honored to sing it.”

Listen for yourself:

Then buy it on iTunes!

While you’re there, check out The KP EP, too.

Click Here to visit the Karyn Paige official website where she has some great videos to check out, too.

Click Here to visit the Karyn Paige Facebook Fanpage

New Calexico Album Due in Early September 2012!

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Thanks to a post in the Yahoo Casa de Calexico group and thanks to my multi-lingual friend Brian at work, we find out from a posting on their European management’s site that Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico have started work on a new album — their first new studio release since their 2008 album on Quarterstick Carried to Dust. The album is due out on City Slang (Calexico’s European label) in the early part of September.

Here is a rough translation of the first part of the press release:

After a several-year break due to changes in their private lives,  the two leaders of [Calexico] are hard at work in the studio on new material. In fall 2012 Calexico will be back with a new album and two European tours.

The new album by the band appears in early September on City Slang; directly after the album release the band will play the first [of the two] European tours.

This is pretty exciting news! It will be interesting to see where they take the new album stylistically. Although it is true that they took a break from Calexico, they have been pretty busy since 2008. They have worked with Amos Lee on his last album, Iron and Wine on the “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” contribution to the Twilight soundtrack, and the wonderful vinyl box set of their tour releases Road Atlas as well as a bunch of other work that I’m probably forgetting.

Watch my site for any updates as the story progresses! Here’s hoping for a U.S. tour!