Yellow Elephant

If the City of Lost Children was a real place, this group would certainly hail from there. With an aesthetic that recalls Self-Non-Self-era Cranes with elements of early Laurie Anderson, Yellow Elephant’s hypnotic drones and musique concrète/found-sound take on pop is not like much of anything today, but rather artistically...

By Tom Murphy

November 13, 2008

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If the City of Lost Children was a real place, this group would certainly hail from there. With an aesthetic that recalls Self-Non-Self-era Cranes with elements of early Laurie Anderson, Yellow Elephant’s hypnotic drones and musique concrète/found-sound take on pop is not like much of anything today, but rather artistically kindred to the latest wave of neo-tribal and lo-fi post-punk bands such as Modern Witch and Blank Dogs. There is a cinematic quality to the group’s music that suggests impressionist paintings cast upon the air to shimmer and fade, replaced by equally vivid images of a paradoxically haunting and soothing quality. While still a new outfit, Yellow Elephant (due at the Denver Zine Library, 1644 Platte Street, this Saturday, November 15) has forged a compellingly unique musical identity that’s not easy to forget.
Sat., Nov. 15, 2008

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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