Bob Boilen writes:
Somewhere inside the body of Julian Koster — the Elephant 6 and Neutral Milk Hotel alumnus who once released an entire album of Christmas songs performed on a singing saw — lives a 13-year-old boy filled with wonder, imagination and a talent for spinning a good, quirky tale. Just in time for the holidays, and with the season in mind, Koster and his friends brought those wide-eyed songs and earnest spirit to the NPR Music offices for a joyful and strange Tiny Desk Concert performance.

Collectively known as The Music Tapes, they mixed bowed banjos and singing saws with tape machines, a chord organ and a crooning snowman to create a psychedelic holiday music pageant. Whether it’s the traditional “The First Noel” (scored here for two musical saws) or a reworking of Gavin Bryars’ avant garde piece “Jesus Blood,” or even their venture into Santa songs, there’s no one else playing holiday music quite like this. That is, unless you’re a band of 13-year-olds with very vivid imaginations.

Order The Singing Saw at Christmastime on CD, LP or digital download in the Merge Holiday store now. Orders over $50 save 10% through the end of December.

Several houses a night will be visited in each city. Houses welcoming outside guests in each area will be listed via email auto-reply two nights prior to the Music Tapes arrival. Write musictapescaroling2011@gmail.com to receive open house list or to make a last minute caroling invitation. Routes are only projected and may change so check often!

The Singing Saw at Christmastime is available now on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge Holiday store.

2011 Holiday Caroling tour:
NOV 30   Virginia
DEC 1     Raleigh/Chapel Hill, NC area
DEC 2     Charlotte, NC area
DEC 3     Athens, GA
DEC 4    Raleigh/Chapel Hill, NC area
DEC 5    NE Virginia/Washington DC area
DEC 6    Washington, DC
DEC 7    Eastern PA/Philadelphia, PA
Dec 8     Philadelphia/NYC
Dec 9     NYC
Dec 10   Upstate NY/Massachusetts
Dec 11   Rhode Island/Massachusetts/New England
Dec 12  Upstate NY/New England

Sharing his excitement that his caroling trips have now become a grand tradition, Julian said, “We’d surely like to thank everybody for the extraordinarily magical times and adventures, and wonderful welcomes, and to thank you all for making them happen! As well as our selfless volunteer Caroling Ambassadors!”

They will choose a path visiting as many of the places possible along the east coast of the US and Canada between November 28 and December 12 from which come the warmest invitations. The final list of dates and path of the Caroling will be announced just prior to the commencement of the tour.

For more information about sending an invitation to host an evening of carols, games, stories and other holiday magic, email musictapescaroling2011@gmail.com.

Along with this announcement of a new caroling tour, we also have a new video from the Music Tapes to share! Set to the song “Nantasket” from the recently released digital EP “Purim’s Shadows (The Dark Tours the World),” the video showcases the Paragon Carousel as well as Julian’s whimsical drawings and footage of people having fun which is what the Music Tapes is all about!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Julian Koster’s The Singing Saw at Christmastime is available on CD, LP and digital download in the Merge store as well as the Music Tapes’ “Purim’s Shadows (The Dark Tours the World)” and the rest of the Music Tapes’ catalog.

Purim’s Shadows, the new digital EP from The Music Tapes, is available now in the Merge store and from all your favorite digital outlets. The kazoos have sold out in our store, but Julian will have some on tour with him. Stop by the merch table to pick one up!

The Music Tapes on tour:
All dates with The Olivia Tremor Control
Sep 14 Columbus, OH – Wexner Center for the Arts
Sep 15 Pittsburgh, PA – The Warhol at New Hazlett Theater
Sep 16 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
Sep 17 Montréal, QC – Il Motore
Sep 19 Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
Sep 21 New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge
Sep 23 Philadelphia, PA – UPenn Rotunda (SPEC Jazz & Grooves’ Fall Concert)

Purim’s Shadows, the new digital EP from The Music Tapes, is available now in the Merge store and from all your favorite digital outlets. The kazoos have sold out in our store, but Julian will have some on tour with him. Stop by the merch table to pick one up!

The Music Tapes on tour:
All dates with The Olivia Tremor Control
Aug 31 Austin, TX – Mohawk
Sep 05 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
Sep 08 Seattle, WA – The Vera Project
Sep 09 Portland, OR – MFNW – Someday Lounge
Sep 12 Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theater
Sep 13 Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
Sep 14 Columbus, OH – Wexner Center for the Arts
Sep 15 Pittsburgh, PA – The Warhol at New Hazlett Theater
Sep 16 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
Sep 17 Montréal, QC – Il Motore
Sep 19 Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
Sep 21 New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge
Sep 23 Philadelphia, PA – UPenn Rotunda (SPEC Jazz & Grooves’ Fall Concert)

Julian shared some thoughts about Purim’s Shadows and The Music Tapes with us:

Purim’s Shadows is a very small entrance into a vast landscape that is both auditory and imaginary and from which will come two full-length albums that I’m very excited about. The first will be Mary’s Voice, which we are finishing up now and will comprise the first half of Imaginary Symphony No. 3.

The Music Tapes, to me, is a sort of living dream that illustrates the continual process of how dreams become real. For example, when the 7-Foot-Tall Metronome sprang from my imagination, it was to be The Music Tapes’ primary rhythm instrument, and although it existed only as a drawing in a notebook, imagining it delighted and inspired me. My friends (Scott Spillane, Terry Rowlette, Robbie Cucchiaro, Laura Carter, Eric Harris, and others) saw the drawing and, in a flurry of excited activity, made it real. And thus the real world became different: it had a 7-foot-tall metronome in it.

Many of the basic tenants of The Music Tapes’ world are found on Purim’s Shadows, including the 7-Foot-Tall Metronome which provides the primary rhythm for “A Lightning’s Cheeks.” Also featured are the Orchestral Banjo and the Singing Saws. The Orchestral Banjo is played with a violin bow, producing a sound that I love very much; it’s like having at your command ghostly orchestras from crackly old records. And Saws, of course, sound to me like angels. This recording marks the first time a Singing Saw solo was encouraged (played) by someone other than me on a Music Tapes record: the solo at the end of “Night and Day” is the work of Ian Ludders, a great encourager of Saws, and I am honored to have had him play with us. Robbie Cucchiaro, The Music Tapes’ co-founding member, supplied horns and his signature euphonium. And finally, the most important contributors to this recording, and central to The Music Tapes’ sound, are the Webster Chicago wire recorder, RCA DX44 ribbon mic, and The Music Tapes’ array of antique and modern recording machinery and field recorders.

Without state-of-the-art machinery, The Music Tapes’ recordings would be next to impossible. But, of course, the past is where the future comes from. What often makes something new is not a loyal adherence to the trends and technologies of the moment but rather a loving interaction with the rich inheritance that makes our moment in time the most unique of all. All that has come before us has been left for us to find, dusty and often without any context to distract from its pure magic. It is my happiness to endeavor to make brand-new sorts of things in which all that I love most about the world will have a home, just as my friends meaningfully and lovingly set out to make a 7-foot-tall metronome exist, giving their love and friendship a large, loud wooden form that can march forward in time.

The Lullaby evenings with include songs from the Music Tapes forthcoming 2011 record, as well as from Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes, The 1st Imaginary Symphony for Nomad, and The Singing Saw at Christmastime, along with new Music Tapes games and stories. The entertainment, though sometimes more exciting than lulling, are all in honor of the comforting moments directly preceding and following sleep when we find ourselves happily unsure of whether we are awake or are dreaming.

For more information and to find out where the tour is stopping in your town, write lullabyedeliveries@gmail.com to receive an automatic reply and as always visit The Music Tapes’ online home at orbitinghumancircus.com. Dates may shift around a little bit, so be sure to check the website and email often.

Also, the St.Nikolai Game will be played in select cities at a location to be revealed via the email autoreply. All who wish to play must bring a candle 10 or 12 inches tall!

Lullabye tour path:

November 4th: Nashville, TN
November 5th: Mountain Home, AR
November 6th: Memphis, TN
November 7th: Baton Rouge, LA
November 8th: Houston, TX
November 10th: Austin, TX
November 11th: Austin, TX (St. Nikolai Game)
November 12th: Dallas & Denton, TX
November 13th: West Texas
November 14th: Albuquerque & Santa Fe, NM
November 15th: Flagstaff, AZ
November 16th: Phoenix, AZ
November 18th: Los Angeles, CA
November 19th: Los Angeles, CA (St. Nikolai Game)
November 20th: Wrightwood, CA (and area)
November 21st: San Francisco, CA
November 22nd: San Francisco, CA
November 23rd: Davis, CA
November 24th: Chico, CA and Eugene, OR
November 25th: Portland, OR
November 26th: Portland, OR (St. Nikolai Game)
November 27th: Olympia, WA
November 28th: Seattle, WA
November 29th: Idaho / Montana
November 30th: Utah / Wyoming
December 1st: Denver, CO
December 2nd: Columbus, NB
December 3rd: Omaha, NB
December 4th: Minneapolis, MN
December 5th: Maquoketa, IA
December 6th: Chicago, IL
December 7th: Chicago, IL (St. Nikolai Game)
December 8th: Cleveland, OH
December 9th: Buffalo, NY (area)
December 10th: Rochester, NY
December 11th: Ithaca, NY
December 12th: Syracuse, NY
December 13th: Northampton & Amherst, MA
December 14th: Williamstown, MA
December 15th: Tivoli, NY
December 16th: Poughkeepsie, NY
December 17th: Marlborough, NY
December 18th: Philadelphia, PA
December 19th: NYC
December 20th: NYC
December 21st: Worcester, MA
December 29th: Winterport, ME
December 30th: Brattleboro & Saxtons River, VT
December 31st: Henniker, NH
January 1st: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
January 2nd: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
January 3rd: Detroit, MI & environs
January 4th: Bloomington / Indianapolis, IN
January 5th: Pittsburgh, PA
January 6th: Baltimore, MD
January 7th: Washington, DC
January 8th: Richmond, VA
January 9th: Raleigh, NC
January 10th: Asheville, NC
January 11th: Atlanta, GA
January 13th: Athens, GA
January 14th: Athens, GA
January 15th: Athens, GA

To invite The Music Tapes to your house, send an invitation to:LullabyeDeliveries@gmail.com to reserve a time slot. There will be very few slots available so the first and most warm invitations will have to be chosen. Sleep over gatherings are accepted and even encouraged, although the lullabies will be absolutely delighted to regale audiences of only one. Locations of the lullaby events will be closed, and will not be announced to the general public, though you are heartily encouraged to make use of whatever means you wish to make new friends and gather.

On the night to follow, in each city, there will be played a game of “St. Nikolai the Wonder Worker’s Wishing Game of Candles” at a secret time and location to be announced by automatic reply via LullabyeDeliveries@gmail.com. “St. Nikolai the Wonder Worker’s Wishing Game of Candles” is a Music Tapes Game not unlike a form of freeze tag played with candles, which sometimes causes unexplainable things to happen. In order to play the game, you must bring a candle 10 or 12 inches tall.

Further instructions and information to be found via automatic reply from: LullabyeDeliveries@gmail.com and www.orbitinghumancircus.com!

Thank You Very Much!

Lullaby Delivery tour:
8/4 Lullabies in Boston and Cambridge, MA (and area)
8/5 St. Nikolai the Wonder Worker’s Wishing Game of Candles in Cambridge, MA
8/7 Lullabies in New York City, NY (and area)
8/8 St. Nikolai the Wonder Worker’s Wishing Game of Candles in New York City
8/9 Lullabies in Philadelphia, PA (and area)
8/10 St. Nikolai the Wonder Worker’s Wishing Game of Candles in the Philadelphia area

Click here to view the embedded video.

Featuring the tasteful backup vocals of the 4th graders of Barrow Elementary School in Athens, GA, “For the Planet Pluto” stars Kiran Fernandes and Sophie Fernandes, reunited for the first time since starring in the movie Major Organ and the Adding Machine, except that they are brother and sister and live together.

The video also features a comic turn from Kevin Barnes as “The Slightly Sinister Father,” a departure from the more serious roles he has become famous for in the videos of the modern rock band Of Montreal.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Enjoy this little gift and visit the Merge store for more from Julian Koster and The Music Tapes.

photo by Adam R.

photos by Bradley Searles unless otherwise noted

Pitchfork is reporting that Orange Twin Records will release the infamous Elephant 6 movie, Major Organ and the Adding Machine on DVD this fall. If you were smart enough to attend the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour,  you already know that this movie is funny, strange and a must-see for any fan of children, pastry, and, of course, bands from the Elephant 6 collective!

It is my sincere wish for the Paragon Carousel to be a part of the magic of long seaside summer afternoons for many years to come. Unfortunately, we live in a world where the great whirling contraptions of mechanical music and light are not as profitable to operate as other things, and carousels are worth much more taken apart and sold in pieces to museums, where one must pay to look at them behind glass, rather than having them simply existing in the world that we now all share.

I spoke with Jeff and Scott and Jeremy about this and they agreed that I should, on behalf of Neutral Milk Hotel, make an appeal to the good people who might have enjoyed the music made over the years, because we think you’d understand especially, and want to help.

The Paragon Carousel is competing with 24 other historic Massachussettes buildings for a grant of $100,000. The historic site with the most votes wins, and anyone anywhere can vote. We would love it if by our collective effort we could ensure the continuation of this grand place. Visit the Partners in Preservation website to vote.

You are allowed to vote once a day until May 17th . Your vote means a great deal to all of us at Elephant Six. Places like this are so special. They deserve to exist in the same world that we do. So we can visit them with our bodies, not just our memories and dreams.

We’d like to thank you for your help and for spreading the word.
~Julian Koster on behalf of Neutral Milk Hotel

From Music Tapes mastermind, encourager of saws, and Neutral Milk Hotel member Julian Koster:

“It’s a recording of an old Yiddish/Gypsie song I made with my Uncle Harlan, as interpreted by the circuits and tubing of my Wire Recorder. It was really fun for us to do, and I am hoping it will be fun also for friends to listen to. For the curious, you are hearing both the signal coming off the wire and the signal being mic’ed coming from the Wire recorder’s speaker as it originally passed through.”

Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes is available in the Merge Store now!

The Seattle Weekly ran a great interview with Julian about what he’s got planned after the tour and the future of the Human Orbiting Tap Dancing Machine!

Preview and order your copy of The Music Tapes’ Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes in the Merge store.

The Music Tapes on tour:
02.20.2009 Anacortes, WA Department of Safety
02.21.2009 Portland, OR Backspace
02.24.2009 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street Entry
02.25.2009 Chicago, IL AV-aerie
02.26.2009 Ann Arbor, MI The B-side
02.27.2009 Toronto, ON Canada Lee’s Palace
02.28.2009 Buffalo, NY Big Orbit’s Soundlab
03.01.2009 Hoboken, NJ Maxwell’s
03.02.2009 Cambridge, MA Middle East Upstairs
03.03.2009 Brooklyn, NY The Bellhouse
03.04.2009 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church – Basement
03.05.2009 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
03.06.2009 Asheville, NC The Grey Eagle
03.07.2009 Athens, GA 40 Watt

First off, via Optical Atlas, the amazing video for “Good Thing It’s a Ghost Town Around Here” from Still Flyin’, with a cameo from noted zombie pizza delivery man/Ladybug Transistor frontman Gary Olson:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Next up, a couple videos from Music Tape Nesey Gallons featuring appearances by lead Music Tape Julian Koster:

“Aurora Borealis”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“There Won’t Be Any Crows”

Click here to view the embedded video.

And if searching isn’t your thing, here’s a lovely video of Nesey and Julian playing at Ciné in Athens:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Directed by Beliah Gallons!

There is one more chance to catch Julian Koster on the road this year! Check MergeRecords.com for The Music Tapes Caroling Tour beginning next week!

These will be caroling events (not house concerts) and there will be no monetary recompense of anny kind asked for.  People who wish to make a donation to the Carolers Travel Fund via the Orbitinghumancircus.com website where all Caroling updates and information will be found.

Start your letter writing campaign for Julian and the Singing Saws to come caroling at your house next month, and order your copies of Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes and The Singing Saw at Christmastime.

Click here to view the embedded video.

video of Jeff Mangum singing “Engine” from The Onion

The Onion’s review of the Chicago show.

photo from Metromix by Ryan Muir

See lots more Merge showcase photos and mini-interviews at Metromix Reports, photos and videos are rolling in from CMJ 2008. Post ‘em if we missed some!

Wye Oak @ BrooklynVegan Party

video from NY Times

Idolator has several other Wye Oak videos!

The Music Tapes mini-video taken of the metronome at the Merge showcase!

photo from hooves on the turf

Many thanks to Will C. and Marc S. for taking these pictures! Thanks to CD Alley for letting us overrun the store for a few hours, and to the 506 for being generally awesome! And lastly, thanks to the Elephant 6 for bightening our lives!

Did you really expect the much-anticipated Holiday Surprise Tour not to have an Athens date? Georgians and non-Georgians alike can head down to Ciné on October 7th to catch the world premiere of the “Major Organ and the Adding Machine” short film by Joey Foreman and Eric Harris, followed by the Elephant 6 Orchestra’s first presentation of the tour event of the Fall!

Places in time and space:

10/07 Athens, GA @ Ciné

10/09 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506

10/11 NYC, NY @ Knitting Factory

10/12 Boston, MA @ The Church

10/14 Portland, ME @ Space Gallery

10/15 New Haven, CT @ The Space

10/16 Purchase, NY @ SUNY Purchase

10/17 Rochester, NY @ the Bug Jar

10/18 Pittsburgh, PA @ Brillobox

10/19 Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center

10/20 Pontiac, MI @ Pike Room – Crofoot

10/21 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge

10/22 Bloomington, IN @ Cinemat

10/23 Lexington, KY @ University of Kentucky

10/15 NYC, NY @ Mercury Lounge (The Music Tapes only)

“Unless you’re already a Music Tapes fan, chances are you haven’t experienced anything quite as exquisitely raw, effortlessly transportive, and charmingly distinct in a long time.”
Tiny Mix Tapes gave Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes a score of Eureka!

You Ain’t No Picasso featured videos of “Television Tell Us” and “Majesty” from the band’s Athens PopFest appearance last weekend!

Visit your local record store or order Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes from Merge Mail Order!

Download the podcast and read the review. Get your copy of Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes, and watch the video for “The Minister of Longitude!” If you are in Athens, GA this weekend, you can see The Music Tapes live at Athens Popfest. More tour dates on the way!