Upstairs at United Series

United Record Pressing is one of the few vinyl manufacturing plants left in the nation (likely in the world). They handle a good chunk of record manufacturing from a wide variety of artists… and have been doing so for 49 years. To celebrate their long tradition of analog love they’ve started the Upstairs at United series. The basic gist? Record an artist direct to analog tape and then cut that to a 12″ EP – keeping it devoid of any sort of digital interaction (Gross, right?!). This press release informs me that Brendan Benson and Cory Chisel will be kicking off the series.

The records will be available exclusively at indie record stores for the first six months of their existence and you can pick them up on Black Friday (Nov. 25th). Both records include a good number of cover songs so if you’re curious what Brendan Benson sounds like covering Randy Newman or David Bowie; this is for you. See below the jump for the exact tracklistings.
(more…)

Makeup and Vanity Set – Charles Park III

Makeup and Vanity Set
Charles Park III
Download

Despite having recently released Never Let Go this past August, Makeup and Vanity Set continues to churn out new electronic soundscapes for your aural consumption. Charles Park III is the latest in his series of ultra-creepy explorations – Part One and Two also available. Basically, it’s your best option for background music at your Halloween party. It manages to find that balance of upbeat and somewhat dance-y while maintaining a total creepy vibe throughout.

Tristen and The Ringers at Cake Shop

NYC Taper has a quality bootleg of the Tristen performance from last weeks CMJ performance at Cake Shop. There are plenty of tracks taken from Charlatans at the Garden Gate in the thirty minute set along with a handful of new songs. Oh, and they also include the in between song banter in which subjects such as Jazz Music and Day Drinking are discussed. Go download it.