popwreckoning

With Conor Oberst‘s many side musical projects and activism efforts, the future of perhaps of the band that made him famous, Bright Eyes, has been a little questionable. Good news! Bright Eyes is still very much alive and in February 2011, Bright Eyes will release a new album.

On February 15, 2011, Bright Eyes will release its 7th studio album, The People’s Key, on Saddle Creek Records. The band has also confirmed two shows at Radio City Music Hall and London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Key players Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott return as Bright Eyes, but the guys are also joined by a rotating cast of musicians in the studio that include: Andy LeMaster (Now It’s Overhead), Matt Maginn (Cursive), Carla Azar (Autolux), Clark Baechle (The Faint), Shane Aspegren (The Berg Sans Nipple), Laura Burhenn (The Mynabirds) and Denny Brewer (Refried Ice Cream).

Live shows & on sale info:
March 9th New York, NY Radio City Music Hall*
June 23rd London, UK Royal Albert Hall#
*Pre-Sale Begins: December 1 at 12PM EST. Public On-Sale: December 4 at 10AM EST
# Pre-Sale Begins: December 1 at 12PM EST. Public On-Sale: Saturday, December 4 at 9AM

Tracklisting:
1 Firewall
2 Shell Games
3 Jejune Stars
4 Approximate Sunlight
5 Haile Selassie
6 A Machine Spiritual (In The People’s Key)
7 Triple Spiral
8 Beginner’s Mind
9 Ladder Song
10 One For You, One For Me

Fall in Philly is a beautiful thing—especially when the soundtrack to the season is one that includes M. Ward, Mike Mogis, Jim James, Conor Oberst AND Bob Dylan. The city has seen itself nearly taken over by both contemporary and classic folk musicians this November—first with Dylan’s performance at the Liacouras Center and then Monsters of Folk festival at the Academy of Music (on the same night, no less.)

To wrap up this folk-themed month, Popwreckoning’s Jess McGinley and her roommate (yours truly) braved the rain-slicked streets of Fishtown Thursday night to see recent MP3 Minute feature and local folk hero Langhorne Slim perform a sold out show at Johnny Brenda’s.

And when I say local, I do mean local: a mere 24 miles up I-95 North lies the little town of Langhorne—a Philadelphia suburb Sean Scolnick (better known as Langhorne Slim) and I both call home [Ed note: proof below]. Slim sums it up perfectly in his song “Hello Sunshine”–“There’s a place I know in Pennsylvania / If you never want to go, well darling I can’t blame ya.” Poignant lyrics, when you consider we’re best known for a Sesame Street inspired water park and the planet’s largest auto dealership.

Langhorne the musician, though, offers much more than our hometown. Perched precariously on a packed balcony above the stage, I watched Slim and company perform in support of their new album Be Set Free.

Sort of like Tom Waits without five decades worth of cigarette smoke, Slim successfully crooned and yelped along with his band for a full two hours. For me it mostly felt like a drunk sing-along with some townies at the Langhorne Hotel bar (better known as the black and white building in the beginning of the music video for “Restless”).

Although his backwoods brand of blues/folk seemed like inauthentic posturing at times, (C’mon man-you’re from Bucks County) there were genuinely beautiful, touching moments throughout the set (“Restless,” “Worries”) and songs that left me teetering back and forth on my bar stool. It was nearly as good as the Dylan concert—if only he’d broken out the harmonica.

Langhorne Slim: website | myspace | @ acl 2008 | interview with

Words: Jennifer Robnett
Photos: Jessica McGinley

Rachael Yamagata will hit the road as a very special guest of Irish band Swell Season for a fall U.S. tour of intimate theaters that begins November 12th and finishes up on December 5th. Yamagata has spent the last few months writing the follow-up to her Warner Bros. Records debut album Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart.

Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart was released on October 7th, 2008. The follow-up to Yamagata’s 2004 full-length debut Happenstance, Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart was praised by such media outlets as Entertainment Weekly (“Yamagata’s delivery is gorgeous”), People (“an ambitious double disc”), and Spin (“add some cheap scotch and you’ve got a John Cassavetes movie”).

Of the album’s 15 tracks, Nebraska-based Mike Mogis, the multi-instrumentalist and producer known for his work with Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley and The Faint, produced 12. Two tracks were produced by John Alagia (John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band), who also produced Happenstance. The album also features guest appearances by singer-songwriters Ray Lamontagne and Azure Ray’s Maria Taylor.

Tour Dates:
Nov 12 – House of Blues / New Orleans, LA
Nov 13 – Warehouse Live / Houston, TX
Nov 14 – The Palladium Ballroom / Dallas, TX
Nov 15 - Paramount Theatre / Austin, TX
Nov 17 - Mesa Arts Center – Ikeda / Mesa, AZ
Nov 27 – Egyptian Theater / Boise, ID
Nov 28 - Jeanne Wagner Theatre / Salt Lake City, UT
Nov 29 – Ogden Theatre / Denver, CO
Nov 30 – Uptown Theatre / Kansas City, MO
Dec 2 – Michigan Theater / Ann Arbor, MI
Dec 3 – Chicago Auditorium Theatre / Chicago, IL
Dec 4 – The Pageant / St. Louis, MO
Dec 5 – State Theatre / Minneapolis, MN

Rachael Yamagata: myspace | website | Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart review | interview with | @ liberty hall