Merge Records Annual Poster Auction To Benefit Oxfam & NC Foodbank...Arcade Fire Poster currently at $750...

Merge Records has launched their annual poster auctions to benefit Oxfam America and the Food Bank of Eastern & Central North Carolina.

Here are the first four offerings, featuring Arcade Fire, The Rosebuds, David Kilgour, and Shout Out Louds:









The beautiful Arcade Fire poster is already bid up to $750...

Find the auctions here.

Arcade Fire - "Black Mirror" mp3

The Rosebuds - "Get Up Get Out" mp3

David Kilgour - "BBC World" mp3

Shout Out Louds - "Tonight I Have To Leave It" mp3

Bonnaroo/Glasto-Style Music Festival Coming to South Jersey

from the Philadelphia Inquirer's music critic Dan DeLuca:

Promoter C3 Presents, of Austin, Texas, announced today that the three-day rock festival originally proposed for Philadelphia's Fairmount Park will instead be held Aug. 8 to 10 on a 550-acre farm in Vineland, in South Jersey's Cumberland County.

Over three days, a crowd of 150,000 or more is expected at what C3 partner Charlie Jones called "a camping festival," similar to the Bonnaroo Music Festival held each June in Manchester, Tenn.

The camp-out concert at Menantico Colony, site of a former home for people with disabilities, would be the biggest rock festival New Jersey had ever seen and the biggest multiday music festival currently on the East Coast.

DeLuca also wrote:

For the Vineland festival, C3 Presents, which books both the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago and the Austin City Limits fest in Texas, will partner with Festival Republic, the British concert promotion company that puts on the prestigious Glastonbury and Reading festivals in England. Festival Republic is 50.1 percent owned by Live Nation U.K.

Though next summer's Vineland fest will take place a week after Lollapalooza, "this festival has nothing to do with Lollapalooza," Jones said. Nor will the wide-ranging and diverse rock show be themed as a "jam band" festival, as Bonnaroo was when it was founded in 2002.

It's likely, however, that the VMF, which will feature more than 100 bands (and come a week before the Philadelphia Folk Festival, in Schwenksville), will share some of the same acts that play Lolla and Austin.

Jones was not ready to announce any headliners but said the festival would include both big-name and less-mainstream acts. "This event is not about a headliner, although we will have marquee acts. It's about what we like to call 'the meat on the bone,' " he said.

Wow. Big stuff for Vineland, a town whose previous musical notoriety was the fact that it was the alleged hometown of the fictional Eddie & The Cruisers.

The Hermit Crabs - "Friend’s Folk Festival" mp3

track courtesy of eardrums.

The GoStation - download & album contest

One of our favorite albums of recent months has been The GoStation's Passion Before Function. It's chock full of anthemic rock songs that sound big in a good way, and not overblown. I've seen these guys play around NYC a bit, and sure enough, they sounded best in the biggest room I saw them in, at Avalon.

Produced by Bill Racine (Rogue Wave, Flaming Lips), who has a way with opening up a band's sound, Passion Before Function is perfect for fans of loud, catchy, and well-written rock. The lead-off track, "All Together Now" is the best Oasis song not by Oasis this year. I mean that as a compliment.

extrawack! wants to give one lucky reader an autographed copy of The GoStation's Passion Before Function (signed by the band, not us...). Send in the fifth email to extrawack@gmail.com with the subject line GoStation, and the disc is yours. Offer only open to readers in the USA...sorry Lesotho!

And hey Jersey! The GoStation are playing Dec. 14 at The Loop Lounge,
located at 373 Broadway in beautiful Passaic.

The GoStation - "All Together Now" mp3

DVD reviews: Oasis, David Bowie, ALT DVD, Mott The Hoople, Ghostland Observatory

'Tis the season to have to spend way too much time figuring out what to get friends & family for the holiday. As we've done in the past, here's our guide to one of our favorite gift categories, the music DVD...

OASIS - Lord Don't Slow Me Down

This treasure-trove of footage from their 2005 world tour is cut into documentary form, and is remarkably coherent without use of any narration at all. Sure, the Brothers Gallagher ruffle may folks' feathers with their rockstar and often juvenile public behavior, but after watching this doc and seeing the ridiculous lifestyle they lead (and just how annoying the grind of having to mingle with annoying fans, annoying radio personalities, and annoying hangers-on is), it almost seems that some of their posturing is justified. Bonus commentary is available from Noel, Liam, Andy & Gem, should you feel the need to sift through some thick accents.

A second disc of their homecoming show at Manchester City's home grounds, featuring 16 songs, shows that despite their age the band's live set is every bit passionate and compelling as the fierce early tours that solidified Oasis' place in Brit-rock history.

NYC fans will be pleased to find last year's Q&A with Noel Gallagher at CMJ is included here as an bonus feature.

Amazon's got this disc for a mere $20 this week, making it quite a bar-goon.


DAVID BOWIE - Glass Spider (DVD + 2CD Set)

This set is a MUST for Bowie fanatics & completists, and also for fans of completely over-the-top rock & roll multimedia extravaganzas. Shot in Sydney in 1987, the concert footage shows Bowie in his late Eighties "Not as out there as Ziggy, Not as cool as the Thin White Duke" mode, and taking advantage of every sort of stage prop, projection, and insane costume idea available at the time.

Musically, the show is pretty terrific, especially considering the possibilities of the massive stage show overpowering the songs...but that never quite happens. And it's an awesome sight to witness Peter Frampton trading licks with longtime Bowie sideman Carlos Alomar on a song as classic as "The Jean Genie".

The DVD features 22 tracks, and the two CD's (which were recorded in Montreal on the same tour) include 25 tunes, most of which are also on the DVD. The audio tracks understandably pale in comparison to watching the same songs on that giant stage, but still are pretty great nonetheless. "Heroes", "Young Americans", and "The Jean Genie" in particular are scorching.

Buy at Amazon.



ART LIFE TRUTH DVD Magazine

ALT DVD is an ambitious NYC/Philly/ATL-based digital magazine "dedicated to covering progressive culture through music, film, art, business, and social activism".

Boasting insightful interviews with soulster Omar, documentarian and Clash-cohort Don Letts, OG dancefloor banger Little Louie Vega, and renaissance man/artist Carl Hancock Rux, this DVD features a style laid back and lo-fi enough to draw you into the makers' sense of purpose and make you feel like part of their own crew.

A nice start to hopefully a long and fruitful series. More info here.


GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY - "Live From Austin TX"

From a series of shows recorded for the beloved Austin City Limits television show, this document of Ghostland Observatory's national TV debut is proof how they've converted packs of music fans into GO devotees one concert at a time.

For fans of garage rock and electro-beats alike, this is one of those rare DVD's that you can put on a at a party and get people moving the same way a well-crafted mixtape would do.

Buy at Amazon.


MOTT THE HOOPLE - "Under Review"

From the always insightful "Under Review" series comes this new "ultimate review and critical analysis" of the music and career of Mott The Hoople.

Remarkable in the fact that it deals nearly equally with the history and exploits of the whole band and not just Ian Hunter, this documentary features all kinds of great rare footage and interview with band members, as well as associates including mega-Mott fan (and Hunter solo album producer) Mick Jones of The Clash and original MTH Fan Club president Kris Needs, who gives details of the bizarre assortment of Mott fans he's banged into over the years, including Morrissey and Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazair Bhutto (!!). There's a ton of great live & studio music here, including the classics like "All The Young Dudes" and "All The Way From Memphis".

Mott The Hoople has always been underrated in terms of its influence on the evolution of Rock & Roll, and this doc serves as a nice primer on a band deserved of a much higher profile in music history.

Buy At Amazon.

extrawack! BONUS Baker's Dozen Downloads...Jon Spencer, Ted Leo, Annuals, Iron and Wine, Bright Eyes, & more.

Since we're still all turkey'd-up and feeling good, we thought we'd lob another thirteen slices of delicious tunage your way before the month ends. Download and slide them into a playlist with an eye-catching title like "ORIGINAL RADIOHEAD "IN RAINBOWS" DEMOS - NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION", but leave your Nano or Zune out in plain sight so your subway-mates think you are all insider and stuff.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - "Son Of Sam" mp3

Lydia Lunch - "Hangover Hotel" mp3

The Whitsundays - "Sorry James" mp3

The Raveonettes - "Aly Walk With Me" mp3

Justin Currie (of Del Amitri) - "Only Love" mp3 buy tix to his show @ Joe's Pub 12/5

Ted Leo - "That's Entertainment (live on WFMU)" mp3

Annuals - "Nah Keseyi" mp3

Bright Eyes - "Coat Check Dream Song (Exclusive Live Version)" mp3 buy the 'Causes' benefit album

Tinariwen - "Toumast" mp3

Iron and Wine - "Innocent Bones" mp3

Nicky Click - "It's Complicated" mp3

Scissors For Lefty - "Ghetto Ways(Baron Von Luxxury's Super Thanks For Asking Remix)" mp3

Condor Moments - "Counterpoint Study" mp3

extrawack! interview with The Hives

This past week saw the release of the highly anticipated new album from The Hives, The Black & White Album. Hives drummer Chris Dangerous gave us a call from the road to talk a bit about the new record, touring with Maroon 5, working with Timbaland & Pharrell, and getting rewarded for drunken plant-tossing in the Deep South.

extrawack!: I was just looking at The Hives Wikipedia entry, and it describes The Hives as having a 'punk-influenced garage rock" sound. Do you agree with that entry?

Chris: That’s OK I guess...I mean I’d like to it to say it’s Rock and roll, pretty much.

You guys are out on the road with Maroon 5 right now, which seems like a unlikely pairing...how did that happen?

You know, I think they wanted Tool on the tour...no, we’re actually labelmates, and I think they wanted a really good support band, and I think they got the best one.

Well, I’ve seen you play a few times in New York before, and and I’ve often thought, "I’d hate to have to play after those guys!"

That’s the thing most people think...never let The Hives support your band!

How are you going over at those shows, playing for people who wouldn’t normally get out to a Hives gig?

Exactly! That’s the thing. When we got the call for the tour, we thought that one of the things we really missed was playing for people who hadn’t heard us. When we headline, the moment we walk on the stage we’ve already won, you know? It’s really fun to have to fight for the audience to like you. We really like this tour for that reason. It takes us about two songs to get the audience on their feet, then eventually they are clapping and going bananas.

I just got a chance to listen to the new album, and I notice it’s got a more electronic sound than previous albums. Are you using synthesizers in your live show now as well?

No, so far we are not. We use a lot of petals for the guitars, but that’s it. We’ve always had synthesizers on the albums, but on the new one I guess you can tell that a little more since they are higher in the mix than usual.

Speaking of the mix and production, you guys worked with Timbaland and Pharrell in the last year or so. How did you hook up with them?

The Pharrell thing came about when we were in Japan, he came backstage and told us he loved us and wanted to work with us some day, so we remembered that when it came time to start the new album and just gave him a call. We worked with him for a few weeks in Miami.

With Timbaland, we worked on his record, then we recorded with him in Stockholm for our record, but none of it got finished in time so it didn’t make it onto this record.

I’ve heard you guys also worked with Jack White and The Raconteurs...is that true?

It’s sort of correct. We went to Nashville to see a Nashville Predators hockey game where Peter Forsberg was playing, and the next morning Pelle stopped by the studio where the Raconteurs were recording, and they needed to record the sounds of somebody’s footsteps walking across the floor. And that’s what Pelle did. He was the footsteps.

So his credit on the album is "Footstepper"?

Ha! Yes, that’s right.

I read recently that The Hives were presented the keys to the city of Oxford, Mississippi...how on earth did that happen?

I don’t know, because we sort of made fools of ourselves there! We got really drunk one night and took plants out of the pots in the city square and threw them around and stuff...but the mayor loved it, so we were presented with the keys. One each.

I noticed on your website that sometimes you refer to your fans as "Dorks and Dorkettes". Is that what you like to call them?

Not me, I didn’t write that. It sounds like something Nicolaus would say.

The Hives - "Tick Tick Boom":

"D.I.Y. OR DIE" Movie Available As Free Download

Michael Dean's remarkable documentary D.I.Y. OR DIE: How to Survive as an Independent Artist is being released as a series of free downloads on Zune.net and through the Zune Marketplace.

From the press release:

Microsoft's Zune Marketplace has just launched and Zune.net launches the week of November 19th. Both are showcasing the documentary film "D.I.Y. OR DIE: How to Survive as an Independent Artist" as top-four picks. Director Michael W. Dean is giving away the entire film as eight episodic chapters over eight weeks' time, one per week as free video downloads, in the "podcasts" section of Zune Marketplace and Zune.net.

The film is encoded in high quality (30 fps, 900 kbps MP4 files, 640 x 480 size, with 128-bit stereo audio, and no digital rights management or copy protection). It looks great on a Zune and other portable media devices, and damn good full screen on a computer. The entire film will stay online until at least April 2008.

Seven extras from the DVD (including interviews with Ian MacKaye, Steve Albini, and Lydia Lunch) will also be available for free download, one per week, after the final chapter of the film posts.

FILM DESCRIPTION:This film is a celebration of the artistic underdog! FEATURING interviews and performances from: Lydia Lunch, Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), J Mascis (Dinosaur jr.), Jim Rose (Jim Rose Sideshow), J.G. Thirlwell (Foetus), Mike Watt (Minutemen), Richard Kern (Filmmaker), Ron Asheton (Stooges), Madigan Shive (Bonfire Madigan), Dave Brockie (Gwar), Craig Newmark (founder Craig's List) and more.

Director Michael W. Dean says, "People keep asking me, ‘Why are you posting the whole film when it's still selling on DVD? Are you CRAZY?'" Dean's reply, in part: "It's my gift to the world. People write me every day and tell me the film got them off their ass. I made the film to spread a message, not make money. And somehow, it still made money. That's how I do things - it's how I pay my rent to the Universe."

Dean's full explanation of his reasoning for this giveaway: http://tinyurl.com/39u6ur

"Free" is our favorite price, so this is a hot deal as far as we're concerned.

Dinosaur Jr - "Been There All The Time" mp3

Mad TV Takes On Feist & Apple

It's funny because it's true...



Feist - "1234(VanShe Technologic Remix)" mp3
courtesy PrettyMuchAmazing!

November's extrawack! Baker's Dozen Downloads with Moving Units, Ian Ball, Les Savy Fav, Hellogoodbye, Mick Jones from The Clash, WHY?, and more.

A big thanks to the past week's guest bloggers Jinners, Murf, and Michael K, without whom my mad-crazy week would have been madder-crazy. I wish I could buy the three of you this Happy Monkey radio from Japan. But the whole dollar-to-yen thing has me confused, so you'll have to settle for a beer next time I see you.

Here is November's batch of extrawack! approved, totally gratis and legal, Zune-pimpin', body-rockin', non-stoppin', etc., etc., etc., downloads. We usually offer you some great choices, but this batch is très magnifique!

Moving Units - "Pink Thoughts" mp3

Polytechnic - "Man Overboard" mp3

Les Savy Fav - "The Equestrian" mp3

The Golden Dogs - "Dynamo" mp3

Hammer No More the Fingers - "Vodka Grasshopper" mp3

The Beauty Shop - "Like I Wasn't Even There" mp3

Hellogoodbye - "Baby It's Fact (Live From New York)" mp3 / buy the album to benefit World Hunger Year

WHY? - "The Hollows" mp3

Carbon/Silicon (Mick Jones' new band) - "What the Fuck" mp3

Plans & Apologies - "Meetoo" mp3

4 or 5 Magicians - "Forever On The Edge (Tom Waits version)" mp3

Brad Laner - "Out Cold" mp3

Ian Ball (of Gomez) - "Breakfast in America" (Supertramp cover) mp3 courtesy spin.com

Pretty (damn great) band from North Carolina

The Avett Brothers are an American band (no other description suffices) from Concord, North Carolina.
The Avett Brothers are Scott Avett on banjo, Seth Avett on guitar and Bob Crawford on stand-up bass.
The Avett Brothers have put out a handful of records over the past few years, including their latest, the achingly good Emotionalism.
The Avett Brothers are, in this writer's (Hi! I'm Michael K., from The Parallel Campaign, your new favorite seldom-updated blog!) humble opinion, now putting on some of the most whole-hearted, balls-out shows in the land, and you've only got yourself to blame if they come around and you miss them. Blame yourself you will.

Now, this was supposed to be a show review when I began writing it a few weeks ago, but nevermind that now - let me tell you a little story instead. Minimally maudlin (at least I'll try), and perhaps more interesting.

I went to see the Avetts with a friend who found out half an hour before we left that she was being offered a job back in the big city. That's the big bad city several hundred miles away, back where she was before she came here, a place she went more than a little haywire in when she was younger there. A place she's in no rush to return to. But the job is too good to pass up and she knew she wouldn't; there's little left for her here in University Town but for a few good friends, some bad memories of abortive relationships, and a few comfortable dives. This is precisely the emotional state you want to be in, greased by a few PBRs, when the show kicks off with verses like

The weight of lies will bring you down
And follow you to every town
Cause nothing happens here that doesn’t happen there
So when you run make sure you run
To something and not away from
Cause lies don’t need an aeroplane to chase you down

And what a show. What a band. What dimensions, what feeling, what fun can still be wrung out of a bass, an acoustic guitar, a banjo and a kick drum. High and low. The Avetts are about my age; when they sing about things like regret, the shadow of madness, getting a bit older, family (a more poignant song I have not heard in a long time, and you could hear a pin drop in the hall) and love, things we - at least I - haven't even got a sense of till reaching 30, it hits and it hits hard.



If there's an act around right now with more, dare I say it? sincerity in their words, more heart in their performance, I don't know of them.

All that was missing was one of my current faves, the jangling, sweet-as-candy "Pretty Girl From San Diego." The band that manages to slide at least a couple tracks entitled "Pretty Girl from _______" on every album closed instead with "Pretty Girl from Chile." And what a way to close. It's the one song on Emotionalism that abandons, however briefly, acoustic sound for electric, and rather than me explain just how that comes off live, why don't you just watch for yourself?

Afterwards, on a huge high, I saw my friend was quiet, so I asked her what she thought.

"You didn't see me sobbing three times tonight? That's good."

I didn't, but I had a feeling that she had been and that was all right. If I hadn't been singing along with the rest through most of the show, I think I might have been close to it myself.

Maybe when Seth Avett prefaced "Die Die Die" with the words

"This is a song about survival."

Yeah. Those are the best kind, for me.
"Nobody knows what lies behind/the days before we die."
Simple words, but I'm taking them with me. I want to survive, and I want the people I love to survive. Someone I love is having to fight real hard to survive nowadays. Someone she loved deeply stopped surviving just a few days after that show. Nights like that, and music like this, maybe they help us survive and keep it together pretty well.

And they're a hell of a lot of singalong, stompalong fun, too.

The Avett Brothers upcoming tour dates:

Nov 11 2007 8:00P Common Grounds Gainesville, Florida
Nov 15 2007 7:30P Norwalk Concert Hall Norwalk, Connecticut
Nov 16 2007 9:00P Paradise Rock Club Boston, Massachusetts
Nov 17 2007 7:30P Webster Hall New York, New York
Nov 18 2007 7:30P State Theatre Ithaca, New York
Nov 19 2007 8:00 Sellersville Theater Sellersville, Pennsylvania
Nov 20 2007 8:00P The Grand Opera House Wilmington, Delaware


Official website.
Myspace.

Rock For Darfur with Gabby Glaser & Mink Saturday Night

Need something to do Saturday night that'll rock you, and let you feel good about drinkin' and carousin' in a club?



That's right...come down and catch Gabby Glaser's set of wah-wah-fuzzed funky rock songs, and let the cover charge help Oxfam America's brave work in Darfur. Mink will be there to open, and to set your evening off in a groovy glammy way.

If you must stay further uptown, the following Saturday night shows are also Rock For Darfur events:

John Butler Trio - Terminal 5
Los Amigos Invisibles - The Fillmore @ Irving Plaza
Streetlight Manifesto - Grand Ballroom @ Manhattan Center

But if you do make it to Gabby's show, I'll be the guy in the Oxfam shirt. Let's have a beer, ok?

Gabby Glaser - "Naturally High" mp3

Mink - "Talk To Me" wma



Into Darfur: A Young American's Journey

Songwriter Spotlight: The Rosewood Thieves

Jinners here again. I've been doing a series of interviews lately that focus on the songwriting aspect of music called "Songwriter Spotlight." No TMZ BS here! This time around I'm putting the spotlight on The Rosewood Thieves!

The band's music is not as eery as their disembodied press photo heads are above. The songs are actually warm, folky numbers -- the kind you listen to on the porch while drinking some spiked iced tea. Or rather, with the cold weather coming up, it's the kind of music you listen to while sipping on drunken apple cider in front of a nice fire. It's surprising that such cuddle-worthy music comes from a New York band, and I'm digging it.

If you don't remember the band, they were originally on V2 before it went kerplunk. Their V2 six-song EP, From the Decker House, has been reissued with an additional three previously unreleased tracks. Look for it on iTunes, their MySpace page or at one of their live shows. The Thieves will also be releasing another six tracks on the upcoming Lonesome EP, which will be available on November 20. The band is also working on mixing their debut yet-to-be-titled LP with Tom Monahan (Devendra Banhart, Vetiver) in Sacramento.

Beforehand, however, the Thieves will be hitting the road with some East Coast and West Coast dates (see dates below). We caught up with lead singer Erick Jordan to get a glimpse of the songwriter behind the music.

Favorite place to write music and why?
While sitting shotgun on Route 80. It seems to me if you're sitting still you often over think things.

Latest inspiration and why?
Eating salmon two nights ago, it gave my body a boost of amino acids and b3's and b6's.

What's the most personal song on your latest album and why?
"When My Plane Lands" is about having a seizure in Los Angeles from an allergy from prochlorperazine.

If you could duet with anyone, who would it be and why?
Solomon Burke because he's got soul.

If you could fall asleep to any song, what would it be and why?
"Tell Me Why" by Neil Young because it's hard to make arrangements with yourself.

Upcoming Tour Dates
November 9 – New York - Mercury Lounge w/ The Thrills
November 16 – New York - Housing Works w/ Tift Merritt
December 7 - San Francisco - Hotel Utah
December 11 - Los Angeles - Bordello w/ John Gold
December 12 - Los Angeles - Silverlake Lounge w/ Eugene

Listen to more songs on MySpace.

Excerpts From the Lefsetz Letter

This is Jinners of Jinners.com. Hello. Nice to meet you. I can't seem to post on my own blog (No thanks to Blogger), so I am going to post on Extrawack.

I got hip to Bob Lefsetz and his newsletter (Lefsetz Letter) thanks to Extrawack. These newsletters are actually really great to read when you're in the mood to rant about the music biz. There is a discourse within. There is a fire and passion in his words that I haven't seen in a while. Here are a couple of my recent favorite excerpts:

Chris Rock on the Music Business (from Rolling Stone)
Chris Rock: Music kind of sucks. Nobody's into being a musician. Everybody's getting their mogul on. You've been so infiltrated by this corporate mentality that all the time you'd spend getting great songs together, you're busy doing nine other things that have nothing to do with art. You know how shitty Stevie Wonder's songs would have been if he had to run a fuckin' clothing company and a cologne line?
RollingStone: Plenty of rappers say, "I'm not a rapper, I'm a businessman."
Chris Rock: That's why rap sucks, for the most part. Not all rap, but as an art form it's just not at its best moment. Sammy the Bull would have made a shitty album. And I don't really have a desire to hear Warren Buffett's album - or the new CD by Paul Allen. That's what everybody's aspiring to be.

The ComScore Report
"I'm sick and tired of the constant debate about Radiohead's business model. It WASN'T a business model. It was a one time stunt that is not the future of the music business and will only be replicated by fools.

Want to make some money? Sell t-shirts. Charge for gigs. Create a fan club (that actually delivers something besides tickets). Because as 2007 draws to a close, it appears most people now believe music is free. And want to hear it before they pay for it!

You take a test drive before you buy a car, don't you? You go to the Apple Store and fiddle with a Mac before you order one. What makes you think the same rules don't apply to music? Music, when done right, isn't disposable. The only stuff you don't try out before buying is shit that's cheap, that you instantly use up. You don't care that much if you get ripped off. You'll just never buy that product again."

Artistic Control
"By time we hit the seventies, acts just delivered their records. They recorded them wherever they wanted to, with no unwanted input. And labels had an obligation to release them. End result? Riches for everyone.

But we haven't had that environment for fifteen years, at least.

Now, if you take their money, you've sold your soul. You must do what the label wants. Or else it won't even release your record."

Now what do YOU think?

Popfest! New England

Hey folks, this is Flatlander from False 45th. While Sir extrawack! is busy with other stuff, I'm going to hang a post or two on this site.

Do you remember that friend in college whose parents had a house in the Berkshires? Well, it's time to give them a ring and ask for the keys.

This weekend (Nov 9 - Nov 11) is Popfest! New England in Northampton, MA which is one of those cute New England college towns where the tiny side streets are filled with cobblestones and corduroy sports coats are still in fashion. It's also been the center of the Western Mass music scene for the last few decades with clubs such as Pearl Street, Iron Horse Music Hall and The Elevens where all the Popfest! shows will reside.

The schedule for the festival is packed with 23 of the finest twee pop bands on the circuit these days. Most are from the northeast but others hail from Sweden, Norway, England and St. Louis. You can download a zip file sampler featuring songs from the bands here.

The standouts are:

The Capstan Shafts recently pulled down reviews of 7.7, 8.2, 7.2 and 7.8 on Pitchfork for his last four releases. There aren't many artists out there that can claim such high and consistent marks from Pitchfork. The Capstan Shafts (aka Dean Wells) is actually a one-man band that until last month had only been a lo-fi home recording project. Despite releasing 17 LPs and EPs, Wells had never played live before. It's not exactly clear why not but his performance on Sunday night at Popfest! will be his third show and only second with a full band. This is like catching GBV in 1993.

The Capstan Shafts | Sleepcure Theory Advancer | Buy

The Smittens are a twee pop band out of Burlington, VT that will soon be releasing their third album, Til the Summer's End, as well as a split 7" with Tullycraft where they cover The Angels' "My Boyfriend's Back". They'll also be playing on Sunday night. Additionally, Colin Clary of The Smittens will be doing a set during the Sunday matinée show with his side project Colin Clary + a Magog.

The Smittens | Doomed, Lo-Fi and In Love | Buy

To tie this back to NYC, two bands from the city will be taking the stage on Friday night. My Teenage Stride and The Besties will be playing back to back.

The Besties | Rod n' Reel | Buy
My Teenage Stride | Reception | Buy

Northampton is an easy three hour drive from the city (take the Merritt; not I-95). So, between a fine music festival and the simple joy of getting out of the city for a weekend, give that old friend a call and borrow their weekend house in the Berkshires.

Only Two Shows Not Sold Out Yet For Yo La Tengo Hanukkah In Hoboken

As of this morning, there are tickets left only for the Tuesday, December 4th and Monday, December 10th dates of Yo La Tengo's eight-crazy-night Hanukkah stand at Maxwell's...tickets for those dates can be bought here.

Yo La Tengo - "From a Motel 6" mp3

Yo La Tengo - "Beanbag Chair" mp3