The Ladybug Transistor is a

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

-based

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

group associated with

The Elephant Six Collective 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, ...

History

Started in 1995 by Gary Olson, Edward Powers and Javier Villegas, The Ladybug Transistor released '' Marlborough Farms'' the same year on Park N' Ride records, adding and subtracting a couple of members and going on an international tour. With Jeff Baron ( Guppyboy,

The Essex Green The Essex Green is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn that has released four albums to date. The band is primarily composed of songwriters Jeff Baron, Sasha Bell and Chris Ziter, and specializes in a classic sound inspired by 1960s–1970s ...

) and Jennifer Baron (

Saturnine Saturnine can refer to: *Relating to Saturn * Saturnine antshrike, species of bird * The Saturnine, music group *''Saturnine Martial & Lunatic'', a 1996 compilation album by Tears for Fears See also *Saturnin *Saturnina, Christian martyr *Satu ...

) added to the line-up, they released ''

Beverley Atonale ''Beverley Atonale'' is the second album by the Brooklyn indie pop band The Ladybug Transistor. It was released on February 11, 1997. Critical reception The ''Chicago Reader'' wrote that "the young quartet's reach xceededtheir grasp: aiming f ...

'' in 1997, this time on

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expande ...

. Powers left the band and the remaining members, with San Fadyl and Sasha Bell of

and the solo act

Finishing School A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the education, wit ...

, embarked on a United States tour. With a more stable line-up, the band released ''

The Albemarle Sound ''The Albemarle Sound'' is the third album by the Brooklyn, New York, indie pop band The Ladybug Transistor. It was released on March 23, 1999. Critical reception '' The A.V. Club'' wrote: "Rich and instantly accessible, The Ladybug Transistor ...

'' in 1999, and added the violinist and bass guitarist

Julia Rydholm Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e. ...

(The Four Corners,

Jens Lekman Jens Martin Lekman (; born 6 February 1981) is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. His work is heavily influenced by Jonathan Ric ...

) to the line-up. In 2001, ''

Argyle Heir ''Argyle Heir'' is a studio album by the American indie pop band the Ladybug Transistor. It was released on May 22, 2001, via Merge Records. Critical reception The ''Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major dail ...

'' was released. In 2003, the band recorded a self-titled album at

WaveLab Studio WaveLab is a digital audio editor and recording computer software application for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS, created by Steinberg. WaveLab was started in 1995 and it is mainly the work of one programmer, Philippe Goutier. Audio can ...

with engineer

Craig Schumacher Craig Schumacher is an American Record producer, producer and audio engineer based in Tucson, Arizona. He is known for recording and mixing albums by Calexico (band), Calexico, Devotchka, Neko Case, Giant Sand, The Jayhawks, Friends of Dean Martin ...

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. In 2006, the band contributed heavily to the recording of

Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely assoc ...

' album ''

The Unfairground ''The Unfairground'' is a 2007 album by Kevin Ayers, recorded with members of Ladybug Transistor, Teenage Fanclub, Neutral Milk Hotel, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci and Roxy Music. It was his sixteenth studio LP and his first new set of recordings in f ...

'', which Gary Olson produced. In April 2006, Fadyl began fighting serious

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

attacks. On April 26, 2007, he died from one such attack. The band released its sixth album, ''

Can't Wait Another Day ''Can't Wait Another Day'' is an album by the Brooklyn indie pop band The Ladybug Transistor, and the last with the drummer San Fadyl. It was released on June 5, 2007, by Merge Records. Critical reception ''Exclaim!'' wrote that "this is far from ...

'', on June 5, 2007. This line-up included Kyle Forester (

Crystal Stilts Crystal Stilts is an American post-punk band from Brooklyn, New York City, United States, though their founding members, Brad Hargett and JB Townsend, were originally from Florida. History Crystal Stilts was formed in 2003 by Brad Hargett and JB ...

) and Ben Crum of

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

. For their seventh album, ''

Clutching Stems ''Clutching Stems'' is an album by the indie pop band The Ladybug Transistor. It was released on June 7, 2011, by Merge Records. Reception ''Clutching Stems'' received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic Metacritic is a website ...

'', Olson, Forester and Rydholm gathered new recruits Mark Dzula ( The Magic Caravan, Jukebox Radio), Eric Farber ( The Lisps), and Michael O'Neill (

MEN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chro ...

). The album, recorded at Marlborough Farms (studio) and Sunset Cottage, Poconos, was released on June 6, 2011, by Merge Records.''Clutching Stems''
''Dusted'' review.

Discography

Albums

*'' Marlborough Farms'' (1995) *''

'' (1997) *''

'' (1999) *''

'' (2001) *''

The Ladybug Transistor The Ladybug Transistor is a Brooklyn-based indie pop group associated with The Elephant Six Collective. History Started in 1995 by Gary Olson, Edward Powers and Javier Villegas, The Ladybug Transistor released '' Marlborough Farms'' the sa ...

'' (2003) *''

'' (2007) *''

'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladybug Transistors, The The Elephant 6 Recording Company artists Musical groups from Brooklyn Musical groups established in 1995 Merge Records artists Low Transit Industries artists