The second of three bonus Sonic Youth MP3s has been posted on the Buy Early Get Now site, and it’s pretty fascinating – the 6-minute demo version of “(I Got A) Catholic Block” from 1987. Go log in and grab it.

And if you haven’t preordered for Buy Early Get Now yet, it’s still not too late – we have a few of the live LPs left. Order HERE

We thought we’d run out of Sonic Youth bonus LPs for our Buy Early Get Now campaign, but we discovered we had 200 extra! ACT NOW to make sure you get this fantastic live LP of their July 4, 2008 concert at Battery Park in New York.

At Buy Early Get Now, you get:

- the limited live LP
- instant stream of the new album, The Eternal
- your choice of double LP or CD of The Eternal
- exclusive limited-edition poster
- early access to tickets (East Coast already announced, but the West Coast exclusive presale is still coming up)
- exclusive bonus MP3s – one is already available, the next one comes out on Tuesday, and we can now announce that a third will be available after release

Go to the Matador Store to place your preorder and get your instant code to log in at Buy Early Get Now and pick up your extras. Album, bonus LP and poster will be mailed to you to arrive on or before release date, June 9.

(If we have run out of bonus LPs by the time you place your order, you will not be charged.)

To all of you devout Sonic Youth/Buy Early Get Now fanatics…

If you have purchased The Eternal early through either a fine indie retailer, one of our online outlets or directly from the Matador store, we MUST implore you to please log in and register your purchase on www.buyearlygetnow.com.

We realize that some of you only picked up the record early to score the ever-so-awesome Live LP (ever. so. awesome.) and are not bothering to log in and get your bonus mp3s and early stream of The Eternal. But the reality is, we don’t want to run out of these limited Live LPs and the best way to ensure we don’t is for you to register on the site so that we can keep a real-time log of the amount of LPs we need. 

It only takes a minute and we will never use your registration information to market anything to you.

And to those of your who have already logged in, there is no need to log in again.

(photograph by David Emery)

Sonic Youth have added a 2nd night at Washington DC’s 9:30 Club to their summer tour — July 7.  Tickets are available to the general public starting this Saturday at 10am,  however persons nabbing ‘The Eternal’ via Matador’s Buy Early Get Now scheme will have an opportunity to purchase tickets as early as Thursday morning, May 14 at 10. 

There’s also a July 24 show happening at Spokane’s Knitting Factory.  Ticket info TBA.

Buy Early Get Now customers get exclusive presale access to tickets for the upcoming US Sonic Youth dates. First, preorder the record. Then go to buyearlygetnow.com to get your tickets. First access to tickets anywhere!

For the last month, you’ve been able to sign up for the Sonic Youth Buy Early Get Now at participating physical retailers.

Starting today, you can order online, either directly from the Matador Store or via other online retailers such as Insound, or if you’re in Europe, our UK mail order site.

Album stream goes live tomorrow (April 28), the first bonus MP3 goes up May 12, second bonus MP3 goes up June 2, and you get the album, the bonus live vinyl LP and the limited-edition poster on release date, June 9 (or June 8 for those of you in Europe).

ALSO – for those of you who manage to get in there this week, there will be early access to presale tickets for the summer tour. Don’t miss out – preorder now.

Reminder: when you sign up online, you need to wait for a return email with your login code. Then you go to the buyearlygetnow.com site to get your stuff.

buyearlygetnow.com
uk.buyearlygetnow.com
matadorrecords.com/store/sonic_youth

Here are those tour dates:

June 28th – Chicago, IL – Vic Theater
June 29th – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
July 2nd – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
July 3rd – New York, NY – United Palace Theatre
July 6th – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
July 8th – Richmond, VA – The National
July 10th – Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theater
July 11th – Nashville, TN – War Memorial
July 12th – Birmingham, AL – Sloss Furnaces
July 13th – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
July 15th – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
July 16th – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s
July 18th – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
July 20th – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
July 21st – Minneapolis, MN – First Ave
July 23rd – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
July 25th – Seattle, WA – Capitol Hill Block Party
July 28th – Portland, OR – Roseland Ballroom
July 30th – Salt Lake City, UT – Twilight Music Fest
July 31st – Denver, CO – Ogden Theater
August 2nd – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater

more coming soon.

We’re pleased to launch the first MP3 from Sonic Youth’s upcoming album The Eternal (June 8 Europe, June 9 North America). It’s entitled “Sacred Trickster” and can be downloaded here:

Sacred Trickster (mp3)

“Sacred Trickster” is a 2:10 out-of-the gate hardcore matinee track with Kim singing salutes to French painter Yves Klein and Western Massachusetts noise artist Noise Nomads. It sets the tone for ‘The Eternal’, which comprises twelve tunes that are a fireworks display of Sonic Youth touchstones. From the primal no wave attack of its earliest days, to the radical chording and song structures of its ’90s period, to the more focused and contemporary explorations of the last five years. This their 16th album, and their first for the Matador label, consolidates their move to a more lush, sensual sound as displayed on last album ‘Rather Ripped’ – but if anything punchier and cleaner, and now backstopped by the addition of Mark Ibold (Pavement, Dustdevils) on bass.

As many of you are already aware, we have a Buy Early Get Now campaign running for this release. If you preorder (& pay) for the album at selected indie retailers now, you’ll get lots of extra material that won’t be available if you wait until June. You get:

- a code to stream the album early, from April 28
- bonus limited exclusive vinyl live LP on street date recorded at the River To River Festival July 4th, 2008 Concert in Battery Park NYC, either in your mailbox or your favorite record store (while supplies last)
- an exclusive poster
- exclusive additional mp3 downloads of outtakes & more live material
- early access to concert tickets in the US (especially if you sign up now)

Check buyearlygetnow.com for more info. (After April 28, you will also be able to preorder online.)

Plus — SECRET SHOW NEXT WEEK! We are also excited to announce that Sonic Youth will be playing an exclusive show NEXT MONDAY, 27 April, at The Scala, tickets available to purchase online from 10am tomorrow Tuesday 21 April, £25, doors 7.30pm.

US tour dates this summer should be announced very soon. New Yorkers can see the band play at the annual noise fest No Fun on May 16.

Finally, news just in that the band have been confirmed to play at the My Bloody Valentine-curated ATP Nightmare Before Christmas to be held at Butlins Holiday Resort in Minehead from December 4th – 6th, 2009.

sonicyouth.com
buyearlygetnow.com

(all SY photos in this post by Chris Habib)

As announced previously, the new Sonic Youth double LP/CD/digital album, ‘The Eternal’ is coming out on June 9. However, the album will be available to those taking part in Matador’s Buy Early Get Now campaign on April 28.

Along with your preorder of ‘The Eternal’ on LP or CD, you’ll get an instant stream of the album when BEGN launches on April 28, and later (either picking it up at your fave local record store or through the auspices of the U.S. Postal Service) a bonus limited edition live LP* culled from Sonic Youth’s July 4, 2008 show in Battery Park at the River To River Festival, which will contain an exclusive poster. Additional MP3’s will be delivered via the BEGN site before or after the album’s physical release date (June 9).

The album can be preordered from a trusted local retailer starting March 24 or directly from Matador on April 28.

A separate but equally thrilling variation on Buy Early Get Now for our friends in the United Kingdom and other territories will be announced in this space shortly.

*- while supplies last

Though we’re keeping a rather tight lid on the musical contents to ‘The Eternal’ between now and late April, there’s a somewhat truncated preview that’s just been posted at Newsweek.com.

A date with a member of Pavement at Ikea…it may be obvious, but lets all agree it’s original.  Here’s the deal, if you think your home needs an upgrade, submit a photo at imeem and write a short essay on why you derserve to win a shopping spree at ikea.  Winner will be joined by a member of Pavement on their $500 Ikea shopping spree.  Swedish meatballs are on us.  To enter, just submit your photo and essay here.

Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition is out December 9th and available for pre-order.

To celebrate new releases of some of our most beloved artists of all time, we’ve set up a couple of CRAZY bundles in the store.

Pavement- Deluxe Editions Bundle

An add-on to our current Buy Early Get Now promotion, you can now purchase all 3 available Pavement deluxe editions AND the to-be-release Deluxe edition of Brighten The Corners. Only $50 and you still get all of the Buy Early Get Now goodies!
Buy HERE

Belle and Sebastian Bundle

If you somehow missed the boat on one of the best bands of all time and have been drawn in by all of the positive vibes around the BBC Sessions you can pick up the first 4 of B&S’s classic albums PLUS the newly released BBC Sessions for only $45.
Buy HERE

The second unreleased mp3 in our Brighten The Corners: The Nicene Creendence Buy Early Get Now went up yesterday! For those of you who for some inexplicable reason haven’t signed up yet the song is a live version of “Transport Is Arranged”.

We promised a some surprise goodies for Buy Early Get Now so without committing too much, there might…possibly….probably….be a few more incredible unreleased tracks coming along to supplement the two we promised and delivered

You can get into Buy Early Get Now on the Matador Store HERE or sign up at one of the fine retailers below….

1-2-3-4 Go! Records – Oakland, CA
Aboveground Records – Edgarton, MA
AKA Records- Philadelphia, PA
Atomic Records- Milwaukee, WI
Aural Exploits – Santa Monica, CA
Bull City Records – Durham, NC
Criminal Records – Atlanta, GA
Disconnected Records – San Diego, CA
Ear Candy Music – Missoula, MT
East Coast Music & Video – Greenville, NC
End Of An Ear - Austin, TX
Exiled Records – Portland, OR
Good Records – Dallas, TX
Graywhale – Salt Lake City, UT
Grimey’s New & Preloved Music – Nashville, TN
Guestroom Records – Norman, OK
Hard Boiled – Chicago, IL
Insound – New York, NY – Online Only
Jackpot Records – Portland, OR
Landlocked – Bloomington, IN
Laurie’s Planet of Sound – Chicago, IL
Lou’s Records – Encinitas, CA
Love Garden Sounds – Lawrence, KS
LUNA Music – Indianapolis, IN
Lunchbox Records – Charlotte, NC
Madcity Music – Madison, WI
Matador Records – New York, NY – Online Only
Mod Lang- El Cerrito, CA
Mojo- Tampa, FL
M-Theory – San Diego, CA
Music Saves – Cleveland, OH
Other Music – New York, NY
Parasol – Urbana, IL
Park Ave. – Orlando, FL
Paul’s Compact Discs – Pittsburg, PA
Permanent Records – Chicago, IL
Reckless Records – Chicago, IL
Repo Records – Philadelphia, PA
Siren Records – Doylestown, PA
Slowtrain – Salt Lake City, UT
Sound Fix – Brooklyn, NY
Square Records – Akron, OH
Stinkweeds- Phoenix, AZ
Tonevendor – Gainesville, FL – Online Only
Treehouse Records – Minneapolis, MN
Twist & Shout – Denver, CO
Underground Sounds – Ann Arbor, MI
Vintage Vinyl – St. Louis, MO
Von’s Records – West Lafayette, IN
Waiting Room Records – Normal, IL
Waterloo Records – Austin, TX
Wazoo Records – Ann Arbor, MI
Wuxtry Records- Atlanta, GA
Young Ones – Kutztown, PA
Zzz Records – Des Moines, IA

And, here are participating Canadian stores!
Blackbyrd Myoozik – Edmonton
Criminal Records - Toronto
Ditch Records – Victoria
Encore Records – Kitchener
Grooves Record Store – London
Listen Records – Edmonton
Music Trader – Winnepeg
Phonopolis – Montreal
Red Cat Records – Vancouver
Rotate This – Toronto
Scratch Records – Vancouver
Sonic Boom – Toronto
Soundscapes – Toronto
Zulu Records – Vancouver

Australian stores:
Big Star – Adelaide
Planet – Perth
Polyester – Melbourne
Red Eye - Sydney
Rockinghorse – Brisbane

For those of you taking part in our Brighten The Corners: The Nicene Creedence Buy Early Get Now program, we’ve got a small bit of bad news. Due to delays at the vinyl press, the release date is now pushed back to December 9th. We’re disappointed but know that the unquestionable awesomeness of the entire package will more than make up for the wait. Thanks for your understanding!

If you haven’t signed up yet, you now have even more time to DO SO. The first exlusive B-side went live yesterday, and the entire album’s been streaming on the site since the 10th.

Since we last told you where you could pre-order and participate in Buy Early Get Now, there have been some more stores added!

You can pre-order Pavement – Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed. at the stores listed below, and through most of their websites.

1-2-3-4 Go! Records – Oakland, CA
Aboveground Records – Edgarton, MA
Atomic Records – Milwaukee, WI
Aural Exploits – Santa Monica, CA
Bull City Records – Durham, NC
Criminal Records – Atlanta, GA
Disconnected Records – San Diego, CA
Ear Candy Music – Missoula, MT
East Coast Music & Video – Greenville, NC
End Of An Ear - Austin, TX
Exiled Records – Portland, OR
Good Records – Dallas, TX
Graywhale – Salt Lake City, UT
Grimey’s New & Preloved Music – Nashville, TN
Guestroom Records – Norman, OK
Hard Boiled – Chicago, IL
Insound – New York, NY – Online Only
Jackpot Records – Portland, OR
Landlocked – Bloomington, IN
Laurie’s Planet of Sound – Chicago, IL
Lou’s Records – Encinitas, CA
Love Garden Sounds – Lawrence, KS
LUNA Music – Indianapolis, IN
Lunchbox Records – Charlotte, NC
Madcity Music – Madison, WI
Matador Records – New York, NY – Online Only
Mod Lang- El Cerrito, CA
M-Theory – San Diego, CA
Music Saves – Cleveland, OH
Other Music – New York, NY
Parasol – Urbana, IL
Park Ave. – Orlando, FL
Paul’s Compact Discs – Pittsburg, PA
Permanent Records – Chicago, IL
Reckless Records – Chicago, IL
Repo Records – Philadelphia, PA
Siren Records – Doylestown, PA
Slowtrain – Salt Lake City, UT
Sound Fix – Brooklyn, NY
Square Records – Akron, OH
Tonevendor – Gainesville, FL – Online Only
Treehouse Records – Minneapolis, MN
Twist & Shout – Denver, CO
Underground Sounds – Ann Arbor, MI
Vintage Vinyl – St. Louis, MO
Von’s Records – West Lafayette, IN
Waiting Room Records – Normal, IL
Waterloo Records – Austin, TX
Wazoo Records – Ann Arbor, MI
Young Ones – Kutztown, PA
Zzz Records – Des Moines, IA

And, here are participating Canadian stores!

Blackbyrd Myoozik – Edmonton
Criminal Records – Toronto
Ditch Records – Victoria
Encore Records – Kitchener
Grooves Record Store – London
Listen Records – Edmonton
Music Trader – Winnepeg
Phonopolis – Montreal
Red Cat Records – Vancouver
Rotate This – Toronto
Scratch Records – Vancouver
Sonic Boom – Toronto
Soundscapes – Toronto
Zulu Records – Vancouver

Ho ho ho… just in time for the holidays, we’re announcing our sixth Buy Early Get Now. This one is for the deluxe, super-expanded edition of Pavement’s fourth album, Brighten The Corners, subtitled Nicene Creedence Ed.. The track listing has changed subtly since we first announced it, so once you’ve signed up to BEGN, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post to see the new and final contents. The album is still scheduled for November 18 December 9 release.

If you’re not familiar with Buy Early Get Now, the premise is simple: preorder the premium-priced Buy Early Get Now version of the album now from us or from a participating retailer, receive your login at buyearlygetnow.com via email (can take 24-48 hours, especially over the weekend) — and you’ll get:

- Oct 10: an instant stream of the album
- Oct 21: bonus track #1
- Nov 4: bonus track #2
- Nov 18 – street date – pick up the album at your store (or get it in the mail) PLUS an exclusive vinyl bonus LP containing an unreleased concert, AS WELL AS a free poster

The vinyl LP is the long-lost Pavement Live, originally scheduled for release in July 1998 and given the Matador catalog number OLE-324 and the Capitol catalog number 95425. Note: Live was originally scheduled to be released on both vinyl and CD, but it will now ONLY be available on vinyl and ONLY available to BEGN #6 customers. For the avoidance of doubt, Brighten itself will only come out on CD and digital album.

Because it will be difficult for us to manufacture just the right amount of bonus LPs, we reserve the right (a) to close BEGN in the few weeks before street date, or (b) ship participants who sign up late their package late. So get your order in as soon as possible so we can make sure you’re taken care of on street date.

Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed. is a double CD set in a die-cut, embossed slipcase with a thick, 62-page perfect-bound book, like the earlier three Pavement deluxe editions. It contains the fully remastered original album, plus B-sides, compilation tracks, studio outtakes and radio sessions. The new sequence is below — note that it now contains 20 UNRELEASED TRACKS of which 8 ARE UNRELEASED SONGS.

Disc One:

1. Stereo
2. Shady Lane / J Vs. S
3. Transport Is Arranged
4. Date w/ IKEA
5. Old to Begin
6. Type Slowly
7. Embassy Row
8. Blue Hawaiian
9. We Are Underused
10. Passat Dream
11. Starlings of the Slipstream
12. Fin
The original BTC album, remastered. Originally released February, 1997.

* 13. Then (The Hexx)
Originally released as the B-side to Spit On A Stranger (OLE-384-7), May, 1999 — but presented here is the unedited full version, as such previously unreleased. It was also originally planned to be the opening track to BTC

• 14. Beautiful as a Butterfly
• 15. Cataracts
Both are unreleased songs. BTC session outtakes.

16. Westie Can Drum
17. Winner of the
* 18. Birds in the Majic Industry
Originally released as B-sides to the promo EP Stereo (OLE-238-2P), January 1997. “Birds…” appears here in its previously unreleased full length vocal version. The original release was an instrumental edited version.

19. Harness Your Hopes
20. Roll with the Wind
Originally released as B-sides to Spit On A Stranger (OLE-384-2), the first single from Pavement’s final album, Terror Twilight. They are included here since both songs (as well as track 13) were recorded and mixed during the BTC sssions in 1996.

Disc Two:

1. Slowly Typed
2. Cherry Area
3. Wanna Mess You Around
4. No Tan Lines
Originally released as the B-sides to Shady Lane (OLE-266-2), June 1997.

* 5. Then (The Hexx)
* 6. Harness Your Hopes
7. The Killing Moon
* 8. Winner of the
BBC Radio One Evening Session, January 15, 1997. Tracks 5, 6 and 8 are previously unreleased. “The Killing Moon” appeared on the compilation album What’s Up Matador (OLE-163-2), August 1997. It later also appeared on Major Leagues (OLE-398-2), October 1999.

• 9. Embassy Row Psych Intro
Previously unreleased intro. BTC session outtake.

• 10. Nigel
Previously unreleased song. BTC session outtake.

* 11. Chevy (Old to Begin)
* 12. Roll with the Wind (Roxy)
Previously unreleased mixes of BTC session songs. They feature different vocals and overdubs.

13. Oddity (Clean cover)
Originally appeared on God Save The Clean: A Tribute to the Clean, Flying Nun Records (FNCD409), 1997.

14. Type Slowly (live)
Originally appeared on the compilation album Tibetan Freedom Concert, Grand Royal/Capitol (59110), 1997.

• 15. Neil Hagerty Meets Jon Spencer in a Non-Alcoholic Bar
• 16. Destroy Mater Dei
* 17. It’s A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl (Faust cover)
* 18. Maybe Maybe
Recorded live at KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic, February 25, 1997. Tracks 15 and 16 are previously unreleased songs.

* 19. Date w/ IKEA
* 20. Fin
* 21. Grave Architecture
22. The Classical (The Fall cover)
BBC Radio One John Peel Live Session, August 21, 1997. Tracks 19-21 previously unreleased vresions. “The Classical” appeared on Major Leagues (OL-398-2), October, 1999.

• 23. Space Ghost Theme I
• 24. Space Ghost Theme II
Both are unreleased songs recorded live in the WFNX studios (but not broadcast), Boston, February 12, 1997.

The above track listing contains significant differences from the one previously announced. Like the previous three deluxe Pavement editions, this compilation was curated by Jesper Eklow working with the band.

Buy Early Get Now is easy!

1. Preorder the album from us or from a participating retailer (see list at bottom — and ask your local record store, because more will be signing up).

2. You will be emailed a login and password for buyearlygetnow.com (please allow 24-48 hours, possibly more over weekends)

3. Instant stream of album will be live on buyearlygetnow.com on October 10; get bonus tracks #1 and #2 on October 15 and October 21 respectively

4. On November 18, street date, pick up the double CD plus the bonus vinyl LP and a free poster at the store where you preordered it (or get it mailed to you if you ordered from us or a participating mail order customer)

Remember, the vinyl LP will only be available through Buy Early Get Now, and we will manufacturing to order. That means you should get your order in ASAP to ensure you get yours and get it on time.

The first MP3 will be coming very shortly as part of our digital zipfile promo compilation, Intended Play: Fall 2008. Keep your eyes on the Matablog.

Finally, here is the list of confirmed participating retailers… more to come, and you can just click locations on the map on buyearlygetnow.com to find the nearest one to you:

1-2-3-4 Go! Records – Oakland, CA – 1234gorecords.com
Aboveground Records – Edgarton, MA – myspace.com/abovegroundrecs
Atomic Records – Milwaukee, WI – atomic-records.com
Aural Exploits – Santa Monica, CA – auralexploits.com
Bull City Records – Durham, NC – bullcityrecords.com
Criminal Records – Atlanta, GA – criminal.com
Disconnected Records – San Diego, CA – disconnectedrecords.com
Ear Candy Music – Missoula, MT – earcandymusic.nu
East Coast Music & Video – Greenville, NC – http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=82607784
End Of An Ear – Austin, TX – endofanear.com
Exiled Records – Portland, OR – exiledrecords.com
Good Records – Dallas, TX – goodrecords.com
Grimey’s New & Preloved Music – Nashville, TN – grimeys.com
Guestroom Records – Norman, OK – guestroomrecs.com
Hard Boiled – Chicago, IL – hardboiledrecords.com
Insound – New York, NY – insound.com
Jackpot Records – Portland, OR – jackpotrecords.com
Landlocked – Bloomington, IN – landlockedmusic.com
Laurie’s Planet of Sound – Chicago, IL – lauriesplanetofsound.tripod.com
Lou’s Records – Encinitas, CA – lousrecords.com
LUNA Music – Indianapolis, IN – lunamusic.net
Lunchbox Records – Charlotte, NC – myspace.com/lunchbox_records
Madcity Music – Madison, WI – madcitymusic.net
Mod Lang- El Cerrito, CA – modlang.com
M-Theory – San Diego, CA – mtheorymusic.com
Music Saves – Cleveland, OH – musicsaves.com
Parasol – Urbana, IL – parasol.com
Park Ave. – Orlando, FL – parkavecds.com
Permanent Records – Chicago, IL – permanentrecordschicago.com
Siren Records – Doylestown, PA – sirenrecords.com
Sound Fix – Brooklyn, NY – soundfixrecords.com
Square Records – Akron, OH – squarerecordsakron.com
Tonevendor – Gainesville, FL – tonevendor.com
Treehouse Records – Minneapolis, MN – http://www.geocities.com/jardtv/treehouse.html
Twist & Shout – Denver, CO – twistandshout.com
Vintage Vinyl – St. Louis, MO – vintagevinyl.com
Von’s Records – West Lafayette, IN – vonsrecords.blogspot.com
Waiting Room Records – Normal, IL – myspace.com/waitingroomrecords
Waterloo Records – Austin, TX – waterloorecords.com
Wazoo Records – Ann Arbor, MI – wazoorecs.com
Young Ones – Kutztown, PA – myspace.com/youngones
Zzz Records – Des Moines, IA – zzzrecords.com

November 18 will see the release of Mark IV in our series of deluxe reissues of the original Pavement albums. Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Ed. sports the amazing packaging and deep contents that you’ve seen in our previous three deluxe editions. Like the first three editions, released every 2 years since 2000, this package treats Pavement’s fourth album right, with two CDs containing the entire 1997 record, remastered from the original tapes, plus all the B-sides and compilation tracks from that period, and a plethora of unreleased live and studio tracks as enumerated below. The CDs come in an embossed slipcase with a 62-page perfect-bound book containing photos, ephemera, writings and more. (The record will be out on Domino in Europe and Matador everywhere else.)

Matador will be doing a Buy Early Get Now promotion for this record, and the extras will be very special indeed. We‘ll be announcing that shortly have announced that now , so keep your eyes on this space

DISC ONE

Now see the final, much changed track listing.

Original Album (Remastered) – Tracks 1-12

20. Beautiful as a Butterfly – UNRELEASED SONG – BTC SESSIONS OUTTAKE
21. Cataracts – UNRELEASED SONG – BTC SESSIONS OUTTAKE

The first MP3 will be available soon as part of our Fall Intended Play digital zipfile. Again, keep your eyes on this space.

A little more malevolent than my mental pic of the good doc, but still follows the script. I’d like to think he’d ride the deer to safety or something….

Missing man found dressed like doctor with dead deer in stolen ambulance

Holliman was admitted to a North Carolina hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Police said they would decide whether to charge Holliman after that evaluation is complete.

“Cold Son” (mp3) is the second track we’re previewing from Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks’ upcoming ‘Real Emotional Trash’. While the album is hitting stores March 4, if you’re willing to brave the goody-windfall that is Buy Early Get Now #5, we’re confident you’ll be gratified (in a slightly delayed manner, however). Amongst the items on offer :

- an instant stream of the album (within 24 hours of signing up)
- the album’s first unreleased B-side (within 24 hours of purchase)
- a full live show recorded last December 21 at Portland’s Doug Fir (within 24 hours of purchase)
- in-studio, making-of-the-album video clips (launching tomorrow)
- a second unreleased B-side (Tuesday, February 26)
- the LP or CD, plus a free poster (in your hands on Tuesday, March 4)
- more stuff we’re cooking up. And you know how we love cooking.

(”Out Of Reaches”, from the forthcoming ‘Real Emotional Trash’ LP/CD, shot at soundcheck, Great American Music Hall, December 2007. Digital video by Katie Stanford)

Paying homage to Ronald Thomas Clonte, Matador Direct’s Dave Martin writes,

As you all know, we were rather ambitious with the New Pornographers’ Buy Early Get Now endeavor, but now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The first disc of b-sides etc. is complete and today the live disc “Live From the Future” is being posted on the BEGN site and folks are being notified about it.  That only leaves the last disc of photos and videos to be completed and we are anxiouslyi awaiting the final cut of the new “Myriad Harbour” video.  We expect to have that in house and ready to go out to everyone by the end of January.  As I said we realized that the scope of this thing was a bit too grand, however we were pretty confident that once it was all done we would have a really fantastic companion to the “Challengers” album.

Hey, take that LA Times.  Like Mark McGwire, we’re not here to talk about the past. Unless you wanna talk about the past year the band and various label persons slaved to assemble a fun, sprawling package that represents a fantastic deal.

Ahem.

Disc One: Challengers

Disc Two: B-Sides — COMPLETE (including the Holiday EP)

Disc Three: Live From The Future — Band is approving, will be done by the second week of January

Disc Four: Photos, Videos — The second video (”Myriad Harbour”) will be delivered right after the holiday, and we have all the other materials, so this will be done by the third week of January

So there you go. Though future editions of BEGN will undoubtedly be less ambitious, we’ll always have found memories of the version the LA Times hailed as “reasonably priced” and “delightful”.

No square inch of scenery left to chew, no square inch of Shatner’s ass to kiss, and no clips of the interview on YouTube yet, but one can enjoy Mike Patton exploring everything that happened in music between The Infectious Grooves and Linkin Park!

Q:  Why are the extra discs in my 'Challengers' Executive Edition box set blank?

A : Don't worry, they're not defective.  They're supposed to be blank. 

Here's how the Executive Edition works :  the box set you've bought is packaging for 3 screen printed CD-Rs.  The content for the box set will be made available to download a track at a time from www.buyearlygetnow.com.  When all the tracks and files have been made available, you can burn them to the appropriate CD-R.

Q: What file formats will this stuff be in?

A: Audio files will be provided as 256kbps MP3, as well as in FLAC format.  Most people are familiar with mp3s, they're the download format of choice and play in virtually any portable audio file device like the iPod.FLAC is a lossless, open source format that provides audio at the same quality as factory pressed CDs.  The file size is significantly larger than mp3, and the files don't play in iTunes.  For more info on FLAC, go to http://flac.sourceforge.net/.

Q: How will I know when to burn the CDs?

A: At www.buyearlygetnow.com there's a burn meter that shows you how much Executive material we've released, and how much more is left to go until you can burn each disc.  We've got material lined up for the next couple months, so expect not to burn the discs until then.

Q: I'd like to watch late night television tonight but haven't done so since Ted Koppel left "Nightline". Do you have any recommendations?

A: Absolutely.  The New Pornographers will be performing tonight on CBS's "The Late Show With David Letterman."  Dave's other guests will be Hayden Panettiere and Jeff Goldblum. Hopefully the latter will have some good stories to share from his days playing opposite Ben Vereen on "Tenspeed & Brown Shoe", though perhaps he's done something since, too.