New Release Tuesday: January 9

The holidays are over, there's an all you can eat grackle buffet downtown, and it's January 9, the first proper release week of 2007. How fitting: the damned Canadians are dominating it.

Neko Case Live From Austin, TX (New West Records)

Though Case's recording from Austin City Limits is four years old (recorded originally in 2003), it stands as a testament to the unequivocal talent those not in the audience that night were privy to this last year, as Fox Confessor Brings the Flood wowed the general public. Utilizing a stand-up bass as an entire rhythm section, a harmonizing vocalist and a man-at-arms moving between banjo and a wealth of guitars, the performance glistens in electrifying and Spartan purity, demonstrating not only Case's talent as a composer and arranger, but as a vocalist and performer as well. Our favorite moment is Dylan's "Buckets of Rain" accompanied by lap-steel goodness. Do yourself and grab the CD (for the car) and the DVD (for the home).

Neko Case Official
Neko Case MySpace

Mercury Rev Back to Mine (DMC)

The Back to Mine compilation series has reached a notable high point with the Mercury Rev edition, featuring tracks by David Bowie, Johan Johannsson, Andrew Bird, John Cale and Spacemen 3. The compilation offers several songs that the Rev crew have been influenced by, as well as more modern interests. The eccentricity of the mix is remarkable and impressive to say the least: even we couldn't pull off an Alex Chilton / Randy Newman segue, even to a heartthrob. If you're not really interested in what Mercury Rev is into, but dig their stuff, check out the album to hear "Cecilia's Lunar Exposé", the song they recorded especially for the compilation.

Mercury Rev Official
Mercury Rev MySpace
Mercury Rev "In a Funny Way" (YouTube)

Sloan Never Hear the End of It (Yep Roc)

Here's the Sloan we've come to know and love, y'all. Thirty songs on one album, their eighth, generating both hostile and adoring reviews from critics and fans alike. Their style hasn't taken on any huge shifts, but the songs are definitely a bit more ... arty? At times it feels like an art project gone wrong, at other times it seems like it might just be genius. At the end of the day, however, it is a sort of "Well, it's been three years, we already released a Greatest Hits, so here's everything that's been piling up during that time." An All Things Must Pass it's not, but there are definitely some golden moments lurking amidst the sheer mess of it all. Hey, at least you're getting your $12.99's worth, right? It could have been titled "Sloan Tries Every Genre Known to Man" and it would have been right on the money, though at the same time, the album as a whole, though prolific, oozes Sloanishness.

Sloan Official
Sloan MySpace
Sloan Audio and Video Samples