Perhaps best likened to a marching band on an acid trip, Neutral Milk Hotel's second album is another quixotic sonic parade; lo-fi yet lush, impenetrable yet wholly accessible, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is either the work of a genius or an utter crackpot, with the truth probably falling somewhere in between. Again teaming with producer Robert Schneider, Jeff Mangum invests the material here with new maturity and clarity; while the songs run continuously together, as they did on the previous On Avery Island, there is a much clearer sense of shifting dynamics from track to track, with a greater emphasis on structure and texture. Mangum's vocals are far more emotive as well; whether caught in the rush of spiritual epiphany ("The King of Carrot Flowers Pts. Two and Three") or in the grip of sexual anxiety ("Two-Headed Boy"), he sings with a new fervor, composed in equal measure of ecstasy and anguish. However, as his musical concepts continue to come into sharper focus, one hopes his stream-of-consciousness lyrical ideas soon begin to do the same; while Mangum spins his words with the rapid-fire intensity of a young Dylan, the songs are far too cryptic and abstract to fully sink in -- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is undoubtedly a major statement, but just what it's saying is anyone's guess.
NPR Music has a piece about the high school theatre group in Massachusetts that has collaborated with Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls on writing a play inspired by Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea: The...
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I can't explain how much i love NMH. I only have one of their songs "Communist Daughter" but by that song, i love em. they're just so good! ( i also know some of their other songs, i just don't own them ) They play everything from the drums to the saw. I don't know much about them, so if anyone knows more stuff, please tell! i'd love to know. here's communist daughter
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My sister-in-law was telling me a story about a disastorous Christmas Dinner in which a mentally unstable friends father came to dinner and made a scene after a few too many drinks. Mostly it sounded like her family sat there in awkward silence as this guy tried to engage people with this statement. They obviously possesed the restraint and logic that I wouldn't have had to engauge in a conver...
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Just got done reading a post by Lyla, http://mog.com/blog_post/view/42369, regarding the band Neutral Milk Hotel. She commented that not a lot of people have talked about this band and after thinking about it, I agree with her. So, while she is stuck at work, I am going to kick some knowledge about this band.With only two full albums out, they have gained sort of a cult following. Bands like Fr...
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i dont believe ive ever seen anyone post anything about two of my most favorite bands of all time: neutral milk hotel and olivia tremor control. so in light of that id just like to express that these dudes completely own the whole weird/indie/whatthefuck? music genre.
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Speaking of my freshman year, and our obsessively-listening-to-and-talking-about-music phase, I remember the first time I heard *Neutral Milk Hotel*. The very first time.Steph came to room, handed me the semi-odd looking album _In the Aeroplane Over the Sea_, and said "Listen to it and tell me what you think," and walked out.I put the disc in, automatically ripped it onto my computer (sheer f...
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Since this is my first blog... I will start with an easy album to comment on... this album maybe the greatest of all time... absolutely brillant... love the lyrics... full of raw emotion. Lo-Fi at it's best... Hmm... that sparks a great question for everyone who happens to read this... tell me what's your favorite album ever?Dale brings up a good point... (see comment)Too hard to pick a favori...
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i haven't been around that much lately. anyhow, today i was driving and i decided that "oh comely" by *neutral milk hotel* is definitely one of the best songs that's ever been written. ever. _Goldaline, my dear. We will fold and freeze together.Far away from here, There is sun and spring and green forever. But now we move to feel,For ourselves inside some stranger's stomach.Place your body h...
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I analyze everything, I am not sure if this is positive or negative. By analyzing everything, I find myself unable to follow emotions and I find myself disgusted with my own race. It seems that either I haven't seen the good part of humans, or society is blind. I want to believe that there is someone good out there, someone who wants to be genuine and not follow human instincts. I find tha...
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any of you Englishers who are in the London area might be interested in this:http://33third.blogspot.com/2006/10/perhaps-someone-will-be-crowned-king.htmlthe 33 1/3 series is great - perfectly tailored for the music-o-philes on MOG
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any of you Englishers who are in the London area might be interested in this:http://33third.blogspot.com/2006/10/perhaps-someone-will-be-crowned-king.htmlthe 33 1/3 series is great - perfectly tailored for the music-o-philes on MOG
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So I've been on something of a Neutral Milk Hotel bender recently, (Aeroplane over the Sea, not On Avery Island) and I keep relistening to "Holland 1945." This song is just so charged with imagery and metaphors that I decided to sit down and really examine the lyrics. So, just to throw this out there: The song is about different interpretations of death, specifically the afterlife.Verse 1 an...
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Just got done reading a post by Lyla, http://mog.com/blog_post/view/42369, regarding the band Neutral Milk Hotel. She commented that not a lot of people have talked about this band and after thinking about it, I agree with her. So, while she is stuck at work, I am going to kick some knowledge about this band.With only two full albums out, they have gained sort of a cult following. Bands like Fr...
More >
Record company Merge are set to release Neutral Milk Hotel’s two studio albums on 180 Gram vinyl. Both In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and On Avery Island will also come packaged with a code to download the LP’s in high quality digital files.The cult Indie band’s influence has been increasingly recognized over recent years, [...]
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I'm going to Nice, France tomorrow (with YellowBird) and being on a plane is one of my favourite places to listen to music, especially during take-off. Thankfully I can hide the earphones with my hair so the air stewards don't see and make me turn it off :)We usually listen to the same album on our own ipods when we fly, sorta synchronised, and we usually choose a new release which we haven't h...
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So I got into the University of Georgia in Athens. Should be an exciting time, but I have to admit it isn't my number one choice. Or my number two. Or three...I've whittled the college list down to five, and I like all the schools equally but for different reasons. It's beginning to come down to where I can realistically survive the craziness of college life and not go absolutely insane. I...
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So i've been thinking about this lately, and i've officially decided and declared to my friends that My Favorite Band of All Time is no longer Led Zeppelin. This has nothing whatsoever to do with Zeppie, because I love them, but more to do with my accepting that despite the fact that this band has only ever actually released two (2) albums, I love them. Adore, really, if I'm honest. Anyhow, ...
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I'm reading Food & Wine at In & Out, the kid this-close next to me is scribbling a post card, addressed to Australia. It’s the Hollywood kind, a big picture of the star-walk and the sign. The kind I might send, for the irony, if I were the kind to send post cards home. If I could remember to send post cards. I want to ask him if it’s all everything he hoped; I’d like him to tell me how it fe
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So, thanks to a fellow Mogger I found my "one and only savior" while reading an article about Jeff Mangum, which actually wasn't in a post about him or Neutral Milk Hotel but rather about Miles Kurosky. Anyway, I'll confess, my muscial repertoire isn't too expansive; I had no idea who Mangum was (gasp). But, I'm always intrigued by that which I know nothing of and took my musical naivety to t...
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But I just had to.From Pitchfork: Elephant 6 Crew to Embark on "Holiday Surprise Tour" Pretty cool. Like it says there's no guarantee Jeff Mangum will be there. But, I mean, the guy hasn't done jack shit in like 8 years....he's gotta be bored just sitting around his house all day.He is in this though. A short film that also includes Kevin Barnes from of M...
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So I have a friend who is fairly new to the "indie" rock scene, having listened to the genre for the last 5 years but really not delving into it until very recently. Well Saturday while we were out catching a most excellent show (more on that in the next post) he proposed a challenge for me, asking me to come up with a list of 15 to 20 must have indie rock CDs all being from different artists t...
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Speaking of my freshman year, and our obsessively-listening-to-and-talking-about-music phase, I remember the first time I heard *Neutral Milk Hotel*. The very first time.Steph came to room, handed me the semi-odd looking album _In the Aeroplane Over the Sea_, and said "Listen to it and tell me what you think," and walked out.I put the disc in, automatically ripped it onto my computer (sheer f...
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It seems to be an odd twist of fate that I recently finished reading the 33 1/3 series on "In The Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel and immediately came to realize that it celebrated its 10 year Anniversary on February 10th. The story of Neutral Milk Hotel is not like that of many other popular bands. At what some would consider the starting point of a successful career, the main s...
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i haven't been around that much lately. anyhow, today i was driving and i decided that "oh comely" by *neutral milk hotel* is definitely one of the best songs that's ever been written. ever. _Goldaline, my dear. We will fold and freeze together.Far away from here, There is sun and spring and green forever. But now we move to feel,For ourselves inside some stranger's stomach.Place your body h...
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Just got back from visiting my friend/checking out UGA in Athens.I think I could picture myself living there. Nice little coffee shop. Nice little vintage store. Nice little record store with the new Ted Leo on vinyl.I guess that's one of the top things on my "wanted in a college" list. A nice little music community. And I guess Athens has just that. All this thinking of Athens reminds me of th...
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any of you Englishers who are in the London area might be interested in this:http://33third.blogspot.com/2006/10/perhaps-someone-will-be-crowned-king.htmlthe 33 1/3 series is great - perfectly tailored for the music-o-philes on MOG
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 "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea")
