Mount Eerie Kick Off North American Spring Tour
Kilimanjaro makes undetectable tectonic shift in jealous rage

The Microphones' Phil Elvrum is getting ready to launch a massive North American spring tour tonight at Portland's exploratory Lewis and Clark College. According to information passed off to us by a little bird, the (un)official K Records act also known as The Microphones will be criss-crossing the continent throughout May and June, as well as hitting Australia and New Zealand in early July, before ultimately winding up back in Elvrum's home of Anacortes, Washington for the annual What-the-Heck Fest in mid-July. With the exception of the first four scheduled dates, the tour will be split into two parts: a West Coast segment entitled "Welcome" (featuring openers Thanksgiving and Woelv) and a nation-wide segment called "Nowhere" (with just Woelv).

Not coincidentally, Elvrum has been in Anacortes as of late, recording an album entitled Welcome Nowhere for the aforementioned band Thanksgiving. There's no official word yet as to the depth of Elvrum's involvement in the album, though it does seem somewhat suspicious that his recent Live in Japan full-length features a song also called "Thanksgiving". More news on that as it becomes available. In the meantime, check these outrageous locales. A lake! Really!:

>> The unnamed segment of the tour:
04-16 Portland, OR - Lewis and Clark College (w/Thanksgiving & Woelv)
04-17 Portland, OR - The Artistery (w/Thanksgiving & Woelv)
04-24 Bellingham, WA - Western Washington Univ. (w One AM Radio)
05-07 Victoria, British Columbia - Second Story Books (w/Poison Dart, Giants & Seagulls)

>> "Welcome" (all dates w/Thanksgiving, Woelv)
05-18 Walla Walla, WA - Underground
05-20 Reno, NV - Record Street Cafe
05-22 Los Angeles, CA - UCLA
05-23 Long Beach, CA - Koo's Cafe
05-24 Goleta, CA - The Hard to Find
05-26 Santa Cruz, CA - Pacific Cultural Center (w/Whysp)
05-27 Berkeley, CA - Cummins House
05-28 San Francisco, CA - Cafe du Nord (w/Little Wings, Lazarus)
05-29 Redding, CA - Serendipity (w/Hummingbirds, Green Hills Aline, Red Robot)
05-30 Eugene, OR - Core Star Center
05-31 Astoria, OR - Alderbrook Station

>> "Nowhere" (all dates w/Woelv)
06-05 Spokane, WA - The Shop
06-07 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club (w/Thunder in the Valley)
06-08 Chicago, IL - TBA
06-09 Waterloo, Ontario - Paradise Lake [Note: This is not a venue. This is a lake.]
06-10 Montreal, Quebec - La Casa Del Popolo
06-11 Ottawa, Ontario - TBA
06-12 Toronto, Ontario - Music Gallery
06-13 Sewickley, PA - Maddey House [Note: You might have to email some guy for directions to this venue.]
06-14 Cincinnati, OH - The David Shoe
06-15 Dekalb, IL - The House (w/ Thanksgiving)
06-16 Omaha, NE - TBA
06-17 Denver, CO - Breakdown Books
06-18 Provo, UT - Muse Music (w/ Theta Naught)
06-19 Boise, ID - Reggie's House [Note: Reggie is apparently a total badass residing at 212 Peasley Street.]
07-15 Anacortes, WA - What-the-Heck Fest
07-16 Anacortes, WA - What-the-Heck Fest
07-17 Anacortes, WA - What-the-Heck Fest
07-18 Anacortes, WA - What-the-Heck Fest

What-the-Heck Fest has been a summer tradition in Anacortes since 2002, bringing together various acts from Olympia's K Records (run by Beat Happening alumni Calvin Johnson) and Anacortes' Knw-Yr-Own Records (run by Beat Happening alumni Bret Lunsford). Few specifics for this year's festival have yet been announced, but coordinators likely figure, "What the heck, it'll probably be pretty much be the same as last year."

After the festival, Mount Eerie has plans to tour most of North America in late August and September. Perhaps by that point more specifics about the first Mount Eerie album will have come to light. Elvrum has been playing a set's worth of new material with the band for over a year now, but there was no indication of his doing any recording until the following tidbit was recently brought to our attention, courtesy of that same little bird (here's lookin' at you, Marv!): "The initial recordings for Mr. Elverum's [sic] album-in-very-early-progress... were made this past Friday at the DoS [Anacortes' Department of Safety], following a DIY potluck/piano recital. Accompanied by Portland's The Watery Graves on piano and drums, the audience was asked to give backing vocals for a number of new songs, including a re-working of Björk's 'It's Not Up to You.' After rehearsing the correct 'oooh's,' screams, and vocal lines, Phil performed the songs a second time and recorded them on a small unnamed device. He then asked each contributor to sign their name on a piece of paper when leaving the show, so they can be rightfully credited in the future."

Nice reporting, bird. We'd have been all over this, too, y'know, except the guy we sent to cover the recital was unveiled as a Pitchfork operative and swiftly surrounded by a mob of angry K-affiliated musicians, who dubbed themselves the "Under 5.0 Club" and rebuked him with cries of "Stop saying mean things about everyone except Phil, Mirah and Karl Blau!" and "I bet you don't even know what 'twee' is, anyway!" He was then subjected to a vicious round of nose-stealing and ear-lunchboxing until finally leaving in disgust.

Tortoise: http://www.trts.com
K: http://www.krecs.com