After a few months during which it was pretty much the most (awesome) poorly kept secret in Philly music circles, Matador Records officially announced that the label has signed Philly’s own Kurt Vile, and will be releasing his next record, Childish Prodigy, in the fall. The signing comes after a rush of activity from the Vile camp, including the most excellent Hunchback EP, the vinyl re-issue of last year’s Constant Hitmaker on the Woodsist label, a super-limited LP on the Mexican Summer label, and a split single with Philly band Beat Jams. We have all of these records, and we assure you, they are each resplendent works of cosmic psychedelic pop folk blues. In a mass email this morning, longtime Matador honcho Gerard Cosloy said:

We’re very pleased to announce an addition to the label roster we consider to be one of the more important figures in American music circa 2009. Philadelphia guitarist/vocalist Kurt Vile first came to our attention (and possibly yours as well) with the release of the 2008 CD ‘Constant Hitmaker’ [...] What the homemade ‘Hitmaker’ (recently reissued on vinyl by Woodsist) lacked in fidelity it more than made for in scope —– to dub the album “psych pop” barely scratches the surface of a work that’s as impossibly catchy as it is wildly experimental.
Subsequent exposure to Kurt’s live shows in a variety of settings, both on his own and with crack ensemble The Violators, made it abundantly clear that we’d either have to sign this guy or find someone else who sounded exactly like him. Since the latter task proved impossible, here we are. Having signed a worldwide, multi-album pact with Matador, Kurt Vile’s first full-length for the label, ‘Childish Prodigy’ will be released on LP/CD and digital formats in Autumn 2009.

So awesome. It’s at this time we’d like to raise a glass to Philly’s own Constant Hitmaker, Kurt Vile, and say, from the bottom of our hearts: PROUD OF YA. Here’s one of the tracks that made Constant Hitmaker such a revelation. Enjoy.

Previously: Breakout Philebrity: Kurt Vile

[Photo courtesy: Megawords]

This entry was posted on Friday, May 29th, 2009 at 11:34 am.