Well, there you have it.  The first single, “Fresh Born”, off of Deerhoof’s new album.  Instead of releasing the actual recording, Deerhoof has offered up this piece of sheet music.  They’ve invited you to record your own version and post it up at deerhoof.cashmusic.org for all to hear.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ61HLsOD9s&e]

Pretty cool idea if you ask me.  Unfortunately, I won’t be submitting anything since I haven’t read music since I was 14.  As far as my own playing goes, I’ve always gone out of my way not to learn keys or names of notes.  I play everything by ear, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t.  There’s nothing I hate more than someone telling me to play in the key of E.  I’ll play the notes I feel like playing, thank you very much.

There’s something to be said for the ability of sheet music to communicate ideas, however.  Hell, until the ability to record and reproduce sound came along, sheet music was THE way to get your songs out there.  I’ve started to collect some of the more interesting pieces of sheet music I find at antique stores; There’s some fascinating artwork out there if you look hard enough.  The Kansas City Sheet Music Collection has a fairly large online gallery if you want to see what I’m talking about.

Deerhoof’s new album, Offend Maggie, comes out on Kill Rock Stars on October 7th.  To hold you over for a few minutes at least, here’s some classic Deerhoof….

Deerhoof – Milking

TOUR DATES

SUN JULY 27 – Hollywood Bowl – Hollywood, California
SUN AUG 31 – Stanley Park Singing Exhibition – The Malkin Bowl – Vancouver, British Columbia

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