Whatever happened to the Elephant 6 collective? The wide-ranging set of artists and bands that were part of the loose-folded collective made some of the best and most inventive music of the second part of the nineties, and some of the formal (or not so formal) members of the collective, like Of Montreal, are still around and still creating some intriguing music.
Eugene Oregon resident Sean McFarlane at his still tender age of 21, could not have been part of Elephant 6 but his music which he presents under his Trimmo moniker on his latest album Arizona could fit in quite snugly along some of the better Elephant 6 releases, particularly those that were labeled left-field singer/songwriter fare, where that left field part would include some of the experimentation Olivia Tremor Control were fond of, like here on ‘Charlie’s Dream’, and elsewhere on the album.
It is actually all these seemingly tiny arrangement touches that give the right colouring to McFarlane’s music, which themselves wouldn’t make much difference if his songwriting and performance were under par, and as a multi-instrumentalist, McFarlane also handles himself great throughout the album.
This Arizona might not be full of sand, but it is these seemingly small grains of music that make it sound quite big, actually. One of the hidden gems of this year so far.
