Baltimore slowcore twosome Wye Oak will released their MyNeighbor/My Creator EP today via the Merge store (April 20 for other digital outlets). It's a four-track (and one remix) collection that sees Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack working with outside producers for the first time.
The physical CD will be released June 8th and it was produced by Oxes percussionist Chris Freeland and his brother, rapper/producer Mickey Freeland. Check out the propulsive, saxophone ballad "I Hope You Die" above. The band is touring North America now and you can buy the EP on the road.
Last night, the Brooklyn indie-rockers The National played a "secret show" at Brooklyn's Bell House, previewing tracks from their forthcoming LP High Violet (4AD).
The Music Slut posted the gig's set list, and you can watch the group play through "Vanderlylle Cry Baby" via a fan video to the left. It's a slower cut that's not as explosive as the group's Jimmy Fallonperformance of "Terrible Love." Check the band out on the road via these dates. (Via P4k.)
Drive-By Truckers: "Birthday Boy" (DBT Webisode #1) Video
Next Tuesday (March 16th), the Drive-By Truckers will release their 10th studio LP via ATO. In anticipation of The Big To-Do, the Southern rock institution is partnering with Ghost Town Media, to release a series of webisodes that tell the behind the scenes story of each track off the new record. If you can't wait, stream all of The Big To-Do at AOL Spinner.
Check out the first webisode one above. It features the Cooley tune "Birthday Boy." (It's from the P.O.V. of a stripper and already sounds like classic DBT.) In the clip, the group talks about how the track barely made its way onto the full-length. There's also footage of the six-piece in their Athens, Georgia studio, and playing the track at sound check and on stage. Check the band's Vimeo page for future installments.
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti are currently finishing off their debut LP for 4AD. Before that, the L.A. band will release "Round and Round" on April 26th as a limited 7-inch and digital single. The hazy, lo-fi group has moved away from the bedroom aesthetic of the past into a full band touring/recording outfit. Haunted Graffiti is currently comprised of Ariel Pink, Kenny Gilmore, Aaron Sperske, and Tim Koh.
Download or stream "Round and Round" above. Both it and and its flipside, "Mistaken Wedding," veer further into the slightly polished, experimental-pop territory. The band will also issue a limited edition 4AD Record Store Day 2010 12-inch EP, with a track ("Menopause Men") from their forthcoming 4AD Session. More about that can be found here.
Baltimore slowcore twosome 
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti