From the That Ghost record Young Fridays, Two Syllable Records, 2008.

Holy crap. I can’t remember the last time an email arrived out of the blue and knocked me on my ass, but it just happened. One of the few bands I’ve raved about for all 7 years here on Catbirdseat, and whose dissolution greatly saddened me, are getting a nice retrospective release from the folks at Asthmatic Kitty. Yes folks, Royal City are getting a well-deserved bump with the release of a self-titled retrospective, due out 6/23. This band is responsible for one of the most unforgettable musical performances I’ve ever experienced, that time I stumbled across them in a tiny little venue in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the fall of 2002. It’s great to know that their music is now getting another chance to get out there and reach some new people.

(More info here)

Shawn BrackbillI’m very happy I was able to tip off Great Pumpkin Tom about how and where to snag the Kurt Vile God Is Saying This To You… LP (even though stores were claiming it wasn’t out yet), because it just sold out from Mexican Summer. If you’re extremely lucky, you may still be able to grab one at your local record store, but I’m guessing it’s going to be tough. I hope you pre-ordered when I advised you to awhile back.

The Lord Dog Bird (Wilderness guitarist Colin McCann) is sitting onstage playing an acoustic guitar, rocking back and forth with his eyes squeezed shut, singing his heart and several other internal organs out.

We’ve all seen this type of thing hundreds of times… and we’ve become somewhat blasé about it in the 21st century. But this young man… imbues the ol’ singer/songwriter song and stance with so much intensity and sincerity that he burns away the cynicism that’s been encrusted from countless lackluster troubadours in coffeehouses and non-profit venues. He somehow moved even “seen most of it” old fucks… Most of the sparse Chop Suey crowd was riveted, too, in a manner unusual for 9 pm on a Monday.

Seattle’s Stranger, on last night’s performance by The Lord Dog Bird (the artist I tried terribly hard to get you all to listen to for most of last year).

In the past year, Haunted House has done shows with No Age, Ariel Pink, Clipd Beaks, Dirty Projectors, Titus Andronicus, Abe Vigoda, and Vampire Hands. They also recorded 3 albums, Ravage Through The Bum’s Hair, Lesh Is More, and Guess Who’s Not Coming To Dinner, that will all see release in 2009. And I suspect that the only reason they’re not yet signed to a shit-hot label with string of hard-to-find vinyl is because they live in Minneapolis and not Brooklyn.

Just learned that another Catbird favorite is releasing a new record soon. Cass McCombs will deliver the long-player Catacombs on 6/1, preceded by a single, “Dreams Come True Girl,” on 5/25 (on Domino). As I’ve got no new material to share, here are the old favorites, dusted off:

Since falling for Woods‘ At Rear House back in March of ’07 (and placing it in my ‘Top 5′ 9 months later), I’ve been an unwavering fan. While I did enjoy Woods Family Creeps alright, At Rear House remains my favorite– but I have to say, based on what I’ve heard of them, I’m especially stoked for Woods’ upcoming releases.

The first (probably) will be the “Sunlit” b/w “The Dark” 7-inch, coming out on the (soon to be much more well-known) Brooklyn label Captured Tracks, which I think is run by the guy from Blank Dogs. Captured Tracks has something like 7 new releases due any time now, including stuff from The Mayfair Set, Graffiti Island, both Dum Dum Girls AND Little Girls, plus many, many more.

But I digress. So, the Woods 7-inch: it’s available for order now at the Captured Tracks Myspace, so get on it. Here’s the b-side:

Now, come April 14th*, you can also expect a brand-new Woods full-length, titled Songs of Shame, courtesy of Woodsist. The press material promises that “the fourth full-length by Woods veers away from the lo-fi ‘guerillas in the mist’ sound of ‘At Rear House’ and presents both 90-second and ten-minute forays into skeletal psychedelia.” Yeah, I want to check that out. Here’s one track from the new record, it’s a cover of Graham Nash’s “Military Madness:”

*I asterisked the statement about the release date being April 14th because apparently it’s already been spotted at shops here around the city. So if you live in NYC: don’t bother waiting until 4/14, get out there and pick this one up now.)

I know that the uninitiated must assume that a musician named “Kurt Vile” must be an abrasive, unfriendly, avant-noize guy, but they’re wrong. Which is why I aim to initiate them now. And do it in as simple and straightforward a way as I can– behold the “Bedroom Tom Petty” appeal of “Freeway:”

Although Vile is already known as a player in The War On Drugs, I think we can safely go ahead and chalk him up, solo, as another “Gonna Be Big in ’09” name. He’s already been snapped up by a big (but as yet undisclosable) indie label for his upcoming full-length, Childish Prodigy. And after some debating over at MBV about just when his Mexican Summer limited-edition LP, God Is Saying This To You, would be released, we finally determined that it’s due next week. So if you’re not a Mexican Summer subscriber, that means you’ve probably got, oh, I’d say a day or two left to get in a pre-order for it. Of course, you could always just wait around and pay a fortune for it on ebay in another few months…

(FWIW, they say that ‘Kurt Vile’ is his real name, and not just an obvious take-off.)

Hopefully, you’re already familiar with Sharon Van Etten– she sang on Forest Fire‘s Survival, and I posted a great video of her singing in the “Secret Garden” on MBV. She’s got a new album, titled Because I Was In Love, coming out on 5/26 from Language of Stone (they’re tenuously affiliated with Drag City). Here’s an mp3 for you, titled (appropriately) “For You.” Lovely.

Robert Pollard has teamed with Richard Davies, of the late, great Cardinal for a new joint project called COSMOS. Their record Jar of Jam Ton of Bricks will be out on 6/9.