As a general rule, I try to keep info on upcoming Catbird Records releases relatively quiet. What with the modern 2-second internet attention span, I tend to like to wait until a release is actually up for sale before announcing it. But in this case, I’m gonna make an exception.

After 12 years, and 6 fine albums, insouciant back-porch popsters (nee lo-fied Pavementy slackers) Moviola have a brand-new disc, called Dead Knowledge, and it’s coming out on Catbird very *very* soon. Here’s a snippet from the (2-year long) recording process:

The album is 16 tracks long (that’s “Side 1″ and “Side 2″ for those who remember such things), and we’ll also have a special limited edition that comes with a DVD featuring 5 videos, photo slideshow, and unreleased demos. More on that soon.

I lived in Columbus, Ohio for 15 years, but it took me moving to New York to release an album by a band from Columbus, Ohio. Go figure.

Is it just me? Compare:

2007 Ad Vs. 2004 Song

OMGZ, last night? At Bowery? Beirut!?! And Final Fantasy!?!?! And Arcade Fire!!!! Plus also The National!!?! Oh and also Sufjan!?!! And then all the bloggers’ heads exploded.

I popped out on my lunch hour yesterday and caught a fantastic afternoon set by the “unobtrusively brilliant” Cass McCombs over at the Tribeca ASCAP Music Thingy. I noted earlier that Cass had some East Coast dates, but this one proved to be a very nice surprise. He played a mix of older and newer stuff, and has apparently got a new record that’s, like, IMMINENT. Details are hard to come by; all I know is that it’s completed, and it’ll be coming out on Domino (they signed him late last year– I somehow missed that). New Yorkers, you’ve got 2 more chances to catch him:

Sat. 5/5 – Don Pedro’s (Brooklyn)
Sun. 5/6 – Mercury Lounge

(both shows featuring Arbouretum as Cass’ band)

::: Cass McCombs – Equinox :::

It’s May, 2007– that means this site just turned 5 years old. There wasn’t any of this “reverse-chronological dated entries” business going on back then, just a simple list of the records I was listening to, and a review of (and about 5 mp3s from) The New Pornographers‘ Mass Romantic, a record that was already 2 years old at that time (remember that the Matador edition from 2003 was a reissue of the Mint Records original that came out in 2000).

You know, things have really changed a lot in these last 5 years, and it’s really just not the same out there, by any means.

And so it is, with heavy heart, that I must hereby announce the closing of this site.

Nah, I’m just kidding. Here’s one of those NP’s songs– one of the first songs I ever posted:

::: The New Pornographers – The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism :::

Peep this first Mix playlist, too. I can’t imagine throwing a mash-up (like that McSleazy track) into a mix these days, much less a freakin’ joke/skit like the “Ms. Cleo Prank Call!” And god forbid I should post a Kinks song– can you imagine??? The Major Label Digital Rights Gestapo would be bustin’ down my door in like 2 minutes.

1. Blackout Curtain – Now It’s Overhead
2. Caring Is Creepy – The Shins
3. Fiction Romance – Buzzcocks
4. Following Through – Dismemberment Plan
5. Ms Cleo Prank Call – Ms. Cleo
6. Oogum Boogum – Alex Chilton
7. The 1900’s – Tiara
8. Everything Hits At Once – Spoon
9. The Last Thing – Jon Chinn
10. It’s Gigantic – McSleazy
11. Rat Or Mole? – Sushirobo
12. 20th Century Man – The Kinks
13. Very Best Years – The Grays

Running totally on schedule, amazingly, and thus, the new mix is up today.

Back on that whole “Kids Today” topic: EMP wrap-ups and thoughts have started to come in. Pretty Goes With Pretty did a somewhat-related post on the topic, then went on to elaborate a bit. Simon Reynolds’ wrap-up was thorough, and pointed to the ILM thread on the subject, which featured some good commentary from Pfork Scott. Best observation:

The democratization of music crit– on mssg boards, mp3 blogs, etc.– seems to not be resulting in ppl sharing more ideas with one another, but falling over another just to plant flags.

And you know, it should be pointed out, as Carl and others have, that these quotes coming out of Phillips, Plagenhoef, and others aren’t an example of Pitchfork applauding the situation– they (as I often do) are merely pointing out the sad state of things. None of us, to whom music has always *meant* something, are cheering about this stuff.