The moth don't care if you figure out what instrument that is...

April 10, 2009 1:21 PM

What is the instrument heard at 0:46 in Aimee Mann's "The Moth"?

I thought it might be a tack piano, but it has a repetitive staccato quality that is consistent and held out. Elliott Smith (on some Figure 8 songs) and Jon Brion have both employed whatever this instrument is quite a bit too.

posted by inoculatedcities to media & arts (5 comments total)

Marxophone.
posted by The World Famous at 1:24 PM on April 10 [1 favorite has favorites]

Maybe a mandocello?
posted by not_on_display at 1:29 PM on April 10

marxophones are pretty sweet.
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 1:31 PM on April 10

Well, that didn't take long. Thanks The World Famous!
posted by inoculatedcities at 1:35 PM on April 10

Yeah, I concur. It also pops up in Magnetic Fields' "The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be" and the Doors' "Whiskey Bar."

Hi, inoc! You can hear me playing my Marxophone over at MeFi music on this cover of Nick Lowe's "I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock'n'Roll."
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 4:51 PM on April 10