Yellow Ostrich returns with Soft, new video “Julia”

We're excited to announce Soft, the new album from Yellow Ostrich out April 23rd, and today the band has released a new video for the song "Julia".

"Julia" features Schaaf's crystal-clear vocal melodies as he analyzes the ongoing struggle against an ever-present 'separator' antagonist determined to make maintaining human relationships challenging. The song is the first single from Soft, and also appears on the stellar Like a Bird: An Alex Schaaf Anthology (2010-2021) available digitally tomorrow, March 26th. 25 Mar 2021

Yellow Ostrich announces anthology and releases new track

Barsuk is excited to announce the release of Yellow Ostrich track "River '93" from the forthcoming Like A Bird: An Alex Schaaf Anthology (2010-2021). The compilation spans the career (so far) of quietly brilliant songwriter/producer Alex Schaaf, including some of the best material from his Yellow Ostrich albums on Barsuk and from his self-released solo projects under his own name and under the name Human Heat. It will also include previously unreleased material, including new single "River '93" (listen/pre-save here).

"I wrote River '93 after moving across the country to Minneapolis while trying to figure out how to settle into a new place, something I've done a few times in my life," says Schaaf of the new song. "It's about trying not to worry about the future too much and to just let things unfold as they will. Which is easier said than done." The trance-like sparse ballad, punctuated by a minimalist piano arrangement and a retro drum machine, fits perfectly with Schaaf's introspective recent solo work (mostly recorded by longtime Bon Iver engineer Zach Hanson) and which is highlighted on the upcoming Like a Bird compilation. 26 Feb 2021

Yellow Ostrich "The Mistress" 10th Anniversary

Yellow Ostrich has returned! In celebration of the band's beloved 2011 debut album The Mistress, we're excited to announce The Mistress (10th Anniversary Edition). In anticipation, Yellow Ostrich founder Alex Schaaf will perform The Mistress in its entirety on Thursday, December 10, at 9:30pm ET / 6:30pm PT via a free livestream, viewable at Yellow Ostrich's Facebook page, the Barsuk YouTube page, or Barsuk's Instagram. This all heralds the return of Yellow Ostrich, who are working on new music for release on Barsuk in 2021.

The Mistress (10th Anniversary Edition) will include the original 10-track album, plus a 28-track download including all three 2011 Barsuk bonus tracks, four previously unreleased b-sides, an early alternate version of the hit "WHALE", plus 10 covers (recorded in 2010) of songs that inspired founder Alex Schaaf during the writing and recording of The Mistress: songs by Beach House, Jon Brion, Dirty Projectors, The National, Joanna Newsom, The Replacements, The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Tallest Man on Earth, Sharon Van Etten, and Yeasayer.

The vinyl release, which has been out of print for years, will be pressed on limited-edition yellow vinyl with black splatter, available for pre-order now and will ship in the spring of 2021. A digital release of the deluxe anniversary edition will arrive in early 2021. 03 Dec 2020

Hibou's new single, Désir

Hibou, the critically acclaimed dream-pop project of Seattle's Peter Michel, has released a lush new French language single Désir featuring French artist LUHA, available today at digital services everywhere.

"In the winter of 2020 Hibou performed at Supersonic, a venue in the 12th arrondissement of Paris," recalls Michel. "The show was one of those beautiful moments where I felt like I had made all the right choices to be on stage amongst such loving people. After our set, I was introduced to LUHA and was quickly drawn to her music."

"When the pandemic hit and I was unable to return to France, I began writing lyrics in French to aid me in my patience," he explained. "I'm thrilled to have had LUHA contribute to 'Désir'. Her presence sits at the core of the song." 19 Feb 2021

Death Cab for Cutie's The Georgia E.P.

From a video message released this morning by the band:

Because we are so happy with the results of the recent Georgia runoff elections, we have decided to release our EP 'The Georgia E.P.' – originally released on Bandcamp for 24 hours in early December – today on all streaming services, so that everybody can take a listen to it. It will also be available soon on peach vinyl, which we're all very excited about.

It's an EP of covers of acts from Georgia including Neutral Milk Hotel, Vic Chesnutt, R.E.M., TLC, and Cat Power, and we had a blast making it.

We raised over $100K for voting rights organization Fair Fight, which we've always been big supporters of; we're really stoked. So, we hope you enjoy it and we hope to see you guys in person very soon!

The EP is available now on streaming services, while the vinyl version is available here for pre-order. 13 Jan 2021

Nada Surf livestream for 15th Anniversary of The Weight Is A Gift

In 2005, Nada Surf released their follow-up to the seminal album Let Go. Titled The Weight Is A Gift, it quickly became a classic in its own right. Recently, we discovered a vintage broadcast of a stellar show from The Weight Is A Gift tour's February 2006 stop at Los Angeles' Henry Fonda Theater. Barsuk and Nada Surf are pleased to present free livestreams of the original broadcast, in all its non-widescreen glory, on Monday December 21st at 4pm ET / 1pm PT at Nada Surf's Facebook Page and on Tuesday, December 22nd at 4pm ET / 1pm PT at Nada Surf's YouTube Page. 14 Dec 2020