The Elephant 6 Mystery Plus Opinions on Jack White & Sharon Van Etten
Elephant 6 was more than a record label, it was an artistic movement that included the bands Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples in Stereo and Olivia Tremor Control among many others. Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot talk with Adam Clair about his book on Elephant 6, "Endless Endless." Plus Jim and Greg also review new albums by Jack White and Sharon Van Etten.
Jack White attained guitar hero status for his work in The White Stripes, but last month released his fourth album under his own name, Fear Of The Dawn. It has a broader sonic palette than his previous albums and Jim and Greg end up disagreeing on how successful it is.
We've Been Going About This All WrongSharon Van Etten
Sharon Van Etten’s sixth album We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong is intended to be heard as a whole. There have been no advance singles available before the release date. Jim and Greg agree the wait is worth it, though. They both think this could be the best album she’s ever made.
Elephant 6
Author Adam Clair spent 13 years writing “Endless Endless: A Lo-Fi History of the Elephant 6 Mystery.” Three of those years he lived in Athens, Georgia immersing himself in the community of musicians who made Elephant 6 legendary. He discusses the core bands The Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control and talks about how Neutral Milk Hotel leader Jeff Mangum disappeared after releasing their second album, “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea” and eventually came back for reunion tours- even headlining Coachella.
Featured Songs:
The Apples in Stereo, "Seems So ," Tone Soul Evolution, spinART, 1997
Jack White, "Taking Me Back," Fear Of The Dawn, Third Man, 2022
Jack White, "What's The Trick?," Fear Of The Dawn, Third Man, 2022
Jack White, "Hi-De-Ho (feat. Q-Tip)," Fear Of The Dawn, Third Man, 2022
Jack White, "Shedding My Velvet," Fear Of The Dawn, Third Man, 2022
Sharon Van Etten, "I'll Try," We've Been Going About This All Wrong, Jagjaguwar, 2022
Sharon Van Etten, "Anything," We've Been Going About This All Wrong, Jagjaguwar, 2022
Sharon Van Etten, "Darkness Fades," We've Been Going About This All Wrong, Jagjaguwar, 2022
Sharon Van Etten, "Far Away," We've Been Going About This All Wrong, Jagjaguwar, 2022
Sharon Van Etten, "Headspace," We've Been Going About This All Wrong, Jagjaguwar, 2022
Sharon Van Etten, "Come Back," We've Been Going About This All Wrong, Jagjaguwar, 2022
Neutral Milk Hotel, "Two Headed Boy," In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Merge, 1998
Olivia Tremor Control, "Define A Transparent Dream," Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle, Elephant 6, 1996
Neutral Milk Hotel, "Holland, 1945," In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Merge, 1998
The Music Tapes, "Saw Pingpong and Orchestra," Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes, Merge, 2008
For more than 15 years, Sound Opinions was a production of WBEZ, Chicago's public radio station. Now that the show is independent, we're inviting you to join the band and lend a hand! We need your support more than ever because now we have to do all the behind-the-scenes work that WBEZ handled before (like buying insurance and paying for podcast hosting, ugh). Plus, we have some exciting ideas we'd like to try now that there's no one to tell us no!
Please consider becoming a Sound Opinions member by giving whatever you can via Patreon or with a one-time donation through PayPal. Thanks for listening, and thanks for your support!