HAPPY RECORD STORE DAY 2010!!!

Happy Record Store Day everybody, from all of us here at Fikak! Here is a list of a lot the 2010 Record Store Day releases including a Moon & Antarctica repress, Flaming Lips doing Floyd, and the ever strange Bon Iver/Peter Gabriel collabo. (Really, go get this stuff. The exclusive stuff is usually worth quite a bit!) And of course there are lots and lots more, so go out to your local record store and support the cause! If you're in the area, why not spend the day at Parasol Records in Champaign/Urbana? (and then you say "Why should I do that?" and then I say "Because...") They're releasing six exclusive 7"s from New Ruins, Mazes, Common Loon, Elsinor, Unbunny, & Cameron McGill & What Army. Live music in the store from New Ruins at 1pm, Elsinor at 2pm, Jake Fleischli, the Tractor King at 3pm, & Mazes at 4pm. So, go check out the scene, man! Your other plans can wait! Also, here is a short interview with friend, Werewolf Diarist, & New Ruiner Elzie Sexton from an online mag called Smile Politely. It's a celebration bitches! (I know, it's kind of an old joke by now.)

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New Ruins / Retribution Gospel Choir

I wish I'd have thought about posting this before, but better late than never I guess. Friends of Fikak!, New Ruins are playing with Retribution Gospel Choir tomorrow night, Feb. 18th! All the info is on the poster but in case you can't read it from there, it is at the Canopy Club in Urbana, IL. The show is $8 and starts at 10ish. Sorry for the late notice but if you're in or around Champaign/Urbana, come and check it out. This is not you dad's rock show. And I'll be there, so bring some single ladies! Rock.

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Old News/Music Roundup

Things have been moving a little slowly around here as of late, but that's ok; we're more concerned with quality than quantity, anyway. New music releases have hit a bit of a lull recently, other than the excellent new Retribution Gospel Choir album (thanks to Kyle for giving us the heads up on that one). There have been a few interesting developments here and there, though, so here we go:

1. The National is releasing a new album in May. No title, tracklist, or artwork yet. There's an interview with lead singer Matt Berninger @ Pitchfork discussing the album, etc.
2. Ditto for The New Pornographers. It's also coming out in May (4th to be exact); they do have a title ("Together") and artwork ready to go. Check it.
3. Our buddies in New Ruins have posted a couple new tracks on their myspace page, and they're really good. I especially dig "Stance". If you've never heard them you really should check them out. Look for big things from these gentlemen in the near future...
4. Broken Bells (The Shins' James Mercer and Dangermouse) have released a video for the ridiculously good track "The High Road" (their debut is set to be released in March). It more or less consists of the two encountering various whacked-out events as they walk along a road at night, which is actually cooler than it sounds:
   The High Road
   
   Broken Bells | MySpace Music Videos
5. Jimmy LaValle's one-man project The Album Leaf is set to release a new LP in March, entitled A Chorus of Storytellers. It's floating around out there in cyberspace already, and it's more of the same (in a good way). If you've never heard of LaValle or his "band", his claim to fame is doing some work with Sigur Ros. His music is predominantly instrumental, and when he does sneak vocals in there, they're usually used as part of the landscape as a whole.
   
   "Falling From the Sun"
   
6. Finally, the "Hope For Haiti Now" Telethon aired on pretty much all of the major networks last Friday, and there were several notable performances. In case you missed it:

Coldplay "A Message"

Justin Timberlake covering Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah"

Jay-Z, Bono & The Edge of U2, and Rihanna with a new track, entitled "Stranded"

There were several other notables as well, and you can check them all out here.

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Track of the Week: New Ruins' "Years"

This week's track comes from my good friends in New Ruins (of Champaign, Illinois). Their new album, entitled We Make Our Own Bad Luck, is outstanding from start to finish, but "Years" is the song I can't manage to get out of my head:

Be sure to check out more of their stuff here.

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