Elf Power

Infobox musical artist |
Name = Elf Power


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Origin = Athens, GA, USA
Genre = Indie pop, Neo-psychedelia, Psych pop revival
Years_active = 1994 to Present
Label = Arena Rock Recording Co. Elephant Six spinArt
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URL = http://www.elfpower.com/
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Elf Power is an indie rock band. They are originally from Athens, Georgia, and consist of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Jimmy Hughes, bassist Derek Almstead, Eric Harris, cellist Heather McIntosh, and drummer Josh Lott. They are part of the Elephant Six Collective.

History

The band began as a four-track recording project of Rieger, his girlfriend Carter, Raleigh Hatfield and Dave Wrathgeber, later of Fablefactory. The recording sessions eventually resulted in the first incarnation of their album "Vainly Clutching at Phantom Limbs", following some small self-released cassette recordings. The band became more formally realized when Reiger and Carter had Bryan Poole, known as The Late B.P. Helium, joined the band. They played some shows and continued to record, but Poole stayed in Athens to continue work with Of Montreal while Rieger and Carter moved to New York City.

Upon their move to New York, "The Winter Hawk EP" was released, and Rieger and Carter were convinced to move back to Athens. There, the band's second album, "When the Red King Comes" was recorded and released as a joint venture between the Arena Rock Recording Co. and the Elephant Six label. The album featured contributions by members of The Olivia Tremor Control, Kevin Barnes from Of Montreal, and Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel.

Shortly following the release of "When the Red King Comes", Elf Power collaborated with Dave Fridmann, best known for his work with the Flaming Lips, to record the album "A Dream in Sound". The album was again recorded with the help of Mangum and Barnes, as well as Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and the Gerbils.

During the tour for "A Dream in Sound", Adrian Finch joined the band to play violin, and the covers EP "Come On" was recorded. Shortly following that, "Vainly Clutching at Phantom Limbs" was reissued with material from early singles and EPs.

The band regrouped in late 2000 to record their album "The Winter is Coming", again with help from members of other Elephant Six bands. Bryan Poole would exit the band for good following the European tour for this album to focus on solo work. The band also spent time opening for fellow Athens band R.E.M. and Wilco during this time.

2002 brought two albums from the band: "Creatures", an effort released by spinART, and "Nothing's Going to Happen", an effort released on Orange Twin Records that contained various cover songs and the "Come On" EP. Also, Finch left the lineup and Ballard Lesemann stepped in to play bass.

2004 marked the release of their album "Walking with the Beggar Boys". Released with sizable media and critical attention, it featured contributions from Vic Chesnutt.

The band released their latest the Almstead recorded album, "Back to the Web", on Rykodisc in April 2006 and toured the United States and Europe. They were also chosen to play the United Kingdom 2006 All Tomorrow's Parties music festival curated by the Shins.

A new album, "In A Cave," is to be released in March of 2008. From their myspace: "Currently Andrew Rieger, Derek Almstead, Jimmy Hughes, Eric Harris, Laura Carter, and Heather McIntosh (the members of Elf Power) just completed their eighth album entitled "In A Cave" which will also be released by Rykodisc (March 2008). "In A Cave" is a lushly orchestrated mix of eclectic songwriting that is sure to conjure up memories of 1997's "When the Red King Comes", but with a more mature approach to arrangements, lyrics, and instrumentation." A review of the album is posted on an elephant six fansite, [http://www.opticalatlas.com] giving very high praise. "What’s important is that all these songs, lit with the quality of Rieger’s songwriting, fuse together seamlessly to produce a wonderful album, probably the best to come from Elf Power in a while."

Discography

Elf Power have released a number of albums and EPs on a variety of labels.

Albums

* "Curse of Yoth-Bal-Tzar" (cassette) - Self-Released - 1994
* "Hekinah Degul" (Cassette) - Self-Released - 1994
* "Vainly Clutching at Phantom Limbs" (LP/CD) - Self-released / Drug Racer / Arena Rock Recording Co. - 1995
* "When the Red King Comes" (LP/CD) - Arena Rock Recording Co. / Elephant 6 - 1997
* "A Dream in Sound" - (LP/CD) - Arena Rock Recording Co. / Elephant 6 - 1999
* "The Winter Is Coming" (CD) - Sugar Free Records / Elephant 6 - 2000
* "Creatures" (CD) - spinART - 2002
* "Nothing's Going to Happen" (CD) - Orange Twin Records - 2002
* "Walking with the Beggar Boys" (CD) - Low Transit Industries / Orange Twin - 2004
* "Back to the Web" (CD) - Rykodisc - 2006
* "Treasures from the Trash Heap" (CD) - Self-Released - 2006
* "In a Cave" (CD) - Rykodisk - March 25 2008

EPs

* "The Winter Hawk EP" (Cassette/7") - Self-released / Kindercore Records - 1995
* "Come On" (CD) - Drug Racer - 1999

ingles

* Kindercore Singles Slub: May split single with Great Lakes (7") - Kindercore Records - 2000
* "Jane/Needles in the Camel's Eyes" (CD) - Shifty Disco - 2000
* "High Atop the Silver Branches" (CD) - Shifty Disco - 2001
* "The Naughty Villain" (7") - Shifty Disco - 2002

External links

* [http://www.elfpower.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.discollective.com/music/SideOne:ElfPower Andrew Rieger's Discollective Mixtape]
* [http://www.fabchannel.com/elfpower Fabchannel.com - Watch the video of Elf Power live at Paradiso, Amsterdam]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:lga9kectkq7z~T0 Elf Power on the All Music Guide]
* [http://www.arenarock.com Arena Rock Recording Co.]
*" [http://archive.cbcradio3.com/issues/2004_10_29/main.cfm?IssueId=159&page=17 Head in the Clouds: The Lore of Elf Power] " CBC Radio 3 Live Concert Session; story by Lorraine Carpenter, photography by Adam Krawesky