“The lovely Theremin lead, like Florian Schneider's processed flute on the second side of Kraftwerk's Autobahn, suggests that technology just might save us after all. – Pitchfork on ‘I Saw The Bright Shinies’ (MP3) from the upcoming album by The Octopus Project.Coming off of such recent successes as playing Coachella, several sold-out nationwide tours, an incredible showing at the Austin Music Awards (Best Instrumental Band, Best Indie Band, Best Miscellaneous Instrument -- Yvonne Lambert on Theremin! -- and top ten placement in nine other categories!), and a proclamation by David Fricke as one of Rolling Stone's stand-out artists at SXSW, Austin's The Octopus Project will release its third proper full-length on Peek-a-Boo Records October 9th, 2007. The as-yet-untitled record is the follow-up to the band's collaborative album with Pittsburgh's Black Moth Super Rainbow, The House of Apples and Eyeballs (E-CARD), released last year on Graveface Records.
The band's new album (title and artwork to come!), was recorded and co-produced by The Octopus Project and Ryan Hadlock (Blonde Redhead, The Gossip) at Bear Creek Studio in Seattle during February, 2007 and was mixed by Erik Wofford (Voxtrot, Explosions In The Sky). Guest musicians include Stacy Meshbane (Cue) on Violin, Jherick Bischoff (The Dead Science) on upright Bass and Violin, and Nick Smith (Nick and The Six Sick Sticks) on Trombone. The band will kick-off three months of touring in Huntsville, Alabama in mid-August and will introduce material from its new record this weekend at a special performance in Brooklyn, NY headlining one of the now-annual McCarren Park Pool Parties (LINK) with Dan Deacon, and Erase Errata on Sunday, July 8th at 2PM.
With ragged, furious distorted guitars at one end of the spectrum and the pure, luminescent tones of the Theremin at the other, the members of The Octopus Project mine a staggering variety of sounds in between (via synthesizers, drums, violins, glockenspiel, trombones, etc...) to fill their songs with brilliant contrasting colors and cascading waves of sonic bliss. Although Josh Lambert, Yvonne Lambert and Toto Miranda each have their instrumental specialties, they spread their ideas out on as many instruments as possible, each writing for and performing on any sound-maker they can find. And as if the instruments themselves weren't enough, many sounds on the band's upcoming record were manipulated to push them even further - inhuman drum breaks three layers deep piled over the live drum track, a heavenly four-Theremin choir from a Wizard of Oz soundtrack that never existed, guitar parts mulched into bits and reassembled into a tiny action figure of Prince.
This time around, The Octopus Project wanted to achieve the perfect blend between high-end studio trickery, and lo-fi home experimentation. Partially tracked to tape, partially to Pro Tools, lots of sounds were taken from the band's original demos - sequenced beats, edited loops, practice space recordings etc. Parts of the album track “Upmann” were recorded on a friend's front porch (listeners will note the sounds of passing cars.) As The Octopus Project's Yvonne Lambert has continued to gain notoriety for her expert Theremin-playing skills (see her demo the instrument for Austin schoolkids HERE), the band decided to develop its multi-tracked-Theremins concept to its fullest extent -- something the group first tried on last year's The House of Apples and Eyeballs. The experiments yielded amazing results as can be heard on the album track “I Saw The Bright Shinies” (MP3).
With its new record waiting in the wings and several trips around the country on the calendar, The Octopus Project is ready to make the coming months its busiest and most productive yet -- stay tuned! Note: the attached image of The Octopus Project was created by Austin-based embroidery expert Jenny Hart (LINK). Download a hi-resolution version of this image HERE.
The Octopus Project
New Album (Title TBA) Tracklisting:
Release Date: October 9th, 2007
01. Snow Tip Cap Mountain
02. Truck
03. Bees Bein' Strugglin'
04. An Evening With Rthrtha
05. Black Blizzard/Red Umbrella
06. Upmann
07. Mmaj
08. I Saw The Bright Shinies (MP3)
09. Hello, Avalanche
10. Vanishing Lessons
11. Exploding Snowhorse
12. Loud Murmuring
13. Queen
The Octopus Project Live:
* = w/ Cinemechanica
+ = w/ Stereo Total
# = w/ Aesop Rock
08/17 Huntsville, AL Bottle Tree *
08/18 Athens, GA 40 Watt *
08/19 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506 *
08/21 Washington DC Rock and Roll Hotel +
08/22 Baltimore, MD Ottobar +
08/23 Philadelphia, PA TLA +
08/24 New York, NY Webster Hall +
08/25 Boston, MA Middle East +
08/26 Ottawa, ON Babylon +
08/27 Montreal, QC La Tulipe +
08/28 Toronto, ON Lee's Palace +
08/29 Pittsburgh, PA Andy Warhol Museum +
08/30 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom +
08/31 Chicago, IL Abbey Theatre +
09/01 Minneapolis, MN Entry +
09/03 Seattle, WA Chop Suey +
09/04 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom +
09/06 San Francisco, CA Bimbo's +
09/07 Los Angeles, CA El Rey +
09/08 San Diego, CA Beauty Bar
09/13 Chicago, IL Metro #
09/14 Madison, WI Barrymore #
09/15 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theatre #
09/16 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue #
09/18 Detroit, MI St. Andrew's or Blind Pig #
09/19 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop #
09/21 Baltimore, MD Ottobar #
09/22 Providence, RI Living Room #
09/23 Boston, MA Middle East #
09/25 Northampton, MA Iron Horse #
09/26 Burlington, VT Higher Ground #
10/04 Houston, TX Numbers
10/05 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
10/06 New Orleans, LA House Of Blues
10/07 Tallahassee, FL Beta Lounge
10/08 Orlando, FL Back Booth
10/09 West Palm Beach, FL City Limits
10/10 Jacksonville, FL Jack Rabbit's
10/11 Atlanta, GA Drunken Unicorn
10/12 Knoxville, TN Pilot Light
10/13 Charlotte, NC Milestone
10/14 Raleigh, NC Duke University
10/15 Washington, DC Rock and Roll Hotel
10/16 Baltimore, MD Ottobar
10/17 Philadelphia, PA John Brenda's
10/18 New York, NY High Line Ballroom
10/20 Boston, MA Great Scott
10/21 Montreal, PQ La Sala Rosa
10/22 Toronto, ONT Horseshoe
10/23 Buffalo, NY Icon
10/24 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
10/25 Columbus, OH Art House
10/26 Chicago, IL Logan Square
10/27 Chicago, IL Abbey Theater
10/28 Milwaukee, WI Mad Planet
10/29 Minneapolis, MN Entry
10/30 Omaha, NE Sokol Underground
11/01 Lawrence, KS Replay lounge
11/02 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
11/03 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
11/05 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
11/06 Vancouver, BC Richards on Richards
11/07 Portland, OR Holocene
11/09 San Francisco, CA Bottom Of The Hill
11/10 Los Angeles, CA The Roxy
11/11 San Diego, CA Casbah
11/12 Phoenix, AZ Modified
11/13 Tucson, AZ Congress Theater
11/14 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad
11/15 Lubbock, TX Jake's
11/16 Dallas, TX Palladium
11/17 Austin, TX Emo's
On The Web:
www.octopusproject.com
www.myspace.com/theoctopusproject
www.peekaboorecords.com
www.myspace.com/peekaboorecords
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