Biography
Hailing from Milwaukee, the ensemble Collections of Colonies of Bees has kept guitarist Chris Rosenau as its lone unchanging participant, a musician also recognized for co-founding the post-rock outfit Pele. Rosenau launched the project in 1998 alongside percussionist Jon Mueller, another Pele alumnus, and over time the band shifted from an abstract, demanding experimental endeavor into a more streamlined, driving rock unit noted for its commanding stage presence. Early efforts such as the 1998 self-titled debut and 2002’s fa.ce (a blended acoustic guitars with glitchy electronics. By 2004’s Customer the lineup had expanded, and later releases including 2008’s Birds and 2011’s Giving emphasized melodic, hypnotic qualities. The 2018 album HAWAII marked the group’s first collection of songs with lyrics and its most approachable recording to date.
After Pele issued its debut album and EPs in 1998, Rosenau and Mueller cut a self-titled set of rustic, minimalist pieces as Collections of Colonies of Bees. Initially circulated as handmade CD-Rs whose covers were fashioned from discarded world maps, the album later appeared on the U.K. label the Rosewood Union. The more bluegrass-leaning Rance, among the earliest titles on Mueller’s Crouton imprint, surfaced in 2000. Next came 2002’s fa.ce (a, each copy featuring distinct cover art. The limited CD-R Meyou, documenting a 1998 performance, arrived in 2003, after which Swedish imprint Pillowscars issued Stuck, the first Collections release to incorporate laptop musician Jon Minor.
Following Pele’s 2004 dissolution, Collections became the primary vehicle for Rosenau and Mueller. Jim Schoenecker, performing as Pressboard, joined on synthesizers; during Pele’s final tour that January the band issued the limited CD-R Eyebrows, which reworked material originally composed for Pele. The group then moved to Pele’s former home Polyvinyl for Customer, an expansive full-length merging free-form electronics with wistful melodies.
In 2006 guitarist Daniel Spack and electronic musician Thomas Wincek, previously active in IDM/breakcore under the name Emotional Joystick, entered the fold, expanding the arrangements and sharpening the unit into a cohesive live ensemble. Birds, issued in 2008 as part of Table of the Elements’ Radium series, presented markedly more rhythmically centered pieces than earlier work. A one-sided 12″ titled Six Guitars appeared shortly afterward, followed in 2009 by a split EP with Japanese math-rock band Toe.
Around this period the members of Collections joined longtime admirer Justin Vernon of Bon Iver to form Volcano Choir, whose debut album Unmap received widespread praise upon its 2009 release. When Giving emerged on the Hometapes label in 2011, both Mueller and Wincek had departed Collections yet continued with Volcano Choir; the second Volcano Choir album, Repave, followed in 2013. Set appeared exclusively in Japan in 2014.
After a period of inactivity, Rosenau and Spack assembled a new configuration that also included Matthew Skemp, Ben Derickson, and Marielle Allschwang. Returning to Polyvinyl, this refreshed lineup delivered the lyric-driven HAWAII in 2018.
After Pele issued its debut album and EPs in 1998, Rosenau and Mueller cut a self-titled set of rustic, minimalist pieces as Collections of Colonies of Bees. Initially circulated as handmade CD-Rs whose covers were fashioned from discarded world maps, the album later appeared on the U.K. label the Rosewood Union. The more bluegrass-leaning Rance, among the earliest titles on Mueller’s Crouton imprint, surfaced in 2000. Next came 2002’s fa.ce (a, each copy featuring distinct cover art. The limited CD-R Meyou, documenting a 1998 performance, arrived in 2003, after which Swedish imprint Pillowscars issued Stuck, the first Collections release to incorporate laptop musician Jon Minor.
Following Pele’s 2004 dissolution, Collections became the primary vehicle for Rosenau and Mueller. Jim Schoenecker, performing as Pressboard, joined on synthesizers; during Pele’s final tour that January the band issued the limited CD-R Eyebrows, which reworked material originally composed for Pele. The group then moved to Pele’s former home Polyvinyl for Customer, an expansive full-length merging free-form electronics with wistful melodies.
In 2006 guitarist Daniel Spack and electronic musician Thomas Wincek, previously active in IDM/breakcore under the name Emotional Joystick, entered the fold, expanding the arrangements and sharpening the unit into a cohesive live ensemble. Birds, issued in 2008 as part of Table of the Elements’ Radium series, presented markedly more rhythmically centered pieces than earlier work. A one-sided 12″ titled Six Guitars appeared shortly afterward, followed in 2009 by a split EP with Japanese math-rock band Toe.
Around this period the members of Collections joined longtime admirer Justin Vernon of Bon Iver to form Volcano Choir, whose debut album Unmap received widespread praise upon its 2009 release. When Giving emerged on the Hometapes label in 2011, both Mueller and Wincek had departed Collections yet continued with Volcano Choir; the second Volcano Choir album, Repave, followed in 2013. Set appeared exclusively in Japan in 2014.
After a period of inactivity, Rosenau and Spack assembled a new configuration that also included Matthew Skemp, Ben Derickson, and Marielle Allschwang. Returning to Polyvinyl, this refreshed lineup delivered the lyric-driven HAWAII in 2018.
Albums
Singles
