Thanks to the good people at Merge Records, a few good quality Neutral Milk Hotel videos have surfaced from a 1998 concert at the Knitting Factory in NY. Originally two videos were posted (Two Headed Boy and April 8th); however, since then two more have been uploaded (Oh Comely and The Fool).

It seems that there must be footage of the whole concert so stay tuned in case more videos are posted in the future. For now, check out the four videos below for an intense and glorious stroll through memory lane by way of Jeff Mangum’s heralded creation Neutral Milk Hotel. And if you aren’t a Mangum/NMH fan, at least check out a few seconds towards the middle of “Oh Comely” to see the magnificent singing saw (one of the most unique instruments out there) in action.

 Verse 1: What a beautiful face I have found in this place / that is circling all round the sun / what a beautiful dream that could flash on the screen / in a blink of an eye and be gone from me // soft and sweet / let me hold it close and keep it here with me

Verse 2: And one day we will die and our ashes will fly / from the aeroplane over the sea / but for now we are young let us lay in the sun / and count every beautiful thing we can see // love to be / in the arms of all I’m keeping here with me

Instrumental interlude

Verse 3: What a curious life we have found here tonight / there is music that sounds from the street / there are lights in the clouds, Anna’s ghost all around / hear her voice as it’s rolling and ringing through me // soft and sweet / how the notes all bend and reach above the trees

Bridge: now how I remember you / how I would push my fingers through / your mouth to make those muscles move / that made your voice so smooth and sweet / and now we keep where we don’t know / all secrets sleep in winter clothes / with one you loved so long ago / now he don’t even know his name

Verse 4: what a beautiful face I have found in this place / that is circling all round the sun / and when we meet on a cloud I’ll be laughing out loud / i’ll be laughing with everyone I see / can’t believe how strange it is to be anything at all

What’s to say? A lot of you know this song and have your own interpretations. 

This album is one of the most talked about of the 90s. You know that series, 33-1/3 published by Continuum Press, where each book is about one album? The book devoted to this album is their all-time best-seller. I’d like to read it one of these days.

Anyway, the lyrics, not to mention the delivery of those lyrics by songwriter Jeff Mangum, speak for themselves. The triple-time, waltz feel is perfect for swaying along as though soaring in said Aeroplane. Listen to the instrumentation: saws? Horns? There’s nothing electric. You can hear and feel the wood and brass along with Mangum’s reedy voice. What’s refreshing is that he sings without a trace of irony, which for 90s indie-rock was quite an achievement. Indie-rock isn’t really accurate. It’s a folk song, a four-chord folk song, to be precise, and like great folk songs, this one will probably outlive me.

I’m assuming everyone reading this LIKES the song. That might be too great an assumption. When I first heard it, I knew there was something about the song that would be worth replaying, both in the music and words. The phrasing, which begins mid-chord and lazily flaps onto the next one (i.e. (pause) “what a beautiful…” (chord change) “… face / I have found in this…” (pause) “… place,” etc.; listen for similar “flaps” in each verse and in the bridge) is really endearing. (I didn’t mean that to comment, especially the word “endearing,” to sound condescending; I couldn’t write a song this good if I tried everyday for a hundred years.)

The words are good. I’m sure they’ve been analyzed to death (for example, who’s “Anna” in verse 3, and how did she die? I’m sure I could Google it, but I won’t. I like not knowing). And, of course, the lyrics are psychedelic, fantastical, endearing, and uplifting, but that bridge starts out so DARK (“now how I remember you”; with the first phrase-accented minor chord; such a simple songwriting gesture, but really powerful here… go listen again). And pushing his fingers through someone’s mouth to “make those muscles move”? Creepy.

I’ll leave it at that. There’s plenty to say, and others have said it better. Hope you enjoy the song, if you haven’t heard it before.

Album: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998)

Of course you bloody do! It’s the fourth day of the working week which can only mean one thing – the octopus is being let out of its inky cell and onto the Wired wireless! He is running loose with some miraculous, melodic music and an array of fantastiche guests, including a VERY SPECIAL guest co-host Mr Ian Jamesy James of Eclectrix-shire.

Don’t believe us? You slippery fools! Make sure you listen in from 6pm right HERE to hear it go out live, in real time and/or as it happens!

Expect Jurassic 5, Neutral Milk Hotel and some expert knowledge on everyone’s favourite lumpy, warm juice – SOUP.

CREAM OF CAROTENE.

To coincide with the recent reissue of Neutral Milk Hotel’s essential albums On Avery Island and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea on vinyl, Merge Records has posted to YouTube a couple videos of the band playing at the Knitting Factory in 1998. The videos, of tracks “Two Headed Boy” and “April 8″ are pretty good quality, and it’s always good to have footage of the ever reclusive Jeff Mangum. Check out the videos below, as well as a clip of Mangum playing “Engine” during last year’s E6 Holiday Surprise Tour, captured by your friends here at Tangled Up In Wires.

Two Headed Boy

April 8

Engine (Recorded by Michael of Tangled Up in Wires)

Rebecca Solnit, interviewed at BOMB Magazine

Essays are great.

• The talented Rebecca Solnit (above) discusses “elite panic,” among other things, in an an interview at BOMB Magazine.

• “Zadie Smith on the rise of the essay.“

• The kind of wishy-washy title of Bob Thompson’s piece in The American Scholar, “Writing About Writers,” does not give it due justice. Please read.

Lit.

• Thinking of gifting a newfangled, bougey little reading device called the Nook? Well, you’re outta luck. Yep, you may have to settle for the Kindle, which Amazon has sufficiently stocked for the holidays.

• Penguin Classics made a top 10 list: the classics of their classics, and they made a trailer to go along with it. (And HTMLGIANT’s brief description of it as “dopey” was, truly, an understatement.)

Music stuff.

• Yup, there is indeed a band called Truman Peyote

• 2 videos of Neutral Milk Hotel in 1998? Yes please.

• Blake Butler writes a “dystopian work of genius” (Scorch Atlas), with Wolf Eyes, Swans, and Agoraphobic Nosebleed as his soundtrack.

Etc.

• Drink Napa Cabernets for Thanksgiving this year.

• Seven bulls escaped from the set of Tom Cruise’s latest movie in Spain. Vulture blamed it on the SPs. I’m going to go with the aliens. That’s right.

• The Daily Dish provides a sweet-ass visualization of the decline of empires.

Beirut’s Zach Condon announced today that he’s in a new band Volcan Flamingo with Tim Kingsbury of Arcade Fire, Josh Todd of Bark Cat Bark, and Julian Koster of Neutral Milk Hotel. The group is working on a new vinyl EP limited to 500 copies on the record label 4AD, set for summer 2010. Check out his message here.

“Keep your eyes open and ears…open?”

20 Watts played Annie, Elephant 6 and more on WERW

Eric, Chris, Caitlin AND special guest Mary are in the studio this evening!  We’re playing an hour of new music, an hour of Elephant 6 and an hour of local music.  Tune in by clicking this link — we’ll be here until 1!

Want to talk to us or request a song? IM werw1570, tweet @20_watts or call (315) 443-1278.

New tracks are in bold, local artists are italicized.

And don’t forget to tune in to 20 Watts’ Audiocandy+ shows on Wednesday and Thursday from 9-11 p.m.!

Title: My Love Is Better [16/20 watts -- read the review]
Artist: Annie
Album: Don’t Stop

Title: Me Against the Music
Artist: Britney Spears and Madonna
Album: Greatest Hits

Title: XR2
Artist: M.I.A.
Album: Kala

Title: Disturbia
Artist: Rihanna
Album: Good Girl Gone Bad

Title: Fake Blues [14/20 watts -- read the review]
Artist: Real Estate
Album: Real Estate

Title: Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
Artist: John Mayer
Album: Where the Light Is

Title: Hong Kong Cockfight
Artist: Euroboys
Album: Jet Age

Title: Baby By Me [14/20 watts -- read the review]
Artist: 50 Cent
Album: Before I Self Destruct

Title: Cappuccino
Artist: The Knux
Album: Remind Me In 3 Days

Title: Norway [read John Cassillo's editor's pick on the single]
Artist: Beach House
Album: Teen Dream

Title: Slow Life
Artist: Grizzly Bear & Victoria Legrand
Album: New Moon Soundtrack

Title: When I’m with You
Artist: Best Coast
Album: When I’m with You 7″

READ THE 20: YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE ELEPHANT 6

Title: Old Familiar Way
Artist: Of Montreal
Album: The Gay Parade

Title: Ghost
Artist: Neutral Milk Hotel
Album: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Title: Signal in the Sky
Artist: The Apples in Stereo
Album: Let’s Go!

Title: Popular Mechanics for Lovers
Artist: Beulah
Album: The Coast is Never Clear

Title: Motion in the Ocean
Artist: Nana Grizol
Album: Love It! Love It!

Title: Crayon Box
Artist: The Gerbils
Album: Are You Sleepy

Title: Naomi
Artist: Neutral Milk Hotel
Album: On Avery Island

Title: Define a Transparent Dream
Artist: The Olivia Tremor Control
Album: Dusk at Cubist Castle

Title: The Lovely Universe
Artist: Circulatory System
Artist: Circulatory System

Title: Fun Loving Nun
Artist: Of Montreal
Album: The Gay Parade

Title: Yesterday’s World
Artist: Circulatory System
Album: Circulatory System

Title: Don’t Know Why (You Stay)
Artist: The Essex Green
Album: Cannibal Sea

Title: I Love How You Love Me (Phil Spector)
Artist: Jeff Magnum
Album: Live at Jittery Joe’s

Title: Strawberryfire
Artist: The Apples in Stereo
Album: Her Wallpaper Reverie

Title: Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2
Artist: Neutral Milk Hotel
Album: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Title: Saints & Saboteurs
Artist: Why the Wires
Album: Love Elevators

Title: Definitive Gaze
Artist: Magazine
Album: Real Life

But, I’m instead being knocked clear Tyson-punch on my ass by this:

(HT: Merge Records blog)

“Two-Headed Boy” by Neutral Milk Hotel (via Stereogum)

Turns out that Merge Records, the label under which Neutral Milk Hotel released their two albums (On Avery Island, In the Aeroplane Over The Sea), has been hiding this delicious live footage of the band all along, the bastards. Two-Headed Boy is absolutely my favorite song from the group, and the video reminds me exactly why Aeroplane Over The Sea is one of my favorite albums of all time.

My only qualm here was inspired by a comment on the Stereogum post: “I didn’t know Anton Chigurh could sing so well.” GAH CANNOT BE UNSEEN…! Regardless, what really matters is the music, and the music is as hauntingly beautiful as I remember. There’s also a clip from the same performance in which NMH performs April 8th (you can watch it here).

At the Knitting Factory in NYC in 1998???

[theduty]

Merge Records has unearthed and posted a couple of video clips to Youtube of reclusive Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum performing a couple of songs in NYC in 1998, presumably before he reportedly had a mental breakdown and (more or less) completely withdrew from the music world.  He looks a little crazy in the videos, especially the one for “Two-Headed Boy,” but they are both great performances. 

If you happen to have never heard their 1998 album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, do yourself a favor and find it.   It’s one of those records that was so incredibly ahead of its time that it still sounds surprising and incredibly fresh today.  I’ve had it for years, and I still notice new things practically every time I listen.  Cheers!

“Two-Headed Boy”

“April 8th”

Merge Records is reissuing, yet again, the classic 90’s Neutral Milk Hotel album In The Aeroplane Over The Sea as well as their previous album On Avery Island on 180 gram vinyl, each LP will come with a download code so you can put them on the mp3 player of your choice even though they’re probably already there. To celebrate the reissue Merge has also dug up some old video of a show that group did in 1998 at New York’s The Knitting Factory. I must say that I have never tried to search out live videos of Neutral Milk Hotel before but watching Jeff Mangum perform there two tracks all I can say is that guy is intense and fearless.

“Two Headed Boy”

“April 8th”

A Merge disponibilizou imagens inéditas dos Neutral Milk Hotel em palco, captadas em 1998 na Knitting Factory de Nova Iorque. Melhor, trata-se de Jeff Mangum em modo solitário. Tudo isto a coincidir com o lançamento de On Avery Island e In The Aeroplane Over The Sea pela primeira vez em vinil.

the ramshakle fuzz-folk group that was once known as neutral milk hotel is the stuff legends are made of. with a mere two album career, jeff mangum and crew were here and gone before we had a chance to fully realize what utter genius the band had in its discography, namely the seminal classic in the aeroplane over the sea. well merge records are reissuing both albums on 180 gram and to mark the occasion have posted two never before seen videos of jeff mangum from 1998 (that’s 11 years now) performing aeroplane’s “two headed boy” and avery island’s “april 8th” unaccompanied by the rest of the band. just pure, unadulterated jeff mangum.

catch both videos after the jump.

- sunbear

I’m back. I think.

The Elephant 6 Collective

A record label.  A collection of musicians.  An ethos.  A cult.  The Elephant 6 Collective is all that and more. Based in Athens, Ga. (after originating in Denver), and formed by Bill Doss, Will Hart, Jeff Mangum and Robert Schneider, it started out as a way to record and release their psychedelic influenced lo-fi pop. It soon spiraled and transformed, with other artists joining and band members working on each others’ albums. Eventually, it became less of a recording company than a pool of artists who shared a similar style and philosophy about making music.  And it was from this pool that some of the greatest artists of the genre’s modern era — Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples in Stereo, of Montreal and The Olivia Tremor Control to name a few — got their start.

So what’s the very best of trip-hop? 20 Watts’ MARC SOLLINGER has the answer in our ninth 20 installment. Watch for new 20s each Thursday, only on 20 Watts, and check out our previous 20s below!

I am fascinated by the idea, put forward in the lit seminar I’m taking, that in the middle of the 20th century it was fashionable for artists and writers to convert to Catholicism. I’d never heard that before.

I was reading about Robert Lowell’s transformation from Boston-bred Puritan/Congregationalist/etc heir to Catholic, and found a consensus (among half a dozen online sources, anyway) that his conversion was an explicit rejection of the WASPy, industrial mores of his upbringing and native Northeastern context. Max Weber might concur. There’s also at least some religious longing here, though, says A.O. Scott:

The poems are populated by figures from New England’s past, including some of Lowell’s own ancestors. But Lowell, descended on both sides from prominent Yankee families, had undertaken a twofold rebellion against his inheritance, rejecting Harvard for Kenyon College and the bleached-out Puritanism of the Congregational Church for a notably sanguinary, “fire-breathing” Catholicism.

Scott’s full article here.

Because I’m a soft little soul, I know a few things about indie music. I’ve mentioned the Sufjan-Flannery connection before, but the more I think about the number of good, working indie bands out there that also happen to be plaintively (if not commercially), well, Christian, the more I wonder if their influx since the mid-late 90s has something to do with secular suburban kids rebelling against the norms and expectations of their settings. I won’t bore you with tales of my own Tenth-Grade Nothingness (God help me when this becomes that kind of blog…crap, I’ve probably gone there before) or an uninformed discourse on how the straightedge movement corroborates this idea. More on “Christian” art that’s still…good…in this article on emusic.com.

Eles são os fundadores do renomado coletivo musical Elephant 6 e formaram o grupo americano de fuzz folk e distorções lo-fi Neutral Milk Hotel. Confesso que no começo não gostei da banda, mas com o tempo, com a insistência comecei a ouvir mais e mais até criar afinidade com o som, que pra mim, é estranho demais. A banda formada atualmente por Jeff Mangum, Jeremy Barnes, Scott Spillane, Julian Koster e Robert Schneider e possui até certa relação com a gravadora Merge [The Arcade Fire]. O grupo já lançou vários cds tão psicodélicos quanto sua própria história até acabar em 1998.

Aqui para download o álbum Invent Yourself a Shortcake      Download

1 – Digestion Machine

This journey is a tightrope over a pit filled with schoolchildren and racehorses. There’s a balancing act, a fire breather, and a bearded lady. There aren’t many ways to describe Neutral Milk Hotel’s music, but a circus always springs to mind when “King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. 1” switches on. Jeff Mangum, lead singer and bandleader of Neutral, has always seemed out of step with the mainstream music industry. Just as well, though, since if he’d gone any further in he might not have been able to surprise the indie world in the way that he did.

Mangum, born in Louisiana at the dawn of the 1970’s, previously played in groups such as Synthetic Flying Machine and Olivia Tremor Control. In 1991, he joined up with buddies Will Cullen Hart and Bill Doss to form what would become Neutral Milk Hotel. This, however, would not be the definitive lineup the band would take, since recording sessions were often initiated wherever Mangum found inspiration and a microphone. His backup members often consisted of who was available at the time, and the work of Hart and Doss only consisted of a few efforts in the early 90’s. While he released the LP On Avery Island in 1996, his critically acclaimed work would not come until 1998, with the release of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.

The album throws so many loops that it’s often hard to pinpoint exactly what genre you’re listening to. At first it can seem like folk, maybe even freak folk, and then “Holland, 1945” hits and you’re back in rock ’n’ roll land. Here’s a few samplings of the lyrical content of this kaleidoscope:

“The only girl I’ve ever loved
Was born with roses in her eyes
But then they buried her alive
One evening, 1945
With just her sister at her side
And only weeks before the guns
All came and rained on everyone
Now she’s a little boy in Spain
Playing pianos filled with flames
On empty rings around the sun
All sing to say my dream has come”
-“Holland, 1945”: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

“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 here
Let your skin begin to blend itself with mine”
-“Oh Comely”: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Now you might be asking yourself, “What kind of inspiration would a man need to be writing these outlandish lyrics?” Let’s here from Jeff on this, “…it ended up being a reference to Anne Frank, too. A lot of the songs on this record are about Anne Frank.”

You heard that right. Anne Frank. After a while of wrestling with the idea, the careful listener begins to connect the dots between Mangum’s reading of The Diary of a Young Girl and the creation of Aeroplane.

Discussing the writing process, Jeff claimed:

“…typically there are little fragments of specific words and images swimming around in my mind, and then at some point, I’ll sit down with the guitar and everything will fall into place. It’s like your brain is a drain with a bunch of words and images dropping into it, swirling around. The drain is stopped up, but you can feel these things dropping into it. Then at some point, someone comes along and pulls the plug out of the drain…”

After a year of touring to support this album, Jeff went on an indefinite hiatus from performing and recording that has lasted ten years. While he has appeared sporadically on stage with a few acts headlined by his closest friends, no one has seen a resurgence of the pre-Aeroplane Mangum since. So, either Mr. Mangum is one of the most innovative and interesting artists of the past 20 years or he’s the most insane. Whichever is true, the legions of Indie fans who view this album as their own Sgt. Pepper will not let him go into obscurity without a fight.

Here’s a bit from Mangum himself. See what you think!

References:

1. Marci Fierman, “Pitchfork: Interviews: Neutral Milk Hotel,” Pitchfork, http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/5847-neutral-milk-hotel/.

1. Mike McGonigal, “orange twin,” Puncture, http://www.orangetwin.com/nmh_puncture3.html.

Is the new Lenscrafters clearance sale commercial suggesting there are pilots who  fly planes with incorrect eyeglass perscriptions, or just unfashionable frames? Because I’ve been alerted to so much eye-opening transportation information (i.e. the frequency of subway deaths, chances of pilots falling asleep mid-flight, long-haul truck drivers using computers while they’re driving and plunging into lakes) that I feel nervous to travel at all.

My dad is flying to Egypt tonight, so let’s think happy thoughts for that 10 hour ride. ∞

September 9th, 2009

For anyone who’s been paying attention (hi Mum), I mentioned, in the last blog, that we were off to see Fleet Foxes on Monday night. With Chris prepping himself for a trip to Spain; Niall, Doug and myself (along with our Sicilian ray of sunshine, Marika) made our way to Dublin’s Vicar Street venue on Thomas Street.

The show was a sell out (in 41 minutes precisely, according to Doug “Stato” Farrell), so the 1,500 venue was buzzing nicely.

I like Vicar Street and had forgotten how much until I got there. Even feels intimate whether you’re standing or up in the gods, and the sound is always top notch. The bar’s cool for a purpose built venue and features a nice big homely fireplace and 10 foot brass teddy bear (I kid you not).

I must admit I’m not overly familiar with Fleet Foxes, but Doug (a big fan) and Niall had seen them previously (in the same venue, actually) and promised me it’d be a bit special.

In keeping with the quick sellout, there was a palpable sense of anticipation. When the band did appear, it became obvious I was in the minority as a blow in.

Fleet Foxes are impressive.

Fact.

Would they make me want to go out and form a band?

Probably not.

But my knucklehead tendencies are well documented.

So I’ll shut up and give praise where praise is due.

I personally hadn’t heard harmonies delivered like that, live, in….well, ever, actually. They had some killer tunes -including an amazing final encore, featuring their equally beardy support band, Blitzen Trapper.

Another highlight was a show stopping rendition of Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Two Headed Boy”.

This was actually a sweet surprise for us because, about this time last year, an augmented Reader’s Wives performed a tribute show to NMH’s album “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”.

I’ve just realized that Neutral Milk Hotel is possibly the one band Reader’s Wives unanimously cherish.

Well, them and The Smiths.

And The Beatles.

And maybe, Radiohead.

And Reader’s Wives, obviously.

But I digress….

To be honest Two Headed Boy really made my night because, truth be told, for the first 15 minutes of the gig I was worried that all I would hear was amazing harmonies and maybe not much of a dynamic show.

As pointed out by friend of ours after the gig (who had more than a little insider knowledge), the live appeal of these hirsute unassuming Seattle-lings was aided greatly by the hilarious deadpan stylings of drummer Josh Tillman. Also he’s an amazing kit player to boot. We knew he’d been the most experienced and prolific of the group and presumed he was a senior member.

Googled him this morning.

He’s younger than me.

Bastard.

Laters,

Disko

X

Soundtrack : Take a wild guess…

I discovered this singer songwriter musician a couple of years ago. He’s the lead for Neutral Milk Hotel, now one of my favorite bands. I was hooked right away, drawn in within the first few bars. Lyrics that take you away to crazy far off places, strong guitar rifts, and power vocals. This guy can belt out a tune. Amazing range. Check it out for yourself. Jeff Mangum blowing Two Headed Boy and then making it up with an awesome rendition of Gardenhead.  Live at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, back in “97.

I discovered this singer songwriter musician a couple of years ago. He’s the lead for Neutral Milk Hotel, now one of my favorite bands. I was hooked right away, drawn in within the first few bars. Lyrics that take you away to crazy far off places, strong guitar rifts, and power vocals. This guy can belt out a tune. Amazing range. Check it out for yourself. Jeff Mangum doing Oh Comely solo at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6doB7ZRtQJw

via Jeff Mangum Oh Comely solo.