Pitchfork

While traditionally the gift of gold is to be given on a 50th anniversary, Saddle Creek Records has eschewed rockin' that most precious of metals in favor of offering a compilation to celebrate its 50th album release. The Omaha, NE-based home to indie rock stalwarts such as Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos, Commander Venus), Cursive, The Faint, The Good Life, and Rilo Kiley, has steadily grown from its modest circa-1993 roots to become, as the Saddle Creek webpage boasts, the "Midwestern version of Sub Pop or Matador."

As for the actual album, titled Saddle Creek 50 and set for release April 8th, expect 22 tracks by 11 bands spread over two discs-- that's one track culled from the Saddle Creek catalog and one previously unreleased track from each of the bands on the roster. How's that for a snazzy way to welcome new fans to the fold while keeping the old-school fans happy? Everybody wins!

Now you could bitch and moan about how "you can pretty easily fit 22 songs on one disc, so what the fuck?", but you'd be talking out your anus 'cause... these things feature enhanced portions containing all 45 of Saddle Creek's weekly online movies (?!) from 2002. Of course, odds are that if you're buying this set, you've already seen them all, but you know, this Internet thing ain't gonna last forever. These kids are thinking ahead. It's all about preservation.

Vinyl buffs are also in luck, as the label will make the compilation available in that format in the near future-- sans the previously released stuff. That's the penalty for being an audio Luddite, er, purist. Star trackin':

Disc 01
01 The Faint: Worked Up So Sexual [from Blank-Wave Arcade]
02 The Faint: Take Me to the Hospital
03 Now It's Overhead: Wonderful Scar [from Now It's Overhead]
04 Now It's Overhead: Dark Cycle
05 Rilo Kiley: With Arms Outstretched [from The Execution of All Things]
06 Rilo Kiley: Jenny, You're Barely Alive
07 Cursive: The Martyr [from Cursive's Domestica]
08 Cursive: Nonsense
09 Son, Ambulance: A Book Laid on Its Binding [from Euphemystic]
10 Son, Ambulance: The Moral of Rosa, Parolee

Disc 02
01 Desaparecidos: Man and Wife, The Latter (Damaged Goods) [from Read Music/Speak Spanish]
02 Desaparecidos: Popn' Off at the F
03 The Good Life: I Am an Island [from Black Out]
04 The Good Life: Aftercrash
05 Azure Ray: November [from November EP]
06 Azure Ray: Beautiful Things Can Come from the Dark
07 Sorry About Dresden: Sick and Sore [from Let It Rest]
08 Sorry About Dresden: People Have Parties
09 Mayday: Captain [from Old Blood]
10 Mayday: Pond Love
11 Bright Eyes: Something Vague [from Fevers and Mirrors]
12 Bright Eyes: One Foot in Front of the Other