Say Hi has had a great year, with the release of their Barsuk debut album, oohs & aahs in the spring, followed by several fabulous tours across the US, and things just keep getting more fun. Say Hi's Eric Elbogen and bandmates will be touring this fall with David Bazan (and Eric will be playing in Bazan's band as well), and our new friend Drew Norton just finished up editing a new (and quite charming) Say Hi video in which Eric is hunted by the obsessive, beautiful, and cruel goddess Diana, for the great song one, two ... one, which you can watch here.

Barsuk staff and many of our bands will down in Austin later this month for the annual SXSW music festival, playing parties, doing DJ sets, and having a good ol' Texas time. Our official showcase with Merge Records, March 21 at the Parish, will feature Ra Ra Riot, Say Hi, and The Wooden Birds, as well as Merge bands Telekinesis, Lou Barlow with Imaad Wasif, and The Rosebuds, and special guest DJ Jason Hammel from Mates of State spinning records between sets. Due to tour routing logistics, Viva Voce will have to hit the road before our showcase Saturday night, but they'll be down in Austin earlier in the week playing a few parties in their new four-piece lineup.

Take a stroll on over to the Spin website, where you can listen to the first MP3 to be made available from the upcoming Say Hi album, oohs & aahs. The track, a cool observation on the winter months, is called november was white, december was grey, and you can hear it and read about it here.