Optical Atlas

Still catching up on old news from our break: You Ain’t No Picasso last week posted an interview with Eric Harris, co-director (with Joey Foreman) of the Major Organ and the Adding Machine film.  You might also know him from The Olivia Tremor Control, Elf Power, Ham1, and many others.  The interview features scads of valuable information, too much to summarize here: head on over and check it out.

of Montreal recently dropped by National Public Radio’s World Cafe to play a handful of tracks from Skeletal Lamping.  You can stream the broadcast here.

There will be a free outdoor show at 1pm on Saturday, July 25th, at the Orange County Social Club in Carrboro, NC, featuring The Music Tapes as well as Tenement Halls, Portastic, Matt Suggs, and Radar Bros.  Thanks to wilson for the head’s up.

Elephant 6 followers and regular readers of this website should by now be familiar with Nesey Gallons, the singer-songwriter who toured with the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour as well as The Music Tapes, Nana Grizol, and Brian Dewan, and recently contributed to Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes, Circulatory System’s Signal Morning, and Julian Koster’s The Singing Saw at Christmastime.  The first full-length album by Nesey, Eyes & Eyes & Eyes Ago, was recently self-released in a limited edition, in CD-R format with homemade packaging (along with 2 other works, Somewhere We Both Walk and Two Bicycles).  Now Hurrah for Karamazov Records will be officially releasing Eyes & Eyes & Eyes Ago on September 8 in vinyl LP and digital download (the same date Signal Morning will be released by Cloud Recordings). A small CD pressing is also planned.  It’s a cliche, but the album might genuinely be called a haunting collection of songs: in the press release, Nesey says, “Walking past a graveyard is just as much of an influence on me as Rubber Soul. The idea of being surrounded by other souls, real or imagined, interacting with them and coming to terms with their loss and absence is largely what this record is about.”  An East Coast tour is also in the works.

Circulatory System have joined this summer’s AthFest lineup – they’re scheduled to play the Team Clermont & Aquarium Drunkard AthFest Party and Showcase.  It’s Friday, June 26th, at Nuçi’s Space (396 Oconee St., Athens, GA). The lineup consists of three of Athens’ finest: Liz Durrett at 8:30, Circulatory System at 9:30, and The Modern Skirts at 10:15pm.  Thanks to Becky for the head’s up.

Barring any exciting E6 news later in the day, this site will now go to sleep for the next week, as I take a much-needed vacation.  In the meantime, you can find me sipping lemonade in the backyard.  Please tell Neutral Milk Hotel to not reunite until at least Sunday the 14th.  See you later!

Jason NeSmith of Casper & the Cookies has initiated a CATC podcast series on the band’s website.  The first episode delves into the assembly of the final, epic track from Modern Silence, “I Am Gone,” which features music from a wagonload of pop musicians, though not the Cookies themselves.  This is really worth a listen, as Jason plays longer, unaltered versions of the creative contributions donated by some of the musicians – they’re amazing.  Some of them are completely autonomous pop songs.  You also get to hear Robert Schneider’s “Logarithmic Composition #6 in G”!   Download the podcast here. 

To promote the release of the album, the band is hitting the road this summer:

Casper & the Cookies – Tour Dates

Jun 5 2009 8:00 PM Charlotte, NC @ Prevue Music Hall
Jul 16 2009 9:00 PM Columbus, OH @ Circus
Jul 17 2009 9:00 PM Youngstown, OH @ Cedars Lounge
Jul 18 2009 9:00 PM Pittsburgh, PA @ brillobox
Jul 19 2009 9:00 PM Scranton, PA @ The Bog
Jul 20 2009 8:00 PM Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
Jul 21 2009 9:00 PM New York City, NY @ The Cake Shop
Jul 22 2009 9:00 PM Brooklyn, NY @ Bruar Falls
Jul 23 2009 9:00 PM Philadelphia, PA @ Danger Danger Gallery
Jul 24 2009 7:00 PM Washington, DC @ Solly’s
Jul 24 2009 8:00 PM Washington, DC @ Solly’s U Street Tavern
Jul 25 2009 8:00 PM Fredericksburg, VA @ FAA
Jul 27 2009 8:00 PM Charlottesville, VA @ Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar
Jul 29 2009 9:00 PM Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge
Jul 30 2009 8:00 PM Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
Aug 3 2009 8:30 PM St. Louis, MO @ Firebird
Aug 4 2009 8:00 PM Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s
Aug 5 2009 8:00 PM Lawerence, KS @ Replay Lounge
Aug 6 2009 8:00 PM Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
Aug 11 2009 8:00 PM Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
Aug 13 2009 9:00 PM Madison, WI @ The Frequency

Theo Hilton has informed Optical Atlas that the Nana Grizol June tour dates have been finalized.  If you live in or near these cities, get happy:

Nana Grizol Tour Dates

06/11/09 Chattanooga, TN @ JJ’s Bohemia
06/12/09 Dowelltown, TN @ Ida (Idapalooza festival)
06/13/09 Bloomington, IN @ Joel’s House
06/14/09 Chicago, IL @ The Grand Manor
06/15/09 Detroit, MI @ The Trumbullplex
06/16/09 Lexington, KY @ Gumbo Ya Ya
06/19/09 Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club

Daytrotter has posted a set from Vic Chesnutt, as backed by Elf Power, recorded during their last tour together (to support their collaborative album, Dark Developments).  You can stream and download the songs, as well as read the write-up, here.

Thanks to one-headedboy.