New Video From Lord Huron

[mp3] Lord Huron: "Mighty"

Band to watch Lord Huron recently released the fantastic Mighty EP and are currently on the road with Tennis, and the aforementioned Rural Alberta Advantage. Yesterday they debuted the new video for "The Stranger" which as the press release noted, is more of a mini-movie. Enjoy, it's great.

New Rural Alberta Advantage "Stamp"

[mp3] Rural Alberta Advantage: "Stamp"

While admittedly a little late to the game in posting news of this album, we're no less excited for Departing, the new album from Rural Alberta Advantage coming out March 1st on Saddle Creek. Their excellent last album Hometowns put this Canadian trio on the map, and despite their rigorous tour schedule the RAA have managed to bang out a fresh batch of songs and put them to tape for us. While we haven't heard the full album yet, the new single above "Stamp" promises more pulsing, driving, and tastefully Jeff Mangum-inflected melodic rock with tinges of harmony to round out the sound. Looking forward to it.

Rural Alberta Advantage "Drain the Blood"

Coming from seemingly nowhere this year, The Rural Alberta Advantage dropped what will be (spoiler alert) one of my top albums of the year with Hometowns. Much has been made of their similarities (at least vocally) to Neutral Milk Hotel, but after many listens, criticisms such as those fade under the power of the great songs. While "Drain the Blood" is a highlight, it's certainly not the peak moment of this record. Nevertheless, enjoy this Ante Kovac directed suburban spy caper.
Via P4K

Tonight! The Rural Alberta Advantage and The Dig -- FREE @ MHOW

[MP3] The Rural Alberta Advantage -- "Don't Haunt this Place"
Download: The Dig's 3 Song Demo

The advantage of digging: We love FREE.

Tonight, we will be heading to Music Hall of Willamsburg to catch the Rural Alberta Advantage and The Dig as they play for FREE! We are such suckers for anything that's free, be it ice cream (the orange creamsicle, we can all agree, was subpar) flashy red and extremely fast Kangaroo shoes, and or the occasional concert.  RAA's recent release, Hometowns, spurred and indie-brush fire, spreading through the blogosphere after its release in early July. These Canadian, now Saddle Creek labelites, have earned their fair share of praise from eMusic, the AP and of course P4K --needless to say, get there early, unless you want to wait in a Brooklyn Bowl-size line while drinking 32 oz. to-go beers. Actually, we may show up late.

The Dig -- on the back of their FREE three song demo, which is available for download above, these buzz-worthy New Yorkers use their live performances as a vehical to morph-minds; their lo-fi, hardstrumming tendencies make believers out of skeptics. We were certainly impressed after their Mercury Lounge show. Needless to say, see you tonight. FREE drinks on Stark...No fucking way.

See RAA and Dig tour dates after the jump.

08/04 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg (FREE)
08/05 Boston, MA The Middle East Cafe (Upstairs)
08/06 Ottawa, ONT Mavericks
08/08 Wolfe Island, ONT Wolfe Island Musicfest
08/20 Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection (Front Lounge)
08/21 Milwaukee, WI WMSE Radio Summer Camp / Cactus Club
08/22 Madison, WI University of Wisconsin
08/24 Chicago, IL Downtown Sound / Pritzker Pavillion / Millenium Park
08/25 Bloomington, IN Bear's Place
08/26 Cleveland, OH Beachland Tavern
08/27 Mount Pleasant, MI Rubble's Bar
08/29 Oro-Medonte, ON Virgin Festival Ontario / Burl's Creek #
09/06 Ithaca, NY The Positive Jam / Stewart Park $

$ = w/ the Hold Steady, Deer Tick, The Felice Brothers, etc
# = w/ The Pixies, Franz Ferdinand, Grizzly Bear, Mates of State, etc

The Dig:
Sep 18 2009 9:00P
Middle East- w/ The Walkmen and Here We Go Magic Cambridge, Massachusetts
Sep 19 2009 9:00P
Middle East- w/ The Walkmen and Here We Go Magic Cambridge
Sep 20 2009 9:00P
Pearl St w/ The Walkmen and Here We Go Magic Northampton, Massachusetts

New Rural Alberta Advantage MP3

[MP3] The Rural Alberta Advantage: "Frank, AB" 

We were excited several months ago when we heard this band had gotten signed to Saddle Creek and was getting a wider release for their great album Hometowns. Much has been made of their similarity to Neutral Milk Hotel, but RAA's music comes from a more accessible and less urgent place. It's organic and warm in the same way that In The Aeroplane Over the Sea, was crisp, cold and direct. In fact, after much listening, I rarely even think of Neutral Milk outside of singer and lead writer Nils Edenloff's voice. Hometowns has been garnering rave reviews from critics and the praise is well deserved - it's available now, buy it today.

Hardworking Canadians Make Good - Sign to Saddle Creek

[MP3]
Rural Alberta Advantage: Don't Haunt This Place

The name Rural Alberta Advantage has been bandied about for some time now, but admittedly, we never really took the time to do some sufficient digging on the group. Our bad. Well, today came the announcement that they, along with the group UUVVWWZ (we hated even typing that name) have signed to Saddle Creek Records. Like the dutiful bloggers we are, we did our homework and discovered, wow, RAA are pretty damn good. So all in all it's a good day for everyone. After being named an eMusic select band and earning the praise of Pitchfork and the Associated Press at this year's SXSW, the powers that be could not deny this trio from the north country. Here's to wishing this band success, as it's always good to see a group rise on the quality of their music rather than a sweet haircut and manufactured buzz. Their debut album Hometowns will be re-released this July with the force a Saddle Creek marketing budget.