Conor goes to Nonesuch for next album; Sick Birds Die Easy screening/after party (InDreama, Coyote Bones), Tyvek tonight…
by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com
Conor Oberst’s latest promo photo.
Conor Oberst’s press agent today announced that he’s signed to Nonesuch Records for the release of his next solo outing, Upside Down Mountain, out May 20. This presumably is the “country-flavored” album he recorded in Nashville with Jonathan Wilson and First Aid Kit, mentioned in the recent Rolling Stone interview.
Nonesuch is the home of such artists as Magnetic Fields, Emmylou Harris, Brian Eno, k.d. lang, Jeff Tweedy, Joni Mitchell, Fatboy Slim and Ben Folds. Oberst’s pseudo solo records (as Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band) were released on Merge. Monsters of Folk came out on Shangri La. And we all know that Bright Eyes is/was on Saddle Creek.
The surprise here isn’t so much that this record isn’t coming out on Saddle Creek as that it’s not coming out on Merge. How did that happen? Nonesuch also is releasing a limited-edition 7-inch single for Record Store Day April 19 that will feature album track “Hundreds of Ways” along with outtake “Fast Friends” on the B-side.
Oberst kicks off his solo tour May 8 in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, with Dawes as a “Special Guest.” Dawes will both open and act as Oberst’s backing band. The tour heads to Omaha June 4 at good ol’ Sokol Auditorium, which is seeing a renaissance of shows these days, what with the upcoming Neutral Milk Hotel and St. Vincent shows.
This begs the question what’s happening with that Desaparecidos full-length that was rumored to be released on Epitaph. Something tells me we’re gonna be waiting a long time for that one to happen.
Here’s the first single off Oberst’s new album, “Hundreds of Ways,” via YouTube:
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The Omaha premiere of Nik Fackler’s new film, Sick Birds Die Easy (which I wrote about here and here), is tonight at Film Streams at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available and I heartily advise you attend.
A Q&A with the Fackler and cast members follows, and then there’s an after party at The Slowdown featuring performances by Fackler’s band InDreama, Greg Elsasser, Sam Martin (who stars in the film and did the soundtrack) and David Matysiak (the film’s sound engineer and mastermind behind Coyote Bones). Tickets to the after party are $5, or free with your Film Streams ticket stub.
Also tonight, Detroit garage band Tyvek (In the Red Records) plays at the Sweatshop Gallery with Hossflesh, Skeleton Man and No Thanks. This should be a white-hot meat locker of a show. $5, 9 p.m. More info here.
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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2014 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.
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