Blog: Optical Atlas Newsblog: Your Elephant 6 Daily Fix of Sunshine

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There's a free concert next Tuesday night at the 40 Watt, a sequel of sorts to the "Pop as Fuck" party the night after PopFest, with returning acts...

Chris Yetter has set up a nice blog, Things Chris Recorded , which already features his audience tapings of PopFest sets by Marbles, The Instruments, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't, M Coast , and Folklore , plus some videos. Do check it out. And my PopFest coverage of some lesser known and non-E6 acts continues every day of this week at my psych-music blog Electric Sailor , with some exclusive MP3s you can't get anywhere else.

Stereogum has premiered the new Apples in Stereo video, for "Same Old Drag." This official one, directed by Greg Gilpatrick, replaces the goofy (and endearing) one from several months ago which the Apples shot themselves while driving around Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival. Two words for this one: creepy clowns. The Apples in Stereo - Same Old Drag on Stereogum

Robert Schneider recently performed a short set and gave a speech at MathFest 2007, and there's a good write-up on the event and interview with Robert at the MAA website . That's the Mathematics Association of America, as if you didn't already know. Thanks to Robert for the link! MathFest 2007: A Rock Musician Finds Mathematics

One of the major highlights of PopFest a couple weeks ago was the closing night set by headliner Daniel Johnston ; he played the first half acoustic, but then was joined by Casper & the Cookies for a very rocking finale. Sloan at Southern Shelter taped the show, and is now offering it for download in both MP3 and lossless FLAC format. You can grab it all here: Daniel Johnston and Casper & the Cookies: Live at the 40 Watt

Before there was Summer Hymns , there was Joe Christmas . Zachary Gresham fronted this band from the early days of Kindercore records (they contributed to a few of the early Kindercore compilations) and the years when Elephant 6 was rising to prominence. Though Gresham and his band (including Russell Holbrook, Ryan Weaver, Jason Dempsey, and Philip Brown) weren't directly involved in the E6 scene, and labored over the decision to move to Athens, inevitably they formed certain connections: Gresham lived with Will Hart ( Olivia Tremor Control ) for a time, and Neutral Milk [...]

• Joe Christmas - A Pretty Girl.MP3
• Joe Christmas - Coupleskate.MP3

Of Montreal (specifically, B.P. Helium and Dottie Alexander) will be chatting with visitors to the virtual music community VLES (Virtual Lower East Side) this Thursday night. It's part of the This is Next party (for an indie rock comp), which also feature online concerts from Bloc Party and Cold War Kids . For details, and to get an invite, saunter over thisaway . Or check out what the VLES is all about right here .

Tiny Sticks , a band that consists of Emily Simpson, B.P. Helium ( Of Montreal ), Aaron Wegelin ( Elf Power ), and Josh McKay ( Macha ), will play a rare performance this week in Athens. The band specializes in covers of the 70's post-punk/dance group ESG, led by Deborah, Marie, Renee, and Valerie Scroggins. B.P. writes, " Tiny Sticks has been around since maybe 2002 or 2003...We only play ESG , though we did write our own ESG -sounding original called 'Bronx 80.' Aaron Wegelin approached me after he procured a [...]

Aurora Borealis - Nesey Gallons Thanks to thekingisdead .

Pitchfork has announced that Of Montreal (specifically, Kevin Barnes and B.P. Helium) will be participating in the Revenge of the Book Eaters charity event on September 26 at Boston's Berklee Performance Center. The Revenge of the Book Eaters is a series of benefits to help Dave Eggers' 826 National foundation, which is dedicated to helping young students with expository and creative writing. Of Montreal will be joined by comedian of comedy Eugene Mirman, Found Magazine founder Davy Rothbart, writer Rodney Rothman, and New York's Via Audio . For more information on the Book Eaters, go [...]

Rebecca Cole of The Minders is now featured prominently in a brand-new country band, The Hungry Holler. As the band says on their MySpace page , "Good country music is hard to find these days, so we decided to make our own." There are just a pair of live-sounding rough cuts on their page right now, but it's an interesting new direction. (My favorite super-obscure Minders side project is The Electric Blankets , which only does recordings of overdone 80's songs.) [...]

Here's some consolation for those (like myself) who had to miss Julian's private singing saw performance this week: a Lance Bangs video of The Music Tapes performing on Valentine's Day, 1999. Thanks to lou2ser and defgav for making it available.

It was really goddamn hot. And other observations! The 2007 Athens PopFest: Wrap-Up

From the Essex Green : Congratulations to Ms. Sasha Bell! She is the proud mother of a new baby girl named Bebban Labelle. She weights 5 lbs 14oz, and the new family is happy and well. Deep and sincere congratulations from Optical Atlas!

The Apples in Stereo are hitting the road again this fall, mostly along the East Coast and the South. Here are the dates: The Apples in Stereo - Fall 2007 Tour 08.31.07 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater 09.02.07 Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot 09.13.07 Lexington, KY @ The Dame 09.14.07 Athens, OH @ The Union 09.15.07 Cranford, NJ @ MusicFest 09.16.07 New York, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg 09.17.07 Boston, MA @ Middle East 09.19.07 Washington, DC @ Nightclub 9:30 09.20.07 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell's 09.21.07 Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe [...]

OK, so everyone should know by now that the concept album Major Organ and the Adding Machine , performed by the Elephant 6 Orchestra, is being turned into a feature film. The trailer has been screened in Athens before, but reached its widest audience yet when it unspooled before a mesmerized crowd last Friday night just before Circulatory System began their set. Here's a bootleg video from DANtheMAN . [...]

Michael Barrett is best known in these parts from The Sixth Great Lake and Guppyboy , as well as being one of the founding members of The Essex Green . (He also released a solo album, Couches and Carpet , following his split from the latter.) Fans will be interested to know that he's started a blog named after his occasional label, Tup Keewah Recordings , where he's begun to post his thoughts on music and graphic design (apart from being a fabulous songwriter, he's a talented commercial media artist who's [...]

Another message found in a bottle, unfortunately arrived late due to storms at sea (oh, and the fact that I wasn't on the computer for a week!). Several satellites have spotted thunderstorms busily going about the act of making paper sailor hats. Sadly saws cannot sing in the presence of the rain. Homemade paper sailors hats disintegrate, and musical notes flee their acorns...and so we have no choice to wait until it is gone, which the same aforementioned satellites seem to think will be by the new date: TUESDAY, AUGUST 14 at the [...]