Optical Atlas

On Thursday, June 19, at the 40 Watt in Athens, When Jammy Jamm Met AthFest will see three E6 bands on one stage: Circulatory System, The Visitations, and the Gerbils, the latter not having played together (to my knowledge–please correct me if I’m wrong) since the death of photographer and Gerbils guitarist Will Westbrook in December 2006. The event is FREE–FREE, I tell you–and begins at 10pm.

I was a little startled to see, in the latest Merge Records newsletter released this afternoon, an announcement of the long (and I mean long)-awaited sophomore album from The Music Tapes, Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes.  Well, it may be a sophomore album; it depends whether or not you’re counting 2nd Imaginary Symphony for Cloudmaking, a storybook album which was released straight to fans in limited quantities back in 2001, and which lead tape Julian Koster has since referred to as unfinished.  Apart from dispatches on his Orbiting Human Circus website, this is the first concrete Music Tapes news in a very long time.  Plus it comes with a video, an MP3, and the announcement that the band will be playing this year’s Athens PopFest on August 15, 2008, at the 40 Watt.  Here is the complete press release, with the free song, “Majesty,” and the video contained below:

It’s been nine years since First Imaginary Symphony for Nomad, the first album from The Music Tapes, was released on Merge. The Music Tapes is the recording and performance collective formed by Julian Koster. Julian is perhaps best known as the purveyor of the haunting sounds of the singing saws in Neutral Milk Hotel.

In recent years, Julian has hidden himself away concocting new games, inventing new band members, such as the Orbiting Human Circus Tapdancing Machine, and hosting an occasional magical gathering for those lucky enough to stumble upon his secret invitations.

He has also been working on a story album entitled 2nd Imaginary Symphony for Cloudmaking, narrated by Brian Dewan and accompanied by bowed banjos, singing saws and sound effects. Portions of the story were aired in early 2003 on WNYC in New York, and were met with great enthusiasm by Music Tapes fans longing for new material.

Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes spotlights Julian’s songcraft and distinctive vocals, his almost religious devotion to the singing saw, and numerous contributions from other musicians in the Elephant 6 orbit. As on previous efforts, recording was done using an array of antique hardware, giving Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes a timeless, texturally rich sonic palette. It is the sound of Julian’s world poking through the curtain surrounding objective reality. In his words, “I just find the imaginary more real than the physical. Magic, the way we find things beautiful, the light behind eyes, kindness, and how we want to serve and protect the things we care about – these things seem like the real foundation of the world to me. I hope that the songs on this record can be more than just postcards from a world, but an invitation to it, to anyone at all who may find such a place comforting and nice.”

Julian, Static the Television, the 7 Foot Tall Metronome and a few human friends will perform at Athens Popfest on August 15, 2008, at the 40 Watt Club. This event will involve much more than just a rock show, so make your travel plans now!

MP4: The Music Tapes – Majesty (from the forthcoming Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes)

The fifth issue of the Portland literary and music magazine Yeti features a bonus CD with artists such as A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Atlas Sound, Iron and Wine, and more; significant to readers of this blog, a portion of that CD is curated by Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum, featuring selections from his collection of old, obscure 78’s. Mangum also contributes an original illustration for the magazine. Now I’m giving away my extra copy to Optical Atlas readers. The rules are simple:

The subject line must be YETI. That’s it. Just YETI. Otherwise it gets deleted.

The contents of the email must include your FULL NAME and COMPLETE SHIPPING ADDRESS. Incomplete emails will be deleted.

Only one entry per individual please!

Send this email to: contest@opticalatlas.com.

A winner will be selected randomly on the morning of Saturday, May 10, so please get your email in before that date.  This contest is open to international entries.  Good luck!

YETI NUMBER FIVE

01 Spiritualaires: “Be Ready When He Comes”
02 Sadoum Ouled Aida: “Untitled”
03 Phoaming Edison: “Sheba”
04 Radio Sumatra: “Outtake #1″
05 Atlas Sound: “It’s Fair Fair Game Inside”
06 Dean & Britta: “Tugboat (live)”
07 Akron/Family: “Small Shape (live)”
08 Anglin Brothers: “It’s an Unfriendly World”
09 Deerhoof: “Forbidden Fruits (live)”
10 Radio Sumatra: “Outtake #2″
11 Triptych Myth/Cooper-Moore: “Distance”
12 Marika Papagika: “Sometime You Might Love Me”
13 Alexandra Potskhershvili: “Suliko”
14 Unknown: “?”
15 Marika Papagika: “I Want to Hold You Tight in My Arms”
16 Radio Sumatra: “Outtake #3″
17 D+: “Clever Knot”
18 Mount Eerie: “Blue Light (instrumental)”
19 A Hawk and a Hacksaw With the Hun Hangar Ensemble: “Vereb / The Sparrow (live)”
20 Iron and Wine: “Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog) (live)”
21 Radio Sumatra: “Outtake #4″
22 Shawn David McMillen: “Texarkana 1971″
23 AC & Blind Mamie Forehand: “Honey in the Rock”
24 Mary Price: “Dark Was the Night”
25 Blind Willie Johnson: “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground”

Miles Kurosky has launched his MySpace page, and the first song he’s posted, “An Apple for an Apple,” is presumably one of the tracks destined for his upcoming debut solo album. This marks the first music Kurosky has released since the breakup of Beulah way back in 2003. Have a listen. I’m liking it a lot.

Miles Kurosky – An Apple for an Apple

For more information on the upcoming album, you can read this Kurosky interview at Hard to Find a Friend.

The Essex Green have updated their website with a photo of their newest member: Sasha’s new kid, Bebban Labelle Lawson.  Plus a little update on how the new album is progressing:

With the last of the snows giving way to mud and the promise of t-shirt weather, we embark on our next project.  After a February stint in Pittsburgh, we have compiled the skeletal/muscular structure (and heartbeat) for our next record. Many new ideas inspired by some new faces (see below).

Continuing our pattern of recording in a variety of destinations, we look to western Michigan, Cincinnati (it’s NO Pittsburgh), and perhaps Barbados for this next effort.

P.S. I’m adding a few more images to the Essex Green gallery, and then I’ll be polishing off a Ladybug Transistor gallery to be added to this site.

Check out the BP interview segments at 14:00 and 31:45. After each is a video – first “Gronlandic Edit” (directed by David Barnes), then live footage of of Montreal performing “Raptures Rapes the Muses” from their most recent tour.

Thanks to cirrocumulus.

Thanks to geneautry for noticing that A Hawk and a Hacksaw have updated their tour dates. (Fellow Madisonites, I expect to see you there!)

05.09.08 Belfast, Northern Ireland – Belfast Arts Festival
05.10.08 Cork, Ireland – Cyprus Avenue
05.11.08 Dublin, Ireland – Crawdaddy
05.12.08 Aberdeen, Scotland – The Tunnels
05.13.08 Glasgow, Scotland – The Arches
05.14.08 Leeds, England – Hi Fi Club
05.15.08 Bristol, England – Thekla
05.16.08 Minehead, England – Explosions in the Sky ATP
06.18.08 Saragossa, Spain – Saragossa Expo
07.12-13.08 Winnipeg, Manitoba – Winnipeg Folk Festival
07.14.08 New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge
07.15.08 Montreal, Quebec – Club Lambi
07.16.08 Toronto, Ontario – El Mocambo
07.18.08 Madison, WI – Memorial Union Terrace at University of Wisconsin
07.19.08 Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Music Festival
07.20.08 Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
07.21.08 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
07.23.08 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Loung
07.24.08 Seattle, WA – The Tractor Tavern
07.26-27.08 Calgary, Alberta – Calgary Folk Music Festival
09.12.08 Salisbury, England – End of the Road Festival

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated the Gallery, but now you can check out the new Essex Green Gallery, featuring artwork from their albums and singles.  I’ve also done some minor additions in other E6 Galleries.