| Burgo's Music Blog

Here’s me, not one post earlier, saying that things were going to be quite around here for the next week or two. Yet here I am, putting up a second post today! Truth is, I’ve had an unexpected opening in my schedule, and with a spare hour before my next meeting now, I thought I might as well quickly give a round-up of odds and ends… in case they slip my mind in the coming weeks. So, here you go:

Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Weeping Pilgrim

I only recently was exposed to this song, “Weeping Pilgrim” from Elvis Perkins, which will appear on the forthcoming “Help Me To Sing” compilation album.
What do you need to know about it? Not much… save for the fact that it’s a cracking tune of longing and struggle, that is everything music should be. Seriously. There’s an indomnitable spirit to this song that simply cannot be beaten down. Listen to this and love it.

Listen: Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Weeping Pilgrims

Speaking of Elvis Perkins, I only recently stumbled across a Black Cab Session that featured him, so here it is…

Nate from “The Format” Returns With A New Tune

One of the most popular posts on this blog – not in terms of comments, because… well… there are none – but in terms of pageviews, is my past post about The Format breaking up. ‘Twas a sad day indeed when the talented duo called it quits… but it seems Nate Reuss couldn’t stay away too long, and has popped up again on my radar in a new outfit, simply entitled “fun“. In their inaugeral Myspace post, Nate wrote:

The day after The Format had broken up, I already knew that I couldn’t just call it quits. I wasn’t ready to give up music. I had a handful of songs that I was convinced were the best songs I’d written and I don’t think that I would have been able to live with myself if I had just left them to evaporate somewhere in the back of my mind. I don’t even think I had told my mother of the band’s demise before I made the two phone calls that set the amazing events of the past few months in motion.

And with that, he was back. The band currently have a demo up on their Myspace page, called “Benson Hedges” and it’s… well, it’s pretty cool. It’s great to hear Nate’s distinctive voice again, and – most importantly – it sounds like he’s really having fun again.

Listen: fun – Benson Hedges (demo)

Preview of Okkervil River’s new “The Stand Ins” release

You know, I freaking love Jagjaguwar. Any time a label understands the new world that is internet music and engages music bloggers, it gives me the warm fuzzies all over. Jagjaguwar are offering up “Lost Coastlines” – a track from Okkervil River‘s forthcoming “The Stand Ins” album – for free download, which I’ve linked to below.
I have to say, the album was actually leaked a while ago, prior to mastering, and I heard a few tunes from it… and it’s absolutely kicks ass. It’s exactly what we need from Okkervil River, and this track demonstrates why.

Listen. Love. Support.

Listen: Okkervil River – Lost Coastlines

More random links

— Related to the Okkervil River tune above, Dave over at Rawkblog posted possibly one of the best music posts I’ve read all year revolving around Okkervil River’s new release. It’s sheer honesty, and it validates why I’ve had him in my reader for a while. Read it here.

— One of the most prolific music bloggers I know, Matt over at Addictedtovinyl.com has finally hopped onto the twitter bandwagon. If you’re into that sort of thing, you can follow him here. (Speaking of which, you can also follow me here… if you’re interested).

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Ok, seriously, that will be it for a while now. You all play nice now… and, until next time… Be lucky.

The Format break up. Sadness ensues.

So the music blogosphere is abuzz with the latest sad news: The Format, indie-pop darlings, have called it quits. A post made on their myspace blog reads:

“We have just put out word that we will not be making a new Format album. Please understand this was a tough decision and we’re both upset about it. While we accept there will be false speculation as to why, understand that Sam and I remain extremely close and in fact are still passing the twin peaks box set back and forth in an attempt to figure out who REALLY killed laura palmer.

We also want to thank everyone with and within the Format, particularly Mike, Don, and Marko, whom without, none of this would have ever even been fully realized. We both suggest you support their musical talents and whatever they decide to do. And lastly we want to thank the fans who made this the best 5 years of our lives.

– nate”

I can imagine quite more than a few scenesters shedding a tear after reading that post; but seriously, this really does suck. The Format always played to a slightly different tune, and that was needed in the seriously (and ironically) homogenised indie-pop scene.

The Format were the poster-child for fighting on against major record labels. After all, Sam Means and Nate Ruess, otherwise known as The Format, were dropped by their music label, not once, but twice. An interview with Nate after the event read:

“It sort of mockingly turned the whole major-label side of the music business into a dance,” explains Ruess about one of Dog Problems’ most telling songs, “The Compromise.” “There’s a line, ‘I can feel your feet touching mine,’ which pretty much explains it all in the sense of ‘if you’re not willing to play the game, we’ll just find someone else.’ And that’s quite alright with me.” Although the band was inundated with major-label offers after their split with Atlantic, they decided to release under their own Vanity Label imprint, distributed by Sony/BMGa move that allowed them to make the album they wanted to make.

It’s sad now to think that survivors like that are now calling it quits. I know that I, for one, will miss them.

So what song is appropriate to play, after all this, to commemorate this sad news? Well, if you know anything at all about The Format, there’s only one song it really could be, when you get right down to it.

Listen: The Format – On Your Porch

“whats left to lose,
you’ve done enough
and if you fail well then you fail,
but not to us
cause these last three years,
i know they’ve been hard
but now it’s time to get out of the desert and into the sun
even if it’s alone”

With lyrics like that, it’s certainly appropriate.

We’ll miss you boys.