Below is a new track that you can download for free from Heyward Howkins called "Praline Country," which is the first single from his upcoming sophomore album. The song is "a muder ballad inspired by the Stagger Lee folk story. Except this time the killer is a lady." Howkins will be performing next in Philly tomorrow night at PhilaMOCA.

Congrats to co-founder and former owner of Philadelphia Record Exchange, Bucks County native, and Temple graduate, Greg Harris, who was just named the next CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (starting January 1)! Harris was the organization’s VP of Development since 1998, and had also worked for 14 years at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, where he started curating its library and broadcast collection. Here’s what The Roots’ ?uestlove had to say about the news: “As a musician and historian I’m thrilled to see a friend, Greg Harris, named as President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Philadelphia Record Exchange was my home away from home, and most of my 70,000 plus vinyl records came from there.” Special thanks to Philly Daily News’ Dan Gross for bringing this to our attention.

Be prepared for a mind-bending experience at PhilaMOCA’s Tuesday Tune-Out tonight when Nightlands, a.k.a. Dave Hartley, takes over the weekly music and film series, which is being curated by BITBY. The basketball lovin’, indie music community go-to bassist from The War on Drugs will be performing a live original score to Stanley Kubrick’s epic movie 2001: A Space Oddyssey with assistance from special guest Jeff Zeigler, and Mikele Edwards will also be helping to set the mood with some space-age sounds. If you had any questions about what will be going down this evening, I’ve gathered a series of tweets (below) from Hartley yesterday that should cover most of them.

“YES. The dialog will remain in the film. YES. There will be an intermission. YES. I’ll be playing Nightlands songs. YES. I wrote new songs for this performance. YES. There’ll be improvised bits. YES. Producer/musician extraordinaire Jeff Zeigler will help. YES. 2001 is the greatest film ever made. YES. smoking reefer to enhance the experience is encouraged. NO, you need to bring your own.”

(No worries about that last one – I’ve got you covered if you forget. ;o) PhilaMOCA, 531 N. 12th St., 7pm, $14, All Ages – Q.D. Tran

Yes, yes – the Philly episode of Anthony Bourdain’s “The Layover” is premiering tonight, but you should still make it over to Roosevelt’s Pub (2220 Walnut St.) for Philly Drum Project’s “Beats, Brews, and Banter” (from 7pm – 9pm). Why? Well, this month’s special guest is Chris Ward (Pattern Is Movement, Strand of Oaks), and if you’ve ever seen the guy hit the skins, then you should know why this intimate session with him is going to be a good one. The man is a beast on the kit, and surely a good and knowledgeable dude to drink some brews and shoot the shit with, especially if you love music and drums are your weapon of choice. Trust us – they’ll rerun “The Layover,” or you can record it to watch later. However, you can’t DVR this evening’s event at Roosevelt’s.

It’s absolutely beautiful out for December! Here’s something that will get your day/week started off right. Check out the sweet live performance video of Spaceship Aloha (a.k.a. Christopher Sean Powell) creating some hot beats for Data Garden’s The Switched-On Garden 002 on October 14, 2012 at Bartram’s Garden. Enjoy! 

Spaceship Aloha: live at The Switched-On Garden 002 from Data Garden 

The duo of Lea Cho and Russ Waterhouse grace the stage at Johnny Brenda’s tonight. The pairing a.k.a. Blues Control paint expansive musical landscapes layering keyboards, synth, and guitar, among other instruments creating textured scenery that pulls you through the streets. Taking microcosmic snapshots throughout their movements, Blues Control does a masterful job of pinpointing the darkness, which lies in the void, in one moment, while showcasing its potential openness in the next. Leading the listener on a sonic tour, which follows their customized route, Cho and Waterhouse take the reins, at times, showcasing places you’ve never seen and at others displaying the familiar from a unfamiliar point of view. Blues control will open for fellow Drag City labelmate Six Organs of Admittance, the moniker of experimental rocker/composer Ben Chasny. Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 9pm, $12, 21+ (Photo by Jarek Miller) – Michael Colavita

Tonight Harsh Vibes and pals Psychic Teens celebrate the former’s record release. Psychedelic Gin Blossoms is a true chameleon; if you don’t look at the track listing, you’d be hard pressed to realize that there are actually only two songs on the album, and not, as the first listen can make it seem, a slew of songs that merely bleed seamlessly into one another. This would give the whole thing an almost theatrical feel, if Harsh Vibes were interested in belaboring the point. But no, the first track, "Side A" leads with a thundering wash of effects pedals, before settling into a soothing river of grooves. As the album progresses – or rather, stretches the first song to its breaking point before segueing into the second, they treat structure as their canvas and all stylistic expectations go out the window. Harsh Vibes might have started with acid-drenched garage rock, but the second that you start to lose yourself, they stealthily add to the edifice until the song turns into a slow-burning, epic beauty on par with Isis or Rosetta, and you’re left wondering where the transition began. Psychic Teens are there to add their dire, end-of-the-world post-punk to the mix – all for an unparalleled celebratory trip. The El Bar, 1356 N. Front St., 8pm, $5, 21+ – Alyssa Greenberg