Many-genred folk-rockers Calexico have just released a free, 320kpbs bootleg of a recent concert to celebrate their latest tour. Get it, and the dates, on their site. They’ll be in L.A. (at the Hollywood Bowl!) on September 19. (Photo via Wikipedia)

So, there’s a bunch of news on III/IV, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals’ forthcoming double LP. At left, side one (red vinyl!), which features these tracks:

1. Breakdown/Resolve
2. Dear Candy
3. Death and Rats
4. Get Used To It Read the rest of this entry »

LCD Soundsystem at Bonnaroo 2010 / photo by wfuv

After the jump, you’ll find single MP3 downloads of basically every Bonnaroo 2010 set courtesy of NPR back-end hotlinks that we’re probably not supposed to have found. Grab ‘em while they last (and I recommend The National, Japandroids and Local Natives. To start). Update, 10:20 PM: Aaaaand they’re gone. You can stream the sets on NPR.org

More: Bootlegs

Photo by David Greenwald

[Editor's note: A previous version of this post originally appeared on December 10, 2007] Did any 2007 album match up to the track-for-track glory of 2006′s Rawkblog AOTY Destroyer’s Rubies? With the possible exception of Elliott Smith’s New Moon, not to these ears. Destroyer – led by inexhaustible reference-flinging possible alcoholic Dan Bejar – has a new album, Trouble in Dreams, due in March [ed. This one made my year-end list, too], so let’s refresh our memories of the band’s stellar catalog with this crisp, lively radio session. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Bejar (a notoriously stoic – okay, drunk – performer) sound as playful as he does here on “Your Blood.” Songs after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

With twee heroes Pants Yell! defunct after having played their last shows in May, frontman Andrew Churchman already has plans for his next band.

“[It’s a] continental European pop band… just up the ante a bit and be a little more mature,” he told the Phoning It In podcast on May 8, comparing the new group to Prefab Sprout.

He’s also playing drums in New Jersey’s Fluffy Lumbers, an act associated with Underwater Peoples, as well as a pair of other collaborations.

“We’re working on this collaboration of really cryptic Sonic Youth covers, of all [Kim] Gordon songs,” he told the podcast of a project with British act Sleeping States and noted he’s also making music with his brother.

To grab the podcast, which features acoustic, over-the-phone takes on a few Pants Yell! classics, a brand new song (“Albert Cross”) and a Fluffy Lumbers cover in addition to the interview, visit Phoning It In. [Photo by David Greenwald]

Here’s the new, post-Pants track:

Andrew Churchman – “Albert Cross”: mp3

More: Pants Yell!

In an undated but presumably recent video (circa 2006, 2007, I’d guess), Rose Melberg plays a pretty take on Portola stand-out “My Heaven, My Sky” with frequent collaborator Nick Krgovich of P:ano and Gigi. Videographer Robin Anderson has another pair of performances from the set on Vimeo — I’ve gone ahead and ripped two of these performances below. If anyone knows what the others are called, please comment away!

Rose Melberg – “My Heaven, My Sky” (live): mp3
Rose Melberg – “(Unknown – If You Want To Make Me Crazy)”: mp3

More: Rose Melberg | Bootlegs

Photo by angrycitizen.org

(Editor’s note, April 2010: This post is from September 24, 2007 but the MP3 link was broken. Now it is not.)

The last album I listened to before leaving New York yesterday morning was the Strokes’ Is This It, which remains one of this decade’s crowning achievements as well as a consummately New York album. It was a fitting end to a fantastic summer; now, I’d like to kick off my return to the West Coast with Ryan Adams covering the band’s “Last Nite.” And, uh, Madonna. I’m slowly amassing live Ryan covers for a series of posts like the ones I did for Elliott Smith, so if you have any good ones, send them my way.

Ryan Adams – “Like a Virgin” (Madonna)/”Last Nite” (The Strokes) (live): mp3

More: Bootlegs | Ryan Adams

It appears this is it — our first listen to the new crop of Joanna Newsom songs. At one of the opening gigs of her current tour, the harpist played a full hour’s worth of material presumably slated for next month’s Have One On Me, including the 11+ minute (!) title track. (Several of the songs previously surfaced on YouTube.) Is this whole record? Or could there be more?! (Where’s “Esame?”) If it’s all as good as this, there can never be enough. Download the set after the jump. (Bootleg thanks to FanMadeRecordings) Read the rest of this entry »