R.I.P Relix

While I thought someone would pick up this story today, I guess we'll break it now at 5:55 p.m. (It's kind of like no one showing up for your funeral.) Just as The Dead are set to reform and head on the road, the one-time Grateful Dead fanzine has officially gone the way of its somewhat peers No Depression and Harp, and probably a slew of other magazines no one really cared about anyway. We hear Vibe may not have enough to put out their next issue either. I'm sure there are countless hippie jokes to make here, but we always thought they were fairly harmless and well-loved by their loyal readers. Goodnight, sweet prince.

UPDATE:

As things seem to be progressing rather quickly with this story, Relix editor Josh Baron earlier commented to Idolator that Relix will indeed keep publishing. From our sources, we are still hearing news to the contrary in the form that Relix will only print one more issue.

Rough Gems: Slimfit

Rough Gems are those artists that haven't gotten the amount of attention they so shrewdly deserve or those that may be on the verge of making it. With any hope, we can change their fortunes by giving them some exposure. Or, at the very least, marginally improve their fan base.

SLIMFIT 

Slimfit - "Easy To Talk To" mp3

Slimfit- "Which Way You Gonna Go?" mp3

In all of its bare splendor, Lancaster, PA doesn't exactly scream "hotbed for country rock" quite the way that more obvious locales like Nashville and Austin do. But then again, neither did Belleville, Illinois -- the home to alt-country pioneers Uncle Tupelo. And look what happened to them. (You better not have to look.) As long as you write songs about working, drinking and partying, it doesn't matter what part of the country you call home: you're an American band, damnit. And that's exactly the credo that Lancaster's own Slimfit abides by. 

On their often-excellent debut LP Make It Worse, the independent five-piece raucously celebrates the simple, finer things in life -- like "nieces... or, say, the greatest sandwich ever made," by their own admission. That no-frills attitude carries over from Joey McMonagle's and Pat Kirchner's songwriting to the band's execution in playing the songs: stomps like "Which Way You Gonna Go?" and "Fight 'Til You Die" are effortless nods to influences like Tupelo and The Jayhawks. Even when their sound is stripped to just acoustic guitars and a fiddle, like on opener "Midnight Blues," the mood is never somber; rather, an inherent punk spirit always remains. 

Make It Worse is still a release that is very much under-the-radar, but we hope that changes soon. Might we be the ones to sway you? Give it a shot by grabbing the two free mp3s above -- and if you dig, buy the album via CDBaby or iTunes. Don't let your troubles get you down... Make It Worse will make things better. Corny? Yes. True? You bet. 

Hank Williams Compilation Hits Next Week

Fist pump to ND on this one.

Does your bucket have a hole in it? Well then fill it with Hank Williams: The Unreleased Recordings set to release next week -- we think it's going to be pretty, pretty, pretty cool. It's coming out in installments over the next three years. Yeah, the William's recordings are plentiful. Let's see, 143 unreleased songs/three years = let me do the math, about 46.666, repeating of course, songs per year. Go Hank

Anyway, there is a blog devoted entirely to these tunes. Hank Unreleased. Dig it.

After the jump.