Thursday, September 28, 2006

Morning Shorts

Loads of original content coming soon, plus the first iff contest. In the meantime, other folks are doing yeoman's work...

We've got a favorite new blog, Kirstiecat, reporting from the Second City. Today she's excited about a new Bert Jansch tour date in Chicago, and also recently reported on live shows from indiefolk metahero Jandek and Vashti Bunyan, complete with shiny pics. Pitchfork also has a Bunyan live report today.

Calvin Johnson talks with the Minnesota Daily about K Records and its place in the indie scene: "In all, K Records has created and maintained the do-it-yourself mentality central to genuine indie rock. K Records and Calvin Johnson have aided in the creation of a gray area in punk music, looking to sign the 'weirdos recording in their bedrooms,' he said, rather than 'the band in the bar down the street.'" Their tour with Mt. Eerie and various other folks starts Saturday in Fargo! Chuck Klosterman would be proud.

New iff favorite Jennifer O'Connor talks to should-be-video game Chart Attack! about her new album and tour:

She enlisted Yo La Tengo's James McNew (who she knew from his side project, Dump), Sparklehorse's Kendall Meade and Spoon vocalist Britt Daniel to flush out the sound on Over The Mountain's 13 songs. "I didn't really know Britt, but one of the people from Matador brought him to one of my shows and we hung out a little and chatted," O'Connor explains. "I'm a huge Spoon fan and when we recorded, I really wanted to have a guy singer on a couple of the songs, so I just aimed for the moon."
O'Connor sent Daniel four songs in advance, and he chose two to sing on. She picked him up and drove him to The Fort studio in Brooklyn. Eschewing any kind of structure or plan, she hoped that a more spontaneous collaboration would yield the best results in the few hours they had together. Afterwards, she drove him to the airport.

Check out her Daytrotter session and her upcoming tour with Portastatic.

Metacritic says Universal Acclaim! to the new My Morning Jacket double live album, Okonokos. One of my favorite little labels, Badman, is putting out the 4-LP vinyl edition, with a whole side of bonus material. Badman's got a nice trove of free downloads from their catalog, including the Innocence Mission, Mark Kozelek, new signee Kyle Andrews and the inimitable Mark Mallman. They're one of those labels you can practically buy from blind.

MP3: The Innocence Mission - Tomorrow on the Runway
MP3: Mark Kozelek - Find Me, Ruben Oliveres
MP3: Kyle Andrews - Amos in Ohio
MP3: Mark Mallman - Death Wish

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