As much a concept as a band, the Olivia Tremor Control was one of the most visible and innovative members of the Elephant 6 collective, a coterie of like-minded, lo-fi indie groups — including the Apples (in stereo), Neutral Milk Hotel, and Secret Square — who shared musicians, ideas, and sensibilities. The Olivia Tremor Control was led by singers/songwriters/multi-instrumentalists William Cullen Hart and Bill Doss, natives of the small, isolated town of Ruston, LA, where they struck up friendships with fellow outsiders Robert Schneider (who went on to front the Apples) and Jeff Mangum (the auteur behind Neutral Milk Hotel).

by Jason Ankeny
Sunny pop band the Apples in Stereo was one of the leading lights of the Elephant 6 Recording Company collective, a coterie of like-minded, lo-fi indie groups — including the Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Secret Square — who shared musicians, ideas and sensibilities. They were led by singer/songwriter Robert Schneider, a native of the tiny town of Ruston, Louisiana, also home to Jeff Mangum (later of Neutral Milk Hotel) as well as William Cullen Hart and Bill Doss (who formed the Olivia Tremor Control). Throughout high school, the aspiring musicians — all influenced by the likes of the Beatles, the Zombies, Pink Floyd, and Sonic Youth — exchanged home recordings and played in each other's bands. After college, Schneider and Mangum relocated to Denver, Colorado, where Schneider struck up a friendship with fellow Beach Boys fan and bass player Jim McIntyre; after enlisting drummer Hilarie Sidney and guitarist Robert Parfitt, they formed the Apples, and issued their self-titled debut EP on the Elephant 6 label. To avoid confusion with other similarly-named bands, they officially became the Apples in Stereo for 1995's full-length debut Fun Trick Noisemaker. In 1996, Schneider produced the Olivia Tremor Control's Music From the Unrealized Film Script "Dusk at Cubist Castle" and later in the year the Apples issued Science Faire, a collection of singles and rare material. The Apples in Stereo returned in the fall of 1997 with Tone Soul Evolution; shortly after its release, the band signed a distribution deal with Sire and the album was re-released in January of the following year. The excellent Her Wallpaper Reverie followed in the spring of 1999, and a year later the band returned with the equally wonderful The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone. The group also contributed a song to 2000's Heroes & Villains: Music Inspired by the Powerpuff Girls, and in 2001 they released the Let's Go! EP, which featured the track from Heroes & Villains ... along with a cover of the Beach Boys classic of the same name. In fall 2002, Robert Schneider and Apples in Stereo issued their most ambitious effort to date with Velocity of Sound.

by Jason Ankeny
Neo-psychedelic pop outfit the Essex Green was formed in mid-1997 after four members of the Burlington, VT-based Guppyboy — singer/guitarist Chris Ziter, singer/keyboardist Sasha Bell, guitarist Jeff Baron, and bassist Mike Barrett — relocated to Brooklyn, NY. Completing the lineup with drummer Tim Barnes, the group appeared at various New York City clubs before touring the East Coast with Aden and Saturnine, releasing a split single with the Sixth Great Lake in the spring of 1999. The Essex Green's full-length debut Everything Is Green appeared on Kindercore later that year, and a self-titled EP on Elephant 6 followed in early 2000; concurrently, both Bell and Baron also played in the like-minded Ladybug Transistor. Three years later, Essex Green inked a deal with Merge and issued The Long Goodbye. A worldwide tour was slated for the spring and summer.

I need to listen to more Neutral Milk Hotel, apparently, considering all the praise they receive here.

I will put them on my list of bands whose CD's I need to buy... right after Belle & Sebastian and The Thrills.