The Visitations

The Visitations aka Davey Wrathgeber aka David Rathgeber, Jr is probably the most creative person I've ever met in my life. In the 20 + years that we've been friends, he has never ceased to amaze me with his musical abilities - sometimes strange, sometimes funny, sometimes mindblowing, and always unique. You will never confuse Davey's voice or songwriting skills with anyone else. After leaving the DC suburbs for the University of Georgia in 1990 - Davey's freshmen year roommate was Andrew Reiger of Elf Power - he started the folk/rock/alt-country freakshow FableFactory and toured the country playing with his brenthren in the Elephant 6 collective. On a roadtrip to Athens to visit Davey in January of '98 with my friend, Mike, we had coffee with members of Of Montreal and Neutral Milk Hotel before visiting Olivia Tremor Control in the studio. It was quite an absurb amount of musical talent all hanging out together in one place.


In the wake of FableFactory's demise a few years back, Davey formed The Visitations and released the album Propaganda in 2004 with help from Jason Nesmith and Derek Almstead of Of Montreal. Davey sticks to his strengths on the album melding folk music with current events and humor. It is the most literal critique of the current administration ever put to music.

Osama And Your SUV (mp3)
Questionable Intelligence (mp3)
Talkin Hate Radio Blues (mp3)
Television (mp3)
Burn a Flag (4 July) (mp3)
Florida (mp3)

Of Montreal

Just over a year ago I posted about my close childhood friend, Davey Wrathgeber (nee' Rathgeber), who performs under the moniker Visitations. He moved to my town in 6th grade (1984 for those of you keeping track) and we became fast friends. As we moved through high school Dave formed the creative nucleus of our group of friends as we attempted to make music, movies, etc in Suburban DC. In the fall of 1990, he headed off to Athens, GA to attend college and hasn't returned. Dave's freshman roommate at UGA was Andrew Reiger of Elf Power (how creative was that dorm room?).

Over the course of the last 16 years, Dave has formed both creative and personal relationships with a number of the Elephant 6 crew - Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power, Of Montreal and the like. While each band has its own distinct sound, I can't help but think that all of them were big fans of 1967-era Beatles, and early 70's-era Bowie. Finely crafted pop songs with a psychedelic edge.

As much of the hype over the Elephant 6 crew has waned in recent years (despite Robert Schneider of The Apples in Stereo singing on the Colbert Report a few weeks ago), Of Montreal has continued on - moving to Polyvinyl and continuing to put out beautiful pop music. January 23rd will see the release of Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? In keeping with tradition, the songs have absolutely absurd titles. Check out the first single from their new album, "Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse".

Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse (mp3)
Disconnect the Dots (mp3) from Satanic Panic in the Attic
A Question For Emily Foreman (mp3) from Aldhils Arboretum