Hello friends!
Norman Music Festival
Did we mention it's coming up? Mark your calendar for the
25th of April.
Until then, we have some cool patches and t-shirts at Guestroom
Norman. The shirts run $15 and the patches are $3. Get one and wear
it around to let people know how cool you are and where to meet you on
April 25th.
Record Store Day
Join us on April 19th as we celebrate
Record Store Day !
So far more than 20 artists and labels have signed up to do exclusive
Record Store Day releases. we've seen the list and it's incredible!
That day we will have bands doing in-store performances at both stores
(one earlier, one later in the day). As soon as we have names
confirmed, we'll let you know. If you plan your day right you'll be
loaded with great music all day and even after you make it home. When
we said in previous emails that this was going to be big we weren't
kidding!
Freebies (while supplies last, may require purchase)
U2 - No Line On The Horizon lithograph and stickers
Black Joe Lewis - Garage Soul matches
Handsome Furs - buttons and stickers
Morrissey - Years of Refusal stickers
New Releases for March 10, 2009
Bishop Allen - Grrr
CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
After five years of comparisons to
Jonathan Richman, The Kinks, Bright Eyes, and Spoon in rave reviews from
Rolling Stone, Spin, Entertainment Weekly, and others, Bishop Allen has
developed a sound unmistakably their own.
Blk Jks -
Mystery CD/LP (Secretly Canadian)
With a wrecking crew rhythm
section, debonair vocals, and guitar concoction of one part shred and two parts
soul, Blk Jks shoot an African music sensibility through the tenets of rock.
Cursive - Mama,
I'm Swollen CD (Saddle Creek)
Wrestling with life's miseries and
mysteries, Mama, I'm Swollen brims
with the universal, and questioning the human condition, social morality, and
the Peter Pan Syndrome of grown men. Musically, Cursive is as smart and
sophisticated as ever -- the songs' rousing cerebral content complemented by
moments alternately hushed and exhilarating; eerily moody and jaunty. The
quartet remains one of the most exciting and inventive rock bands today.
Julie Doiron - I Can
Wonder What You Did With Your Day CD/LP (Jagjaguwar)
This record marks a new and
energetic phase of Julie's solo career with some of her most upbeat and inspiring
songs. Direct and painfully honest, she lays it all out in her lyrics while
also being almost the happiest woman in town, loving life and raising her kids.
In addition to this new perspective, she showcases a thick distortion and
melodic pop not heard since her days with indie heroes Eric's Trip in the ‘90s.
Steve Earle - Live
At The BBC CD (MCA Nashville)
Collects his BBC recordings from
two incredible performances with The Dukes, originally broadcast in 1988 and
1989.
Handsome Furs - Face
Control CD/LP+MP3 (Sub Pop)
The second album by this Montreal
band draws inspiration from Eastern Europe and re-maps Eastern Bloc
surveillance state themes to contemporary life, showing the irony of our
acceptance of self-monitoring through blogs, credit/debit accounts,
surveillance cameras, and GPS devices. The album's juxtaposition of cold,
metronomic, electronic beats with jagged, dissonant and frail guitars convey
what it is to be human in the 21st century.
John Wesley Harding
- Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead 2xCD (Rebel Group)
After placing his music career on
hold while working as an author (under his real name, Wesley Stace, he wrote
the international best seller Misfortune
and 2007's By George) JWH releases
his first rock album in five years. Contributors include The Minus Five as his
backing band, Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Kelly Hogan, Mike Viola, and Earl Slick
(David Bowie). Includes a bonus live greatest hits CD Don't Look Back Now, recorded at Union Hall, Brooklyn.
Julien-K - Death
To Analog CD/2xCD (Metropolis)
Julien-K is the brainchild of two
of the founding members of the platinum selling group Orgy. Fusing the elements
of dark electronic club music with styles of modern rock and pop, their debut
provides a sweeping landscape of musical influences and themes that pull the
listener into a world where technology is fused with artistic expression.
B.B. King - Live
At The BBC CD (Hip-O)
Compiles the best of B.B. King's
BBC recordings -- including some of his biggest hits such as "Paying The Cost
To Be The Boss" and "The Thrill Is Gone" as well as "When Love Comes To Town."
Features highlights from his three finest UK performances alongside a session
recording made in the BBC's studios.
Mirah -
(a)spera CD/LP (K Records)
Her fourth solo album strikes a
bold path across a landscape of dynamic and varied melody forms and holds many
surprises within its undulating reverie. "(a) spera" is Latin for
hopes and difficulties linked inseparably, as we all are. This brave trek
through a fragile ancient forest unfolds, revealing the destruction wrought by
cruel conquest, recalls the relics of a love never realized, and decries the
loss of ancient wisdom. Kalimba, hurdy gurdy, bongos, horns... instruments for
all worlds, all times. Featured musicians include Chris Funk (The
Decemberists), Tara Jane O'Neill, and Lori Goldston.
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band - Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band CD/LP (Dead Oceans)
At first blush, this album recalls
Wolf Parade with the band's frayed melodic sensibilities and urgent, driven
vocals in particular. Of course, Wolf Parade borrowed a few ideas from Modest
Mouse, whose beginnings were indebted to the Pixies. This is the sort of musical
lineage that creates the foundation for this group's debut. But dig a little
deeper and strains of Queen's epic rock peer through, while exhilarating guitar
work that nods towards Thin Lizzy appears in more than a few songs.
New Found Glory - Not
Without A Fight CD (Epitaph)
On
their seventh album, the undisputed heavyweights of pop punk are back to
reclaim their crown with the infectious choruses and spirited guitars that made
them champs. Produced by Mark Hoppus (Blink 182, Motion City Soundtrack) and
mixed by Neal Avron (Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy).
Elvis Perkins In Dearland - Elvis Perkins In Dearland CD/LP (XL)
The follow-up to the exquisitely
melancholic and much hailed solo debut Ash
Wednesday. On this release, Elvis is joined by a talented trio of friends,
all clearly influenced by a wide range of American roots music. At once raucous
and profound, this record conjures both the greatest celebration and the
saddest funeral, channeling an ageless wisdom that deepens with each listen.
Madeleine Peyroux
- Bare Bones CD (Rounder)
Madeleine Peyrouxs unique talent
and timeless voice is back on Bare Bones.
Presented with more emotion and color than before, it features all original
material including the single "You Can't Do Me."
Propagandhi -
Supporting Caste CD (Smallman)
Punk heavyweights return with a
frenetic album that is an unabashed musical lash out.
Red Fang - Red
Fang CD (Sargent House)
Influenced by artists from Black
Flag to Black Sabbath, Oregon's Red Fang release their self-titled debut.
"Synthesizing a variety of heavy music influences into their own distinct
musical identity, the band easily shifts from barn-burning punk to mid-tempo,
hyper-distorted bass destruction all while maintaining a cohesive sound."
-- Sargent House Records
Riverboat Gamblers
- Underneath The Owl CD (Volcom)
The
Gamblers push their unique brand of blistering pith n' vinegar anthems and
quirky pop serenades over the edge on Underneath The Owl.
DM Stith - Heavy
Ghost CD (Asthmatic Kitty)
Heavy Ghost communicates a startling
range -- from earnest yearning to heartbreak, shimmering hopefulness to the
brink of existential despair. Stith's ethereal voice communicates the
unfathomable -- mysticism, the commingling of water and fire, waking dreams,
spiritual torment -- with reckless abandon rarely seen in many albums, let
alone a debut work.
Simply The Rest...
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Advance Base Battery Life CD (Tomlab)
Collects
7" split-singles and compilation tracks released from 2004-2007 (all but two of
them on CD for the first time).
Monks - The
Early Years 1964-1965 CD (Light In The Attic)
The Definitive Monks Reissue Series Part One. The original 1965 demos plus the pre-Monks single by
The Torquays. Includes deluxe 32-page booklet with in-depth notes, interviews,
lyrics and dozens of unseen photos.
The Reissue zone...
David Bowie - Live
Santa Monica ‘72 CD (Virgin)
Standard CD edition now available.
Live Santa Monica '72 was recorded at
the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 20, 1972 during the critically
acclaimed Ziggy Stardust Tour.
Killing Joke -
Duende: The Spanish Sessions CD (Candlelight)
A fantastic rare live recording
featuring the original Killing Joke line up together again for the first time
since 1982.
Killling Joke -
Original Unperverted Pantomine DualDisc CD+DVD (Candlelight)
Rare recording now available on a
special DualDisc pressing (originally released in 1983 on cassette) -- includes
three songs never before released on CD and a 40-minute live performance circa
1981. Digitally remastered.
Motörhead - No
Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith 2xCD (Sanctuary)
Deluxe edition, digitally
remastered -- includes a bonus disc featuring outtakes.
The Vinyl zone...
Mono - One
Step More And You Die / New York Soundtracks 2xLP (Temporary Residence)
Back in
print on vinyl, with a bonus album of remixes (the out-of-print "New York
Soundtracks", featuring remixes of "One Step More" songs by
Calla, Loren Connors, Jackie-O Motherfucker, and more). Beautifully remastered
and repackaged with expanded artwork.
The
Mummies - Play Their Own Records LP (Estrus)
After
long years in remission, this release is back in circulation. By the turn of
1990, The Mummies were fed up with the records of their time. Not content to
take things lying down, these cut-rate visionaries put out a bunch of their
own. So pleased were they with those 45s, that they recorded a mix tape. In
1992, they convinced Estrus Records to release it as the standard long player,
"The Mummies: Play Their Own Records," which sold out sometime in
2005. Relive those lazy, hazy, crazy days of the twilight years of the last
century with this LP.
Ramones - It's
Alive 2xLP (Audio Fidelity)
Double HQ-180 vinyl -- numbered limited edition.
The Thermals - Now We Can See 7" (Kill
Rock Stars)
The
first single from the upcoming fourth full-length includes the "Now We Can
See" single along with "My World", plus demo versions of both
songs. Thermals fans will appreciate the shiny bombast of side A, while side B
should please those who feel the band's cassette-recorded debut "More
Parts Per Million" is still their best.
Rocky
Votolato - Makers LP+MP3 (Barsuk)
Limited edition blue/black vinyl -- includes MP3 download.
Calexico - Spoke
LP (Quarterstick)
Health -
Health/Disco 2xLP (Lovepump United)
N.A.S.A. - The
Spirit Of Apollo 2xLP (Anti)
Public
Image Ltd. - Album LP (Rhino)
The
Offspring - Smash (Remastered) LP (Epitaph)
The
Offspring - Ignition (Remastered) LP (Epitaph)
Thursday -
Common Existence 2xLP (Epitaph)
These titles now available on vinyl.
Shows to See
14 March - Wanda
Jackson @
University of Oklahoma -
Meacham Auditorium 14 March -
U.N.I. w/
Jabee,
XV, Ronnie Harris, Big
Stik, DJ Jafar & DJ Moody @ IAO Art Gallery
Until next time,
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo,
J,T,E,J,J,J,T,W,M
Guestroom
guestroom-records.comwe tweet: @guestroom