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MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP
Get Out the Gas Card: Athens indie rockers—
as in influenced by Superchunk, Sebadoh and
Guided by Voices—Eureka California will take
off for a pretty big month-long tour toward
the end of August. In the words of the band,
the trip falls "just in time to skip half of
football season," and that's pretty good plan
ning, I would say. The three-piece will hit the
entire West Coast, big chunks of the Midwest
and Great Plains, a few dates in Texas and
a few across the Southeast. They'll play the
real Eureka, CA on Sept. 5, and the intensity
of that moment will likely cause the state to
finally drop into the ocean. If you want to
catch them before they leave town, then head
down to the Caledonia Lounge on Wednesday,
Aug. 17 for the HHBTM Beach Party. Other
bands on the bill that night are Seattle's Orca
Team, Hug Abuse, Tunabunny and the not-
to-be missed Roberta & Charlene. Sample
Eureka California's wares over at www.eureka-
california.bandcamp.com.
Coming Around Again: Local dude Don Auber
has released an EP recorded back in 2009
with his old band, Splinter Belly. The bluesy,
sometimes boogie-ish five-track recording
Purim's Shadows, and while the six-track
release features all the expected elements
(orchestral banjo, singing saw, etc.), it is
significant in that it's the first time someone
other than Julian Koster has played the saw
on a Music Tapes release. The honor this time
goes to longtime Music Tapes collaborator Ian
Ludders. For a limited time, and if I knew
exactly how long I'd tell you, you can stream
the EP over at www.mergerecords.com. If
you pull your credit card out while listening,
you can order a Music Tapes branded kazoo
which also comes with a download code that
includes a bonus track. Future plans for Music
Tapes include an upcoming tour with Olivia
Tremor Control this September and, further
down the line, two new full-length albums.
Things Change: The District Attorneys are
working on demos for their debut full-length
before hitting the studio with engineer Drew
Vandenberg at Chase Park Transduction. Last
week they sent the track "California Fire" over
to Flagpole and, just like they mentioned, it's
very summer-y. Indeed, it's a strummy, pedal
steel-colored, whoa-oh-oh-chorused thing
that is pretty different, but possibly a logical
The Music Tapes
features Auber, Greg Kearney (Tent City), Jon
Reed, Michael Gavrielides and Adam Poulin.
The band formed circa 2007 and recorded
these tracks a couple of years later. The tracks
were recently dug up and polished a bit by
Gavrielides at his Dreamlab Recording studio.
Auber released his own album, Big Fish, earlier
this year. For more information and streaming
audio, please see www.donauber.com.
Now Hear This: Local label Hello Sir Records
has a new dedicated channel on YouTube.
Although the "videos" are really just static
images used as visual placeholders while the
music plays, the 20 tracks up there so far are
a good way to get a feel for the label that,
in most ways, is a celebration of the guitar.
Athens bands Maserati, Cinemechanica (fea
turing label-owner Bryant Williamson) and Bit
Brigade mesh well with decidedly non-local
bands So Many Dynamos, Tiger Bear Wolf
and Bronzed Chorus, so you could really
just play the channel as a continuous stream
and treat it like Pandora or something like
that. Click over to www.youtube.com/user/
HelloSirRecords to listen in.
A Newest Tapes: Since it's already been a
pretty heavy month for Elephant 6 news, I fig
ured we might as well pile on some more. The
Music Tapes just released a new EP n
transition, from the band's previously straigh
tahead four-chord pop. Another new demo,
"Worry About Your Health," swims very close
to stealing the vocal melody from The Moody
Blues' "Tuesday Afternoon," while matching
it with a tune that could be a heavy R.E.M.
B-side. Each song gives the impression that
the band is shifting away from its earlier
work. You can listen to both of these, along
with previously released tunes, over at www.
facebook.com/thedistrictattorneys.
Grab a Glass: The second annual Del Yeah
Weekend will happen Friday, Sept. 2 at
Terrapin Brewery. Headlined by the decades-
old Del McCoury Band, the show will also fea
ture Drew Emmitt, Danny Barnes, Cornmeal,
The David Mayfield Parade, The Welfare
Liners and more. The same show, with a
slightly different lineup, will happen the next
day in Black Mountain, NC. Organizers say
the concept is to have the event in an arena
where collaborations are easy and spur-of-the-
moment jam sessions are encouraged. This all
ages show starts at 5:30 p.m. and should run
well into the night. Tickets are $20 in advance
and $25 at the door. For more information,
please call Terrapin at (706) 549-3377 or see
www.delmccouryband.com.
Gordon Lamb !hrealsandpromsies©flagpole com
AUGUST 10, 2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 13
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