two things

"In Spanish there is a word for which I can't find a counterword in English. It is the verb vacilar, present participle "vacilando"...If one is vacilando, he is going somewhere, but does not greatly care whether or not he gets there, although he has direction."--John Steinbeck

j. tillman

It's been a while since we heard from J. Tillman, but he's back with the soon-to-be-released (we think) Vacilando Territory Blues LP. Like much of the album, "Steel on Steel" displays more fleshed-out arrangements and instrumentation than Tillman's previous "Gram Parsons on downers" sound -- the song features piano, mellotron, pedal steel, and french horn -- and would sound right at home on '70s AM radio alongside Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, and the Dead:

mp3:
J Tillman Steel on Steel

J. Tillman will be in Austin for SXSW. More details at his myspace.

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elsewhere/unrelated:

Fight Bite is a a promising new Denton duo that I know very little about, but I was immediately enamored with their painfully beautiful, reverb-heavy vocals and simple yet sort of instantly unforgettable keyboard melodies. Recommended for fans of Beach House, Young Marble Giants, and the Tickley Feather stuff I've been posting lately. I hope to hear more from these two in the near future:

mp3:
Fight Bite swiss ex-lover

Fight Bite plays Saturday night at Strawberry Fields in Denton.