A few recent and recentish finds/loves:The Golden Dogs - Cheap Umbrellas mp3 - from Coat of Arms - MySpace - Thanks to Indie Rock Cafe, which has one more here.The Rassle - Celebrate The Days mp3 - from The Rassle EP - MySpace - Get the free EP here.Western Civ - My Valuable Hunting Knife mp3 - from Sing For Your Meat: A Tribute to Guided By Voices - MySpace - Thanks to Team Clermont.Skull Tape -

Sing For Your Meat: A Tribute to Guided By Voices es un disco homenaje al grupo de Ohio liderado por Robert Pollard. En este tributo a uno de los grupos clave en el movimiento lo-fi y editado por el sello No More Fake Labels , participan artistas y bandas como Thurston Moore, Elf Power, Superdrag, Lou Barlow, Flaming Lips, Blitzen Trapper, Crooked Fingers, David Kilgour, Cymbals Eat Guitars o La Sera. Mp3: Cymbals Eat Guitars. Gleemer Mp3: La Sera. Watch Me Jumpstar Mp3: [...]
To Bob be the glory! The No More Fake Labels label has issued Sing For Your Meat: A Tribute To Guided By Voices. The 17-track album features such MAGNET faves as Thurston Moore ("Stabbing A Star"), Lou Barlow ("Game Of Pricks"), Crooked Fingers ("Tractor Rape Chain"), the Flaming Lips ("Smothered In Hugs"), Superdrag ("A Salty [...]

Guided By Voices were a buzz band in the pre-blog era. The main difference between them and other buzzards is that whether 10, 15, or 20 years later, their songs still hold listening value (wonder how the just-add-reverb bands of the last few years will stand the test of time). Sample a few tracks below from Sing For Your Meat: A Tribute to Guided By Voices . Cymbals Eat Guitars - "Gleemer" La Sera - "Watch Me Jumpstart" [...]
Cymbals Eat Guitars - GleemerLa Sera - Watch Me JumpstartWestern Civ - My Valuable Hunting KnifeReleased yesterday for Record Store Day, Sing For Your Meat: A Tribute to Guided By Voices is a compilation of GBV songs covered by a multitude of hipsters who have been moved by the influence of GBV. Released by No More Fake Labels it represents the the many facets of GBV's work, from lo-fi, scrappy
Yipes, this week has been getting away from me. Inbox time! ++Several artists have gotten together for a compilation tribute to Guided by Voices. The 17 track album comes out on Sunday and features acts like Blitzen Trapper, Thurston Moore, Lou Barlow, Cymbals Eat Guitar, La Sera and Western Civ cranking out lo-fi beauties like this: Western Civ: My Valuable Hunting Knife.mp3 ...more to come...

Marie Stella have a brand new single which is available at their bandcamp page using the pay-what-you-want formula (set to $0 for one month). Bring on the noisepop. Listen. Downloadable: En Fluxx (mp3) You can stream the whole thing using the Bandcamp streamer below. The B-side is a much higher-fi version of a Marie Stella song which has been floating around the internets as a demo for some time. Streamable: En Fluxx single (bandcamp) Marie Stella [...]
Guided by Voices , who celebrated Matador Records' 21st birthday earlier this month in Vegas, will be on the receiving end of a celebration early next year. And according to TwentyFourBit , although the GBV tribute album so far has no name, it will have plenty of exciting names on the tracklist. As Wayne Coyne mentioned on Twitter in September, his Flaming Lips recorded their cover of "Smothered in Hugs" for the compilation. Now, No More Fake Labels founder Misty Dawn Briggs has revealed to Independent Weekly a bunch more artists [...]

Here are the results of going to see The Forms last night... [Tweet] # #cmj09 :: headed to kenny's castaways to see the forms and maybe catch some of western civ [Tweet] # #cmj09 :: think I just heard some western civ, now wish I heard more... oh well [Downloadable] I Am A Waterfall (mp3) by Western Civ [Tweet] # #cmj09 :: I now know why I have never been to kenny's castaways... having a hard time enjoying this place even on an ironic level [...]

Here are the results of going to see The Forms last night... [Tweet] # #cmj09 :: headed to kenny's castaways to see the forms and maybe catch some of western civ [Tweet] # #cmj09 :: think I just heard some western civ, now wish I heard more... oh well [Downloadable] I Am A Waterfall (mp3) by Western Civ [Tweet] # #cmj09 :: I now know why I have never been to kenny's castaways... having a hard time enjoying this place even on an ironic level [...]
Here are mp3s by some artists playing live this week: mp3: "Sunlight" by Harlem Shakes mp3: "Call Me" by The Naked Hearts mp3: "Stand Where I Can See You" by She Keeps Bees mp3: "Crickets" by chopshop mp3: "Funny Cry Happy" by Gold Streets mp3: "Got The Number" by Western Civ Also playing this week: Libel Visit our SHOWLIST [...]

Monday 3/23 * Micachu & The Shapes @ Cake Shop [EF Pick of the Week] ( MP3: "Lips" by Micachu & The Shapes) * Ethan Iverson, Albert "Tootie" Heath and Ben Street @ Smalls Tuesday 3/24 * Camera Obscura, Laura Cantrell @ Bell House ( MP3: "My Maudlin Career" by Camera Obscura) * Bloc Party, Longwave @ Terminal 5 [...]
Although the three core members of Chapel Hill, N.C.'s Western Civ have known each other since high school, their forthcoming album Shower The People You Love With Gold (self-issued, out March 17) is only the band's third release. Under the guidance of veteran producer Mitch Easter (R.E.M., Pavement), Western Civ has honed its brand of [...]
Like most bands of the indie-rock persuasion, the members of Western Civ tend to balk at efforts to define the band's sound. "Can I just tell you what it isn't?" asks guitarist/singer Rich Henderson. And it's not that he hasn't had time to mull it over- Henderson and his longtime pals belong squarely in the [...]
Chapel Hill-based Western Civ will be performing live from the NBC studios in Raleigh, North Carolina. "Sessions at Studio B" will air Thursday, February 26th at 4PM ET. You can also watch it online at MyNC.com . Western Civ will also be performing at The Local 506 the same day for their CD Release Party, starting at 9PM. The whole show will be broadcast live via Unheard Radio .
Shortwave Set - " No Social " (mp3) Western Civ - " I Am A Waterfall " (mp3) Modern Skirts - " Like Lunatics " (mp3) Lucky Fonz III - " Jane On The Roof " (mp3) Living Things - " Let It Rain " (drop.io)

This is Western Civ 's third offering, and it shows. Their press release is full of bashful meanderings about not being able to define their sound, which is dandy-- I can't define whether I'm wearing my glasses until I spent ten desperate minutes tearing the apartment apart (and, by the way, I am wearing my glasses). However, they clearly know enough what they want their sound to be to claw their way there with a vengeance. I admit, when listening to these tracks I was initially turned off. These are definitely children (or [...]

Nothing really going on around here today except cleaning out the 'ol email. Of course, this means I plow through veritable mountains of crap and serve up stuff that is at least marginally OK. No guarantees, though. A few of these are top notch (Vic & Elf Power, A. Armada, Gnarls) and the others you'll have to decide for yourself because I'm on the fence. Some of this stuff is a few months old, some of it brand new. What do you care, anyway? They're free. Have fun. MP3: The Christmas Lights-Show Your Teeth [...]

What is it about living in Chapel Hill? Is it something in the water? It seems that if you live there you sort of instinctively have the ability to RAWK. Alabama transplants, Western Civ seem to be no different. In their short time in the capital of all things indie this band has started to sound like it belongs on Merge and hanging out with Polvo and Superchunk while watching UNC basketball games. I guess you could say that Western Civ is yet another band that's been beamed from the 90's [...]