Speakertree Records

(apologies for dropping off the face of the web…it’s hot and it’s the summer and…sorry)

(new releases)

M.I.A. - /\/\ /\ Y/\  (XL)- CD, deluxe CD and LP
Sparklehorse & Dangermouse - Dark Night of the Soul -  CD and LP 
Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises - CD
Wolf Parade - EXPO 86 (Sub Pop)  CD and LP 
Big Boi (of OutKast) - Sir Lucious Left Food (Def Jam) - CD (LP next week)
The Roots - How I Got Over (Def Jam) - CD 
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles - LP 
Love Language - Libraries - CD 

(restocks)
CDs: 
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
Blitzen Trapper - Destroyer of the Void
Black Keys - Brothers
Johnny Cash - American VI: Aint No Grave
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme 
Devo - Something for Everybody
Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle
Iron & Wine - Our Endless Numbered Days
LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
The National - High Violet
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
Edward Sharpe & Magnetic Zeroes - Up From Below
Sonics - Boom
M. Ward - Transfigurations of Vincent
Vaselines - Enter the Vaselines 

LPs:
Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
Black Keys - Brothers
Crystal Castles 
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
The National - Alligator
The Morning Benders - Big Echo
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
Jonsi - Go

The wonderful Matt Leech from Funny/Not Funny Records just sent over one of the many new treats they have in store for us in the coming weeks - a tape split between Andrew Cedermark and Drunk Tigers (both of Charlottesville, VA).  Harrisonburg, VA-based label F/NF is quickly coming into prominence with a few hefty tape releases by some of my favorite regional bands (this great one, the Young Sinclairs, Invisible Hand, Matt Leech, etc)…As for this split tape, former Titus Andronicus member Andrew Cedermark delivers a hazy and shoegazy dose of cavernous rock music tinged with healthy touches of twang.  ”Lookin for a Boswell” has the beautiful, sparse-to-intense waves of Phil Elverum’s music (the Microphones/Mt. Eerie).  Drunk Tigers are a bit rowdier, grinding out 5 rock songs with an energetic intensity of classic indie bands like Superchunk and the Replacements.  This excellent tape split is limited to 100 and definitely recommended - head HERE to pre-order.

Andrew Cedermark - Lookin For A Boswell

Drunk Tigers -Matchbook Tricks

This time of year is especially heavy on the new music releases and while there are a LOT of really great things coming out (just check by the shop for the full list), I wanted to let you know some of my top things going right now.  In what has already been a pretty amazing 2010 for good music, here is the top of the pile this spring:

Woods - At Echo Lake  (Woodsist)

Easily my favorite band from the past few years, Woods is the perfect blend of 70s psych weirdness (definite Crazyhorse vibe on this new one) and modern lo-fi pop.  This is one of those records we will look back on as a defining record for an entire genre!

Woods - Blood Dries Darker

 Chin Chin - Sound of the Westway (Mississippi / Slumberland)

This is the kind of infections, fuzzy, female pop-punk that seemingly every new band WISHES they sounded like - and this was being made in Switzerland in 1985!  In a pre-internet era its no wonder this remained obscure, but not anymore.  Another outstanding reissue from Mississippi Records.

Chin Chin - Dark Days

 Titus Andronicus - The Monitor (XL)

I have spun this record more than anything else from the year and I still can’t get enough.  Combining a genuine adoration for Abraham Lincoln, the brilliant anthemic sounds of Bruce Springsteen and a healthy dose of modern heart-on-sleeve angst, Titus has given us one of the best sophomore records I have ever heard.  The opening track (below) is an absolute epic, monster of a song.

Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union

 Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils (Captured Tracks)

Seeing Beach Fossils in a living room show at SXSW this year really sealed the deal for me.  These guys make some of the catchiest beach-vibed pop songs that can function as dance songs or head-nodding-chill-out jams.  This album is out soon and I expect it to be the soundtrack to my summer.

Beach Fossils -Daydream

and one to look for mid-summer:

Mountain Man - Made the Harbor (Bella Union)

Another band that left me floored during their SXSW set, Mountain Man are three women singing breezy old-time folk music with a great emphasis on authentic, honest lyrics.  The harmonies between these women is outstanding, spinning a modern and beautiful take on simple roots music.  AND Alexandra lives in Charlottesville!

Mountain Man - Soft Skin

Lots of new releases and restocks…

The National - High Violet  (4AD) - LP and CD
The New Pornographers - Together (Matador) - LP and CD
The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever (Vagrant) - LP and CD
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record (Arts & Crafts) - CD
Woods - At Echo Lake (Woodsist) - LP and CD
Gogol Bordello - Trans-Continental Hussle (American) - CD  (produced by Rick Ruben!)

Restocks–
CD:
Avett Brothers - Emotoionalism
Brian Jonestown Massacre - Their Satanic Majesties..
Caribou - Swim
Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig
Destroyer - Streethawk: A Seduction
Roky Erickson w/ Okkervil River - True Love Cast Out All Evil
Serge Gainsbourg - Histroire de Melody Nelson
Girls - Album
Jimi Hendrix - Valleys of Neptune
Jonsi - Go
Bob Marley & Wailers - Legend
MGMT - Congratulations
Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
Ramones - Rocket to Russia
Replacements - Let it Be
Dave Rawlings Machine - A friend of a friend
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
Vampire Weekend - Contra
Yo la Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One 

LP:
Hasil Adkins - Peanut Butter Rock & Roll
Beach House - Beach House
Belle & Sebastian - If You’re Feeling Sinister
Broken Bells - Broken Bells
Chin Chin - Sound of the Westway
Flat Duo Jets - Introducing
Grass Widow - s/t
Jimi Hendrix - ARe you Experienced
The Mountain Goats - Life of the World to Come
MGMT - Congratulations
The Morning Benders - Big Echo
Jonsi - Go
Gil Scott-Heron - I’m New Here
Sonics - Boom
Sonics - Here are the Sonics
Vampire Weekend - Contra 
V/A - Garage Acetates Volume 1.: Get Off My Back!
V/A - Back from the Grave: Rockin 1966 Punkers 
White Fence - White Fence

** remember RECORD STORE DAY is this Saturday….we are open 11-6 and slanging the hot tunes…get em’

New Releases:
 
MGMT - Congratulations  (Columbia) - LP and CD and deluxe CD (scratch off cover!)
Jonsi (of Sigur Ros) - Go  (XL) - LP and CD
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - I Learned the Hard Way  (Daptone) - LP and CD
The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt (Dead Oceans) - LP and CD 
Freelance Whales - Weathervanes (Frenchkiss) - LP and CD
Dr. Dog - Shame Shame (Anti-) - CD
Harlem - Hippies (Matador) - LP and CD
Iggy Pop and the Stooges - Raw Power (Legacy Edition) - CD
Meth, Ghost and Rae - Wu Massacre (Def Jam) - CD 
Golden Triangle / Fresh and Only’s 7″ split (Hardly Art) - 7″

Restock
CDs:
Beach House - Teen Dream
Bonnie Prince Billy & The Cairo Gang - The Wonder Show of the World
Cramps - Psychedelic Jungle
Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
Dr. Octagon - Dr. Octagonecologyst
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
Franz Ferdinand - s/t
Jimi Hendrix - Valleys of Neptune
MF Doom - Operation Doomsday
Midlake - Courage of Others
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me
Otis Redding - Live at Whiskey a GoGo
Sonic Youth - The Eternal 
Woods - Songs of Shame
Yeasayer - Odd Blood 

LPs:
Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Balmorhea - Constellations
Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Explosions in the Sky - Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place
Fleet Foxes - s/t
Gigi - Maintentant
Iron & Wine - Shepherds Dog
The Morning Benders - Big Echo
The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come (its one of the purple ones!!)
Conor Oberst - Outer South
Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
Pavement - Wowee Zowee
Postal Service - Give Up 
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
War on Drugs - Wagonwheel Blues
Yeasayer - Odd Blood 
Neil Young - Dreaming Man Live ‘92

This Saturday, April 17th is the third annual Record Store Day! (and our second RSD - since we were new last year!)…An entire day dedicated to independent brick-and-mortar record shops — you know, the kinds of shops where music is the obvious passion, where you can get lost in for hours digging through records, find your new favorite band after a discussion with the store clerk, etc — its what we are all about so obviously this is a pretty special day for us…

And for those of you in the know, there will be lots and LOTS of exclusive, limited pressed records (and other goodies) only available at participating shops - and OF COURSE we are fully participating…The overwhelming and entire list of exclusives is here … We are doing the best we can to get a good stock of most of these items but remember that they are super limited and we will not know the exact items and quantities we are getting until the day before.  And sorry but we can not reserve or hold anything - strictly first come first served…doors open at 11am this Saturday. (and there should be some good treats in the “new arrival” used LP section too) WE CAN’T WAIT!!!

The lovely people at WWRM (the online radio station for Randolph College) are putting on their first ever “Wormstock” music festival this Saturday, April 10th.  They have landed some incredible regional talent and are hosing the show for FREE, starting at 4pm (outside at the Dell).  This is gonna be a great one!  Bands playing are:

Lost in the Trees (Chapel Hill) 
Hot Lava (Richmond)
Wild Nothing (Blacksburg)

New Releases:
Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be  (Sub Pop)  - LP and CD
She & Him - Volume 2  (Merge) - LP and CD
Erykah Badu -  Part Two: Return of the Ankh (Universal) - CD
Drive by Truckers - The Big To Do  (ATO) - CD
Happy Birthday - s/t  (Sub Pop) - LP and CD
King Khan & Pat Meteor - Feiry Tears of St. Laurent (Sub Pop) - 7″

Restocks
CD:
The Album Leaf - A Chorus of Storytellers
Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
Beach House - Teen Dream
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Dutchess & the Duke - Sunset/Sunrise
Fleet Foxes - s/t
Jimi Hendrix - Valleys of Neptune
Howlin Wolf - Blues Biography
Los Campesionos - Romance is Boring
Modest Mouse - Building Nothing out of Something
My Morning Jacket - Z
The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
Shout Out Louds - Work
Sonic Youth - The Eternal 

LP:
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Beach House - Teen Dream
Black Sabbath - s/t
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded (KRS-ONE!)
Bright Eyes - Lifted…
Broken Bells - s/t
James Brown - Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud
Captain Beefheart - Safe as Milk
Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come
Dead Boys - Young, Loud and Snotty
Fleet Foxes - s/t
Marvin Gaye - Whats Goin’ On
Richard Hell - Blank Generation
Gil Scott Heron - The Revolution Will Not be Televised
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
Jay Z - The Black Album
Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express
The Meters - The Meters
The Morning Benders - Big Echo
The Mountain Goats - Life of the World to Come (we got one of the limited PURPLE ones!!)
Nas - Illmatic
Nirvana - Nevermind
Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
Pavement - Wowee Zowee
Ramones - Ramones
Otis Redding - Pain in My Heart
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
The Postal Service - Give Up
The Shins - Oh Inverted World 
Muddy Waters - Electric Mud

Cloud Nothings got some great press following a packed week at SXSW…here are a few:

The Washington Post - put Cloud Nothings in the top 9 live shows from all of SXSW!!!

Daytrotter - look for a few recorded daytrotter songs from CN soon

Pitchfork - a blink 182 comparrison?  what? oh, you, pitchfork

Love Shack, Baby - giving Jayson (the amazing drummer) some mega props

Line of Best Fit - more Jayson love! and a great video from the weeklytapedeck/transparent showcase

sorry for slackin’…super busy around here (including the washington post mentioning how awesome cloud nothings is live!)…but wanted to throw up some pics from Austin.  I am working on a full write up and should get it to the burg/news advance soon and then add some other thoughts on the blog.  

Woods @ snakepit's house

Dutchess & the Duke (sub pop/harly art showcase)

F*cked Up playing in the street!

Mountain Man !! (gorilla vs. bear showcase)

The Sandwitches (gvb showcase)

Happy Birthday (at Cheer up Charlies)

Cloud Nothings (Transparency/Weekly Tape Deck swcs)

Frightened Rabbit (at Mess with Texas)

Eternal Summers (@ trailerspace records)

Reading Rainbow (so good!)