Of benefit albums, and Of Montreal

It’s a new year, and some interesting, exciting news has surfaced about Athens musicians and bands.

The first news is about a new Of Montreal album and a mini-tour along the East Coast, bringing them to the 40 Watt in early February. I’ve seen Of Montreal on four separate occasions at the Watt, and every show was inventive and fun.  Kevin Barnes always comes up with something fantastic for the live show, and the 40 Watt crowd treats the night like one huge party. James Husband, aka Of Montreal guitarist James Huggins III, will open the show.

Then there’s news of a new song from Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum, although the circumstances for the song’s being isn’t so happy. Mangum does a cover of Tall Dwarf’s Sign the Dotted Line on a benefit album for Chris Knox, the Dwarf’s lead singer who suffered a massive stroke last year in his home in New Zealand. Knox is responsible for bringing New Zealand punk music to the fore, and his influence is far and wide.

I remember talking to John Fernandes and Will Cullen Hart when I was doing an article about Circulatory System, and both mentioned how important Knox was and how much his music meant to him. Hart mentioned he was thinking a lot about Knox when putting together the final touches for Signal Morning, Circulatory System’s excellent release from 2009.

And clearly Knox’s situation affected other Athens’ musicians as well. Mangum doesn’t do much in the music world nowadays, but pops up here and there (he added some assistance with Signal Morning). Joining Mangum on the compilation, called Stroke: Songs for Chris Chris Knox, are Yo La Tengo, Mountain Goats, Will Oldham, Stephin Merritt, Bill Callahan, Lou Barlow, Jay Reatard, The Bats, The Verlaines and The Chills. All proceeds go toward assisting Chris with his recovery and the record can be found at www.mergerecords.com/stroke.

Here are the Of Montreal dates:

01-25 Baltimore, MD – Ram’s Head
01-26 New York, NY – Highline Ballroom
01-27 Boston, MA – Paradise
01-28 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
01-29 Norfolk, VA – Norva 
01-30 Richmond, VA – The National
02-04 Athens, GA – 40 Watt
02-05 Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
02-06 Nashville, TN – Cannery Ballroom