I Love the Smell of Albums in the Morning

The new album release calendar is beginning to fill up and I thought it might be nice to share a little bit of the associated excitement with all of you. First up is Brooklyn’s finest- the National who have indicated their follow up to Boxer will be available in early 2010. Rumours are also swirling that a Sufjan Stevens/Dessner brothers (The National) Christmas EP might just see the light of day soon too.

Further, one of indie rock’s more consistently great bands Spoon has just announced a release date for their new album. The band's seventh LP, Transference, is due out January 26th in North America via Merge and January 25th in Europe via Anti-.

The record features eleven songs produced by the band, including recent single "Got Nuffin", not to mention tracks called "I Saw the Light" and "Out Go the Lights". I’m sensing a theme here people.

Peruse the track listing below:

Transference

01 Before Destruction

02 Is Love Forever?

03 The Mystery Zone

04 Who Makes Your Money

05 Written in Reverse

06 I Saw the Light

07 Trouble Comes Running

08 Goodnight Laura

09 Out Go the Lights

10 Got Nuffin

11 Nobody Gets Me But You

Forthcoming New Releases of Note

January 12:

Vampire Weekend – Contra

Final Fantasy – Heartland

January 19:

Eels – End Times

January 26:

Free Energy – Stuck On Nothing (DFA/Astralwerks)

Basia Bulat – Heart of My Own (Secret City Records)

January TBA:

Laura Veirs

January 26:

Spoon – Transference (Merge)

February 9:

Shearwater – TBA (Matador)

February 16:

Field Music – Measure (Memphis Industries)

February TBA:

Midlake – Courage Of Others

The Radio Dept. – Clinging To A Scheme

March TBA:

Miles Kurosky (Beulah) – Rad

2010 TBA:

The National

Jens Lekman

The Shins

Ravens & Chimes

Ted Leo (Matador Records debut)

Spoon

The Whigs – In The Dark

Sufjan Stevens

Toro Y Moi (two albums)

More dates as I get them on forthcoming 2009 and 2010 albums as always.

Got Someffin'

A couple weeks back, Austin Texas quartet Spoon surreptitiously released their EP “Got Nuffin’” to anxious fans awaiting new music from the band. The release coincided with their headlining three nights of their own SPOONX3 music festival at the popular Austin outdoor venue Stubb's. Good news today that all three nights were recorded in glorious multi-track HD and are now available in MP3 or FLAC format for purchase via Spoon's website. Collectors can now purchase all three nights for fifteen bucks or pay seven for the individual nights. After perusing the setlists the former option might be the best bargain for your money considering the songs were varied greatly from night to night. Having seen Spoon a number of times I can tell you their live performances are always top-notch and this would be a welcome addition to anyone’s digital music library.

Your Weekly Download Lowdown

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

Greg Gillis, a.ka. Girl Talk’s new album Feed the Animals is now up for download on the Illegal Art Website. The download is being offered too using that Radiohead band model of paying whatever amount listeners deem worthy,(even if they wish to pay nothing). It should be noted though, Girl Talk does have some incentives if you do choose to pay, The download variants are as follows: Five dollars gets you the digital FLAC files and a seamless mix of the album, while ten bucks will get you that and a physical copy of Feed the Animals when they become available in September. For ten thousand dollars Girl Talk will come to your bedroom and recreate the album up close and personal and then make you breakfast.*

Please note, if you choose to download the album without payment you’re met with a series of options of why you decided not to offer some capital investment; basically an attempt to make you confront your own searing download guilt. My cursory listen of album reveals a much more focused and flowing effort when compared to Gillis’ previous stellar effort Night Ripper. Avril Lavigne, Kanye West, Rod Stewart, and even Procol Harum all get dropped in the mix and so far this Girl Talk is totally intoxicating.

Move over John Oswald, there’s a new kid in town.

* Blogger imaginations are a wonderful thing.


Spoon - Underdogs And Their Old Tricks Of Brilliancy

I won’t spoil this one with unnecessary verbiage. All I can say is to head over to our good friends at Daytrotter for an absolutely free download, sans any semblance of guilt. The mighty Spoon have recorded a session the includes a stunning Paul Simon cover of Peace Like a River.

Mmmmmm, sublime.