The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a loosely defined musical collective from the United States. Notable bands associated with the collective include the Apples in Stereo, Beulah, Circulatory System, Elf Power, the Minders, Neutral Milk Hotel, of Montreal, and the Olivia Tremor Control. Although bands in Elephant 6 explore many different genres, they have a shared interest in psychedelic pop of the 1960s, with particular influence from bands such as the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Zombies. Their music sometimes features intentionally low fidelity production and experimental recording techniques.
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and then from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock and psychedelic folk. Mangum wrote surreal and opaque lyrics that covered a wide range of topics, including love, spirituality, nostalgia, sex, and loneliness. He and the other band members played a variety of instruments, including non-traditional instruments like the singing saw and uilleann pipes.
Jeffrey Nye Mangum is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. Mangum is characterized for his complex, lyrically dense songwriting, exemplified on the critically lauded album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, as well as for his public image as a recluse associated with his extended periods of musical inactivity and minimal press interaction. An article published in Slate described Mangum as the "Salinger of Indie Rock." In 2023 Jeff Mangum received a Grammy award nomination for "Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package".
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second and final studio album by American band Neutral Milk Hotel, released on February 10, 1998, by Merge Records. The album is predominantly indie rock and psychedelic folk and is characterized by an intentionally low-quality sound. Traditional indie rock instruments like the guitar and drums are paired with less conventional instruments like the singing saw and uilleann pipes. The lyrics are surrealistic and opaque, exploring themes that range from nostalgia to love. An important influence for the album was The Diary of a Young Girl, a book of writings from the diary of Anne Frank.
Julian Koster is an American multidisciplinary artist. As a musician, he is a member of the Elephant 6 Collective, the leader of The Music Tapes, and a member of Neutral Milk Hotel. He is known for writing, directing, and acting in audio fiction The Orbiting Human Circus , and for performing with the theatrical troupe of the same name. He is also known for his heavy use of the musical saw in recordings, even releasing The Singing Saw at Christmastime, his only solo album released under his own name, in 2008.
The Gerbils were an American indie rock band that formed in Athens, Georgia, United States, in 1998. Part of the Elephant Six Collective, the band released two albums and toured nationwide during their tenure.
Bablicon was an Elephant 6-related free-jazz band consisting of members of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils.
"Holland, 1945" is a song by American indie rock group Neutral Milk Hotel. It was released as the only single from the band's second and final studio album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea in October 1998. "Holland, 1945" is one of the album's louder, more upbeat songs, featuring overdriven and distorted guitars. The song also showcases fuzz noise on all of the instruments, a quality created by producer Robert Schneider.
A Hawk and a Hacksaw is an American folk duo from Albuquerque, New Mexico, currently signed to L.M. Duplication. The band consists of accordionist Jeremy Barnes, who was previously the drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel and Bablicon, and violinist Heather Trost. The music is inspired by Eastern European, Turkish and Balkan traditions, and is mostly instrumental. They have released six albums and have toured internationally. The first four albums and an EP were released on The Leaf Label and afterwards on their own label L. M. Duplication.
The discography of Neutral Milk Hotel, a Ruston, Louisiana-based indie rock group, consists of two studio albums, two singles, two extended plays, two compilation albums, and three demos.
Calvin, Don't Jump! started as the solo recording project of J. Kirk Pleasant, a musician with extensive connections to the Elephant 6 Collective. Before moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he contributed to releases from bands like the Olivia Tremor Control, Black Swan Network, and Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't. His own albums have featured contributions from musicians like Scott Spillane, Jeremy Barnes, John D'Azzo, as well as Peter Erchick, Eric Harris, and John Fernandes.
Darkness at Noon is the second studio album by A Hawk and a Hacksaw, released in 2005 on The Leaf Label.
The Way the Wind Blows is the third studio album by A Hawk and a Hacksaw, released in 2006 on The Leaf Label.
Délivrance is the fourth full-length studio album by A Hawk and a Hacksaw, released in 2009 on The Leaf Label.
Heather Trost is an American violinist and singer.
Cervantine is A Hawk and a Hacksaw's fifth studio album, and the first to be released on the new label, L.M. Dupli-cation. The album's sound stands out from previous recordings, drawing a stronger influence from Greek Romani music, and the mariachi that had surrounded the group in New Mexico.
You Have Already Gone to the Other World is A Hawk and a Hacksaw's sixth studio album with the subtitle "Music inspired by Paradjanov's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors". It is a concept album which is written as a retrospective soundtrack for the 1964 movie Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Sergei Parajanov.
Jim Stallings is an American musician who played as a bassist with the Sir Douglas Quintet and had a successful single as a solo artist with "Heya". As J.J. Light, Stallings also issued an LP Heya! in 1969, though another 11 songs recorded for a second album were not released until included as bonus tracks on a CD reissue of the first album in 2008.
Forest Bathing is the seventh studio album by A Hawk and a Hacksaw. It was released April 13, 2018. Prior to its release, the song "A Broken Road Lined With Poplar Trees" premiered on Under the Radar's website.
Leaving Meaning is the fifteenth studio album by American experimental band Swans. It was released October 25, 2019 on Young God and Mute. A double album, Leaving Meaning's songs have been mixed separately for vinyl and CD releases, with the CD version of the album containing the original mixes of the songs, as well as an additional track, "Some New Things". As with all Swans' releases of the 2010s, Leaving Meaning was financed by a fundraiser album – in this case, What Is This? in March 2019.
