Artist	Song
Neutral Milk Hotel	In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)
The Apples In Stereo	Energy
from New Magnetic Wonder (2007)
The Olivia Tremor Control	Jumping Fences
from Music From The Unrealized Film Script: Dusk At Cubist Castle (2004)
of Montreal	Don't Ask Me to Explain
from Cherry Peel (2008)
Elf Power	Jane
from A Dream In Sound (2006)
Dressy Bessy	Just Like Henry
from Pink Hearts, Yellow Moons (1999)
The Essex Green	Don't Know Why (You Stay)
from Cannibal Sea (2006)
The Minders	Hooray for Tuesday
from Hooray for Tuesday (2004)
The Apples In Stereo	Tidal Wave
from Science Faire (2009)
Music Tapes	Song of the Nomad Lost
from 1st Imaginary Symphony for Nomad (1999)
Neutral Milk Hotel	The King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 1
from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)
Marshmallow Coast	Seniors and Juniors
from Seniors and Juniors (1999)
The Olivia Tremor Control	Hideway
from Black Foliage: Animation Music (Remastered) (2004)
Circulatory System	The Lovely Universe
from Circulatory System (2003)
The Ladybug Transistor	Six Times
from The Albemarle Sound (1999)
Ulysses	The Falcon
from .010 (2004)
Marbles	Something Nothing Everything
from The Bigtop (Songs from the Film By Devon Reed) (2007)
Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't	Million Pieces
from Industrialized Shirts (2004)
Beulah	If We Can Land a Man On the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart
from When Your Heartstrings Break (2003)
of Montreal	Requiem for O.M.M. 2
from The Sunlandic Twins (2010)
The Gerbils	The Air We Share
from The Battle of Electricity (2004)
The Apples In Stereo	Same Old Drag
from New Magnetic Wonder (2007)
Great Lakes	This Will Be Our Year
from The Distance Between (2004)
A Hawk and a Hacksaw	Portlandtown
from Darkness At Noon (2005)
The Ladybug Transistor	Meadowport Arch
from The Albemarle Sound (1999)
The High Water Marks	About the Ocean
from Songs About the Ocean (2004)
Elf Power	Boots of Lead
from Elf Power (2010)
The Instruments	Carnival
from Billions of Phonographs (2002)
Major Organ And The Adding Machine	Life Forms (Transmission Received)
from Major Organ and the Adding Machine (2004)
The Late B.P. Helium	Don't Let Me Wait Too Long
from Kumquat Mae - EP (2004)
Dressy Bessy	California
from The California - EP (2000)
The Essex Green	Mrs. Bean
from Everything Is Green (1999)
Marshmallow Coast	Lonliest Heart In Texas
from Coasting (2009)
Jeff Mangum	Engine
from Live At Jittery Joe's (2004)
The Gerbils	Lucky Girl
from The Battle of Electricity (2004)
Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't	Moon River
from Industrialized Shirts (2004)
Music Tapes	Song for the Death of Parents
from 1st Imaginary Symphony for Nomad (1999)
Neutral Milk Hotel	Song Against Sex
from On Avery Island (1996)
Beulah	Sunday Under Glass
from When Your Heartstrings Break (2003)
Miles Kurosky	Pink Lips, Black Lungs
from The Desert of Shallow Effects (Bonus Track Version) (2010)
The Olivia Tremor Control	Fireplace
from Presents: Singles And Beyond (2000)
The Frosted Ambassador	Untitled
from The Frosted Ambassador (1999)
Neutral Milk Hotel	Holland, 1945
from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)
The Sunshine Fix	Future History and the Irrelevance of Time
from The Future History of a Sunshine Fix (2001)
Visitations	Blessed Flying Object
from Visitations (2005)

Comment:

Elephant 6 began like so many other record store legends — a merry gang of high school friends (Robert Schneider, Bill Doss, Will Cullen Hart, and Jeff Mangum) sharing their love of the Beatles and Beach Boys along with a burning, almost painful desire to make musical history of their own. In their case, this meant pursuing a joyful, genre-less universe of long-lost instruments (flügelhorns, singing saws, sitars) and decidedly lo-fi indie pop. That's only the half of it, too. Between all the side projects and divergent sounds gathered in our Essentials set, you're bound to discover enough overlooked gems (Chocolate U.S.A., the High Water Marks, the Minders) among the obvious (Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, the Apples in Stereo) to fill six months' worth of music store shopping lists.

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