First Impressions

Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball

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In an effort to cover more new releases in a more timely manner, I came up with a new feature. I'm calling it First Impressions. The idea is to choose one album a week and write a stream-of-consciousness review during my first (and only, for review purposes) listen. The pick will come from your, our reader's, votes. Think of it like live-blogging meets Faulkner meets Greil Marcus meets American Idol…only it's really nothing like those things at all. Why don't you just click through to experience it for yourself so I can stop the absurd comparisons?

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Kickstarter

Old Hills, Young Mountain Vol. 1

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A new Kickstarter campaign has launched for a folk music compilation project entitled Old Hills, Young Mountain. We at the Dig are big fans of this genre and entrepreneurial approach to a vintage and authentic kind of music making. Additionally, we have enjoyed the work of these musicians for sometime now. The project not only looks and sounds great, but the donation incentives are imaginative and exciting – especially if you're in the area of Kalamazoo MI. First thing you should do is hit up the Kickstarter page to let the artists advocate for themselves, and then after they've peaked your interest head on over to Vimeo and dig these videos of some of the artists performing in preparation for the project. Here is a small taste of their write up from the page:

Old Hills, Young Mountain is a one of a kind of compilation. Instead of taking songs from 9 different artists who recorded in 9 different studios, we are gathering the greatest folk and country artists we know and bringing them into one studio/warehouse space in Kalamazoo, MI. Once there, they'll record live to old reel to reel equipment, capturing a classic, unreproducible sound unattainable through any other format of recording. Every step of this process has been considered and debated over to insure the most unique and integrity-filled project imaginable.

The contributing performers are: Mike and Ruthy – Red Tail Ring – Small Houses – Jeremy RR – Brooks Strause – Patrick Dethlefs – The Thornbills – Spirit Family Reunion – Hezekiah Jones

We look forward to watching this project from its inception to my turntable and wish the team nothing but the best. You dig?

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New Releases

Professor Penguin

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Professor Penguin is a walloping nine piece band based out of London. They are gearing up to release their debut album Planes on April 9th of this year. The first single, Pilot, has already been released to great success and even got Brian Eno to gush that it was, "…such a beautiful piece." Eno may not have needed too many words to express his adoration for this project and neither do I. Professor Penguin is a promising project evocative of Andrew Bird with slick vocals, layered harmony, subtle and probably under appreciated rhythmic construction, and a relaxed groove. 

Their new single Pirate is a wonderful follow up to this composition and draws out all the strengths of the band. It's no secret that the cream always rises to the top and I expect that the early success already experienced by Professor Penguin will continue as they inch towards their album release date. Enjoy the tunes and then go reach out to the guys via their Twitter, Soundcloud, Official Webpage, and Facebook accounts.

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Mp3s

Mickey Free

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Mickey Free is a Baltimore based MC and with his co-producer Secret Weapon Dave, they make music that makes my neck work. Alright, so I might be the last man in Charm City to get on this band wagon, but it's still welcome company and it's not so often that I find myself this fired up about a hip hop act. I first saw Mickey Free opening for J Roddy Walston and the Business on a New Year's Eve show on the cusp of last year and was taken by Free's engaging stage presence, badass beats, and clever lyrical content alongside his impeccable flow.

His album, Last Of The Tight Wiggers, was a 2010 release with 13 tracks of which I genuinely struggled decided which one(s) to share with the Dig Nation here tonight. Uh-Oh kicks off the album with hand claps, remixed middle schoolers, fuzzed out bass, and Mickey himself. I like this track because it lays out the record's relaxed and fun approach. Read on for more from this album as well as a teaser from his current collaboration with Jenn Wasner from Wye Oak on a new project entitled Flock Of Dimes.

 

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Digcast

Digcast Episode 3 – February 2012 Roundup

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We have a brand new digcast for you all to enjoy. Dave and Steve share some of their favorites from the past month, a roundup of nine songs spanning the globe and several genres.

The artists and songs featured in this month's Digcast are:

Intro/Outro Music Chevy Beretta by Jonny Corndawg

Digcast Episode 3

Click to stream or download the link above, or better yet, subscribe to the Digcast on iTunes here. The itunes version comes equiped with chapter selections so that you may better navigate your way around the episode, our streaming version is simply one giant rock block of Dig.  

Thanks to all the artists for letting us share their songs and thank you for listening. Please let us know what you think and look for more digcasts soon. You dig?

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