Optical Atlas

Over the last couple of years, perhaps the only E6 parlor game more popular than “when will that second Circulatory System album come out?” (followed rapidly by “when will that Circulatory System bonus LP come out?”) is “when will the Major Organ and the Adding Machine DVD/Expanded CD come out?”  But, honestly, the great thing about Elephant 6 is that they usually make it worth the long wait (and those gaps are filled with so many of Montreal and Robert Schneider-related releases that the wait doesn’t really matter all that much).  Anyway, at long last the Major Organ and the Adding Machine re-release has been announced, but first a history: the 2001 album was one of the flagship releases of the Athens-based Orange Twin Records label, draped in the E6 logo and featuring an all-star cast from the E6-East universe, though none of them were named on the album.  (Nonetheless, it was pretty easy to recognize that prominent members of Neutral Milk Hotel, The Olivia Tremor Control, The Music Tapes, of Montreal, and Elf Power were contributing.)  The CD drifted out of print, though the LP remained generally available.  Although initial reviews of the concept album – a harrowing mix of avant-garde sound collages and psych-rock – were mixed, with some being very harsh, over the past nine years it has deservedly developed wider admiration and the requisite cult following.  For the 2008 Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise tour, Eric Harris  (OTC, Elf Power)  would begin each evening’s program with a screening of the Major Organ and the Adding Machine short film, which he co-directed with Joey Foreman: a years-in-the-works cross between music video and experimental children’s fantasy, telling the story of Madam Truffle, a bunch of people with beards, a giant lobster, and, um, other things that happen.  (It’s all great fun.)  A DVD was announced and then postponed, and postponed, and postponed again.

Now Pitchfork has announced the real deal: on September 14, Orange Twin Records will release the deluxe Major Organ and the Adding Machine reissue, which will feature the complete album plus seven bonus tracks, bundled with a DVD of the film and bonus features such as music videos, live footage, and other E6-related projects, perhaps some of which were featured in the Eric Harris-curated E6 film program which screened last year in Athens.

Conclusion: Viva Francisco! (Thanks to Kathy with a K for the head’s-up.)

Southern Shelter has posted the 6/5/10 Athens set by Circulatory System:

Circulatory System at the 40 Watt: 6/5/10

The Flagpole Music Awards, honoring the best music of the year from Athens, GA, is now open for voting.  E6-related nominees this year include Circulatory System, The Music Tapes, Nana Grizol, Supercluster, James Husband, and Casper & the Cookies.  Head over here to vote–the deadline is May 28th, and winners are announced at the Flagpole Athens Music Awards Show on June 24th at the Morton Theatre.

Initial pre-orders of the Circulatory System’s Signal Morning LP shipped with a bonus 12″, dubbed Side 3, containing remixes, demos, and outtakes from the Signal Morning sessions.  Essentially it’s the equivalent of the Inside Views CD-R, which was released in 2001 to showcase remixes from the first CS album – only this is on 150-gram vinyl!  With a hand-painted gatefold sleeve!  Well, extra copies from the one-and-only pressing are available NOW at Cloud Recordings, so if you missed out on the pre-order and still want a chance to complete your Circulatory System collection – act fast.

Tomorrow AUX, the Athens Experimental Arts Festival, will hold its fourth gathering featuring live performance, multi-media performance, visual art, and more.  Guests include Michael Columbia, Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone, John Fernandes (Circulatory System), The Visitations, Hannah Jones (Sound Houses), and the legendary Flash Card Orchestra, among many other performers.  A full list is below.  Little Kings and the Athens Ciné will be hosting the event, and $5 tickets are available at the door.

Special guests:
Michael Columbia (Chicago/Cincinnati)
and
Mary Halvorson and Jessica Pavone (NYC)

Performances:
3:00 Jeff Fallis (Little Kings)
3:30 Nutritional Peace (Cine)
4:00 Rah as Tempel (Little Kings)
4:30 The Visitors/Pocket Full of Claptonite (Cine)
5:00 Magic Tape Research (Little Kings)
5:15 John Fernandes (Little Kings)
5:30 Denise Posnak, Laura Hoffman, Amanda Martin (Cine)
6:00 The Visitations (Little Kings)
6:30 Steven Trimmer (Cine)
6:45 Hannah Jones (Cine)
7:00 MANS TRASH (Little Kings)
7:30 Aman Amun (Cine)
8:00 Dream Scene (Little Kings)
8:30 Case Quarter (Cine)
9:00 Geisterkatzen (Little Kings)
9:30 The Untanglers (Cine)
10:00 Flash Card Orchestra! (Little Kings)
10:30 The Odd Trio (Little Kings)
11:00 Video Program (Cine)
11:30 Brave New Citizen (Little Kings)
12:00 Mary Halvorson and Jessica Pavone (Cine)
1:00 Michael Columbia (Little Kings)

Installations:

Eye Gate
Dan Hole Pond
Justin Roberts

Video screenings:

25 minute program repeating at
3, 4:30, 9:30, and 11 in Ciné 2

Elliott Earls
Ashley Ohman
Joleen Toner
Chris Cogan
Eddie Whelan
Ash Sechler
Carlos Casas
Ries Straver
John Crowe
Seth Nicholas Stephens

Artist’s Market:

Gypsies Tramps & Thieves
Old Cat Died
Cathy Dailey
Cameoko
Christy Wooke
Beca Designs
Bacon Neckwear
Laurel Hill

Sponsors:

Little Kings
Ciné
Nuçi’s Space
Flagpole
Ideas for Creative Exploration (ICE)

Charlie Johnston, lead singer of 63 Crayons and member of Circulatory System, has started exhibiting his paintings on a Tumblr website, and is also offering them for sale.  

You can browse the gallery here.  Pretty stellar work I think.

Pitchfork has announced that Jeff Mangum will perform a “very short acoustic set” at the Chris Knox benefit concert scheduled for May 6th at NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge. Also performing at the concert: Yo La Tengo, Kyp Malone, Portastic, The Clean, Claudia Gonson of Magnetic Fields, Sharon Van Etten, John Mulaney, Robert Scott, David Kilgour and Dimmer. Tickets go on sale at Kickstarter tomorrow, March 30. (This concert follows the release of Stroke, the benefit album for the Tall Dwarfs‘ Chris Knox, which also featured a track by Jeff Mangum.) This would mark the first live performance by the Neutral Milk Hotel frontman since the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise tour of two years back, for which he performed “Engine” at the encore of multiple shows. This is very, very exciting news – although the focus should remain on the only reason this is happening in the first place: raising money for Mr. Knox’s medical bills, a good cause indeed.

Since I’ve left a gap between posts here, a bit longer than intended, let me catch you up on some other Elephant 6 news:

The long-awaited deluxe edition of Circulatory System’s Signal Morning vinyl LP is finally being shipped to those who pre-ordered back in the summer of last year. It’s worth the wait (mine arrived on Saturday): the exclusive Sides 3 and 4 of the album contain alternate remixes, with a hand-painted sleeve. If you didn’t preorder, there will likely be a few more copies available for sale after all extant orders have shipped: more info is at Cloud Recordings.

Folklore, led by Elf Power’s Jimmy Hughes, is finishing up work on their third album, Home Church Road. If you’d like to see the album get released on vinyl, a Kickstarter fund was started by Jimmy, to which you can contribute. Tour dates are below.

Folklore on Tour

03.30.10 Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
04.02.10 State College, PA @ Chronic Town w/ The Spinto Band
04.03.10 – New York, NY @ The Cake Shop w/ Blood Warrior
04.15.10 – Geneseo, NY @ SUNY Geneseo (Knight Spot)

The AV Club Decider D.C. just interviewed Beulah’s Miles Kurosky on his (really quite wonderful) new solo album The Desert of Shallow Effects.

Seamonster, the band by Robbert Bobbert artist Todd Webb, has just released a 7″ called Two Birds on Royal Rhino Flying Records/Gold Robot Records/Martyrs of Pop. You can order it here. A video for “Oh Appalachia,” one of the six tracks on the EP, can be viewed here.

Casper & the Cookies also have a new video, for “Sharp!”, a track from last year’s Modern Silence. You can watch it here.

Outside Films has posted a clip from their upcoming documentary about Athens bands, a fascinating interview with Derek Almstead in which he discusses the making of Circulatory System’s Signal Morning. Thanks to thosedamnbuckets for the link.