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Okkervil River

Okkervil River
Okkervil River - A Dream in the Dark

12 ALBUMS DELIVERED ONCE A MONTH FOR A YEAR

INCLUDING DELUXE LINER NOTES, ARCHIVAL PHOTOS, NARRATED AUDIO, PERSONALIZED HANDWRITTEN LYRICS, PHYSICAL REWARDS AND SURPRISE EXTRAS.

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Okkervil River Tour Dates

VOLUME ONE: ORCHESTRAL IN 2007 Feb 12, 2007

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Track List
  1. Maine Island Lovers
  2. The War Criminal Rises and Speaks
  3. Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
  4. A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene
  5. Seas Too Far to Reach
  6. Oh, Precious
  7. I Want to Know (Fugs cover)
  8. Listening to Otis Redding at Home During Christmas
  9. For Real (slow version)
  10. Title Track (first live performance)
  11. Song of Our So-Called Friend
  12. So Come Back, I Am Waiting

Recorded in a large concert hall just as the band was putting the finishing touches on The Stage Names - and featuring the live debuts of several of those songs - Orchestral in 2007 sees the band backed by a full orchestra including a string and brass section and backup singers in the most grandly sweeping show the band had played up to that point. Multi-tracked by Jeff Hoskins (Okkervil River’s sound engineer at the time and the engineer on Stars Too Small to Use) Orchestral in 2007 weaves together selections from the band’s previous three albums, reunites the band with some of the earliest founding members to resurrect some live rarities from very early in the catalogue, and the concert culminates in an electrifying slow orchestral version of “For Real” with Will at piano. Extensive liner notes include photographs and a lengthy excerpt from Will’s diaries documenting the show and the completion of The Stage Names.

VOLUME TWO: A ROOM IN AUSTIN Feb 12, 2000

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Track List:
  1. Happy Hearts
  2. Disfigured Cowboy (early version of “Black Sheep Boy #4”)
  3. Omie Wise (American Traditional)
  4. Satisfy You
  5. Nancy (Orange Mothers cover)
  6. Whole Wide World
  7. My Bad Days
  8. Kansas City
  9. I Can’t Escape from You (Hank Williams cover)
  10. Sexual Healing (Marvin Gaye cover)

One of the first Okkervil River shows captured showcases the band playing acoustically, picked up by one room mic in a tiny club in Austin. This show was recorded shortly after Jonathan Meiburg joined the band and partway through the recording of Don’t Fall in Love with Everyone You See. Enriched by violin, upright bass, national guitar, and accordion, the band plays a crop of extreme rarities, very early versions, selections from the unavailable “first album” Stars Too Small to Use, and unlikely covers for a tiny audience of mostly friends. Liner notes include earliest photographs of the band and a personal essay by Will about the early days of Okkervil River.

VOLUME THREE: BLACK SHEEP BOY - THE ANNIVERSARY CONCERTS Feb 11, 1999

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Track List:
  1. Black Sheep Boy (Tim Hardin cover)
  2. For Real
  3. In a Radio Song
  4. Black
  5. Get Big
  6. A King and a Queen
  7. A Stone
  8. The Latest Toughs
  9. Song of Our So-Called Friend
  10. So Come Back, I Am Waiting
  11. A Glow
  12. (Intermission)
  13. Missing Children
  14. No Key, No Plan
  15. A Garden
  16. Black Sheep Boy #4
  17. The Next Four Months
  18. Another Radio Song
  19. Last Love Song for Now

In 2015, in celebration of Black Sheep Boy’s 10th Anniversary, the band played a string of sold-out shows at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom, performing the album (along with its follow-up EP Black Sheep Boy Appendix) in full and in order. This lush, detailed recording showcases a band made up of old members like Jonathan Meiburg and Patrick Pestorius along with new members like Will Graefe, meticulously re-creating and reimagining Black Sheep Boy with the help of simultaneous cassette samplers and skronking guitar solos, electric violin and trombone, mandolin (learned by Will Graefe for the occasion), pocket trumpet and rich layers of keys. These shows also marked a stylistic turning point for the band, a bridge between two great lineups. One of the concerts was visually documented by frequent collaborator Julie Ruíz of A Horse With No Name, and extensive liner notes intersperse a gallery of her photographs with a wide-ranging conversation between Will and Jonathan.

VOLUME FOUR: THE HOT TUB TAPES Jul 29, 1998

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Track List:
  1. Song about a Satellite [Princeton, Winter 2002]
  2. A Leaf [Austin, Fall 2003]
  3. Dead Faces [Austin, Fall 2003]
  4. Red [Amsterdam, Fall 2003]
  5. Okkervil River Song [Amsterdam, Fall 2003]
  6. He Passes Number Thirty-Three [Munich, Fall 2003]
  7. Listening to Otis Redding at Home During Christmas [Schorndorf, Fall 2003]
  8. The Velocity of Saul at the Time of His Conversion [Schorndorf, Fall 2003]
  9. Jet Lag Banter [Chicago, Winter 2003]
  10. A Damn Good Disguise [Austin, Winter 2003]
  11. In a Radio Song [Chicago, Spring 2004]
  12. For the Enemy [Chicago, Spring 2004]
  13. A Favor [Seattle, Spring 2005]
  14. The War Criminal Rises and Speaks [Austin, Spring 2005]
  15. Get Big [Austin, Spring 2005]
  16. Down the River of Golden Dreams / It Ends with a Fall [Chicago, Spring 2005]
  17. Intro [Boston, Spring 2005]
  18. Maine Island Lovers [Chicago, Spring 2005]
  19. “Okkervil River #2,” by Thax Douglas [Chicago, Summer 2005]
  20. Westfall [Birmingham, Summer 2005]

Jason Callahan was perhaps the first Okkervil River fan - the only person at early Okkervil shows that the band didn’t personally know. Eventually, he made his way into the Okkervil River family and ended up as their traveling merch person on a tour where he was given the nickname “Hot Tub,” and he’s remained friends with all the band members ever since. This raw, rough-and-ready release chronologically presents Jason’s favorite specially re-mastered soundboard and audience tapes captured over a pivotal period in the band’s early history (from shortly before the recording of Down the River of Golden Dreams to shortly after the release of Black Sheep Boy Appendix) adding up to a portrait of a group of young musicians learning how to play on the job, shedding members and picking up new ones, and fumbling their way from innocence to experience. An unpolished and electrifying bootleg feel captures the band in all their ragged hit-or-miss semi-glory. Liner notes include thoughts by Hot Tub himself about his perception of the earliest years of Okkervil River, rare photos from that time, and elaborate and candid liner notes from Will Sheff about each of the song selections and about the band’s long and rocky path from bedroom rehearsal spaces to big rock festivals.

VOLUME FIVE: RARITIES & REQUESTS, 2017 Aug 23, 1997

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Track List:
  1. Your Past Life as a Blast
  2. The Velocity of Saul at the Time of His Conversion
  3. Days Spent Floating (in the Halfbetween)
  4. Okkervil River Song
  5. Judey on a Street
  6. Black
  7. Mary on a Wave
  8. Okkervil River RIP
  9. On Tour with Zykos
  10. The Surgeon Above the Arbor
  11. Westfall

In 2017 Okkervil River tried something totally different - they hit the road as a stripped-down three-piece and played sets that consisted entirely of requests - often reworked, expanded upon, or re-imagined - shouting out the fans who had requested each song before they performed it. Every night was a surprise (often to the band themselves) and a high-wire act, and there was a lot of improvising, storytelling, and seat-of-the-pants-flying. These very special shows were all recorded, and this release collects the absolute best of those performances, including a song Will wrote 15 minutes before showtime because of a mysterious fan request for a title that appeared not to exist. In the liner notes, Will joins bassist Benjamin Lazar Davis and guitarist Will Graefe to tell the story of them joining the band and the post-Away era in an oral-history format. The most musically adventurous and unconventional chapter of A Dream in the Dark yet.

VOLUME SIX: WREN AMONG THE PORNOGRAPHERS Sep 26, 1996

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Track List:
  1. The President's Dead
  2. Black
  3. A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene
  4. The Latest Toughs
  5. A Girl in Port
  6. A Stone
  7. It Ends with a Fall
  8. John Allyn Smith Sails
  9. Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
  10. For Real
  11. Westfall

This show fell during a legendary co-headlining tour that Okkervil River did with The New Pornographers in 2008 and it is maybe the definitive mid-period Okkervil River concert recording, a frenetic ripper of a set with scarcely time to breathe and with ornate guitar contributions from Charles Bissell of The Wrens, who was a member of the band at that time. The only existing live recording with Bissell in the band, Wren among the Pornographers was multi-tracked by Phil Palazzolo, the New Pornographers’ soundman, fresh off producing that band’s album Challengers. Phil would go on to work in some capacity on every Okkervil River project from 2008 until today. Liner notes include a lengthy back-and-forth interview between Will and Bissell, A.C. Newman, Palazzolo, The Stage Names co-producer Brian Beattie, and longtime Okkervil bassist Patrick Pestorius.

VOLUME SEVEN: OUT OF THE SILVER GYMNASIUM, 2013 Oct 28, 1994

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Track List:
  1. It Was My Season
  2. On a Balcony
  3. Rider
  4. Pink-Slips
  5. Where the Spirit Left Us
  6. Lido Pier Suicide Car
  7. The Valley
  8. No Key, No Plan (slow version)
  9. Satellite of Love (Lou Reed cover)
  10. Stay Young
  11. Down Down the Deep River
  12. Lost Coastlines
  13. [Encore Break]
  14. Dance Hall Days (Wang Chung cover)
  15. Walking Without Frankie
  16. A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene
  17. Unless It’s Kicks

Recorded in the first wild flush of touring for Okkervil River’s 2013 concept album The Silver Gymnasium, Out of the Silver Gymnasium presents highlights from that record interspersed by selections from I Am Very Far, barnstorming renditions of fan favorites “Lost Coastlines” and “Unless It’s Kicks,” and covers of “Dance Hall Days” by Wang Chung and “Satellite of Love,” dedicated to the recent passing of Lou Reed. Out of the Silver Gymnasium features boisterous duetting with Patrick Pestorius, enveloping synths courtesy of Michael St. Clair, and some particularly great keyboard solos by Justin Sherburn - and it also acts as a worthy showcase for the fiery electric guitar work of lead guitarist Lauren Gurgiolo, who is joined on guitar by Will’s childhood friend from Meriden, New Hampshire, Aaron Johnson. Liner notes include a long essay by Will following the band’s progression through the end of The Stand Ins touring, work with Roky Erickson, and recording and touring for both I Am Very Far and The Silver Gymnasium.

VOLUME EIGHT: FROM THE CHRISTEL CORNER: FESTIVALS & SPECIAL TAPINGS 2008-2009 Nov 27, 1993

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Track List:
  1. Singer Songwriter
  2. You Can’t Hold the Hand of a Rock and Roll Man
  3. Calling and Not Calling My Ex
  4. On Tour with Zykos
  5. Does Your Mother Know? (ABBA cover)
  6. Title Track
  7. A Girl in Port
  8. John Allyn Smith Sails)
  9. Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
  10. Unless It’s Kicks
  11. Blue Tulip

A conceptual sequel to The Hot Tub Tapes that picks up right where Wren Among the Pornographers left off, From the Christel Corner is a treasure chest of of soundboard tapes curated by longtime Okkervil River fan Christel Adina Loar, documenting two whirlwind years of touring in the wake of The Stand Ins. The liner notes represent a departure from previous volumes in that Christel takes over, documenting her entry into the Okkervil orbit around 2006 and weaving through her heartfelt and insightful observations about being on the other side of the band-audience exchange. If all that wasn’t enough, there’s also a killer ABBA cover thrown in there.

VOLUME NINE: ELECTION NIGHT SPECIAL - BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 8 2016 Jan 28, 1990

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Track List:
  1. Okkervil River R.I.P.
  2. Call Yourself Renee
  3. The Industry
  4. Unless It's Kicks
  5. Plus Ones
  6. Mary on a Wave
  7. A Girl in Port
  8. Judey on a Street
  9. Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
  10. For Real
  11. The War Criminal Rises and Speaks
  12. Days Spent Floating (in the Halfbetween)
  13. So Come Back, I Am Waiting
  14. Anthem (Leonard Cohen cover)

On election night 2016 a newly reconstituted Okkervil River found themselves at a small club nested within the botanical gardens of Brussels, Belgium, nearing the end of European tour dates for the deeply personal eighth Okkervil River album Away. At the start of this set Will addresses the crowd, telling them how grateful the band is to play a show and take their minds of their fear and anxiety about the outcome back in the states. There follows a dreamy 90-minutes plus of music played by a band with their minds half in the room and half somewhere else, reenacting crucial cuts from Away as well as breathing adventurous new life into sometimes almost unrecognizable old Okkervil River classics. The set ends with a cover taped a few days later, paying tribute to Leonard Cohen who died the day before the election. Sonically a bridge between Away and the following Okkervil album* In the Rainbow Rain* (which would start production shortly after the ill-fated presidential election) Election Night Special is a powerful, urgent performance and the first audio document of the band in its present lineup. Liner notes for Election Night Special contain a long essay by Will on the making of Away and his recollections of that emotionally charged European tour.

VOLUME TEN: ON WAVES WILD + WHITE, 2006 Feb 25, 1989

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Track List:
  1. Down the River of Golden Dreams
  2. It Ends with a Fall
  3. Lady Liberty
  4. No Key, No Plan
  5. The Velocity of Saul at the Time of His Conversion
  6. Red
  7. Lost Coastlines (early version)
  8. Love to a Monster
  9. Song about a Star
  10. Some Weird Sin (Iggy Pop cover)
  11. For Real
  12. Westfall
  13. Just Give Me Time
  14. Cracked Actor (David Bowie cover)
  15. Last Love Song for Now
  16. Kansas City

In the wake of Black Sheep Boy, Okkervil River relentlessly toured the United States, Europe and Australia, honing their show along the way and slowly starting to prepare for The Stage Names. Late 2006 found them traveling America with a film crew and a mobile recording rig in tow, all for a documentary about the band that was never made. On Waves Wild + White culls the best performances from those sprawling, wild and wooly rock shows. High spirits, expansive banter, eccentric covers and shaggy-dog tomfoolery abound, all of it pristinely captured by the band’s state-of-the-art-for-the-time recording rig. A real roadhouse ripper and also maybe the closest Okkervil ever got to a comedy album? Liner notes excerpt Will’s personal journal entries written at the time.

VOLUME ELEVEN: RARITIES & REQUESTS, 2019 Mar 30, 1988

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Track List:
  1. Plan D (Bill Fay cover)
  2. Mermaid
  3. Human Being Song
  4. White
  5. Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979
  6. External Actor
  7. I Guess We Lost
  8. Lost Coastlines
  9. We Need a Myth
  10. Kansas City
  11. Mary on a Wave
  12. Your Past Life as a Blast

In 2019 Okkervil River decided to reprise the "Rarities & Requests" touring format that had been so creatively rewarding some years earlier, hitting small clubs in a stripped-down trio format to play any & every request fans had thrown their way. Whereas the inaugural "Rarities & Requests" tour had been mostly acoustic, this time the lineup was shifted and expanded to encompass live drums and drum loops, electric bass, synthesizers and multiple samplers, and a drum machine. Joining the the tour to open the shows, bandmember Sarah K. Pedinotti frequently turned the trio into a quartet to add harmonies or to play drums or (at a memorable show in Washington, D.C.) prepared piano. The band performed over 70 unique songs over the course of this short run and "Rarities & Requests, 2019" captures some of the most fascinating moments. This is Okkervil River at their most expansive & improvisational, winging their way through some beloved deep cuts and finding surprises around each corner. Liner notes for this release are approached a bit differently as Will takes fan questions about the "Dream in the Dark" series as a whole.

VOLUME TWELVE: MAGNIFICENT SANCTUARY, 2018 Jul 2, 1987

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Track List:
  1. Pulled Up the Ribbon
  2. It Ends with a Fall
  3. Love Somebody
  4. Pink-Slips
  5. Famous Tracheotomies
  6. Starry Stairs
  7. New Blood
  8. Happy Hearts
  9. Don't Move Back to L.A.
  10. Black
  11. Judey on a Street
  12. The Dream and the Light
  13. Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
  14. Skiptracer
  15. Magnificent Sanctuary Band
  16. Lost Coastlines
  17. For Real

Okkervil River managed to record almost every show they played in 2018 supporting their most recent record In the Rainbow Rain; Magnificent Sanctuary - the 12th and final volume in the A Dream in the Dark series - collects the very best moments from these shows, rendered with vivid, multi-tracked clarity. The lion's share of the In the Rainbow Rain songs make an appearance along with brand-new tunes, dramatically reworked old favorites, wildly adventurous jams, and the Donny Hathaway cover that gives this volume its name. Audio liner notes act as a miniature memoir in themselves; exceeding four hours, they recount the events of 2018 and Will Sheff's relocation from Brooklyn to Woodstock to Los Angeles in the background of the In the Rainbow Rain release and tour.


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