Tuesdays are big in entertainmentville: Not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores, including iTunes. So I take a spin through each week's iTunes music releases and pick out some albums and tracks worthy of a download. Here are today's selections: My heroes: The Gym Class Heroes' new album is a little less edgy than previous LPs (sounds like they've Read more

Admittedly, Okkervil River has made it onto my song of the day feature quite a bit. But every time the band releases a new song, there's just no way for me to resist it. When I heard this first track from Okkervil's upcoming fifth album, The Stand-Ins, I interrupted about a dozen or so of my friends' days with an email that implored them to stop and take a listen to this. And, well, you too Read more

I already posted the MP3 of "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe," but if you're still not listening to Austin's Okkervil River, maybe this awesome music video will convince you. For the first single off of the new album, The Stage Names, the band heads into a '70s era motel room dominated by a flickering TV set, a Honeymooning couple, and some retro porn stylin'. All the while, frontman Will Sheff Read more

Amid the slew of highly anticipated albums this year, I keep forgetting to get excited about Okkervil River's latest, The Stage Names, which hits stores today. But if the Austin band's other records are any indication, this album is one that will keep me company for quite some time. I find Okkervil River's blend of heartbreaking tenderness and raw angst nearly impossible to resist. Of the songs Read more

If you're partial toward angsty rock-anthem melodrama and elegantly grungy vocals but you haven't yet been introduced to Okkervil River, allow me to play matchmaker. Since its outstanding 2005 album Black Sheep Boy, this Austin band has hovered somewhere between below the radar and above. As its name suggests, Okkervil River has an earthy, fierce folk sound, but it's filtered through the eyes of Read more

I often find myself revisiting Okkervil River's 2005 album, Black Sheep Boy, so I was psyched to see the band release a single this year to hold me over until its next full-length. I finally got a chance to hear the title track from the vinyl-only release, The President's Dead, and I'm sort of torn. On the one hand, it has all of the delicate acoustic melodrama and seething rock outbursts I've Read more