Optical Atlas

Today Orange Twin artist Madeline kicks off a tour which will guide her throughout the South and Southwest, in conjunction with the vinyl and digital release of the Madeline Tour EP, to be released by Orange Twin Records on March 4th. The EP, previously a tour-only release (as you probably figured out for yourself), features appearances by members of Architecture in Helsinki and Mt. Eerie. A sampling, as well as tour dates, follow:

Madeline – I Waited All Day

Madeline Tour Dates

2/26 – Gainesville, Fl. @ The Atlantic
2/27 – Tallahassee, Fl. @ Fresh Face Fest
3/4 – Athens, Ga. @ Little Kings
3/5 – Birmingham, Al. @ Spring Street Fire House (7 p.m. All ages)
3/7 – Pensacola, Fl. @ Sluggo’s
3/8 – Baton Rouge, La. @ All Ages outdoor Party
(email andytgibbs@gmail.com for more info)
3/9 – Denton, Texas @ Rubber Gloves
3/10 – Dallas, Texas @ The Amsterdam Bar w/ Little Birds
3/11 – Austin, Texas @ Momo’s w/ Geoff Reacher (All Ages)
3/12 – Lafayette, La. @ Artmosphere
3/13 – New Orleans, La. @ AllWays Lounge

Stereogum has offered a preview of “Dance Floor,” one of the tracks from the upcoming Apples in Stereo album, Travellers in Space and Time, which is released by Yep Roc/Simian/Elephant 6 on April 20th.  Check it out here.  Thanks to Dan for the link.

Members of Lexington pop landmarks The High Water Marks and Ideal Free Distribution have joined forces to become The Open Letters. The lineup – Hilarie Sidney, Per Ole Bratset, Tony Miller, Samantha Herald Miller (both husband and wife teams) - began playing as a unit in late 2009.   (Kenny Johnson joined shortly thereafter.) Tony Miller wrote Optical Atlas in December, “We’ve been practicing for a short time but already have 6 solid tunes…and I mean solid.  Right now, even in their rough form the songs feel excitingly good. We’re going to whip out a recording of a couple and put one on our upcoming Color Wheel Records comp due out this spring. Sound-wise everything is very poppy with big guitars occasionally bordering on shoegaze.”  You can hear for yourself with the sample track below.  Personally, I love it.  (There’s another track, with Per singing, posted on their MySpace page.)

Note that neither The High Water Marks nor IFD are defunct, though for now it’s the Open Letters effort that’s pushing forward in earnest.  They’re playing live at Cosmic Charlie’s in Lexington with Fire Zuave on March 1st. 

The Open Letters – Stupid But Strong

Bumblebear Records, the indie label run by Jimmy Hughes of Folklore and Elf Power, has made available for free download a Christmas compilation they put out in 2001 with Planting Seeds Records called Christmas Underground.  The comp features the Wee Turtles, Bugs Eat Books, The Boys Star Library, Ashley Park, Dipstick and Eggnog, Echo Orbiter, Christmas Ape, and many more.  You can grab the MP3s here (as well as a lot of other great free music).

Speaking of Christmas music, Casper & the Cookies have posted their holiday classic “Kiss Me Beneath the Christmas Tree” on their MySpace page once more.

Merge Records has made available for download Julian Koster’s performance of ”White Christmas” from last year’s Singing Saw at Christmastime:

MP3: Julian Koster – White Christmas

And courtesy the Merge Records blog, here is Julian performing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”:

Not personal enough? Not enough about you? Invite Julian and the singing saw to your home for Christmas caroling! Details here, and projected dates below:

December 7th, 8th, 9th: Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana & Lower Half of Illinois
December 10th, 11th, 12th: Chicago, Illinois, Michigan
December 13th, 14th, 15th: Ohio, Pittsburgh, Western NY
December 16th, 17th, 18th: Upstate NY, New England (CT, RI, VT etc)
December 19th, 20th, 21st: Philadelphia, NYC, Baltimore, DC, Chapel Hill

The podcast Phoning It In has just posted an exclusive performance from Nesey Gallons recorded in September.  You can download or stream the podcast here.  Thanks to Nadav for the link.

Nana Grizol built up a fan base quickly in its short lifespan, first as a cult act in Athens, then gaining a much wider following after being asked to join 2008’s Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour.  When I saw them on their tour earlier this year with The Music Tapes and Brian Dewan, I was surprised to find myself pummeled by an impromptu mosh pit.  Thus excitement is high over their second album, Ruth, which comes out January 12th on CD and vinyl from Orange Twin Records, and is available digitally right now from iTunes and Amazon.  “Galaxies,” the second track from Ruth, in three short minutes summarizes so much of the band’s appeal: thoughtful lyrics, appealing vocals from Theo Hilton, bright and blaring horns.

MP3: Nana Grizol – Galaxies

Impose Magazine checked in with Theo Hilton as he wraps up work on Ruth, the second album by Nana Grizol. Scroll to the very bottom of the page and you can download a track from the album, “For Things That Haven’t Come Yet.”  Thanks to geneautry.

Impose Magazine: Nana Grizol’s Southern Generosity