Pitchfork

Micah C. Harding and Ashford Tucker report:
Since the far off days of Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams has followed his autistic muse through more than a few ridiculous musical moments. 2003 presented a new low for songwriter/fan expectations by simultaneously affirming our worst fears that love is, in fact, hell; and furthermore, breaking rules #4 and #12 of the Sub Pop "Dean's List of Rock & Roll Do's & Don'ts." Now, after being run ragged by utter failures, palling around with Liam Gallagher, releasing an album whose name is printed in reverse, co-interviewing girlfriend Parker Posey in Interview magazine, and breaking his wrist at a performance in Liverpool, rendering himself completely incapable of masturbating-- Adams has stopped to rest in the city he loves-- New York, New York-- for the past month, regaining focus. And all this pain just for rocking out too hard on "Shadowlands"!

From his signature blend of angst, simple songwriting, and dependable disappointments, our mussy-haired hero has decided to create his own label, Paxamerican, to help those aspiring unsigned acts he deems worthy of endorsement. In the same vein of distaste as a recent Elvis Costello box set or the career or Courtney Love, so too has Adams crossed that thin red line determining what is/isn't releasable by including two collections of his own recordings (one old four-track stuff, the other new demos) as the label's debut. One can only speculate on Adams' reasoning. Possibly, after spending several weeks at home with a broken wrist, staring longingly at his acoustic guitar and laminated photos of Jack White (experiencing that adolescent realization that it's just not the same with the other hand) Adams came across his old four-track, from way back in those good ol' country days, and was filled with uncontrollable nostalgia. Tracklists:

The Rescue Blues:
01 The Rescue Blues [four-track demo]
02 Come Pick Me Up [four-track demo]
03 Enemy Blanks [four-track demo]
04 Tell Me How You Want Me To Feel [four-track demo]

California:
01 California
02 Waves Crashing
03 Secret Powers
04 Do You Wanna Get High?

In addition to this four-track poppycock, Adams also recently announced the release of his latest single "This Is It," (unfortunately not a threat to retire, and no, not a dyslexic cover of the Strokes), scheduled for March 23rd. In addition, New Musical Express reports that last year's Love Is Hell EP's, originally sold in two incoherent volumes last year, will be reunited on a single incoherent disc, as originally conceived, this May.