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The Elephant 6 Collective out of Athens, Georgia has a weird and mysterious vibe about them. Some of the associated groups have gone on to garner a great deal of attention – that’s an overt Of Montreal reference. But no matter what the more famous associates of the collective are up to, perhaps no other band represents the basic musical tenants of the second crop of E6 artists more than Elf Power.

They have an occasionally dark and melancholy sound most fully realized on their full length Back to the Web, released on Warner subsidiary Rykodisc in 2006. 2008 though brought a new offering from the group. And at this late date in December, Elf Power has announced a plan devised with fellow Athenian Vic Chestnut.

Chestnut alone is no slouch. Playing since the ‘80s, he has amassed a devoted and famous fan following including the likes of Michael Stipe of R.E.M. fame who has produced some of Chestnut’s work. That pairing actually brought Chestnut the most general public acknowledgment when in 1996, Stipe orchestrated a compilation of other artists reprising the work of the Athens songwriter. Some notable participants (at the time at least) are Madonna, Hootie & the Blowfish, Live, the Smashing Pumpkins and the Indigo Girls.

The disc was put together as charitable work for Sweet Relief, an organization to assist ailing musicians. Chestnut, himself, is restricted to a wheelchair.

He has continued though and recently with Elf Power released Dark Developments on Orange Twin at the tail end of October. But now they’ve finalized some tour dates.

I figured as a companion piece to my original post about Pharaoh Sanders, I would write a little about one of my favorite recordings that he's done

The title, which is in Arabic, Summun, Bukmun, Umyun translates to Deaf, Dumb, Blind. It comes from the Qur’an and is in a passage that talks about enlightening those that need to see the way. Obviously, the passage initially had the intention of gaining converts and perhaps that was Sander’s intention as well. However, the recording includes a few players not oft associated with the late ‘60s and early ‘70s shift in jazz to an Afro-centric, Islam influenced art. That, of course, doesn’t mean that the players don’t sound like fervid adherents to the sax mastery of the Pharaoh.

This disc precedes the great Thembi recording and maintains a number of players in common with the 1969 date Jewels of Thought. But this entire period for Sanders was marked by a religious fervor that listener’s can easily make out from sampling any of these sessions – including the great Karma tracks from 1969, which has really been canonized by the jazz community.

Deaf, Dumb, Blind is comparable to any one of these dates. Its two tracks both take up entire sides of a record like Jewels. But in contrast to Karma, Deaf, Dumb and Blind, is evenly distributed time wise to include two complete musical ideas as opposed to Karma’s one extended and one truncated song.

In reading about Deaf…the mention of overt African percussion is always noted. It should be. But that really isn’t unique to this disc – it’s a part to most of well thought of works. And as a part of a shift into the spiritual and free jazz vernacular portrayed on his albums from this period, rhythmic charm frequently accompanies by his music.

The drumming really is the first thing that you hear at the head of the title track – even before Pharaoh’s sax kicks in. There really isn’t a melodic motif. The rhythm, bolstered by Cecil McBee, Clifford Jarvis and Lonnie Liston Smith, allows Pharaoh to flutter and sing sublimely above the busy clatter of drums without a great need to mind where he’s off to melodically – although, I’m sure that there’s some scaffolding or predetermined structure.

In that way, this disc is supremely spiritual. Sanders is given the opportunity to let his mind produce whatever he sees fit as a companion to the music that his band cranks out.

Even though, Sander’s is getting on in years, he is purportedly still in top shape and ready to blow the soul outta his horn. He’ll be playing in a trio apparently – and even if William Henderson (piano) and Joe Farnsworth (drums) aren’t McBee and Smith, hearing Sander’s in a small group should be a profound listening experience.

Last July, the city's Department of Transportation announced that it was contracting with the Office for Visual Interaction to design a new street light. The OVI won an international competition for its proposed plan, which includes a sleek, redesigned lamp post, as well as a battery of LED lights which can be fine tuned to provide different lighting levels and different light directions.

LEDs have become a popular choice in many other applications, and it's easy to see why. Although the initial cost of an LED bulb is higher compared to its incandescent analog, LEDs consume less power, don't contain harmful chemicals (unlike compact fluorescent bulbs, which contain mercury), and last far longer. The New York City LED street lights are expected to use 25 to 30 percent less electricity, and to last more than twice as long as the sodium bulbs currently in use. The city will install six test LED lamps, and testing will continue through fall, 2009.

Of course, many cities around the world have already rolled out LED street lights, including Austin, Texas; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Dusseldorf, Germany. From a design perspective, the new street lamps' slim, arching shape is absolutely beautiful.

Public reactions have been largely positive, although some people complain that the LEDs give off too much glare, and that the lamp posts themselves lack the charm of the old style gas lamps. Many cities have spent time after the initial installation fine-tuning the color produced by the lights, based on feedback that the default light color is "too cold." Has anyone seen these in action? What did you think?

Whether or not you value the music of the Black Keys, they’ve come to hold a very specific cultural importance. And even though the White Stripes are Midwesterners (they hail from the Detroit enclave of rock and roll), it seems as if the Black Keys are considered the bluesier Midwest version of those red and white clad international pop stars. Kind of a bizarre contrast seeing as there isn’t any great distinction between the two – or at least there are countless similarities.

Dan Auerbach, apart from playing guitar in the Akron based blues/rock hybrid has taken up production duties at his own Akron Analog studio. While keeping busy with that endeavor, he’s also found time to record on his own – without drummer Patrick Carney. It’s an odd choice, seeing as Auerbach goes on to play drums on the album along with variegated other instruments on the upcoming Keep it Hid.

This clutch of songs, judging from the sample provided on Stereogum, sounds pretty swampy and benefits from Auerbach running his own studio, knowing it inside and out and simply loving his music.

The track posted, “I Want Some More,” sticks to basic blues and rock lyrical trappings, but the distant bounce of the floor tom and keyboard beneath the strangled guitar line lends an air of bygone blues grunters getting over for just one more night to the track. It’ll be interesting to hear if the rest of the disc, out on Nonesuch records this coming February 10th, can maintain this kind of emotional and visceral attitude.