While Elephant 6 icon Jeff Mangum has been busy touring the world as a solo act, his onetime Neutral Milk Hotel buddy Julian Koster has been hard at work on a new album with his own project, the Music Tapes. Entitled Mary's Voice, the LP will come out on September 4 via Merge Records.
According to a press release, Koster began plotting this album way back in the '90s, when he was a member of Neutral Milk Hotel and contributor to the Olivia Tremor Control.
In finally realizing his vision, the songwriter has created what it reportedly the "warmest and most accessible invitation yet into [his] world." It's also reportedly the first half of planned two-part album.
This is the follow-up to 2008's Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes and the subsequent The Singing Saw at Christmastime covers album.
In a statement, Koster described the new collection as "a holiday from what is so often mistakenly called the 'real world'… In music, time can disappear the way it does in long summer evenings when we're allowed to go out and play as kids, or afterwards, when exhausted, we dream."
You can find the album art above and the tracklist below.
Mary's Voice:
1. The Dark Is Singing Songs (Sleepy Time Down South)
2. Saw and Calliope Organ on Wire
3. S' Alive (Pt. 1)
4. The Big Beautiful Shops (It's Said That It Could Be Anyone)
5. Spare the Dark Streets
6. To All Who Say Goodnight
7. Kolyada #3
8. Playing "Evening"
9. Go Home Again
10. S' Alive to Be Known (May We Starve)
11. Untitled
12. Takeshi and Elijah
According to a press release, Koster began plotting this album way back in the '90s, when he was a member of Neutral Milk Hotel and contributor to the Olivia Tremor Control.
In finally realizing his vision, the songwriter has created what it reportedly the "warmest and most accessible invitation yet into [his] world." It's also reportedly the first half of planned two-part album.
This is the follow-up to 2008's Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes and the subsequent The Singing Saw at Christmastime covers album.
In a statement, Koster described the new collection as "a holiday from what is so often mistakenly called the 'real world'… In music, time can disappear the way it does in long summer evenings when we're allowed to go out and play as kids, or afterwards, when exhausted, we dream."
You can find the album art above and the tracklist below.
Mary's Voice:
1. The Dark Is Singing Songs (Sleepy Time Down South)
2. Saw and Calliope Organ on Wire
3. S' Alive (Pt. 1)
4. The Big Beautiful Shops (It's Said That It Could Be Anyone)
5. Spare the Dark Streets
6. To All Who Say Goodnight
7. Kolyada #3
8. Playing "Evening"
9. Go Home Again
10. S' Alive to Be Known (May We Starve)
11. Untitled
12. Takeshi and Elijah