Human Highway released Moody Motorcycle – a throwback to good old-fashioned minimalist recording sensibilities – in August. “All Day,” for instance, is mostly perfect harmonies with a mandolin and maraca. The band members are Nick Thorburn of Islands and Jim Guthrie.

Cotton Jones shows itself for the first time, too. The band’s Paranoid Cocoon hits the shelves Jan. 27 and Cotton Jones expects to headline its own tour in the spring.

The bands start off at Canadian Music Week in Toronto March 13, playing the Horseshoe Tavern, then travels through Chicago, Kansas City, Philadelphia (at the First Unitarian Church) and other cities before wrapping at Le Poisson Rouge in New York March 25.

Cotton Jones actually ends March 26, on its own, at Brooklyn’s Union Hall. The two bands are expected to play three showcases at SXSW, too.