2.17 Releases

Beirut/Realpeople - March of the Zapotec/Holland

Zach Condon releases two EPs today. March of the Zapotec was influenced by a trip he took to Oaxaca, Mexico. The Jimenez Band, a 19-piece band, backs him on the EP, and they worked together via a translator. Holland contains electronic sounds, credited to Realpeople, one of Condon's pre-Beirut pseudonyms. These two EPs, packaged together, leaked almost a month before this release date.

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - The Century of Self

This is the first full-length release from Trail of Dead since their Interscope contract. It is also a departure from their normal studio production style: "On the last two albums, we were really meticulous recording to click-tracks and doing overdubs...This time, we threw all that out. We learned the songs and all tracked them live."

M. Ward - Hold Time

This is the follow up to his 2006 album Post-War. This consists of 14 tracks and includes guest performances by Jason Lytle of the band Grandady, Lucinda Williams, Tom Hagerman of DeVotchKa and She & Him co-conspirator Zooey Deschanel. A streaming preview was made available through NPR. The album leaked to the internet in full on January 19, 2009. "Jailbird" has been added to the playlist.

Various Artists - Dark Was the Night

A compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Featuring exclusive recordings by a number of independent artists and production by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, the compilation can be received as a double CD, three LPs or as a digital download. John Carlin, the founder of Red Hot Organization was the executive producer for the album. The title derives from the Blind Willie Johnson song "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground". Several songs have been added to the playlist: The National - "So Far Around the Bend", Sufjan Stevens - "You Are the Blood", Feist and Ben Gibbard - "Train Song", and Arcade Fire - "Lenin"

Other notable releases include: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - S/T and Morrissey - Years of Refusal. Also, Andrew Bird on Leno and M. Ward on Letterman tonight.