In Case You Haven't Heard

Indie sensation Bon Iver have a new EP, entitled Blood Bank, coming out on CD and 12" on January 20th 2009. They are on tour now, and those lucky enough to catch one of the remaining shows can pick up the vinyl copy of the new EP at the merch table. According to the band's website, the homecoming show in Eau Claire, WI on Dec. 22nd is sold out and tickets are now going for over $150 a seat. Mockingbird Music's own Timmy Troubadour will be in attendance for the Madison gig this coming Friday, so expect a possible review. Maybe. Preorders for Blood Bank can be made here.

In honor of the upcoming release, here are some of my favorite YouTube videos of Justin Vernon & Company.

"For Emma, Forever Ago (A capella)"


"Wolves I & II" (A thorough viewer may notice both contributers to this blog in the front row)


"Babys"


"Skinny Love"

New P.O.S. Track

P.O.S. - "Goodbye" (from the forthcoming album Never Better)

As Mr. Troubadour reported, Minneapolis rapper and Doomtree member P.O.S. has his third solo disc coming out on February 3rd of '09. It's just one of the many albums we here at Mockingbird are looking forward to in the coming year. But for those of you who are itching to get a listen (perhaps still high on you Blowout Buzz), Rhymesayers has released a track free for your eager ears. Find it at the top of this post.

P.S. Fellow Doomtree-ers Lazerbeak and Mike Mictlan have digitally released the instrumental version of their 2008 album Hand Over Fist. Snatch that on iTunes only. Do it.

Not Sure How I Feel About These

Twin Cities favorites Cloud Cult have their own eSurance commercial. I don't want to hear cries of sell out. Cloud Cult have done it real their entire career and, though frontman Craig Minowa at one point announced that this may be the final Cloud Cult album, he has since prescribed to a more optimistic look.



That's right, Mr. Everywhere Lil Wayne has a documentary coming out about his life. His quotes about rapping on his porch as a kid say it all. Take a listen.



The new Kanye in general. Parts of me still like it, other parts not so much. Maybe it's my horrible addiction to poppy dance music, maybe it's actually good. I don't know.

Building Better Bombs on Tour

Twin Cities hardcore outfit Building Better Bombs (featuring P.O.S. of Doomtree on guitars and screams) are going on a short tour of the East Coast. Their debut album Freak Out Squares was on my Top Ten Best releases of 2oo7. Squares is a brutal 27 minutes of noise and beats, but it's oddly refreshing and definitely worth picking up. The tour begins tomorrow at the Turf Club in St. Paul.

• 12/11 - Turf Club - St. Paul, Minnesota
• 12/12 - Ronny's - Chicago, Illinois
• 12/13 - Garfield Art Works - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• 12/14 - 941 Theater - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 12/15 - Oasis Pub - New London, Connecticut
• 12/16 - Fontana's - New York City, New York
• 12/17 - Mars - Providence, Rhode Island
• 12/18 - Death By Audio - Brooklyn, New York
• 12/19 - The Summit - Columbus, Ohio
• 12/20 - The Cinemat - Bloomington, Indiana
• 12/21 - Frequency - Madison, Wisconsin

BBB also have two shows lined up in mid-January:

• 1/9 - Haunted Basement - Des Moines, Iowa
• 1/10 - Nutty's - Sioux Falls, South Dakota

New Song from Breanne Düren

I wanted to post this separately because it's not hip hop. Breanne Düren is the best friend of one of my close friends so I met her almost two years ago. Düren is singer and pianist from the Twin Cities and though I knew she was talented after meeting her, I didn't get a chance to see her perform formally until her CD release show this past summer. Her self titled debut album features 11 stellar tracks of piano jazz music in the vein of Norah Jones (but waaaay better). From top to bottom the album is great. It's smooth and flowing. Düren's voice is beautiful.

All of this is relevant for two reasons. The first is that her album may well make my top ten best albums of 2oo8 list - and that's not because she's an acquaintance of mine. The other reason is that she just released a new holiday-themed track via her myspace. It's great. Check it it out here.

More Twin Cities Hip Hop

Woah homies. Nither gringo nor myself have updated in faaaaar too long. Sorry about that. Real life took over. I promise, I'll never let that happen again. (That's a joke. Real life happens all the time - go try it yourself.)

The Doomtree Blowout 4 was this past Saturday. I was there, near the front of the stage. It was utterly mind boggling. I'm sorry to those who missed it. If you did miss it, however, fret not. The crew released a DVD of the 2nd Doomtree Blowout. You can order it here.

Heiruspecs has a new record out now. Get it at Fifth Element or the Electric Fetus, both located in Minneapolis. It's sure to be great. The release show is on Saturday and that is also sure to be great. That's taking place at the First Avenue Mainroom. All ages, doors at 6.

What gringo didn't mention in his post on Twin Cities hip hop is that Doomtree member P.O.S. will be releasing a new record in February of next year. It's already on my most anticipated albums of 2oo9 list. You can preorder it at Fifth Element online here.

Tons of Twin Cities Hip Hop News

Doomtree Blowout IV
First Avenue
December 6th, 2008
6pm $10/$12

In case you haven't heard, there's that whole Doomtree Blowout IV thing going down in a little under two weeks. Get your ticket now for your chance to pick up the first Doomtree DVD, filled with concert footage, music videos, and other random goodies from all 5 emcees 4 DJs. Included with the DVD is a 12 track brand spankin' new False Hopes (number 13!) of all new material featuring every member of Doomtree.

Dessa has also anounced, via her MySpace blog, that she will be releasing a little book of short fiction at the Blowout. If you can't make it to First Ave, both the DVD and Dessa's book will be made available on the Doomtree webstore.

P.S. Look for the new P.O.S. record Never Better on Feb. 3rd and a new Sims record after that.

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Legendery Minneapolis duo and underground rap fire starters Atmosphere have announced that their second studio record, GodLovesUgly, will be getting a proper remastered rerelease on January 20th (8 days after yours truly leaves the country for a few months). The CD/2LP rerelease will include all the original tracks and will include a bonus DVD, orignally released as Sad Clown Bad Dub 4, containing footage from the GodLovesUgly release shows way back when. You can pre0rder the album at Fifth Element's online store now for a special reduced price.

No word yet on any live dates to celebrate the occasion.

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Those St. Paul cats Heiruspecs aren't to be left out. Their brand new self titled album gets a proper release party on December 13th in the First Avenue Mainroom. Going down at 6pm, the all ages event also features Mayda, Big Quarters, and DJ Anton. At only ten bucks for advanced tickets, show your support for the crew that's kept it local for 11 years now.

"Get Up" (the video for first single from the upcoming album)


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Look for a big year from Brother Ali in 2009. In an interview with UWeekly.com, he talked about the upcoming Truth Is Here EP, featuring 10 brand new tracks written during the tours supporting 2007's The Undisputed Truth. It is paired with a DVD of Brother Ali performing in Minneapolis and will be released in spring of 2009.

He also claimed to have begun work on the as of yet untitled follow up to The Undisputed Truth, hoping for a fall of '09 release on the full length.

Read more of the interview here.

"Good Lord" (from the Truth Is Here EP)