“Post-rock that actually rocks.” – URB“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 Hello, Avalanche, the upcoming third album from The Octopus Project.
Hello, Avalanche. That’s what one might say when The Octopus Project’s new gem of a record lands on the top of that mile high stack of records on his or her desk. Coincidentally, that’s exactly what the band has decided to call its new record. Hello, Avalanche is the follow up to last year’s The House of Apples and Eyeballs, The Octopus Project’s highly celebrated collaboration with Black Moth Super Rainbow. The new album 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 the band with Erik Wofford (Voxtrot, Explosions In The Sky) back home in Austin.
During the weekend of July 6th, numerous blog postings of the recently issued MP3 of “I Saw The Bright Shinies” from Hello, Avalanche resulted in a cheer of recognition when the band announced the tune from the stage during its headlining set at the Mccarren Pool Party in Brooklyn on Sunday, July 8th. If you weren't there, check out some footage of the performance as caputure by New York Magazine (LINK). To further the anticipation for the new record, two more tracks from Hello, Avalanche (“Bees Bein' Strugglin'” and “An Evening With Rthrtha”) are now streaming via an e-card (LINK) containing the band's tour dates, sampler tracks from its previous releases, the video for “Music Is Happiness” -- recently selected as one of 20 videos featured in the sixth annual Indie Music Video Festival (LINK) -- and more!
The Octopus Project will provide plenty of chances to check out its live act up close when the trio comprised of husband and wife Josh and Yvonne Lambert and Toto Miranda becomes a quartet with Ryan Figg hopping on board for the band's upcoming dates with Athens, Georgia rockers Cinemechanica, French-German electronic group Stereo Total and Def Jux recording artist Aesop Rock. A headlining tour of the the US will follow.
Of the tour, drummer Miranda says, “After all the detail-oriented work we put into the record, we're really looking forward to taking the new batch of songs to the people – usually our tunes continue to evolve as we play them out and it's exciting to start crossing them over from the perfectionist studio world into the somewhat more chaotic live show.” He continues, “The Stereo Total and particularly the Aesop Rock dates should give us a chance to play for a lot of brand new audiences, and it's exciting to have this record and these songs ready for both the folks who know us already and the Stereo Total and Aesop Rock fans who have no idea what to expect. Weeeeehoooo!”
More about The Octopus Project and Hello, Avalanche:
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 its songs with brilliant contrasting colors and cascading waves of sonic bliss. 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.
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, Hello, Avalanche on Peek-a-Boo Records on October 9th, 2007. The 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.
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 school kids 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”.
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!
Hello, Avalanche Tracklisting:
Stream Selected Tracks HERE
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. Ghost Moves
10. Vanishing Lessons
11. Exploding Snowhorse
12. Loud Murmuring
13. Queen
The Octopus Project Live:
Full US Headlining Tour To Follow!
* = 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 *
08/20 Greensboro, NC WUAG
08/21 Washington DC Rock and Roll Hotel +
08/22 Baltimore, MD Ottobar +
08/23 Philadelphia, PA TLA +
08/24 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom +
08/25 Boston, MA Middle East +
08/26 Ottawa, ONT 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 The Abbey Theater +
09/01 Minneapolis, MN 7th Street 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 Theater #
09/15 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theatre #
09/16 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue #
09/18 Detroit, MI Magic Stick #
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 #
On The Web:
www.octopusproject.com
www.myspace.com/theoctopusproject
www.peekaboorecords.com
www.myspace.com/peekaboorecords
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/octopus_hello.html
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