Mercury Rev is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band formed in 1989 in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

.
Original personnel were David Baker (vocals),

Jonathan Donahue Jonathan Daniel Donahue (born May 6, 1966) is an American rock musician. He is best known as the frontman and a founding member of Mercury Rev, with whom he has released nine studio albums since 1991. He is also a former member of The Flaming Lips ...

(vocals, guitars), Sean Mackowiak, known as " Grasshopper" (guitars, clarinet),

Dave Fridmann David Lawrence Fridmann is an American record producer and musician. Career From 1990 onwards he co-produced most releases by Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips. Other bands he has worked with include Weezer, Saxon Shore, Neon Indian, Wolf Gang, ...

(bass guitar), Suzanne Thorpe (flute) and Jimy Chambers (drums).

History

The first years with David Baker

The band's members met while students at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

. Buffalo

media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media Studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly ...

professor

Tony Conrad Anthony Schmalz Conrad (March 7, 1940 – April 9, 2016) was an American video artist, experimental filmmaker, musician, composer, sound artist, teacher, and writer. Active in a variety of media since the early 1960s, he was a pioneer of both ...

was a strong artistic influence on co-founder Grasshopper. The band was initially formed to score its members' student films. With their early records, Mercury Rev offered

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

, which gradually shifted to a melodic, ornate sound. Mercury Rev is often compared to

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...

, and share close ties: soon after the band's formation, Donahue also joined the Flaming Lips as second guitarist and appeared on two of their albums; and since the 1990 album ''

In a Priest Driven Ambulance ''In a Priest Driven Ambulance (With Silver Sunshine Stares)'' is the fourth album by The Flaming Lips, released in 1990. It is a concept album primarily focused on frontman Wayne Coyne's fascination with religion. It is generally considered amon ...

'', Dave Fridmann has co-produced every Flaming Lips studio album to date except 1993's ''

Transmissions from the Satellite Heart ''Transmissions from the Satellite Heart'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band the Flaming Lips, released in 1993 by Warner Bros. Records. The album marked the departure of Jonathan Donahue (to Mercury Rev) and Nathan Roberts, and the ...

''. Despite considerable critical acclaim, their early releases never gave Mercury Rev more than

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

popularity, though they appeared on the smaller second stage at some 1993

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

stops. Baker left after their second record, '' Boces'' (1993), citing musical and personal disputes; he later recorded an album as Shady. With his departure, the thematically darker and musically experimental features of the band began to disappear.

Transitional period

The band's first post-Baker album, '' See You on the Other Side'' (1995) contained a variety of styles, including a sprawling psychedelic opening track and noise rock numbers like "Young Man's Stride" (for which a music video was released), but also more melodic songs, such as "Sudden Ray of Hope". That year, the group also recorded and released the album, ''Paralyzed Mind Of The Archangel Void'', under the moniker "Harmony Rockets". The album featured a single forty minute track of mostly instrumental psychedelic improvised music. It was rated four and half stars, out of five, by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. The group performed it again in the Don't Look Back concert series in 2009.

Wide critical and commercial success

Beginning in the late 1990s, the band based itself in

Kingston, New York Kingston is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with t ...

where Donahue was born. The 1998 release of the acclaimed ''

Deserter's Songs ''Deserter's Songs'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Mercury Rev, released in late September 1998. British music magazine ''NME'' named ''Deserter's Songs'' album of the year for 1998. Limited edition copies of the album came in ...

'' (which featured appearances by

Garth Hudson Eric "Garth" Hudson (born August 2, 1937) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a ...

and

Levon Helm Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm (May 26, 1940 – April 19, 2012) was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. H ...

of The Band) made Mercury Rev unexpected pop stars. In the UK, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' magazine made ''Deserter's Songs'' their Album of the Year. Donahue's earnest, high-pitched vocals and concentration on relatively concise, melodic songs gave the band's material an entirely new feel and much increased popularity (''Deserter's Songs'' spawned three UK Top 40 singles: " Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp", "Opus 40" and " Goddess On A Hiway"). ''

All Is Dream ''All Is Dream'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Mercury Rev. It was released in the United Kingdom on August 27, 2001, in France on August 28, 2001, and in the United States on September 11, 2001. The album's front cover features h ...

'' was issued in 2001 and became the band's highest charting album in the UK to date (#11). It included "Little Rhymes", "Nite And Fog" and "The Dark is Rising," which reached No. 16 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. David Bowie producer

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

arranged strings for the album.

Later years

Mercury Rev's '' The Secret Migration'' was released on January 24, 2005. It featured the UK Top 40 single "In A Funny Way" (#28). The album itself reached #16 in the UK Albums chart. It was followed up in 2006, by a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, '' The Essential Mercury Rev: Stillness Breathes 1991-2006'' and the film soundtrack album ''Hello Blackbird''. The band released a pair of albums on September 29, 2008: '' Snowflake Midnight'', and a free MP3 album of instrumentals, '' Strange Attractor''. '' The Light in You'' was released on October 2, 2015 through

Bella Union Bella Union is a British independent record label founded in 1997 by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. It is now run solely by Raymonde. History After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twin ...

, their first studio album in seven years. It reached #39 on the UK albums chart. Mercury Rev's most recent album, a reworking of

Bobbie Gentry Bobbie Gentry (born Roberta Lee Streeter; July 27, 1942) is a retired American singer-songwriter, who was one of the first female artists in America to compose and produce her own material. Gentry rose to international fame in 1967 with her Sou ...

's seminal album ''

The Delta Sweete ''The Delta Sweete'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bobbie Gentry. It was released on February 5, 1968, by Capitol Records. The album was produced by Kelly Gordon. Background One week after "Ode to Billie Joe" conclude ...

'', was released in February 2019. The album features instrumentation by Mercury Rev and a female guest singer unique to each song.

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

, actress

Carice van Houten Carice Anouk van Houten () is a Dutch actress and singer (born 5 September 1976 in Leiderdorp). Her first leading role in the television film ''Suzy Q'' (1999) won her the Golden Calf for Best Acting in a Television Drama; two years later, s ...

, Beth Orton and

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

were among the vocalists. The album was another UK Top 40 hit in the UK for the band (#32). "Holes" was covered by The National's lead singer

Matt Berninger Matthew Donald Berninger (, born February 13, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter, primarily known as the frontman and lyricist of indie rock band The National. In 2014, he also formed the EL VY project with Brent Knopf of Ramona Falls and ...

in 2020.

Trivia

In 2021 "Holes" was featured in the popular ''

Sing 2 ''Sing 2'' is a 2021 American computer-animated jukebox musical comedy film produced by Illumination and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to ''Sing'' (2016) and the second film in the franchise, it was again written and directed ...

'' movie. Other movies in which the band's songs can be heard are ''

Gunpowder Milkshake ''Gunpowder Milkshake'' is a 2021 action thriller film directed by Navot Papushado, with a script co-written by Papushado and Ehud Lavski. The film stars Karen Gillan as a young hitwoman who must team up with her estranged mother (Lena Headey) and ...

'' (2020, "Goddess On A Hiway") and '' Love And Monsters'' (2020, "Opus 40").

Band members

– vocals and guitar * Sean "Grasshopper" Mackowiak – guitar, keyboards, clarinet, tettix wave accumulator * Ted Young – live sound * Marion Genser - Mellotron, Vox Organ * Chris Heitzman – bass * Don McGreevy - drums

Discography

Albums

Compilation albums, live albums and soundtracks

* 2002 - ''Instant Karma - A Tribute to John Lennon'' (song, " Isolation") * 2004 - " Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered" * 2006 - '' The Essential Mercury Rev: Stillness Breathes 1991-2006'' * 2006 - ''Hello Blackbird'' (soundtrack to the film ''Bye Bye Blackbird'') * 2006 - ''Back to Mine'' (compiled by Mercury Rev, includes exclusive new track "Cecilla's Lunar Expose") * 2009 - ''The Peel Sessions'' * 2011 - ''Beyond The Swirling Clouds - An Evening At Barrowland Ballroom'' Recorded live on March 6th 2005 at Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow. * 2012 - ''Live In Brixton '92''

Singles and EPs

* 1992 - "Lego My Ego'" (re-released with 1999 re-issue of "Yerself Is Steam") * 1992 - "Car Wash Hair" * 1992 - "If You Want Me to Stay" * 1993 - "The Hum Is Coming From Her" * 1993 - "Chasing a Bee" * 1993 - "Bronx Cheer" * 1993 - "Something for Joey" * 1995 - "Everlasting Arm" * 1995 - "Young Man's Stride" * 1998 - " Goddess on a Hiway" - UK No. 51 * 1998 - " Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp" - No. 26 * 1999 - "Opus 40" - No. 31 * 1999 - "

Holes A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

" (Australia only) * 1999 - "Goddess on a Hiway" - No. 26 (1999 re-issue) * 2001 - "Nite and Fog" - No. 47 * 2002 - "The Dark Is Rising" - No. 16 * 2002 - "Little Rhymes" - No. 51 * 2004 - "Secret for a Song" (internet download only) * 2005 - "In a Funny Way" - No. 28 * 2005 - "Across Yer Ocean" - No. 54 * 2008 - "Senses on Fire" * 2009 - "Butterfly's Wing"

Other contributions

*''Acoustic 05'' (2005,

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

) - "First Time Mothers Joy" *'' Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy'' (2009,

Mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonal ...

) - "Sailors and Animals" (

Miracle Legion Miracle Legion was an American college rock band formed in 1983 in New Haven, Connecticut. They earned modest renown, especially in their native New England region, but also in the UK, where they were feted by music media such as '' NME'' and ''Me ...

cover)

References

External links

* *
Mercury Rev at WorldMusicDatabase

V2Music: Mercury Rev

Review of 'Butterfly's Wings'

Silvertone Series No. 2
Mercury Rev in Russia. An interview for Podstantsiya.ru {{Authority control Alternative rock groups from New York (state) Chamber pop musicians Indie rock musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 1989 Neo-psychedelia groups Musical groups from Buffalo, New York Psychedelic pop music groups Avant-pop musicians Rock music groups from New York (state) Beggars Banquet Records artists Columbia Records artists Rough Trade Records artists V2 Records artists Sibling musical groups 1989 establishments in New York (state) Yep Roc Records artists Bella Union artists Partisan Records artists