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

VIDEOS: Lost in the Trees and The Never in Harvey's Kitchen

Lost in the Trees and The Never both recently appeared on a recurring video series called Harvey's Kitchen. See the action here, including new unreleased songs from both bands:

Lost in the Trees - A Church That Fits Our Needs


Lost in the Trees - Walk Around the Lake


The Never - The Littlest Things


The Never - Raincloud

Auxiliary House reunion tonight

Tonight is a very special night. Trekky Records' musical-collective/supergroup/party-band Auxiliary House is playing a one time reunion show. Why now? Well our good friends at Pox World Empire are releasing Compulation Volume Three: Songs from North Carolina, an amazing compilation of some of the brightest stars in the musical galaxy of The Old North State. Auxiliary House has a song on the comp and Pox asked the band to play the release show and we just couldn't say "no". The Aux Army will be 9-strong and ready to blow your mind with old classics and questionable new experiments. Midtown Dickens, Filthybird and Bull City (who are all excellent) are also playing, and the show is only $8. Best news yet: you get a free copy of Compulation with admission.

Don't miss this one! Starts at 9PM and its at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC.

Lost in the Trees on WKNC

Ari Picker and Katie Wyatt of Lost in the Trees recently stopped by the WKNC studio for an interview and to play some songs. Listen to the interview here and hear Ari talk about Trekky Records, the new Lost in the Trees record, teaching kids about classical music and what its like to have 14 people in your band. Also an acoustic version of the new song "A Church that Fits Our Needs" as well as "Walk Around the Lake".

Embarrassing Fruits tour southeast

Embarrassing Fruits will hit the road this Spring in support of their new album, Community / Exploitation. Following in the footsteps of last year's The First Time EP, the new long player has been receiving extremely warm praise from writers all over the place. Catch the band's deafening live show at these places:

04-23 Greenville, NC - Spazzatorium
04-24 Wilmington, NC - The Soapbox
04-25 Athens, GA - The Rye Bar
04-26 Asheville, NC - New French Bar
04-29 Charlottesville, VA - Tea Bazaar*
04-30 Richmond, VA - Rumors
05-01 Baltimore, MD - Talking Head
05-07 Raleigh, NC - Tir Na Nog
05-15 Chapel Hill, NC - Nightlight
06-13 Pittsboro, NC - TRKfest
08-08 Sanford, NC - That Thing We Did Fest
*=with Lost in the Trees

TRKfest 2009 announced!

On May 31, 2008, The Trekky Records Collective put on its first music festival. After the single sun-drenched day and warm summer night, it became clear that this would not be a one-time event. Back by popular demand, we present the second annual TRKfest Music Festival on Saturday, June 13. We've upped the ante in many ways, but hope to retain the same communal, inclusive and casual spirit that made last year so special. The festival will once again happen in one day at Piedmont Biofuels, a biodiesel plant in Pittsboro, NC. Here's what we have for you:

Performances by
Megafaun
Lost in the Trees
Ivan Rosebud
Embarrassing Fruits
Hammer No More the Fingers
The Never
Des Ark
Midtown Dickens
Butterflies
The Strugglers
Mount Moriah + Liza Kate
Vibrant Green
DJ_TRK

Other special things
Volleyball
Local Art and Crafts for sale
Local food and drinks for sale
Pants-off Dance-off
Human Rubberband
Coffee Sack Race
Cool Kids Yoga Session
Group Bottlecap Mosaic Mural
Information and Literature from local organizations
Tour of Piedmont Biofuels
Free Massages
Free Haircuts
Shadow Puppets
Bliss Tent
Cake Walk
...and probably more!

Check out the TRKfest MySpace for more info!

Trekky Records' Guide to Shakori

Every Spring and Fall, our hippie festival fix is satiated by the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival in Silk Hope, NC. There's just something about drum circles, hula hoops and noodle dancing that you can't deny. If you're planning on heading down this weekend, here's our official endorsements for what bands to catch.

THURSDAY

3:45PM | Des Ark (Meadow Stage)

Aimee Argote of Des Ark is one of those great undiscovered genius songwriters. She'll be performing solo for this show, which doesn't mean you're missing anything, it just means your mind will be blown at a lower volume.

6:00PM | Butterflies (Cabaret Tent)

Our very own Butterflies make their Shakori Hills debut, in a mighty 5-piece form featuring new drummer TJ Maiani and Shakori veteran and fiddle shredder Bobby Britt. Probably the only true indie rock band playing at the Festival, maybe ever.

11:00PM | Stephanie's Id (Meadow Stage)

This band is from Asheville, NC. I saw them on this exact same stage last Fall and it sounded enormous. Embarrassing Fruits, Lost in the Trees and The Never have all played shows with them and they contain the same exuberant spirit that made The Sugarcubes so awesome.

FRIDAY

3:30PM | Lost in the Trees (Grove Stage)

Trekky's preferred giant folk-orchestra Lost in the Trees return to Shakori for their second time. They will sound so huge getting blasted all over the Shakori farmland. Don't miss this especially!

5:30PM | Sweet By & By (Grove Stage)

These ladies are dear friends of ours and play classic old-timey songs with gorgeous harmonized vocals. Straight-up banjo-guitar-mandolin-fiddle-bass bluegrass band.

7:00PM | Michael Hurley (Cabaret Tent)

Old Snockgrass returns to Shakori for the second time. Hurley is a legendary underground folk-blues man who has inspired all of your favorite freak-folk artists. He's a real gem with a brilliant high lonesome voice. Don't miss!

SATURDAY

See Des Ark again at 10:45PM.

SUNDAY

11:00AM | Midtown Dickens (Meadow Stage)

Our best friends from Durham, NC, play everyone's-invited punk-grass subverting the dominant paradigm of traditional folk music. This'll be their second Shakori appearance and they'll be right at home.

4:30PM | Ralph Stanley (Meadow Stage)

A true legend of bluegrass music. We can't really believe he's actually going to be there!

The Owl Room Compilation Volume One

Members of the Trekky Records Collective created The Owl Room Recording Cooperative in the Summer of 2008, trying to apply a classic, membership based coop system to a recording studio. Members help cover the rent of the studio and contribute whatever equipment they have to create a whole studio that all can share. Since then, The Owl Room has become a homebase for recording demos, full albums and live sessions.

Here we present The Owl Room Compilation Volume One, an assortment of tracks recorded exclusively in The Owl Room, including three songs from the first Sessions at the Owl Room recording session. The homemade compilation will be available at all Trekky bands' shows, and you can also order it from our Online Store.

MP3 | Joe Norkus - Sunday Morning (Rise) [from The Owl Room Compilation Volume One]

Tracklist:
1. Joe Norkus - Sunday Morning (Rise)
2. Hi Ho Silver Oh - Perjury
3. Joah Tunnell - Monster
4. Spaghetti Western - cold cold hours
5. Wil Donegan - Over You
6. Greasy Joan - Dancing to a Different Tune
7. Emperikal Evaden$e feat. Slim Chimney and Sweet William - Willing Partner
8. Butterflies - Wanna Fight?
9. Vibrant Green - Baby Pumpkin
10. The Never - Vampire
11. Jon Mackey - Did You Ever Really Love Me
12. The Big Picture - Firepower

Auxiliary House reunites!

Trekky Records' mammoth gothic folk collective supergroup, Auxiliary House, went on hiatus in March of 2008 after a killer show with Fleet Foxes and Blitzen Trapper. Shortly before the break, the band recorded a song for the third installment in Pox World Empire's excellent Compulation series. Compulation Volume One featured songs from The Rosebuds, Des Ark, The Nein and Portastatic. Compulation Volume Two kept rolling with tracks from Work Clothes, Bellafea, David Karsten Daniels and The Kingsbury Manx. Now we have Compulation Volume Three featuring some of our favorite NC bands, including The Strugglers, Midtown Dickens, Un Deux Trois and our very own Aux House.

To celebrate the release of the comp, Auxiliary House has decided to wake up, shake off its furry coat and roar once again, reuniting for a single show at Local 506 on April 25. The show is the official release show for Compulation Volume Three and Midtown Dickens, Filthybird and Bull City will also be playing. Lucky for you the $8 admission price includes a free copy of the new compilation. Please enjoy the brand new song from Auxiliary House:

Watch Lost in the Trees and The Never live broadcast online

Lost in the Trees and The Never are playing in Greensboro, NC, tonight and apparently its also being broadcast online live as it happens. Technology is a strange thing. So, if you'd like to watch, click on over to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hgtrlive from about 10PM to midnight this evening.

Embarrassing Fruits' Joe Norkus releases free music online

Embarrassing Fruits' Joe Norkus just released Community / Exploitation with his proper band, but he just can't stop recording things here at Trekky Headquarters, so he's begun releasing solo material under his given name. He borrowed a digital 8-track recorder about a week ago and now we have the Digital Hiss EP available for free download online. You can also stream it on his MySpace page. While you're there, check out his other free online releases, Livin' in the Wrong Times and Covers.

Butterflies and Lost in the Trees on The State of Things

The State of Things is a great radio show on North Carolina Public Radio that frequently gives some airtime to the myriad stellar bands from The Old North State. Butterflies visited the show for some talkin' and some playin' last Friday. Lost in the Trees was also featured on the show. It was many moons ago, but I forgot to post it so you can listen to it now.

Listen to Butterflies on The State of Things.
Listen to Lost in the Trees on The State of Things.

Embarrassing Fruits album out today!

Embarrassing Fruits' Community / Exploitation album is out today! You can get it at a variety of places:

Buy from Triangle Record Stores.

Order from Trekky Records.

Download from Trekky Records.
Download from iTunes.
Download from Amazon.

The Physics of Meaning at SXSW

Fresh off their grueling US tour back in February, The Physics of Meaning are right back on the road, heading down to Austin, Texas and back. The boys will be taking part in the annual celebratory music-beer-magazines-sun-clusterfuck that is SXSW. They've got some awesome shows lined up while they're down there, including the North Carolina showcase with our friends Megafaun, Annuals, Lonnie Walker, etc and the epic Hometapes Friend Island party with the likes of Megafaun, Slaraffenland, Slaraffenklang (which I assume is the totally rad Slaraffenland/Efterklang combined set madness) and more. Oh and did we mention at the latter there will be free pancakes from Organic Batter Blasters and free beer from Oregon's own Deschutes Brewery?! Upon returning the band will begin work on their follow-up to Snake Charmer and Destiny at the Stroke of Midnight. Here are the dates:

03.19 - Austin, TX - Club Primos (Blog and a Band SXSW day party)
03.20 - Austin, TX - Irongate Lounge (Cash Moneyopolis SXSW day party)
03.20 - Austin, TX - Casa de Seth (North Carolina SXSW day party w/ Megafaun, Annuals, Lonnie Walker, more)
03.21 - Austin, TX - 301 Chicon/E. 3rd (Hometapes Friend Island SXSW day party w/ Megafaun, Slaraffenland, more)
03.21 - Austin, TX - Lambert's BBQ (Greenroom SXSW showcase)
03.22 - Dallas, TX - City Tavern
03.24 - Jackson, MS - 121 Studios
03.26 - Charlotte, NC - The Milestone
03.27 - Durham, NC - Duke Coffeehouse (w/ Hope for a Golden Summer)