Optical Atlas

Algonquin Books will be releasing a history of Merge entitled Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records in September of this year.  A teaser website has already been set up (the “Merge Timeline” is especially interesting).  Expect lots of info on Neutral Milk Hotel, and hopefully some other E6 bands as well (The Music Tapes, The Ladybug Transistor, The Essex Green). 

The greatest hits album by The Apples in Stereo, #1 Hits Explosion, is now available for pre-order from Yep Roc Records. The release date is September 1st (the LP comes out September 15th). Pre-orders include a free Yep Roc digital sampler, and will ship for arrival on the release date.

An interesting interview with Kevin Barnes has been posted at Subba-Cultcha, including Kevin’s thoughts on of Montreal’s early years as part of the Elephant 6 collective.  Thanks to I Rule the School for the link.  There’s also another interview at Drowned in Sound.

Dressy Bessy, whose Holler and Stomp was one of the most underrated (and underheard) albums of last year, will be headlining tomorrow night at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, Colorado, with Veronica & Murder Ranks opening.  If you haven’t seen them live, you don’t know DB.  But they’ve got some additional summer shows lined up as well, all in their native Colorado – here’s the schedule.

07.11.09 Boulder, CO @ Fox Theatre
07.18.09 Denver, CO @ Jackson’s – Fundraiser for the Andre Center
07.25.09 Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive Denver Post Underground Music Fest
07.31.09 Boulder, CO @ Power Chord Academy – UC Boulder Campus
08.15.09 Fort Collins, CO @ Bohemian Nights at New West Fest
09.05.09 Denver, CO @ The Gothic Theatre

Casper & the Cookies begin their summer Modern Silence tour next week, including a stop at Daytrotter. Here are the dates:

07.16.09 Columbus, OH @ Circus
07.17.09 Youngstown, OH @ Cedar’s Lounge
07.18.09 Pittsburgh, PA @ Brillobox
07.19.09 Scranton, PA @ The Bog
07.20.09 Boston, MA @ Middle East
07.21.09 New York, NY @ Cake Shop
07.22.09 Brooklyn, NY @ Bruar Falls
07.23.09 Philadelphia, PA @ Danger Danger Gallery
07.24.09 Washington, DC @ Solly’s
07.25.09 Fredricksburg, VA @ Eyeclops
07.26.09 Baltimore, MD @ Joe Squared
07.27.09 Charlottesville, VA @ Twisted Branch
07.28.09 Durham, NC @ The Pinhook
07.29.09 Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge
07.30.09 Knoxville, TN @ Pilot Light
07.31.09 Nashville, TN @ The End
08.03.09 St. Louis, MO @ Firebird
08.04.09 Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s
08.05.09 Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall
08.06.09 Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
08.07.09 Minneapolis, MN @ Nomad World Pub
08.08.09 Ames, IA @ Progressive
08.10.09 Rock Island, IL – Daytrotter Session
08.11.09 Iowa City, IA @ The Mill
08.12.09 Milwaukee, WI @ Mad Planet
08.13.09 Madison, WI @ The Frequency
08.14.09 Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
08.15.09 Fort Wayne, IN @ Bill’s City Grill
08.29.09 Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge
09.10.09 Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge

On July 28th, iTunes will release an exclusive EP/bundle by Athens’ acclaimed Japancakes, “Behind the Mountains,” which is the first song the famously instrumental-oriented band has released with actual vocals. Those vocals are by Orenda Fink of Azure Ray. If you download the bundle, you’ll also get a version in Mandarin by Moon of Miss Stocking, an instrumental version, and the video, which debuted on Stereogum, and which you can watch below:

From late high school to college, I went through a big Woody Allen phase.  Rented all the films, drove from northern Wisconsin out to Minneapolis to see his latest on the big screen, read his stories, defended him passionately to friends, and so on.  These days I’ve sort of moved on, as far as obsessive interests go - I will probably see Whatever Works when it comes out on DVD, and I’ve had Vicki Christina Barcelona, in its Netflix envelope, sitting next to my TV unwatched for about a month now - but reading Kevin Barnes’ lengthy love letter to Woody Allen’s ouvre, for The Quietus, really took me back to college days.  I still have two box sets of Woody Allen films on the shelf (up through Radio Days), and he makes me want to break out Love and Death again.  And I do want to say that I actually quite like The Curse of the Jade Scorpion…but Hollywood Ending is pretty terrible. 

Here’s what Kevin thinks.   Thanks to illuminated for the link.

The Great Lakes recently took a short tour of Norway, and here’s a nice memento: an acoustic performance, by Ben Crum and Kevin Shea, of their new song “A Good Day to Die,” performed on a boat in Egersund, Norway.  It’s splendid.