Okkervil River gives away Golden Opportunities 2 EP

It's the time of year for giving, and it looks as though at least indie-rock Santa is looking out for us. The nugget of gold stuck in your stocking is in the form of a new offering from Austin heavy hitters Okkervil River.  It is a five song EP of covers titled Golden Opportunities 2, which obviously is the follow-up to their "mixtape" of covers from 2007. The original was a free downloadable gift to their fans, so keeping with the tradition the new EP is up on their website right now. The songs were recorded live to two-track here in the ole live music capital of the world and are filled with Okkervil goodness. Don't miss this chance to grab some new tunes from one the most consistently great indie bands of the last couple years.

Golden Opportunities 2 comes to us on the heals of Okkervil River's sensational full-length I Am Very Far released earlier this year. From that album the band has released two different videos for the track "Your Past Life As A Blast." Below are both.

Okkervil River Plays Secret Show, and Debuts New Album I Am Very Far

This past Monday night [04.25.11] a relatively small crowd at the Scoot Inn was treated to a secret show by hometown heros Okkervil River, in which they played their forthcoming album I Am Very Far in its entirety. According to lead man Will Sheff this was the first time that 70% of the album was played live in any capacity. While he did make jokes about being nervous for fear of messing up during the songs, the show was captivating. The new material is amazing and even though the music was new to the crowd, they hung on every word and note. The band also threw in some old favorites ("For Real," "Black," and "Lost Coastlines"), but the highlight was being the first to hear the new songs as they made their live debut.

Obviously many missed out on this sneak peek at I Am Very Far, so Okkervil is giving the masses a chance to see the full album performed during a NPR webcast on April 27th.  More info after the break and a couple photos from the show.

SXSW 2011: Highlight Videos pt.2

If you haven't listened to the new Wye Oak album Civilian, you are doing an injustice to yourself. It certainly makes the early best of the year list and is garnering the Baltimore duo a heap of praise. They have been selling out a lot of venues on their latest trek across the country and luckily they played several times during SXSW. So if you didn't get a chance to catch them that week, you have done yourself another injustice. But you can at least watch the video below of them performing the title song off the new album during the Merge Records showcase.

Also below is a great SXSW highlight from Austin's own Okkervil River giving us a blast from the Black Sheep Boy days. All good stuff.










See my SXSW Highlights blog posts here. For more SXSW videos please check out my youtube channel, and additional photos can be seen on my facebook.

SXSW 2011: Highlight Images pt.2

Wild Flag totally delivered during SXSW. I think everyone had big exceptions for this supergroup. Being a big Mary Timony fan myself, I was looking forward to this one as well. Having caught them once at The Parish and then again at Mohawk, the verdict is officially in. I need that Wild Flag album in my life like now. This band just jump up to my most anticipated of the year.

One band that caught me by surprise was Secret Cities. I had already loved their debut album, but was not prepared for how different they sound live. The band definitely adds a more organic layer to their usually synth/reverb heavy recordings. Not that either way is better than the other, it was just impressive to hear those songs in new light.

Here are a couple more shots. Videos to come soon...

 Wild Flag

Okkervil River 

TV On The Radio

Big Boi

 Secret Cities

Callers 

Wires Under Tension 

Check out more SXSW photos via my facebook, and other highlights on this blog.