Some pipes you see/

Some pipes you don't.

And the solo recording project of Pete Erchick from The Olivia Tremor Control has gone largely unheard, which is a shame. Pete joined the Olivias between that band's two albums, and sang lead vocals on the track "I Have Been Floated" (with Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum taking one verse) on Black Foliage. In 2001, with the band on hiatus, Pete--already a member of the new Olivia off-shoot Circulatory System--began releasing his own private recordings under the moniker Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't. He appeared on the compilations Naked in the Afternoon and U.S. Pop Life Vol. 5: Athens, and self-released the CD Individualized Shirts. Not entirely a solo project, the album also featured friends from Olivia Tremor Control (John Fernandes, Eric Harris, and W. Cullen Hart), along with Scott Spillane of the Gerbils, Heather McIntosh of The Instruments, J. Kirk Pleasant of Calvin, Don't Jump!, Andy Gonzales of Marshmallow Coast, and Jeff Mangum, among others. Although the initial run was limited, it was later picked up and released by Orange Twin.

To accompany a tour, in 2002 Pete released a follow-up album, Special Fanfare for Anything, on CD-R in a limited run of 100 copies. The personnel consists mostly of Pete on this one, although the Gerbils' John d'Azzo contributes accordion to "Ash Got Locked in the Sallyport." Some who ordered the album received a mysterious bonus CD-R of recordings edited from a random selection of radio stations. Although Pete has kept busy in the years since, and sometimes talks about an official release of Special Fanfare, he's kept busy playing in Circulatory System and The Instruments, and with Olivia Tremor Control on their recent reunion tour.

As for Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't, it's some pretty dreamy psychedelic pop, as hazy as a half-remembered tune thought up in a dream. The lyrics range from the totally surreal to the overtly satirical--a good example of the latter being "North Carolina," one of the first PYSPYD recordings, which offers a new, bracing state slogan: "There's no turning back/North Carolina." Appropriately, the song finishes off Special Fanfare, which is the more cheerily unhinged of the two albums. (The bonus track on the album is a random cover of Nelly's "Hot in Here.") The album also features more of the PYSPYD mascot, a rep from "J&H Productions" who links tracks with run-on sentences that threaten to plummet off the side of the CD. But at his best, Pete provides some lovely pieces of pop music, particularly on Individualized Shirts, and the standouts "Ten Thousand Years Old" and "Karaoke Free." The fuzz-rock instrumental "Big Giant," for which Hart and Mangum provide drums, is another highlight. Stalwart Elephant 6 fans have been patiently awaiting another album for the past five years, but no definite plans have yet materialized. Below are two tracks to introduce you to the Pipes sound, one from each album.

Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't - Karaoke Free
Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't - Ash Got Locked in the Sallyport