Optical Atlas

Under the Influence, from Suburban Home/Vinyl Collective, is a forthcoming series of 7″ singles spotlighting artists covering their major influences.  Among these will be a cover of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Two-Headed Boy,” as performed by Arizona’s Andrew Jackson Jihad (b/w Cobra Skulls performing Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues”).  Although the release date hasn’t yet been set, you can stream the tracks from the series, including the NMH cover, at the Vinyl Collective website.  Thanks to 33alex45 for the link.

Amplified (the online and digital TV indie music program of ABC News NOW) is currently offering an exclusive preview of the new Robbert Bobbert & the Bubble Machine album (out February 17th on Little Monster Records).  It’s a bit tricky to find, but a search for “Robbert Bobbert” on their website brings up a number of Robbert Bobbert “videos” (actually just streaming audio), including all the tracks from the album.  Link here.  Thanks to Dan Efram!

UPDATE: Better link!  (It wasn’t working when I tried it earlier.)

I could have posted about this yesterday, but hey, I already had 2 posts up, and I gotta space out these things.  Mike Turner at Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records has provided an update on the ongoing HHBTM Singles Club Volume 2.  So far the series has featured split singles by Fishboy, Baby Calendar, Marbles, Casper & the Cookies, Bunnygrunt, Phil Wilson, Boyracer, The Faintest Ideas, Tullycraft, The Smittens, Velcro Stars, Keith John Adams, Andy from Denver, Red Pony Clock, Ideal Free Distribution, and Poison Control Center.  Now Mike has updated his blog and the usual message boards noting the following:

The Of Montreal / James Husband single is being mastered shortly. The Circulatory System single will be split with the Sunshine Fix, and the Love Letter Band single will be backed with High Water Marks. I’m going to put up scans of the All Girl Summer Fun Band / Cars Can Be Blue single and the Apples in Stereo / Patience Please single next week. The club should be ready to ship no later than May 2009. Sad to say but that will be officially two years after the club started WTF I know, I know…

Hey, I’m patient (please).  Mainly because I keep forgetting about it.  But each time I hear an update, my enthusiasm goes through the roof.  (Only to vaporize as I gradually forget about it once more – it sounds like someone should perform some kind of science fair project on me.)  It’s big news that The Sunshine Fix will be sharing a 7″ with Circulatory System.  That almost makes it an Olivia Tremor Control reunion, joining, as it were, Bill Doss’ solo project with Will Cullen Hart’s (and I’ve a feeling the other Olivias play on the record, as most are currently in Circulatory System).  The James Husband appearance is significant as his material has been strictly underground for several years.  He has an album which should be coming out this year (expect an announcement on that soon).  Although they put out a great (and underrated) album a couple years ago, new High Water Marks material has been few and far between.  And of course we’ll always be excited about new material from of Montreal and The Apples in Stereo.  So yes, good things are coming for subscribers to the HHBTM singles club.  To pick up a subscription, go to their website.  You can also get info on picking up leftover individual pressings of different singles from the series in Mike’s full blog post, where he also dishes on Athens PopFest news (August 11th-16th this year) and more.

Here’s the most updated list of tour dates for next month’s Music Tapes/Nana Grizol/Brian Dewan tour, courtesy Merge Records (there’s now an Asheville, NC show).  Note that Brian Dewan will not make it to the 40 Watt, and has been replaced by Supercluster.

2/10 Mohawk, Austin, TX
2/11 The Opolis, Norman, OK
2/13 Solar Culture Gallery, Tucson, AZ
2/15 Echoplex, Los Angeles, CA
2/17 Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA
2/19 Vera Project, Seattle, WA
2/20 Department of Safety, Anacortes, WA
2/21 Backspace, Portland, OR
2/24 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, MN
2/25 AV-aerie, Chicago, IL
2/26 The B-Side, Ann Arbor, MI
2/27 Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON
2/28 Big Orbit’s Soundlab, Buffalo, NY
3/01 Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ
3/02 Middle East – Upstairs, Cambridge, MA
3/03 The Bellhouse, Brooklyn, NY
3/04 First Unitarian Church – Basement, Philadelphia, PA
3/05 Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC
3/06 The Grey Eagle, Asheville, NC
3/07 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA

After Athens (and Kindercore Records) fixture Masters of the Hemisphere dissolved, the components went seeking different sounds in bands like Je Suis France, Dances with Wolves, and Vetran, with the France notably embarking on countless eclectic handmade EP releases.  One of Sean Rawls’ Je Suis France songs, the reggae singalong ”Never Gonna Touch the Ground,” was deemed an interesting enough tangent to be expanded into its own offshoot band, fronted by Rawls, Still Flyin’.  Based primarily out of San Francisco, Still Flyin’ now seems set to get bigger than all of those former projects, including Masters of the Hemisphere.  They’ve already toured extensively worldwide, building up a fanbase energized by their spectacular, stage-cramming live shows.  Members of their ensemble, at one point or another, have included Jens Lekman, Gary Olson (The Ladybug Transistor), and members of Track Star, Architecture in Helsinki, Aislers Set, Love is All, Maserati, and Red Pony Clock.  But unlike a lot of other “jam” bands, Still Flyin’ hews closely to melody and a polished sound earned from the Kindercore years. 

For all the attention, the “hammjamm” band’s recorded material has been emerging only gradually, first by releasing two superb taster EPs on Antenna Farm Records, Time Wrinkle and Za Cloud, both of which stress the reggae influence, with enough Masters-style pop to please fans of Rawls’ songwriting.  Their new album, Never Gonna Touch the Ground, does feature the old Je Suis France song, but in a truncated, two-minute-long form–almost an obligatory appearance, before they can get on to their newer (and, frankly, better) material.  Particular highlights are “Following the Itinerary,” the single “Good Thing It’s a Ghost Town Around Here” (a monster mash video of which was released on YouTube last year, just in time for Halloween), and the indescribably wonderful “Aerosmith, Take Me to the Other Side,” which is not just the one-off joke the title suggests.  While the album is weaker for not including some of the better tracks from their previous EPs (”The Bird is Aware” and “Rope Burn” are sorely missed), in the iTunes era, where they’re readily available, that seems less important.  Most encouragingly, the main difference between this LP and their previous work is that they seem more willing to let go of the trappings of reggae, and to jam in their own spirit, in their own style.  Some of these tracks–”Ginkgo Biloba” in particular–would not be out of place on Protest a Dark Anniversary.  But overall, the album is just goofy fun, and highly recommended.

It comes out April 7th on Ernest Jenning Record Co. in the US.  It’s already available in Australia on Lost and Lonesome. You can download a sample track below.

Never Gonna Touch the Ground,
by Still Flyin’

1. Never Gonna Touch the Ground
2. Following the Itinerary
3. Forever Dudes
4. Good Thing It’s a Ghost Town Around Here
5. Act of Jamming
6. The Hott Chord is Struck
7. No Go-Kart Ideas
8. Haunted Houses
9. Dead Memory Man
10. Ginkgo Biloba
11. Aerosmith, Take Me to the Other Side

Here’s a strange thing – I will now link to myself.  The Onion AV Club’s Decider recently interviewed me in a Madison coffee shop asking about all things Elephant 6, in advance of the upcoming Vic Chesnutt & Elf Power show at High Noon Saloon (this Friday night):

An Optical Atlas Intro to Elephant 6

Thanks to Scott Gordon for being very amiable during my freeform ramblings.

I appear to be terribly late with this news, but A Hawk and a Hacksaw will be performing today at the reception party for the grand opening of The Lomography Gallery Store at 41 W. 8th St. in Manhattan, NY.  The store officially opens tomorrow.  Details.  Thanks to mgocze.

Another of Montreal interview (does he do 6 of these a day?): Clash Q & A.

Kevin Barnes offers love advice over at Drowned in Sound.  There’s also a bit of the Fabchannel/Amsterdam performance available for streaming. 

Thanks to illuminated for the link.