New. Release. Tuesday.

Sorry for the semi-lateness on this one, but hey, it's still Tuesday! Look what's new this week:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Peter Bjorn and John
Michelle Malone (Decatur CD in-store on Saturday!)
Leonard Cohen (live CD/DVD)
PJ Harvey/John Parish
Gomez
Bruce Cockburn (live)
Gavin Degraw
Flatlanders
Great Lake Swimmers
Bob Dylan (reissues)
Maria Taylor
UGK
Jim Gaffigan
Wolves in the Throne Room
Malajube
Keith Urban
...and more!

Punch Brothers photos

Punch Brothers performed at Ye Olde DCD yesterday for an impressive crowd of lunchtime bluegrass believers. Speaking of impressive, those guys can play! Mixing up their set with selections from their debut album, Punch, a lengthy new song that's a part of a suite the band is working on and an amazing cover of Radiohead's "Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box" (what a rendition!), the packed house was left wanting more. Luckily, the band played two sets to a large crowd at Variety Playhouse last night as well. Good stuff. Enjoy the photos...

Punch Brothers tomorrow - don't forget!

PERFORMING LIVE! AT DECATUR CD
FRIDAY, MARCH 27TH @ 1:00 PM
CD signing will follow performance

Get your pre-order on.

We know it's tough out there. "Money's tight. Nothing's free," as the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughn once said. Decatur CD is here for you, though. Below is a list of prominent upcoming titles. Have a look and see what you'd like. Then, next time you're by, sign up for a pre-order. We'll call you when the title comes out (convenient) and you save $2 (cheap). Everybody wins! Check it out:

March 31st: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Leonard Cohen (live), PJ Harvey, Michelle Malone, Peter Bjorn and John, Great Lake Swimmers, Bruce Cockburn (live), UGK, Wolves in the Throne Room

April 7th: Neil Young, The Hold Steady (live), The Coathangers, Bat for Lashes, Junior Boys, Beastie Boys (reissue), The Felice Brothers, Black Dice, Vienna Teng, The Thermals, Micachu & The Shapes, Lady Sovereign, Bob Mould, Sara Watkins, Rascall Flatts, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Doves

April 14th: Death Cab for Cutie (EP), Bill Callahan, John Doe/The Sadies (covers), Silversun Pickups, Metric, Gomez, The Boy Least Likely To, Fastball, Jill Sobule, The Monks (reissue), Ida Maria, Dntel (unreleased 3CD set)

April 21st: Depeche Mode, Super Furry Animals (LP), Camera Obscura, The Breeders (EP), Allen Toussaint, Matisyahu, Booker T./Drive-By Truckers, Art Brut, Tinted Windows (ft. members of Hanson, Cheap Trick, Smashing Pumpkins and Fountains of Wayne…not kidding), Porcupine Tree, The Boxmasters (ft. Billy Bob Thornton), Pet Shop Boys, Manchester Orchestra, The Greencards, Empire of the Sun, Asher Roth, Maria Bamford

April 28th: Bob Dylan, Samantha Crain,Ben Folds (acapella), Ben Lee

Punch Brothers in-store performance on Friday

Punch Brothers will play Decatur CD on Friday! Details from a recent DCD Newsletter:

Many of you were no doubt disheartened when Nickel Creek announced its hiatus. But each member of the band has found fruitful pursuits since, and we're honored to say we're going to host Chris Thile's new band. Thile is joined by former Infamous Stringdusters guitarist Chris Eldridge and ridiculously talented players Paul Kowert (bass), Leftover Salmon's Noam Pilkelny (banjo) and Gabe Witcher (violin).

Known as the Punch Brothers, the group will visit Decatur CD on March 27th for a very special lunchtime performance at 1 p.m. We suggest you make your way to downtown Decatur on your lunch break, grab some tacos from Taqueria or a pizza from Little Azio, and stop by to watch the set. It's going to be great fun. The crew will take over Variety Playhouse that night.

New. Release. Tuesday.

What a release week! Decemberists, Mastodon, Indigo Girls, oh my! Serge Gainsbourg, DOOM, Condo F*cks, oh my! Swan Lake, Wynton Marsalis, Lotus Plaza, oh my! Radiohead, Bettye LaVette, Amadou & Mariam, oh my! Seriously, though. Oh my:

The Decemberists
Mastodon
Indigo Girls
Serge Gainsbourg (reissue)
DOOM
Condo F*cks (Yo La Tengo covers record - it's great!)
Swan Lake
Mono
Lotus Plaza (Deerhunter side project)
Wynton Marsalis
Pearl Jam (deluxe reissue of Ten)
Amadou & Mariam
Bettye LaVette (retrospective)
Royksopp
Radiohead (more deluxe reissues)
Harlem Shakes
Red Red Meat (reissue)
Fever Ray
O+S
1990s
Dan Deacon
The Vines
...and more!

New. Release. Tuesday.

Happy NCAA Tournament/SXSW week, everyone! If you're all about college basketball, there's a chance you'll be tuning in starting Thursday. If you're all about discovering the latest and greatest musical talent, there's a chance you're heading down to (or are already hanging out in) Austin, Texas. Either way, we'll be here doing what we do. And on Tuesdays, we do new releases. Have a look at what's coming out this week:

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Willie Nelson (17 classic Nelson songs, redone "naked")
Marianne Faithfull
Wavves
Branford Marsalis
GZA (instrumentals)
Superdrag
Return to Forever
Nick Lowe (best)
Kelly Joe Phelps
I Love You Man (soundtrack to the hilarious movie coming out Friday!)
Mick Fleetwood
Little Walter (box set)
David Grissom
Les Claypool
...and more!

Spring Breakout at The EARL

It only makes sense that New Yorkers would want to come to Atlanta for Spring Break. It may not be Cancun, but it sure beats the freezing temperatures of the Big Apple. Fortunately the New Yorkers that made their way down to Atlanta weren't obnoxious Yankees fans, but perfectly polite punk rock bands.

Unfortunately, excellent NY power poppers the Electric Shadows couldn't make it down to join the fun, but the combination of Stalkers and Ex-Humans made the opening night of the Die Slaughterhaus/Douchemaster Spring Breakout more than worthwhile. I missed the first two acts because I was watching mascots fight over fake mustaches, but I arrived just in time to catch the Stalkers.

With aptly named frontman Andy Animal spazzing out on stage, Stalkers play a surprisingly catchy brand of punk that includes some nice vocal harmonies. They gained steam as the night went along, too, amping up the speed and getting the typically reluctant Atlanta crowd moving. The Stalkers have somehow missed internet hype surrounding many similar bands, but they are well worth listening to even if though they don't have a trail of singles going for $50 on eBay.

The Ex-Humans followed and they are similarly under-the-radar...for now. With former Atlanta scene fixture Josh Martin (ex-Carbonas, Beat Beat Beat) at the helm, these guys are destined to hit it big (in grimy European clubs and on Termbo, at the very least). The Ex-Humans sound a lot like Beat Beat Beat, meaning they played an excellent 20-25 minute set of high-energy pop punk. It was one of the best sets I've seen at the Earl in a while...hopefully Martin's Atlanta connections will bring the Ex-Humans back soon.

Want more? Head on down to 205 Holtzclaw tonight to check out some excellent bands in a similar vein, led by incredible lo-fi out-of-town rockers The Beets and a host of the best of the new wave of Atlanta punk bands (the Replacements-esque Customers, the always-fun Baby Dinos Vs Extinction, and Predator, who are perhaps the best of the bunch).

Peter Case needs your help

From the latest DCD Newsletter, which was deployed moments ago:

Former Nerves/Plimsouls rocker and current Yep Roc solo artist, Peter Case, who performed a fairly awesome in-store here at DCD about a year and a half ago, recently underwent emergency open-heart surgery. Our man Noel sent us this Rolling Stone blog post that details what some of his friends are doing to take care of him, and also explains how we can help. Click here to donate directly to Peter via PayPal or major credit card, or send a check or money order to the following address:

Hidden Love Medical Relief Fund
P.O. Box 122332
San Diego, CA 92112

Our best wishes go out to Peter in this tough time. Here's to the speedy recovery we know is ahead!

New. Release. Tuesday.

The weather is nice and so are the releases! What more is there to say? Oh yeah, the list:

Bishop Allen
All the Saints
Elvis Perkins
Luka Bloom
Cursive
Mirah
John Wesley Harding
Madeleine Peyroux
Handsome Furs
The Weight
Brother Ali
DM Stith
BoDeans (reissue)
Bell Orchestre
Beth Orton (reissue)
The-Dream
BLK JKS
Nat King Cole (covers set from TV on the Radio, Cee-Lo, Nas, Bebel Gilberto and more!)
Kelly Clarkson
Steve Earle (live)
Julie Doiron
Chris Cornell
New Found Glory
Rod Stewart (unplugged/live)
Razorlight
...and more!

Morrissey's Variety Playhouse show tonight canceled

Bad news for anyone looking forward to Morrissey's show tonight at Variety Playhouse. The pope of mope has fallen ill and the gig has been canceled. According to Variety's website, ticket refunds are available at the point of purchase.

Decatur CD's Upcoming Show Guide - March

Above-pictured is the cover of one of Douchemaster's latest 7-inches, GG King's Adult Rock. GG King is the alias of Carbonas frontman Greg King, and the 7" has a couple excellent tracks, not to mention the axework of fellow Carbona Gentleman Jesse. We mention all this for a couple reasons, namely 1) we're stocking the 7" here at the store and 2) GG King is one of our featured shows this month. See below for that gig and so many others. Oh, and don't forget about our new recommendations system, installed just last month:

W = a Warren recommendation
A = an Austin recommendation
E = a Young Eliot recommendation

TONIGHT - The Hackensaw Boys @ Smith's Olde Bar
March 7th - Morrissey @ Variety Playhouse (Canceled due to illness.)
TONIGHT - Annuals and Jessica Lea Mayfield @ The EARL
TONIGHT - Modest Mouse @ Tabernacle - A
TONIGHT - The Selmanaires and Social Studies @ 529
March 8th - William Elliott Whitmore and Samantha Crain @ The Drunken Unicorn
March 8th - Cardinals (Ryan Adams) @ Tabernacle - W
March 9th - The Pogues @ Tabernacle
March 10th - Justin Townes Earle and Kitty Snyder @ Eddie's Attic - WA
March 10th - King Khan & The Shrines, Golden Triangle and Thomas Function @ Masquerade - E
March 11th - Clem Snide and YOU @ The EARL
March 12th - Kathleen Edwards and Clare Burson @ Eddie's Attic - WA
March 12th - Estelle @ Center Stage
March 13th - Lucero @ Variety Playhouse
March 13th - These Arms Are Snakes, Young Widows and The Coathangers @ The Drunken Unicorn
March 13th - The Subsonics, Dex Romweber Duo and Grinder Nova @ Star Bar
March 13th - Pat McGee Band @ Eddie's Attic
March 13th - Electric Shadows, Ex Humans, Stalkers and GG King @ The EARL - EA
March 14th - Predator, The Beets, Customers, Baby Dinosaurs Vs. Extinction and Stolen Hearts @ dooGallery (205 Holtzclaw) - EA
[Incidentally, Young Eliot says if you don't go to the two above shows, you're "subliterate."]
March 14th - Marnie Stern @ 529
March 14th - Junior Brown @ Variety Playhouse
March 17th - Adele @ Variety Playhouse
March 18th - Bill Frisell and Greg Leisz @ Five Spot
March 20th - A.C. Newman and The Broken West @ The EARL - A
March 20th - Victor Wooten @ Variety Playhouse
March 20th - Cardinals (Ryan Adams) @ The Fox Theatre - W
March 21st - Ani DiFranco @ Variety Playhouse
March 22nd - Gene Ween Band @ The EARL
March 23rd - Spindrift and Ocha La Rocha @ The EARL
March 23rd - Titus Andronicus and Here We Go Magic @ 529 - A
March 24th - Gomez and Josh Ritter @ Center Stage
March 24th - The Gourds @ Smith's Olde Bar
March 25th - Nomo @ The EARL - WE
March 25th - Butch Walker @ Variety Playhouse
March 25th - Phosphorescent and Deer Tick @ The Drunken Unicorn - A
March 25th - Asobi Seksu @ Eyedrum
March 25th - The Queers @ Lenny's
March 26th - HEALTH and Judi Chicago @ The EARL - A
March 26th - Darrell Scott and Caroline Herring @ Eddie's Attic - W
March 26th - Cut Copy and Matt & Kim @ Masquerade
March 27th - Dead Confederate @ The EARL
March 27th - Wale @ The Loft - A
March 27th - Punch Brothers @ Decatur CD (FREE in-store at 1pm!)
March 27th - Punch Brothers @ Variety Playhouse
March 27th - The Forty-Fives and The Woggles @ Star Bar
March 27th - Zoroaster, Hell Comes to Town and Subrig Destroyer @ The Drunken Unicorn - A
March 28th - The Preakness and The Selmanaires @ The EARL
March 28th - Raphael Saadiq @ Variety Playhouse
March 29th - The Rev Peyton's Big Damn Band @ The Drunken Unicorn
March 29th - Chick Corea and John McLaughlin (two shows) @ Variety Playhouse - W
March 30th - Late of the Pier @ The EARL
March 31st - Langhorne Slim @ The EARL - A

Scion Rock Fest recap

[Above: Photo by Austin L. Ray, published here, click to enlarge]

Saturday's Scion Rock Fest was, to say the least, a rousing success. Mother Nature, despite being a crabby jerk who only listens to folk music, managed to behave herself and allow the denizens of Masquerade Music Park to have a wonderful day. Our boy Austin was there, and he has a few observations to make:

* Baroness is a great band, but even greater live than on record. If you found the Savannah, Georgia quartet's latest, 2007's behemoth Red Album, a little too jammy and/or indie-rock oriented, give the band a shot live. They were monstrous at Scion.

* A mud-covered, crushed, plastic water bottle, when flying through the air, looks kind of like a bird through peripheral vision. However, when it hits you straight in the eye, it hurts a whole lot. Probably more than getting hit in the eye with a bird would.

* Corpsepaint is amazing. So is 1349. They're from Norway and the make a very special kind of musical theater that is as engrossing as it is kind of terrifying. Whoever decided to have them close out the Scion fest was a genius.

* Metal fans get a bad rap. Although often defined by their piercings, tattoos or various other parts of their often-gruff exteriors, the crowd at Scion was extremely polite and well behaved. There are more fights/nonsense/jerks at an average dive-bar show than there were all day on Saturday. I'll take metalheads over the typical rock crowd any day of the week.

* Mastodon should be packing stadiums with their finely honed racket. Judging by the three new songs they played at Scion, their forthcoming Crack the Skye is going to melt faces. Extra credit awesome: one of the dudes from Neurosis joined them onstage for a couple songs.

* This festival should happen again next year!

Various press reports have started trickling in over the last couple days. Pitchfork and Paste both posted pretty decent photo sets, but self-titled and Prefix both have pretty excellent round-ups. But we'd like to hear from you. Did you go? What'd you like? Let us know in the comments.

New. Release. Tuesday.

Quite a solid release slate this week, all things considered. Have a look at the list below and we'll see you soon:

Neko Case
U2
Buddy & Julie Miller
Justin Townes Earle
Thin Lizzy (live)
Bela Fleck
Watchmen (soundtrack)
Wild Light
Soundtrack of Our Lives
Bell X1
Sonny Rollins (reissue)
Seth Walker
Angus & Julia Stone
John Coltrane (reissue)
Boston Spaceships
The Clancy Brothers/Tommy Makem (live)
The Prodigy
Allison Brown
Sarah Vaughn (reissue)
...and more!