pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former descri ...
and
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
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 ...
). The Music Tapes is characterized by unusual orchestrations (such as singing saw and bowed
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
), the use of
musique concrète
Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, wit ...
and narrative storytelling, vintage home-recording practices, and musical inventions (like the 7-foot Tall Metronome and Static the Singing Television). They are also known for their unique live performances, such as the Caroling and Lullaby tours that bring them into the homes of fans, and theatrical shows like The Traveling Imaginary, which takes place in a circus tent.
History
Origins and the 1st Imaginary Symphony for Nomad
The Music Tapes started life as a creative outlet for the 16-year-old Koster, who would create tapes of songs and stories, as means of escapism, which he would share with his friends, culminating in 'The American Phoam Rubber Co. Symphony Orchestra Proudly Presents the 2nd Silly Putty Symphony for Edison Wax Cylinder', which was essentially tape collages. In 1989, Koster formed the band Chocolate U.S.A., a more conventional
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 s ...
band, which also included
Bill Doss
Bill Doss (September 12, 1968 – July 30, 2012The Olivia Tremor Control. The band released two full albums, ''
All Jets Are Gonna Fall Today
''All Jets Are Gonna Fall Today'' is the debut full-length album by the American band Chocolate USA. Released in 1992, it was their first album for Bar/None Records
Bar/None Records is an independent record label based in Hoboken, New Jersey ...
'' and '' Smoke Machine'', before splitting in 1994, after which Koster chose to focus his creative efforts on the Music Tapes once more.
To date, the Music Tapes have released three proper full albums. The first, '' 1st Imaginary Symphony For Nomad'' came out in 1999. A partial concept record, among its themes are the power of television, and the death of 1950's actor George Reeves, who played the superhero
Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...
, who Koster was entranced with as a child. The album took many years to assemble, being recorded in closets and cupboards, and mixing straightforward pop songs with collage and storytelling. Its release was followed by the "House Capsule Tour" in which Julian was joined by fellow Music Tapes
Robbie Cucchiaro
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 ...
and
Eric Harris
Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were an American mass murder duo who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Harris and Klebold ...
The Television Tells Us
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 ...
'' (which both pre-date ''1st Imaginary Symphony For Nomad''), as well as a split 7-inch entitled ''
The Music Tapes and Dad
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 ...
'', wit Dennis Koster Julian's father and a renowned flamenco guitarist.
Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes and The Singing Saw at Christmastime
The Music Tapes were quiet for a number of years before ''
Music Tapes For Clouds and Tornadoes
''Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes'' is an album by The Music Tapes, a project consisting mainly of Neutral Milk Hotel's Julian Koster, released in 2008 by Merge Records. Koster spent nine years recording the album using mainly antique hardw ...
'' was released on August 19, 2008, via Merge Records. It contained 14 songs, two with videos. Some of these songs existed back around the time of '' 1st Imaginary Symphony for Nomad''.
The Music Tapes played Athens Popfest 2008 and participated in the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour that fall, which was organized by Koster himself. In the winter, Julian Koster performed some Music Tapes songs on a caroling tour (see Julian Koster for more information). Merge also released ''
The Singing Saw at Christmastime
''The Singing Saw at Christmastime'' is an album released by Julian Koster on October 7, 2008 by Merge. It features covers of popular Christmas songs played by Julian Koster on the singing saw.
Track listing
#"The First Noel" - 2:26
#"Frosty t ...
'' on October 7. The album featured 12 Christmas songs performed on singing saw and was released under Julian Koster's name rather than The Music Tapes.
Mary's Voice and the Traveling Imaginary
Following ''
Music Tapes For Clouds and Tornadoes
''Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes'' is an album by The Music Tapes, a project consisting mainly of Neutral Milk Hotel's Julian Koster, released in 2008 by Merge Records. Koster spent nine years recording the album using mainly antique hardw ...
'', the band began work on a tripartite "Third Imaginary Symphony", announcing that "Mary's Voice" would be the first of the three albums. The album was preceded in 2011 by ''
Purim's Shadows (The Dark Tours the World)
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 ...
'', an EP including the single "Nantasket".
The band was chosen by
Jeff Mangum
Jeff Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. M ...
of
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 ...
to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that he curated in March 2012 in Minehead, England.
Merge released '' Mary's Voice'' on September 4, 2012. According to Koster, the album was written and recorded in a carnival tent. Koster brought a larger version of said tent, the Traveling Imaginary, on the road for performances beginning in the winter of 2012-2013. The Traveling Imaginary is said to be the first incarnation of a series of larger-scale Music Tapes projects undertaken by the Orbiting Human Circus, a newly official artistic foundation led by Koster as Artistic Director.
Future projects
As '' Mary's Voice'' is said to be the first of three albums comprising the "Third Imaginary Symphony", further albums from the series are anticipated. The band's album '' The 2nd Imaginary Symphony for Cloudmaking'', a story album consisting of the story of a boy named Nigh, who lives with his grandmother who is blind, was completed in 2001 but not officially released until 2017. The album features instrumentation by Koster to back the spoken word recording by
Brian Dewan
Brian Dewan (born 14 June 1963) is an American multi-media artist, who produces music, audio-visual performances, decorative painting, furniture, poetry, filmstrips, illustrations, and musical instruments. He has released three albums of song ...
. The album has actually been finished since 2001 and put through two
CD-R
CD-R (Compact disc-recordable) is a digital optical disc storage format. A CD-R disc is a compact disc that can be written once and read arbitrarily many times.
CD-R discs (CD-Rs) are readable by most CD readers manufactured prior to the i ...
circulations and played on WNYC's Spinning on Air, but had yet to see an official release until 15 years later. About this, Julian stated: "An official release shall be arranged for, but it's not yet as, in truth, I've been too wrapped up in making new things." The album was eventually released in July 2017 through Koster's podcast The Orbiting Human Circus. Another long-rumored record is the as-yet-untitled 'singing saw symphony' with Julian's father on flamenco guitar, though this has yet to see the light of day, and is under slow progress. Lastly, though certainly not least, is a film project, for which Julian was working with director John Cameron Mitchell, known for his film '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch''. The film was set to be an animation, with music by Koster, which iwa also about the boy named Nigh, although not many other details are known. All of these projects have been in the works since the late 1990s, and it is currently unknown whether any will be officially released. Mitchell, who has since worked on several other projects, later collaborated with Koster as a cast member on his ''Orbiting Human Circus'' narrative podcast.
Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes
''Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes'' is an album by The Music Tapes, a project consisting mainly of Neutral Milk Hotel's Julian Koster, released in 2008 by Merge Records. Koster spent nine years recording the album using mainly antique hardw ...
'' (Merge; CD/LP; 2008)
* ''
The Singing Saw at Christmastime
''The Singing Saw at Christmastime'' is an album released by Julian Koster on October 7, 2008 by Merge. It features covers of popular Christmas songs played by Julian Koster on the singing saw.
Track listing
#"The First Noel" - 2:26
#"Frosty t ...
*'' Purim's Shadows (The Dark Tours the World)'' ( Merge;
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
/
FLAC
FLAC (; Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation, and is also the name of the free software project producing the FLAC tools, the reference softwa ...
/ Kazoo; 2011)
*''The Orbiting Human Circus'' (Merge; MP3; 2017)
Singles
* ''Please Hear Mr. Flight Control'' (
Elephant Six
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, ...
Elephant Six
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, ...
; 7-inch; 1998)
* ''The Music Tapes and Dad'' (Given free with 'Stop Smiling Magazine' No. 8; 7-inch; 2000)
* ''The Sea of Tranquility'' ( Merge;
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
/
FLAC
FLAC (; Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation, and is also the name of the free software project producing the FLAC tools, the reference softwa ...
compilation album
A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...