If you haven't heard the duet of Mates of State, their new CD is a good chance to do so.
The group, consisting of spouses Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, formed in 1997 and this summer will release their fifth album (the last, 'Re-Arrange Us' was released in 2008).
The title is 'Crushes (The Covers Mixtape)' and it's apparent from the title that it's full of versions of their favorite songs from artists like Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Belle and Sebastian and Death Cab for Cutie. They are producing it themselves and Peter Katis is mixing (who as we have told you, has produced the new album of National).
This is what Mates of State said about recording the album:
«We've been talking about doing a covers record for a long time. We'd hear a great song at 2 AM while driving the straight line from one part of Texas to the next, and all we'd want to do is play that song as if we had written it. There are so many artists we considered, some for the mere fact that they wrote a perfect song, some for nostalgia's sake, some because more people need to hear them, some for the challenge, and some to shed a whole different light on a song: Our light ... make it a duet, more optimistic or maybe less traditional. »
Download the first track of the album, their cover of 'Laura' by Girls, from the website of the band here and here's the tracklisting of 'Crushes (The Covers Mixtape) ':
01 Laura (Girls)
02 Son et Lumiere (The Mars Volta)
03 Sleep the Clock Around (Belle and Sebastian)
04 Technicolor Girls (Death Cab for Cutie)
05 Long Way Home (Tom Waits)
06 Love Letter (Nick Cave)
07 Second Hand News (Fleetwood Mac)
08 17 Pink Sugar Elephants (Vashti Bunyan)
09 Roller Coaster Ride (Dear Nora)
10 True Love Will Find You in the End (Daniel Johnston)
Mates of State - My Only Offer