Round Up: Operation Aloha, Lotus, Dan Deacon, M83

You may not ever sweat the small stuff… but we do! Check out today’s music news odds and ends:

• What do you get when you take members from Gomez, Phantom Planet, and Maroon 5, put them on a plane to Maui, Hawaii, and set them up in a secluded tree house compound? Apparently, a full-length album. Fourteen musicians gathered together for four months to jam and record and formed Operation Aloha, who will release their self-titled album on May 12. The music is described as “blues inspired rock and Hawaiian folk music.” This is good news for Phantom Planet fans who thought the boys might be retiring for good after their sudden break up. No official website or MySpace yet, but we’ll keep you posted!

• In support of their October 2008 release, “Hammerstrike,” electro-rockers Lotus have just announced a slew of tour dates in the eastern U.S. starting Feb. 13 in Towson, MD. The tour wraps up in New York on April 11… just in time for Coachella. Maybe we’ll get lucky and Lotus will be one of the many up-and-comers added to the lineup this year! For a full list of tour dates go here.
• Dan Deacon will reportedly embark on a nationwide tour starting April 4 in Philly and ending May 5 in Washington, DC. for his new album “Bromst,” out on March 24. Deacon is scheduled to perform a solo show on Jan. 30 in Brooklyn, but the tour will feature a full ensemble that will include piano, marimba, glockenspiel, vibraphone, and various wind and brass players. The majority of the tour will feature support from openers Future Islands and Teeth Mountain. We’re talking a show here that will have everything from folk to trance, so be sure to put on your eccentric-cap (and your dancing shoes) if you go check ‘em out. Deacon hasn’t updated his MySpace or website yet, but here’s the full list of dates:

01/30 Brooklyn, NY Danbro Studios (solo set)
04/03 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church
04/05 Williamsburg, VA The Little Theater
04/06 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
04/07 Knoxville, TN Catalyst
04/08 Birmingham, AL Bottletree
04/09 Athens, GA 88/cp
04/10 Atlanta, GA Eyedrum
04/11 Tallahassee, FL FSU / Club Downunder
04/13 New Orleans, LA The Candle Factory / The Heavy
04/15 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
04/16 Houston, TX Orange Show
04/18 Ft. Worth, TX The Ft. Worth Modern Museum
04/20 Tempe, AZ The Clubhouse
04/21 San Diego, CA Che Cafe
04/22 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
04/23 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
04/24 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
04/25 Seattle, WA The Vera Project
04/26 Vancouver, BC Richards on Richards
04/29 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
04/30 Denver, CO Bluebird Theater
05/01 Kansas City, MO Pistol S.C.
05/02 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock (2 shows, early and late)
05/04 Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
05/05 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall Ballroom
05/06 Urbana, IL Canopy Club / Club Void
05/07 Chicago, IL The Metro
05/08 Mt. Pleasant, MI CMU / The Wesley Foundation
05/09 Detroit, MI Scrummage
05/10 Toronto, ONT The Deleon White Gallery
05/11 Montreal, QC La Sala Rossa
05/12 South Burlington, VT HG Showcase Lounge
05/13 Cambridge, MA Middle East Downstairs
05/15 Brooklyn, NY Danbro Studios
05/16 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
05/17 Washington, DC 9:30 Club

• After previous collaborations with Belle and Sebastian and The Decemberists, the Los Angeles Philharmonic will play a co-headlining concert with  M83 (one of our BeatCrave Favs!) on March 7 at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Both groups will perform individually and then together to close out the show, which is likely to blow your face off (in the most positive way possible). For a preview of what M83 will have to offer, check them out performing their new single “Kim and Jesse” tonight on NBC’s Late Night With Conan O’Brien. If you just can’t wait for either, here’s M83′s music video for the new track:

Now just imagine that with an orchestra! What upcoming events/tours are you most excited for?

Photos available via MySpace.