trouser press: ani difranco, psapp and more

in today’s trouser press:

- free Ani DiFranco live session
- Psapp reveal all about new single and album
- Duffy contributes to new War Child compilation
- female artists band together for Congo benefit
- remix HK119 to your heart’s content
- new Asobi Seksu single out in November
- Shelly Poole has a new band 

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Ani DiFranco recorded an exclusive session for Daytrotter a couple of days ago, and you can now get lovely live versions of ‘Present/Infant’ and ‘The Atom’ from forthcoming album Red Letter Year (out on Monday) as well as takes on older songs ‘Coming Up’ and ‘Subdivision’. Download them for free here.

It’s actually been a bumper week for Wears The Trousers favourites on the website. Check out new sets from Jaymay (including two brand new songs) and White Hinterland while you’re at it.

And while we’re on the topic of free MP3s, some kind person sent us this recording of Tilly & The Wall performing a cover of Erasure’s ‘A Little Respect’ on tastemaking US radio station KCRW earlier this week. Enjoy.

FREE MP3: Tilly & The Wall – ‘A Little Respect‘

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Cat-mad duo Psapp have a whole boatload of new animals to sing about on their upcoming third album, The Camel’s Back, out October 27th through Domino Records. Having found that fame is something of a double-edged sword, Galia Durant and Carim Clasmann present their latest batch of songs as tales from the other side and their starkest effort to date. Songs like the title track and ‘Screws’ are affectingly honest portrayals of triumph over adversity. But it’s not entirely a beast of burden. First single ‘The Monster Song’ (out November 3rd) is crammed with uplifting pop hooks, and album opener ‘I Want That’ is as enthusiastic as any of the brightest moments on 2006’s The Only Thing I Ever Wanted.

The Camel’s Back
01 I Want That
02 Part Like Waves
03 The Camel’s Back
04 Fickle Ghost
05 The Monster Song
06 Somewhere There Is A Record Of Our Actions
07 Marshrat
08 Fix It
09 Mister Ant
10 Screws
11 Homicide
12 Parker

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This week saw the announcement of charity compilations galore. First up we have the latest in the War Child benefit series, following the hugely successful Help (1995) and Help: A Day In The Life (2005). The concept behind the new collection, Heroes, is to get music legends to hand select newer artists to cover one of their classic songs. Or in the case of the inescapable Rufus Wainwright, two.

The full tracklist has yet to be announced, but apparently Paul McCartney picked Duffy to cover his classic Bond theme ‘Live & Let Die’, and he rather likes what she’s done with it too. McCartney said: “I have been supporting War Child since 1995. Their work with children in war zones saves lives and their work with those who take decisions that help them to do something about it saves even more lives. I think Duffy’s version of ‘Live & Let Die’ is great – I was really impressed. The breadth of talent on this project is amazing; it’s great that so many people gave their time, energy and support to this initiative. I urge everyone to support War Child.”

Also on the album, Rufus is doing a medley of tracks from Brian Wilson’s Smile, The Hold Steady will take on Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Atlantic City’, while Beck, Hot Chip and The Kooks cover Bob Dylan (‘Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat’), Joy Division (‘Transmission’) and The Kinks (‘Victoria’), respectively. Other legends due to be covered include David Bowie and The Clash. Visit the War Child website for more info. 

Heroes is released on November 24th through Parlophone. But while we’re on the subject of Duffy and charity, maybe you’ll want to pop over to eBay and bid on various signed Duffy bits and pieces, including a harmonica, and help to end poverty. ActionAid are the beneficiaries of the auction, which also includes memorabilia from The Subways, The Ting Tings, Editors, Biffy Clyro and Gallows.

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Charity compilation #2, Congo’s Angels, is an all-female extravaganza in aid of Congo Week, an initiative by US non-profit organisation Break The Silence to raise awareness about violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Neko Case contributes ‘The Tigers Have Spoken’ (a live cut from the 2005 album of the same name) with other contributors including Grammy-winning soul singer Irma Thomas, Eliza Gilkyson, Claire Holley, Caroline Herring and lots more.

Carrie Crawford, Chairperson of Friends of the Congo pledges, “All proceeds from Congo’s Angels will raise awareness, fund independent media, and support women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Congo Week runs from October 19-25. Find out more here.

01 Susan Cowsill – Wawona Morning/ Night
02 Eliza Gilkyson – Tender Mercies
03 Irma Thomas – Another Man Done Gone
04 Caroline Aiken – Inside Out
05 Karen Protti-Bailey – What I Know For Sure
06 Claire Holley – Visit Me
07 Kim Carson – It’s Not A Big Deal
08 Susan Cowsill -Wawona Afternoon
09 Theresa Davis – For The Women Of The Congo
10 Neko Case – The Tigers Have Spoken [live]
11 Mary LaSang – Apollo
12 Ruby Rendrag – W-26
13 Gospel Gossip – Wire
14 Herman Put Down The Gun – Come Back
15 Karen Garrabrant, Theresa Davis & Amanda Kail – You Are Not Alone
16 Dede Vogt – Time Will Tell
17 Caroline Herring – Fair & Tender Ladies
18 Janet Bean & The Concertina Wire – The Purple Heart
19 Leilani Revera Bond – Ná Hókú O Ka Lani (The Stars Of Heaven)
20 Susan Cowsill – Wawona Night

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With all this fuss about the new Radiohead remix site, it reminded us we forgot to point you in the direction of this, a similar open-source venture by our favourite cyber-Finn HK119. With new album Fast, Cheap & Out Of Control out next week, Heidi Kilpelainen is inviting fans to download consituent parts of various songs to chop up and remix as they please. The best results will be released on a limited second edition of the album next year. We’ll be bringing you a fascinating interview with HK119 on Monday. Watch this space.

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Following last year’s juicy breakthrough full-length Citrus, Asobi Seksu have announced a new single, ‘Me & Mary’, for release on November 17th. It’s the first fruits from their as-yet-untitled third album, produced by Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, The Walkmen) and due in February next year, and comes backed with exclusive B-side ‘Breathe Into Glass’. UK tour dates to be announced soon.

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Finally, all you long-time Wears The Trousers readers might like to know that our first ever cover star, former Alisha’s Attic singer Shelly Poole, has a new band a new album in the works. The band, Red Sky July, includes Shelly’s husband, Texas guitarist Ally McErlaine, and former Alice Band singer Charity Hair. Showcasing a new country-influenced sound, two songs from their forthcoming Graeme Pleeth-produced album are now streaming from the band’s Myspace. 

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Alan Pedder

Written by: Wears The Trousers magazine

Tags: alisha's attic, ani difranco, asobi seksu, caroline herring, claire holley, duffy, eliza gilkyson, HK119, irma thomas, jaymay, neko case, paul mccartney, psapp, red sky july, rufus wainwright, shelly poole, war child, white hinterland

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 10:28 pm and is filed under news, the inside leg. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.