''Mary's Voice'' is an album by

The Music Tapes The Music Tapes is an experimental pop music and performance art project of Elephant 6 member Julian Koster (also of Neutral Milk Hotel). The Music Tapes is characterized by unusual orchestrations (such as singing saw and bowed banjo), the use of ...

. Material from the album was previewed during the band's previous caroling tours. In the lead-up to the album,

Julian Koster Julian Koster (born July 26, 1972) is an American multidisciplinary artist. As a musician he is a member of the Elephant 6 Collective, the leader of The Music Tapes, and a member of Neutral Milk Hotel. He is known for writing, directing, and act ...

held a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign for a subsequent tour, with rewards including signed copies/master copies of the album, personalized messages and images, and Koster's banjo used on previous albums, most notably

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock ...

's ''

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea ''In the Aeroplane Over the Sea'' is the second studio album by American rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released on February 10, 1998, by Merge Records. The music is predominantly indie rock and psychedelic folk, and is characterized by an inten ...

''. The album also features additional instrumentation from several members of the

Elephant 6 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, ...

. A music video for "S’Alive to Be Known (May We Starve)" premiered on MTV Hive shortly after the album's release.

Track listing

#"The Dark Is Singing Songs (Sleepy Time Down South)" – 4:42 #"Saw and Calliope Organ on Wire" – 0:57 #"S' Alive (Pt. 1)" – 0:57 #"The Big Beautiful Shops (It's Said That It Could Be Anyone)" – 5:03 #"Spare the Dark Streets" – 4:16 #"To All Who Say Goodnight" – 5:24 #"Intermission (Pt. 1)" – 0:08 #"Intermission (Pt. 2)" – 0:08 #"Kolyada #3" – 1:43 #"Playing ''Evening''" – 4:33 #"Go Home Again" – 3:29 #"S' Alive to Be Known (May We Starve)" – 3:22 #"Untitled" – 0:16 #"Takeshi and Elijah" – 6:37 Note: The tracks "Intermission (Pt. 1)" and "Intermission (Pt. 2)" only appear on the CD and digital versions of the album. They are included to represent the flipping of a vinyl record.

External links

Official site of The Music TapesMerge Records site for ''Mary's Voice''Stream of ''Mary's Voice''Merge Records site for The Music Tapes

References

{{Authority control 2012 albums Merge Records albums The Music Tapes albums