New song from The Never!

Our friends at Terpsikhore Records just released a wonderful compilation highlighting some of the best bands from the Triangle area of North Carolina, and The Never were lucky enough to be a part of the album. The Never's song, "Littlest Things" is exiting new territory for the trio, and its already received some kind words from the press:

"With its meticulous harmonies and layers, The Never's arch "Littlest Things" suggests Grizzly Bear striving for the stars."
-The Independent

"The delicate piano ballad “Littlest Things” is a pristine replica of the Beach Boys’ late emo phase via Chapel Hill’s The Never."
-The Daily Tar Heel

OK, enough talk...time to listen! Check out the TRK Mix Tape to hear the song right now!

Photos: Butterflies and Embarrassing Fruits Summer Tours

Both Butterflies and Embarrassing Fruits hit the road this Summer to bring their respective three-piece rock bands to the people of the East Coast and the Midwest. Need proof? Here's photographic evidence:

The Physics of Meaning in Hometapes Takeaway Show

At SXSW 2009 in Austin, TX, Vincent Moon filmed a wonderful Takeaway Show with the artists and friends of the Hometapes Label. The final product is more like a short film, following a continuous stream of wonderful music from Megafaun, Balmorhea, Murder, Stars Like Fleas, our very own The Physics of Meaning, and Slaraffenland (including an all star jamboree at the end). Its a wonderful little piece of music video. We suggest watching it in its entirety, but if you are in a rush, The Physics of Meaning starts playing at about 15:40. They play a brand new song which will most likely appear on their new album, the follow-up to last year's Snake Charmer and Destiny at the Stroke of Midnight

Photos: Lost in the Trees Summer Tours 2009

Here are some lovely photographs of the recent Lost in the Trees tours taken by multi-instrumentalist Alyssa Reichardt, violinist Jenavieve Varga and bus driver/sound man/lighting designer Dave Keister. Check back as more will be added in the next few days.

The Never to appear on Hear Here compilation

Our old friends at Terpsikhore Records are releasing an excellent compilation called Hear Here: The Triangle on August 29th, featuring a new and unreleased song from The Never! Terpsikhore invited local bands into their very own studio to record the tracks for the compilation, so all of the tracks were made with the same microphones, which should give it an interesting unity. Other bands on the comp we are excited about are The Rosebuds, The Kingsbury Manx, Hammer No More the Fingers and Terpsikhore's Annuals. The video above shows all the bands recording their songs, including our boys in The Never.

There's also an amazing release show at the Cat's Cradle to celebrate the release on Saturday, August 29. The Never will be playing, joined by Annuals, Birds of Avalon and Hammer No More The Fingers. The $10 admission gets you a copy of the comp, and proceeds go to benefit The Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, NC. Hallelujah!

Troika Music Festival lineup announced!

Troika is a wonderful music festival that has been happening in Durham, NC, for many years now. The 2009 lineup was announced today and we are proud to share that our own Embarrassing Fruits is playing this year. There are too many amazing bands appearing to list here, but if you need quick convincing, our friends Bowerbirds, Hammer No More the Fingers, Bellafea, Veelee and Mount Moriah are all on the list, so get excited. The festival is November 5-7 and passes go on sale August 15.

Embarrassing Fruits featured on The State of Things

The State of Things, a wonderful radio show on local NPR affiliate WUNC, recently broadcast a great feature on music from North Carolina. A lot of great bands were mentioned and we were pleasantly surprised to hear a few words about our very own Embarrassing Fruits. Listen to the whole show here.

Butterflies Summer Tour!

Butterflies will be flying into a town near you this summer, supporting their latest album Nothing's Personal. Catch the band in all of their emotional, jammy glory:

07-08 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
07-09 Asheville, NC - The Garage
07-10 Knoxville, TN - Barley's
07-11 Louisville, KY - Derby City Espresso
07-12 Bloomington, IN - The Pour House
07-14 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
07-16 Akron, OH - The Matinee
07-17 Rochester, NY - Abilene
07-18 Boston, MA - PA's Lounge
07-19 New York, NY - Monkeytown
07-23 Baltimore, MD - Metro Gallery
07-24 Washington, DC - Comet Ping Pong*
07-25 Durham, NC - Bull City Headquarters
08-01 Greensboro, NC - The Grean Bean*
*=with Carol Bui

Follow Lost in the Trees on tour

Follow Lost in the Trees on their summer tour via their new blog.

Lost in the Trees Summer Tour!

Lost in the Trees will be boarding our trusty Bluebird school bus and driving all over this beautiful nation, bringing its signature brand of grandiose orchestral folk music to the masses this July. With a fresh new pressing of their latest All Alone in an Empty House and a solidified live band, this promises to be a very special tour. Don't miss, tell yr friends:

07-04 Durham, NC - Eno River Festival
07-05 Richmond, VA - Plaza Bowl Duckpin
07-06 Charlottesville, VA - Tea Bazaar
07-07 Huntington, WV - V Club
07-08 Bowling Green, OH - Howard's Club H
07-09 Chicago, IL - Schubas
07-10 St. Louis, MO - Firebird
07-11 Lexington, KY - Natasha's Bistro
07-12 Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
07-13 Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley
07-15 Athens, GA - 40 Watt
07-16 Greensboro, NC - The Blind Tiger
07-17 Charlotte, NC - The Milestone*
07-18 Asheville, NC - Bobo Gallery
07-19 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle#

*=with The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
#=with The Kingsbury Manx

Daniel Hart on Pitchfork.tv with St. Vincent

When Daniel Hart isn't writing. recording and touring with The Physics of Meaning, he spends his time on the road with his dear old friend Annie Clark in her band, St. Vincent. Check out this lovely video of the band playing a few songs on Pitchfork.tv. Daniel is the dashing young man in the navy shirt, if you didn't know.

Photos: TRKfest

Relive the magic of TRKfest with these wonderful photos. We suggest you watch both slideshows in 'full screen' mode with some nostalgic music playing in the background!







Thanks to Derek, Agatha and Prachi for taking these photos and thanks to everyone who came to TRKfest!

TRKfest schedule announced

Our (now annual) super-special, psychedelic outdoor music festival TRKfest is coming up this Saturday, June 13th and we couldn't be more excited. Not only are there going to be awesome games, vendors, food and activities, but our absolute favorite bands will be playing from 2PM to Midnight! We want you to be there the whole time to see these amazing musicians, but we understand if that's not possible so we made this nifty little time schedule for you:

2:00 - The Never
3:15 - The Strugglers
4:00 - Vibrant Green
4:30 - Mount Moriah/Liza Kate
5:30 - Butterflies
6:15 - Midtown Dickens
7:00 - Embarrassing Fruits
7:45 - Des Ark
8:30 - Pants-off Dance-off
9:00 - Hammer No More the Fingers
9:45 - Ivan Rosebud
10:15 - Lost in the Trees
11:00 - Megafaun

As with all rock shows and heady, outdoor festivals, times are subject to changes, switches and approximations. These should be real close, though.

Check out the TRKfest MySpace for more info!

The Physics of Meaning cover The Smiths

The folks over at The Music Slut have curated a wonderful tribute to Morrissey (and those other dudes in The Smiths) and are revealing it for free download, day by day all month. They were kind enough to ask our own The Physics of Meaning to contribute a cover and destiny has finally been revealed! Daniel Hart chose "The Boy With The Thorn In His Side" from The Smiths' classic The Queen Is Dead album, transforming it from a dancey lament to a baroque soliloquy. The compilation also features songs from our dear friends Pattern is Movement and Deleted Scenes so stay tuned to The Music Slut for those tracks.

Download the song here!
And just for fun, listen to the original here.

Photos: Everything.

New photos up from everything that has happened in the last four months on our Flickr Photostream. Thanks to Clare Connolly and Katie Zickefoose for taking all of the excellent photographs and sharing them with us. Here are the specific albums:

Sessions at the Owl Room: Session No. 3 - with Embarrassing Fruits and Midtown Dickens
Trekky House II: The First Visit - our first visit to our brand new home and headquarters
Beers with the Boss: Deep Meadow Edition - the legendary social event takes a walk down the hill
Shakori Hills Fireside Chats - campfire sing-a-longs at the Hackney Farm during the Shakori Hills Festival
Auxiliary House @ Local 506 | 04.25.09 - Aux House's tribal reunion show
Fun in de Office - random things happening in the Trekky Records Office
TRKsoccer - springtime soccer game at Carrboro Park
TRK All Label Meeting | 04.21.09 - our most recent coalition of the chilling
Spaghetti Western Rehearsal - John Neville of Embarrassing Fruits' new solo project
Auxiliary House Reunion Rehearsal - first whisperings of the return of the beast
Lost in the Trees @ Lincoln Theatre | 04.10.09 - backstage and onstage
Snowbama | 01.20.09 - that magical day when it snowed and Obama became our president