Okkervil River- Stars Too Small to Use (1999) MP3 & FLAC

(my apologies for the crappy artwork scan)

"Relax, no song is written. It's nothing you thought of yourself. It's just a ghost, came unbidden to this house."

A garage recording in both the figurative the literal senses, Stars Too Small to Use contains the raw, often visceral, and intermittently beautiful early recordings of one of the great, underrated Indie bands of the noughties. It is quite interesting to hear Okkervil River in their formative period, sounding more "Alt" Country than they ever would again, while also echoing the acoustic slacker-Punk of early Violent Femmes. While this is nowhere near as essential as the amazing albums that followed it, there are, nevertheless, some shining gems waiting to be discovered. Chief among these is "The Velocity of Saul at the Time of His Conversion," which would be rerecorded two years later for their debut Jagjaguwar release. This song offers a prescient glimpse of the literate, shambolic beauty that would come to characterize their later work. Long out of print and a rare find in lossless.

Stars Too Small to Use
1. Kathy Keller  (3:30)
2. The Velocity of Saul at the Time of His Conversion  (4:27)
3. Oh, Precious  (5:03)
4. For the Captain  (5:34)
5. Auntie Alice  (2:57)
6. Whole Wide World  (4:07)
7. He Passes Number Thirty-Three  (5:45)

MU: Lossy (MP3@320)

MU: Lossless (FLAC)