Seeing as how Record Store Day is today, Sound figured the time was right to take a look at some of the swag up for grabs. Sub Pop has certainly done its part, releasing a live album from Iron & Wine as well as four limited-edition seven-inch singles from Blitzen Trapper, Vetiver, Obits, and Flight of the Conchords. Read on for more details on the releases.

Blitzen Trapper: “War Is Placebo” / “Booksmart Baby”
Portland boys Blitzen Trapper have made a couple of old songs new with this release. Says Marty Marquis of Blitzen Trapper on the band’s forum:

Yo, the 7″ is a couple of older recordings, both rad songs: War is Placebo b/w Booksmart Baby. The A side was part of the abortive Waking Bullets record, B side was recorded as part of something Earley ended up calling “Wooden Dress and Dresser Set”, the same source as Going Down and Shoulder Full of You off the tour EP.

Along with the singles from Vetiver and Obits, only 1,500 copies of this single will be released. Blitzen …

Personality-hopping electronic artist Scratchmaster Joe (a.k.a. Nicemaster Nice, a.k.a. Joe Martinez) has a new record out, the follow-up to last year’s Scatchmaster Joe Is Nicemaster Nice. The new album, also released by Famous Records, is called Joey, Be Nice. Scratchmaster Joe will be celebrating tonight with a record-release show at Sole Repair. He will be joined by FCS, Specs, Recess, NKO, and Truckasaurus.

Here’s what the press release has to say:

The disc’s strictly snob-bred and obsessively written tracks are quite simply personalities. With this release Joe eschews all ghetto nastiness; he decisively allows tracks to breathe naturally, infusing sections with original and intriguing scratch and beat-juggle sections with an emphasis on quality. The material on the disc is sourced from original vinyl recordings dating from 1982 to 2003 and shows an emphasis on the 1990s. This release covers a span of genres from hip-hop to electronic to space-age pop, surprisingly conducted by a 77 year old Esquivel. The material on Scratchmaster Joe’s latest release was originally performed at the Free Sheep Foundation, with Filastine

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Portland electro-dance outfit Starfucker is back in action with a follow-up to its 2008 self-titled debut. The new album is called Jupiter and it will be released on May 5 by Portland’s Badman Recording Company. Here’s a sneak peak of what’s to come - the band’s new track “Medicine” (which you can download over at My Old Kentucky Blog) - and a look back at a live video of “Isabelle of Castile.” And below the video, the dates of Starfucker’s upcoming tour, which kicks off this Thursday in Vancouver, BC (at the Media Club) and Friday in Seattle (at the Vera Project). Check it out!

LISTEN: Starfucker - “Medicine”

WATCH: Starfucker - “Isabelle of Castile”

Upcoming tour dates (all w/Kuroma)

apr 09 - Vancouver, BC - The Media Club
apr 10 - Seattle, WA - The Vera Project
apr 13 - Fargo, ND - The Aquarium
apr 14 - Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
apr 15 - Sioux Falls, ND - Nutty’s

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Mount Saint Helens Vietnam Band
Self-titled (Dead Oceans)
4 stars

What band wouldn’t jump at the chance to receive the sort of praise and validation that Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band has been able to drum up in its not-even-one-year of public existence? The group signed to Austin label Dead Oceans (home to Akron/Family and Bishop Allen) fewer than three months after its first show and has been heralded as the next big thing from Seattle by everyone from Stereogum to Spin. With its debut full-length set for national release, however, MSHVB may soon confront hype’s not-so-desirable companion: the skepticism and snark that inevitably follow high expectations. The good news is that the band’s self-titled album is packed with catchy, pulse-racing songs. The bad news—which is only bad in the out-there alternate reality of the hype-osphere—is that, while this album is inventive, it isn’t necessarily groundbreaking.

To its credit, MSHVB takes a refreshing, original approach to its brand of fast-paced melodic rock. Too many bands treading this ground have one sound and one speed, but not MSHVB. The band does have …

Mirah’s new album (a)spera, out tomorrow on K Records, is her first solo album in nearly five years. It’s a showcase of Mirah’s versatility, a varied collection of tracks relating a gamut of intimate emotions, from sultry longing and wistful melancholy to hushed anxiety. Accompanied by strings, horns, and the otherwordly tones of the madinka kora, among other instruments, Mirah sings delicate love poems, ominous fairy-tale narratives, and laments for innocence lost and love left behind. To create this beautifully temperamental album, Mirah worked with longtime producer Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie, the Microphones), as well as Adam Selzer (M. Ward, Norfolk and Western) and Tucker Martine (the Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens). Read on for our track-by-track breakdown of (a)spera.

1. “Generosity” - The album opens on a baroque note; the first sound you hear is a flourish of strings. Then Mirah’s voice breaks out, singing a jaded but melancholy song to the lush accompaniment of what sounds like a string quartet. At times some low electric guitar sneaks in the mix, along with some hushed drums. Sometimes the …

As Pitchfork recently announced, K Records founder Calvin Johnson (after hitting Japan with Karl Blau) will be embarking on a national tour with his new band the Hive Dwellers as well as the Ian Svenonius-fronted Chain and the Gang.

Details on these two groups are pretty scant so far, but here’s what we know:

The Hive Dwellers will be fronted by Calvin Johnson, who will be backed by Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me, City Center), Brett Lyman (Bad Thoughts), Brian Weber (Dub Narcotic Sound System) and Sarah Pedal.

Chain and the Gang consists of Ian Svenonius backed by this same band (Thomas, Lyman, Weber, and Pedal). If you were at last year’s What The Heck? Fest, you might have caught its first–and, so far, only–performance. Here’s my account of Chain and Gang’s public debut, from my Heck Fest wrapup:

When you’re the founder of K Records, you can kind of do whatever you want, especially at What the Heck? Fest. And Calvin Johnson did. His set started off with Johnson on guitar for a

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It’s a K Records weekend in Seattle. Tonight, LAKE and Karl Blau will be performing at 20/20 Cycle. Both bands put on great live shows - Blau has some mean loop pedal skills and LAKE has great energy and fun group vocals - so this is sure to be a cool, intimate night. If that’s not enough K goodness for you, tomorrow Desolation Wilderness and Angelo Spencer will play the Comet.

You can catch Blau and LAKE in the Northwest for a couple more dates together before they go their separate ways (Blau to Japan, LAKE to SXSW and elsewhere in the West). Angelo Spencer also has a few upcoming local shows. See below for dates.

LISTEN: Desolation Wilderness “No Tomorrow”

LAKE & Karl Blau

Feb 26, 2009 - Olympia, Washington
the Big Room

Feb 27, 2009 - Anacortes, Washington
Department of Safety

Feb 28, 2009 - Port Townsend, Washington
Water Street Brewery

LAKE:

Mar 10, 2009 - Arcata, California
The Treehouse

Mar 11, 2009 - San Francisco, California
Hemlock Tavern - w/ Little Wings, Nodzzz

Mar 12, 2009 - Los Angeles, California
Echo Curio - w/ Bodies of

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Whether you only know Julie Doiron for her collaboration last year with Phil Elverum, the simple, beautiful Lost Wisdom, or for being in the nineties indie group Eric’s Trip, you should definitely keep an eye out for her new solo album. I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day (out March 10). The album features Doiron’s vocals backed by former Eric’s Trip bandmate Rick White and Fred Squire, a bandmate of Doiron’s who was the other contributor to Lost Wisdom. The album has moments as hushed and solemn as those found on Lost Wisdom, most notably “Blue,” a slow, wistful song featuring Doiron singing phrases like “I’ll never do that / again” over a dreamily reverb-heavy guitar. At other times, Doiron sounds more like Kimya Dawsom with playful acoustic tracks like “Glad To Be Alive” and “The Life of Dreams”. I Can Wonder hits its peak with upbeat tracks like “Spill Yer Lungs,” a bouncy track with some gritty, catchy guitar riffs that provide a dramatic backdrop to Doiron’s crystalline voice; or “Consolation Prize,” which finds …

[UPDATE: Just added some photos from the show taken by Chona Kasinger. See below.] Catching a band at the tail end of an extended tour can be a dicey proposition. If you’re lucky, you get to hear an immaculately perfect performance honed by months of practice. Other times, you suffer through a mechanical, lifeless set from a band run-down by life on the road. All of which cast an ominous tone to Kevin Drew’s prefacing banter to last night’s Broken Social Scene show at Showbox SoDo. After expressing how happy they (the band, Canada, the world) were about Obama’s election, Drew basically said how happy BSS was to be almost done with its tour, which concludes tonight in Vancouver. Not a good omen.

Photos by Chona Kasinger

The band, though by all appearances road-weary, laid waste to any such worries by playing for a solid two hours, summoning an energy, not to mention endurance, that seemed fueled by the knowledge that the end was near. (After tonight’s show …

Fans of Desolation Wilderness’ K debut White Light Strobing should be pleased to hear that the band has a new album coming out (relatively) soon. Here’s what Nic has to say on the band’s blog:

We just posted a New Year’s jam on the Myspace. It’s called No Tomorrow. It’s about living in the moment and being happy. It’s going to be on our new album, which is almost done and due in the summer.

Also, we’re going to Austin for SXSW, maybe we’ll see you there.

We think it’s a sign of more good signs to come from this band. Listen for yourself.

LISTEN: