Not a fan of V-Day, here are some Valentine cards, I’m passing along. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to put on No Country for Old Men and open a bottle of Jack….

BE KINA’S VALENTINE
kinagrannis.com

Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Kina Grannis is giving away a free song called “Valentine”, details on the download as well as a chance to win some signed posters and CD are on buzznet.com. If you’re too lazy to click through, it involves “liking” her Facebook and tweeting:

Download “Valentine” by @KinaGrannis for free and spread the love! http://bit.ly/freevalentine #freedownload @buzznet“.

Her re-released album, dubed a “redux” version, called Stairwells will be released in standard and deluxe format via One Haven Music.

Here is the first leg of her national tour:

Sat 4/2 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
Tue 4/5 Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
Wed 4/6 Toronto, ON @ Great Hall
Fri 4/8 New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
Sat 4/9 New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
Mon 4/11 Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse
Tue 4/12 Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus
Wed 4/13 Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
Fri 4/15 Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall

Sat 4/16 Philadelphia, PA @ World Café
Sun 4/17 Washington DC @ Jammin Java
Thu 4/20 Ashland, VA @ Ashland Coffee And Tea
Fri 4/22 Carbarro, NC @ Art Center
Sat 4/23 Atlanta, GA @ Vinyl
Wed 4/25 New Orleans, LA @ House Of Blues
Thu 4/28 Houston, TX @ House Of Blues
Fri 4/29 Austin, TX @ The Parish
Sat 4/30 Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues

YOUR CASSETTE IS BUMMING ME OUT
myspace.com/ourcatphilip

Once again, Indiecater Records is doing something special for the holidays: Dolfish’s EP, Your Love is Bummin’ Me Out is being released on cassette this Monday. Yes, cassette. You can hear the whole EP at indiecater.com, which I have not on account that the iPad does not have Flash.

Max Sollisch, aka Dolfish, explains it all:

Max here! I’ve written these 5 tunes as a humorous solution to heart break. It’s very easy to get down on your life and stay inside listening to Roman Candle by Elliott Smith (and believe me I have) but this album aims at driving you out of that mindset as well as your house for a good laugh. Some of the lyrics are also a bit hurtful and vindictive however… “one, you never knew your worth, two I never knew your name, and three, if I tell you you’re enough, then call me on my bluff and make a change.” Maybe think of this album as that one friend of yours who’s a bit of an a*****e but always seems to make you laugh when you’re feeling down. In fact that’s probably the only reason you keep him around, but he fills that much needed place in your life. So I guess I’m saying that this album, like your d*** friend, is a bit of a one trick pony. I can live with that. Even a one trick pony deserves a ride. Hope some of this made sense.

Huh, Max, do you kiss your mother with those lips?

WE HEART MIXTAPES
shemspeed.com/iheart

Speaking of tapes, Shemspeed has a free download of Diwon’s “I Heart Mixtape,” a mixed tape made of “love” with artists like Cat Power, Finley Quaye, and Blur, among others. Details below:

Diwon has produced countless electro and hip hop mixes. His use of traditional Yemenite and Sephardic music, however, sets him apart from other artists in the genre. Diwon is influenced heavily by his family’s roots in Yemen, Ethiopia, and Israel. His musical taste seems to also have been subconsciously influenced by the the different countries in which he lived while growing up as a Navy brat, including Japan where he lived for 3 years as a child.

This multicultural maestro is always full of surprises, and his latest release is no exception. The fresh aesthetic of the Asian region has somehow stuck with him since and so, for February 14th, Diwon presents a mix devoted to what pop music is made of, LOVE…just in time for the day devoted to it. In this mix, Diwon mixes various languages and genres as well as some of his own sounds into the music of which love is made.

Included on the mix are sounds from; The Concretes, Cat Power, Finley Quaye, Buju Banton, Blur, Smokey Robinson, and Anounshka Shankar to name a few.
Download the mix for free here.