Japancakes

Improvisational drone-pop orchestra Japancakes was the brainchild of Athens, GA-based musician Eric Berg, who in 1997 had the idea of organizing a group of ten musicians to take the stage without any previous rehearsals all for the sake of playing a single "D" chord for 45 minutes. Fascinated by the subtle changes and imperfections which textured the performance, Berg began mounting other experiments within a similar conceptual framework; although the onstage lineup often expanded to as many as a dozen instrumentalists, other constants included Nick Bielli, Todd Kelly, Heather McIntosh, John Neff, and Scott Sosebee. The debut Japancakes album, If I Could See Dallas, followed on Kindercore in the autumn of 1999; an EP, Down the Elements, appeared in the spring, and the sophomore effort Sleepy Strange was issued in early 2001. Darla relased Belmondo the following year, and Waking Hours arrived two years later on the Warm imprint. Japancakes switched back to Darla for their two 2007 albums, a cover of My Bloody Valentine's classic album Loveless and an album of original material, Giving Machines, which both arrived that fall.

from Wikipedia:

Japancakes is an American indie rock group based in Athens, GA.

History

Rhythm guitarist Eric Berg formed the band with the idea of putting ten musicians in a band without any rehearsal, and performing a D chord for 45 minutes (similar to Terry Riley's In C). He continued performances with numerous instrumentalists before releasing their first recording If I Could See Dallas on Kindercore Records in 1999. The band settled into a consistent lineup on The Sleepy Strange, released in 2001, also on Kindercore. That lineup, which included pedal steel instrumentalist John Neff, drummer Brant Rackley, keyboardist Todd Kelly, bassist Nick Bielli, and cellist/keyboardist Heather MacIntosh (along with Eric Berg on guitar) also recorded 2002's Belmondo for California's Darla Records imprint. 2003 saw the departure of Todd Kelly, and 2004 saw the release of Waking Hours on the Athens label WARM Recordings.

Japancakes released two albums in fall 2007, Giving Machines and a cover of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, both on Darla Records.

Their first three albums, "If I Could See Dallas," "Down the Elements," and "The Sleepy Strange" were re-released on Darla Records in February 2008.