Shearwater - New album & track stream

Shearwater have long been one of our favourite bands here at E&D so whenever we hear they've got new material out there's always a few ripples of excitment around the office.

The album, 'Animal Joy', is out through Sub Pop on February 27 and apprently is going to be 'edgier' than their previous work.

You can judge for yourself with the sneak peak stream of 'Breaking The Yearlings':

Catch them on their EU tour in the spring:

28/03/12 : Bitterzoet – Amsterdam (NL)
29/03/12 : Botanique – Brussels (B)
30/03/12 : The Haunt – Brighton (UK)
31/03/12 : The Deaf Institute – Manchester (UK)
01/04/12 : Stereo – Glasgow (UK)
03/04/12 : Scala – London (UK)
04/04/12 : Le Grand Mix – Tourcoing (F)
05/04/12 : La Maroquinerie – Paris (F)
06/04/12 : Bad Bonn – Düdingen (CH)
08/04/12 : Palace – St.Gallen (CH)
09/04/12 : Bloom – Mezzago (Milan) (I)
10/04/12 : Circolo degli Artisti – Rome (I)
11/04/12 : Bronson – Madonna dell’albero (Ravenna) (I)
12/04/12 : Menza pri Koritu – Ljubljana (Slovenia)
16/04/12 : Groove Station – Dresden (D)
17/04/12 : Prinzenbar – Hamburg (D)
18/04/12 : Comet – Berlin (D)
19/04/12 : Babylon – Istanbul (TR)
21/04/12 : AN Club – Athens (GR)

Italian hardcore quartet HOLY release debut EP on Jan 23rd

Four friends gave birth to HOLY in the hot summer of 2011 in Milano, Italy. Whilst most people were hanging out in shorts and sunglasses, planning their holiday and heading to the seaside, HOLY were locked inside a hot, sweaty rehearsal room, writing songs.

It only took a few days to give birth to a fistful of songs, 8 to be exact. Soon after, a demo was recorded in the same hot, sweaty rehearsal room, which instead of being a demo became HOLY's debut release.

Clocking up 8 furious songs in an insane 11 minutes, their self-titled debut EP is released on 12” vinyl on January 23rd through Italian DIY label Hell, Yes!

Watch the video for the EP’s opening track, ‘The Wrong Side’ here:

Okkervil River Release ‘Golden Opportunities 2’ Free Mixtape

At the end of the year in 2007, Okkervil River released ‘Golden Opportunities Mixtape’, a free EP intended as a gift to fans. Called a ‘Must Have Download’ by Rolling Stone, the songs were recorded on the road throughout Europe and America during extensive touring for their album 'The Stage Names'. This year, the band continues that tradition in the sequel release ‘Golden Opportunities 2’, which both hearkens back to the original release and varies the formula.

‘Golden Opportunities 2’, comprising of 5 cover versions, is available to download from the Okkervil River website, in both MP3 and lossless formats.

Track listing:
'It is So Nice to Get Stoned' (by Ted Lucas)
'U.F.O.' (by Jim Sullivan)
'One Soul Less On Your Fiery List' (by David McComb)
'Plan D' (by Bill Fay)
'Dry Bones' (American Traditional)