Just a reminder to everyone to head over to House of Shields (39 New Montgomery St.) Thursday from 6-10 p.m. (and hopefully later) for a CD release party for local artist Cousin Chris, who’s releasing his debut CD Moon Paper. There will be great food, great music, great people and, of course, beer.

If you’re a music fan, or merely an interested drinker, swing on by. Cousin Chris will have CDs for sale, we’ll have lovely Stranger Dance t-shirts for sale, and it should be a good time. You can even berate The Stranger for his unhealthy Tom Waits obsession … wait, that’s what I plan on doing. Sorry. Hope to see you there!

Also, take a look at our full fancy event poster.

So, exciting times around these parts. Not only are 5 bajillion cool bands playing at Outside Lands a mere nine days from now, but we’re also breaking out of our little shell and throwing a party to celebrate the release of Cousin Chris‘ debut album Moon Paper. We’re inviting all our readers and fellow bloggers to join us next Thursday, Aug. 21 at House of Shields downtown (New Montgomery b/w Market and Mission) between 6PM and 10PM to celebrate the release of a great album and prime the pump for a great weekend ahead.

For those who don’t know, Chris Schreiber, aka, Cousin Chris, is a local boy who wrote, sang and played every instrument on Moon Paper. Rooted heavily in a blues (but not at all derivative), bathed in slide guitar and accented with his unique voice, Moon Paper carves out an original sound that, while minimalist, is still compelling and – most importantly – interesting. The album was recorded at John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone studios where bands like Death Cab for Cutie, Spoon, Nada Surf and Mike Watt have all recorded. Cousin Chris sat down with me for a chat, which you’ll find – along with a sample of his music – after the jump.

And don’t forget to come out to House of Shields next Thursday and support a local musician (and bloggers!).

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In college “guys with guitars” are a dime a dozen. On my freshman hall there was something like twelve (myself included). And like all the cool dudes that play guitar, the first week of school was spent figuring out who was fit for jamming and who was a dud.

I’m not talking about skill necessarily, but taste. You know, what happens when you drop a Radiohead reference in conversation? Do they know that Jeff Buckley lick? Always making sure the coast is clear of sins like John Mayer or Dave Matthews (bands we all know how to play but feign disinterest in). Yes, college guitarists are way too cool for school – we judge each other’s personality based on what we play.

When I first met Chris Jamison six years ago he was the exception to the rule. He walked into my dorm room and asked if I wanted to jam over something he wrote. It was kind of like an ambush, but it was nice to meet someone who didn’t ask you if you knew “Sweet Home Alabama.” He was a person who had his own song to sing.

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Stones Throw, you thought I forgot didn’t you? Late June my ass. Oh well. The tracks we have been waiting for are finally here:

In late 2005 Ghostface Killa and MF DOOM were both recording over tracks from J Dilla’s instrumental opus, Donuts, which saw release the following February. Some of these were released on Ghostface’s Fishscale in 2006, while others, including a Dilla-Doom project, were postponed indefinitely after J Dilla’s passing. Two of these tracks, “Sniper Elite” and “Murder Goons,” are presented here for the first time. The two are taken from two sequential songs off Donuts, meant to mix together. We are presenting the two songs unmixed, plus the two mixed together as a bonus track.

Since this is only a two-track release, I won’t leak it (at least for now). Support Stones Throw and and go buy Sniper Elite and Murder Goons on their official site. And no, I can’t account for the change of name of the track “Sniperlite” to “Sniper Elite.”

Yesterday, Beck announced that Modern Guilt will be officially released on July 8, 2008. If you can’t wait that long you can work some voodoo magic with your cell phone and get an early listen.

Beck’s new album will include ten songs produced by everybody’s favorite producer, Danger Mouse. As of today, Beck’s myspace page has three songs available for a listen: Orphans, Gamma Ray and Chemtrails.

MP3s: