Premiere: new Travels track – “Severed”
Posted on January 12, 2009 at 9:26 pm | No Comments
The year 2007 saw the welcome arrival of Travels, the musical team-up of ex-Metal Hearts member Anar Badalov and former Victory at Sea singer/guitarist Mona Elliott. Their self-released debut disc was a gorgeously haunting labor of love, written mostly as the two fell for each other during the 2006 European tour of their two bands, and as Mona dealt with the onset, treatment, and recovery from breast cancer. Well, this brand new year brings us the gift of their second full-length, a batch of songs penned as the two settled into their Union Square digs.
The upcoming disc, titled “The Hot Summer”, officially arrives in a month or so, but the duo has been gracious enough to allow me to share the very first downloadable preview in the form of the song “Severed“. As much as I loved their self-titled debut, this single track already shows remarkable growth, both in songwriting and their home-spun production, and has me hankering hard for the rest of the album…
Two other new ones, “The Forgotten” and “Favorite People“, can now be streamed at their MySpace page, along with a brand new demo of a post-“Hot Summer” song titled “Fiction“. Keep an eye on that page for future demos, as well as ordering info for new album.
update 1/14 – Pre-ordering info is now available, and can be made via PayPal (see link on their MySpace page). Early orders get emailed a digital copy of the album in a month, on February 14th, and get mailed the disc that week, along with an ‘extra-fun gift’.
Travels will celebrate the release of “The Hot Summer” on, appropriately enough, Valentine’s Day, with a show at PA’s Lounge in (where else) Somerville. Joining them to mark the occasion will be Animal Hospital, Arms and Sleepers, and Mary Page. Can’t wait.
New Year’s Giveaway: David Bazan on DVD
Posted on January 2, 2009 at 9:18 am | No Comments
First official ‘Nac post of the new year, and it’s a gift for one of you.
There are many scheduled releases I look forward to in ’09 (and I’ll write about them in another post soon), but one I anticipate the most is David Bazan‘s Black Cloud, which should be arriving on Barsuk sometime this Spring. The former Pedro the Lion frontman has been sharing several new songs on stage for awhile now, and simply stripped down you can tell they’re some of his best.
To help ease the long wait for “Black Cloud” (technically his first official solo full-lengther), David and the crew at Undertow released the “Bazan: Alone At The Microphone” DVD in October. Documented last summer, the intimate, hour-long offering sprinkles revealing interview segments among 10 bare-bones performances. These run-throughs cover of a wide variety of David’s work, including PtL songs, some Headphones tracks (remarkable in these very different guitar-based versions), and the disc closes with the new “Please Baby Please“, a live favorite for awhile now.
So, thanks to the generosity of Undertow, I’ve got a copy of the David Bazan DVD to give away to a random Almanac reader. With the holiday season wrapping up, and surfing having slowed waaaaay down, the odds of your snagging this sucker is that much greater. So if you want to take a shot, drop a quick email to me at giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com before 9am next Friday, January 9th, and I’ll let you know if it’s yours that afternoon. Throw “Bazan DVD” in the subject line, and include the city you live in (North Americans only, unfortunately).
If the chips don’t fall your way, you can pick up your own copy of the DVD via Undertow, Barsuk, or at Insound. Check out a couple interview segments from the DVD right here, some bonus material over at Elbows, and these clips via YouTube…
Also well worth noting is that David recently released a couple new tracks via iTunes, the politically-charged “American Flags” and his version of “Please Baby Please” from the DVD. For those who hanker for something to hold in your hands (as I do), both tracks will also be found on a 7″ version that arrives later this month from Barsuk.
Alright, get those emails coming and keep those fingers crossed.