Yay! Maker of one of 2011’s finest LPs, Smoke Ring For My Halo, Kurt Vile will release the follow-up, Waking On A Pretty Daze on April 8.

It’s a 69-minute long double album (presumably that’s vinyl, rather than CD, but that’s what we prefer around 17 Seconds towers, anyway). The tracklisting is as follows:

Side A:
1. Wakin On A Pretty Day
2. KV Crimes
3. Was All Talk

Side B:
4. Girl Called Alex
5. Never Run Away
6. Pure Pain

Side C:
7. Too Hard
8. Shame Chamber
9. Snowflakes Are Dancing

Side D:
10. Air Bud
11. Goldtone

Below here is a video for the opening track ‘Wakin’ On A Pretty Day’ (almost a title track, check the spelling!). This is not the official video for the track, which will apparently be revealed in good time.

Kurt Vile-‘Wakin’ On A Pretty Day.’ mp3

(Yup, I’m still here, just went away for a couple of days with Mrs. 17 Seconds and baby 17. Seconds.)

Maker of one of my favourite albums of the year, Smoke Ring For My Halo, Kurt Vile will issue a new six track EP in November entitled So Outta Reach. This will either be available as part of a re-issued version of the album or a standalone EP. It features five Vile compositions and a cover version of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Downbound Train’ (originally on Springsteen’s Born In The USA LP).

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. The Creature
2. It’s Alright
3. Life’s A Beach
4. Laughing Stock
5. Downbound Train
6. (so outta reach)

Matador have made the first track available as a free download, so enjoy!

Kurt Vile -‘The Creature.’ mp3

And just in case you still haven’t got the album (what are you playing at? How many times do I have to tell you how great this album is!) here are a couple of mp3s from it:

Kurt Vile -‘Jesus Fever.’ mp3

Kurt Vile -‘In My Time.’ mp3

Kurt Vile -‘Smoke Ring For My Halo’ (Matador)

..and yet again, Matador demonstrate why they are one of the best labels on the planet).

This is Kurt Vile’s fourth album, and it sees him well and truly having left behind the tape and cd-r scene that he started out in. In a way, parallels could perhaps be drawn with Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. While their musical styles may be miles apart, theyve both refined and developed their acts and progressed to more establihsed indies.

If you’ve not heard Vile’s music, don’t assume that he’s just another singer-songwriter-guitarist. Comparisons could be drawn with both Neil Young and Dinosaur Jr; in fact, part of Smoke Ring For My Halo was recorded at J Mascis’s Bisquiteen Studios andVile also contributes to mascis’s new studio album, Several Shades Of Why.

Considering he’s still a young man, there’s a sense of the world-weary about Vile. And yet, this is actually very endearing and attractively, musically speaking. The music is folky Americana, the atmosphere smoky and stoned. There are a number of excellent tracks on this album and I have given up trying to pickout highlights to recommend. Suffice to say that the two free tracks that have been doing the rounds ‘In My Time’ and ‘Jesus Fever’ are excellent examples of what this album is like, and I really like ‘Puppet To The Man’ and ‘On Tour’ as well.

There may be some who find this album hard to get into, but each listen has revealed something new, some else…If you get the chance to listen to it, without having anything else to do it will truly reward you.

****

Smoke Ring For My Halo is released on Matador on March 7.

Kurt Vile -‘In My Time.’ mp3

Kurt Vile -‘Jesus Fever.’ mp3

Kurt Vile (as opposed to Kurt Weill!) was one of those names that I had become increasingly aware of of the last few years, but his latest, forthcoming album, Smoke Ring For My Halo has already had a number of plays at and around 17 Seconds Towers.

While the phrase ‘singer-songwriter’ has become something which i have started to dread, Mr. Vile totally transcends the image of the average singer-songwriter. No anodyne, glossy mush; instead this is a collection of songs infused with his own spirit, which doffs its’ cap to folk, alt. country and even the blues, but without descending into the irritating cliches. Matador know exactly what they’re doing -and so does he.

He’s a pretty brilliant, unique talent. And while this is NOT my album review, I really wanted to bring it to your attention. Out on March 7 (March 8 if you’re US-based) here’s the two tracks that have been doing the rounds of the blogosphere for a while, but if you haven’t heard it, check it out now:

Kurt Vile -‘In My time.’ mp3

Kurt Vile -‘Jesus Fever.’ mp3