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."
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.
Great Lakes is an American rock and roll band formed in Athens, Georgia, United States, in 1996. The band was formed by Ben Crum, James Huggins, & Dan Donahue. Great Lakes were among the second wave of bands included in The Elephant Six Collective.
"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.
The Big Eyes Family Players/ Big Eyes Family are a group from Sheffield, UK, formed in 1999 by multi-instrumentalist James Green. They initially recorded experimental music under the name Big Eyes, but in 2006 they changed their name and began to venture more into folk and traditional music. They are best known for two albums of traditional material: Folk Songs, which they released in collaboration with the Scottish singer-songwriter James Yorkston on Domino Records in 2009; and the follow-up, Folk Songs II, featuring a variety of guest vocalists and released on Static Caravan Recordings in 2012.
