Is it just me or are there a lot of EPs being released this year? I know I have touched on the before, but goddam it really seems true. Although, it may just be my perception, not reality (or wait, isn't perception reality?). Like when you thought that flashing the middle finger, a.k.a. flippin' the bird, a.k.a. lifting a skinny digit like an antenna to Heaven, must have been invented the year you first saw it, like it was some new fad.
Add The Ladybug Transistor to the (possibly imagined) 2006 EP heap. While I may also have stated this before (about some other band), the LT seem like they were the underdogs of that group of '60s-loving wackos in the Elephant 6 Recording Co. They never seemed to get much respect, but unlike Rodney Dangerfield, they aren't dead yet. Here Comes the Rain is the EP in question, recorded for the Green UFOs label, based out of the European country of Spain. Now, don't worry, young non-Spanish Internetter, you won't have to resort to downloading this EP illegally to hear the four covers it contains. It has been available as a free download since yesterday, from places like the Merge (LT's American home) site, eMusic, and iTunes. That's right, this is one of those hi-tek "digital" releases.
The Merge site claims the EP is "chock full of special guests," and I am inclined to agree, with the likes of Jens Lekman, Keli Sutherland (Architecture in Helsinki), Paul Niehaus (Calexico, Lambchop), and many more contributing to cover songs by John Cale, Kevin Ayers, Grin, and Trader Home. For our international readers, you can check out the band on a 2-week tour beginning November 14. Before that, people from the Land of Cool (Brooklyn, NY) see the band as part of the Merge CMJ party at Sound Fix Records.
11.04.06 - Brooklyn NY - Sound Fix Records(Merge CMJ Party) #
11.14.06 - Stockholm, Sweden - Svenska Musik Klubben
11.15.06 - Bergen, Norway - Kvarteret
11.17.06 - Trondheim, Norway - Samfundet
11.18.06 - Tallin, Estonia - Kuku
11.21.06 - Huelva, Spain - University
11.22.06 - Linares, Spain - El Pequeno Saltamontes
11.23.06 - Sevilla, Spain - Sala Chicote
11.24.06 - Granada, Spain - Sugar Pop
11.25.06 - Lerida, Spain - Cafe del Teatre (In-Somni Festival)
11.26.06 - Tarragona, Spain - Zero
11.28.06 - Madrid, Spain (TV show taping)
11.29.06 - Madrid, Spain - Sala Nasti
11.30.06 - Murcia, Spain - 12& Medio
12.01.06 - Valencia, Spain - Sala El Loco
12.02.06 - Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Club Festival *
# w/ Portastatic, White Whale, David Bazan
* w/ Jeff Tweedy, Cat Power, Teenage Fanclub
