Optical Atlas

The New York Times has a very favorable review of A Hawk and a Hacksaw’s performance this week at Le Poisson Rouge.  Read it here (thanks to Becky for the link).  They play in my home town of Madison in, oh, an hour and a half–on their way to this week’s Pitchfork Festival. So hurry if you’re in Madison. Otherwise you’re going to have to make that drive to Chicago again.

The Optical Atlas streaming jukebox has been updated with 10 more tracks for your enjoymenting pleasure.

Pitchfork.tv is currently airing a mid-80’s documentary, “Athens, GA. Inside/Out.” Much spotlight is given to R.E.M. and the B-52’s, naturally, plus eccentric artists from the region.

Bask in nostalgia right here.

Okay, it’s not like they’re ever off the road for too long, but it’s always exciting to announce a new slew of of Montreal dates, particularly as it means–with another touring season–another new, spectacular stage show. Skeletal Lamping drops October 7th on Polyvinyl Records, and the track listing and album art have now been revealed thanks to Pitchfork. Interestingly, it’s Nina’s art which dominates this time around.

Skeletal Lamping,
by of Montreal

01 Nonpareil of Favor
02 Wicked Wisdom
03 For Our Elegant Caste
04 Touched Something’s Hollow
05 An Eluardian Instance
06 Gallery Piece
07 Women’s Studies Victims
08 St.Exquisite’s Confessions
09 Triphallus, to Punctuate!
10 And I’ve Seen a Bloody Shadow
11 Plastis Wafers
12 Death Is Not a Parallel Move
13 Beware Our Nubile Miscreants
14 Mingusings
15 Id Engager

of Montreal Skeletal Lamping Tour & Other Upcoming Dates

AA=All Ages

U.S.

October 7 – Durham, NC – Carolina Theatre AA
October 8 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel AA
October 9 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club AA
October 10 – New York, NY – Roseland AA
October 24 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant AA *
October 25 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue AA
October 26 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater AA *
October 27 – Chicago, IL – The Riviera AA *
October 28 – Toronto, ON – Queen Elizabeth Theatre AA
October 29 – Montréal, QC – Metropolis AA
October 30 – Boston, MA – Orpheum AA
October 31 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory AA
November 1 – Richmond, VA – The National AA
November 8 – Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle AA
November 11 – New Orleans, LA – Howlin Wolf 18+
November 12 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live AA
November 13 – Austin, TX – TBA AA
November 14 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues AA
November 15 – Lawrence, KS – Liberty Hall AA
November 16 – Denver, CO – The Ogden Theatre 16+
November 17 – Murray, UT – Murray Super Theater AA
November 19 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo AA **
November 20 – Portland, OR – Roseland AA **
November 21 – San Francisco, CA – Regency Center Grand Ballroom AA **
November 22 – Los Angeles, CA – TBA AA **

* w/ Sinkane
**w/ HEALTH

Europe

August 8 – Myslowice, POLAND – Poland Off Festival
August 9 – London, ENGLAND – Field Day Festival
August 10 – Leicester, ENGLAND – Summer Sundae Festival
October 15 – Paris, FRANCE – Elysée Montmarte
October 16 – London, ENGLAND – Koko
October 17 – Barcelona, SPAIN – Razzmatazz
October 18 – Rome, ITALY – Circolo degli Artisti
October 19 – Berlin, GERMANY – Lido
October 20 – Stockholm, SWEDEN – Debaser Medis
October 21 – Copenhagen, DENMARK – Amager Bio

Lou2ser has, with the permission of the artists, made two early and rare Elephant 6 cassettes available for download, with scans of the cover art as well.

The eponymous Marbles cassette from 1993 can be downloaded through this thread.

Von Hemmling’s eponymous 1993 cassette can be found in this thread.

Many thanks to lou2ser for sharing these!

Merge Records has officially announced the album and art and track listing of next month’s Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes, the second album from Julian Koster’s The Music Tapes.  You can preorder it now on either CD or LP from the Merge Records store. You can also stream the album. Here it is:

Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes,
by The Music Tapes

1. Saw Pingpong and Orchestra
2. Schedrevka
3. Freeing Song for Reindeer
4. Majesty
5. Nimbus Stratus Cirrus (Mr. Piano’s Majestic Haircut)
6. Freeing Song by Reindeer
7. Tornado Longing for Freedom
8. Song for Oceans Falling
9. Kolyada #1
10. The Minister of Longitude
11. Manifest Destiny
12. Kolyada #2
13. Cumulonimbus (Magnetic Tape for Clouds)
14. Julian and Grandpa
15. In an Ice Palace

You Ain’t No Picasso has posted an in-depth interview with Kevin Barnes about the new of Montreal album, Skeletal Lamping (out October 7th).  He looks back on the past as well as the present, with some insights into his relationship with the Elephant 6 collective as well as his other band mates, and talks about how Cherry Peel’s negative reaction in the press sent him running away from personal songwriting for a decade.  Great stuff.  Read it all here.

Steve Keene, who has illustrated many of the Apples in Stereo’s albums, has custom-painted an electric guitar which you can win by bidding on the new Housing Works charity auction.  It’s autographed by the Apples in Stereo as well as Simian Records founder (and hippest hobbit) Elijah Wood.  The New York-based Housing Works is a non-profit AIDS service organization.  You can see more pictures of the guitar, and bid, right here.  The deadline for the auction is August 5th.