I have been talking about Real Estate a lot over the past couple months.  They have had several really wonderful 7″s come out, a great tour EP, and are gearing up for (I think ) two 12″s this year.  One on Mexican Summer and one on Woodsist.

Underwater Peoples, who released Real Estate’s first 7″,  just put out a really great label sampler and I just haven’t been able to get one of the Real Estate tracks out of my head (this track also appeared on their Atlantic City Express Way Tour CD-R).  “Beach Comber” has been pretty much been on repeat, and I’m having a hard time not making everyone I know listen to it.    The Grateful Dead influence is coming through strong on this song, and I think it really shows this bands ability to jam.  This band is one that brings good vibes, and when I hear them, and specifically this song, I feel like the summer is going to be infinite.

[mp3] Real Estate- “Beach Comber”
(via Stereogum)  Buy the Real Estate’s 7″s from Woodsist and Underwater Peoples (click though to buy)

The Underwater Peoples Comp has a pretty stellar line up including tracks a couple Real Estate (including “Beach Comber”), Ducktails, Frat Dad, Julian Lynch, and more.   Buy the Underwater Peoples Comp here.  It’s a CD, but it’s only $4.50…that is the right price for a CD.

Real Estate are also playing North Side Festival this weekend!

Tomorrow, June 11th:

These Are Powers @ midnight
Javelin @ 11pm
Real Estate @ 10pm
Air Waves @ 9pm
Organs @ 8pm
Death by Audio
Doors at 7:30pm
$10

More Real Estate tour dates can be found here.
More on Real Estate here.
Photo via The Trip Wire.

This time there are two new releases from the wondrous realm of New Jersey.  The first has had quite a bit of fan fair on the internet, and the other, as far as I can see, has been released silently…but people need to take notice!

First off comes by way of Brooklyn’s own Woodsist Records with the release of a new Real Estate 7″.  The boys in Real Estate have been turning heads since the release of the first 7″, and their live shows have been getting great reviews.  This 7″ is titled “Fake Blues,” and I assume that it is the song we have all heard floating around on the web…as well as a B Side or two titled “Poolswimmers.”

This 7″ might or might not be the domestic issue of the Real Estate 7″ that is being released on Half Machine Records in Europe?  Anyone with info on this please let me know. See the comments for the differences between the 7″s (thanks Martin).

If you aren’t familiar with Real Estate yet, you should be…their sweet sounds of Galexie 500 meets Pavement meets Grateful Dead psychedelic jams all with a  bit of country twang mixed in just might make them your new favorite band.  And don’t worry if these few 7″s aren’t enough Real Estate has a big year planned…with a 12″ EP coming out on Mexican Summer in June (500 Copies only.  Take note of this now.), and a full length due out on Woodsist as well.

Buy Real Estate’s Fake Blues 7″ from Woodsist Records here (PayPal info at the bottom of the page).

for more on Real Estate (including mp3s) click here.

Now for the this week’s quiet thunder….

Matt Mondanile, who also happens to be a member of Real Estate, has had his solo project Ducktails for quite a while now.  Ducktails has been ultra-prolific releasing many tapes, cd-r’s, and several 7″ singles…but as of this week Ducktails gets it’s first proper LP release on Not Not Fun (actually it appears that it was released yesterday)!

Ducktails psychedelic mostly (if not all) instrumental tropical jams are the perfect medicine for a rainy day (I listened to some this morning)…think a more atmospheric sensory overloaded version of High Places minus the vocals….While Ducktails might be over shadowed currently by Real Estate, Mondanile really brings Ducktails into it’s own, and I’m very excited to hear this new LP.

Not Not Fun describes it tantalizingly as:

Plastic palm trees. Beach scene snowglobes. Airbrushed neon sunset hotel paintings. All shining examples of potent Fake Escapism at work, in real life. And if you’ve ever wondered what the audio equivalent of this kind of cheap coastal utopian simulacrum is, take a good listen to the recorded works of Mr. Matt Mondanile aka Ducktails, a crazy talented suburban New Jersey post-teen who serves up masterpiece after blasterpiece of shimmering, smoke-and-mirrors exotic fantasia, rainbow psych-pop muzak for imaginary helicopter rides over crystal lagoons and lost waterfalls…  (this for description goes on… for more click here and scroll down).

As far as the small print about the release (also from Not Not Fun):

Black vinyl LPs mastered by Graham Lambkin (of The Shadow Ring) housed in matte jackets with cover artwork by Jan Anderzen (of Kemialliset Ystavat/Tomuttontu), plus a photocopied insert. Edition of 600.

With only 600 copies of this thing out there I’m ordering mine today.  Maybe you should too.  If your not into vinyl (I’m guess there are people who aren’t), you can buy the CD…limited to 500 copies (more limited than the LP!)…with a bonus song not on the LP.

Buy Ducktails’ s/t LP or CD from Not Not Fun Records here.

Listen to Ducktails:

[mp3] Ducktails- “Beach Point Pleasant” (via the Fader)

GP News: For those of you that have been flowing the Great Pumpkin, and specifically the segment: This Week In Mail Order we are going to have a treat for you next week.  You might remember a while ago when I posted about Jail’s self released album…when I was making this post I emailed the band and asked for some mp3’s.  They didn’t get back to me until after I posted, but offered to send me an LP to give away off of the Great Pumpkin!  So sometime next week the Great Pumpkin will have it’s first Give Away!  Stay tuned…you just might win a copy of Jail’s  There’s No Sky (Oh My My)!

On Tuesday I checked my pre-order status of Kurt Vile’s God Is Saying This To You… on Insound.com, and to my surprise the status said “on back order.”

At this point I was pretty discouraged, but Ryan over at Catbird Seat pointed out to me that you can pre-order directly from Mexican Summer off of their myspace page (not off of their website).

I immediately gave Insound a call, and while they assured me that my order said “on back order” because the record “was not out yet” I still canceled my order.

I then went and placed an order for the record directly from Mexican Summer.  When I got home yesterday there was a package sitting on my table.  I couldn’t believe that Mexican Summer got me my LP in two days, rather than the estimated 2-3 weeks that their paypal prepares you for.

Upon further examination of the package I realized that Mexican Summer shipped the package from my Zip Code.  It turns out the people at Mexican Summer could have hand delivered the LP to my house, and it would have been a shorter walk for them than walking to the Greenpoint post office (and I actually pass their mailing address regularly while walking my dog…random).  It’s kinda nice knowing that Mexican Summer, and in turn Kemando, ship their mail order from Greenpoint.  One of the fastest mail order deliveries ever.

Maybe the next time I order a record from them they will let me come and pick it up, and save us both a couple bucks on shipping.

Check out a track off of God Is Saying This To You… (via Gorilla Vs Bear)

[mp3] Kurt Vile- Beach On The Moon (Recycled Lyrics)

(Buy the album here. Actually the record sold out while I was typing this post. Try your local record shop.  I bet Other Music, or Academy in Brooklyn will at least get a couple copies.)

Ariel Pink has haunted my iTunes for years now, and it is only recently that I have revisited his music.  When I first heard him as an undergrad I don’t think I was ready, but now I am fully prepared to embrace it.

I picked up the Can’t Hear My Eyes/Evolution’s A Lie 7″ (limited to 500 copies from Mexican Summer, and now completely sold out) back in January and “Can’t Hear My Eyes” has pretty much been on repeat in my head, and on my record player.  This song is a throw back to another time, and by another time I mean the ’80s. It’s a perfectly crafted slow jam with lyrics that keep you thinking about the song long after it’s finished.  While Ariel Pink is known for his lo-fi bizarre psych-pop this track is polished and clean.  I can’t stress enough how this one song has influenced me this year.  Check it out (mp3 via Brooklyn Vegan):

[mp3] Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Can’t Hear My Eyes

You can purchase Ariel Pink’s other releases here (it says the 7″ above is available, but I have a funny feeling if you try to order it you will quickly find out that it is on back order…but it’s worth a try).

I know I should be more familiar with Ariel Pink than I currently am, and for that reason I am really excited to be seeing him play next Thursday (4/2/09) at Music Hall of Williamsburg (tickets are still available here) with the Vivian Girls opening.  It will be really nice to see the Vivian Girls play a show where I can actually see them.

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti has a whole bunch of tour dates coming up:

3/25/09- Denver, CO @ Hi Dive
3/27/09- Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
3/28/09- Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
3/30/09- Toronto, ONT @ El Mocambo
3/31/09- Montreal, PQ @ Zoobizarre
4/1/09- Boston, MA @ TT the Bears

More Ariel Pink dates with the Vivian Girls:

4/2/09- Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
4/3/09-  Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
4/4/09- Baltimore, MD @  Ottobar
4/5/09- Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
4/6/09- Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
4/7/09- Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
4/8/09- New Orleans, LA @ The Parish
4/9/09- Houston, TX @  Walter’s on Washington
4/10/09- Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
4/11/09- Dallas, TX @ Hailey’s
4/13/09- Phoenix, AZ @ Modified
4/14/09- Tucson, AZ @ Plush
4/15/09- San Diego, CA @ Casbah
4/19/09- Indio, CA @ Coachella Music & Arts Festival

Let’s hope Ariel Pink is packing some vinyl on this tour because it doesn’t look like much is available via the internet.

UPDATE: check out some pictures from the Brooklyn show here.

This is the first edition of a semi-regular segment here on the Great Pumpkin called: This Week In Mail Order.  I have done a couple posts that could have fallen under this category, but this is the first official post.  It might not happen every week (and sometimes more than once a week), but I’ll keep you updated on some limited edition items that might not be around for long.

I took the hint from Catbird Seat (I probably should have listened to Jason a couple weeks earlier), and placed my pre-order earlier this week for the new Kurt Vile 12″, God Is Saying This To You, that is coming out on Mexican Summer (supposedly next week).

If you didn’t already know Kurt Vile is one of the memebers of The War on Drugs, and Mexican Summer is limited edition subscription only record label (with some distribution to select retailers and online shops).

God Is Saying This To You is going to pressed in a limited edition of 500 LPs (take your chances with a pre-order at Amazon or Insound…this one might be sold out before it gets released).

Actually don’t take your chances…order it direct from Mexican Summer off of their myspace (look for the PayPal logo under the record!)

Kurt Vile’s song “Freeway” has been floating around the internet non-stop it seems, and rightfully so.  You got to love the psychedelic pop, and Kurt Vile does it so well…and on that note I’ll post a link to it:

[mp3] Kurt Vile- “Freeway” off of his album Constant Hitmaker (Buy it!) (courtesy of Catbird Seat)

In other Kurt Vile vinyl news Constant Hitmaker will see it’s debut release on LP by Brooklyn’s beloved Woodsist records sometime this year…as well as the Fall Demons 7″ on Skulltones, and The Hunchback EP coming out on Testostertunes (it looks like a pre-order is up for this one as well…they might have some limited cd-rs too).

For Kurt Vile’s upcoming tour dates check out his myspace.

I finally got to go to Academy this past weekend after an extremely stressful week at work (and this week might not be much better), but one of my favorite things about Academy is their showcase of new 7″ records.  I picked up several this weekend (all of which were totally rad), but I have been really obsessed with the new self titled 7″ by Real Estate on Underwater People Records.

Real Estate are from Ridgewood, NJ (and from what I understand a few of the members live in Brooklyn).  I had heard the name before and checked out the myspace (which doesn’t do this band justice), and after contemplating the slightly more expensive than usual 7″ I bought it anyways.  To my surprise it included a CDR of the songs.  And I have pretty much been listening to it non-stop.

While Real Estate sites influences from a variety of sources including but not limited to New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen, RayDavies, and the Beach Boys.  Matt Kimmel of Acid Marshmallow made the observation:  “Galaxie 500 mixed with the Grateful Dead,” and my friend Marc also pointed out the Galaxie 500 influence.  While I am seeing all of this (except the Boss, but definitely some Galaxie and Kinks) I am getting a bit of country, some Pavement (especially on the end of “Suburban Beverage” and during “Old Folks”), and CCR in the mix too.  Overall creating a really refreshing sound, and not really what I was expecting.

The nice people over at RCRD LBL have a couple exclusive downloads from Real Estate:

Real Estate- “Suburban Dogs”

Real Estate- “Fake Blues”

Neither of these tracks are on the 7″, so if you dig I highly recommend picking up the record.  You can buy it here, or pick it up at Academy Records in Brooklyn.

StereoGum has also reported that Real Estate will have a new 7″ that will be released by Fred Thomas of City Center. And, from the looks of their myspace and Woodsist Records website,  we can probably expect something coming out on Mexican Summer , and the debut full length, as well as another 7″,  on Woodsist.

Real Estate has a handful of upcoming shows…including quite a few in NYC and SXSW (as well as various other dates scattered across the US).  Here are the dates:

3/3/09 (TONIGHT!)- Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands
3/7/09- Brooklyn, NY @ Dead Herring w/Dinowalrus, Bachelor of Arts
3/12/09- Baltimore, MD @ The Bank w/ RA KHUIT NOOR, MARRAAMS , WE
3/13/09- Chapel Hill, NC @ ???(Houseshow)
3/14/09- Charleston, SC @ TBA (Venue TBA)
3/15/09- Birmingham, AL @ ??? (Venue TBA)
3/16/09- Pensacola, FL @ ??? (Venue TBA)
3/17/09(SXSW)- Austin, TX @ The Parlor w/ So So Glos, Graffiti Monsters, Factoms, Golden Triangle
3/18/09(SXSW)- Austin, TX @ Club 1808. Secret Agency Party
3/19/09(SXSW)- Austin, TX @Club 1808. Mexican Summer Party w/Kurt Vile, etc.
3/19/09(SXSW)- Austin, TX @ Natrix Natrix House
3/20/09(SXSW)- Austin, TX @ Peacock Lounge w/ Invisible Hand, others…
3/21/09(SXSW)- Austin, TX @Hot Freaks Showcase
3/21/09(SXSW)- Austin, TX @ Mrs. Beas (WOODSIST SHOWCASE) w/ Blank Dogs, Woods, Kurt Vile, etc.
3/24/09- Lexington, KY @ The Fact House
3/25/09- Bloomington, IN @ Cinemat w/ Dylan Ettinger
3/26/09- Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop Pizza Night
3/27/09- Brooklyn, NY @ Market Hotel w/ Titus Andronicus
4/11/09-New York, NY @ Pianos w/ Friendly Foes and Prussia
5/7/09-Brooklyn, NY @ Public Assembly (Crashin’ In)
***all dates from Real Estate’s Myspace.  Please check here for updated info.

Once again: Buy the new 7″ here!

UPDATE! as MCG pointed out they are playing on saturday(see above).  And I saw on toddpnyc.com that Real Estate is playing in Long Island City this Friday, March 6th.  Here is the info (via Todd P):

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Friday March 6th @ THE JACKSON

|| Dan Friel —————– from Parts & Labor, http://myspace.com/danfrieldanfriel
|||| Real Estate ———— http://myspace.com/letsrockthebeach
|||||| Boogie Boarder ——- http://www.myspace.com/boogieboardertheband
|||||||| Frat Dads ———- http://myspace.com/wearefratdad
|||||||||| Haunted Houses — http://myspace.com/shittysunset

| THE JACKSON |
1223 Jackson Ave @ 47th Rd | LIC, QNS
7-Vernon/Jackson, G-21st/VanAlst, EV-23rd/Ely | 8pm | $tba | ALL AGES

| curated & organized by Dan Santiago |

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