New Jay Reatard

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Matador will be releasing the new album from Jay Reatard this August, titled, Watch Me Fail.  His Twitter musings are amongst the funniest ones out there and here’s how he described the making of his new album:

“This new album has been challenging. It’s the first time I’ve written and recorded an album specifically because a label wants to release it. I’ve never made a record for a record label. I’ve always finished my recordings and then a label is decided on. When I made ’Blood Visions’ I had no idea that it was going to see the light of day. And I’ve never made a record in which the label heard the songs, or anyone heard the songs, before the album was finished, so that’s kind of intense. That’s what singles are for; I always considered my singles as a glimpse between the albums. Labels always had the previous single as an example of where I was going at the time, or of what the next album might sound like. In this situation, people at the label are hearing the songs before the album has been finished, but I try not to let it distract me, I’m trying to go about this process in a way that’s the closest to how I would have done an album in the past. A lot of bands these days, they approach the making of an album like it’s collecting songs, they don’t think about how all of the songs are going to work together. They sequence their albums on iTunes, wondering what songs sound best next to each other rather than putting them together as they were written. That’s not an album.”

Jay Reatard-Ain’t Gonna Save Me [mp3] (first track from Watch Me Trail)

Tour Dates

  • Thu May 28 – Barcelona @ Primavera Festival
  • Thu June 11 – San Diego @ Casbah with The Oh Sees + Earthmen and Strangers
  • Fri June 12 – Los Angeles @ The Echo with Thee Oh Sees + Earthmen and Strangers
  • Sat June 13 – San Francisco @ The Independent with Thee Oh Sees + Earthmen and Stangers
  • Mon June 15 – Seattle @ Crocodile Cafe with Thee Oh Sees
  • Tue June 16 – Vancouver @ Biltmore
  • Wed June 17 – Portland @ Dante’s with The Oh Sees + Nice Boys
  • Fri June 19 – Long Beach, CA @ Alex’s Bar with Digital Leather
  • Fri June 26 – Chicago @ Bottom Lounge with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Sat June 27 – Detroit @ Magic Stick with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Sun June 28 – Cleveland @ Grog Shop with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Mon June 29 – Toronto @ Mod Club with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Tue June 30 – Montreal @ La Sala Rossa with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Wed July 1 – New York City @ Stuyvesant Oval, FREE
  • Thu July 2 – Brooklyn @ Music Hall of Williamsburg with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Fri July 3 – Allston, MA @ Harper’s Ferry with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Sun July 5 – Washington DC @ Black Cat with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Tue July 7 – Asheville @ Orange Peel with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Wed July 8 – Knoxville @ Pilot Light with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Thu July 9 – Nashville @ The End with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Fri July 10 – Memphis @ Hi-Tone Café with TV Smith of the Adverts
  • Sat July 11 – Oxford MS @ Proud Larry’s with TV Smith of the AdvertsIn addition, Jay will be making his first South American appearances on June 2  (TD Eventos, Sao Paulo, Brasil) and June 2 (Excursionistas Athletic Club).