1998's Sounds to Soothe a Nervous Robot was one of the first compilations of experimental music and sound to come out of Athens. Produced by Brian Horst and The Visitations' Davey Wrathgabar, it featured Dixie Blood Mustache, Japancakes, The Noisettes, and more, including Black Swan Network, the alter ego of The Olivia Tremor Control (and Will Hart in particular). Their contribution was "Excerpts from the Late Music Volume 2," which you can download below. It's a typically jarring and surreal piece, and more typical of BSN than the actual songs that were featured on their first single (on Happy Happy Birthday to Me), which we highlighted in this blog a few months ago.

The Black Swan Network - Excerpts from the Late Music Vol. 2

Daytrotter, a hip little website that hosts live sessions for bands that pass through, is featuring a recent Of Montreal in-studio performance. The band performs "Eagle-Shaped Mirror," "Suffer for Fashion," "Lysergic Bliss," and "Requiem for O.M.M.2".

Of Montreal at Daytrotter

Meanwhile, You Ain't No Picasso has recently featured a rarity by The Late B.P. Helium, which dates back to his Elf Power days, "Woven and Webbed." Apparently it was a contendor for Elf Power's When the Red King Comes, but is now making its belated debut. Pretty cool.

The Late B.P. Helium at You Ain't No Picasso

Tractor Beam Management has written in with great news - there's been a lot of speculation about who would replace Hilarie Sidney as drummer for The Apples in Stereo, and now there's been an official announcement. The press release follows:

The Apples in Stereo are pleased to announce their first show tonight with their new drummer John Dufilho, lead singer and principal songwriter of The Deathray Davies (the Black Cat, Washington, DC). The band announced the departure of original Apples drummer Hilarie Sidney at the Athens Popfest in August.

“We are all huge fans of the Deathray Davies,” says Apples frontman Robert Schneider. “John is a loud, awesome drummer and he fits in perfectly with our band’s sound.” Dufilho’s 2006 self-titled solo album is under consideration for a Grammy Award in the Alternative category.

In addition The Apples are joined onstage by keyboardist/vocalist John Ferguson (Ulysses, Big Fresh) and Elephant 6 co-founder Bill Doss (Oliver Tremor Control, Sunshine Fix), who has been playing keyboards and singing with the band for most of 2006, and is heavily featured on the Apples upcoming LP New Magnetic Wonder.

The Apples will be playing the CMJ festival in New York this week (Irving Plaza, Friday, November 3). Get your tickets now!

Okay, I was lazy when I was posting a little while ago and made it wrote a headline that made it sound like the Great Lakes were playing their last show for a long time, and were breaking up or something. So Ben Crum has written in to reassure me that it was only the last U.S. date in a while, and in fact they are going to be touring Europe in January, beginning with a London show on January 9 with the Broken Family Band and continuing through Norway, Sweden, Germany, Holland, and "maybe more." Ben is about to head out on the road as part of The Ladybug Transistor on their tour through Spain and Scandinavia, so if you live in those parts you can say hi.

Better still, Ben writes that he and Great Lakes partner Dan Donahue are nearly finished writing their next album. So they'll be together for a while.

So, although in all fairness I did post the full quote from Ben in the body of the article, my apologies if I've caused any confusion--there's more great Great Lakes in the future.

But speaking of The Ladybug Transistor, you can pre-order their Spain-only release, Here Comes the Rain, from Darla Records here, the caveat being that you'll be required to spend more before checking out (at least $10), and they don't take Paypal. So you'll have to see your way around that. (May I suggest ordering the Donovan tribute album A Gift from a Garden to a Flower, which features Great Lakes?) Otherwise, you can just download it online from Merge beginning this Halloween.

You Ain't No Picasso is reporting that Robert Schneider has formed a band exclusively devoted to kids' music. Called Robert Bobbert and the Bubble Machine, the group has just been added to the webpage of reps extraordinaire Tractor Beam, and a MySpace page has been launched where you an listen to a couple tracks from the new incarnation of the man with a zillion bands. Where does he find the time? He's superhuman I think.

Meanwhile, Stormx at the Townhall has managed to accomplish what I have not been able to do--get a response from someone at Fire Records on the status of the Neutral Milk Hotel On Avery Island reissue. Originally slated for release this month, it has now been pushed back "by the band" to January 2007. Mark your calendars. With a pencil. The On Avery Island reissue is slated to include bonus tracks such as demos and live recordings, although nothing has been specifically confirmed.

The Apples in Stereo have announced the winners of their logo design contest, and there's a twist - there's two joint winners, both of whom will have their logos appropriated onto Apples in Stereo merchandise for their upcoming winter tour. You can read the full announcement from Robert Schneider here.

CrazyHorse at the Townhall brought our attention to this amazing YouTube video clip from an Olivia Tremor Control performance at the Shoebox in Athens; although the poster, thejasonaut, says it's from a performance in August 1994 when they opened for Elf Power, the description makes B.P. Helium and others place it in August 1995. Kelly Noonan is on drums. And they all look so young.

You heard me rave about the new band from Elf Power's Jimmy Hughes--Folklore--about a month ago. I also shared some MP3s that were rough cuts (with different vocals) of the tracks off the new album, The Ghost of H.W. Beaverman, which will be released in the indeterminate future. Now Mr. Hughes has crafted a new Folklore website and uploaded some new MP3s, including the final version of "H.W. Beaverman" (with vocals by Scott Spillane of Gerbils) and some tracks from a forthcoming EP. He's also announced that the band should be touring this winter...dates to come. Right now the band is label shopping. With lead vocal contributions from members of Wee Turtles, Elf Power, Masters of the Hemisphere, I am the World Trade Center, Bugs Eat Books, The Instruments, and more, this is a fascinating album and already a big favorite of mine. Once the album gets a label or some tour dates, I'll post the information here.

Oh...and do try to view the website in Firefox...it is not IE friendly!

First off, it wouldn't be Tuesday without another Elephant 6 rarity. This one ain't so rare, but you knew I'd roll it out for Halloween. It's the Marbles song "Dracula," which was first distributed online by Robert Schneider a year ago--it's his own take on the monster mash novelty pop records of the Doctor Demento era. The song also appeared on the Lexington compilation Know Your Own Volume 2 (which also featured Schneider's Thee American Revolution, among many others). I was going to hold this off until Halloween, but thought that you'd want to spend the week rocking to it in anticipation of the holiday rather than discovering it at the last second or later. (Me, I've been busy watching a lot of horror movies, as I do every October, which is why Optical Atlas has gotten a little sleepy lately.)

Marbles - Dracula

Next, I thought I'd mention that today marks the official release of M Coast's Say It in Slang. As you know by now, M Coast used to be Marshmallow Coast, the solo project of ex-Of Montreal member Andy Gonzales. M Coast is a rejiggered and very different incarnation of the band, as he's joined now by the singing/songwriting talents of Derek Almstead, Emily Growden, and Sara Kirkpatrick. It's a wonderful album, actually better suited to the dog days of summer with some lemonade or tequila at your lips than the chilly, early days of winter...but then, maybe that's just what you need right now. You can buy it straight from Happy Happy Birthday to Me, who have also recently re-released their early, rare cassette compilation Hey It's My Birthday as a CD-R, for a limited time. Other deals at HHBTM include a CD-R EP club and a discount on older CDs. You can see all the updates from Mike Turner right here.

To celebrate the release of Say it in Slang, Sloan at Southern Shelter is offering for download another high-quality bootleg, this of M Coast's recent performance at the Caledonia in Athens on October 11.

M Coast at the Caledona 10/11/06

I'll get around to writing a review eventually; if you haven't noticed, I'm a little behind on my reviews. (To give you an idea of how busy I am, on Saturday I spent most of the day sitting through the nearly 8-hour-long Hungarian film Satantango at a rare screening here in Madison. That's right, I spent eight straight hours sitting on my ass...now why would I waste my precious stamina updating Optical Atlas?) But anyway, there's one less review to write: Dark Meat's debut album has been pushed back to November 21, according to the Cloud Recordings website.

But to fulfill one belated obligation, I have re-upped the Captain23 recording of Olivia Tremor Control at Wicker Park Fest in Chicago, July 30, 2005. You can grab it in lossless FLAC format here:

Captain23's Lossless & Live: Olivia Tremor Control at Wicker Park Fest 7-30-05

UPDATE: I know there are some problems downloading these FLAC files. I believe this is because of a recent server move. I am working with my technical support to get FLAC files supported by my website again...hang in there and it should be fixed soon.

A very nice fellow named Will Donaldson has uploaded a soundboard recording of a Summer Hymns concert from July 22 in Athens, presented by Next 2 Last. In MP3 format, the tracks include covers of Alan Parsons Project and Robert Wyatt, with lots from the upcoming (and wonderful) album Backward Masks (coming out November 22 on Misra).

Summer Hymns 7/22/06

Ben Crum writes in his mailing list, "Great Lakes will be playing Union Hall this upcoming Sat night. We go on at 10pm. It's our first time headlining this club, plus it will be the last Great Lakes show in the USA for a while, so please come out if you're in the mood for some rock and roll. We'd love to see you."

The deadline for the Apples in Stereo logo contest has passed (to bring you up to speed, the Apples will pick one young artist's logo and appropriate it into their gear and merch for their '07 tour). Sorry I didn't remind everyone - it soared right past me. Robert Schneider and the Apples are reviewing the entries right now, with no winner chosen yet. To take a look at all the entries, click the link below. Great job to all who submitted. I'm impressed!

Apples in Stereo Logo Contest Nominees

I learn from this Townhall thread that a new Nissan commercial is using "Snakes in the Grass," from this year's Essex Green album Cannibal Sea. No vocals, though. This quickly follows the use of two Of Montreal songs in different ads for Outback Steakhouse (with different vocals/lyrics) and NASDAQ. I haven't seen this yet, but if you think you hear the Green on TV, you're not going crazy.

The Essex Green are currently touring Europe, with just three more dates left in the United Kingdom. You can see their tour schedule here.

The Jumping Fences EP by Olivia Tremor Control was released on vinyl and on CD, and I've ripped these tracks from the vinyl, so you can probably find better-quality versions out there. Still, I think these sound pretty good. A gatefold 12", Jumping Fences contained the title track (from Dusk at Cubist Castle), and three instrumentals, with the last, "Green Typewriters (Outer Themes and Explorations)" taking up the whole of Side B. In addition to Bill Doss, Peter Erchick, John Fernandes, Eric Harris, and Will Cullen Hart, these tracks feature Bryan Helium (African water drum, percussion), Lara Hetzler (elf voice, glockenspiel, casio), Raleigh Hatfield (elf voice, percussion), Ravi Fernandes (voices), and Scott Spillane (bugle). Today's MP3s are the rare B-sides.

Optical Atlas
The Language of Stationary Travellers
Green Typewriters (Outer Themes and Explorations)

Kim Cooper will be reading from her definitive biography of Neutral Milk Hotel (and, by extension, the early years of Elephant 6), 33 1/3: Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, in November on a mini-book tour. She has posted in the Townhall that there will be two readings: November 1 in Paris with the Martyrs of Pop at En Marge; and Tuesday, November 7 at 8pm at Pogo Cafe in London. She will be reading from and signing her books on both dates.

If you haven't picked up this book yet, may I suggest you do so? It's not so much an analysis of the album as a journalistic history of its making, with great emphasis on how Elephant 6 came together as told by the participants. Oh look - you can buy it here, with a percentage going to support Optical Atlas server fees! How convenient.

At the Townhall Sloan Simpson has pointed out that Buzzgrinder has an interview up with Eric Allen, bassist for The Apples in Stereo. He talks about the move to Yep Roc/Simian, the E6 guests on New Magnetic Wonder, and stubbornly refuses to divulge the identity of their new drummer. It's a good interview; check it out:

Eric Allen on Buzzgrinder

Today, Jeremy Barnes discusses the Hawk and a Hacksaw track "God Bless the Ottoman Empire" over at Paper Thin Walls. Jesse at the website also provides a well-worded review of the track. Very nice I think. Give it a read here:

A Hawk and a Hacksaw at Paper Thin Walls

November 1 marks the release of The Ladybug Transistor's new EP, Here Comes the Rain, which features the band covering songs by Grin, Trader Horne, John Cale, and Kevin Ayers. Gary Olson's Brooklyn-based band is fond of covering some of their favorite artists, so this week our MP3 spotlight falls on a classic Ladybug Transistor cover: "Galveston," the Glen Campbell number. It appeared on a split 7-inch with Of Montreal's "Girl from New York: Volume 12" (which is available on their Big Oil CD), as part of the defunct Kindercore Records' single of the month club. A review of this particular single can be found at this website. (The singles club came just short of its promised year's worth of singles, before falling apart. Later, the label promised a CD compilation featuring singles club material as well as bonus tracks, but the CD never appeared when a deal with the distributor Telegraph Company derailed the label--Ryan Lewis and Den Gellar of Kindercore were booted out of their own label, then sued Telegraph. A history can be found at the original Kindercore website.)

The Ladybug Transistor has recently revamped its lineup--Sasha Bell has left to concentrate on her other band, The Essex Green, and members of Great Lakes have joined--and a new album is in the works for 2007.

The Ladybug Transistor - Galveston

Tour dates through Spain and Norway have just been updated!

Sloan at the Southern Shelter live music blog has just posted the "secret" Circulatory System concert from September 1. What makes this set extra cool is that Bill Doss sat in on the last couple of songs, and the band performs Olivia Tremor Control's "Opera House."

Circulatory System at Secret Squirrel 9-1-06

Ben Crum of Great Lakes has put up a mixtape at the great site Discollective. Below the rather cool photo of Ben and Dan Donahue you can find 11 favorite songs from the past that actually will give you a good indication of the band's sound circa 2006. You know, I was stuck in a long line for a car wash last Friday afternoon, and anxious to get home and relax after a long day at work, and when I put in Diamond Times, I was finally able to relax and chill out...what a fantastic record.

Ben Crum at Discollective

Also, it should be noted that Jim McIntyre has put up a few extra copies of the Von Hemmling album Wild Hemmling for sale, for a very limited time. If you're interested, you can head over to his website for ordering information.

Wild Hemmling at Von Hemmling.net

Today sees the release of the debut album of The New Sound of Numbers, Liberty Seeds, which you can purchase now from Cloud Recordings. My review will be up at some point (been busy, busy), but you can sample a track in our fall preview, or read a track review at Paper Thin Walls, which raves about the New Sound's "Good Things are Coming." Thanks to Jesse for the link.

The New Sound of Numbers at Paper Thin Walls

Also note that tomorrow night, at the Caledonia in Athens, is the CD release party for Liberty Seeds: joining The New Sound of Numbers are Circulatory System, The Instruments, and M Coast!

Jeremy Barnes of A Hawk and a Hacksaw has posted what you might call liner notes for his new album, The Way the Wind Blows, at his MySpace page. The album comes out next week, and he starts touring October 9 in Cleveland, winding his way briefly through the U.S. in support of Beirut, then heading overseas for more shows. A complete list of dates is here. You can read his thoughts on his new album at his MySpace blog.

Hannah Jones of The New Sound of Numbers has contributed to Dusted Magazine's "Listed" feature. She runs down 10 of her favorite artists and songs. Her new album, Liberty Seeds, also comes out next week.

Oh, and there's a new Of Montreal song at their MySpace page, "Wicked Wisdom." Produced by Georgie Fruit. And not on Hissing Fauna.

Patrick at B-Fi Records has written in with the news that Thee American Revolution, the garage-rock band of Robert Schneider (The Apples in Stereo), Craig Morris (Ideal Free Distribution), and a psych legend (pictured above), was originally slated to produce a single for Bi-Fi last summer. The project was delayed because the band kept producing material. It grew into an EP, and now it's transformed into a full-length album. Bi-Fi expects to release it in early 2007, and I would think that we could expect it to appear sometime after the new Apples in Stereo, New Magnetic Wonder. Now the big question...who's the mastermind in the picture above? Anyone?

We recently posted a news item on the Ladybug Transistor's upcoming EP of covers, Here Comes the Rain. We now know, thanks to a blog posting at their MySpace page, that the EP, due out on Spain's Green UFOs label on November 1, will also be made available as a digital download via iTunes and elsewhere. You can actually listen to and download the title track at the band's MySpace page now. The EP features covers of Grin, Trader Horne, John Cale, and Kevin Ayers.

They've also announced that their new LP should be due out on Merge in early 2007, and they're playing a show with Portastic at a Merge Records CMJ party on November 4 at Sound Fix Records at 2pm. That's Brooklyn, naturally.

I haven't had time to update my website with the new tour dates, but The Late B.P. Helium has announced a week of shows in the last week of October. He just finished a tour with Of Montreal. Doesn't he have a home to go to? Someone should stage an intervention. At any rate,if you live in the vicinity of the towns listed below, make a point to turn out to see B.P. live.

10-26 - Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club 18+
10-27 - Birmingham, AL - Bottle Tree 18+
10-28 - Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light 18+
10-29 - Lexington, KY - Mecca AA
10-30 - Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks AA
11-1 - Brooklyn, NY - Northsix (CMJ Festival) MIDNIGHT 16+
11-3 - Morgantown, WV - 123 Pleasant Street 18+
11-4 - Mount Pleasant, SC - Village Tavern - 18+

Also, Of Montreal's "Every Day Feels Like Sunday" is now appearing in a commercial for NASDAQ. A thread at the Townhall discusses seeing it on FOX News, but you should be relieved to know that you can also catch it on CNN (which sucks for other reasons). As my wife e-mailed me yesterday, "I saw the commercial on CNN around 12:30pm. So you can tell them there's no need to watch Fox News for it. The commercial itself was difficult to figure out what it was advertising as there were a bunch of different companies represented, but the song was good. I don't think the song really fits though since NASDAQ is closed on Sundays."

I would write something eloquent, but I'm in a hurry today. Enjoy the Gerbilsmusik!

Gerbils - Heartbeat

Of Montreal recently played a free show at the University of Kentucky, and You Ain't No Picasso has a detailed concert review, plus an MP3. You can read it here.

Speaking of OM, last week Pitchfork reviewed one of the tracks from their upcoming Hissing Fauna album--"Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse." The review is here.

And not at all related to Of Montreal, but it should be mentioned that Circulatory System has scheduled a couple of live shows for the fall, appearing with The Instruments and The New Sound of Numbers. I believe some more shows may be in the works, but for now you can see them here.

I've just posted a review of the new album Imaginary Volcano by The Diminisher (also known as Dave McDonnell from Bablicon and Michael Columbia). You can read it by clicking the image above.

John at The Diligent Worker took these amazing photos of Elf Power during their recent performance in Vermont. It's worth browsing the whole set.

Elf Power in Vermont