Who's your favorite Elephant 6 band and why?

I'm not totally familiar with all of them, but really depends on my mood.

Apples in Stereo, cuz...I got nothin'.

Of Montreal and Neutral Milk Hotel are the only bands that I have even had some limited exposure to. I will be of no help in regard to listing a favorite, but I have not been opposed to hearing either of these bands. I just never got into them.

I have heard a couple Apples in Stereo tunes, but I can't say they did anything for me.

I am partial to temporary residence and my newfound Type Records (thanks to Dalen).

EDIT: nice to have you posting after about a year of NOTHIN, whoever you are.

NMH, and Olivia Tremor Control has it moments.

Neutral Milk Hotel and Apples in Stereo are the only Elephant 6 bands I own proper releases of, but I'd say my top three are NMH, Elf Power and Of Montreal are my top three.

Oh, I kinda thought Neutral Milk Hotel was just implied.

I also like Dusk at Cubist Castle by Olivia Tremor Control. I never really paid much attention to Of Montreal, but from the little bit I've heard I'd probably like it.

The Marshmallow Coast

OTC in a landslide. One reason--better songs.

beulah, neutral milk hotel, and apples in stereo are my top-3 elephant 6 bands.

after seeing an absolutely disastrous olivia tremor control set last year, i can't even listen to them. multiple OTC fans said it was by far the worst they'd seen them. some even said it was the worst show they'd ever seen. period. yes, it was terrible.

i like elf power because they use a fuzz bass

The Minders who are now on Future Farmer. Their debut on E6 is, in my estimation, one of the top albums of the 1990s.

Definitely Beulah.

Neutral Milk Hotel hands down...

I do own most if not all of the proper releases and some ep's/other stuff from Beaulah, Apples in Stereo, Of Montreal, The Sunshine Fix, and Elf Power and love them all...

Favorite band that sounds like they were from the Elephant 6 roster but not: Oranger

it's very hard to choose.

tone soul evolution
in the aeroplane over the sea
coquelicot asleep in the poppies
hooray for tuesday

are all awesome albums

bort

1. NMH
2. Beulah


err thats all i really like.....

Neutral Milk Hotel by a fairly large margin... sends chills up my spine and brings tears to my eyes.
Although I do also love The Apples in Stereo, as well.... just perfect pop.

And, yes, this is a pretty great record:

Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System. Hands down.

Black Foliage is one of my favorite all-time albums. The production is fantastic, the vocals work brilliantly, the flow of the tracks are unmatched. It's an entire hallucinogenic trip condensed down to a bit over an hour. And oh yeah, the songwriting is great (on the tracks that are actually songs).

Which OTC show was the disaster mentioned above? I'm curious which date/venue that was.

Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control. I was a late comer to OTC, but damn they've got some catchy songs, great production too.

hmm...looks like i need to check out OTC

Seems like everyone has covered this pretty well; my ranking:
1) NMH - Aeroplanes is one of the two best records of the 90's.
2) Of Montreal - they're the strongest one of the bunch still going and only getting better.
3) Apples in Stereo - i don't have as many of their records as I'd like, but everything i do have i love. so sunny and catchy.
4) OTC - I personally liked their reunion shows in NYC last year, if only because I got to see Jeff Mangum sing. Dusk... is a great record, I definitely had a great summer with it once upon a time.
5) Minders - criminally overlooked.

All things considered, I love bands that love the sixties, and all these bands have kept that spirit and sound alive.

Sounds like I need to hear this. I have a few of their releases, and while I liked them, they seemed a bit inconsistent to me. However, I've never heard their debut album.

For me, the order goes something like this (but could change on any given day):

1. NMH
2. Beulah
3. OTC
4. Apples In Stereo
5. Circulatory System
6. Dressy Bessy
7. Essex Green
8. High Water Marks
9. The Minders
10. Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't
11. Secret Square
12. The Gerbils
13. ulysses
14. Sunshine Fix
15. The Music Tapes

it was sometime last july in chicago.

Interesting - I have the sbd/aud matrix recording of those two shows and they don't sound that bad. Wierd.

I saw the first reunion show in Athens. I'd only seen them a couple of other times back in 99, so it was definitely worth the trip. It doesn't hurt that the trip down to ATH from NJ included a detour through AVL and led to my wife and I relocating to Asheville, so it had that going for it.

The Circulatory System album is probably my favorite E6 release of what little I've heard.

NMH never blew me away like they did so many other people.

The only Of Montreal album that I like at all is Satanic Panic, but I love that one. It's probably my 2nd favorite E6 thing.

I like the OTC albums, too, and I was also at that reunion show in Athens, thanks to Bloor. I thought it was really good, and Elf Power opening was great. I don't think I've ever heard any of their albums, though.

You don't by any chance have a recording of that Athens show, do ya? I actually got info from a dude taping it but he never returned my emails. So I signed him up for some gay pron.

Yeah having seen OTC live a dozen or so times in the late 90's probably has something to do with my rabid affection for them.