Optical Atlas

Theo Hilton has posted a list of dates Nana Grizol will be playing in the U.S. in June.  Here is the thread, and here is the list in Theo’s words:

hello from brighton, england! nana grizol will be doing a brief tour in june. we will have more details in the coming days, but as i am far from home and in a hurry i will give you the general gist of it. look for more details at www.orangetwin.com around tuesday. if you want to.

june 10 – chattanooga, tn @ TBA
june 12 – idapalooza, tn (ida is between knoxville and nashville. this is a music festival)
june 13 – bloomington, in @ joel’s place
june 14 – chicago, il @ grand manor
june 15 – detroit, mi @ trubmullplex
june 16 – lexington, ky (YANP presents. there’s details on the thread b4 this)
june 19 – athens, ga @ 40 watt w/ sea of dogs

Thanks to David Glickman for the link. Also, FYI that there is a dual-purpose CD release party tonight, May 30, in Athens, GA. Casper & the Cookies are celebrating the release of Modern Silence, and Marshmallow Coast is celebrating Phreak Phantasy (both out on Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records). It’s at the Caledonia Lounge at 10pm. Also playing are The Lolligags!

Wow, I can’t believe we’re already to the next Flagpole Music Awards.  As with last year, voting will culminate in a live awards show, which will be held during AthFest, at the Morton Theatre on June 25.  Get your vote in by Friday, June 5th.  E6-related bands up this year include: Casper & the Cookies (Best Pop Band), Madeline (Best Solo Performer, Best Album), The Music Tapes (Best Live Band), of Montreal (Best Live Band), and Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, & the Amorphous Strums (Best Album).  You can also write-in your favorites.  I’m also excited to see Venice is Sinking nominated in so many categories, as their new album Azar is one of my favorite albums of the year so far.  VOTE HERE.

Polyvinyl Records will be releasing a 7″ single from of Montreal, “For Our Elegant Caste,” on June 23rd.  The A-side is the track as presented on Skeletal Lamping; the B-side is the “Depressed Buttons Remix.”  Available on red and blue vinyl and in a limited run of 2000 copies, the purchase will also net you a digital download and “bonus video.”  You can pre-order here (orders ship June 12). 

EW’s Music Mix blog has just posted an interview with Will Cullen Hart, discussing how he nursed the upcoming Circulatory System album, Signal Morning, to fruition after eight long years.  The interview is full of revelations: (1) the first track on the album, “Woodpecker Greeting Worker Ant,” was begun as far back as 1993, (2) the track “Signal Morning” is based on an outtake from Black Foliage, (3) The Olivia Tremor Control have been back together and recording, with 2 completed songs in the can (or, rather, in Bill Doss’ hard drive).  “We’re working toward something.  I’m not sure that we know, even.”  Read it here.

Andy Scott of Blindworm Guitars created a special “Elephant 6 Guitar” specially designed for Elephant 6 co-founder Robert Schneider. You have to check out this video. It will blow your mind.

Robert Schneider writes Optical Atlas, “It is the coolest guitar I have ever played!! The inlaid Elephant 6 logo is made of meteorite dust, and on the headstock, the elephant’s eyes are made of dinosaur bones. It feels like I am holding a living creature, and plays great– I used it at the most recent American Revolution show, and played extra psychedelic.”

Here are the complete specs (more photos of the guitar can be found here):

- Solid wood, five piece neck through construction of Walnut with Poplar stripes
- Solid Poplar body
- Osage Orange fingerboard, nut, truss rod cover, pickguard, (same family as ebony, but domestic)
- Meteorite (collected in NW Africa) inlay for side fret markers, Elephant Six logo, and Blindworm Guitars logo
- Lower elephant (upside down) is Indian, with pronounced trunk carved in the poplar body
- Upper elephant is African, and carved into Walnut, with Osage Orange tusks
- Dinosoaur bone excavated in Colorado fills in the upper elephants’ eyes and the Blindworm snake’s eyes
- Custom made Walnut and Poplar knobs and switch
- 25″ scale, 24 jumbo frets
- Cream colored Duncan P-Rails, 2 Vol. 2 Tone. 3-way selector
- Sperzel locking tuners

If that isn’t cool enough news, Robert has announced more dates as his children’s side project, Robbert Bobbert & the Bubble Machine. Bring your psychedelic kids!

Robbert Bobbert & the Bubble Machine Live:
Saturday, June 13: Children’s Day / South Street Seaport / New York, NY
Sunday, June 14: World Cafe Live / Peanut Butter And Jams
Monday, August 31: Children’s Day / Jay Pritzker Pavilion / Millennium Park / Chicago, IL

of Montreal stopped by Rolling Stone’s Smoking Section to perform the unreleased track ”Teenage Unicorn Fisting.”  You can stream the video over at Rolling Stone’s blog.

It may sound obscene, but according to Fox News, it’s nothing the Obamas don’t do:

Spectrum Culture has an interesting piece up about Neutral Milk Hotel’s On Avery Island.  Check it out here.  Thanks to nerosneptune for the link.

Oh, and those Nesey Gallons CD-Rs are arriving in mailboxes around the country…mine came yesterday, and they’re quite lovely.  Nesey has also just gained a MySpace page.  (Thanks to wilson for the link.)

Wow, I’ve been stingy with the updates lately.  You’d think being down with the swine flu (or something similar) would mean lots of time to update your website, but instead, for me at least, it seems to mean indulging in reading 80’s New Mutants comics and having Russ Meyer movie marathons (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls soundtrack…ordered).  BUT there is lots of great Elephant 6 news in the pipeline, some of which I’m not allowed to blab about yet, so keep checking back.  In the meantime, You Ain’t No Picasso has posted a zipped bootleg of last year’s Lexington stop on the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour.  Good memories.

And in case you’re wondering what happened to that Major Organ and the Adding Machine Expanded CD+DVD, I’m happy to inform you that Orange Twin has confirmed it’s OFFICIAL and is still on track for a fall release. Just a few more months.