Let’s ring in the new year with something new from *Cuppa Joe*!

This is the first new music you’ve heard from Cuppa Joe in a while. It is indeed called “Something New,” and it features the same clever lyrics and home-spun twee pop melodies we’ve grown to love from Doug Larkin & co. over the years.

This track is taken from the forthcoming Cuppa Joe LP _Tunnel Trees_, which is due out on Dromedary on February 14 on CD and digital download. With _Tunnel Trees_ we’re going to try, umm, something new: we’re going to leak every song on the record before the actual street date – some will be available for download, some not – but you’ll be able to hear the entire album well in advance of its release.

This one *is* available for your downloading pleasure – simply click the down arrow on the SoundCloud music player, and it’s all yours!

Cuppa Joe • “Something New” by dromedary

Dromedary and *The 65’s* are pleased to announce a new kind of listening party – where you can listen with friends, from the privacy of your living room!

Join us in the Dromedary Records room on Turntable FM on Sunday, November 27 at 8:00 PM EST, where we’ll be previewing _Strike Hard!_, the awesome debut LP from The 65’s. Wind down your Thanksgiving weekend with our last record of 2011, from one of the most exciting new bands in New Jersey.

To find us, simply “click this link”:http://turntable.fm/dromedary_records2 or search for “Dromedary Records” on “Turntable FM.”:http://turntable.fm

We’ll be spinning records beginning at 8PM (eastern), and we’ll play The 65’s record from start to finish shortly thereafter.

Members of the band will be in the room listening along, answering questions, and talking music.

If you’ve never used Turntable FM before, it’s a pretty cool experience – think of it as an online chat room, only participants play records for each other, and can talk about (and play) music with each other – it’s a music listening experience the way we used to do it when we were kids.

Come celebrate this great new album with us as we share it in this cool new format for the first time!

(we sure hope this works; we’ve never done it before!)

Are you an Rdio subscriber?

Well, you SHOULD be. And we’re going to give you an opportunity to check out their service by presenting you with “Walk On Selfishly,” the debut single from The 65’s forthcoming CD _Strike Hard!_ (due this December). The single comes with a non-LP B-side, “Hyacinth.”

The 65’s are a *monster* of a band that is tearing up North Jersey with devastating live shows and a buzz that’s been building steadily since the band’s roof-raising performance the final night of Camelfest this past August at Maxwell’s in Hoboken.

Check this out – you can listen to it, add it to your Rdio collection, and share it with friends on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, wherever! Help us spread the word about our latest signing – and enjoy the music!

And for those of you who prefer to *own* the music, you can download this from iTunes, Amazon, or your e-tailer of choice.

In the latest installment of our massively overwhelming string of late-2011 releases, we present you with “Understanding,” the latest single from Shirk Circus.

The band’s album _This Band Will Destroy Your Life_ will be released digitally on November 1, and on CD November 15.

Shirk Circus • “Understanding” by dromedary

Check out the latest video from The Mommyheads, for the single “Hello Friends.” This song really harkens back to _Coming Into Beauty_-era Mommyheads (to us it recalls “I Started Breathing” in a lot of ways.

“Hello Friends” is taken from the forthcoming CD _Delicate Friction_, to be released on Dromedary October 18!

Two days after Hurricane Irene made its way up the East Coast, newsmedia pundits are debating whether or not the media’s extensive coverage of the storm was “overhyped.” Critics citing the nonstop weekend coverage on the 24-hour news channels say that the media went overboard; one called it a “media hyped non-catastrophe.”

Meanwhile, here in New Jersey it is Wednesday and there are still entire towns underwater. Businesses are drowning, homes have been flooded, roads have collapsed, trees have rendered travel a hazard. This “media hyped non-catastrophe” certainly seems pretty catastrophic to the thousands of displaced New Jersey residents that are still suffering, still trying to piece their lives and businesses back together after this non-event whipped through their lives and pounded them with 12 hours of wind and water.

And that’s not to mention what’s going on in Vermont, Upstate New York, and parts of every state that Irene blew through on her way north.

TV Newscrews set up their cameras in Manhattan, waiting for the 100-year storm that was going to destroy buildings and flood entire neighborhoods. When they didn’t get it, many of them packed their shit and went home, shaking their heads over the non-event.

Meanwhile, in suburban and rural towns, and even in some of New Jersey’s more urban areas, trees fell and waters rose, slowly picking up strength and swallowing downtowns in every corner of the state. Even today, nearly 200,000 people are without power and 10,000 evacuees have been unable to return to their homes. Many others are faced with the herculean task of rebuilding.

These aren’t big, corporate losses. These are human ones; folks like you and me. These are small houses and small businesses in small towns that just aren’t equipped to handle this kind of destruction. This is going to take a long time, and it’s going to be expensive.

We need to help.

If you’ve ever considered buying one of our records, now is the time. Beginning at midnight tonight and extending right through September 30, for every full-album download or CD purchase you make directly from our website (www.dromedary-records.com), we will donate $5 to the American Red Cross of Northern New Jersey. The money we donate will be used to provide relief to those who are dealing with the effects of this natural disaster.

I have no idea how many records we’ll sell. I hope it’s a lot. But even if it’s not, every little bit makes a difference. Here’s what the Red Cross says:

• Every $25 (5 CDs or downloads sold) buys five blankets.
• Every $100 (20 CDs or downloads sold) feeds and shelters a person for one day and one night in a local motel.
• Every $500 (100 CDs or downloads sold) feeds and shelters 75 people for one night in a mass care unit

Every little bit helps.

If you don’t want to buy a CD or a download, that’s fine. Go here and make a donation on your own: http://www.redcrossnnj.org/general_calltoaction.asp?CTA=5&SN=1900&IDCapitulo=KQO9J7H3L2

And if you don’t have money to buy a CD or download, that’s fine too – you can still help. Just share this post on your Facebook wall, or point people directly to the Red Cross website. We need to help our neighbors. That’s what we do. We’re human beings.

Thanks,
Al / Dromedary

Please note that this includes every release in our catalog EXCEPT “Shine” by Speed the Plough (we’re already donating a portion of the proceeds from “Shine” to Roots & Wings of NJ) or the compilation “Make The Load Lighter: Indie Rock For Haiti” (proceeds of which we accumulate and donate to Vwa Ayiti in Haiti). Also, please remember – this drive only applies to music you buy directly from dromedary-records.com – not from the other online music services or record stores.