At this point strange factoids should be expected with any mention of the Athens, Georgia collective known as Elephant 6. Let’s look at some of the ingredients: Jeff Mangum has been a recluse for a decade, Kevin Barnes is, well, Kevin Barnes, and Julian Kaster released a Christmas Singing Saw album last year. Weird would be an understatement for the dudes. But, per usual (on Elephant 6 terms), things aren’t getting any more normal.
Back in 2007, news came about that a movie called Major Organ and the Adding Machine was in the works by the members of the collective. The low-budget film was said to star many of the collective’s important faces and was rumored for theatrical release last year. Needless to say, this release has yet to come, and a rare album of the same name has since been the only artifact to surface from said project (I have the album, it is bizarre). But that doesn’t mean those Elephants were lying does it? Of course not. The trusty Georgians plan to release the whole thing, rare CD included, on DVD this coming fall. Not only that, but the album will be a reissue, featuring seven bonus unreleased tracks. Per Pitchfork:
In a press release, Olivia Tremor Control/Elf Power member Eric Harris, who co-directed the movie with Joey Foreman, confirms what devotees have long suspected: the album is the work of a serious high-wattage Elephant 6 supergroup. Harris worked on it, as did Neutral Milk Hotel’s Mangum and Julian Koster, Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes, and Olivia Tremor Control/Circulatory System‘s Will Cullen Hart. That’s a whole lot of flowery indie-pop celebrity right there. Various other Elephant 6 folks stopped in to contribute.
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As far as the film goes, the plot is as follows: “A disgruntled interdimensional pastry chef sends two unwitting children on a desperate mission through time, space and the frozen foods isle with the mysterious bearded ones and an army of telephone poles in hot pursuit.” GREAT! sounds spectacular. Here’s how it looks, however. I’m sorry to be doubtful of any Elephant 6 undertakings, but if the preview is any indication, the movie will be a god-awful acid trip as displayed through gloriously low, low budget filmmaking.
In other Elephant 6 news, Will Cullen Hart, Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System frontman, recently discussed his recent projects with Pitchfork. Come September 8th (delayed from August 4th due to Hart’s tragic diagnosis with MS), Signal Morning, Circulatory System’s first album in eight years will arrive. Additionally, Hart is also working on new Olivia Tremor Control material, as Entertainment Weekly reports.
Too much Elephant 6 to digest? Never! Let’s keep that news coming. I know Jeff Mangum is just waiting till the right moment to announce that new Neutral Milk Hotel album and tour (THAT IS A JOKE, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY).