Hospitality will release their self-titled debut album next week, and have premiered their new video for “Friends of Friends” today at Stereogum.

Directed by Scott Jacobson (who also directed Superchunk’s video for “Digging for Something”) and featuring Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development and Gabe Delahaye of Videogum, the “Friends of Friends” video shows the hardships of a long-distance relationship set in iconic locations in New York & Los Angeles.

Watch “Friends of Friends” now at Stereogum

Daytrotter released their session with Hospitality today and “Eighth Avenue” is the “Song of the Day” at NPR Music! Beginning tomorrow, you can stream Hospitality in its entirety at Spotify. Subscribe now to the Merge Records New Releases to listen. And don’t forget to add user mergerecordsofficial as one of your favorites and check out all our playlists!

Other Hospitality excitement is happening this week, too. On Wednesday, January 25, Hospitality will perform on WFMU’s Seven Second Delay live from the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre. Listen live at 6pm EST, or to the archive on WFMU.org! On Friday, January 27, listen to Hospitality on WNYC’s Soundcheck beginning at 2pm EST.

Hospitality is available on CD and LP now in the Merge store. Pre-orders come with a poster and 5-postcard set, while supplies last. Pre-order customers will also receive via e-mail Hospitality’s 6-song EP from 2008, which was recorded in their Red Hook apartment by Karl Blau on a 4-track recorder. Follow the band on Twitter and Facebook.

Hospitality on tour:
Feb 3 Brooklyn, NY Glasslands Gallery (Record Release Show)
Feb 25 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall (Noise Pop w/ Archers of Loaf)
Feb 26 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour w/ Archers of Loaf
Feb 29 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern w/ Tennis
Mar 2 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall w/ Tennis
Mar 3 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom w/ Tennis
Mar 7 New Haven, CT BAR
Mar 9 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506 w/ Tennis
Mar 10 Atlanta, GA The Earl w/ Tennis
Mar 11 Orlando, FL Orange You Glad Festival

Merge will release M. Ward‘s sixth solo album, A Wasteland Companion, on April 10.


In the three years since Portland, OR-based troubadour M. Ward released his last solo album – the universally lauded Hold Time – he’s toured the globe, released two albums as one half of Grammy-nominated duo She & Him as well as one with the talented group of friends collectively know as Monsters Of Folk.

Inspired by his increasingly itinerant lifestyle Ward set forth to create something of a musical travelogue. He explains, “Between now and when I made Hold Time there has been a lot of traveling which requires a lot of reckoning with what to leave behind and what to carry – material and otherwise – and thinking about what I want versus what I need, creatively and otherwise. I wanted to get a reflection of that on the album. It was a process of stripping away my security blanket, which is the same four walls I always record in.”

The album was made with 18 musicians and recorded in eight different studios in Portland, Omaha, New York City, Los Angeles, Austin and Bristol (UK). A Wasteland Companion features the talents of M Ward (piano, guitars, voice, production), Mike Coykendall (percussion, bass), Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb (piano), John Parish (percussion, marimba), Bright Eyes’ Mike Mogis (organ), Susan Sanchez (vocals), She & Him’s Zooey Deschanel (vocals), Jordan Hudson (percussion), Adam Selzer (bass), Nathan “JR” Andersen (piano), Scott McPherson (percussion), Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley (percussion), Dr. Dog’s Tobey Leaman (bass), Devotchka’s Tom Hagerman (strings), Oakely Hall’s Rachel Cox (vocals), Amanda Lawrence (violin), John Graboff (pedal steel) and Tyler Tornfelt (bass). The recording utilized eight engineers, including Tom Schick (Rufus Wainwright) and John Parish (PJ Harvey).

Pre-order A Wasteland Companion on CD or LP now in the Merge store. M. Ward can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and at mwardmusic.com.

Track listing:
1. Clean Slate (for Alex & El Goodo)
2. Primitive Girl
3. Me And My Shadow
4. Sweetheart
5. I Get Ideas
6. The First Time I Ran Away
7. A Wasteland Companion
8. Watch The Show
9. There’s A Key
10. Crawl After You
11. Wild Goose
12. Pure Joy

M. Ward on tour:
Feb 2 Los Angeles, CA Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Apr 11 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
Apr 12 Santa Cruz, CA The Cocoanut Grove Ballroom
Apr 13 Indio, CA Coachella **SOLD OUT**
Apr 14 Santa Barbara, CA SoHO
Apr 16 San Diego, CA Belly Up
Apr 17 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
Apr 18 Flagstaff, AZ The Orpheum
Apr 20 Indio, CA Coachella **SOLD OUT**
May 5  Portland, ME State Theatre
May 6  Burlington, VT Higher Ground
May 7  New Haven, CT Toads Place
May 8  Boston, MA House of Blues
May 11 New York, NY Webster Hall
May 12 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
May 13 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
May 15 Durham, NC Duke Performances at Page Auditorium
May 16 Athens, GA Georgia Theatre
May 17 Atlanta, GA Buckhead Theatre
May 22 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
May 24 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
Jonathan Richman supports 4/11
fIREHOSE supports 4/12, 4/16-4/18
Lee Ranaldo Band supports 5/5-5/22

Imperial Teen‘s long-anticipated new album Feel the Sound will be released on January 31, but visit Spin.com now to hear the album in its entirety.

Of the new album, Spin.com says:

Feel the Sound is Imperial Teen’s first new album in five years, but you wouldn’t know it from the sterling collection of beautifully arranged, melody-rich pop songs on display. The San Francisco-based band led by former Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum shows no signs of rust on its fifth studio album, which we’ve got streaming for you in its entirety.

Stream Feel the Sound now at Spin.com

So many bands lose momentum and focus over time, but a little past its sweet sixteenth year of existence, Roddy Bottum, Lynn Perko Truell, Will Schwartz, and Jone Stebbins somehow grow both younger and wiser, connecting four characterful lives through creative friendship and deep trust, and forging a communal power that continues to grow stronger.

Imperial Teen have announced appearances at Noise Pop and SXSW with more to come!

Pre-order Feel the Sound now on CD and LP in the Merge store to receive a poster and a limited-edition key chain earplug case while supplies last.

Eric Bachmann & Liz Durrett began the new year by taking a trip up the east coast and visiting WXPN World Cafe in Philadelphia, Sirius XM’s The Loft, and down to KUT Austin to perform songs from 2011′s stellar Breaks in the Armor. These sessions air this week, so tune in!

Sirius XM’s The Loft session will air multiple times this week, including Wednesday 1/18 at 2pm, Saturday 1/21 at noon, and Sunday 1/22 at midnight, all times EST.

World Cafe airs on Wednesday, January 18. Visit NPR.org for local airtimes, or you can listen live on WXPN’s live stream at 2PM EST.

KUT Austin’s performance aired on Tuesday, January 17. The session is now archived at KUT.org.

Order Breaks in the Armor on CD, LP or digital download in the Merge store now.

 

Lambchop premiered “Gone Tomorrow” from their forthcoming new album Mr. M on NPR’s All Songs Considered podcast today. Listen to the All Songs Considered podcast now or hear the track below via Merge’s SoundCloud page.

Lambchop – Gone Tomorrow by Merge Records

Pre-order Mr. M now on CD or limited-edition dbl-LP in the Merge store to receive a poster (the first 150 of which will be signed!) featuring Kurt Wagner’s original paintings used in Mr. M’s liner notes and a Lambchop coin purse while supplies last.

Visit the Merge blog to watch an album trailer for Mr. M, too!

 

 

Arcade Fire will appear on Austin City Limits,  the longest-running music series in American television history, this weekend on your local PBS station. Check your local listings for station information and set the DVR! You can also watch online at PBS.org.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to visit Sprawl2.com to watch linear and interactive versions of the new “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” video. Visit the Merge store to find 2011 Album of the Year Grammy-winning album The Suburbs on CD, LP and digital download as well as the 2012 Grammy-nominated The Suburbs Deluxe Edition on CD with DVD.

The Mountain Goats are hitting the road next week to visit the few places they missed on the All Eternals Deck tour in 2011. In an exercise hearkening back to the ’70s tours of The Rolling Stones and Neil Young, John, Peter and Jon have been demoing songs for their new, as-yet-untitled album and have chosen a few brand-new songs to perform each night during this tour.

John posted the following on his website regarding this new plan:

“One small word about these shows. For years bands have been pretty judicious about playing unreleased new material, because much of it becomes available online immediately, even when the new songs are still in fairly raw form. We, too, have gotten into the bad habit of holding new stuff back. We are done with that whole philosophy, though. I miss playing stuff that’s unreleased & unrecorded, stuff that still stings fresh. So we got together and decided to tour the new songs before we even record them. I don’t guess that we’ll be touring all ten of the new songs I’ve written for the next album (eleven if you count one that’s presently being herded back and forth between its cell & the chopping block), but be advised that if you’re the sort of person who wants as many surprises as possible when you hear a new album, you should tread lightly around recordings of these shows, because we’re not going to be holding the best ones back for the album release like people tend to do now.”

Full list of tour dates is below and you can find the Mountain Goats’ All Eternals Deck on CD, LP and digital download now in the Merge store.

 the Mountain Goats on tour:
* = w/ Nurses
Jan 19 Austin, TX – Antone’s* SOLD OUT
Jan 20 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s*
Jan 21 New Orleans, LA – Tipitina’s*
Jan 23 Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder*
Jan 24 Orlando, FL – The Social*
Jan 25 Tampa, FL – Crowbar*
Jan 27 St. Augustine, FL – The Original Cafe Eleven*
Jan 28 Atlanta, GA – The Earl*
Jan 30 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club*
Jan 31 Charlotte, NC – Visulite Theatre*
Feb 02 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle*
Feb 04 Saxapahaw, NC – The Haw River Ballroom*
Mar 09 Denton, TX – 35 Denton Festival*
Mar 13 New York, NY – Carnegie Hall: “The Music of the Rolling Stones: Hot Rocks 1964–1971”
Mar 24 New York, NY – Ecstatic Music Festival w/ Anonymous 4
Apr 02 London, UK – The Barbican w/ Anonymous 4

Jeff Mangum will finally make his way to the west coast in April including the new consecutive weekend Coachella Festival. A portion of the proceeds for these shows (except Coachella) will benefit Children of the Blue Sky, which aims to place orphaned Mongolian children with foster families. A full list of Jeff Mangum tour dates and all up-to-date ticket information can be found at GroundControlTouring.com.

After Mangum’s recent NYC Town Hall show, RollingStone.com said, “Few dared to expect it, but Jeff Mangum is back, and the music world is immeasurably richer for it.” Spin.com offered “Five Reasons Why Jeff Mangum is Magical” saying, “For two generations of listeners who grew up with Mangum’s intimate voice coming through the headphones, alone in that peculiar sound-world he conjured and feeling they were its sole inhabitant, this is the moment they’ve all been waiting for.” Pitchfork awarded the recently released limited-edition Neutral Milk Hotel box set “Best Reissue” and the AV Club commended the beautiful packaging and vinyl experience.

Neutral Milk Hotel releases can be found on CD, 180 gm LP and digital download now in the Merge store.

Jeff Mangum on tour:
Jan 18 New Haven, CT Shubert Theater On Sale Now
Jan 20 Brooklyn, NY Gilman Opera House at Brooklyn Academy of Music SOLD OUT
Jan 20 Brooklyn, NY Gilman Opera House at Brooklyn Academy of Music SOLD OUT
Jan 25 Philadelphia, PA Irvine Auditorium at University of Pennsylvania SOLD OUT
Jan 27 Washington, DC Lincoln Theatre SOLD OUT
Jan 28 Washington, DC Lincoln Theatre SOLD OUT
Jan 30 Chapel Hill, NC Memorial Hall at University of North Carolina SOLD OUT
Feb 01 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse SOLD OUT
Feb 04 Minneapolis, MN State Theatre NEW VENUE
Feb 06 Chicago, IL Athenaeum Theater SOLD OUT
Feb 07 Chicago, IL Athenaeum Theater SOLD OUT
Feb 08 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater SOLD OUT
Feb 10 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club SOLD OUT
Feb 11 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club SOLD OUT
Mar 07 Dublin, IRE Vicar Street SOLD OUT
Mar 09 – Mar 11 Minehead, UK All Tomorrow’s Parties Curated By Jeff Mangum
Mar 13 London, UK Union Chapel SOLD OUT
Mar 14 London, UK Union Chapel  SOLD OUT
Apr 10 Oakland, CA Fox Theater NEW
Apr 14 Indio, CA Coachella NEW
Apr 16 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre NEW
Apr 17 Seattle, WA Moore Theatre NEW
Apr 18 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom NEW
Apr 19 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom NEW
Apr 21 Indio, CA Coachella NEW

The Magnetic Fields will return to Merge on March 6 with their new album Love at the Bottom of the Sea. Today, NY Magazine’s Vulture blog premiered the first single “Andrew in Drag.”

Listen to “Andrew in Drag” now at the Merge SoundCloud page

“Andrew in Drag” will be the A-side of the limited edition vinyl 7-inch which will be released on January 31. The ukulele-centered B-side, “When Next in Love I Fall,” is an exclusive non-album track. 7-inches are limited to one thousand pieces and include coupons for download.

Pre-order both the “Andrew in Drag” 7-inch and Love at the Bottom of the Sea (on CD or LP) now in the Merge store.

The Magnetic Fields have announced their spring tour in support of Love at the Bottom of the Sea and tickets are on sale now!

The Magnetic Fields on tour:
Mar 6 Hudson, NY Helsinki Hudson
Mar 7 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
Mar 11 Minehead, UK All Tomorrow’s Parties
Mar 14, 15, 16 Austin, TX  SXSW
Mar 18 Vancouver, BC  The Vogue
Mar 19 Seattle, WA Neptune Theater
Mar 20 Seattle, WA Neptune Theater
Mar 21 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
Mar 23 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theater
Mar 24 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
Mar 26 Chicago, IL Vic Theater
Mar 27 Chicago, IL Vic Theater
Mar 28 Iowa City, IA Englert Theater
Mar 30 Toronto, ON Sound Academy
Mar 31 Montreal, QC Le National
Apr 3 New York, NY Beacon Theater
Apr 6 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center
Apr 7 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center
Apr 9 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Apr 11 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
Apr 12 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
Apr 14 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse

Wild Flag will appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight!

They recently became Paul Schaffer’s favorite band when they visited The Late Show with David Letterman. Watch their performance of “Romance” from Letterman and set your DVR for tonight’s performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!

Wild Flag are heading back out on the road this spring and season two of Carrie Brownstein’s television show Portlandia premieres tonight on IFC.

Wild Flag is available on CD, LP and digital download now in the Merge store.

Wild Flag on tour:
Mar 30 New Haven, CT Toads Place
Mar 31 Boston, MA Paradise
Apr 01 New York, NY Webster Hall
Apr 02 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Apr 03 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero
Apr 05 Chicago, IL Metro
Apr 18 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore

The Mountain Goats returned to the AV Club’s round room in Chicago to perform “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” for the Holiday Undercover series. The full band had previously visited the AV Club Undercover to cover Jawbreaker’s “Boxcar.”

Watch the Mountain Goats perform “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

The Mountain Goats wrapped up their 2011 touring in support of All Eternals Deck with a Los Angeles show for charity Invisible Children last weekend, and they have announced tour dates for early 2012. Go see them!

The Mountain Goats’ Merge debut All Eternals Deck is available on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store. Orders over $50 save 10% with code MERGEHOLIDAYS through the end of December.

The Mountain Goats on tour:
* = w/ Nurses
Jan 19 Austin, TX – Antone’s*
Jan 20 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s*
Jan 21 New Orleans, LA – Tipitina’s*
Jan 23 Tallahassee, FL – Club Downunder*
Jan 24 Orlando, FL – The Social*
Jan 25 Tampa, FL – Crowbar*
Jan 27 St. Augustine, FL – The Original Cafe Eleven*
Jan 28 Atlanta, GA – The Earl*
Jan 30 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club*
Jan 31 Charlotte, NC – Visulite Theatre*
Feb 02 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle*
Feb 04 Saxapahaw, NC – The Haw River Ballroom*
Mar 09 Denton, TX – 35 Denton Festival*
Mar 13 New York, NY – Carnegie Hall: “The Music of the Rolling Stones: Hot Rocks 1964–1971”
Mar 24 New York, NY – Ecstatic Music Festival w/ Anonymous 4
Apr 02 London, UK – The Barbican w/ Anonymous 4

Julian Koster created The Singing Saw at Christmastime in 2008 to share the carols of the Singing Saw with us, and this year NPR Music has invited Julian to their Tiny Desk for a special presentation. Watch the set at NPR Music now.

Bob Boilen writes:
Somewhere inside the body of Julian Koster — the Elephant 6 and Neutral Milk Hotel alumnus who once released an entire album of Christmas songs performed on a singing saw — lives a 13-year-old boy filled with wonder, imagination and a talent for spinning a good, quirky tale. Just in time for the holidays, and with the season in mind, Koster and his friends brought those wide-eyed songs and earnest spirit to the NPR Music offices for a joyful and strange Tiny Desk Concert performance.

Collectively known as The Music Tapes, they mixed bowed banjos and singing saws with tape machines, a chord organ and a crooning snowman to create a psychedelic holiday music pageant. Whether it’s the traditional “The First Noel” (scored here for two musical saws) or a reworking of Gavin Bryars’ avant garde piece “Jesus Blood,” or even their venture into Santa songs, there’s no one else playing holiday music quite like this. That is, unless you’re a band of 13-year-olds with very vivid imaginations.

Order The Singing Saw at Christmastime on CD, LP or digital download in the Merge Holiday store now. Orders over $50 save 10% through the end of December.

Once again, Wye Oak visited the round room at AV Club headquarters in Chicago to perform “Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day” by Brenda Lee for the Holiday Undercover series. Wye Oak’s Civilian topped the AV Club’s year-end list and was included on year end lists from NPR, Paste Magazine, Magnet Magazine and more!

Watch Wye Oak’s cover of “Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day” now

Wye Oak have just finished almost a year of touring in support of Civilian, but you can see them on TV on Last Call with Carson Daly when their performance re-airs December 29th. They have just announced a show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles on February 23, and an appearance at the Noise Pop Festival in San Francisco on February 24.

Wye Oak’s Civilian is available on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store. If you enjoyed their previous visits to the AV Club Undercover, check out our limited-edition “Strangers” b/w “Mother” 7-inch (and digital) also in the Merge store.