“Cascades” (side A) is a classic Horse Feathers gem, ably fitting in the band’s canon with an even-paced keel and careful, longing string-work. The B-side is sure to delight fans of like-minded music everywhere – it’s a gorgeous cover of Gillian Welch‘s “Orphan Girl”! Slowed a bit from the original tempo and sporting some hair-raising dynamics, this version is worth the price of admission alone.

Click here to pre-order the 7″ and Kill Rock Stars will provide the mp3s for immediate download in lieu of the vinyl’s release date! Highly recommended.

UPDATE: (11/02/09) Click here to download Horse Feathers singing “Orphan Girl” for free from Amie Street. (Note, as with Amie Street’s platform, the song will increase in price as it gains popularity… tracks start for free and as they are downloaded they increase till they peak at $.99… enjoy!)

The first entry in the “rad merch” category is this excellent hand-embroidered vest I picked up from Sgt. Dunbar & The Hobo Banned’s merch table last Saturday at Valentine’s.

Amidst the array of homemade CDs and other sundry items at the table lay a few t-shirts with the “Sgt. Dunbar…” name stitched on them. I’d seen the shirts before and always wondered if they had a size for me. Usually, by the time I’d get to look at the shirts there would only be a child’s small left and lord knows I am not fitting into any sized small ever again. However, this was a new batch, and what’s this? Out pop three handsome wool vests with different stitched images on them! I clamored to find out if there was a “large” in the bunch and quite cosmically there was…

Twenty U.S. dollars scored me this amazing new vest that if / when I lose ten pounds, will fit absolutely perfectly. (Buttoning it right now is a little iffy, but it still fits). Check out the excellent stitch detail of Henry David Thoreau!

Upon further research (OK, MySpace spying..) I found that the lovely creator of these one-of-a-kind items is none other than Mary Elise Bolam. Her work can be found at her MySpace page here. Her gallery reveals work for other bands including BEWARE! The Other Head of Science, Desperately Obvious and more. Bands, check the blog entry offering a free pie with your first order!

Keep an eye out for more Merch Magic! Feel free to suggest any rad merch you see out there in music land!