New Featured Artist: Okkervil River

photo credit: Jean-Marc Luneau

I'm not going to apologize for being absent for past month or so. I'm not even going to pretend that many of you are still reading this. I do however realize that Shelby at Shifted Sound has been so very supportive for the past month and I understand that I would basically be starting from scratch had it not been for his constant promotion of this little project here at A Better Offer. So if somehow you still read this blog and don't subscribe to Shifted Sound, it is your duty to do so.

Onto the music. I was turned onto the brilliance of Okkervil River from Jeff at Out With the Kids (another shameless plug) and I was instantly shocked that I had not heard their music before. In fact, here is an excerpt of the email I sent Jeff after he so kindly sent me their music...

Okay so I am a complete and utter failure when it comes to music. I've got somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500 cds and another 300 records or so, and throw in a couple hundred cassettes and countless downloads from the internet and somehow, someway, the sweet sounds of Okkervil River have never found their way to my ears. I am so utterly blown away by their music. It has been awhile since I have been so enamored with a band.

If you are wondering about their sound. My best description is that they fall somewhere between older Bright Eyes, Pavement, and a little Wolf Parade for good measure. Check out this track below to get you started and then check out the links to the right and download those MP3s and then buy everything you can find from them, because it is all amazing.

Okkervil River--Black

Annuals Tour dates

I just wanted to take a moment and thank SHIFTED SOUND for helping introduce people to our site. If you are not familiar with the Shifted Sound podcast, you're missing out.

Click here to subscribe thru iTunes.

The Annuals have a few shows planned, so if you're lucky enough to be in the area check them out:


5/19/07
Minehead, UK
Butlins
All Tomorrows Parties

5/22/07
London, UK
Astoria
w/ The National!

5/23/07
London, UK
100 Club

5/25/07
Birmingham, UK
Barfly
FROG

5/26/07
Bristol, UK
TBA
Dot 2 Dot Festival

5/27/07
Nottingham, UK
TBA
Dot 2 Dot Festival

6/14/07
Manchester, TN
Bonnaroo Music Festival
8pm

Video Links: Annuals - Brother

I can't get enough of this song!!!

Here's the video.

Annuals: Live on KEXP

The Annuals stopped by KEXP on 12/06/06 for an in studio performance and interview. I couldn't have been happier with the setlist, they played 3 of my favorite songs off of Be He Me and one song off of the Got Git EP.

Click here to listen to the show.

New Featured Artist: Annuals

Here we go again, for the next two weeks we will be covering the Annuals. The Annuals are an indie rock 6 piece from Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Their album Be He Me was one of the best albums of last year. They've gathered comparisons to Broken Social Scene and Animal Collective. Stayed tuned for more info, but for now check out Brother courtesy of Ace Fu Records.

Annuals - Brother (highly recommended)

Novi Split winners and an apology

First off I'd like to congratulate the following two winners from the Novi Split contest. They correctly identified David J. as the one who booked his own tour. I will be mailing the cds out shortly courtesy of Hush Records.

Stella from Tampa, Florida

Trent from Knoxville, Tennessee

Secondly, I should apologize for my week long absence. I found out this week that I won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching for the State of Florida. Which means I get a nice big check and an all expense paid trip to D.C for two to meet the President to receive my award. It has been absolutely wild making travel arrangements, media interviews, and answering literally hundreds of emails. And amidst all of this, I graduated from UNF Friday with my Masters Degree in Elementary Education. So needless to say my little project here at A Better Offer has been on the back burner and it may be until after I return from Washington (I leave May 14th and get back on the 19th).

Thanks to all for the emails and to those of you who kept checking back only to find the same post. Expect a new artist to be unveiled on May 20th! See you then.

Novi Split on the Coverville Podcast

The incomparable Shelby from Shifted Sound let me know that Novi Split was featured on the Coverville Podcast episode 317. Now I had not previously listened to Coverville (where the name says it all), but upon my first listen I was extremely pleased. I can't think of a better artist to be featured on a podcast that focuses only on covers. I for one would like to think that Coverville could do an entire show of Novi Split covers. Folks, listen that "Dancing in the Dark" cover is most likely the best cover I have ever heard.

Check out Coverville here...

Check out the Novi Split cover project here...

And read about our Novi Split contest here...