Elephant 6 collective

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Who is a fan/ who is not ?

― jp, Friday, 7 March 2003 09:24 (twenty-three years ago)

it's all crap, man. crrrrrrrrrap.

― your null fame (yournullfame), Friday, 7 March 2003 10:10 (twenty-three years ago)

No way dude! Dusk at Cubist Castle is splifferifffffic!!

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 7 March 2003 10:11 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm still waiting for Neutral Milk Hotel to put out something as appealing as the "Hype City Soundtracks" cassette from 1993. They're a friendly bunch, so I wouldn't like to say anything bad about them.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Friday, 7 March 2003 10:12 (twenty-three years ago)

apples in stereo, beulah, of montreal, NMH, OTC, elf power...all pretty damn good if you ask me..

― Jp, Friday, 7 March 2003 10:17 (twenty-three years ago)

wait, wait - is "dusk at cubist castle" the one with the wicked black cover and the whole album is someone playing guitar (REAL SLOW) and there are dogs barking and shit? cos that's fucking hella cool.

― your null fame (yournullfame), Friday, 7 March 2003 12:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Apples In Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel are great; Elf Power are pretty good 'though I haven't bought their latest 'cos I've been put off by the reviews I've read (what do people here think of it btw?); I bought Dusk At Cubist Castle by Olivia Tremor Control and it didn't do anything much for me I'm afraid; Beulah and Of Montreal I haven't encountered yet.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Friday, 7 March 2003 13:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Loved loved essex green! Couldn't get into OTC or Apples in Stereo (or Sunshine kiss which sucked!). i would check out more if it was better distributed

― ddd, Friday, 7 March 2003 13:56 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm on again off again with the Elephant 6 stuff. I still think the two Neutral Milk Hotel records are heart-breakingly brilliant. Beulah are okay. When Your Heartstings Break is my favorite of theirs (download "Emma Blowgun's Last Stand"). They are straightforward pop without the usual E6 gimmicky production. Of Montreal's The Gay Parade has the Ray Daviess' wistful storytelling style nailed. But you need a high tolerance for cute, especially pitched up vocals. The Music Tapes' Imaginary Symphony is weird, but fascinating. It's NMH, with murkier production, and less immediately emotional resonance. But still a good record about a botched alien invasion / hating your father ("Aliens," "The Television Tells Us," and "Song for the Death of Parents" are recommended). The Gerbils are okay too, but by this point it's just more quirky pop songs.

Really, the only Elephant 6 stuff that I consider essential is NMH. The rest... take it or leave it.

(Bonus points to people who start quibbling over which bands are Elephant 6, and which are just Elephant 6 related.)

― Matt B. (Matt B.), Friday, 7 March 2003 14:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Also--now that I've said my piece ;)--this thread has been done here and here.

― Matt B. (Matt B.), Friday, 7 March 2003 14:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Elephant 6, as a rule, is greatness. Olivia Tremor Control were early Soft Machine meets Magical Mystery Tour. Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo, Elf Power, Circulatory System, Sunshine Fix, Essex Green, Great Lakes, Beulah, Major Organ & the Adding Machine, Music Tapes (freaky!!), and Of Montreal are all wonderful. The Gerbils and Secret Square are a bit spotty.

― John Bullabaugh, Saturday, 8 March 2003 04:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Stewart, if you mean Elf Power's Creatures, I'd say it continues a line of strong work from them. The textures are leaner and more straightforward, but they've developed into one of the tightest, most muscular ensembles around and the open space works to their advantage. There's less of the "child-like wonder" angle they played on Red King, but that never worked so well for me anyway.

Or maybe you mean the covers album, Nothing's Going to Happen, which I think is equally fine.

I'd rank Elf Power KINGS/QUEENS OF THE COLLECTIVE, although I admire NMH and to a lesser extent OTC, Circulatory System, and Of Montreal.

― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Saturday, 8 March 2003 07:32 (twenty-three years ago)

what i've liked:

(and some of this may or may not pass for e6)

bablicon
nmh
a hawk and a handsaw
of montreal (but i have to be sugared up... even though i love you niki koko.)
major organ and the adding machine

some of the other stuff has varied for me.

things related to balicon and nmh have always come off the best.

many have said that the e6 is dead... i disagree. it's just not the convenient marketing strategy it was. (if i can call it that.)
m.

― msp, Saturday, 8 March 2003 08:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Actually, E6 _is_ officially dead.
As per the question: huge fan. Neutral Milk Hotel, The Minders,
Essex Green, and Olivia Tremor Control are absolutely vital, with Of Montreal,
Elf Power, and Beulah ranking not far behind.
Summer Hymns and Music Tapes are, OTOH, crap. But there's still so much left to explore.

― Squirrel_Police (Squirrel_Police), Saturday, 8 March 2003 08:21 (twenty-three years ago)

definitely NMH, both albums were shiver inducing
i find the apples in stereo fine in small doses, though i didn't think much of their last album
OTC are appealing if i'm in the right state of mind, euphimistically speaking
beulah and of montreal and elf power, have some of the albums but don't listen to 'em much
the other bands in the now-defunct collective: dunno

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Saturday, 8 March 2003 08:24 (twenty-three years ago)

the 60s are over again?

― Bosse-De-Nage (Bosse-De-Nage), Saturday, 8 March 2003 08:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Essential E6 Albums:
Elf Power, The Winter Is Coming
Neutral Milk Hotel, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
The Olivia Tremor Control, Black Foliage: Animation Music

I can not stand Apples In Stereo; boring boring sixties retread without absolutely anything unique to recommend them. The Gerbils Are You Sleepy? is a cute little record, but not amazing really. Summer Hymns are ok if you like early Neil Young and dropping acid.

― Ian Johnson (orion), Saturday, 8 March 2003 22:28 (twenty-three years ago)

It blows my little indie-pop mind that somebody is able to use "Elephant 6" and "marketing strategy" in the same post. Have they undergone some kind of cosmic transformation? Because all the Elephant 6 stuff I have is, like, mislabeled cassettes that end halfway through a song accompanied by hand-drawn booklets of LSD doodlings. What's the story?

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Sunday, 9 March 2003 09:16 (twenty-three years ago)

Elephant 6 is the best thing that ever happened to music since the sixties. The Apples In Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel are my favourite, then Elf Power and Of Montreal, and I also like Olivia Tremor Control, Beulah, Circulatory System, The Minders, The Gerbils, Sunshine Fix, Marshmallow Coast. I've also seen Apples In Stereo and Of Montreal live when they were in Holland.

― zilverberg.tk (zilverberg.tk), Sunday, 9 March 2003 11:05 (twenty-three years ago)

seven years pass...

Has anyone any info on the Major Organ and the Adding Machine DVD release? A few websites say Sept 14, 2010. Including the Orange Twin website, which says you can pre-order it for it's eventual release on Sept 14.... Is it out? Does anyone have it?

― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 26 September 2010 13:33 (fifteen years ago)

Okay, apparently it's out. Has anyone seen it???

Nice big feature on it all on tinymixtapes:
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/major-organ-and-adding-machine-pt-i-movie

― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 26 September 2010 13:40 (fifteen years ago)

What! It's only 25 mins! Damn...

― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 26 September 2010 13:42 (fifteen years ago)

Of all the casting and appearance, there’s one that is especially interesting: Kevin Barnes’ appearance as a Constable shortly before being beat up by the 8-Track Gorilla. What was the idea behind that?

― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 26 September 2010 14:07 (fifteen years ago)

three years pass...

Documentary in the works http://m.pitchfork.com/news/56835-elephant-6-documentary-in-the-works/

― calstars, Wednesday, 24 September 2014 11:49 (eleven years ago)

I don't know why this hit pitchfork today this movie has been a work in progress for years and its still not complete. The description of the doc doesn't exactly excite me either.

― DavidLeeRoth, Wednesday, 24 September 2014 13:04 (eleven years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.