Optical Atlas

Jeff Mangum appeared at the Pittsburgh show for a performance of “Engine,” with Julian on singing saw. Pitchfork has the video (below). I could not be more excited about tomorrow’s Chicago show!

Julian Koster discusses reuniting most of the core members of the Elephant 6 collective for the Holiday Surprise Tour, the Major Organ and the Adding Machine film, and the present state of Neutral Milk Hotel in a new interview at the Onion AV Club.

Casper & the Cookies have completed their third full-length pop album, Modern Silence, and throughout October have been offering sneak peaks of the finished product.  Last week Three Imaginary Girls revealed the new track “Little King.”  This week Optical Atlas is proud to present “Sunshine Girl,” featuring lead vocals by Kay Stanton.  Once again, you can’t pin down the restlessly inventive Casper & the Cookies sound.  Unexpectedly, this track is pure 70’s AM gospel-style pop, with some backing harmonies that seem inspired by The Apples in Stereo, with whom the Cookies recently toured.  Possibly it’s no coincidence that Bill Doss, once of Olivia Tremor Control and now with the Apples, has taken a hand in the recording sessions.

Casper & the Cookies – Sunshine Girl

A label and release date for Modern Silence has yet to be announced, but the band is already planning a massive tour in early 2009, so it’s a safe bet that it will be sometime around then.  I’ve added “Sunshine Girl” to the Optical Atlas streaming jukebox, as well as new tracks by The Apples in Stereo and of Montreal, plus Icy Demons, the Gerbils, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, and more.  You can have a listen to the new mix here.

of Montreal’s now-infamous Roseland Ballroom appearance in NYC gets some good coverage in the Village Voice, where they also chat with Kevin Barnes.

Meanwhile, MTV’s Newsroom pits the show against the pricier Madonna “Sticky & Sweet Tour,” and favor of Montreal by a wide margin.

Skeletal Lamping comes out Tuesday, although most people who’ve pre-ordered already have a copy in their hands.  If you haven’t ordered the album yet, you might want to check out Amie Street, where you can pre-order a digital copy for only $5.00.

And hey look–I got one of my favorite blogs, Cartoon Brew, to spotlight the new “Id Engager” video and its creators, animator collective SSSR.

 

The Apples in Stereo were commissioned to write a song for REI’s Go Play List, and you can now listen to “(Baby It’s) So Cold” at You Ain’t No Picasso. 

At the E6 Townhall, animalsanimals is offering tour photo prints for sale from the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour’s NYC show.  These were the photo sets recently posted at Pitchfork.  You can see all the photos in this Flickr archive.

Check this thread for details.

The psych blog Trip Inside This House has posted an interview with Ideal Free Distribution’s Tony Miller, who is offered a trip inside the “Wayback Machine.”  Where does he decide to go?  Maybe where I would…to Abbey Road, 1966, where the Beatles are recording their psychedelic masterpiece “Tomorrow Never Knows” for what might be their greatest album, Revolver.  (I tend to split my vote between that and the White Album.)  You can read the interview here.

As of this week, the IFD’s second album, Then We Were Older, is now available for sale from Color Wheel Records.  You can order the album via the band’s MySpace, iTunes (haven’t verified that yet – but suposedly), or by emailing the label at colorwheelrecords@gmail.com.  I highly recommend it.

As a fan of traditional, line-drawn, frame-by-frame animation, I can say that the new of Montreal video is my favorite of theirs by a long shot. It is beautiful…enjoy: