This is the original soundtrack to the Documentary The Elephant 6 Recording Co. all about the legendary indie record label and the scene they helped to make thrive. I've not seen the documentary, but over recent years have reviewed a few bands and records from the label. This soundtrack is a great introduction to the labels roster.
The album opens with the bright and breezy sound of Garden Of Light by Olivia Tremor Control that has sweet strings and a power pop sensibility, but with a nice gauzy sheen, some cool guitar flourishes, that make you want to look round every corner, looking for that person that makes you radiate.
Gardenhead/Leave me Alone by Neutral Milk Hotel has a slacker indie strummed singalong vibe, a little bit early Flaming Lips, but with a Styrenes style twist or two.
Telescope by Marbles has a classic garage rock feel for a sweet love song, the production is super low-fi, he begs that girl to marry him, she would probably say yes, if this was a more sophisticated production, but the guitar solo should woo her anyway.
Glue by The Gerbils is a live version that opens even slower than the album version, it's a song of love and lust, the music builds slowly around the vocal, all sorts of noises come in and out, we discover her love is so real it smells like glue, well I hope it isn't evo-stick in a paper bag that they are huffing on, it ends up almost sounding like a Pavement slacker anthem, if it could be bothered to try a bit harder.
All Day Owl by W. Cullen Hart has a bass drum beat for the guitar to be built around, before it gets a touch experimental.
The Arrows Fly Close by Elf Power is a live version that feels in a similar vein to The Silos, they feel they are frozen in time.
The B-side opens with the Same Place by Olivia Tremor Control a slow thoughtful musical meditation with a slight klezmer twist, they repeat The Same Place over and over mantra like.
Oh Hi is by the brilliantly named Dixie Blood Moustache that has some very low-fi computer bleeps and squeals, bells and all sorts of odd samples being built into a found sound tune, that comes across like a low-fi Avalanches.
Minute By Minute by Always In The Red is a live, evolving slightly out of time, revolving, devolving riffed trance indie shamble.
The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise by The Wedding Band & Friends is far too down at heart to be played at a wedding, apart to calm things down after a fight has broken out, nice harmonies sung around a piano, being carefully feathered. The cello may get the odd tear flowing at the loss of freedom, beside the hope that when the sun rises it will be a brighter day.
The album closes with Ruby by Apples In Stereo this is a live version where they invite the audience on stage for the big final chorus, which if memory serves me correctly they also did when they played round the corner from here at The Luminaire back in the day.
This is a very different song to either the Gallon Drunk classic single or The Kaiser Chiefs triple Ruby, they want to know if Ruby is listening to them, well maybe she's had enough of your mansplaining and is off hanging out with the cool girls hoping your love has gone to a different town.
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