Eagle Seagull announced today in various places (including my e-mail box) that the long-awaited The Year of the How-To Book will finally be released in early March 2010 on [PIAS] Recordings, the home of Dinosaur Jr., Editors, Everlast, Crystal Castles and others. Four songs off the upcoming album are now online at the band's myspace page. How long have we been waiting for this record? Two years? One has to believe that the folks in the band are dead tired of playing these songs, and now they're going to have to play them for another year...

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Some CD releases/show announcements/new stuff also entered my email box recently.

-- Bear Country will be celebrating the release of their EP, Frozen Lake, on Slumber Party Records Dec. 28 at Slowdown Jr. I've been listening to it off and on for the past few days and can tell you it's the best SPR release to date.
-- Mal Madrigal will be celebrating the release of their new LP, Fingers of Trees, the day after Christmas at The Slowdown. Joining them are Machineshop (Tiffany Kowalski) and Tin Kite (Stefanie Drootin and Chris Senseney). I believe this is yet another vinyl-only outing (though you will get a CDR in the sleeve).
-- Comme Reel, the reinvention of No Blood Orphan (all the same members!), has a new album coming out, but I'm not sure when because I lost the letter that came with the disc (sorry Mike). I'll post it as soon as I find out.
-- Last but not least, Paul Hansen of Perry H. Matthews sent me an unmastered version of their new untitled album, recorded by Joel Petersen at Enamel. It is a true mind-fuck (in a good way). Unfortunately, unless Hansen gets a job, no one else is going to hear it. Could someone lend him a few hundred bones? It's in everyone's best interest.

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Tonight at The Waiting Room, Mynabirds (Laura Burhenn -- half of the late, great Georgie James, who I talked about here) open for The Dutchess and the Duke, along with Greg Ashley of Gris Gris. $8, 9 p.m. Check it out, y'all.

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