You can see this in real life somewhere near you. See The Decemberists’ dates here.

Inspired by the honey bees housed on Detroit’s urban farms, Shara wrote a song, “The Honey Bee." It’s available for free download on The Biggest Label Ever right here (registration required).

Why all the hubbabaloo?  On April 25th, the non-profit Invisible Children will be staging a global event in an effort to rescue the 3,000 child soldiers in Uganda.  Many other artists in addition to MBD are donating music for the cause. Visit the main page of The Biggest Label Ever here.

If you listen to music, then you – of course! – picked up the superb Dark Was The Night compilation, which included songs from My Brightest Diamond and Sufjan Stevens   (Sufjan covered a Castanets track). Turns out a cadre from the album has gathered to play from Dark Was The Night at NYC’s Radio City on May 3. Spearheaded by none other than the intrepid Dirty Projectors, the concert benefits the AIDS awareness organization, Red Hot. Details and tickets are here. You can still buy the compilation from the website here.

Shara Worden, frontwoman for MBD, appears quite frequently on a new record from a band you might have heard of. They go by the name, "The Decemberists," and The Hazards of Love recounts the story of "a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake." Shara not only plays the forest queen on the record, but will also be playing the role in The Decemberists’ "A Short Fazed Hovel tour 2009." Click more to see the dates of the rock opera.05.19 Los Angeles, CA: Hollywood Palladium
05.20 Oakland, CA: Fox Theatre
05.21 Eugene, OR: McDonald Theater
05.24 Missoula, MT: Wilma Theatre
05.25 Denver, CO: Fillmore Auditorium
05.27 Kansas City, MO:  Uptown Theater
05.29 Milwaukee, WI: Riverside Theater
05.31 St. Louis, MO: The Pageant
06.01 Columbus, OH: Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
06.03 Atlanta, GA: Tabernacle
06.04 Raleigh, NC: Memorial Auditorium
06.05 Richmond, VA: The National
06.06 Upper Darby, PA: Tower Theatre
06.09 Boston, MA: Radio City Music Hall
06.11-14 Manchester, TN: Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival

We have been releasing a series of remixes of from A Thousand Shark’s Teeth and have hit the third of four. This one, by Roberto C. Lange, is perhaps the most divergent and individualized so far – and that’s good thing. Lange’s take on this album is sublime and intriguing, almost as if you’re looking at Shark’s Teeth in your periphereal vision. David Stith (aka DM Stith) continues to provide the album’s stunning artwork. You can pick it up on iTunes for $4.95, and read more about it, here.

Enjoy this free MP3, the first track, from the album:
"Manzanas" (Download)

Sad news. If you weren’t in NYC on December 13th sitting in the audience at Le Poisson Rouge, then you missed one of the best My Brightest Diamond shows ever.

But…good news! Someone recorded it! And not just anyone, but expert videographers Baeblemusic! Go straight to the entire set by clicking here. They have also written a blog post about the evening, which is right here.

On February 16th, record label 4AD will release Dark Was The Night, a compilation produced by The National‘s Aaron and Bryce Dessner. Sales of the album benefit Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to HIV/AIDS awareness. The compilation’s artists read like a Who’s Who of Pretty Good Music These Days, including Andrew Bird, Beirut, Dirty Projectors, Feist, Iron and Wine, The New Pornographers, Spoon, and even our own Sufjan Stevens and My Brightest Diamond.

You may have heard Sufjan’s contribution, "You are the Blood," which floated around on the interwaves the other day (including Stereogum). And, if you’ve been listening for a while, you may have heard it before: on Cathedral, the 2004 debut of Castanets. It just so happens we’ve been featuring a three-CD Castanets collection that includes Cathedral, as well as First Lights Freeze (2006), and In the Vines (2007) for just $15. You can buy it by clicking here, until Friday of this week.

But before you do that, preorder Dark Was The Night (digital, double-cd, triple-vinyl) on the compilation’s website here.

Wow; Tuesday, January 20th, 2009. What a day! Congratulations (now, finally!) President Obama!

It also happens to be the release date of  the second in a series of remix EPs reworking A Thousand Sharks Teeth, the second full-length from My Brightest Diamond. Son Lux took on Volume 2, whom you might recognize as Best Unknown Artist from NPR’s All Songs Considered. For this volume, Son Lux created four very distinct remixes, ranging from an old-school-electro mashed with New Orleans funk treatment in "Apples," to elegiac ambient-strings overtop minimalist post-rock-drumming on "The Diamond. For "Inside a Boy," Son Lux applied break-driven-cutup-rocker to "Inside A Boy," and applied the lowrider-chamber-piano chop "To Pluto’s Moon." You can read more about the EP here and buy it via iTunes here.

Check out a previously unreleased mp3 from Son Lux on his blog here, or you can also pick up our very own benefit compilation for Habitat for Humanity, which includes an exclusive Son Lux track, right here.

Also keep an eye out for appearances by My Brightest Diamond on the Dark Was the Night compilation curated by Asthmatic Kitty friendlies Aaron and Bryce Dressner of The National. Shara Worden of MBD will be appearing alongside quite an impressive list of musicians, including Sufjan Stevens (who covers Castanets’ "You Are The Blood"). Up-and-coming DM Stith also appears with rapper Serengeti on a Buck 65 remix of the aforementioned Sufjan cover of the Castanets. Shara will also be appearing prominently on the new Decemberists record, The Hazards of Love, out March 24th on Capitol Records. She will be touring as part of their live ensemble this year.

  "Inside a Boy (Remixed by Son Lux)" (Download)

  "To Pluto’s Moon (Remixed by Son Lux)" (Download)

My Brightest Diamond is no stranger to Daytrotter. That said, we are always happy when Shara Worden of MBD shows up to the Rock Island, Illinois music writehouse. She did, just last week, and as always Daytrotter does what only they can: go deep. In this case, they plumb out the spirit of epic myth and sad pragmatism that infuses MBD’s music. MBD also drops four songs for Daytrotter, including a b-side here and there.