Sun 9 Mar 2008
Essential E6: The 1st Imaginary Symphony for Nomad
Posted by Jeff Kuykendall under Essential E6 Albums, Music Tapes
Comments Off
Essential E6 Albums
Archived Posts from this Category
Sun 24 Feb 2008
Essential E6: Fun Trick Noisemaker
Posted by Jeff Kuykendall under Apples in Stereo, Essential E6 Albums
Comments Off
Sun 10 Feb 2008
Essential E6: Dusk at Cubist Castle
Posted by Jeff Kuykendall under Essential E6 Albums, Olivia Tremor Control
Comments Off
Wed 6 Feb 2008
Essential E6: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Posted by Jeff Kuykendall under Essential E6 Albums, Neutral Milk Hotel
Comments Off
[To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, I'm launching the long-awaited, long-rumored series "The Essential Elephant 6 Albums." I'm not going to rank the albums, although I think it's fair to say that this first entry in the series represents the most popular and acclaimed album to emerge from the E6 collective: it's inspired countless covers, is endlessly name-checked as a major influence by artists and musicians, and even inspired a book (by Kim Cooper) in the 33 1/3 series on important rock albums. I first heard the album on a college radio station while I was driving on I-5 in Seattle; when the DJ said he'd been playing "'The King of Carrot-Flowers Parts 1, 2, and 3' by Neutral Milk Hotel," I knew that I would never remember that jumble of ill-placed words unless I went out and bought the album that second. Which I did, frantically telling the guy working at the CD store, "Neutral-Milk-Hotel-King-of-Carrot-Flowers?!" I had never heard anything like that song before, and it seemed to open a door to a world of music I wanted desperately to explore. It was by coincidence that in the weeks preceding and following, I was rapidly exposed to The Apples in Stereo ("Strawberryfire," on a CMJ comp) and The Olivia Tremor Control (Black Foliage, which a co-worker at Barnes & Noble had played for me), and held an intense interest in all three bands before I even knew they were connected...]
