1st Imaginary Symphony For Nomad was an album released by The Music Tapes

The Music Tapes

The Music Tapes is an experimental pop music project of Elephant 6 member Julian Koster, also of Neutral Milk Hotel, and the earlier Chocolate U.S.A....

, a project consisting mainly of Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel

Neutral Milk Hotel was an American indie rock band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Mangum in the early 1990s. The band was noted for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and eclectic instrumentation....

's Julian Koster

Julian Koster

Julian Koster is an American underground musician and storyteller. A member of the Elephant 6 Collective, he is the leader of The Music Tapes, and a former member of Neutral Milk Hotel and Chocolate USA. He is also an influential and long time performer on the singing or Musical Saw...

 in 1999 by Merge Records

Merge Records

Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...

. It was recorded mainly on vintage equipment, using equipment such as a 1895 Edison wax cylinder recorder

Phonograph cylinder

Phonograph cylinders were the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity , these cylinder shaped objects had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which could be reproduced when the cylinder was...

, a 1940's wire recorder, a "state of the art hard drive", and reel to reel tape recorder

Tape recorder

An audio tape recorder, tape deck, reel-to-reel tape deck, cassette deck or tape machine is an audio storage device that records and plays back sounds, including articulated voices, usually using magnetic tape, either wound on a reel or in a cassette, for storage...

s, hence its lo-fi sound. A partial concept record, among its themes the power of television, and the death of 1950s actor George Reeves

George Reeves

George Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman....

, who played the hero Superman and whom Koster

Julian Koster

Julian Koster is an American underground musician and storyteller. A member of the Elephant 6 Collective, he is the leader of The Music Tapes, and a former member of Neutral Milk Hotel and Chocolate USA. He is also an influential and long time performer on the singing or Musical Saw...

 was entranced with as a child. The album took over 4 years to assemble, being recorded mainly at the home of the Grandmother of Music Tapes and Koster's own home. The album mixed straightforward pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 songs with collage

Collage

A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....

, musique concrète

Musique concrète

Musique concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilises acousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sounds derived from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"...

 and traditional storytelling

Storytelling

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...

.

Track listing

1. "Song For Soon To Be Sailor" – 2:16
2. "1st Imaginary Symphony By Vacuum Cleaner" – 1:00
3. "Song Of The Nomad Lost" – 2:34
4. "Pulled Out To Sea" – 1:34
5. "March Of The Father Fists" – 2:35
6. "Nomad Tell Us" – 3:10
7. "Aliens" – 2:32
8. "Song Of 100 Castles" – 0:55
9. "What The Single Made The Needle Sing" – 4:02
10. "The Clapping Hands" – 4:12
11. "Sea's Song For Sailor" – 0:33
12. "The Television Tells Us" – 4:34
13. "An Orchestration's Overture" – 1:53
14. "Song For The Death Of Parents" – 4:02
15. "A Warning!" – 1:30
16. "Fanfare For Speeding Bullet" – 2:13
17. "Wishing Well At Caper's End" – 2:04