"You're living in dangerous times..."

I can't possibly express how excited I am that the Magnetic Fields have a brand new video for the song "Quick!" It is not only my favorite song on Love At the Bottom of the Sea, but quite possibly my favorite song of the whole year. You may ask, "Why do you love this song and video so much, Laura?" I do not know, but the real question you should be asking is, "How beautiful is it when garbage can people fall in love?!" To which I can only reply, "EXACTLY!"

"And the sky opens up like candy..."

Are you "pee-your-pants" excited about the Lambchop show at the Ark in Ann Arbor on Monday? Me too! Let's try not to pee our pants though!

"I hope you are in a nice hotel playing cards in your room."

Using the powers of Facebook, Lambchop just told me to listen to this song because Tony Crow, one of the guys from Lambchop, is half responsible for it. Since I would do just about anything that Kurt Wagner (or whoever the admin of his band's Facebook page) tells me, I went ahead and listened. This despite the fact the description said the other guy half responsible for this, Mark Nevers is in the band Yuck. I have been told by like, a million people that I should like Yuck so much. But instead, though I don't actively dislike them, I find myself not able to care about them at all. BUT! This song! It may be a cover, but I have only listened to the Porcelain Raft record a couple of times so I am in no way familiar enough with the original for this to really feel like a cover, you know? It's really beautiful. I'm now checking out some of Mark Nevers' other Oupa songs and I'm really liking it. A lot. Are you at least half satisfied now Yuck fans?


You can buy this too - a limited number (300) hand stamped white vinyl 7" record. Mmmm...


Also! Don't forget! Lambchop's new record comes out February 21st on Merge AND they're coming to The Ark in Ann Arbor on April 23rd! Are you peeing your pants with excitement? Also I am.

Richard Buckner is bringing his murder truck to a town near you!

There are few artists I love as much as Richard Buckner. Every single record he's released is worth hearing. His album Our Blood was one of the best of last year, but apparently many people were too dazzled by that one guy's terrible Bonnie Raitt covers to notice. Although I've been an unwaveringly enthusiastic fan of Richard Buckner since the late-90's, I just saw him live for the first time last year when he opened for Sebadoh in Cleveland. I took away three things from this experience:


1. Seeing Richard Buckner live is worth it. Amazing.
2. Cleveland is a really cool city. Like, for real.
3. Lou Barlow looks soo cute when he plays bass guitar.


When I was at the show, I signed up for the Richard Buckner e mail list. Today, I got the following in my inbox:

Hello Mailing List!


I've just added these new performance dates for February and March. I'll be coming around alone this time in my pickup truck (just turned over 579,000 miles) with about 4 guitars, a couple of amps and maybe a keyboard, depending on what's working at the time (including the truck). I'll be doing some older songs, some from 2011's OUR BLOOD and a few newer ones.

There'll be some more US dates in April and a European tour in May that will be announced next month. Also, I'll be playing at the End of the Road Festival in the UK in September with more dates around then, as well.

Thanks,

R

Sadly, none of these newly announced US dates are near me (keeping my fingers crossed that I might be more lucky with the announcement of the April dates), but for the love of all things worthy of your attention, if you're on the East Coast go see this man. And if you, for instance, own a car dealership, give him a new truck! Just for being amazing. Because he is and he deserves it. He really, really does.

Shut it, L.A.!

Although I am not totally sure, I think this video helps strengthen my argument that L.A. is the worst, and so I like it. A+, Hospitality!

"I'll never see that girl again..."

Ack! The first single from the new Magnetic Fields album! The news that they'd be putting out a new record in 2012 on MERGE RECORDS was basically all the proof I needed that this year was going to be amazing. 

The Magnetic Fields - Andrew in Drag by MergeRecords

"We need you here..."

I reviewed the new Crooked Fingers record for Collapse Board. The short version is that I love it. The longer version can be read here. Not doing anything tonight? Go to the Magic Stick and see Crooked Fingers live. I have no doubt it'll be a great show.

Wild Country

I am not sure what I'm more excited about - that today is the release day of the Wild Flag record, or that Wild Flag's Rebecca Cole created a Spotify playlist of her favorite country duets to celebrate the occasion. I think it's a tie. Yup. Total tie.