If you visit Tiny Mix Tapes today you'll see they have a mixtape selection of perfect summer listening songs, including two E6'ers, The Apples in Stereo ("Strawberryfire") and Of Montreal ("Eros' Entropic Tundra"). Some other good choices in there too, like Kinks, Talking Heads, and one of my favorite underrated chart-toppers (oxymoronic as that may be), The Lovin' Spoonful.

We're nothing if not intensely jealous in a mushroom cloud adolescent kind of way here at Optical Atlas, so here's the Optical Atlas Summertime is Starting Mix Tape, which you can make on your own time:

1. Summertime, That's When the Good Times Start - Masters of the Hemisphere [Permanent Stranger EP]
There are lots of MOTH songs I could choose. "Summer with You" is an obvious one. Or anything from Freemdoom, which feels very summery.

2. California - Dressy Bessy [California EP]
Ditto Dressy Bessy, a big summertime happy poppy band. But this one I tend to listen to at the beginning of summer. It makes you want to go on a road trip.

3. Swimming - Marbles [Pyramid Landing and Other Favorites]
This conjurs images of chloriney pools filled with screaming, kicking kids (not drowning...did I make it sound like they were drowning?).

4. Isn't it Nice? - Of Montreal [Aldhils Arboretum]
A wonderful song about spending time with friends in the country, drinking beers and having strange experiences. From an OM album that needs more exposure.

5. Trolling on the Lake - Summer Hymns [A Celebratory Arm Gesture]
Summer Hymns just remind me of the summer, for some inexplicable reason. This song is laid-back and gorgeous.

6. Chester - The Essex Green [Essex Green EP]
It's about a cat. And what's more summer than cats, who die off every winter?

7. The Swimmer - The Ladybug Transistor [The Albemarle Sound]
Based on a Burt Lancaster movie where Lancaster decides to spend a day swimming through all his neighbors' pools on the way home. He spends the entire movie in his swimming trunks, and at one point has a slo-mo frolic through the countryside with a young girl. There is nothing more summer than that, even though I think she's underage.

8. Giants and Tigers - Great Lakes [Great Lakes]
From their first album, a song about childhood and imagination, and conjurs the image of taking a stratospheric ride on a swing, which is what a kid does in the summer.

9. Holiday Surprise 1, 2, 3 - The Olivia Tremor Control [Dusk at Cubist Castle]
When they sing "taking the time to waste your sunny days," I think of the Sesame Street theme song, don't you?

10. Simon (The Bird with the Candy Bar Head) - Elf Power [A Dream in Sound]
Again--nothing more summer than birds with candy for heads. And, with its images of Simon's friends trying to eat him, it's terrifying, which is a plus.

11. What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades? - Beulah [The Coast is Never Clear]
Looking forward to the end of summer, or dreading it...

12. Kentucky - The Sixth Great Lake [Sunday Bridge]
And finally a luxurious ballad that conjurs the lazy summer mood, from the SGL's 2nd LP.

That was really hastily invented, so put a lot of stock in it.

And one brief bit a clarification regarding the HHBTM Athens Popfest lineup. Although listed as Marshmallow Coast on the official Popfest page (and on the subsequent story that's appeared on Pitchfork), it will actually be the debut live performance of M Coast, the rejiggered band that features, in addition to Marshmallow Coaster Andy Gonzales, Derek Almstead, Emily Growden, and Sara Kirkpatrick, and their sound is a little different than what you'd expect from the band's previous incarnation. Check out their MySpace page for sample tunes. Thanks to Andy for helping me clarify.

Here it is, just announced today! I think quite a few of you will be taking a pilgrimage to Athens this year. UPDATE: note that Darren Hanlon has been replaced by the Pegasuses.

Tuesday August 8th
FREE show @ Little Kings
8:00pm Gordon Lamb
9:00pm Fabulous Bird
10:00pm Vietnam
11:00pm Russian Spy Camera
12:00am The Visitations
1:00am Col. Knowledge & The Lickety Splits

Wednesday August 9th

Little Kings
3:00pm Joe Sidney
3:45pm The Specific Heats
4:30pm My Parents
5:15pm Velcro Stars
6:00pm *** intermission ***
7:30pm Gift Machine
8:00pm Baby Calendar
8:45pm Flash To Bang Time
9:30pm The Maybellines
10:15pm How I Became The Bomb
11:00pm So Many Dynamos
11:45pm The Instruments
12:15pm New Sound Of Numbers
1:00am Megaband

Thursday August 10th

Little Kings
3:00pm Dog Paloma
3:30pm The Besties
4:15pm Bugs Eat Books
5:00pm Ocelots
5:45pm Patience Please

40 Watt Club
8:00pm 8 Track Gorrilla
8:30pm The Smittens
9:15pm Cars Can Be Blue
10:00pm M Coast
10:45pm The Gazetteers
11:30pm The Love Letter Band
12:15am Oh-Ok
1:00am The Mountain Goats

Friday August 11th

Little Kings
3:00pm The Passerines
3:45pm The Bicycles
4:15pm Ryan Anderson
5:00pm So L’il
5:45pm 63 Crayons

40 Watt Club
8:30pm Mouser
9:00pm Keith John Adams
9:30pm Casper & The Cookies
10:15pm Cinemechanica
11:15pm Poison Control Center
12:00am We Vs. The Shark
1:00am Deerhoof

Saturday August 12th

Little Kings
3:00pm The Cocker Spaniels
3:30pm Pegasuses
4:15pm Ponies In The Surf
5:00pm The Happy Bullets
5:45pm Telenovela

40 Watt Club
8:00pm The Capstan Shafts
8:30pm Red Pony Clock
9:15pm Fishboy
10:00pm The High Water Marks
10:45pm Ideal Free Distribution
11:30pm Bunnygrunt
12:15am The Circulatory System
1:00am The Apples In Stereo

Saturday night is a knockout! For tickets and other information, go to the official webpage (which has finally launched).

I almost forgot it was Hooray for Tuesday, perhaps due to the holiday. Okay, so here's two more by Marbles, to add to your collection of early and rare Marbles recordings after yesterday's Liner Notes: Marbles feature (which in itself contains rare Marbles tracks, so go read it if you haven't already). Like those tracks, these are very, very psychedelic, so hold onto your mind lest you blow it too much.

If you like these early Marbles tracks and you don't have it already, go seek out Pyramid Landing and Other Favorites on SpinArt records (there's a link in our feature).

Inverse Gazebo

Head

This comes courtesy of the Merge newsletter, I'll just quote it rather than plagiarize (you see, I have great journalistic standards).


Our heroes The Essex Green just got back from an amazing tour all across this great land of ours and we have the live radio performances to prove it. Check out the sweet harmonies and toe tapping melodies on:

KCMP Minnesota Public Radio The Current.

KUT Austin Public Radio - here

KEXP Seattle - Check out their Streaming Archive until the offical Essex Green session is up on the site. On the archive, search: May 19th @ 1:30 pm PST.

XM Radio - if you have it! XM CAFÉ and XMU!

Also, stay tuned for what we are sure will be an exciting World Cafe taping at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh while The Essex Green are in town for the Three Rivers Arts Festival on June 24th!

Tusk Magazine of Tuscaloosa has a nice video interview with The Apples in Stereo made during their recent tour with The Strokes. Robert, Eric, and John talk about naming the band, their new album, and life on the road, and some concert clips show them performing a mean "Strawberryfire" (God I love that song).

You can view it here...scroll to the bottom of the page to "What's Going Down Tuscaloosa."

It's Memorial Day but Optical Atlas isn't taking the day off, so we have the second installment of our new Liner Notes feature for you today: Robert Schneider shares early and rare Marbles recordings and discusses the early Ruston and Denver days spent recording with Will Cullen Hart and Jeff Mangum. Now, if you're a member of the Elephant 6 Townhall who's been lurking there for about a year, this article won't be anything new. It's actually a reprint of the liner notes Robert wrote for the E6 Gmail account, where he was originally sharing these MP3s. Robert agreed to allow Optical Atlas to host the article and the Marbles tracks, and has also mentioned that as he clears out more of his Elephant 6 archives, he'll add more E6 history and music to the piece. But I think this will be new to a lot of you, so enjoy. (And rest assured, there's a new Liner Notes in the works, by another singer/songwriter, that will be exclusive to the site.)

The first few days of the Athens Popfest, sponsored by HHBTM Records, have been announced at the E6 Townhall. While the last couple of days (the festival runs through August 13) are still to be announced, Mike at HHBTM has confirmed that Circulatory System will be playing. Here's the lineup so far:

FREE SHOW Night Little Kings (Tuesday August 8th)
1. Gordon Lamb 8:00 PM
2. Fabulous Bird 9:00 PM
3. Vietnam 10:00 PM
4. Russian Spy Camera 11: 00 PM
5. Visitations 12:00 AM
6. Col Knowledge 1:00 AM

Wednesday August 9th Little Kings (official start of POPFEST)
1. Joe Sidney 3:00 PM
2. The Specific Heats 3:45 PM
3. My Parents 4:30 PM
4. Velcro Stars 5:15 PM
5. Gift Machine 7:30 PM
6. Baby Calendar 8:00 PM
7. Flash to Bang Time 8:45 PM
8. The Maybellines 9:30 PM
9. How I Became the Bomb 10:15 PM
10. So Many Dynamos 11:00 PM
11. The Instruments 11:45 PM
12. New Sound of Numbers 12:15 PM
13. Megaband 1:00 AM

Little Kings Thursday August 10th
1. Dog Paloma 3:00 PM
2. The Besties 3:30 PM
3. Bugs Eat Books 4:15 PM
4. Ocelots 5:00 PM
5. Patience Please 5:45 PM

40 Watt Club Thursday August 10th
6. 8 Track Gorrilla 8:00 PM
7. The Smittens 8:30 PM
8. Cars Can Be Blue 9:15 PM
9. M Coast 10:00 PM
10. Gazetteers 10:45 PM
11. The Love Letter Band 11:30 PM
12. Oh Ok 12:15 AM
13. The Mountain Goats 1:00 AM

More to come.

Please direct your attention to the posters and promotional art section of Optical Atlas, which now features the first (and only?) Elephant 6 catalog, stuffed into singles and sent along to labels and customers in the summer of 1993. Just think, if only it were thirteen years earlier, you could buy cassettes by Neutral Milk Hotel, Synthetic Flying Machine, The Always Red Society, The Apples, Marbles, Sunshine Fix, Von Hemmling, and Vince Mole and His Calcium Orchestra for only $4 apiece! On the flip-side is featured the original Elephant 6 manifesto, and I think it's a fine one. Thanks very much to Robert Schneider for sending these our way. According to Robert, he provided the text and Will Cullen Hart is responsible for the artwork. You can check it out here.
Which reminds me...if any of you have posters or other promotional art you'd like to see archived at OA, please send it to opticaljeff76@yahoo.com.

Today I've updated Optical Atlas's Album Art database with more singles and EPs from Elephant 6 artists from 1993-2006. While I have many left to include (I've only been concentrating on out-of-print 7-inches so far), I would like your help in adding to this database. If you have any of the following and would be willing to scan in high resolution images of the front cover, back cover, and any other interesting artwork, please send these images along to Optical Atlas so they can be added to the archives.

UPDATE: I've received most of what I was looking for, thank you! However, I am still looking for concert or other promotional poster art. Please email submissions to opticaljeff76@yahoo.com and I will archive them.

The Late BP Helium has posted a video clip and some photos from a rooftop performance in Athens in April, 2005, at his website. Yeah, you heard me right. Rooftop performance. Just like the Beatles. Except that BP looks a lot more like Neil Young than John Lennon. (He covers a mean George Harrison, though.) You can go straight to the video at this link.

Have a nice Memorial Day weekend, everybody. (Last night I had a dream that gas was only $1.19 a gallon, and I asked my wife why, and she said it was because they were drilling in the Alaskan wildlife refuge. I suspect I might be the result of some dream-controlling research conducted by Dick Cheney.)

Urban Pollution keeps up its keen interest in Elephant 6 with a live review of a recent Essex Green concert in Austin. It's a nice review. On the other hand...love the EG? Don't want to get infuriated? Then don't read this live review from someone who doesn't even take the time to learn the names of the band members before trashing them. Oy vey. But that review's from way back in the SXSW 2006 days...so let's not live in the past. Need something to clear the palate after that? Read the Optical Atlas glowing review of Cannibal Sea, or our interview with Sasha Bell (oh, so that was her name!). Yeah, the band's not touring again for a while, but if you missed them (like I did), you can hear a live performance for Minnesota Public Radio here. And I think Sasha's voice is just lovely, don't you?

The latest Optical Atlas review is up, this time of the new, self-released third album by Calvin, Don't Jump!, Conscious of Conscience. J. Kirk Pleasant has made an album divorced from Athens, and it's entirely acoustic, but it's a moving work that's not that far afield of his previous albums. You can read the entire review here.

Kelly Ruberto has posted on the Circulatory System board at Elephant 6 Townhall that the new, ever-so-highly-anticipated second album from Circulatory System is probably not going to be released in 2006. She writes, "I hate to say it but there is no way the Circulatory record is going to be out in September. It's getting so late in the year that I feel like spring 2007 is now much more likely at this point. A lot has gotten done in the past 6 months but it's still not where Will [Hart] wants it to be so....we wait."

In our recent interviews with both Derek Almstead (Elf Power), who's mastering the album, and Gary Olson (The Ladybug Transistor), whose studios at Marlborough Farms were being used, it was indicated that there's been a lot of activity and work being performed on the tracks for the new record. In February Derek wrote on the Townhall, "We've managed to organize and pare down the 60-80 songs we had in the running down to 19-25 almost finished tunes. We're back in Athens now, getting set up at my little studio. A few more vocal overdubs, some percussion and keys here and there, then mixing and we'll be done. 1-2 months of light work? The light at the end of the tunnel is getting larger!" Apparently the light may have been a mirage. A month later Derek wrote in the Optical Atlas interview, "It is incredibly difficult to say 'done' with this stuff; there is just such a standard to it."

It will come, and, as is always the case with the Elephant 6 bands Circulatory System, The Music Tapes, and, when they were together, Olivia Tremor Control, the wait is certain to be worth it. But with both this and the new Apples in Stereo record, New Magnetic Wonder, pushed into the next year, the wait will also be very, very long.

Cassingle at E6 Townhall pointed out that the music blog Large-Hearted Boy today has a live Late BP Helium set for download, recorded last January in Athens. You'll also notice on that page a download of a Hawk and a Hacksaw MP3 (from their first, eponymous album) and an Olivia Tremor Control video (which you can also watch at Cloud Recordings). And if you want more Late BP Helium MP3s, check out, if you haven't already, our feature "Liner Notes" in which BP shares some demos and rarities from the vault.

UPDATE: Apparently the link at Large-Hearted Boy goes to the wrong site, but if you go to Southern Shelter you can download the whole set.

We recently posted at OpticalAtlas.com the first and only album by Secret Square, the short-lived mid-90's project of Hilarie Sidney of The Apples in Stereo and Lisa Janssen of Neutral Milk Hotel's On Avery Island. Now our friend Chris has ripped the band's ultra-rare single to MP3, and you can download it as a zipped file, including the artwork, at this Rapidshare link. If you don't want to download it as a zipped file, wait until later tonight, when Optical Atlas will be hosting the MP3s and artwork at our media page. Thanks very much to Chris for sharing this music!

The New Sound of Numbers is the new band by Circulatory System's Hannah Jones (our interview with Hannah about the project is here). Quite a few of us got excited when we first heard her new band's songs on their MySpace page, and now, if you live in Athens, you get a chance to see her live. This Friday at the 40 Watt the band is scheduled to play with the Summer Hymns (another band you should really care about, and who also have some new music to be released later this year). The New Sound of Numbers also have dates scheduled for June and July, and will play at the HHBTM PopFest in Athens.

Their first album, Liberty Seeds, is now listed at Cloud Recording's homepage, and will be released by the label September 12.

The New Sound of Numbers

05.26.06 Athens, GA @ 40 Watt w/Summer Hymns and The Low Lows
05.27.06 Athens, GA @ Orange Twin Homecoming Party (venue...?)
06.10.06 Athens, GA @ Flicker
07.22.06 Athens, GA @ Secret Squirrel
08.09.06 Athens, GA @ Little Kings (HHBTM PopFest)

Stormx from the E6 Townhall has just begun a 24-hour marathon of rare Neutral Milk Hotel music. Go--right this second--to Rock Your Socks Radio. It will be playing through Wednesday! Since I have to work overtime today, this just might help me get through the day.

Calvin, Don't Jump! is the solo project of J. Kirk Pleasant, former Athens resident who has appeared on records by Olivia Tremor Control, Gerbils, Fablefactory, and Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't. He's released three albums to date, and his most recent is the self-released Conscious of Conscience (order info is here), a review of which should be appearing at this site a little later this week. Why should you be interested? Well, here's an MP3, and you can judge for yourself. It's one of my favorite CDJ tracks, the B-side to his "Rusty Gondola" single on Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records, which features Scott Spillane and Jeremy Barnes of Neutral Milk Hotel. Thanks to Kirk for letting me post it (there are still copies of this single for sale directly from Mr. Pleasant.)

Bleating (Calvin, Don't Jump!)

I've put up a small bundle of artwork and wallpaper at Optical Atlas.com; let me know what you think. The artwork section includes high-res images of the posters included in the original Olivia Tremor Control and Music Tapes singles. The wallpaper section features, for the moment, formatted images of Neutral Milk Hotel, Music Tapes, Olivia Tremor Control, and Elf Power artwork, plus a Late BP Helium photo from this weekend's feature, and the Elephant 6 logo, all ready for your desktop so you can confuse your co-workers and/or significant other.

Over the next week or two I'll be adding to both sections for more Music Tapes and Olivia Tremor Control, plus Of Montreal, Sunshine Fix, and so on. Requests? Let me know. Submissions? I'll take those too. Email me.

In anticipation of their upcoming brand new albums, The Ladybug Transistor and Great Lakes will be departing their Brooklyn home and venturing across Norway, Sweden, and England this summer. They've just confirmed the dates, and you can find them below. Note that several of the dates feature just Gary Olson, lead singer of the Ladybugs, performing solo. Olson writes, "We may add another one or two to that in the next couple of weeks."

Great Lakes' third LP, Diamond Times, is due out on Empyrean Records this July, and The Ladybug Transistor have a just-completed EP to be released sometime later in the year, followed by a new album. Before the July tour, note that the Ladybugs will be opening for Nick Garrie in New York. Nick Garrie is the singer-songwriter whose 1960's recordings, The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas, though not widely released until recently, nevertheless have gained a mystique and a cult following over the decades.

For more on the new albums by Great Lakes and the Ladybugs, read our recent interviews with Ben Crum (of Great Lakes) and Gary Olson.

The Ladybug Transistor

06.06.06 New York, NY @ Tonic w/Nick Garrie
07.03.06 Stavanger, Norway @ Checkpoint Charlie (Gary Olson solo) w/Darren Hanlon, I am King

The Ladybug Transistor and Great Lakes

07.04.06 Bergen, Norway @ Kamelon w/Darren Hanlon and I am King
07.07.06 Egersund, Norway @ Egersund Vise Festival
07.09.06 Oslo, Norway @ Mono w/Darren Hanlon and I am King
07.12.06 Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser (Gary Olson solo)
07.13.06 London, England @ Water Rats Theater

I know, I'm really late to this one...

The excellent Neutral Milk Hotel fan site (the best one out there, in my opinion) Carrot-Flower Kingdom has released a DVD-R featuring two live performances from Mangum & Co. from 1998. The first is at the Electric Lounge in Austin, Texas, and the second is an acoustic set in Athens at Chris Bilheimer's birthday party. Copies are just now arriving in mailboxes across the world. You can still order one by striding over to neutralmilkhotel.org and sending a Paypal payment to Gavin, who runs the site. Be aware that it is a DVD-R, so make sure your DVD player or computer can handle DVD-Rs, and also be aware that the video quality is understandably less than your average DVD, since these were shot on home video. The entire program is about 74 minutes long. Have you received a copy? Do you have comments? Please hit the comment button and type them with your fingers.

It's nice to see The Apples in Stereo getting some enthusiasm and coverage across the web. They've just launched a new website (and controversial theme song), with design by resident Apples artist Steve Keene. Pitchfork just wrote some nice words about them today. They're about to tour with The Strokes. And, the hell, their new album is slated to come out in 2007! That's a freaking year from now, folks. Anway, keep your appetite moist with this wonderful live review of last night's performance from the band in Lexington (featuring Bill Doss of Olivia Tremor Control), by resolute Apples plugger You Ain't No Picasso.

Apples in Stereo Tour Dates

Elf Power has posted this brand new video, "All the World is Waiting," at their MySpace page.



And want to go back in time? Here's their video to "Let the Serpent Sleep," from Creatures.



Or perhaps you would enjoy "The Everlasting Scream"?



Or "Never Believe," from Walking with the Beggar Boys?

The Minders are finally on MySpace, and they've put up a couple tracks from their forthcoming (July 18) album It's A Bright Guilty World. Go, have a listen.

Minders tour dates

The Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records PopFest, that annual romparama featuring the best acts of Athens GA and beyond (August 9-12), today announced its headliners for each night of the Popfest. We already knew that The Apples in Stereo would be playing, but it's a surprise to hear about these others.

Wed 08.09.06 Megaband
Thur 08.10.06 Mountain Goats
Fri 08.11.06 Deerhoof
Sat 08.12.06 The Apples in Stereo

In addition, we expect to see the following bands of note there:

Circulatory System (unconfirmed as of yet)
High Water Marks
Ideal Free Distribution
The Instruments
M Coast
The New Sound of Numbers

So what do you do? Well, first you go to the PopFest's MySpace page, make them a friend, and put them in your "top 8." This way you might win a free pass to the festival, or other prizes. Then keep checking at the HHBTM PopFest home page for updates; we expect the full schedule to be announced very soon.

The DIY Rockstar blog is running an Essex Green contest. Email your definition of "essex" and an explanation of why you should win, and you can possibly, if you are lucky and can define really well I guess, an autographed Essex Green poster, a copy of Cannibal Sea, and a button. The contest ends Tuesday May 22. Email your submission to diyrockstar@gmail.com.

There's also an Of Montreal interview at that site you might want to check out.

Here's another review round-up for Elf Power's latest, Back to the Web. I think the opinions run the gamut from raves to pans to everything in-between.

30Music.com
Amplifier Magazine
Contact Music
Drowned in Sound
Jambands
Mash Music
Onion AV Club
Pitchfork
Pop Matters
Treble Zine
Urban Pollution

Hooray for Tuesday's MP3 comes a couple hours early tonight (well, in my time zone anyway), and it's a doozy: the entire out-of-print Secret Square album from 1995 on the Elephant 6 label.

Secret Square was a one-shot band fronted by Hilarie Sidney of The Apples in Stereo and High Water Marks and Lisa Janssen of Neutral Milk Hotel's On Avery Island. The band only put out two releases, a 7" single (I'm not sure what's on it--readers?) and an album, the CD of which contains bonus tracks not on the vinyl. What I've posted is the CD, including the bonus tracks. Secret Square quickly became defunct as Hilarie concentrated her efforts on the Apples and, eventually, High Water Marks. This one outing remains fresh and exciting to listen to--a very good example of the kind of brave experimentation Elephant 6 bands were attempting in their early years.

And the big news for me is that I'm debuting these MP3s on the new website OpticalAtlas.com. You can poke around in there and let me know just how deficient my web-design skills are. For the time being, this blog will remain at Blogger; eventually it will migrate over as long as I can make sure it looks roughly the same. The only other exclusive content that faithful readers haven't seen are some live photos of Great Lakes at SXSW. In the next few weeks some interviews, articles, and artwork will be appearing at the site as well, and all MP3s will now be debuting there. Hope you like the album. I try not to post entire albums, but it's been out of print for ages and there seems to be no reissue in sight, and I think some of you have been wanting to hear it. Enjoy!

Optical Atlas.com

Secret Square at OpticalAtlas.com

Filmmaker Neil Carnahan has put up on his website three live Dressy Bessy performances from April 2004 at the Casbah in San Diego. The band performs "Just One More," "The Things That You Say That You Do" (my personal fave DB song), and "Better Luck." You need Quicktime to watch the videos. Click here for the videos, and thanks go out to Neil for letting us know.

Calvin, Don't Jump!, the band of J. Kirk Pleasant (who's played with Olivia Tremor Control and The Gerbils), has returned from his tour of Japan with copies of his latest album, Conscious of Conscience, that he's decided to self-release as a CD-R. His first album, Crystal Clear Mississippi, featured members of Elephant 6 and had a rich psychedelic feel, but it looks like Conscious of Conscience may be more like his second outing, A Way with Birds, which was soft, acoustic, and quite pretty, with some touches of avant-garde experimentation.

In addition to the new full-length, Kirk is also offering a rerelease of his first cassette recordings from 1996, the EP Notes from Undersound. Plus, all of his 7" singles and previous CDs are being offered if you want to play catch-up with his discography. You can purchase these via Paypal directly from Mr. Pleasant at calvindontjump@hotmail.com.

1. Conscious of Conscience - cdr - self released - $10
2. Notes from Undersound - cassette - self released - $7.50
3. A Way With Birds - cd (HHBTM/US and Waikiki/Japan) - $10
4. Crystal Clear Mississippi - cd (self/US and Contact/Japan import) + lp 12"(Earworm/British) - $10
5. Solamente La Luna Este Noche/Crumble 7" - self released - $5
6. Rusty Gondola/Bleating 7" - HHBTM - $5
7. Split 7" with Echo Orbiter - Perhaps Transparent - $5
Add $5 shipping, international orders accepted at the same prices.

I'll post a review of the album when I get a copy.

Hannah Jones of Circulatory System has a new band, The New Sound of Numbers, which we profiled here. She writes in her MySpace blog that their new album, Liberty Seeds, has been mastered and looks to be released on Cloud Records September 12. Will Hart, Bill Doss, and John Fernandes of Olivia Tremor Control all appear on the album, as does Heather McIntosh of The Instruments.

(The date has been updated and Hannah confirms the new release date of 9/12. Thanks to thecauseofgauze for noticing this.)

The Late B.P. Helium, aka B.P. Helium from Of Montreal, aka Bryan Poole, announced at the Townhall that he will be hopping around the U.S. and Canada this summer, and although many of the venues are TBA, you'll want to be tracking this if you're in the mood for some solid summer evening rock and roll. If you're in Lexington (and you're lucky if you are), you won't want to miss his bill with The American Revolution, that band with The Apples in Stereo's Robert Schneider that we profiled here. He'll also be playing with jackandginger and The Impossible Shapes.

* with The American Revolution
# with jackandginger
% with The Impossible Shapes

June 26 - Lexington, KY - TBA *
June 27 - Lansing, MI - TBA
June 28 - Toronto, ON - TBA #
June 29 - Hamilton, ON - TBA #
June 30 - Ottawa - TBA #
July 1 - TBA #
July 2 - Montreal, QC #
July 3 - TBA #
July 4 - TBA #
July 5 - TBA #
July 6 - TBA #
July 7 - TBA #
July 8 - Halifax, NS - TBA #
July 9 - Halifax, NS - TBA #
July 11 - Portland, ME - TBA %
July 12 - Boston, MA - TBA %
July 13 - New York, NY - TBA %
July 14 - TBA
July 15 - TBA

Because it makes them kick ass even more, The Apples in Stereo have now recorded their very own theme song to help launch their brand-spiffin'-new website (designed by Steve Keene). Head on over and turn up the volume; you'll smile. Every band should have their own theme song, just like the Monkees. Thanks to Zaby at Tractor Beam for letting us know.

I haven't posted much (okay, anything at all) about Beirut, the band fronted by 19-year-old Zach Condon of Brooklyn, but it should be of interest to Elephant 6 fans given that Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost of A Hawk and a Hacksaw play on his album. Of course, Barnes has also played with Neutral Milk Hotel and the Gerbils. Pitchfork today gives Beirut's album Gulag Orkestar what, for them, is a rave review. I haven't heard the whole album yet, but I really like what I've heard.

I also should mention that in addition to The New Sound of Numbers (the new band from Circulatory System's Hannah Jones, which we profiled at length here), Cloud Recordings has signed the Athens band Dark Meat Vomit Lasers Family Band, who seem to put on an amazing live show--check out their MySpace page for live recordings. Thanks to Dr. Barfton of Dark Meat for pointing this out at the Townhall.

By the way, there's a very nice and explanatory interview with Dark Meat at Tiny Mix Tapes.

Dressy Bessy has recently completed a European tour, and they're coming back to the states for more and more shows. If you live in Denver, well, you're probably sick of them by now, but they're playing tomorrow night at Hi Dive. They also have dates announced for a summer tour through the Midwest and East Coast; check it out.

Upcoming Shows

May 11 2006 Denver, CO @ The Hi Dive
Jul 7 2006 Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
Jul 8 2006 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
Jul 9 2006 Chicago, IL @ Abbey Pub
Jul 11 2006 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
Jul 12 2006 Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
Jul 16 2006 Washington DC @ DC9
Jul 17 2006 Charlottesville, NC @ Star Hill (upstairs)
Jul 18 2006 Lexington, KY @ The Dame
Jul 19 2006 Nashville, TN @ The Basement
Jul 20 2006 St. Louis, MO @ Ciceros
Jul 21 2006 Springfield, MO @ Black Sheep Cafe

The Apples in Stereo announced today that they'll be playing in Lexington, Kentucky, at Underlying Themes next Thursday, May 18. It's an all ages show, so bring your parents.

Upcoming Shows

5/18 Lexington, KY @ Underlying Themes, 110 S. Upper St., doors open at 8PM
5/20 Richmond, VA @ Innsbrook Pavillion w/The Strokes
5/22 Memphis, TN @ Orpheum Theater w/The Strokes
5/23 Birmingham, AL @ Sloss Furnace w/The Strokes
5/25 Charleston, SC @ Center Stage At The Plex w/The Strokes
5/26 Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium w/The Strokes
8/12 Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club (Athens Popfest)

The Onion AV Club has posted a positive review of Elf Power's latest, Back to the Web, at their website today. They trot out the "hobbit rock" label again by calling them Tolkienesque, which I don't really see in their music. (Show me one Tolkien reference in an Elf Power song...seriously, I'd be curious.)

I know they're not that rare, but this week's MP3s highlight the unique 1999 compilation Pop Romantique from Emperor Norton Records. The idea here is that modern acts such as Air and The Magnetic Fields would cover French pop tunes by Serge Gainsbourg and the like. When The Apples in Stereo and The Ladybug Transistor were asked to participate, each took a creative approach. The Ladybugs joined their idol, Kevin Ayers, for an Ayers original, "Puis-je?" (Ayers croons, the Ladybugs back him up.) Robert Schneider set his own challenge: to write a new Apples song in French. The result was "Avril en Mai," which somehow manages to sound just as infectious as anything the Apples have written, even if the pronunciation may not be to a countryman's caliber.

Avril en mai (The Apples in Stereo)

Puis-je? (The Ladybug Transistor featuring Kevin Ayers)

Harmonium Music gives the upcoming Minders album It's a Bright Guilty World four stars out of five, in a very complimentary review. They've also posted two MP3s from the album which you can download. (Anyone want to send me a promo copy? Cuz...oh, never mind.) The album is scheduled for release July 18.

The Instruments is the project of Heather McIntosh, cellist for Circulatory System, who's also performed with the likes of Great Lakes, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't, Elf Power, and Japancakes; she's also one of the minds behind the recent experimental compilation AUX (as producer and contributor), and has exhibited her own electronic experimental works. But the first time I heard The Instruments--on their first album, A Billion Phonographs (2002)--the nature of the music really surprised me. The Instruments doesn't sound like any other Elephant 6 band. Heather has a soft, low voice much like Suzanne Vega's, and the music has the same delicate quality--piano, a carefully, exactly plucked guitar, and the moaning of the cello. But she's not without her risky side. "When the Stars Shine," in which Jeff Mangum is distinctively heard harmonizing the title with Heather, could almost be a moment from Major Organ and the Adding Machine, except that it's nowhere near as frantic; The Instruments are dreamy, to be sure, but they're grounded in traditional music forms.

As much as I enjoyed Billions of Photographs--whose lyrics can be summed up by the track titles: "Lullaby," "Sea Chantey," "Carnival," "For a Silent Movie," etc.--I'll admit I like the latest, Cast a Half Shadow, twice as much. You get the feeling she's figured out what she wants to do with the band, and the whole album is much more consistent and unified. She's joined by another spectacular supporting cast. All of Heather's teammates from Circulatory System are here: Peter Erchick, Derek Almstead, Will Hart, Eric Harris, John Fernandes, and Hannah Jones; plus Jeff Mangum and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel.

The mood of the album is set with the first two tracks: after the opener, appropriately enough "Show to Begin," the band settles back for a ravishing instrumental piece, "For Travelers." This is an album where the lyrics take a backseat to the melodies, and the voices are just another instrument (as in "Through the Air," which sends the same words echoing again and again while the cello guides them along). "Seems So Far," the loveliest of the songs proper, is simple as hell, but a tribute to how Heather has matured as a songwriter; it's a natural for any other band to cover. But the Instruments aren't really about songs. The band is an hypnotic victrola; listen, for evidence, to "Response," the album's ambient experimental piece, which turns back on the previous track and digs below it like some Will Cullen Hart experiment involving submerged microphones. If listened to with headphones, the album will take you on a strange nocturnal trip. When, in the album's closer, "My Friend," Heather begs you to take her hand and stay, you'll be unable to resist.

Cast a Half Shadow is released Tuesday. You can buy it now from Orange Twin Records, or preview songs at the band's MySpace page.

Cast a Half Shadow,
by The Instruments

1. Show to Begin
2. For Travelers
3. Seems So Far
4. Our Lovely Ladder
5. Branches for Many Birds
6. Through the Air
7. Amongst the Trees
8. Response
9. Lantern
10. My Friend
Total Running Time: 45:10

Zaby of Tractor-Beam, a spokesman for The Apples in Stereo, has issued a press release concerning the band's upcoming tour with the Strokes (which we noted here), appearance at Athens Popfest, and their upcoming album.

Derek Almstead reports on his MySpace page that during Friday night's Elf Power/Instruments show at Chicago's Subterranean, their van's window was broken, and bags of clothes belonging to Derek and Heather McIntosh were stolen. (It sounds like this happened while they were performing; so luckily, his laptop and their instruments were safely inside the club.) They're proceeding with the tour, but here's extra incentive to go out and see them--I'm sure that financially they could use your support. Plus they've got great merch for sale, including an Elf Power tour-only CD (see my review), the new Instruments CD, new tee shirts and handbags, and LPs of Back to the Web and Vainly Clutching at Phantom Limbs.

(In other news, Derek reports that there's a chance M Coast will be touring with Elf Power in late summer/early fall. And one of Derek's many bands, 63 Crayons, has recently completed their new record, and uploaded songs on their MySpace page.)

Elf Power On Tour

May 8 2006 Missoula, MT @ The Raven w/The Instruments
May 9 2006 Seattle, WA @ Crocodile Cafe w/The Instruments
May 10 2006 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge w/The Instruments
May 12 2006 San Francisco, CA @ Cafe Du Nord w/The Instruments
May 13 2006 Los Angeles, CA @ Space Land w/The Instruments
May 14 2006 Tucson, AZ @ Solar Culture Gallery w/The Instruments
May 16 2006 Dallas, TX @ The Cavern w/The Instruments
May 17 2006 Austin, TX @ Emo's Jr. w/The Instruments
May 20 2006 London, UK @ Astoria
May 21 2006 Camber Sands, UK All Tomorrow's Parties
May 23 2006 Brighton, UK @ The Freebutt
May 24 2006 Amsterdam, Ne @ The Paradison
May 25 2006 Berlin, Germany @ Maria
May 27 2006 Stockholm, Sweden @ Popaganda Festival/Universitetet

You Ain't No Picasso has posted an MP3 from the upcoming album from The Minders, It's a Bright Guilty World, which will be released July 18 from Future Farmer Records. A nice little mini-review of the song, cover art, and the MP3 itself can be found at the site. I can't wait to hear this album.

The Minders 2006 Tour Dates

July 22, 2006 - Arcata, CA @ The Alibi
July 23, 2006 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
July 24, 2006 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Fold in the Derby
July 25, 2006 - Tucson, AZ @ TBA
July 27, 2006 - Austin, TX @ Emo's
July 28, 2006 - Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
July 29, 2006 - Houston, TX @ The Proletariat
July 31, 2006 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
August 1, 2006 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
August 2, 2006 - Philadelphia, PA @ TBA
August 3, 2006 - New York, NY @ Knitting Factory
August 4, 2006 - Montreal, QC @ La Salla Rosa
August 5, 2006 - Toronto, ON @ TBA
August 6, 2006 - MI (TBA)
August 7, 2006 – Madison, WI @ Barrymore w/Of Montreal
August 8, 2006 – Iowa/Wisconsin (TBA) w/Of Montreal
August 9, 2006 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue w/Of Montreal
August 10, 2006 – Fargo, ND @ Avalon Events Center w/Of Montreal
August 11, 2006 – Lincoln, NE @ Knickerbocker’s w/Of Montreal
August 12, 2006 - Chicago, IL @ Schuba's Tavern w/Of Montreal
August 13, 2006 - Dekalb, IL @ TBA w/Of Montreal
August 14, 2006 – St. Louis, MO @ Mississippi Nights w/Of Montreal
August 15, 2006 – Louisville, KY @ Headliner’s w/Of Montreal
August 16, 2006 – Winston-Salem, NC @ TBA w/Of Montreal
August 17, 2006 – Norfolk, VA – NorVA w/Of Montreal
August 18, 2006 - Greenville, SC @ The Handlebar w/Of Montreal
August 25, 2006 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
August 26, 2006 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court

Elf Power's on tour supporting their new album Back to the Web, and they're selling a tour-only CD (from Orange Twin Records), Treasures from the Trash Heap, which collects demos, live tracks, tracks from various compilations, and unreleased songs spanning 1994-2004.

The first thing you notice about Back to the Web is its unusual artwork, a grid of images--mostly eyes--culled from various sources, many familiar to Elf Power fans, such as the nude boy boxer from the cover of Creatures and a horned thing from Vainly Clutching at Phantom Limbs, with some fan art and photos mixed in. So you would expect the album to have a nostalgic feel, and I suppose it does. Back to the Web is a step back from their last, Walking with the Beggar Boys (2003)--an album that established the band as unexpected kings of the catchy arena-rock riff. Back to the Web, as the title emplies, plunges them back into the usual tangle of Elf Power influences: folk and psychedelia, mainly. Although it might be folly to place too much stock in the title; on their late 2005 tour, they were polling the audience for suggestions on a title, offering to take the winner to a water park if their title was chosen (thoughts of the Brady Bunch episode with the amusement park montage come to mind).

In the end, they settled for naming it after the album's closing song, which, in typically disjointed Elves fashion, feels as though it ought to be swapped with "Come Lie Down with Me," which starts the album out of left field. After the intriguing opening, you get "An Old Familiar Scene," the single and the album's strongest track. Although the lyrics are standard Andrew Rieger ("One by one the shapes become an old familiar scene/I watch them flicker slowly as I'm falling off to sleep"), the guitars build to something really stirring before the close. Then it's on to the subtle "Rolling Black Water," a very folky and simple number that was the odd tune out when Elf Power performed last Friday in Chicago. "Down by the shoreline, down by the sea/rolling black water, sing me to sleep"...there's a pattern here. Much of Back to the Web is dreamlike, the images like a hypnogogic hallucination of drifting shadows and creatures crawling out of the ground, and the songs, appropriately, begin to really blend together in the second half, although one of them, "All the World is Waiting," has been selected as their first video. I don't know. I like "King of Earth," with its intense, invoking, Mark Bolan-esque lyrics, and "Peel Back the Moon, Beware!", which is much more than a fantastic title. A real piece of storytelling, on this track Rieger walks you all the way through his dream, from throwing your cash into a fire to scaling a mountain into the clouds.

On the whole, however, the album drifts in and drifts out and doesn't leave as strong a footprint as some of their other work. Of their discography, it's closest in kin to the underrated and understated Creatures. If you listen to it in the right mood, you'll love it, but it's no breakthrough, and--as the backward-glimpsing cover art implies--it's not trying to be.

I have to admit I enjoyed the scattershot, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink tour CD, Treasures from the Trash Heap, a little more. But it's got something for everyone. A desperately-needed compilation of songs without a home, and supported by some interesting demos, covers, and live recordings, it provides the perfect retrospective of the band's history. And it has some of my favorite Elf Power songs: "Historical Ant Wars," from the first Happy Happy Birthday to Me release, pays home to "those tiny heroes" with blistering, distorted guitars; "Spiders," which should have been included on Back to the Web with its images of spiders drifting past the heads of sleeping folk; and the singalong cover of the Byrds' "Feel a Whole Lot Better," which appeared as a Kindercore single. But there are plenty of new noticeables: "All the Same," in particular, "It's Not Cold," a wonderful live performance of "The Arrow Flies Close" and even an Olivia Tremor Control cover, "Princess Knows" (aka "The Princess Turns the Key to Cubist Castle"). The Bolan influence is cemented with two T.Rex covers, "Dandy in the Underworld" and "Slider." (Now when will they cover Tyrannosaurus Rex? I want to hear the Elf Power version of "Once Upon the Seas of Abyssinia.") The demos, finally, are an interesting bunch: "Hole in My Shoe," one of their finest songs, is every bit as strong in this early form, and the "techno version" of "Invisible Men" is almost unidentifiable until you hear the lyrics. It's messy, it's peculiar, it's a blast. I wish the more respectable and mature Back to the Web were as much fun.

Back to the Web is available now from Rykodisc
Treasures from the Trash Heap is for sale by the band on tour

Back to the Web,
by Elf Power

1. Come Lie Down with Me (and Sing My Song)
2. An Old Familiar Scene
3. Rolling Black Water
4. King of Earth
5. Peel Back the Moon, Beware!
6. 23rd Dream
7. Somewhere Down the River
8. The Spider and the Fly
9. Forming
10. All the World is Waiting
11. Under the Northern Sky
12. Back to the Web
Total Running Time: 35:15

Treasures from the Trash Heap,
by Elf Power

1. Temporary Arm (country version)
2. Face in the Sand (demo)
3. Feel a Whole Lot Better (Byrds cover)
4. Dandy in the Underworld (T.Rex cover)
5. Another Face (demo)
6. Hole in My Shoe (demo)
7. All the Same
8. Rise High Giant Fly
9. Historical Ant Wars
10. Empty Pictures (demo)
11. Princess Knows (Olivia Tremor Control cover)
12. Invisible Men (demo)
13. Dark Circles
14. Underneath the Bunker (R.E.M. cover)
15. Arrow Flies Close (live at Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto)
16. Blackbirds
17. Invisible Men (techno version)
18. Run Through the Forest
19. I Know I
20. Spiders
21. It's Not Cold
22. Reuters (Wire cover, live at Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto)
23. Honey (Spacemen 3 cover, live at the Landfill, Athens, GA)
24. The Slider (T.Rex cover)
Total Running Time: 71:45

The Apples in Stereo have some dates scheduled this month with The Strokes, according to their newly-refurbished website. Thanks to poe at the Townhall for noticing this.

The Apples in Stereo with The Strokes

05/20/2006 Richmond, VA @ Innsbrook Pavilion
05/22/2006 Memphis, TN @ Orpheum Theatre
05/23/2006 Birmingham, AL @ Sloss Furnace
05/25/2006 Charleston, SC @ Center Stage at the Plex
05/26/2006 Asheville, NC @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium

Fire Records, a UK label, has finally updated their listing for the upcoming Neutral Milk Hotel On Avery Island reissue. It is now slated to include "a bonus disc of live tracks and out-takes as well as a poster-booklet tucked inside a limited edition slip-case." The release date is set for August 10. This is reason to get excited, as it's the first Neutral Milk Hotel album to get any kind of "special edition" treatment. Hopefully the bonus tracks will feature real rarities...we'll keep you posted, but you can pre-order the album now.

Thanks to young pilgrim at the Townhall for noticing the update.

Soon we all will be learning The New Sound of Numbers.

Hannah Jones is a percussionist for Circulatory System and The Instruments, as well as an artist (she provided the "circuits" logo on the Cloud Recordings homepage) who sells her work at Orange Twin. In the past Cloud has distributed two self-released CD-Rs from Hannah's project Lorkakar, an experimental work recorded on four-track and utilizing, as the website says, "layer upon layer of lyricless voices, bells, and electronics." This year Hannah is set to release the debut album from another solo project, The New Sound of Numbers, on Cloud Records. The band has a MySpace page and an official homepage, and although the latter is bare for the moment, Hannah has just uploaded some rough mixes of new songs at the MySpace site.

"The New Sound of Numbers is a project that has been in progress for a couple of years," Hannah writes. "It's my first album of 'songs' rather than soundscapes. I had dabbled in writing songs before, but hadn't really gotten into it until I got my 12-string electric guitar. Something about the way the strings felt when I played them felt right to me in a way that a 6-string guitar hadn't. I think it felt more substantial, and also there is a certain ring to it that appeals to me. So after that purchase, things really got underway."

When hearing the new songs she's placed on the MySpace page, I can sense an affinity with Lorkakar; certainly they're layered in the complex, experimental fashion that calls to mind Lorkakar's "lost signals" CD-Rs and Circulatory System. "There are similarities to Lorkakar in the kinds of sounds that are used in this record, but The New Sound of Numbers is definitely much less abstract, with more straightforward songs--it's what most people would consider to be a band. Lorkakar has more of a solitary feel--this new project has more of a 'get up,' danceable feel to it. It expresses a sense of urgency, and some tension, but ultimately a feeling of hope and a feeling that 'good things are coming.' There is a big focus on the lyrics."

In a sense, you can tell the songs were written by a drummer; they have a pounding, driving beat that dominates the vocals. "I wrote all of the songs on either drumset or guitar," Hannah says. "Some of the songs were inspired by drum tracks I recorded, while others were written while sitting and playing guitar."

One would expect, given Hannah's circle of friends, that some familiar names will turn up on the band's upcoming album, Liberty Seeds. "The whole core of the album I recorded on my own (meaning drums, guitar, percussion, vocals), and this was mainly because i was too shy to invite other people in to the project at that time. Within the past year, Heather McIntosh [The Instruments] has added bass and vocals, John Fernandes [Circulatory System, Elf Power] has added violin and clarinet, Kathryn Refi and Will Hart [Circulatory System] have added vocals, and Bill Doss [Sunshine Fix] added bass on a track. The album was recorded on 4-track cassette, 8-track digital, and through the computer program Nuendo. The only microphone used was a shure sm57. The current live line-up is Kathryn Refi on drums, Heather McIntosh on bass, John Fernandes on violin and clarinet, Will Hart on guitar and percussion, me on 12-string electric."

This should be really interesting. Head on over to the band's MySpace page to listen to the new songs, and if you like what you hear, you can anticpate Liberty Seeds appearing in late August/early September 2006 from Cloud Recordings. Hannah writes that the album is being mastered next week and pressed shortly thereafter.

Thanks to Chris for bringing TNSON to my attention, and to Hannah for participating.

Kevin at the Townhall has posted that several autographed Olivia Tremor Control records are now up for bidding in a silent auction held at the Jackhammer in Chicago, with the deadline of the evening of May 12. That's when a benefit is being held for Cactus Canyon, "the world's largest gay campground," which has apparently been suffering from harassment and threats of violence; the owners of the camp are seeking funds to take legal action to deal with the harassment. In addition to the Olivia Tremor Control LPs, signed sheet music from R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" and lots of additional art is up for auction, and a raffle for additional items will be held at the benefit. At the moment it's limited to those who can physically drop by the Jackhammer in Chicago, but Kevin is apparently working on a way to accept bids from out-of-towners. Kevin has also suggested at the possibility of some kind of OTC-related DVD (possibly a record of their Chicago concert?) will be awarded to one of the winners, if the price gets high enough.

For more details, visit the Cactus Canyon benefit page, where you can also donate even if you don't want the items. It's for a good cause.

Pictures of the OTC items up for auction are here.

UPDATE!

The signed items are now for sale on eBay, where you can bid on them, even if you don't live in Chicago.

Dusk at Cubist Castle Gatefold LP
Dusk at Cubist Castle 2XCD
Black Foliage LP
Giant Day EP

Cactus Canyon Benefit
Friday May 12th @ Jackhammer
6406 N. Clark Street Chicago, IL
773-743-5772

Already The Essex Green, Elf Power, and The Instruments have released albums this year, and if you're an Elephant 6 fan, you also have more Great Lakes, M Coast, Circulatory System, The Apples in Stereo, The American Revolution, Of Montreal, and Summer Hymns releases to look forward to. Chris Riser of Summer Hymns has posted an update on the progress of their new record at Townhall. Rather than summarize, I'll just quote:

"About half the new record is mixed. A few by David McConnell (Elliott Smith, Folk Implosion, etc.), and four so far by Marky Nevers (Lambchop, Will Oldham, Silver Jews, etc.) who also recorded and mixed Clemency, the last Summer Hymns full-length. Mmmm, they sound good. The last of the songs will be mixed on June 1-2, and the album will be mastered on June 5th for a fall release on Misra. We can't post finished mixes online, but we'll post some live versions of new stuff over the coming months on our MySpace page. And of course, you can always come hear the stuff live too - like on Friday, May 26th at the 40 Watt with The Low Lows (the new incarnation, sort of, I guess you could say, of Parker & Lily). It's gonna be a good one. We'll also be on the AthFest outdoor stage on Friday, June 23rd."

And Andy Gonzales of M Coast (formerly Marshmallow Coast, but now transformed by the substantial contributions of teammates Derek Almstead, Sara Kirkpatrick, and Emily Growden) has blogged on the band's MySpace page that their "newest and GREATEST record will be out in the fall, we are negotiating with a couple of labels to get the right support." You can listen to some of their new music on MySpace right now, or read our interviews with Andy and Derek for more information. Andy talks about M Coast and upcoming Marshmallow Coast reissues, and Derek chats about parting ways with Of Montreal and working on the new M Coast and Circulatory System albums.

Two of the three Masters of the Hemisphere reunion shows were played last weekend, and Darren at Bicycle Kick My Worries Away is keeping track of news as well as info on the band members' upcoming projects at his blog.

For pictures of one of the reunion shows, go to AthensWorld.com to see some nice photos by Hillary Brown (like the one at right).

The blog Mesmerization Eclipse features setlists from the shows (and be sure to look at the comments to the post).

One more show to go:

5/6/06 Melting Pot - San Francisco, CABRAHFEST (aka BIRTHDAY ZAP)
With Je Suis France and Lil' Flip Scoldjah

The Essex Green, now touring, dropped by Minnesota Public Radio last week for a performance and interview, and you can now hear the whole thing online at MPR's website. They perform "This Isn't Farm Life," "Rue de Lis," and "Penny & Jack."

Not much to say...except that the AV Club review of Cannibal Sea goes a little overboard with its comparisons to other bands; the B-52's comparison seems far-fetched to me.

The Onion AV Club reviews The Essex Green's Cannibal Sea

Pitchfork reviews Elf Power's Back to the Web

Oh, and I should mention a few other things...

Although The Instruments' new album Cast a Half Shadow is officially released next Tuesday, May 9, you can buy it now from Orange Twin's website. While there, take a look at the really cool handbags, and guitar and mandolin bags by Daisy Aldrich, many on an Elf Power theme. Thanks to Chris for the heads-up.

Because we've been stealing the title of this feature from them for months now, now we're presenting an actual rarity from the band whose Hooray for Tuesday is one of the best pop albums of the 90's. From the period of Cul-de-sacs and Dead Ends comes this track, actually taken from Tell-Tale Signs of Earworm, released by the now-defunct Earworm Records in the U.K.

We've Seen It All - The Minders

Tiny Mix Tapes has posted some news about the upcoming Minders album Bright Guilty World and the subsequent tour to promote it (many of the dates being with Of Montreal). You can read the article here, but the dates, as TMT reports, are reprinted below.

Bright Guilty World Tour

07.22.06 - Arcata, CA - The Alibi **
07.23.06 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom Of The Hill **
07.24.06 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fold In The Derby **
07.25.06 - Tucson/Phoenix, AZ - TBA **
07.27.06 - Austin, TX - Emo's **
07.28.06 - Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves **
07.29.06 - Houston, TX - The Proletariat **
07.31.06 - Atlanta, GA - TBA **
08.01.06 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 **
08.02.06 - Philadelphia, PA - TBA **
08.03.06 - New York, NY - Knitting Factory **
08.04.06 - Montreal, QC - TBA **
08.05.06 - Toronto, ON - TBA **
08.06.06 - Michigan - TBA **
08.07.06 - Madison, WI - The Barrymore #
08.08.06 - Iowa/Wisconsin - TBA #
08.09.06 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue #
08.10.06 - Fargo, ND - Avalon Events Center #
08.11.06 - Lincoln, NE - Knickerbocker's #
08.12.06 - Chicago, IL - Schuba's Tavern
08.13.06 - Dekalb, IL - TBA
08.14.06 - St Louis, MO - Mississippi Nights #
08.15.06 - Louisville, KY - Headliner's #
08.16.06 - Winston-Salem, NC - TBA #
08.17.06 - Norfolk, VA - The NorVA #
08.18.06 - Greenville, SC - The Handlebar #
08.25.06 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
08.26.06 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court

# w/ Of Montreal
** w/ The Kingdom