Pitchfork

It's an exciting thing, any time reclusive Neutral Milk Hotel godhead Jeff Mangum associates with anything resembling an instrument these days. But a whole band of Instruments? Well, that's practically standard procedure.

See, Jeff has once again teamed with Japancakes/Circulatory System member Heather McIntosh's Instruments project for their new LP, Dark Småland, due May 13 on Orange Twin. McIntosh's pastoral, cello-driven folk crew is further bolstered by appearances from fellow Elephant 6 notables like Will Cullen Hart, John Fernandes, and Peter Erchick.

And, hey, you can bet the collaborations don't stop there (like they ever do with these people): McIntosh recently stepped into the Gnarls Barkley fold as their live bassist/cellist. She popped up with Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse over the weekend on "Saturday Night Live", which you can see over in Forkcast, and she'll tour with the festival-happy lot. Those dates comin' at you after the jump.

Dark Småland:

01 Ode to the Sea
02 Ode pt. 2
03 Sounds Electric
04 Arabesque
05 Mountain Sons
06 Pastorale
07 First Signs
08 Paths of Low Flying Birds
09 Cello Ballad
10 Early Lights
11 Northern Skies
12 Papillon

Gnarls Barkley:

06-07 Philadelphia, PA - Festival Pier (The Roots Picnic)
06-28 Denver, CO - Coors Field Central Parking Lot (SoCo Music Experience)
07-02 Kristiansand, Norway - Quart Festival
07-27 Los Angeles, CA - The Hollywood Bowl (KCRW's World Festival)
08-01-03 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
09-26-28 Austin, TX - Zilker Park (Austin City Limits Music Festival)