Photography courtesy of Pitchfork Media

There isn’t much to say but this:

BLACK ANGELS’ DIRECTIONS TO SEE A GHOST IS AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE IN YOUR LOCAL RECORD STORE THIS VERY DAY.

Eleven songs, seventy minutes of dark, brooding psych-rock that will leave you a quivering puddle in your Doc Marten sandals.

PURCHASE IT RIGHT HERE!

Photography courtesy of Pitchfork Media.

It’s a big fucking week for The Black Angels.

30,000 albums released in pre-sale alone.

Front cover of The Austin Chronicle.

A brand new album dropping TODAY.

And a review from the consummate music critics at www.prefixmag.com that includes this quote alongside a 9.0 album rating:

“In short, this is the creative peak of the Angels’ output to date. Its muscular confidence and stylistic purity make it a must-listen for the psychedelically inclined, as well as an easy candidate for one of the best records of the year.”

(Read the full review HERE)

It’s been a good week for The Black Angels’ and all of us here at Light In The Attic.

Thanks for your support!

Wow.  It’s pretty much all we can say.

Absolutely brilliant.

So the news that The Blakes had recorded an exclusive session with the good folks at I-Tunes would be exciting enough, right?  That they’d put together previously unheard live versions of “Two Times”, “Pistol Grip” and “Lintwalk” would generate enough buzz to get your mouth salivating a little bit, true?

Well, what if we told you that the brand new I-Tunes Exclusive Session recently recorded by your favorite band The Blakes also features three never before heard tracks?

‘CAUSE IT DOES.

Yup, the brand new Blakes’ I-Tune Session features three NEW tracks, “Basket”, “Fall”, and “Horse” and they’ll blow your mind, your mom’s mind, and your little dog’s mind too.

You can purchase this bad boy from I-Tunes right this very moment right here:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=279389120&s=143441

Also, if you’ve never heard The Blakes, well first you should be ashamed of yourself, and second you should to go to the I-Tunes Discovery Download page (right HERE) and you can pick up the absolutely amazing track “Two Times” for, well, NOTHING.  Download that right HERE, right now.

Full information and track list after the jump!
Read the rest of this entry »

Bob is blogging in force these days.  His masterful three (or four?) part France blog wrapped up last week, and now he’s hammered out another look in to the dusty 25 cent piles of your favorite thrift store.

Thanks Bob!

Heeeeeeeere we go

Barbra Streisand, The Barbra Streisand Album

Barbra Streisand is beyond a doubt the queen of thrift stores.  If you happen upon a consignment shop that does not contain at least two or three Streisand albums, turn around and briskly leave the premises, for you have entered the Twilight Zone.  The thing is, Streisand’s recorded output fits the thrift store criteria perfectly; it was hugely popular in its time–selling massive quantities of product–on the strength of the performer’s unsubtle, bombastic takes of standards and contemporaneous adult pop selections, and is neglected today for those very same attributes.  Her brand of entertainment has not carried over into younger generations weaned on rock ‘n’ roll.  Streisand was almost a prototype for a sort of super performer that never had the chance to be truly mass-produced thanks to the shot in the arm rock received from those pesky Beatles.  Indeed, she had it all.  She could sing, dance, and act on Broadway with the very best of them by the time she was in her late teens, and she could bring all the excitement of musical theater to one’s hi-fi system thanks to her virtuosic, over-the-top vocal performances.  She took to its logical extreme the archetype of the traditional entertainer previously represented by the likes of Al Jolson and Judy Garland.  And when she was unleashed upon the general public, she struck with the force of ten Ethel Mermans.  Her first album, The Barbra Streisand Album, was released by Columbia in 1963, and it established the game plan by the end of side one.  First she blindsided the listener by opening with a rendition of “Cry Me a River” that sounded as though she were really, really personally upset with whoever made the mistake of placing the disc on his or her turntable, then the remainder of the side ran the gamut of human emotions until one found oneself laughing along with Babs during her spirited take on “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf.”  The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Inc. saw fit to award the album with three Grammys that year, including Best Album and Best Album Cover.

For adventurous readers, I would suggest taking the “Streisand Endurance Challenge”, which consists of simply an attempt to listen to an entire Streisand album, preferably on headphones, all the way through without stopping (quick note: Guilty doesn’t count and neither do hits comps).

I’d like to close here with a personal confession:  I truly believe that Barbra Streisand was extremely good looking in the sixties.  I’m sorry.

Newbury Comics is a big big big record store chain over in Boston.  Seemingly they’ve got stores on every street corner.  Lucky for us these good, good people have decided to show some love to upcoming release of The Black Angels’ new album Directions To See A Ghost by throwing together a pretty damn cool little presale.

Pre-purchase this album from this monster of independent music and receive an exclusive, limited-edition autographed booklet.  Don’t know if you’ve seen the new artwork for Directions but it’s f’n badass and the booklet is the crown jewel.  So just imagine you and your friends hitting the special tobacco and sitting down to blaze through you first listen of Directions To See A Ghost and you whip out an autographed copy.  Mouths drop, high-fives are exchanged, you are the king for a day.

Or something.

You can check it out right HERE.

It’s been a while, but our man in gay Paris, Bob Husak (drummer of The Blakes) has returned with his final thoughts on France. We’ve been waiting so long, it almost hurts.

Without further ado, Bob Husak!