Photo by Acidjack.

Fall has landed here in North Carolina, and fittingly, Durham’s own Hiss Golden Messenger is on the turntable. Nearly a year ago–on the Day of the Dead, to be exact–we released HGM’s excellent Poor Moon album, and this fall we’re working hard to help prepare their superb follow-up LP, entitled Haw (named for the river that runs through Piedmont  Carolina toward Cape Fear.) The record has just been mastered, and what we’ve heard is astounding, a fascinating expansion and intensifying of its predecessor. The Tale unravels further.

As you wait for the Spring 2013 release of Haw, you may want to consider acquiring a copy of the recent Hiss Golden Messenger Plays Elephant Micah Plays Hiss Golden Messenger 45, in which two of our favorite contemporary songsters version each other’s work. We’re also delighted to offer Louder Than Thou, the latest LP from Elephant Micah. If you’re a fan of HGM–and M.C. Taylor deems Elephant Micah one of the greatest contemporary songwriters–you’ll find much to admire in these finely tuned hexes and riddles. Finally, if you or a loved one do not yet own Poor Moon on vinyl, you can order one of the few remaining copies here.

Finally, to tide you over until the next HGM release, enjoy another excellent live Hopscotch recording from NYC Taper, which captures the band in its trio incarnation at the 3 Lobed/WXDU day show. Please consider supporting the good work of NYC Taper, all of which is sanctioned by the artists.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/60069343″ params=”show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true”/]