[new music] Resume Compilation for Japanese Earthquake Victims

A Compilation Album to Support the Victims
of the Japan Earthquake

In the wake of the horrendous earthquake and resulting tsunami that recently struck eastern Japan, 7 e.p. (a label that mainly licenses music from overseas) has arranged a compilation to help benefit the victims. With the hope of creating an iTunes-based benefit album, they called out to the overseas artists that they have had the pleasure of working with. The response was immediate and overwhelming.

The result: a 3-volume benefit compilation album titled Resume. It includes 45 tracks, most of them previously unreleased, from 43 artists hailing from America, Canada, Australia, the U.K., the Netherlands and even Japan.

The title, Resume, which implies recovering and persevering, was the idea of Sweet Dreams publisher Norio Fukuda. The cover artwork was provided by renowned Olympia, WA artist Nikki McClure. Additionally, Masaki Tada, who has worked on albums by moools and many other 7 e.p. albums, offered his mastering expertise. Of note, contributions from Wolf Parade (who toured with moools last year), Sunset Rubdown, and Johnny & The Moon have all contributed songs to Resume (list posted below). Looks like a good album, and it's definitely a good cause. Check it out - albums are available today for $7 each.

• Wolf Parade – Agents Of Love (iTunes only single)
• Wolf Parade – Semi-Precious Stone (iTunes only single)
• Sunset Rubdown – Coming To At Dawn (Digitally unreleased)
• Sunset Rubdown – Insane Love Is Awakening (Digitally unreleased)
• Johnny & The Moon – From the Rooftops of Houses (Unreleased)

[news] The End of Wolf Parade (for now)

Wolf Parade take indefinitely long hiatus

After just releasing two new tracks from the Expo 86 sessions, you'd think Wolf Parade were gearing up for another tour. Unfortunately, towards the end of their November 26th show in Toronto at Sound Academy, Spencer Krug apparently announced that it would be their last show "for a long time." To confirm the sad news, the Wolf Parade Fansite had this to say:

“It does not come easy for me to post this news. Dan Boeckner has contacted us and stated that Wolf Parade will be taking an ‘indefinite hiatus’.”

So what does this mean for WP fans? Well, I would think that we should expect records from their various other musical projects in the near future. Sunset Rubdown has also been placed on hiatus as well, so in a perfect world, late 2010-early 2011 would witness releases from Moonface (Spencer Krug), Handsome Furs (Dan Boeckner), perhaps Treasure Hunt (Arlen Thompson), and Johnny and the Moon (Dante DeCaro). Though that would be asking for way too much this Christmas.