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.
Young Marble Giants were a Welsh post-punk band formed in Cardiff, Wales, in 1978. Their music was based around the vocals of Alison Statton along with the minimalist instrumentation of brothers Philip and Stuart Moxham. Their early sound was a sharp contrast with the more aggressive punk rock that dominated the underground at the time. Young Marble Giants released just one studio album, Colossal Youth, in 1980. They also released two EPs and recorded a John Peel session.
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 2024 Jeff Mangum received a Grammy award 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.
The Olivia Tremor Control is an American psychedelic band from Athens, Georgia. The band's main line-up consists of Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss, Eric Harris, John Fernandes, and Peter Erchick. The Olivia Tremor Control's music combines indie rock and neo-psychedelia, taking influence from psychedelic pop bands of the 1960s, such as the Beach Boys and the Beatles.
On Avery Island is the debut studio album by American rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released on March 26, 1996, by Merge Records. At the time, Neutral Milk Hotel was a solo project of American musician Jeff Mangum, who recorded the album with producer Robert Schneider from February to May 1995. On Avery Island is an indie rock and psychedelic folk album, with a lo-fi sound.
The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the plural moniker. Although he remains the core member of the band, he has worked with a variety of collaborators over time, including bassist and vocalist Peter Hughes, drummer Jon Wurster, multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, singer-songwriter Franklin Bruno, bassist and vocalist Rachel Ware, singer-songwriter/producer John Vanderslice, guitarist Kaki King, and multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark.
Orange Twin Records is an Athens, Georgia-based record label run by Laura Carter of the band Elf Power.
Robert Peter Schneider is an American musician and mathematician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock/pop band the Apples in Stereo and has produced and performed on albums by Neutral Milk Hotel, the Olivia Tremor Control and a number of other psychedelic and indie rock bands. Schneider co-founded The Elephant 6 Recording Company in 1992. He received a PhD in mathematics from Emory University in 2018. As of September 2022, he is an Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Michigan Technological University.
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.
Laura Carter is a multi-instrumentalist musician from Athens, Georgia. She is able to play the clarinet, keyboard, percussion, violin, guitar, drums, french horn, and Zanzithophone.
"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.
"Everything Is" was the first recording mass-released by Neutral Milk Hotel, at that point still largely an outlet for the songwriting of Jeff Mangum instead of a fully formed band. The recording was originally the second release on the fledgling Seattle label Cher Doll Records in 1993, in the form of a 7", with "Everything Is" as the A side, and "Snow Song Pt. 1" as the B side. The first 50 7"s pressed also featured different artwork, with each sleeve being personally xeroxed by Mangum.
Live at Jittery Joe's is a live album released in 2001 by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to combat the high prices of bootlegs on eBay. Filmmaker Lance Bangs recorded it at the Athens, GA venue Jittery Joe's on March 7, 1997, during a live solo performance; this location was the original Jittery Joe's at 243 W. Washington St., not one of the current locations. Jeff had not prepared a setlist, so some of the songs were chosen by the audience. A noisy child can be heard throughout the performance.
"In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" is the title track and third song on the Neutral Milk Hotel album of the same name.
Cher Doll Records is an American independent record label founded in Seattle, Washington, by Nancy Ostrander in 1993. The label released records for several indie-pop bands, including Neutral Milk Hotel's first single.
You've Passed/Where You'll Find Me Now is the third single by American psychedelic folk band Neutral Milk Hotel, released as part of their Walking Wall of Words vinyl box set on December 12, 2011. The single contains alternative versions of the songs "You've Passed" and "Where You'll Find Me Now", from the band's 1996 album On Avery Island. Both songs were written and performed solely by Jeff Mangum. He recorded both tracks at his father's house in Ruston, Louisiana in December 1994 on cassette tape using a portable four-track recorder. Both tracks, in comparison to their On Avery Island counterparts, are longer and more distorted. The record was engineered by Craig Morris, mixing and mastering was done by friend and long-time collaborator Robert Schneider. The single was made available for sale as a digital download from the band's official website in 2019.
Ferris Wheel on Fire is the second EP by the American indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released as part of their Walking Wall of Words vinyl box set. Though not released until December 12, 2011, all the songs were written between 1992 and 1995. Ferris Wheel on Fire includes five songs that up to that point had never been officially released, two songs originally released on the band's official debut album On Avery Island that were reworked and re-recorded, and one alternative version of a song that was released as the B-side of the "Holland, 1945" single ("Engine"), an outtake from the In the Aeroplane Over the Sea sessions. The EP – together with the "You've Passed/Where You'll Find Me Now" and "Little Birds" singles – marked the first new Neutral Milk Hotel release since 1998. The EP was made available for sale as a digital download from the band's official website in 2019. On February 24, 2023, the EP was released on various streaming services.
