San Fadyl, longtime drummer for The Ladybug Transistor, has passed away. I've always told friends that the band is one of my very favorites, and while I did not know Fadyl personally, I have fond memories of his superb skills on the occasions when I saw him perform live; this is devastating news. The band has posted the following on their MySpace page:


Dear Friends,
We are very sad and shocked to let you know that Ladybug drummer San Fadyl passed away on the morning of April 26th at his home in Zurich, Switzerland. San was hospitalized just a few weeks ago with serious asthma problems, something he's battled for a long time. After being treated and released he was home for a week but suffered a severe attack that was related to his condition. It's hard to put into words just how much we will miss San after 10 years of music and friendship. He was a genuinely beautiful person that touched everyone who met him with his warmth, kindness, generosity and humor. His wide smile is something people often remember first. We know there are lots of you out there who love him and will miss him as much as we do already. Our thoughts are with San's family, his wife Brigit and their new baby Liam.

San Fadyl has a MySpace page here where you can listen to some of his home recordings. You can listen to a couple of Ladybug MP3s below. My heart goes out to San Fadyl's friends and family--my understanding is that Liam was just recently born, which makes this all the more painful. (I don't yet know how this will affect their upcoming tour promoting their new album, but I will post more information as it comes. In the meantime I'm dimming the lights here for a week in memoriam. This is terrible.)

UPDATE 4/26 2:33 PM CST: Gary Olson (Ladybug Transistor) has set up a blog so that fans and friends could leave comments (although feel free to use this one too). Take a look at it here.

And Ben Crum (of the Ladybugs and Great Lakes) leaves his thoughts on the Great Lakes MySpace page.

UPDATE 4/27 9:30AM CST: Pitchfork has posted a respectful piece about San Fadyl, including some videos and an MP3.

The Ladybug Transistor - The Reclusive Hero
The Ladybug Transistor - Today Knows
The Ladybug Transistor - Always on the Telephone

Peter Alvanos, aka Fabulous Bird, has just updated his MySpace site with a number of new songs you should check out. Bill Doss (Olivia Tremor Control, Sunshine Fix, Apples in Stereo) engineered, recorded, and provided backing vocals on a few of these, and indeed there is a very Dossean sheen to them. Peter's vocals are very similar to Bill's, so they blend nicely, but Fabulous Bird is a band worth checking out in their own right. Here are some chances to see Peter live if you're in the Athens area.

Fabulous Bird - Upcoming Dates

04.26.07 Athens, GA @ Flicker Theatre 9pm
05.05.07 Athens, GA @ Nuci's Space 9:30pm
05.10.07 Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge 10:30pm

Ben Crum of Great Lakes and The Ladybug Transistor will be performing a set of songs in a CD release party Thursday night for David Wingo's Ola Podrida. This will be taking place in Brooklyn's Union Hall. He writes:

Hi Friends,

Last summer I played at a festival in Norway with a french band called Herman Dune. I was pretty blown away by the songs.

I assume that you've heard of old records like "Buck Owens Sings the Songs of Harlan Howard" and "Hank Snow sings Lefty Frizzell." (OK, I made that last one up.) Well, in a gesture of somewhat pointless lo-concept absurdity, tomorrow night at Union Hall I'll be performing a set of YaYa's songs as part of an evening celebrating the release of David Wingo's wonderful new Ola Podrida record.

I go on at 8:30, and I just might be joined by the improvisational talents of Kyle Forester and Jeff Baron. David's band takes the stage at 10:30, after the woman from the Devics [Sara Luv] does a set. Maybe I'll see some of you there.

with love, Ben

Heads up, folks! You can check out the MySpace page for Herman Dune here. Great Lakes' page is here of course.

A friend shared this rare Essex Green track with me last year and I was pleasantly surprised. When so many bands contribute to compilation albums, their songs are half-realized scraps; but "Orchardton," like their rousing cover of "Mendocino" on a 2004 Merge Records anniversary tribute, is good enough for an Essex Green album. It originally appeared on Mystique: A Benefit for the AIDS Action Committee. I like it.

The Essex Green - Orchardton

If you haven't noticed already, the Apples in Stereo song "Energy" has popped up on TV in a Saturn ad. I haven't seen it yet (don't watch TV much these days), but apparently it's an instrumental version. Writes reader Cody, "I knew the song would be picked up for a commercial sooner or later, but I actually expected BP or GE to pick it up." Me too! Although British Petroleum can fuel a Saturn, can't it? So our guess was close, Cody.

The song is also one of the choices on Steve Lamacq's Rebel Playlist this week on his show on BBC 6 Music. Vote here to make it the favorite track of the week.

While we all wait for the new Circulatory System album, occasionally the band gets together and performs--usually in Athens (far away from me). The most recent live appearance was Saturday, April 14, which was historic in a certain way--Bill Doss joined the band, ostensibly re-forming the Olivia Tremor Control lineup. (They marked the occasion by performing OTC live staple "Can You Come Down with Us?") Sloan at Southern Shelter recorded the performance, and you can download it in FLAC or MP3 format here:

Circulatory System at the 40 Watt, 4/14/07

In case you missed it, lou2ser at the Townhall messageboard posted some pictures from the Elephant 6 Winter 1994 Catalog, which was inserted in some copies of the Apples' first EP, Tidal Wave. This is distinctly different from the Summer 1993 E6 Catalog, which Robert Schneider donated to this website last summer (images from that here). While many of the (waaaay out of print) offerings are the same, this one contains some fascinating additions: a Neutral Milk Hotel single featuring "Ferris Wheel on Fire" as a B-side being perhaps the most tantalizing. (It would be nice to hear a studio version of that song.) Plus Always Red Society, Sunshine Fix, Marbles, Von Hemmling, Vince Mole & His Calcium Orchestra, and The Olivia Tremor Control, which are helpfully introduced as "a concept to help trembling Olivias stop from trembling so much." Remember, folks...that ordering address won't work any longer. We can only dream it was thirteen years ago.

Click on the icons for larger images:

Seems that the Apples aren't the only E6 band embracing their inner ELO. On the new benefit album Bridging the Distance, ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down" is covered by Portland pop stars The Minders. The compilation exclusively features covers, with The Decemberists doing Fleetwood Mac ("Think About Me"), The Thermals doing Led Zepplin ("Tangerine"), and The Dandy Warhols doing The Cult ("She Sells Sanctuary"). You can check out the full track listing, and order the album, at Arena Rock's website. Proceeds go to a Portland non-profit assisting transitional youth. Big thanks to Adam Schragin and Sean Davidson for the info and the link.

The dates had been trickling in for a while, but the Apples in Stereo have formally announced their summer tour which will take them all over Europe in May and June. They've also announced that they'll be playing with CBGB legends Television at the Central Park Summerstage on June 16!

The Apples in Stereo - Upcoming Shows

05/17/07 Dublin, Ireland @ Whelan's
05/19/07 Minehead, Somerset @ All Tomorrow's Parties
05/22/07 Cardiff, Wales @ Clwb Ifor Bach
05/23/07 Newcastle, England @ The Other Rooms
05/24/07 Glasgow, Scotland @ King Tut's
05/25/07 London, England @ Bush Hall
05/28/07 Utrecht, Netherlands @ Tivoli Utrecht
05/29/07 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso w/Kaiser Chefs
05/30/07 Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso w/Kaiser Chefs
05/31/07 Katwijk, Netherlands @ De Schuit
06/02/07 Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound Festival/Auditori Forum Stage
06/03/07 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
06/04/07 Aarhus, Denmark @ Voxhall
06/05/07 Stavanger, Norway @ Check Point Charlie
06/06/07 Bergen, Norway @ Garage
06/07/07 Oslo, Norway @ John Dee
06/08/07 Gothenberg, Sweden @ Pusterviksbaren
06/09/07 Stockholm, Sweden @ Fritz's Corner
06/16/07 New York, NY @ Central Park Summerstage w/Television

Daniela, aka quixoticgoat from the Townhall, interviewed Casper & the Cookies for Madison's Dane 101 today. You can read the full text here. They're currently on the road, playing tonight in Madison at the Cafe Montmartre. A very nice interview with some insight into the Athens scene.

Spin Magazine has a flattering article about the Of Montreal NY karaoke night here. I don't know if I'll get a chance for a Hooray for Tuesday MP3 today...I'm seeing Ravi Shankar play, then running to the other side of the capitol to see Casper & the Cookies. Why can't Ravi open for Casper & the Cookies and make my life easier? Anyway, your weekly E6 rarity should be up later today or sometime tomorrow...

Good coverage of the event is at Stereogum, including all the celebrity cameos and general madness.

The sixth album by The Ladybug Transistor, Can't Wait Another Day, essentially offers phase three in the band's evolution, previewed in last fall's Here Comes the Rain EP. The lineup they've held onto since 1999's The Albemarle Sound has shifted, most notably with the loss of Sasha Bell, who is now focusing her singing/songwriting with The Essex Green. But lead singer Gary Olson has expanded his band to become a virtual creative collective of its own. You will find among these twelve tracks longtime Ladybugs San Fadyl, Julia Rydholm, and Jeff Baron, as well as Ben Crum and Kyle Forester (Great Lakes), Alasdair Maclean (The Clientele), Heather McIntosh (The Instruments, Circulatory System), Jens Lekman, Isobel Knowles (Architecture in Helsinki), Alicia Vanden Heuvel (Aislers Set), Kevin Barker (Currituck Co.), and many more. Sometimes I picture all of them stacked in a big happy pile at the mysterious Ladybug headquarters of Marlborough Farms. But anyway. Despite the new lineup, the new album still sounds like classic Ladybug Transistor. Highlights include the aforementioned single, "Here Comes the Rain," as well as "Terry" and "California Stopover" (both co-written by Olson and Baron), "Three Days from Now," "Broken Links," and "Always on the Telephone," the last of which you can download below.

It drops on June 5. Check out their tour dates with The Clientele, The Rosebuds, and The Papercuts, as well.

1. Always on the Telephone
2. I'm Not Mad Enough
3. Here Comes the Rain
4. Terry
5. This Old Chase
6. For No Other
7. Three Days From Now
8. In-Between
9. So Blind
10. Broken Links
11. California Stopover
12. Lord, Don't Pass Me By

Upcoming Dates
05.06.2007 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell's w/the Clientele
05.07.2007 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's w/the Clientele
05.08.2007 Washington DC @ Black Cat w/the Clientele
05.09.2007 Charlottesville, VA @ Satellite Ballroom w/the Clientele
05.10.2007 Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle w/the Clientele
05.24.2007 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/the Rosebuds
05.25.2007 Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall w/the Rosebuds
05.26.2007 Allston, MA @ Great Scott w/the Rosebuds
06.14.2007 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
06.15.2007 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill w/the Papercuts

We've got a two-part sneak preview for you which will conclude tomorrow with a look at the new Ladybug Transistor album. But first, Antenna Farm Records has provided Optical Atlas with a glimpse of the new albums by Je Suis France and Still Flyin', including some MP3s which you can download below.

We've previously talked about Still Flyin', the reggae supergroup fronted by Sean Rawls (Masters of the Hemisphere) and including members of Aislers Set, Ladybug Transistor, Love Is All, Maserati, Dear Nora, and Trackstar, so I'll spare you the elaborate introduction. Their follow-up to last year's Time Wrinkle EJ EP will be released on May 29 on Antenna Farm. Entitled Za Cloud EJ, the album was recorded and mixed by Jason Quever of Papercuts. Check out the first track from the album below. They're definitely maintaining the reggae-meets-indie-pop feel and sound of their last album. I usually dislike reggae, but love Still Flyin', so perhaps they're providing my gateway drug.

Still Flyin' - Za Cloud EJ
1. Sticking My Head in Ice Water (Almost for Too Long)
2. The Bird is Aware
3. Fuck the Stress
4. Earthquake Body
5. The Art of Jamming

Je Suis France have shifted from Athens' Orange Twin Records over to Antenna Farm for their new full-length, Afrikan Majik, which will also be released on May 29. The France, which features DJ Hammond, Ryan Martin, Chris Rogers, Ryan Bergeron, and Jeff Griggs (Masters of the Hemisphere), fuse a variety of musical genres into a unique sound - check out the MP3 below and you can definitely see a prog rock influence. The band has released countless CD-Rs and EPs (with increasingly absurd titles), and the new album looks to push the absurdity even further (dude, I so used to have that album cover on the wall of my dorm!) with innovative music that shows real polish.

Je Suis France - Afrikan Majik
1. Sufficiently Breakfast
2. Virtual Heck
3. Whalebone
4. That Don't Work Well For Us
5. Digital Shrimp
6. Wizard of Points
7. 101 Miles and Runnin'
8. Chemical Agents
9. Feeder Band
10. The Love of the France
11. California Still Rules

Expect full reviews closer to the release date. Back tomorrow with a look at The Ladybug Transistor's newest. It's good, folks. Really, really good.

I've got so many things to post and so little time to do it...I've been running back and forth from the Wisconsin Film Festival for the past couple of days and blogging from there. But there's some nice Of Montreal coverage at Cable & Tweed that I need to point you to, if you haven't discovered it already.

Last week Of Montreal warmed up for their New York karaoke night with a karaoke set at the 40 Watt. Rich at C&T has provided a full track listing, which is below. I've also linked to those tracks he's made available as MP3s. (I don't know, Rich; I kinda want to hear that "Islands in the Stream" with Zachary from Summer Hymns and Page from Hope for Agoldensummer.)

Of Montreal
April 9, 2007
40 Watt Club, Athens, GA

Tonight We're Gonna Rock Ya Tonight [Spinal Tap w/ Of Montreal]
- begin karaoke -
All Day and All of the Night [The Kinks w/ Candace Dawson]
Don't Bring Me Down [Electric Light Orchestra w/ Josh Lewis]
Don't Stop Believing [Journey w/ Jason Nesmith of Casper & The Cookies]
Rapture Rapes the Muses [Of Montreal w/ George Dobson, Rachel Foreman, and Ben Lambert]
Need You Tonight [INXS w/ Andy Lemaster of Now It's Overhead]
Surrender [Cheap Trick w/ Davey, one of the CCAA Booty Patrol]
Suffragette City [David Bowie w/ Liz Wheeler & Lily Buckley]
Here Comes Your Man [The Pixies w/ Scott Creeney]
Sweet Child o' Mine [Guns N' Roses w/ Heather McIntosh of Elf Power, The Instruments]
Ever Fallen in Love [Buzzcocks w/ Mary Jane Hessell]
Suffer for Fashion [w/ Jim Hicks of Casper & The Cookies]
Islands in the Stream [Bee-Gees w/ Page Campbell of Hope for Agoldensummer and Zach Gresham of Summer Hymns]
Raspberry Beret [Prince w/ Bronwyn]
Dancing Queen [ABBA w/ 8-Track Gorilla]
The Joker [Steve Miller Band w/ Ben Clack and Jeff Tobias of Dark Meat]
Bunny Ain't No Kind of Ryder [w/ Dan Korn (Of Montreal soundguy)]
The Party's Crashing Us [Of Montreal w/ Lauren Ethridge & Sally Miller & Patrock]
Motor Away [Guided by Voices w/ Dave Wrathgeber of Visitations]
More Than a Feeling [Boston w/ Jeff Griggs of Je Suis France]

Made available at the show was a self-parodic concept album called Fo Montreal: The Bedside Drama A Petite Las Vegas Tragedy. You can probably guess by the title what it's about. For a track listing and download links, go this post at C&T. Thanks very much to Rich for making it available for us non-Athens folk! UPDATE: According to Mike Turner, the album was likely put together by a member of Col. Knowledge and the Lickety Splits, not Of Montreal themselves.

Oh, and I would like to post a link to the Of Montreal/Conan O'Brien clip, but NBC seems to be hunting down every online source like a rabid wolf. (Last time I posted Dressy Bessy and Apples in Stereo clips from Conan, they prompty disappeared also.) I would suggest you do some hunting on your own and you should be able to find it.

Just a reminder that tonight Of Montreal will be performing on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien. (Only a few months after The Apples in Stereo appeared...and a year and a half after Dressy Bessy appeared...could the world be coming to an end?) Check your local listings.

Kevin talks about his new recordings (including field recording), new approaches, a new outlook on life, and new-dity. Oh, and old songs (as in: covering them on karaoke night). Right here.

Casper & the Cookies are somehow finding time, amidst all the rampant touring, to put together some more recordings for you to snatch up. According to their MySpace blog, they've got the following in the pipeline (I'm quoting them directly to save time):

As-yet-untitled ep
Release date: June 19, 2007
Label: HHBTM
Track list to include new recordings / rearrangements of "Krötenwanderung" and "The Optimist's Credo" and new material. This will be a one-sided 12" vinyl release with a silk screened print on the other side. Limited to 200 copies. For the turntable-deficient, the package includes a cd-r version with extra tracks.

The Optimist's Club (vinyl)
Release date: July 17, 2007
Label: People In A Position To Know (PIAPTK) Same track listing as the CD issue with a bonus track ("Stratosphere") and new artwork. 500 copies.

HHBTM singles club: split 7" with Marbles
[Go to HHBTM to subscribe while you can - copies are going fast.]

PIAPTK Subscription Club Split 8" release with Keith John Adams

Today, one of my favorite Neutral Milk Hotel tracks. "Bucket" first appeared on the Yoyo Records compilation Periscope in 1994, inconspicuously placed twelfth in the track lineup, but outclassing everything else on the record. I'm surprised Jeff Mangum didn't revisit the track for his first album, On Avery Island, where it would fit right in.

Neutral Milk Hotel - Bucket

Circulatory System and Mouser will be headlining an MS benefit at the 40 Watt in Athens this coming Saturday, April 14, at 10pm. It's $6 at the door. FYI to you Athens folk...

The 63 Crayons are featured on this week's podcast of Open Mic from NPR.com. Lead singer Charlie Johnston offers a brief introduction to the track "Devils," from their new album Spoils for Survivors, which we reviewed here. I'm glad this song was picked; it probably wouldn't be seen as the album's "single," but it's probably my favorite track on the album. You can listen to the track and intro here, or grab the full podcast, with a number of other unsigned indie bands, at the Open Mic page.

The 63 Crayons will be hitting the road in late June/early July. They'll be travelling along the east coast and "a bit westward" (though not as far as Madison, alas). If you think you'll be along that path and would like them to come to your town, shoot them a line, or keep checking their MySpace page for tour dates. You can purchase Spoils for Survivors through their official website.

In addition to The Booty Patrol's contest to win tickets to the Of Montreal Karaoke in New York, Stereogum is also running a contest--not just to win entry to the show, but to also get your song picked by Of Montreal to play. Enter here, and remember that the band is warming up with a karaoke night at the 40 Watt this weekend, accompanied by Elf Power and Dark Meat.

Last night I thoroughly revised the tour date section of Optical Atlas. Of particular note is that Casper and the Cookies and A Hawk and a Hacksaw have expanded their spring tours with many more dates added and/or changed, so it's worth double-checking those listings. Check it all out in our Shows section.

In 1997 Blue Rose Records released the Olivia Tremor Control single "The Opera House," the first track from their then-new album Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle. Released on both CD and vinyl, the Opera House single also came with two different track listings. The B-side of one version was "Black Swan Network (with Capillary Radar)." The other, "Black Swan Network (with Enveloping Bicycle Folds)." You could take your pick, and both were almost indistinguishable, expansive experimental soundscapes, in stark contrast to the straight rock of the A-side's track; in fact, the single was a perfect representation of the Olivia Tremor Control's sound, a mixture of pop and avant-garde. But the idea was that if you played both of the "Black Swan Network" tracks simultaneously, you would create a third, "quadrophonic" track. (Note to self: get on that some day.) Of course, "Black Swan Network" was also the name of the band's mysterious alter ego, of which those B-sides were a fair representation. The Olivia Tremor Control vs. Black Swan Network EP, released later that year, fused the two faces of the band into something even more interesting. More on that some other Tuesday. For now, here are the two B-sides to the Opera House single, so you can create your own quadrophonic experience.

The Olivia Tremor Control - Black Swan Network (with Capillary Radar)
The Olivia Tremor Control - Black Swan Network (with Enveloping Bicycle Folds)

The Essex Green are hitting the road again, this time for a few dates on the West Coast with Kelley Stoltz. Thanks to blaise for noticing this; it completely escaped my attention.

Thanks to lou2ser for scanning in the above image from the new issue of Rolling Stone.

Sloan Simpson's Southern Shelter has posted a lengthy Of Montreal set from their recent appearance at the 40 Watt in Athens. You can grab it here in FLAC and MP3 format:

Sound Opinions, the weekly radio show/podcast hosted by Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, cast the spotlight on Elephant 6 on their most recent episode. Specifically, Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, and The Apples in Stereo are discussed, with many tunes played. You can download the podcast at the show's website.

Back from the break today with a pair of Apples vids for you. The first is their second official video from New Magnetic Wonder, "Can You Feel It?" Says the press release:

The "Can You Feel It?" video was directed by Nol Honig (whose video credits include Moby and Guided by Voices), using only a digital still camera and a scanner. Instead of filming lead singer Robert Schneider singing, Honig shot digital stills of him making all of the various mouth-shapes that humans use to speak, then laid these into a 3D circle. Honig was essentially able to stop-motion animate Robert's singing by rotating the 40-sided image in time with the syllables in the song.

"My inspiration was to make something that looked old and new at the same time, since that is how The Apples In Stereo sound to me," says Honig. 'Can You Feel It?' has a 'modern retro' sound, with influences from pop music of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, but is, at the same time, very 2007 in the way that it is put together. This was essentially my blueprint for the video: to combine and collage visual references from the past in a fresh, 3-D way. Since the lyrics are about "turning up the stereo," I was drawn to images of people and their home stereo systems from these decades. I love the look of the old-school Hi-Fi stereos, so I created a world in that style."



Next up is an interview with the Apples conducted during their recent visit to Austin for SXSW. John Kennedy, performing the interview, is the host of XFM's X-Posure.