Sleep & Wake-Up Songs, by Okkervil River

Sleep & Wake-Up Songs

by Okkervil River

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1.	A Favor 05:59	buy track
2.	You're United Again 03:05	buy track
3.	And I Have Seen the World Of Dreams 04:20	buy track
4.	Just Give Me Time 04:08	buy track
5.	No Hidden Track 04:26	buy track

about

'Sleep and Wake-Up Songs' is now being rereleased for Record Store Day, its first time pressed ever on vinyl, with two new, never released songs. The EP reveals Okkervil River in-between the monumental albums Down The River of Golden Dreams and Black Sheep Boy. Band leader Will Sheff looked back to this EP, remarking, "I can hear in it somebody who is actually getting comfortable with singing, with playing the guitar, with letting music happen naturally.”

On the re-issue, Sheff, remarked, “In 2004 CDs were still the dominant playback format, but I always pictured 'Sleep and Wake-Up Songs' as a vinyl EP, so I was excited when Jagjaguwar recommended giving it a proper vinyl release. I went through my old notes from the time and wrote up a little (actually not that little) account of the recording of the EP and my memories of that time in the band’s history, and we went through the art and audio to make sure the whole piece transitioned well into vinyl. I also added a couple of tracks to round out side B. One is an early unfinished sketch of one of the songs ("You're Untied Again") and the other is an old blues cover ("Knocking Myself Out”) I recorded somewhere on the road during that time.”

Reflecting about the title, Sheff recalled “there’s something about your mind that’s especially flexible when it’s in that weird half-asleep/half-awake phase – ideas can glide in more gracefully. "'Sleep and Wake-Up Songs' is just a station on your way; it knows it's not your lover. It's a little shed, a lean-to constructed on the banks of some shaded stream between mountains. There is peace and quiet here. The late afternoon sun slants through logs set lazily on top of one another. There's a Les Paul resting against a fallen bough, but there are few loud noises, little reason to panic. The smell of cedars hangs in the air. There's a strange chill.

On 'Sleep and Wake-Up Songs', Okkervil River take advantage of a break between albums to present a small collection of more meditative songs that toss little boomerangs across the distance between what is and what could never be. They try on a loose-fitting felt suit of Tim Hardin-esque folk-pop, wade until soaked into a misty psychedelic duet, strap on an electric guitar for a lark, stack the overlapping refrains of Sheff and Minus Story's Jordan Geiger into a Phil-Spectoresque ecstacy of sexual confusion, and finally strip things down to naked and initiate a straightforward love song.

credits

released November 2, 2004

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about

Okkervil River Austin, Texas

"The goal was to push my brain to places it didn't want to go. The idea was to not have any idea – to keep myself confused about what I was doing," frontman Will Sheff says about Okkervil River's newest album 'I Am Very Far’. It’s a startling break from the band’s previous work: terrifying and joyous, violent and serene, grotesque and romantic, it's a celebration of forces beyond our control. ... more

shows

May 29

Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre

Somerville, MA
May 30

Space Gallery

Portland, ME
Jun 1

Levon Helm Studios

Woodstock, NY
Jun 3

The Great Hall

Toronto, ON
Jun 4

El Club Detroit

Detroit, MI
Jun 7

The Ardmore Music Hall

Ardmore, PA
Jun 8

Union Stage

Washington, DC
Jun 9

Bowery Ballroom

New York (NYC), NY
Jun 21

Tractor Tavern

Seattle, WA
Jun 24

The Chapel

San Francisco, CA
Jun 25

The Chapel

San Francisco, CA
Jun 26

Pico Union Project

Los Angeles (LA), CA
Jun 27

Pico Union Project

Los Angeles (LA), CA

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