Totally forgot to mention this here, so hopefully you’ve seen it elsewhere. But Phoenix-based (OK, Peoria … whatever) duo the Format is offering its 2006 album Dog Problems as a free download. All of it. Liner notes, cover art and everything.

You have until July 10 to take advantage. Get it here. You can download songs individually or grab the whole thing in zip format.

(Cheap plug): Here’s a story I wrote about it for my 9-to-5, with a pretty good quote from the band’s manager: “We don’t know if this is a briliant idea or a stupid idea.”

I say, good for them. The guys own all the rights to their material so they basically can do what they want with it. If this helps bring exposure, then they should be setting a good example for other musicians (or labels) to follow.

The Format kicks off a two-month tour in Phoenix with two shows (July 13 and 14) at Orpheum Theatre. (Info., tickets.) Comedian Mike Birbiglia, Limbeck, Steel Train and Reubens Accomplice, one of my local favorites, open.

And if you already bought Dog Problems, well, um … sorry?

In a news blast that spoiled my day – and the immediate future – Owen Evans, keyboardist in Phoenix favorite Asleep in the Sea, announced the group has broken up.

This from a MySpace bulletin:

unfortunately, tom (guitarist) has decided to leave asleep in the sea

we will still be playing our two shows in april and that will be the last time we all play together so come see it i guess

if anyone would like to buy our shirts or cd’s, as it stands right now, we will continue to sell what we have left and everyone is highly encouraged to purchase

as far as the new album goes it will no longer be professionally released but discussion of some form of release is currently taking place

thanks to anyone who enjoyed our music, bought our music, booked us, let us sleep in their place, or helped us in any way

it’s unfortunate timing for us, and i can’t say i understand it fully, but it happened and i just wanted to make sure to say thanks

owen

I don’t know any of the other particulars, but this is upsetting news. Asleep in the Sea was among my favorites in what seems to be a suddenly promising local scene. The three guys – Evans, Tom Filardo (guitar/vocals) and Eli Kuner (drums) – never take themselves too seriously, at least from what I could gather when I saw them live. To wit: Kuner played one show I saw with a cracked cymbal. When I asked him about it months later, he said it was out of necessity (he was broke) rather than choice. Clearly, they weren’t in this for the glamour.

I shot an e-mail to Kuner, who responded in a somewhat downtrodden but hopeful/relieved manner, saying, “there’s no point in looking back now” – DJ, cue Boston’s Don’t Look Back now! I told Kuner some eulogy was in order; his response?: “Eulogize the fuck out of us! because on the internet … we’ll live forever.” And there you have it: the near-final words on the tombstone of Asleep in the Sea, indexed on Google for our future generations.

What makes this news all the harder to digest is the band had an album’s worth of songs ready for release, likely subsidized at least in part by a smallish label/backer. I weaseled my way into getting my hands on a digital copy of the album (titled Avenue), 16 songs of the irreverent, quirky rock that made the group such a welcome change of pace. The longest song checks in at 3:36, and every two- to two-and-a-half-minute burst pops with clever instrumental interplay and insightful writing that sometimes gets lost in the band’s catchy hooks.

Take Cancer and Bones, a track in which the sobering final chorus belies the bright attitude of the music: “Everyone is your best friend when … / everyone is your best friend when you die.” Then there’s Seashorshes, from the Yay! O.K. Yeah? EP, a playful harmonizing ditty that could almost pass as a nursery rhyme – save for its sincere theme of questioning – mocking? – the point of war. “Where have the nice men gone? / off to seashores / off to foreign seashores.”

What a drag. I planned on posting about this album, but I didn’t expect it to be a sign-off for the band. On the bright side, Asleep will play its final two shows: April 16 @ Modified with Deerhunter and the Ponys and April 27 @ the Trunk Space.

Pick up the great Yay! O.K. Yeah? EP at iTunes for the best $4.95 you’ll spend.

• Asleep in the Sea | Dance On [from Yay! O.K. Yeah?]
• Asleep in the Sea | Cancer and Bones [new]
• Asleep in the Sea | The Hands [new; the best 48-second song I’ve heard]

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IN OTHER NEWS: Look who’s back. Glad to see you again, Jennings.

Other than the drums, which I once played in middle school but pretty much quit in high school when I realized I’d have to wear some silly polyester uniform with a tall feathered hat at halftime of football games, the pedal steel guitar is my favorite instrument. There’s a certain emotion to it, an instrument that really seems to have a voice of its own.

Nobody plays it better than Jon Rauhouse, a man we’re proud to call an Arizonan. Besides being a member of Neko Case’s band, Rauhouse’s extensive credits include playing with Calexico (whose John Convertino and Joey Burns are part of his band), Giant Sand, Waco Brothers, John Langford, Kelly Hogan and Sally Timms. He’s also a member of Bloodshot Records’ Grievous Angels.

One of my favorite projects Rauhouse was involved with was Sleepwalker, a three-piece (with Jamal Ruhe and Darren Henley) from Tempe that put out a somewhat hastily recorded yet beautiful one album called The Man in the Moon. (Previous post.)

After extensive touring with Neko Case, Rauhouse returns with his third solo album, Steel Guitar Heart Attack, due for release March 13 on Bloodshot. Appearances from Neko, Timms and Hogan prove the reciprocal nature of musicians and their fondness of Rauhouse’s craft.

If it has a string, Rauhouse – affectionately known as “Uncle Jimmy” for reasons I don’t know – probably has played it: banjo, pedal steel, Hawaiian guitar, ukelele, you name it. He’s talented as a technical player but never loses focus of the mood and substance his style carries. On 2004’s Steel Guitar Rodeo, Rauhouse reinterpreted the Perry Mason theme song into something much more romantic and intriguing than a cheese-ball TV theme. Apparently, he does it again on Heart Attack, taking on the Andy Griffith theme on The Fishing Hole.

Ballad of the Black Chihuahua, the first single off Heart Attack, is layered in lush guitar work and boasts a Southwest flavor that captures the essence of this arid atmosphere.

I don’t see a pre-order link yet at Bloodshot for the record. But Rauhouse’s catalog is available at eMusic.

• Jon Rauhouse | Ballad of the Black Chihuahua

In a related matter, eMusic is offering a Bloodshot Records Honky-Tonk Compilation, which includes Rauhouse’s Grievous Angels, for free. Eleven tracks, all for free. Get it.

(Look out, two posts in one day!)

I’m excited for tonight, when we’ll see ex-Catherine Wheel frontman Rob Dickinson, exactly a year to the day we saw him last, at Anderson’s in Scottsdale. I’ve gone on at length about Dickinson before, so I won’t do it here again.

Also, local favorite sourceVictoria is opening with an acoustic/piano set. The band recently was featured in the weekly paper Get Out. You might have read about them on this very site, too.

If you’re in town, come on out.

• sourceVictoria | Heartless Boy

• sourceVictoria | Opportunistic