Akron/Family Announce New Album – ‘Sub Verses’ and Spring Tour Dates, Stream First Single Now

Akron/Family return this spring with their new album, Sub Verses! The record is out on April 30; pre-order information will be available in the weeks to come. For now, stream the first single. Titled “No-Room,” the song features the heavier, more direct sound of Sub Verses. Listen above and see the album artwork below. Want to learn more about the record? Check out the artist statements!

Akron/Family will soon head out on tour in support of Sub Verses. Spring dates kick off on April 9 at Albuquerque’s Low Spirits. They also have a few dates in California and Texas before April! See the full schedule at the end of the post Read the rest of this entry »

Night Beds Announce Debut Album ‘Country Sleep,’ New Music Video Premieres Today at NPR

Night Beds announce the release of debut record, Country Sleep. The ten-track album represents a period of uncertainty and the escape Winston Yellen found in writing each song, done in an environment where personal limits were often tested. Where days blurred into nights and mornings signified a certain safety, Winston fought to find some sanity, some equal ground to come to terms with the months prior to his arrival in Nashville and occupancy of the late Johnny Cash and June Carter’s home. Country Sleep is set for release on February 5, 2013.

 
Premiering this morning at NPR’s All Songs Considered, it is the brand new video for Night Bed’s gorgeous single “Even If We Try.” Called “a languid gem of a song paired with very disturbing video” by Bob Boilen, the video takes the viewer on a dark and incredibly uncomfortable journey as the main character, played by Winston, quickly falls apart at a party. Director Rick Alverson chose to pair the beautiful, heartbreaking song with something equally moving, although in a much different way. Watch “Even If We Try” above.

Gauntlet Hair’s Self-Titled Debut Coming in October Download Free MP3 for “Top Bunk”

Gauntlet Hair “Top Bunk” by DOJAGSC

The new Gauntlet Hair record is imminent, and we have mp3 “Top Bunk” to share right now. The self-titled record, Gauntlet Hair, is coming out on October 18th, and Gorilla Vs. Bear calls it an “evolved debut collection of cavernous, thunderously loud, danceable avant-pop jams.”

More info on the new record after the jump!

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The Donkeys Return with “Born With Stripes” 4/26 Download TWO New MP3s and See Them On Tour!

The Donkeys are back!  Our chilled-out San Diego brothers have returned from The Island and will have a brand new record out on April 26th. Born With Stripes is an altogether less twangy affair than the band’s 2008 Dead Oceans debut, Living On The Other Side. The nods to Grateful Dead and Buffalo Springfield are better balanced with echoes of other Cali arists, notably Pavement and Beck. The country-rock flairs are often overtaken by powerpop hooks. What some might call a lazy melody is really just a melody on its own clock. Nice and relaxed.

The album was mixed by Pernice Brothers’ Thom Monahan, whose involvement not only gives us the crispest, warmest Donkeys recordings to date, it also serves to remind us of the band’s loose connections to an array of psych-dappled kindred spirits: Vetiver, Papercuts, Brightblack Morning Light, Devendra Banhart. Monahan was not the only outsider the band collaborated with on Born With Stripes. The playful album artwork was created by California illustrator and cartoonist Tony Millionaire, best known for his comics Maakies and Sock Monkey, and as the creator of the Adult Swim show Drinky Crow.

Please check out the songs below, and head over to our tour page to see when they’ll be coming to your town.

“Don’t Know Who We Are” by The Donkeys by deadoceans

“I Like The Way You Walk” by The Donkeys by deadoceans

Akron/Family Goes Live with Radio K

A few weeks ago Akron/Family stopped by the studios of Radio K in Minneapolis and played some wicked cuts from their new album S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT. Above you can watch a video of the band performing “Another Sky” and head over to the Radio K website HERE, where you can stream and download the full session featuring live cuts of “AAA O AWAY,” “So It Goes,” “Another Sky,” and “Silly Bears.” Akron/Family start the western half of their national tour March 24 in Seattle. Check out all their tour dates HERE.