This Major Organ album is quite possibly the most confusing and alienating record born from the great womb of the Elephant 6. Suspected fathers from bands Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, Apples In Stereo and Olivia Tremor Control came together and… made… this! It’s definitely a pop-album, one slathered in sounds reminiscent of the “Combinations” from OTC’s album Black Foliage; spliced-up tape pieces, pastiches of perverted pop, “non-music” to some (or perhaps to most). Those who dislike the weirdness of OTC’s splintered weirdo songs or NMH’s bent carnival music would best ignore this; you won’t find what you want here. Here are a lot of songs, many ideas of songs, buried under electronic gauze and hazy shards of broken sounds. Anything that makes a noise is an instrument. It’s very strange and it’s very, very beautiful.
This reissue tacks on 8 bonus tracks, including the Christmas compilation contribution, a cover of “What A Wonderful World” (pretty tough to muck this one up) and a DVD of the same name. It’s a short film starring E6 luminaries, weird costumes, homemade creations and two cute kids plunked down in one of the weirdest situations committed to video. Both the album and movie are whimsical and childlike, expression without fear of rejection. That kind of innocent experimentation yields a bushel of aural happiness. And it’s a great bonus for the CD-buying consumer. There’s a lot of gold that there well, you just gotta go deep ’n’ dig. (Orange Twin, www.orangetwin.com) Patrick Michalishyn