Optical Atlas

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)