Neil Young & Crazy Horse to release second album of 2012

Earlier in the year Neil Young reformed Crazy Horse, a band with which he recorded some of his best and most popular albums of his career. They released Americana, an album made up of classic American songs of yesteryear, but now Neil has announced on his website that there will be a new Neil Young/Crazy Horse album of entirely original material. Psychedelic Pill will be released on double CD and triple LP sometime in October. In addition "full length videos for each of the songs will be available and previewed. A recommended high resolution 24/192 full fidelity version of the album Psychedelic Pill will be released on Blu-ray and will include all the videos". Now that's what I'm talking about!

Track all the info up to the release of Psychedelic Pill on the Upcoming Releases page.

The Flaming Lips announce new album The Terror

If an interview Wayne Coyne did with Rolling Stone is to be believed, the Flaming Lips hope to release a new studio album, for now called The Terror, later this year. It follows a set of collaborations the band released on this year's Record Store Day called The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends and succeeds 2009's Embryonic. Speaking to Rolling Stone Wayne told of some disturbing news surrounding longtime Lips guitarist Steven Drozd's drug addiction (possibly related to his 2010 hospitalization). Thankfuly however Wayne says that Steven is "better now than ever".

Track all the info up to the release of The Terror on the Upcoming Releases page.

Single of the Week: Mac DeMarco - "My Kind Of Woman"

The problems with retreading not only a familiar style of music but also subject matter are many. At worst it can sound kitsch, insincere, lazy and uninspired; not to mention there's always going to be someone else doing the same thing, especialy nowadays. Up and coming singer-songwriter Mac DeMarco, who plans to release a debut album, 2, on 16th October via Capured Tracks, sidesteps all of these problems by doing what his chosen genre does best (in this case 50s rock & roll). On "My Kind Of Woman" DeMarco plays it straightforward, letting his guitar ring out cleanly behind his lovelorn vocals, noticeably higher than his usual baritone. It's obvious that DeMarco is leaving behind the lo-fi, often jocular nature of his earlier recordings as Makeout Videotapes and heading for the big time.



Track all the info up to the release of 2 on the Upcoming Releases page.

R.I.P. Bill Doss - Olivia Tremor Control playlist

Devastating news came last Tuesday when it was revealed that Bill Doss, one of the founders of the seminal 90s psych-rock band Olivia Tremor Control, had passed away at age 43. Bill was a key figure in the Athens, Georgia music scene and one of the founders of the Elephant 6 Recording Company, a group of independant music artists who saw the inception of not only the Olivia Tremor Control but also Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples In Stereo and Of Montreal.

The Olivia Tremor Control was started up by Bill Doss and Will Cullen Hart in Louisiana in 1988. They released two studio albums: Music From The Unrealized Film Script: Dusk At Cubist Castle (1996) and Black Foliage: Animation Music (1999). Both albums are regarded as classics by many: heavily indebted to 60s psychadelic rock in sound and recording style, yet in a uniquely inventive style that ensured their legacy as one of the most creative bands of the 1990s.

The band had succesfully reunited by 2011 and were busy touring and reportedly working on material. This burst of new energy has made the news of Bill's passing all the more sudden and unexpected. Being a fan of Bill's work through the Olivia Tremor Control I thought the best way to honour his legacy would be to make a short playlist of songs from the two OTC albums. You can consider it an introduction to the band if you're unfamiliar with their material. I would defenitely recommend delving further into one or both albums if you like what you hear here:



Rest in peace Bill.