Downpilot

ARTIST / BAND: Downpilot

MP3: Edge of the Flood 

ALBUM: New Great Lakes

FILE UNDER: Americana / Folk Rock / Indie

LABEL: Tapete records

INFO: For the follow-up to the acclaimed They Kind of Shine (including songs featured on television series "One Tree Hill"), Hiraga sequestered himself on Seattle’s nearby Vashon Island in a spacious woodland studio and set to writing and recording, far from the distractions of the city. Although several Downpilot alumni would later make cameos, the feeling from the start was that this would be a more intimate, solo-style album.
With his arsenal of self-made recording equipment and surrounded by an extensive collection of vintage keyboards and other instruments, the multi-instrumentalist recorded ideas in a spontaneous, stream-of-consciousness fashion. After a solitary week the foundation was laid for the 4th Downpilot LP: New Great Lakes.

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Downpilot - New Great Lakes by Tapete Records

Mount Moriah

ARTIST / BAND: Mount Moriah
MP3: "Lament"
ALBUM: Mount Moriah
FILE UNDER: Americana / Classic Rock / Folk
LABEL: Holidays for Quince Records
INFO: Heather McEntire (of post-punk veterans Bellafea) and Jenks Miller (of heavy-psych/metal outfit Horseback) met in 2005, while working at a record store in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  After collaborating as Un Deux Trois on the stripped-down, pop-inflected Lovers EP (2007), they established Mount Moriah as an outlet for their mutual interest in classic American folk and rock music.  Mount Moriah’s 2010 EP, The Letting Go, highlighted the band’s thematic range, moving from delicate acoustic narratives to a dark, fuzzed-out, soulful stomper in just three tracks.  Mount Moriah’s long-awaited, self-titled debut -- featuring guest instrumentation by members of St. Vincent, Megafaun, and many other North Carolina-based musicians -- is cut from the same cloth, offering a far-reaching and non-traditional take on classic folk themes like devotion, tribulation, redemption, and an indelible sense of place.
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25 years of Giant Sand

ARTIST / BAND: Giant Sand

MP3s: "Graveyard"(from Ballad Of A Thin Line Man)

            "Uneven Light Of Day"(from Storm)

            "Valley Of Rain"(from Valley of Rain) 

ALBUM: Giant Sand back catalog

FILE UNDER: IAlternative / Americana / Indie

LABEL: fire records

INFO: 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of Valley Of Rain - the debut album by Giant Sand, the ever-shifting alternative rock band overseen by "the Godfather of Alt. Country" Howe Gelb. With that in mind, the band will spend the next year celebrating in the only way they know how: with a flurry of great music! There is a special one-off show at the City Winery in New York City tomorrow, February 1st!  The newest Giant Sand album,Blurry Blue Mountain, will be released on vinyl tomorrow, as well.

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Lonnie Walker

ARTIST / BAND: Lonnie Walker

MP3: Summertime / Love Turn

ALBUM: These Times Old Times

FILE UNDER: Indie / Americana / Punk

LABEL: DiggUp Records

INFO: Raleigh’s Lonnie Walker will see a national release for debut full-length These Times Old Times December 14, 2010, after a successful local release in 2009. Currently on a month long tour with Future Islands, they will release a split 7” with them November 4, 2010. Titled The Ink Well/Love Turn, the release is limited to 300 pieces of peach vinyl.

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The Flying Change

ARTIST / BAND: The Flying Change
MP3: "Singer" / Songwriter
ALBUM: Singer/Songwriter
FILE UNDER: Americana / Pop / Rock
LABEL: Scarlet Shame
INFO: One year ago, Sam Jacobs, performing under his moniker The Flying Change, released his debut album of love, loss, and reckoning titled “Pain Is A Reliable Signal”.  The album was a searing and brutally introspective accounting of a family’s journey through hospitals, hotel rooms in Minnesota, emergency rooms on the Upper East Side.  And out again.  Seeking a series of cures and treatments that might alleviate a terrible condition.
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