Shakori Hills Fall 2011 - Retrospective (Part Two)

The Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, held twice annually in idyllic Silk Hope, North Carolina, attracted major national acts, including Donna the Buffalo, legendary banjoist Béla Fleck & the Flecktones, NY natives Driftwood, Toubab Krewe, Thousands of One and many, many more. While we attempted to make an itinerary, there were too many equally wonderful listening options at any given time to resign ourselves to a schedule. What follows is a day-by-day breakdown of what we saw throughout the weekend. Too large for a single post, this is our account of the last two days of the four day festival.

Coming Soon: Dignan Releases Three-Song Sampler of New Album on Bandcamp

Cover art for Dignan's 2011 Tour EP.
Click the image to stream on Bandcamp

Hot off the heels of their stellar 2009 debut "Cheaters & Thieves", Texan chamber rockers Dignan have made three songs from their upcoming new release available on their Bandcamp page for what they describe as a "very limited time." You can stream them for free with the option of a $3.00 download if you'd like to take them on the go.  The songs will be taken down on October 31st, so be sure to act quickly to hear this amazing preview of an album that I have been very excited about for quite some time.

The band is also selling a limited number of physical copies of the sampler, which they refer to as their 2011 Tour EP, on their current tour which will conclude at the Texas Music Theatre in San Marcos, TX on 11/9. Dignan have garnered a lot of attention since their debut album, with critics swooning for their moody, atmospheric anthems and harmonious choral vocals that blend perfectly into truly awe-inspiring (and surprisingly anthemic) compositions highlighted by poetically introspective lyrics. With this new batch of songs, Dignan has shown that they are not slowing down any time soon. and they should be on everyone's radar for 2012.

New on Spotify: "TKOL RMX 1234567" by Radiohead

Radiohead's TKOL RMX 1234567 was released
Sept. 16th, 2011 on XL Records/Ticker Tape Ltd.
Click above to listen on Spotify.

Back in February, the English legends of modern rock known as Radiohead graced us with their latest album, The King of Limbs. It was a decidedly strange album, rooted in the early-2000s glitchy electro sounds that defined the band's fourth album, Kid A, with clear inspiration taken from today's contemporary electronic music scene. While definitely a strange record, and not as immediately enjoyable as some of Radiohead's previous work, the album managed to make at least an honorable mention on all three members of the Myxem staff's "Best of..." lists for the first half of 2011.

Now, about 8 months after the release of the original album, we are graced with TKOL RMX 1234567. As the name implies, the album is a compilation of remixes from The King of Limbs' tracks, helmed by some of today's most talented independent electronic musicians. Caribou provides us with a sparse re-arrangement of the original album's poppiest track, "Little By Little", while SBTRKT and Jacques Greene give us two very different versions of lead single "Lotus Flower." Jamie xx also contributes one of five different versions of album opener "Bloom", while Altrice gets a little more adventurouse by expertly combining elements from each track on the album into one gorgeous mashup entitled "TKOL."

Originally released on seven separate vinyl singles (hence the numbers in the name) released from July to October, the album is now available for streaming on Spotify. Click the image above to check it out; you will not be disappointed.

Shakori Hills Fall 2011 - Retrospective (Part One)

The Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, held twice annually in idyllic Silk Hope, North Carolina, attracted major national acts, including Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, legendary banjoist Béla Fleck & the Flecktones, up-and-comer Brett Dennen, Dirty Bourbon River Show, The Emmit-Nershi Band and many, many more. While we attempted to make an itinerary, there were too many equally wonderful listening options at any given time to resign ourselves to a schedule. What follows is a day-by-day breakdown of what we saw throughout the weekend. Too large for a single post, this is our account of the first two days of the four day festival.