Major Organ and the Adding Machine Movie Trailer Screened

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Major Organ and the Adding Machine Movie Trailer Screened

Published Tuesday, May 08, 2007 by Jeff | E-mail this post

caitlinbree at the Townhall posted a surprising announcement: last Saturday night at the 40 Watt, a 3-minute trailer was screened for the upcoming film Major Organ and the Adding Machine, based upon the concept album from 2001 which featured the "Elephant 6 Orchestra." Caitlin writes, "Here's what I remember: Two children who seem to be on some sort of quest/adventure. People with long, grey beards. Guy in a lobster suit. A woman baking cookies (Madam Truffle, presumably) & throwing lots of stuff in the blender (photos, records, etc). We heard no dilaogue: just some Major Organ music, some new pieces. High quality filming...looks hilarious...can't wait to see it."

We first heard about a Major Organ film when Optical Atlas interviewed Elf Power's Andrew Rieger last year. The album itself is shrouded in mystery, and most of those involved refuse to speak about it, creating a great deal of confusion as to who did what. It's been rumored that the album was put together slowly over several years, mixing together various E6 bands, so that a vocalist from one band might be singing the lyrics of another's song (as is apparently the case with "Madame Truffle," which is--again, "rumored"--to be Jeff Mangum singing a Kevin Barnes piece), or one artist remixing another's track. When asked if Rieger provided the vocals on "Francisco's Victory," he demurred: "I'm not at liberty to discuss the inner workings of the Major's body of work, but I will tell you that the Major Organ movie is coming soon and it will be a twisted masterpiece...and Francisco will be seen in all his glory and splendor!" Not long after, Justin Laird interviewed Circulatory System's Derek Almstead and asked about the film. Derek said:

"Well, man, I think it's going to be pretty awesome...[portions omitted to preserve the identity of the creators]...I've done a couple scenes; I think it's going to be a silent movie with music, the Major Organ record as the soundtrack. I've shot a few scenes and the ones that I've been in are the ones with tons of people in the scene, I don't think they're all going to be like that. They're doing tons of stuff with green screening. The last time I talked with [the co-director] about it, he was at the stage where he was doing the green screen stuff, and sometimes they'd miss something, so they have to go through and closely edit that stuff. So that's a process. Most of the people who are around Athens are in it. I don't know if many of the Of Montreal people are in any of it; I don't think they were around for any of it... Maybe B.P. is, but I didn't see him. David Barnes is in it. I did a couple scenes with him. Andrew from Elf Power is definitely in it, he's got a bigger role. And there's also some people who aren't involved in the E6 music stuff who are in it too, to fill certain roles. I might not even supposed to be saying this, for all I know it's going to be the same deal, where it's totally and mysteriously created!"

If anyone involved with the film, or who saw the trailer, would like to drop a few more details, please drop me a line and I'll update this blog. The Major Organ and the Adding Machine album is still in print and can be purchased from the Orange Twin Records website.