Lunapark6 has just posted a rather nice little interview with Andrew Rieger of Elf Power, discussing the new album Back to the Web, which, and it can't be said enough, comes out on April 25 on Rykodisc. We posted tour dates a little earlier, so do check out the band if they're coming near you. And thanks to Lunapark6 for letting us know about this feature--and for doing it in the first place.

Today an interview with the Essex Green has appeared at MSNBC.com as part of their "new artists you should know now" series, and they have some interesting comments about their working relationship.
Meanwhile, the reviews for their new album Cannibal Sea are trickling in, and here are a few more:

Allmusic.com
Babysue
Cleveland Scene
L Magazine (podcast)

Elf Power have just announced some tour dates for their spring 2006 Back to the Web Tour. (The new album is released by Rykodisc on April 25.) Some of these shows are tentative and no doubt more venues will be announced--and if they're not coming to your town yet, they may very well be later in the year--but here's what's been announced so far.

Upcoming Shows

04/01/2006 - Georgia Theater, Athens, GA
04/15/2006 - 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA - Album Release Party!
04/26/2006 - Local 506, Chapel Hill, NC
04/27/2006 - Iota, Arlington, VA
04/28/2006 - North Six, Brooklyn, NY
04/29/2006 - Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
04/30/2006 - PA's Lounge, Boston, MA
05/01/2006 - Bug Jar, Tentative, Rochester, NY
05/02/2006 - Bug Jar, Tentative, Rochester, NY
05/03/2006 - Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto
05/05/2006 - Subterranean, Chicago, IL
05/06/2006 - Seventh St. Entry, Minneapolis, MN
05/09/2006 - Crocodile Cafe, Seattle, WA
05/10/2006 - TBA, Portland, OR
05/17/2006 - Emo's Jr., Austin, TX

A couple weeks ago I interviewed Robert Schneider and he mentioned this band he's been working with called the Ideal Free Distribution. And I had no idea what he was talking about so I put the band's name in bold and left it at that. Turns out they deserve a lot more respect.

The Kentucky-based band has been together for about ten years, primarily consisting of a trio--Eric Griffy, Tony Miller, and Craig Morris, creating their first recordings in Eric's bedroom--though they've since expanded to an 8-piece, and a formidable one at that. More recently the band's demos attracted the attention of Robert Schneider, who agreed to master their first album (forthcoming on Empyrean Records). They also have a single due on Dirigeable Records, and appear on the online Lexington compilation Know Your Own Volume 2, which also features the High Water Marks, The American Revolution, and Marbles. (So yeah, if you're an E6 fan, you should be downloading that comp right now, regardless of what you think of the IFD.) Currently they're slated to open at the Athens Popfest this year with the Apples in Stereo on August 11.
And what do they sound like? Well, when I first heard "Apples and Oranges" (which has nothing to do with the Pink Floyd song, though they cite Syd Barrett as an influence), I couldn't help but think of Ray Davies. But then I just became lost in the melody and stopped concentrating so much. As to their other work--can I just say that I find it strangely pleasing to hear a pop band in 2006 use a sitar so shamelessly? Good stuff. Below are two MP3s, appearing with the band's permission, and if you go to their MySpace website and their home page, you can hear more.

Thanks go out to Samantha of the IFD for help with this article.

Apples and Oranges
Saturday Drive

Calvin, Don't Jump! is the band of J. Kirk Pleasant, who, when active in the Athens music scene, contributed to albums by the Olivia Tremor Control, the Gerbils, and Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't. As Calvin, Don't Jump! he released two albums--1999's Crystal Clear Mississippi and 2002's A Way with Birds, both of which have garnered cult followings--and a handful of singles. Now he lives in Canada, but recently announced a short tour in Japan, to be followed by the release of a third album. Mr. Pleasant spilled a few details of the upcoming album, Conscious of Conscience, to Optical Atlas.

"The new album doesn't have a release date yet," he writes, "but I'm going to have 50-100 limited edition copies available for the upcoming Japanese tour. If there's any left over (hopefully not...he he), I'll sell them first come first serve from my website. After the tour, I'll probably re-mix the whole thing and touch it up a bit, then try to find somebody to help me put it out. I wouldn't mind doing it myself, like the first record, but that's always expensive and my funds are a little low these days."

The Calvin, Don't Jump! MySpace page mentions that one of his early cassettes will be re-released soon, possibly with more reissues of early material to follow. "The tape EP I'm re-releasing is my first ever four-track recording effort titled Notes from Undersound. It's a five-song EP and will be available in tape format only. I was listening to it the other night while making some tapes and ten years later, I think it's a pretty impressive example of low-fi at its most vulnerable."

He has some Japanese dates scheduled in April and May, but will anything in North America follow? "I don't have any other shows planned after the Japanese tour. Although I wouldn't mind doing some shows around here (Vancouver, B.C.). My friend Keith John Adams is thinking about touring out this way and I'd like to do a show with him. So far, I haven't played a show in North America in about three years, save one open-mic night that nobody who knew me attended. It was lots of fun though. I like doing that sort of thing."

If you're new to Calvin, Don't Jump!, you can listen to some of Mr. Pleasant's music, including a song from the new album, at the band's MySpace page. A Way with Birds is for sale at Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records, and Athens Music is still selling copies of Crystal Clear Mississippi.

Calvin, Don't Jump! in Japan

04/27/2006 - Nagoya @ KDJAPON
04/29/2006 - Kyoto @ NANO
04/30/2006 - Osaka @ Venue TBA
05/04/2006 - Tokyo @ Shimokitazawa440
05/06/2006 - Tokyo @ Yoyogi Zherthezoo

A Hawk and a Hacksaw have posted on their MySpace page that they will be playing a show this Saturday night at the College of Santa Fe, New Mexico, with the Paul Collins Dance Machine. From all accounts they put on an amazing live show, so if you live in the vicinity, you won't want to miss it.

04/01/2006 08:00 PM - College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM 87500

The Essex Green have announced a few more U.S. tour dates. They begin their spring tour to promote their new album, Cannibal Sea, on April 5 in Germany, then they sweep through Europe and begin conquering the States on April 28 in Chicago. To prepare for the onslaught, you can purchase the album now, listen to it streaming at Merge's website, or read my review.
UPDATE: More shows added below.

Upcoming Shows

04.05.2006 * Bremen, @ Lagerhaus w/ Shout Out Louds
04.06.2006 * Hannover, @ Musikzentrum w/ Shout Out Louds
04.07.2006 * Erlangen, @ E-Werk w/ Shout Out Louds
04.08.2006 * Heidelberg, @ Karlstorbahnof w/ Shout Out Louds
04.09.2006 * Koln, @ Kulturbunker Mulheim w/ Shout Out Louds
04.10.2006 * Munster, @ Gleis 22 w/ Shout Out Louds
04.11.2006 * London, @ Cargo (SOLD OUT)
04.12.2006 * London, @ 93 Feet east
04.27.2006 * Lexington, KY @ The Dame
04.28.2006 * Chicago , IL @ Subterranean w/ Tapes N Tapes & Brighton PA
04.29.2006 * St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
05.02.2006 * Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Cafe
05.03.2006 * Portland , OR @ Towne Lounge w/ Irving
05.04.2006 * Redding, CA @ The Dip w/ Irving
05.05.2006 * Santa Cruz, CA @ The Attic
05.06.2006 * San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
05.07.2006 * Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland
05.08.2006 * Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture Gallery
05.10.2006 * Austin, TX, Venue TBA
05.11.2006 * Dallas, TX, Venue TBA
05.12.2006 * Houston, TX, Venue TBA
05.13.2006 * Jackson, MS, Venue TBA
05.14.2006 * Chattanooga, TN, Venue TBA
05.16.2006 * Washington, DC @ Black Cat Backstage
05.17.2006 * Philadelphia, PA @ The Khyber

Thanks to Christopher in Austin for sharing with Optical Atlas these photos of the Great Lakes in action at SXSW last week. This summer should see the release of their third album, The Diamond Times, on Empyrean Records. Be sure to also read our recent interview with Ben Crum. (UPDATE: Adam from Urban Pollution has put one of his Great Lakes photos at their website, along with other SXSW pics, so you can see an additional photo there. Thanks Adam...)

One last reminder that today, from 2-3pm EST, Robert Schneider and Kim Cooper discuss Neutral Milk Hotel's classic album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea on WNYC's Soundcheck. The page devoted to this particular show is up here. You can listen live streaming on the website, or archived after the show airs.

UPDATE: The show's over, what did you think? Feel free to leave your comments below. If you didn't get a chance to listen live, it should be archived at the website soon. (One cool thing is that the interviewer mentioned the show was already the top-emailed story at their website.)

Darren at Bicycle Kick My Worries Away has given us, in the past week, Of Montreal's demo tape of Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies as well as a real treasure, a collection of demos pre-dating Cherry Peel. As he continues to dig through his box (which is lined with gold, with the figures of angels on the top, and was once sitting in an ancient Jewish temple until it was buried for thousands of years, and later dug up by a brave archaeologist who had to fight Nazis and stuff!), he's now found a CD-R of a soundboard recording of Neutral Milk Hotel performing at the Broad River Outpost in Danielsville, Georgia, in September 1997. The quality of this recording is really stunning. He's zipped it into a file which can be downloaded from Rapidshare. Hop on over. He's also let us know that he'll have more to share in the future, so it's a blog you'll want to watch.

Setlist:
01 - Naomi -> Someone Is Waiting -> Song Against Sex
02 - Tuesday Moon
03 - The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. Three -> A Baby For Pree
04 - Through My Tears -> Oh Comely -> Now There is Nothing
05 - Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone -> Rubby Bulbs -> Snow Song Pt. 1

So the bloggers have gone to SXSW (well, not I, but some bloggers have). Here are some bits and pieces to chew on.

Sonic Spectrum went to SXSW and talked to Heather McIntosh of the Instruments and Circulatory System. She spoke with the blog about the upcoming Circulatory System album. Sonic Spectrum writes, "Rumor has it OTC is back together but will use the Circulatory System as their moniker playing songs from all of the members' other groups, including Olivia Tremor Control, The Sunshine Fix and new Circulatory System tunes." [UPDATE: Kelly Ruberto of elephant6.com states that this rumor is complete B.S. Just to let you know.] The blog promises more of the Heather McIntosh interview in coming weeks. There's also a brief, curious "rant" about the Essex Green not being as psychedelic as they used to be.

But at least he's not patronizing, as the Onion AV Club was when they recently mentioned Essex Green at SXSW, and seemed shocked that the band didn't sound like Arcade Fire, or something. They seem to have enjoyed Dressy Bessy a bit more.

Some words about the Of Montreal SXSW performance can be found at the following:

Chromewaves: "...the audience was crying, screaming, gnashing teeth, rending clothes...okay, actually it was Kevin Barnes who was rending his clothes, coming out on stage dressed as a bride and then attacked and stripped by his bandmates before they launched into a thoroughly entertaining set of discoesque pop."

Chartattack: "There were no costume changes like at their recent Mod Club show in Toronto, but there were hooks galore in their totally fun alternative pop tunes."

Brooklyn Vegan has some photos and free OM MP3s.

Get a brief glimpse of Of Montreal performing "The Final Countdown" at SXSW at athensmusic (under the March 21st post).

And, of course, there's plenty more Of Montreal clips at YouTube.


Optical Atlas should have lots of exciting things for you in the week ahead, but I can't mention any of them, lest they take longer than I expected and then I look stupid when they don't appear. But keep checking back. And I can't emphasize this enough: listen to Kim Cooper and Robert Schneider on Monday's edition of Soundcheck on WNYC radio, 93.9 FM, at 2-3pm EST. (The show should be archived at the site, too.) They will be discussing Neutral Milk Hotel and the making of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, and may also be dropping more details about the documentary which Kim has begun with filmmaker Chris Dortch. If you're an Elephant 6 fan, there should be plenty to please you in the weeks ahead, I promise.

The April issue of SPIN Magazine features a two-page spread on the Elephant 6 collective, using Olivia Tremor Control's reunion tour as a springboard for a retrospective of Elephant 6's origins, rise, and subsequent decline. Highlights include:

-the revelation that Jeff Mangum is married and was last seen living in Quebec
-a brief quote from the very Neutral Milk Hotel leader
-an admiring quote from Michael Stipe
-thoughts on Olivia Tremor Control's reunion from Will Cullen Hart
-the author's curious decision that the Music Tapes are "mostly active" but the Minders, who have a new album due out in July, are "mostly inactive"

Some other interesting things: diehard fans will be pleased that the author cites Of Montreal's Gay Parade as "essential," but Apples in Stereo fans--long locked in the battle of which is superior, Fun Trick Noisemaker or The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone--may be surprised to see that the answer is Tone Soul Evolution. Hey, it is underrated, come to think of it.

It's the April issue of SPIN, the one with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on the cover, and it's on newsstands now.

Kim Cooper, author of Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, has given a brief interview in L.A. Weekly in which she announces that she will be teaming with Chris Dortch to produce a documentary on Neutral Milk Hotel and the Elephant 6 collective in general. She has also informed Optical Atlas that, should the conversation turn that way, she will discuss more about the project when she appears with Robert Schneider on 93.9 WNYC's "Soundcheck" program on Monday, March 27, from 2-3pm EST. (She will be interviewed from the Pasadena studio.) Keep checking back at Optical Atlas as further details are announced.

Briefly:
Cable and Tweed today have a nice little article about Robert Schneider's Orchestre Fantastique, plus an MP3 from the Dean Quixote soundtrack. Check it out.

UPDATE: Keep checking back at the Cable and Tweed blog, as I have it on a very good source that they may be hosting some previously unreleased Orchestre Fantastique tracks soon!

Mike over at Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records has updated his website and provided some details on the upcoming year in HHBTM releases. You can read the whole newsletter at this Townhall thread, but here are the Elephant 6 highlights:

Some early Marshmallow Coast CDs will be reissued with bonus tracks.

UPDATE: When Optical Atlas asked Andy Gonzales if this will include Timesquare as well as the Kindercore releases, he replied: "I think we are doing the whole shebang, including early 4 track stuff!"

In addition, we can expect from HHBTM:

A new HHBTM Singles Club, with a full lineup of contributors to be announced June 1.
UPDATE:
Announced so far:
Apples in Stereo
Poison Control Center
Of Montreal
James Husband & the Wives
Marbles
Casper & the Cookies
All Girl Summer Fun Band
Cars Can Be Blue
Tullycraft
The Smittens
Boyracer
Bunnygrunt
Bearsuit
Keith John Adams
Fishboy
Baby Calender
Love Letter Band
63 Crayons
Russian Spy Camera
...with more to come!

Subscriptions are limited to 500.

Static in the Attic DVD compilation...
UPDATE: Mike from HHBTM has explained (see comments) that this is NOT an Of Montreal video compilation, as I had previously surmised. Sorry for the error.

The HHBTM Athens Popfest will be held August 8th - 12th, and the bands should be announced in April.

Plus a Happy Happy Birthday to Me Volume 4 CD, new Casper and the Cookies, a CD-R club, and more. Read the newsletter and check out the fancy new website.

Robert Schneider and Kim Cooper will be on WNYC's Soundcheck broadcast on Monday, March 27, to discuss Cooper's wonderful book, Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (2pm to 3pm EST). You won't want to miss that.

And just a reminder that if you leave near Pasadena, California, Ms. Cooper will be reading from the book and appearing with Ben Sisario, who has contributed to the 33 1/3 series with his thoughts on the Pixies' Doolittle.

Saturday, March 25
WHERE: Vroman's Bookshop, 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101.
Free lot parking.
WHEN: Saturday, March 25, 2006, 4:00pm

Kim Cooper's website for the book is here.

My Amazon review of the book is here.

According to the Fire Records website, the "Deluxe" U.K. reissue of Neutral Milk Hotel's debut album, On Avery Island, will be released on April 10, 2006. Which is awfully soon. Unfortunately, no word yet on bonus tracks. Please inform me if I'm wrong.

The description is, "Much anticipated re-issue of the much better Neutral Milk Hotel albums." That's much interesting.

Fire Records has previously reissued On Avery Island with the first two tracks of the Everything Is single as bonus tracks ("Everything Is," "Snow Song Pt. 1"). So what does "deluxe" mean? I don't know.

Thanks to young pilgrim at the Townhall for noticing this.

Chris, aka lou2ser, has been uploading clips of Elephant 6 bands that he took at SXSW, and here they are. I get a bit jealous when I see the Gerbils clips, because I've never seen them live, and it looks like a fun show (Laura Carter, from Elf Power, is grinning like mad and pounding away on drums).

Links to Google Video Clips:

Elf Power: Walking with the Beggar Boys
Elf Power: We Dream in Sound
Gerbils: Intro/Ted Doesn't Mind
Gerbils: The White Sky
Gerbils: The Air We Share
Instruments: My Ship
Instruments: Branches for Many Birds
A Hawk and a Hacksaw: Wicky Pocky
A Hawk and a Hacksaw: The Moon Under Water
A Hawk and a Hacksaw: unknown

Rapidshare Links to Zipped Files:

Elf Power: all clips
Gerbils: all clips
A Hawk and a Hacksaw: all clips
Instruments: all clips

Thanks for doing this, Chris!

The Hardest Walk blog has a rather nice review of the new Elf Power album Back to the Web, which is due for release on Rykodisc April 25. This is a well-written review and worth your time.
Incidentally, I posted a link to the album at Rykodisc last week or so, and it appeared that through that link you could order the album immediately off the label's website. That wasn't the case, however. The album was put up for sale a little prematurely, but no copies were shipped out. So you'll just have to wait another month for your Elf Power.
But come they will.

Thanks to fuzztone at the Townhall for pointing this out.

This may be of interest to some of you. Or all of you. Bicycle Kick My Worries Away, which last weekend posted the entire Of Montreal Coquelicot demo tape, is now making available the flip-side of that tape, consisting of pre-Cherry Peel demos. You can download it as a Rapidshare zipped file. Be sure to give Darren at BKMWA a real big hug while you're over there.

01 - Dreaming Of You
02 - Waiting On The Weather
03 - Lovely Notes
04 - Sleeping In The Beatle Bug
05 - Don't Ask Me To Explain
06 - Does My Voice Not Have Wings
07 - I Can't Stop Your Memory
08 - On The Drive Home
09 – How Did You Get in This Song?
10 - Big Tittied Sluts
11 - Springtime Is The Season
12 - Let Out a Final Gasp of Hope
13 - Montreal
14 - Happiness + Love
15 - Scenes From My Funeral
16 - Panda Bear
17 - When You're Loved Like You Are

Thanks to BP Helium for correcting some song titles at this thread.

Will it ever catch on?
When last I saw the Essex Green live, they were playing in the back room of a small bar in Milwaukee to a dozen listeners--a small number, but attentive and appreciative, especially the one overjoyed guy who kept screaming requests to the bewildered band. They let him up on stage at the end to play guitar, and he fiddled with it uncertainly, and Sasha finally smiled.
Today I listened to Cannibal Sea a couple of times while I was working. My trainee picked up the CD when she came by my desk and said, "Oh, is this one of your bands?" (Only a few days ago she assumed I knew the name of the Snoop Dogg song she was playing.) "I like the cover," she said, and then she began reading the names of the tracks aloud, slowly. "'This Isn't Farm Life'...'Snakes in the Grass'...'Rabbit'...'Sin City,' I like that. Are all these songs are about farm animals?" No. This isn't farm life. Fucking pay attention.
But will they ever catch on? Not with the Snoop Dogg fans.
The Essex Green announced their purpose with the song "Sixties" on their debut LP, Everything is Green (1999). "I'll see you in the Sixties," Chris Ziter sang; like the Buddhist ritual wherein monks attempt to reshape the world in a more perfect image by carefully arranging colored grains of sand into a vast mosaic (see the Werner Herzog film, "Wheel of Time"), the Greens are trying to recast popular music back into a decade more to their liking. That's right: we're being revised, grain by grain, by the band each time we put on the CD.
I listen to Cannibal Sea and I can't help but think that they're our Mamas and the Papas, our Byrds, our Moby Grape, and they'd be big, back when. But tastes are changing (see the Lollapalooza lineup this year), and anyway, the Green are still together, so it doesn't matter.
If you're looking for the new "Late Great Cassiopia," you can take up "Cardinal Points" happily, which gets your blood flowing the same way. If you thought The Long Goodbye seemed a little less lively here and there (and I'm not sure I'd agree), you'll certainly be pleased when you see there isn't a weak track on this album. And if you've just been missing Sasha Bell's voice, it rings clear over the instruments here, as penetrating and as lovely as ever, particularly when she takes over the vocals from Chris Ziter in the charming give and take of "Penny and Jack," or describes her dress from '74, "ripped in the arm from the girl before," in "Uniform." And Jeff Baron, whose guitar stampedes through these numbers, brings a Leonard Cohen quality to his vocals on "Rabbit."
But everything pulsates. Everything's sunny and full of life. (I knew I was in trouble when the notes I took while listening to the album were as inane as "sunny," "happy," "train ride through the Appalachians.") Hell, even "Sin City" turns out to be a song about Ohio. If you were a fan that dreaded the band going synth-pop, you've nothing to fear--there's nothing wrong with synths, and anyway they're dressings, not the muscles or the bones. We still have that electric guitar. We still have the flute! And they still have the ability to write a song like "Rue De Lis," that sounds like a lost Nashville classic from, well, the Sixties. No, it's not the Second Coming, but at forty minutes it still feels too short and you'll just start it up again at the end; they're remaking popular music as it ought to be, and though you're still more likely to catch them on a hipper DJ's college station rather than Lollapalooza, I hope that the next time they come to Wisconsin there are a few more in the know, making fools of themselves and screaming drunken requests at the startled shy people from Brooklyn.

Cannibal Sea is out Tuesday from Merge Records.

Cannibal Sea, by
The Essex Green

1. This Isn't Farmlife
2. Don't Know Why (You Stay)
3. Penny & Jack
4. Snakes in the Grass
5. Rue De Lis
6. Cardinal Points
7. Rabbit
8. Uniform
9. The Pride
10. Sin City
11. Elsinore
12. Slope Song
Total Running Time: 40:12

Listen to tracks at the Essex Green MySpace page, where you can also download a live version of "Mrs. Bean."

Tour Dates (more forthcoming)

04/05/2006 08:00 PM - Lagerhaus- Bremen, Germany
04/06/2006 08:00 PM - Musikzentrum- Hannover, Germany
04/07/2006 08:00 PM - E-werk- Erlangen, Germany
04/08/2006 08:00 PM - Karlstorbahnhof- Heidelburg, Germany
04/09/2006 08:00 PM - Kulturbunker Mulheim- Koln, Germany
04/10/2006 08:00 PM - Gleiss 22- Munster, Germany
04/12/2006 08:00 PM - 93 Ft East- London, England
04/28/2006 08:00 PM - Subterranean- Chicago, IL
04/29/2006 08:00 PM - Turf Club- St. Paul, MN
05/03/2006 08:00 PM - Towne Lounge- Portland, OR
05/04/2006 08:00 PM - The Dip- Redding, CA

On the eve of the release of the Essex Green's new album, we thought it might be nice to take a moment to plug the Sixth Great Lake, which has pretty close ties to the Green.
Although tracking the different permutations that branched off from the Vermont-based Guppyboy in the late-90's can be a bit exhausting (the soundest effort can be found at the blog Latitude 44.2 North), the simple explanation is that Guppyboy split into two bands, the Essex Green and the Sixth Great Lake, and for a little while they shared pretty much the same members. But while the Essex Green--especially in the early years--had a psychedelic feel, the Sixth Great Lake owed more to the history of country and folk music and influences such as The Band. SGL released an album on Kindercore, Up the Country, to glowing reviews in 2001. Later Sasha Bell left the band to concentrate on the Essex Green, the Ladybug Transistor, and her solo project, the Finishing School; Jeff Baron also left for the Green; and Michael Barrett, who had released his own solo album, Couches and Carpet, left the Essex Green and moved to Nashville.
If anyone thought the Sixth Great Lake was dead, their questions were put to rest by 2003 as the band toured extensively and released a tour CD, House of Cards. The band now consisted of Michael Barrett, Zachary Ward, and Christopher Ziter. Their sophomore album, Sunday Bridge, should have been released by The Telegraph Company, which released the Finishing School album as well as one of Dressy Bessy's finest, but that label, tied up in legal battles with Kindercore, vanished. Looking around for a distributor, SGL finally decided to release it themselves as a vinyl LP. Sunday Bridge was officially released in 2004 in a limited edition of 500 copies, each containing a different playing card to help the band track the album's distribution across the world. In 2005 Carrot Top Distribution agreed to help get the LP in stores, and in August Apollo Audio agreed to stream the album online. To date, however, Sunday Bridge is still not scheduled for a CD release.
The album itself, mirroring the paring-down of the band between albums, is more focused, with consistently strong songwriting throughout. The songs have a power that creeps up on you slowly, until you hit the one-two punch of Ziter's "Kentucky," a powerful, memorable ballad, and Barrett's "Smokin' Joe," a soft but stirring piece that closes the album. Sunday Bridge was one of the best albums of 2004, and hardly anyone heard it.
The band has confirmed to Optical Atlas that they still have copies of the LP for sale at their website, so we urge you to give a listen. (You can also read reviews and order other merchandise at the site.) If you've never heard the Sixth Great Lake before, but you like Essex Green, you owe it to yourself to give their sister band a listen. If you don't have a record player, check out their tour CD House of Cards, which features some tracks from the album. Like Sunday Bridge, you can buy it directly from the band at their website.
The Sixth Great Lake also informs us that they've contributed to an upcoming compilation from Guessing Game Records, entitled The Spirit of Discovery; the compilation also features Red Pony Clock, Poison Control Center, and more. This CD should be out soon.
In the meantime, we'll keep you posted on the Sixth Great Lake.

Thanks to the Sixth Great Lake for helping us out with this story.

Lou2ser at the Townhall has returned from SXSW with some Elephant 6 photos; click on the links below to view them. He should be providing some video soon, as well. Thanks go out to lou2ser for sharing them with everyone.


A Hawk and a Hacksaw
Gerbils
The Instruments
Elf Power
The Essex Green

Afternoon Update: Lou2ser also reports that during the Gerbils set, Scott Spillane announced that the band is in pre-production on "Gerbils III." This is good news, because the Gerbils make me happy. Take a trumpet solo, Scott.

Wow, I never really thought something like this would happen...
Darren at the excellent MP3 blog Bicycle Kick My Worries Away has re-discovered a copy of the entire Coquelicot Asleep in the Poppies demo tape (!) in his basement, and he's been kind enough to zip it into a file and put it up on Rapidshare. So here's what you do. You stop reading this and hop right on over to his Bicycle blog and get yourself some Of Montreal.
Thanks Darren, this is something special.

Tuesday the Essex Green's new album, Cannibal Sea, will be released, so here are two reviews to whet your appetite. One positive, one mixed. The Optical Atlas review will be up a little later this week. (Sorry about the paltry update, but I'm working on getting some nice features together for the rest of the week, so keep checking back.)

Herohill's review

Lunapark6's review

Also, the Essex Green MySpace page has announced they will make a live version of "Mrs. Bean" (at Schuba's in Chicago) available for download "for a limited time."

From the Optical Atlas Department of Corrections:
Thanks to captain23 for pointing out that yes, it should be "Royal Trux," not "Royal Trucks," in the Robert Schneider interview.

Robert Schneider is one of the founding figures of the Elephant 6 collective, with childhood friends Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, and Bill Doss and Will Cullen Hart of Olivia Tremor Control. Best known as the lead singer/songwriter of the Apples in Stereo, he's also released recordings as Marbles, Orchestre Fantastique, Ulysses, and (in the near future) The American Revolution. If that weren't enough, he's mixed, mastered, and/or produced many notable projects, including the Minders' Hooray for Tuesday (producing and performing), Beulah's When Your Heartstrings Break (mixing and performing), and Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (producing and performing). As an indie pop icon, he's influenced many of the most popular indie acts of today, and has even had an episode of "The Powerpuff Girls" dedicated to his band: an animated appearance by the Apples in Stereo singing "Signal in the Sky" (see the logo at the top of this website). In the last two years he's released 010 by Ulysses on the Eenie Meenie label, and one of 2005's best albums, Expo by the Marbles. It's been three years since their last album (Velocity of Sound), but the Apples, who now share personnel with Dressy Bessy and High Water Marks, will be staging a comeback in the fall with a new album and, shortly following, a collection of rare tracks.

1) So what have you accomplished this last week or two? (I hope that doesn’t sound condescending. I’m just curious.)

Let's see, I have done the following, not in order: Three-day Marbles tour with Of Montreal, signed my son Max up for kindergarten next school year, wrote and recorded a whole Marbles song about Of Montreal to play live to pump up the crowd for them, then scrapped the song at the last minute because it didn't sound finished, drove around the midwest with Marci my wife and met some odd people, overdubbed a ton of Mellotrons and slide guitars on the new Apples record, recorded two new American Revolution songs, flew a kite successfully (Max and I pretended we were Benjamin Franklin and his son discovering that lightning is electricity, Max's idea), wrote four papers on mathematics (for personal pleasure), wrote and recorded a complete new song for the Apples record, saw Belle and Sebastian play on my birthday (March 9) and saw some friends, turned 35, played an American Revolution show (it was more like three weeks ago but whatever), mixed with the Ideal Free Distribution, understood tension in a string (made my brain feel funny), understood rainfall (sort of), sang onstage with Of Montreal (good time), practiced to play a couple of songs with the Ideal Free Distribution at their first show (March 17, Lexington), changed pants at least three times, and recorded some more Mellotrons on my new Apples record. (I think that covers it.)

2) Her Wallpaper Reverie was psychedelic, Discovery of a World Inside the Moone definitely had a 70’s funk feel, and Velocity of Sound was stripped-down garage rock. Can you drop any hints as to what the new Apples album will sound like?

Maybe somewhere between Fun Trick Noisemaker, Discovery, and a NASA launch pad. It is extremely poppy, super fat and hi-fi, has a significant touch of the Velvets, lots of slide guitars and Mellotrons, and also it rocks out quite a lot. The production varies quite a lot from song to song, lots of overdubs.

3) In the realm of side-projects, is Ulysses still an active entity, and what exactly is The American Revolution?

Ulysses is 100% active in theory. We have not in fact practiced or played since John Ferguson quit the band as the drummer like a year and a half ago, then re-joined as the theoretical part-time keyboard player, but we intend to. Ben Allen joined the band as the theoretical drummer, and we have about an album of theoretical songs to record (both old unrecorded songs and new songs written for Ulysses). John Ferguson had a baby, Robert Beatty plays in multiple experimental bands and has been touring, Ben Fulton has been mixing the new Big Fresh record (his band with John) and also I believe is employed as a cosmonaut, and our new drummer Ben Allen plays in multiple bands. I have recorded and toured with Marbles and the Apples since the release of the Ulysses album 010, have gotten married, have been busy as a daddy, and have been doing work on mathematics. So we keep saying that we will have band practice and some time soon it is sure to happen. The American Revolution is this acid rock band I am in with my brother-in-law Craig Morris. We totally rule in the most retarded manner! He is the best guitar player in the vein of Jeff Beck-era Yardbirds, except that it sounds more like Royal Trux trying to play "White Room" by Cream due to our primitiveness. Most important to mention is that I am not the leader of The American Revolution, and neither is Craig. It is someone else.

4) How do the Apples get together these days? Are you each living on a far side of the earth?

Hilarie Sidney (drums, vocals) and I both live in Lexington, Kentucky, and we do get together to play and record. John Hill (rhythm guitar) and Eric Allen (bass) both live in Denver, where the band is officially based. As Lexington is more centrally located, John and Eric travel here for band practices before we go on tour or when we are recording. I fly out to Denver to record. We actually recorded basic tracks for our new album in Brooklyn and we are all present at various times in various combinations in the studio. The overdubs have been done mostly at Pet Sounds, also at John Hill's studio in Denver, and I will be doing some work at my friend Otto Helmuth's studio here in Lexington. Yeah, the distance between cities does prevent us from practicing more often. But actually, the Apples have never practiced that much aside from recording and touring, so except for socializing, our getting-together schedule has not been changed that much since half the band moved to Kentucky (which is green and lush, unlike Denver).

5) What does Pet Sounds look like now, compared to the old studio?

Well, it used to look like this photo [left], around the time I recorded the second Neutral Milk Hotel album there (when this photo was taken), before I got my Neotek console, Ampex tape machine, or a computer come to think of it. Now it looks like a cluttered garage and basement filled with antique musical equipment, and a house absolutely covered with wires, electronics, and studio gear when I am working. The rest of the time it looks like a tidy house, and the wires, electronics, and studio gear coexist with toys, books, and my peeps.

6) What’s your proudest recording moment of the last couple months or so?

Hmmmmm. I have been recording quite a lot! I can single out two times this last month, where I had transcendental moments in the studio, like I am sitting between the speakers and feel completely elated and I can't believe how fucking good it sounds!
1. Slide guitars on the new Apples song called "Energy," which I really felt weightless and such great satisfaction after recording--in fact I have had more of those ecstatic weightless moments recording the new record than I have had since recording Fun Trick Noisemaker when I had my first real studio setup (eight track reel-to-reel).
2. Finishing an American Revolution song "Subscription to Magazines" in no more than thirty minutes from the time we picked up our instruments-- we wrote the song, recorded it and mixed it like kids tumbling down a hill! And it rocks in such a raw pure way and is also really catchy, and sloppy and flawed and tossed-off--which of course you can hear in the recording, and is what makes it awesome! We didn't even notice the main riff is a rip-off of "Smoke on the Water" until after it was mixed!

I didn't notice this, so thanks to happy bear at the Townhall for pointing this out. Of Montreal are on the roster for the 2006 Lollapalooza at Chicago's Grant Park August 4-6. Say hi to Kanye West for us, guys. Or, more to Optical Atlas's liking, the New Pornographers, Andrew Bird, or Mates of State.

Not much further information available yet, but tickets are on sale now for $130 (for a 3-day pass).

Dottie Alexander is the resident keyboardist at Of Montreal.

1) How did you initially become involved with Of Montreal?

Of Montreal initially began as a 3 piece in 1997 with Kevin (of course), Derek Almstead on drums, and Bryan Poole on bass. In '98 Bryan left to play full-time with Elf Power (he's since made his glorious return to us) and Derek moved to bass. The band's sound was expanding a bit and Kev needed someone to play keyboards as well as a new drummer. Jamey and I were playing shows around Athens as Lightning Bug vs. Firefly which was just the two of us on drums and keyboards. Not only were we a ready-made package deal, but we were so darn cute back then! The two of us joined up to play this big E6 festival thing in Florida and never looked back.

2) Has anything interesting happened on the most recent tour that you'd like to share?

Well, something interesting happens every day, but what sticks out? Hmm...Matt Dawson knocked himself out stage diving in Virginia. That's kind of interesting. I saw the world's largest hairball in the basement of a monastery in Oregon. It was cut from the stomach of a 300 pound pig. That was interesting as well.

3) What are your thoughts on the band's increasing popularity of late?

Well, it's all a bit hard to process at the moment. (I'm writing this from SXSW.) Of course it's great to see so many people at the shows--it's just not fully sunken in yet.

4) Which do you prefer, performing live or recording?

Both, but if I had to choose I'd say performing live.

5) Barbara Walters-style personal, probing question: Your MySpace blog mentions that you recently tried to quit smoking; how's that going?

Terrible. Smoking right now, actually.

6) When do we get a My First Keyboard album?

Hmmm. Never? Yeah. Probably never. (But thanks for asking.)

"JDS" in Vermont has directed our attention to a great series of articles he's writing on the Vermont music scene, and Guppyboy/Essex Green in particular. Pay a visit to his blog, Latitude 44.2N. In the coming days, he should be covering the various solo projects and offshoots of the Green. For those of you looking for the Guppyboy "Basement Tapes," you really may want to check out the first article in the series. Thanks, JDS!

Pitchfork has a rather patronizing (but complimentary) review up of an Of Montreal performance on Oscar night. If you can get past the vibe of "I never realized this band is kind of good" and the "meh, stick to your day job" line, you might grab a few interesting things.

Upcoming Shows

03/18/2006 08:00 PM - One Eyed Jacks
New Orleans, LA 70112 - 18+

03/24/2006 08:00 PM - 40 Watt Club
Athens, GA 30601 - w/ Grand Buffet, DJ Michael Lachowski (Pylon), 18+

Andy Gonzales is behind Marshmallow Coast, which has crossed three labels, five albums and numerous singles with a very particular mix of melody and absurdist humor. After moving to Athens, Andy joined Of Montreal for an extended period, while still putting out solo work to a growing circle of fans, and even, for a certain time, writing and recording songs on commission for anyone who wanted a personalized Marshmallow Coast song. While his once-prolific output has slowed down a bit as he's entered nursing school, he recently launched a new project with Derek Almstead, Sara Kirkpatrick, Emily Growden, and Carlton Owens: M Coast, the first album from which will be called Say it in Slang.

1) Why did you decide to turn the Marshmallow Coast into the M Coast?

Well, after five albums with marginal success, you gotta try tweaking things a little bit! I have been thinking about changing the name forever, and this will have the least amount of confusion. I am thinking about putting on the CD "M (marshmallow) Coast." Also, having Emily singing and Derek singing kinda makes it a different thing all together.

2) Although you've collaborated in the past, Marshmallow Coast has always seemed like your solo project. How has the creative process changed now that that there are multiple perspectives shaping a song?

Well, I started out doing another Andy record, and I was really happy with that. THEN! Derek started laying the pressure on me big time, he was all like, "Andy, man, let's put our records together ('cause he was already making his own masterpiece). And I was like, "Dude, that's your shit and this is my shit, you don't mix shit." Then he was all like, "well, either you take my songs or I delete the files for your record!" and I guess that's what won me over...

It is nice, because in the future, we can just put about six great songs on there apiece and make a whole record rather than having to rack my brain to write more. Derek and I have always thought along the same lines; even though we occasionally butt heads, it has always worked out. I also want to say that it was great having input from Sara, Emily, and Derek with stuff like lyrics, because I would have an almost complete section, and they added nice touches that worked well. This is also the first time Sara has helped mix, and she made excellent suggestions; we just need to get more Emily input, which I think will come once she feels more a part of it all.

3) Please spill all you can about the Bizarre Classical album, of which I know very little.

Well, this is essentially an instrumental record. It is comprised largely of the songs Derek wrote for his solo record, that we couldn't fit on Say it in Slang. I had some instrumentals too, and I need to record more because now it is largely Derek's stuff. I think Cloud Records is releasing it, and they are 100% respect. Basically, I have been away from the game for a couple of years, and Derek is making his big debut, so we are just trying to get all the music that has been stockpiling out there. I also want to add that I have been bugging Derek for years to release his stuff, so I am very excited in that regard.

4) Pitchfork recently posted a long list of "bad" album covers, and a number of your fans took umbrage when Ride the Lightning made the list. Please vent.

There's not much to say. I wish they enjoyed our stuff, because it is high quality musicianship. Really, I don't believe having bad press hurts you. The simple fact that you mention them in your interview says that they are an influental website, so I hope they will review the new CD. The funny thing is that they didn't even review Ride the Lightning, probably because they kind of liked it! Clearly, it is taking time for M Coast and my sense of humor to reach certain people. I don't think anyone out there writes songs like mine, and I would think that they would pick up on that.

5) Will your earlier, out of print albums be reissued anytime soon?

Well, to the best of my knowledge Happy Happy Birthday to Me will be doing this. It is a strange case, because in a sense I had to grow up in front of an audience. Did I know what I was doing as a teenager, recording wise? No. But I put it out there, and can only hope that people will look at the whole spectrum. Though, I do have a desire to re-record Seniors and Juniors using better gear, while keeping it faithful note for note. If George Lucas can do it...

6) Who and what is Ice Bunny?

That is my comic character that I am working on. He was a normal (talking, human-like) rabbit who got changed into something akin to Ice Man (because I always liked him). I am selling issue 1 on my website, and I have written #2 but am still working on the art. I like comics...

You can listen to new music by M Coast at their MySpace page. Say it in Slang and Bizarre Classical are tentatively scheduled for release later this year. For more on M Coast, check out our recent interview with Derek Almstead.

Minnesota Public Radio is helping to promote the Essex Green's new album Cannibal Sea--coming out March 21 on Merge Records--by offering their new single, "Don't Know Why (You Stay)," for download at their website for "The Current."

You want to know how cool The Current's playlist is? Scrolling down the playlist for today, I see that at 11:41 AM they played "Nowadays a Woman's Gotta Hit a Man" by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. That's how cool The Current is. The Green suggest you request one of their songs for the station's playlist, and I second that.

And don't forget, you can stream Cannibal Sea at the Merge Records website, and then purchase it here.

I noticed that a couple U.S. dates have been added to the upcoming Essex Green tour (a full list should be coming shortly), so I will repost the dates, this from Pitchfork.

03-15 Brooklyn, NY - Southpaw
03-17 Austin, TX - Pok-E-Joe's (Merge/Sub Pop SXSW day party)
03-18 Austin, TX - Levi's/Fader Trading Post
03-18 Austin, TX - Antone's (Merge SXSW showcase)
04-05 Bremen, Germany - Lagerhaus
04-06 Hannover, Germany - Musikzentrum
04-07 Erlangen, Germany - E-Werk
04-08 Heidelberg, Germany - Karlstorbahnhof
04-09 Cologne, Germany - Kulturbunker Mulheim
04-10 Munster, Germany - Gleis 22
04-12 London, England - 93 Ft East
04-28 Chicago, IL - Subterranean
04-29 St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
05-03 Portland, OR - Towne Lounge
05-04 Redding, CA - The Dip

Great Lakes has hit its tenth anniversary. The band--Ben Crum and Dan Donahue--formed in 1996 in Athens, although Ben and Dan had known each other since high school. As a trio (with Jamey Huggins from Of Montreal), they released a self-titled first album during Kindercore's peak period, an album that still stands out as one of the most distinguished in that label's catalog, an addictive selection of psychedelic pop songs that flow together cohesively. Their sophomore album (released on Orange Twin around the time of Kindercore's collapse), The Distance Between, collected singles, rarities, and cover songs, and has a greater emphasis on rock, notably on the energetic "Sister City" and the extended jam that closes the album, "Conquistadors." The band has since relocated to Brooklyn, and are about to release an eagerly-anticipated third album, Diamond Times. Ben Crum agreed to answer 6 questions about the new album, his creative relationship with Dan, and an aloof painting.

1) All I know about your new album is that Empyrean is releasing it this year. I'm curious who appears on the record and how the music compares with your previous work.

These people appear on the new album: Dottie Alexander, Jeff Baron, Kevin Barnes, Tim Barnes, Dave Carey, Matt Crowe, Anne Cunningham, BP Helium, Jamey Huggins, Jay Israelson, Heather McIntosh, Gary Olson, Brian Slattery, Matt Stoessel, Jeff Winesett, and Chris Ziter.
The main difference in "who played what" with this album is that Jeff Baron played probably 2/3 of the lead guitar on the record. In the past that would have been pretty much 99% me. I like his playing a lot and I think it gives the record a more "accomplished" sound.
But as to how the record sounds stylistically--with the first record I was going for something more 60s pop and more psychedelic, but with this one I tried to make it more organic and natural sounding. Or, I didn't so much try as it was just a natural thing for me.

2) Can you describe how you and Dan became involved with Elephant 6, and your thoughts on the collective in general?

Well, we were living in Athens, in the midst of all that stuff. And we just fell in with that. It fit with what we were doing and we were influenced by it at the same time. It was hard not to be. Plus Robert Schneider helped mix our first record, and he was a big proponent of having us "on the team" or whatever. But I don't think Great Lakes has ever been considered a true Elephant 6 band by your average die-hard Elephant 6 fan, or even by those of us in the band.

3) How does your collaboration with Dan work? On your last album, he's credited for the lyrics, while you have lead vocals, so I'm wondering how clear-cut are the boundaries when you're assembling the music.

Well, Dan is purely a lyricist. He doesn't really write or play music, or sing. We're both 32 now, and we've been writing songs together since we were 16. Half our lives. He writes lyrics and I put them to music. Sometimes I'll bring him a piece of music and he'll write lyrics for it, or vice versa. But these days we'll hang out and he'll show me some lyrics he's come up with and I'll try to put them to music on the spot, with him there. We've realized over the years that that tends to work best for us. That way we can communicate during the process. I don't necessarily like to talk to him too much about what the lyrics "mean." Or what he means by them. I find it's better for me to sing them from a personal interpretation. That way it means something for him, for me, and for the listener--which may all be the same, or may be totally different.

4) How long do you work on a song before you know it's finished?

I feel like the music I write that I like the most usually comes really fast. And a lot of times the lyrics too. But, also, there have been many times when Dan was revising and editing right up to the moment when I recorded the vocal. So it varies.

5) "Virgl" is one of my favorite Great Lakes songs, so indulge me. I remember on the old Kindercore website there was an actual Virgl painting shown, which the song describes perfectly. Which came first, and can you talk about the origins of the song, if not the production, which seems pretty elaborate?

Dan bought that painting at a flea market and we all just flipped out about it. It hung in our house on Ruth Street for a long time. That song is the one Great Lakes song which Jamey Huggins wrote the music for. He and Dan collaborated on the lyrics. I think Jamey had been working on that music for a long time, stringing all the parts together. He was always writing these long, epic pieces of music, and he never really finished them or made real recordings of a lot of them. I'm glad we got this one down, though. Production-wise, that was done right at the end of the first album. I'd been using a TASCAM 38 8-track, but towards the end of recording the first album we added a beautiful-sounding TEAC 40-4 reel-to-reel 4-track to the studio. By the time we were recording "Virgl" we'd gotten pretty good at experimenting with compression and with hitting the tape at certain levels to get certain sounds during the submixing process. I think it shows in that recording.

6) The Distance Between has a number of cover songs, which span a wide variety of music; is this a fair glimpse of your influences? Certainly the band reminds me of the Zombies.

Yeah, there are three covers on there. I just recorded some songs I liked because Dan and I weren't writing a lot of songs at that time. I guess they do say something about our influences. The Bee Gees I like a lot. I've always liked the Linda Ronstadt version of that Michael Nesmith song ["Some of Shelley's Blues"]. And, yes, the Zombies were definitely a big influence. But my biggest influence is probably The Band. I'm not sure you always hear it in the music, but it's there. It's mostly a feel thing.

* * *

Diamond Times is tentatively set for release this summer from Empyrean Records. You can listen to songs from the album now by visiting the Great Lakes MySpace page.

Upcoming Shows

Mar 18 2006, 8:00PM
The Hideout
Austin, TX

Apr 15 2006, 8:00PM
Tonic
New York, NY

Our dear Mr. lou2ser at the E6Townhall has dug up some really cool artifacts from last year's Olivia Tremor Control reunion--brief .AVI clips of the band performing at the 40 Watt, first in a soundcheck, then, raucously, before a tightly-packed audience. Though brief clips, they do provide a good glimpse of how much fun the shows were to attend. (I'm glad we get to see Julian bouncing around a lot.) He found these stored at an old and abandoned Elephant 6 website, and we thank him heartily for the detective work.
All the clips are stored in a zipped file at Rapidshare, so you have to click on "free" (rather than "premium") to download the file, then you'll need to extract the clips. A nice little novelty, this.

Because they're one of my favorite bands and I like to plug them, do catch the Summer Hymns on one of their upcoming shows next month in Georgia and North Carolina. For a sampling of their music, check out their MySpace page, where you will also learn that the following goodies should be forthcoming in 2006:

• A 14-song album due in the fall...
• A CD maxi-single with "a teaser, 2 cover songs, and 2 unreleased songs"...
• A one-sided LP (etching on the reverse) featuring "a very special guest"...
• Value Series Vol. 2: Repeat Offender, another random assortment of brand new tracks!

Also remember that a previously unreleased Summer Hymns track will be appearing on the upcoming Athfest 10 compilation.

Upcoming Shows

04/08/2006 10:00 PM - Lennys Bar
307 Memorial Drive SE, Atlanta, GA 30312 - $5
Summer Hymns, Venice is Sinking, Ginger Envelope, Geoff Reacher

04/21/2006 10:00 PM - Athens (TBD), Athens, GA 30601
Summer Hymns with Wayne Robbins & the Hellsayers

04/22/2006 10:00 PM - The Grey Eagle
185 Clingman Ave., Asheville, NC 28801
Summer Hymns with Wayne Robbins & the Hellsayers

You Ain't No Picasso has posted a review of a new Elf Power track, "An Old Familiar Scene," with an MP3 available for download.
If you want to hear this track and more from the new album, Back to the Web, check out Elf Power's MySpace page. Back to the Web will be released by Rykodisc April 25.

Upcoming Tour Dates

March 13, 2006 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree

March 14, 2006 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon

March 17, 2006 - Austin, TX - Sound on Sound - 2:30pm (Chunklet magazine SXSW party w/ with Ted Leo, Black Heart Procession, Swearing at Motorists)

March 18, 2006 - Austin, TX - Hideout - midnight (Orange Twin Records SXSW showcase with Gerbils, Instruments, Great Lakes, Lovers, Geoff Reacher)

April 1, 2006 - Athens, GA - Georgia Theatre (w/ Minus 5 and the Silos)

April 15, 2006 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt - Album Release Show!

May 21, 2006 - Camber Sands, England - All Tomorrow's Parties festival

Not much to blog about this weekend, so in the meantime I'll just direct you I am the World Trade Center fans to their MySpace page, where they're now hosting the video for "Metro"--my favorite of their songs--from the album Out of the Loop. If you visit their homepage you'll also learn (and, again, it's old news, but it's a slow weekend) that Amy's cancer is in remission and she's touring again, as well as acting as DJ at Wednesday night dance parties at the GO Bar in Athens. Below are some tour dates for IATWTC.

Upcoming Shows

Mar 24, 2006 8:00 PM
The Mission, Augusta, GA

Apr 15, 2006 8:00PM
Art Bar, Columbia, SC

To prepare for the release of their new record Cannibal Sea on March 21, the Essex Green are turning up the promotion machine, with new European tour dates announced (U.S. dates forthcoming) and a shimmering redesign of their website.

And according to that website, the NPR program Weekend America will be reviewing Cannibal Sea tomorrow, March 11. Yeah, real fair. Some of us haven't heard the album yet, you know.

The official Essex Green site will soon offer a "blog, lyrics and podcasts with interviews of band members, some insight into songwriting and recording, snippets of demos and more goodies." They've also promised to put an MP3 of "The Late Great Cassiopia" up soon, too.

Upcoming Tour Dates

U.S.
03/15/2006 08:00 PM - CD RELEASE @ Southpaw with Isobel Campbell
125 5th St., Brooklyn, NY 11201

03/17/2006 03:30 PM - SXSW Pok-E-Joe's BBQ
1603 W. 5th St., Austin, TX 73301 - Free Merge/ Sub Pop party!

03/18/2006 01:45 PM - SXSW: Levi's Fader/ Lounge
708 E 6th St., Austin , TX

03/18/2006 10:00 PM - SXSW: Merge Showcase @ Antone's
215 W. 5th St., Austin, TX 73301

Germany
04/05/2006 08:00 PM - Lagerhaus, Bremen

04/06/2006 08:00 PM - Musikzentrum, Hannover

04/07/2006 08:00 PM - E-werk, Erlangen

04/08/2006 08:00 PM - Karlstorbahnhof, Heidelburg

04/09/2006 08:00 PM - Kulturbunker Mulheim, Koln

04/10/2006 08:00 PM - Gleiss 22, Munster

U.K.
04/12/2006 08:00 PM - 93 Ft East, London

As soon as the U.S. dates are announced, we will post them here.

For a couple years Andy Gonzales of Marshmallow Coast was releasing a "Bizarre Classical" suite in segments, scattered across a single and two albums. Now the band's new incarnation, M Coast, has announced a Bizarre Classical album of instrumental compositions to coincide with the release of Say It in Slang.
You can hear a track from this new record on the new M Coast MySpace page. The description for "Repetitive Operations" credits it to Derek Almstead, with Almstead and members of Olivia Tremor Control (John Fernandes), Bablicon (Dave McDonnell), and Macha (Josh McKay) playing. You can hear other brand new M Coast songs at this site, too, and they all sound great.
For more on M Coast, check out our recent interview with Derek Almstead.

Pitchfork, the go-to indie news site for the mainstream media, has posted a review of Polyvinyl's Of Montreal reissues today: The Bird Who Continues to Eat the Rabbit's Flower, The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy, and The Early Four Track Recordings. They dismiss Bedside Drama in a way that's sure to infuriate certain Of Montreal fans, but it's a pretty well-written review of the 3 CDs overall, and one I generally agree with. I popped in The Early Four Track Recordings a little while ago--after not having listened to it for a couple years--and was struck with how well it held up. But I think the only reason I still can't listen to Bedside Drama is that it's too depressing. Unless, I suppose, you program your iPod to play the tracks in reverse.
All of the reissues are on sale now at Polyvinyl's website.

Side Two
a. Learn
b. Temptation
c. Turtle Song
d. Superman Suit [incomplete]
e. Leonard Upon Entering the Fish Market (Speaks of Apple Butter)

The annual Athfest CD compilation has been announced, this being Volume 10, and among its 2 CDs you can find Elf Power's "Walking with the Beggar Boys" and a previously unreleased Summer Hymns track, "What Kind of Bird." The collection also features R.E.M., Jucifer, Japancakes, and lots more. At the website you can pre-order the CD now, and peruse the previous Athfest compilations. One features the 8-Track Gorilla!

Athfest 2006 will be held June 21-25. The lineup has not yet been announced, but expect much.

If you do live in Athens, this Friday, March 10, at Little Kings the Gerbils and the Instruments will be performing. Thanks to Floweredeyes at the Townhall for the tip.

Speaking of the Instruments, do visit Heather McIntosh's website. It's pretty cool. You can sample her work with various Elephant 6 bands, and even find some exclusive music, including collaborations with Andy Gonzales of Marshmallow Coast. Thanks to Chris for pointing this out.

Some canned applause for my scanner, which, as it happens, was not broken after all, as I thought it had been. (It was crushed under some boxes during the move to my new house last summer.) I guess it just needed a rest. So here's a bit more on my earlier post about the Music Tapes' 2nd Imaginary Symphony for Cloudmaking and the shirts Julian illustrated by hand, plus a note that he sent with the package, way back in 2002.
If you've downloaded the 2nd Imaginary Symphony for Cloudmaking from some illicit internet source, you can use the cover and back-cover scans I've provided to make your own booklet. I provided two details of one of the shirts, in case anyone wanted a better look.
I have no idea if any of this is of interest to any of you, but I was bored, and wanted to use my scanner for something.
Also, Filelodge won't let me upload any files while it changes servers, so I can't yet post what I really wanted to post...that will have to wait for later. Check back soon.

Click on the thumbnails for the full-size images.

2nd Imaginary Symphony for Cloudmaking:

Cover & Back

This is a good thing. Great Lakes are now part of the Orange Twin Showcase at the Hideout, as part of the SXSW festival. I've updated last week's post with the Elephant 6 SXSW lineup.

The Hideout (617 Congress Ave) (All Ages)
ORANGE TWIN SHOWCASE!
The Lovers @9:00 PM
The Instruments @9:45 PM
Great Lakes @10:15pm
Gerbils @11:00 PM
Geoff Reacher @midnight
Elf Power @1:00 AM

This would be gentleman John from Dressy Bessy and the Apples in Stereo, of course. This announcement comes from Dressy Bessy's MySpace blog.

Kim Cooper has dropped the details of the next public reading from her excellent book, Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. She will be joined by author Ben Sisario, who will be reading from his upcoming book in the same (33 1/3) series, on the Pixies' Doolittle. Both will be signing copies of their books.

Saturday, March 25
WHERE: Vroman's Bookshop, 695 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101. Free lot parking.
WHEN: Saturday, March 25, 2006, 4:00pm

So now apparently meeting Kevin Barnes is as big a deal as meeting Charlize Theron, Matt Damon, and Jamie Foxx? (I don't know, maybe it should be. I mean, Jon Stewart was right, Theron really does "hag it up" for Oscars, doesn't she?) Thanks to forkrepublicans at the Townhall for bringing to our attention this fan-conducted interview with Kevin, at mtvU.com.

Dottie says here you should never ask a band where its name comes from, but in case you don't know and you're curious, it's the first thing we get on NPR's interview with Of Montreal (from last year). The NPR interview isn't that good, but at least they're respectful enough to actually play the band's music during the interview. (Though you gotta love mtvU's generic MTV background music, to which the squirming band seems to be reacting.)

Dressy Bessy is on Conan tonight. This appears to be a rerun from last year's appearance to promote Electrified. But here's your chance to catch it if you missed it last time (like I did).

According to the band's MySpace page, the upcoming teen comedy "She's the Man" will feature their song "Side 2." But you know what? You could just buy Electrified and skip the movie altogether.

Andy Gonzales has posted the entirety of his first Marshmallow Coast album, Timesquare, at his website. This is actually one of my favorite Coast albums. It also has "In the Army Kid," which was later covered by Of Montreal.

Andy's also selling a comic book he wrote and drew called "Ice Bunny."

Thanks to Cable and Tweed for this one.

Derek Almstead has played, engineered, or toured with just about every band you would call "Elephant 6." He came to the collective through Of Montreal, joining Kevin Barnes in the band's formative years and served as bass player (as well as drummer, mixer, engineer and various other roles) all the way through 2002's Aldhil's Arboretum. Since leaving Of Montreal, he's focused more energy toward mixing and mastering numerous albums in his studio, as well as playing with Elf Power, Circulatory System (whose second album he's currently mastering), the Instruments, the 63 Crayons, Summer Hymns, Great Lakes, the Visitations, the Sunshine Fix, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't, and many, many others. Derek has also been an on-again, off-again member of Marshmallow Coast, the solo project of Andy Gonzales (who has also left Of Montreal). His status in the band has just become a lot more permanent. Say it in Slang is the new album from the band which now calls itself M Coast.

1) What exactly is M Coast? Who's on the album, and how does this differ from Marshmallow Coast?

M Coast is basically an evolution of Marshmallow Coast. Andy Gonzales and Sara Kirkpatrick are still involved, I've returned, my wife Emily Growden has joined, and we have a drummer for our someday live configuration named Carlton Owens. What really makes M Coast different from Marshmallow Coast is the introduction of my songs, and two new voices, mine and Emily's. Andy and I had been working on the new Marshmallow Coast record and my new solo project at the same time. I was already playing drums and bass on both projects, and Andy was going to be in my band and vice-versa. I was confronted with being in seven bands! It dawned on me that we should consolidate the project into something new. Voila, six bands! We somehow convinced Emily to sing on a few tunes, and the whole thing just came together.

2) At what stage is the M Coast album? (And are you still looking for a label?)

The album is mixed, I'm waiting a little bit to master it, and the artwork is in the trial stages. We sent the record to Misra for a first crack, but have yet to hear anything back, so we're trying to compile a list of labels to send it to. Actually, I think Pickled Egg is in.

3) Can we expect the new Circulatory System album in 2006? How far along is it now?

I really think so. It is incredibly difficult to say "done" with this stuff; there is just such a standard to it. We have several mixes at this point but there is definitely some back and forth (to put it mildly) to go.

4) When mastering another band's album, what do you consider your role in the relationship? That is, how do you work with them?

One of the funny things about fulfilling all these different roles in the album creation process is that people tend to get really confused about what hat they're wearing at any given time in the process. It's amazing how much people think about the final product even when they're in the middle of a guitar take! Obviously, this is more of an inherent stress the more DIY the project. There's this John Cage rule I've really taken to heart where he says something to the effect of "don't create and analyze at the same time." Being on all sides of the equation really challenges you to compartmentalize your viewpoints, one of the reasons I'm waiting to master the M Coast stuff; I need a little perspective. So when I master another band's record, I'm a mastering engineer, period! What a break, right! It's one of the reasons I love doing it for other people. Generally, I get a few CD's in the mail and then send a few CD's back a few days later! Sometimes there are revisions, sometimes not. Sometimes people like to sit in, either out of curiosity or concern, which is fine too. Generally people can be as involved or uninvolved as they desire. The bulk of artists I've dealt with are just ready to be done at that point; it's nice to give them a final feeling of excitement when they get back something bigger than they sent away.

5) What kind of mastering equipment do you use in your studio?

I do all digital. Wavelab, Waves mastering tools. My ears. I can rent gear sometimes. One of the reasons mastering is so expensive at other places is because of the gear they have to maintain--much of which gets left out of all digital projects--and worse yet, the "gear mentality" which prevails still even in the face of the DIY movement. If you go to the $1000-plus place you'll hear the difference, but our end result will be comparable; the bill won't be! After I've mastered my 200th record I'll raise my rates a little, buy a few fun things, but mainly I like offering cheaper alternative.

6) Can you talk a little bit about Of Montreal? I'm curious how you initially became involved with the band, and what you think of their new direction.

Kevin and I met shortly after I moved to Athens through these girls that we both knew in a band called Spackle. I sat in with their band on bass playing a Bikini Kill and a Minor Threat cover at a house party; Kevin saw it and asked me to play. We got together a few times, and then he ended up joining Elf Power briefly, playing his songs with them. A few months later we ran into each other at a convenience store and he asked if I knew how to play drums. I lied and said I did, and ran home to take a few lessons from my co-worker Carlton (M Coast drummer). So we got together with this guy Joel Evans on bass, Bryan Poole on guitar and me on drums and started rehearsing. A week before our first show Joel quit and Bryan moved to bass. So that was it for a few years. Bryan was more into Elf Power at the time, so the project at first was really just Kevin and I. It was fun to learn all this recording stuff, to do a lot of playing. It was my first real exposure and I was just into the idea of doing something musically. I always looked at it as kind of a music school, because the songs were challenging and I got to do a lot of varied things. As it went on Kevin got more into the theatrics, which I could care less for, and over time became really sick of. So here I am in all these bands doing so much stuff and one day I just realize that I'm at odds with the leader of one of the groups' vision. I've always considered myself a facilitator in other people's bands, I'm good at it. So it was just time to be done. Eight years is a long time to be in a band, the longest for me. They've really taken off since I left, and that makes sense; everybody's into the vision and they've worked hard on a well-laid foundation. I'm proud to have been a part of it.

M Coast has launched a MySpace page with new tracks from the upcoming Say it in Slang. As soon as a label and release date are announced, we'll let you know.

Contact Derek if you're interested in hiring him to master your record.

In 2002 Julian Koster of the Music Tapes notified those on E6 Townhall that he was going to begin selling CD-R copies of his upcoming album The 2nd Imaginary Symphony for Cloudmaking. A little while later he came through with a first shipment, and fans received a CD-R with a strand of Julian's hair just hanging out from under a label depicting crayon-colored clouds. Because of a long delay in shipping the orders, he sent a hand-drawn "Friends of the Music Tapes" tee-shirt with each package. Julian also mentioned that he had so much fun sending out these packages that he was considering self-releasing the album instead of sending it out via Merge Records. He told us that what we had was a rough mix, and was already becoming more layered and complex as he worked on it.
My wife and I sat down to listen to the 2nd Imaginary Symphony on September 11, 2002, finally turning off the television after endless retrospectives that featured the same footage of planes crashing into the towers. The album begins with a little bit of singing saw, and a narrator--not Julian, but the sort who might narrate one of those old Walt Disney storybook records for children--tells us the story of a young boy named Nigh who follows a mysterious older friend to a factory that produces the clouds of the sky. Apart from the saw (which succumbs to a lovely crescendo in the finale), there's no singing, and no songs. But it's quintessential Music Tapes.
A little while after that we received a second package, a second CD-R, and two more tee shirts. Apparently Julian lost his first shipment list, found our letter, and send one tee shirt for my wife and myself, thinking we hadn't received the first one. I gave the CD-R to my brother-in-law as a birthday gift; I don't believe he ever listened to it. The tee shirts we haven't worn, and they're a bit wrinkled in these photos because for a couple years they've been tucked into a dresser. Now they're hanging up, and I'll have to iron them and take one out on the town when the weather gets warmer.
It's almost four years since Julian sent the CD-Rs out, but last August Julian recently posted at the Townhall to reassure us that more Music Tapes material is coming, including the official release of the 2nd Imaginary Symphony. He wrote: "Hello, hello! Goodmornings, afternoons, and evenings to you all! I just wanted to share with you all that the song album is being mastered in early September, and has in fact left the womb, and though I love it very much It is now time to let it go lead its own life. The final version of the story record has already been mastered, and is worth waiting for (rather than seeking out the early versions i promise). There will not be any word on release dates untill early fall, so I'm afraid there IS still a wait before you, but much shorter than those you've grown use to."
In the meantime, I know some have been curious to see what the shirts* looked like, so here are some photos. The most elaborate shirt features the following text (all grammar and spellings are "sic"):

"Late August, corner of W. 80th St. and Amsterdam Avenue in New York City. 2000 and two. And old woman in a rain slicker is loading most of her belongings into a trunk on the street. Her belly is full of Hominy Grits. She learned the recipie from her Grandmother as a little girl. She still remembers drawing pictures with her bare Fingers in the Steam clouded windows accross from the stove. She still remembers fealing warm and Safe. How her grandfather could make a spoon float several feet in the air above her, without even lifting a finger. He seldome Spoke, and never Smiled. This parlor trick was the Sole means of Communication between them. I hope she doesn't mind me writing all of this down. She does Not know me, nor I, her. I am familliar only with the warmth that traveled A million human miles and took the care to visit her image upon me for even the briefest of Moments. She will load her trunk intoo the Caboose of a Great passenger train. She will fall in love with a man her own age. Together they will invent a methode of playing the piano that allows for the Storage and Compartmentalization of time. In this way they will begin the Capturing and preservation of indevidual moments. They will build themselves a Workshop in a functioning German Clock tower. They will begin with the preservation of random moments, and eventualy find themselves drawn mostly to moments of sentimentality. The Old Woman sits and blows on her fingers. It's winter. Her hands are cold. She Plays a moment from her childhood. A windy day, the Sun filters through the clouds. It's 1920. There is a great wind, and the mustache of a distinguished gentleman is blown clear off his face. The moustache, a trimmed handlebar, takes flight, Flapping through the air in a birdlike fashion. It is soon joined by the moustaches of Several other men. The wind blows and blows. The moustaches, now numbering in the thousands, migrate Southward for the winter. The old woman stops playing. The Old man walks over to her and Smiles. They love each other dearly. In time they will run out of moments of their own sentimentality to distill and preserve. And so they will begin to detail yours. At 1st you will apear to them in dreams. Only when you wear this Shirt. They will coment on their common dreams, and begin to compare notes. In their dreams they will always try to read this Shirt. They will never succede. My Writing is too small and illegeible. My spelling to difficult to decode. They will grow fond of you, and look forwards always to the next time you put on the Shirt. They will share with you your moments of sentimentality. Play them over and over again on their Piano. In time you will come to feal them....and Never again will you feal alone."


*On the subject of Elephant 6 shirts: lou2ser wants your E6 tee-shirt photos for his flickr archive. His shirts are less wrinkly than mine.

Fans of The Essex Green should be somewhat familiar with Guppyboy, the embryonic version of the band formed in Vermont circa 1992, and subsequently issuing cassette after cassette of folk rock in a lineup that included Michael Barrett, Jeff Baron (pictured left), Sasha Bell (pictured right), Chris Ziter and Zach Ward. Eventually they moved to New York, melded with Gary Olson and The Ladybug Transistor, formed a musical collective at "Marlborough Farms" in Brooklyn to rival Elephant 6, and finally became a bona fide Elephant 6 band proper as The Essex Green, with Robert Schneider mastering their self-titled EP at Pet Sounds Studios in Denver.

Meanwhile, Guppyboy passed either into legendry or obscurity, depending on your point of view. Every year or so someone says, "I just found a Guppyboy CD at [Parasol, Gemm, Insound, etc.] for real cheap!" But when you click there, you get a tentative order confirmation, and an email two weeks later that they never had it in the first place.

But for now, at least, you can download Guppyboy's album Jeffersonville HERE courtesy E6 Townhall's lou2ser. Thanks go out to lou2ser for contacting us about this.

For posters, photos, reviews, a discography and a fair dose of Guppyboy nostalgia, you can visit their website, which is still mysteriously online, even if some of the links therein are broken.

Let's hope the band rereleases their early material soon.

Take note, I updated my earlier post about Essex Green's Cannibal Sea with some additional promotional information from Merge.

In addition to playing SXSW this month, A Hawk and a Hacksaw will be playing a few additional venues, according to The Leaf Label. Thanks to lou2ser for pointing this out.

Friday, March 17th
Ba Da Bing!/The Leaf Label Evening Showcase
Balcony of The Ritz (320 East 6th Street)
A Hawk and a Hacksaw and volcano! (with Th' Faith Healers, Colossal Yes and Beirut)

Saturday, March 18th
End Of An Ear Instore (2209 South First Street)
A Hawk and a Hacksaw (with Irving, Beirut, The Double)

And outside of the States:

Friday 18 August 2006
The Green Man Festival
Brecon Beacons, Wales, UK

Here's an interview with the band from Incendiary Magazine. Thanks to abstrick.

From the Dressy Bessy MySpace page come these spring tour dates.


03/16/2006 04:15 PM - The Red Scoots Inn
Eastside Scootenany
1308 E. Fourth, Austin, TX
SXSW

03/17/2006 12:00 PM - Cheapo Discs
INSTORE
914 N. Lamar, Austin, TX
SXSW

03/18/2006 07:30 PM - Habana Calle 6
709 E 6th St., Austin, TX
SXSW

03/25/2006 08:00 PM - Boulder Theater
2032 14th Street, Boulder, CO 80301

04/27/2006 08:00 PM - King's Arms, Manchester

04/28/2006 08:00 PM - University of Wales Student Union, Cardiff

04/29/2006 08:00 PM - Bunker's Hill, Nottingham

04/30/2006 08:00 PM - Monarch (Track & Field Pow! to the People all-dayer), London

Keep checking Dressy Bessy's site for tour updates.

Enter a contest to win all 6 Dressy Bessy records at Transdreamer Records, where you can also purchase their latest critically acclaimed album, Electrified, on CD or colored vinyl.

Dressy Bessy defeats Coldplay in one round on NPR's Fresh Air

SXSW is featuring far too many items of interest this year, so it's a relief to only have to print the Elephant 6 bands.

3/15/06

Emo's Main Room (603 Red River St) (All Ages)
Of Montreal @midnight

3/17/06

Blender Balcony at the Ritz (320 E 6th St) (21+)
A Hawk and a Hacksaw @10:30 PM

3/18/06

Habana Calle 6 Patio (709 E 6th St) (21+)
Dressy Bessy @7:30 PM

Antone's (213 W 5th St)(All Ages)
The Essex Green @10:00 PM

The Hideout (617 Congress Ave) (All Ages)
ORANGE TWIN SHOWCASE!
The Lovers @9:00 PM
The Instruments @9:45 PM
Great Lakes @10:15pm
Gerbils @11:00 PM
Geoff Reacher @midnight
Elf Power @1:00 AM

Oh....man, how this kills me. I love Masters of the Hemisphere with a rather slavish passion, and have never seen them live. Athens, Georgia's premiere boy band played their Last Show Ever on November 23, 2002, at the 40 Watt. A little while later they played another show. And now they're getting back together again to play with Je Suis France for a couple shows in April and May.

You have no idea how much this is killing me.

UPDATE: Sean Rawls has updated the Masters of the Hemisphere website with a note to assure everyone that they are NOT getting back together permanently, only for these shows. He also provides an update on the current projects for all the band members. Check it out.

Also, as the comments in this blogpost indicate, Darren from mastersofthehemisphere.com has posted other rare Masters MP3s at his blog A Bunch of Beatniks Riding a Rocket. In particular check out his compilation Recycling the Throwaways and his EP of rare Masters of the Hemisphere tracks, Terminal. Thanks for letting us know, Darren!

Masters of the Hemisphere Reunion Shows

4/28 Underlying Themes - Lexington, KY With Je Suis France, The Wee Turtles, Bugs Eat Books, Crewsin' For A Brewsin' and Triple Velcro

4/29 40 Watt - Athens, GA TWILIGHT DELIRIUM (aka BACHELOR ZAP) With Je Suis France, The Wee Turtles, Bugs Eat Books, Crewsin' For A Brewsin' and Triple Velcro

5/6 Melting Pot - San Francisco, CABRAHFEST (aka BIRTHDAY ZAP) With Je Suis France and Lil' Flip Scoldjah

But in related news, a few months ago the Masters of the Hemisphere homepage was updated with quite a lot of rare MP3s. You can make a very nice B-sides album out of it. But don't miss these, which are not on the site, but which I will host for celebratory purposes:

Kermit's Bells (unreleased)

Elevator Action (unreleased)

Red Green Stables (unreleased)

Minute Map (from the Japanese I Am Not a Freemdoom)

Coat of Arms (alternate version)

Better Things (demo)

She Plays Guitar (demo)

Gorgar's Room (demo)

Rules of Life (demo)

You Ain't No Picasso is doing some really excellent work, including a recent interview with John Fernandes of Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, and (most recently) Elf Power.

The last time I saw Mr. Fernandes was when he came to town with Elf Power late last year, wearing a "Friend of the Music Tapes" tee-shirt drenched with sweat, jumping around on stage with his clarinet, and screaming in a lunatic manner. We were all pretty much doing the same thing (sans clarinet) and it was one of the best concerts I've ever attended, largely thanks to him and the energy he fueled in the cramped room. So give a little applause, softly, in your cubicle, for John...

Cable and Tweed happen to be hosting the performance of Wild World of Beards from King's Arms in New Zealand, February 4, 2001.

And what's that?

Well, this band called Neutral Milk Hotel presumably split up shortly after the release of the seminal Elephant 6 album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. But on 2/4/01, Jeff Mangum showed up in a club in New Zealand with Laura Carter of Elf Power and the Tall Dwarfs' Chris Knox--and began to sing. This is the last known complete performance by Mr. Mangum, although he's turned up guesting on various albums (most notably Major Organ and the Adding Machine) and has joined Circulatory System, Elf Power, and Olivia Tremor Control on tour. So we indie music freaks consider this recording historic. And I've never listened to it. I will remedy this super-quick.

And speaking of Cable and Tweed, they have a nice post, with MP3s, on the topic of Chocolate USA, the band that Julian Koster forged before going on to The Music Tapes.

Thanks again to Cable and Tweed for pointing us in the right direction.

Our kind friends at Cable and Tweed pointed us toward a few items regarding Of Montreal.

For one, the band recently appeared on KRUA 88.1 FM at the University of Anchorage, and that website is now hosting the complete interview. The program is called Peaches and Puppies in the Park, a title which not only denotes that it's a college radio program, but also that eventually Of Montreal would have to appear on it.

For another, Cable and Tweed have posted an entire performance of OM in Atlanta at the Variety Playhouse on February 11. And if that ain't enough...

The Cable and Tweed blog is also hosting the OM videos for Requiem for O.M.M.2 and Wraith Pinned to the Mist (and Other Games)...you know, the one with the hopping bunnies (but no peaches, and no puppies). The So Begins Our Alabee video is hosted on their blog, as well.

They've also been nice enough to provide the cover of Disconnect the Dots as performed by Lesbian Afternoon.

Thanks very much to Cable and Tweed for the info.

Incidentally, if you want to own So Begins Our Alabee on DVD, check out No Parachute Volume 1, the music video compilation from Happy Happy Birthday To Me, which also features videos by The Clientele, My Favorite, Boyracer, Palomar, The Hidden Cameras, and more. (It's just under 90 minutes of low-budget indie music videos, ranging from the awful to the amazing, but charming throughout and probably good background for a party.)

Elsewhere in the blogosphere, So Much Silence has posted Of Montreal's performance on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic in easy-to-digest MP3s. Video is available at KCRW's website.

Cannibal Sea, the new full-length by The Essex Green, is now up for pre-order at Merge Records. The first 100 get a poster and, due to popular demand, luggage tags. Copies will ship March 21.

Beginning Monday, March 6, Merge will offer the entirety of the Green's new album streaming on their webpage.

If you don't have The Long Goodbye yet (and you really ought to have it), you can get this, their previous album, bundled with Cannibal Sea for a special $23 pricetag here.

The band has also launched its MySpace page.

The Essex Green/Cannibal Sea

1. This Isn't Farm Life
2. Don't Know Why (You Stay)
3. Penny & Jack
4. Snakes In The Grass
5. Rue De Lis
6. Cardinal Points
7. Rabbit
8. Uniform
9. Pride, The
10. Sin City
11. Elsinore
12. Slope Song

Wait...there's a song called Sin City? Essex Green + Jessica Alba?

Essex Green/Upcoming Shows
courtesy the Essex Green's My Space

03/17/2006 03:30 PM - SXSW Pok-E-Joe's BBQ
1603 W. 5th St., Austin, TX 73301 - Free Merge/ Sub Pop party!

03/18/2006 01:45 PM - SXSW: Levi's Fader/ Lounge
708 E 6th St., Austin , TX -

03/18/2006 10:00 PM - SXSW: Merge Showcase @ Antone's
215 W. 5th St., Austin, TX 73301 - The main event - an entire evening of Merge superstars at one of Austin's most legendary venues.

Below are the remaining tour dates for Of Montreal's winter 2006 tour. But a few other items of notice first.

The band was recently profiled on iFilm.com--check out the video.

They were also recently a guest on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, and the video and audio is archived, for a short time, at their website.

The excellent indie music blog You Ain't No Picasso is hosting video and audio of Robert Schneider and Kevin Barnes collaborating on the Apples song "Seems So" at a recent Of Montreal concert in Kentucky.

Finally, fans are posting photos from the Of Montreal tour at the Townhall.

It seems that the two recent Of Montreal vinyl singles are quickly selling out. When I can confirm they're out of print, I'll host the MP3s here.

I will also post any Of Montreal tour pictures you take, just send them along to me!

3-2 - Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom AA

3-3 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom 18+

3-4 - Portland, ME - Space Gallery 18+

3-5 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East (downstairs) AA

3-6 - Hanover, NH - Lone Pine Tavern @ Dartmouth University

3-7 - Montreal, QC - Le Tulipe AA

3-8 - Toronto, ON - Mod Club Theatre AA

3-9 - Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig (with Fashion Flesh) AA

3-10 - Chicago, IL - The Metro 18+

3-11 - Urbana, IL - Canopy Club 18+

3-12 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground AA

3-13 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck AA

3-18 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jack's 18+

3-24 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club 18+

Kim Cooper of Scram Magazine recently wrote a rather wonderful chronicle of Neutral Milk Hotel and the making of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as part of the 33 1/3 series of books. (My review is here.)

Amazon.com has now posted a podcast of a recent reading Ms. Cooper gave at Book Soup in West Hollywood. You can also see photos from the event at the site.

Here's a direct link to the podcast.

Do also visit Kim Cooper's website for the book.

Ms. Cooper also writes that she hopes to have another reading podcast up by March 25, but if anyone would like to contribute their thoughts about the book or what Neutral Milk Hotel means to them, post your MP3 on ourmedia.org, and email her at amscray@gmail.com when it's up.

What started as a MySpace page for Elephant 6 news just a few days ago is now its own blog. Not that it was very popular or anything. But now that we're breathing free of the constraints of Rupert Murdoch (unless he owns this too, which he probably does), here's what you can look forward to:

• Elephant 6-related blogging updated (nearly) daily
• Rare MP3s from all your favorite Elephant 6 bands
• News
• Tour Dates
• Record and Show Reviews
• Photos, Artwork, and much more
  

I have no idea what “and much more” could possibly entail, but it sounds enticing, doesn’t it?

For those unfamiliar with Elephant 6, briefly: it's a collective of musicians initially spawned from Ruston, Louisiana, but now primarily based around Athens, Georgia, inspired by the psychedelic creativity and spirit of music of the late 60's (though bands from the 60's hardly form the sole inspiration for this diverse collection of artists). Robert Schneider (The Apples in Stereo), Bill Doss and Will Cullen Hart (The Olivia Tremor Control), and Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) are generally considered the founders of the movement, using a logo designed by Hart to stamp the backs of their self-released cassettes and records: The Elephant 6 Recording Company. As other musicians of a like mindset collaborated with them, a genuine movement was born. Surrounding the Apples, the Olivias, and Neutral Milk Hotel were bands such as Elf Power, the Gerbils, and Secret Square, and eventually Of Montreal, The Minders (out of Portland), Beulah (San Francisco), and The Essex Green (Brooklyn).

While "Elephant 6" is less concrete than it's ever been (I believe the last release to feature the logo was the Gerbils' Battle of Electricity in 2001, and there's never been much of an "Elephant 6 Recording Company" proper), the term is still actively in use, and happily promoted by many of the musicians. Robert Schneider still copyrights his songs to this mythical recording company--although probably more out of consistency's sake than anything else--and critics and fans use it as an easy shorthand. Which it can be, provided one understands there's a great range to the styles of music in the bands considered Elephant 6, and a wide berth between, say, Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, and The Minders' Hooray for Tuesday, both of which were recorded concurrently in Mr. Schneider's old "Pet Sounds" studio in Denver...which is now in Lexington, KY...or where he happens to be. So don't be reductive. Elephant 6 can be as big as your imagination.

For a more precise history of Elephant 6, please refer to the excellent website Elephant6.com, a valuable resource this site will not attempt to replace. Another superb source is Kim Cooper's book In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, part of the 33 1/3 series that examines important rock albums. Cooper's book, though focusing on Neutral Milk Hotel, also provides the most detailed history of Elephant 6's origins yet.

Optical Atlas was really launched as a supplement to the Elephant 6-related messageboards at E6 Townhall. To browse this blog will often just be a way to grab a shortcut to those posts at the Townhall that provide news about our favorite bands, their albums, and their tours. We'll also hopefully provide some interviews, and we'll certainly provide some out-of-print MP3s and other goodies from time to time. Please post comments to encourage us to maintain the blog, and feel free to point us in the right direction if you come across something we should link to.

"A waterfall fell on an optical atlas/

What was, remains the same/

It took up residence..."