Optical Atlas

As we previously reported, A Hawk and a Hacksaw has a new album, Délivrance, due out May 18. Now the band has revealed via MySpace the album’s lineup:

Délivrance:
a hawk and a hacksaw- 2007-2008
Jeremy Barnes: accordion, drums, vocals
Heather Trost: violin, viola, stroh violin, vocals, accordion on ‘Vasalisa…’
Ferenc Kovács: trumpet, violin
Chris Hladowski: bouzouki, baglama
Unger Balázs: cimbalom
Kálman Bálogh: cimbalom on ‘Kertész’, small cimbalom on ‘Hummingbirds’
Peter Pataj: upright bass
Mark Weaver: tuba, baritone
Béla Ágoston: clarinet, bratch
Ariel Muniz: cello
Sari Kovács: flute
Peter Bede: saxophone

And check out their newly-expanded tour dates:

U.S. Dates
Mar 19 2009 3:30P Other Music and DigForFire.tv’s SXSW Lawn Party – Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2009 7:00P Hometapes/Leaf Showcase, SXSW, Habana Bar – Austin, Texas
Apr 2 2009 Allen Theatre – Cleveland, Ohio w/Andrew Bird
Apr 3 2009 Queen Elizabeth Theatre – Toronto, Ontario w/Andrew Bird
Apr 4 2009 Le National – Montreal, Quebec w/Andrew Bird
Apr 5 2009 The Copperworks – Pittsfield, Massachusetts w/Andrew Bird
Apr 7 2009 Carnegie Music Hall – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania w/Andrew Bird
Apr 8 2009 Michigan Theatre – Ann Arbor, Michigan w/Andrew Bird
Apr 9 2009 The Hideout – Chicago, Illinois
Apr 10 2009 Civic Opera House – Chicago, Illinois w/Andrew Bird
Apr 12 2009 Cedar Cultural Center – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Apr 14 2009 Pabst Theater – Milwaukee, Wisconsin w/Wilco
Apr 15 2009 Pabst Theater – Milwaukee, Wisconsin w/Wilco
Apr 16 2009 University Auditorium – Bloomington, Indiana w/Wilco
Apr 17 2009 Templeton-Blackburn Auditorium – Athens, Ohio w/Wilco
Apr 18 2009 Tennessee Theatre – Knoxville, Tennessee w/Wilco
Apr 20 2009 Classic Center Grand Hall – Athens, Georgia w/Wilco
Apr 21 2009 Thomas Wolfe Auditorium – Asheville, North Carolina w/Wilco
Apr 22 2009 Sloss Furnaces – Birmingham, Alabama w/Wilco
Apr 23 2009 The Lyric – Oxford, Mississippi w/Wilco

U.K. Dates
May 2 2009 fuseleeds09, West Yorkshire Playhouse – Leeds, Northeast
May 18 2009 Cecil Sharp House – London
Jun 16 2009 Duke of York’s Picturehouse – Brighton
Jun 17 2009 Fiddlers Club – Bristol
Jun 19 2009 Baltic – Gateshead
Jun 20 2009 Tollbooth – Stirling
Jun 21 2009 The Arches – Glasgow
Jun 23 2009 Hare & Hounds – Birmingham
Jun 24 2009 Holywell Music Room – Oxford

Becky has sent along the two most recent installments of WGSU’s The Elephant 6 Show (March 3 and March 10), and you can download them now in our E6 Radio archive.

Thanks to Dan for this video, taken after a day of Apples in Stereo recording in Brooklyn:

With their new album Modern Silence on the way (May 12), Casper & the Cookies are headed out to SXSW, with stops all along the South:

03.10.09 Savannah, GA @ The Wormhole
03.11.09 Jacksonville, FL @ Club TSI
03.12.09 Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub
03.13.09 Gainesville, FL @ Common Grounds
03.14.09 Valdosta, GA @ Vito’s Rock n Roll
03.15.09 Panama City, FL @ Gallery Above
03.16.09 New Orleans, LA @ Dragon’s Den
03.17.09 Mobile, AL @ Alabama Music Box
03.18.09 Lafeyette, LA @ Blue Moon Saloon
03.19.09 Austin, TX @ SXSW
03.20.09 Austin, TX @ The Art Project – Standard Recording Craftster Day Party/SXSW
03.20.09 Austin, TX @ 1024 E. 44th St. Day Party – PIAPTK Recordings and Olympia All Ages Project/SXSW
03.21.09 Austin, TX @ Waterloo/SXSW
03.21.09 Dallas, TX @ The Cavern
03.23.09 Little Rock, AR @ ACAC
03.24.09 Memphis, TN @ Murphy’s
03.25.09 St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird
03.26.09 Bloomington, IN @ Cinemat
03.27.09 Indianapolis, IN @ Locals Only
03.28.09 Louisville, KY @ Glassworks
04.10.09 Athens, GA @ 40 Watt

art by Matt Blanks

Despite the daylight savings change over the weekend, and staying up far too late anyway, I somehow managed to get up early enough to catch Robert Schneider on ABC’s Good Morning America yesterday morning.  It was pretty amazing.  But the Apples in Stereo news continues: Pitchfork has announced the track listing of the upcoming Merge Records covers compilation, to be included in the box set SCORE: 20 Years of Merge Records, and among the covers is Neutral Milk Hotel’s “King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 3″ by The Apples in Stereo.  (Incidentally, I called this.  What do I win?)  Although they’ve sold out of subscriptions for the box set, you can still order the covers compilation separately, beginning now. 

This month marks the 20th anniversary of Denver, Colorado’s unclassifiable Little Fyodor & Babushka.  Unclassifiable?  No.  “Insane” classifies them quite well.  This year also, oddly, marks the 25th anniversary of Little Fyodor’s career as a DJ at Boulder’s KGNU.  The Little Fyodor album Dance of the Salted Slug was one of the very first releases on the Elephant 6 Recording Company label; and, as Little Fyodor tells it, he’s responsible for naming Jim McIntyre’s recording project Von Hemmling.  Optical Atlas extends its congratulations and admiration to the most proudly bizarre act to have ever emerged from Colorado, which hopefully will continue to perplex listeners for another 20 years…beginning with a new album that’s due out this year.  Check out Little Fyodor at his MySpace.

Still Flyin’ and the brand new Folklore will be joining up on the East Coast next month for some shows.  (Still Flyin’ will also be hitting up a number of shows at SXSW.) Here are the dates:

Still Flyin’ & Folklore East Coast Tour Dates

04/03/09 Brooklyn, NY @ Union Hall
04/04/09 Boston, MA @ PA’s Lounge
04/05/09 New York, NY @ Cake Shop
04/06/09 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s

Thanks to John Elder for the link.