Local favorites Okkervil River released their new full-length today. It's called The Stage Names, and we'll be running a feature length review of it on Thursday.

Art in Manila Set the Woods on Fire (Saddle Creek)

Orenda Fink, ne half of the now-defunct Azure Ray, has been writing and recording solo work for a while now, but her most recent project is a collaboration between Fink and a group of folks that used to be, quite simply, her touring band. After building a strong relationship with Adrianne Verhoeven (The Anniversary), one of the band members, Fink began writing songs that featured the strengths of the people she'd been performing with as a solo artist to promote her first individual work, The Invisible Ones. The now unified band, led by Fink's lush vocals and distinctive guitars, is a grower, becoming more than midwest Americana the more you listen. Set the Woods on Fire was recorded in Omaha, Nebraska, by Joel Petersen (The Faint, Broken Spindles).

Art in Manila "Set the Woods on Fire" (mp3)
Art in Manila MySpace

Flight of the Conchords The Distant Future EP (SubPop)

If you work at a job with humans, or own a computer, you've heard about the HBO show called Flight of the Conchords, a sort of Tenacious D for a slightly younger set, made possible by a pair of hilarious and talented New Zealanders. They're on YouTube -- you should check it out. Their EP (which features songs that will probably also appear on a full length album, also put out by SubPop later this year) is a nice little collection of tunes you've probably heard, and could watch online with hilarious facial expressions, but ... perhaps you want to hear it in the car on the way home from work, before you proposition your lady for some lovin'. You know, to get inspired.

Flight of the Conchords on HBO
Flight of the Conchords Official

Marissa Nadler Songs III: Bird on the Water (Peacefrog/Kemado)

Marissa Nadler's album is a quintessential break-up record: isolated acoustic picking, themes of overwhelming loneliness and grief, and spare but fluid accompaniments from cellos, pianos and other various thoughtful instruments. Though the female folk singer/songwriter market is absolutely saturated with just this sort of thing, we believe that Nadler's songs deserve a listen outside of whatever preconceived notion you might be harboring, thanks to your ex-girlfriend's most recent performance at Halcyon. For the record, we left right after she started into her "That'll never be me, that'll never be me, that'll never be, never be me noooo ... " and we're not really sure if what she said about you after that is true or not.

Marissa Nadler Official
Marissa Nadler MySpace

Art in Manila: Set the Woods on Fire
Augie March: Moo, You Bloody Choir
Benzos: Branches
Billie Holiday: Remixed & Reimagined
Bomb the Music Industry!: Get Warmer
Bruce Hornsby: Camp Meeting
The Brunette: Structure and Cosmetics
Christy & Emily: Queen's Head
The Coral: Roots And Echos
Dickies: Second Coming (remastered)
Flight of the Conchords: The Distant Future EP
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals: This Is Somewhere
James Brown: The Singles, Vol. Three: 1964-1965
Jennifer Gentle: New Astronomy
Jennifer Warnes: Famous Blue Raincoat: 20th Anniversary Edition (remastered with bonus tracks
John Coltrane: Stardust (remastered)
Johnny Irion:Ex Tempore
Magnolia Electric Co.: Sojourner
Marissa Nadler: Song 3: Bird on the Water
Miles Davis Quintet: Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (remastered)
Okkervil River: The Stage Names
Peter Case: Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John
Schooner: Hold on Too Tight
Simple Kid: SK2
Tarentel: Ghetto Beats on the Surface of the Sun
Various Artists: Cool as Folk: Cambridge Folk Festival (import)
Various Artists: Land of a Thousand Rappers, Vol. 1: The Fall of the Pillars
Various Artists: True Colors: The Tour CD
Various Artists: Womenfolk: Iconic Women of American Folk