Album: In The Aero Plane Over The Sea
Artist: Neutral Milk Hotel
Genre: Indie Rock/Folk
Year: 1998
Label: Merge
Where Has Jeff Mangum Gone? No one really knows, do they? For those of you who don’t already know, Jeff Mangum is the driving creative force behind Neutral Milk Hotel, as the band’s primary composer, lyricist, guitarist and vocalist. And he is a genius. It is that simple. His work, the little of it that there is, is essential to the Indie Rock world in the same way that fingers are essential to playing a guitar. It is for this reason that In The Aero Plane Over The Sea is an essential record. It starts out simple, just Mangum and his guitar, and then the rest of the band comes in. Fuzzy Bass, Musical Saws and a piece of awesome brass band compose some of the unusual sounds heard on this album. It is certainly unusual.
Mangum’s lyrics are clear and sung with no irony whatsoever. You can always understand every single word the man is saying and his stories are often tragic, often wonderful and always engaging. According to my friend Ani, this album is about Anne Frank. I know that “Holland, 1945” is definitely about her, but for the rest of the album, I don’t know. I’ve also heard that it’s about tragedies large and small, which would seem to be true as well. Whatever the subject matter, it’s brilliant. That’s the thing about this album, it’s incredibly over-hyped, in fact so much that the hype drove Jeff Mangum into hiding. But the hype is deserved, it is quite perfect, musically, lyrically and it maintains this quiet perfection all the way throughout the album.
I don’t know exactly where Jeff Mangum found this album inside of himself, but that place leaves me awestruck. I don’t know if I could come up with anything like this, even if I had all eternity and was omniscient. Many people want Mangum to come out of hiding. They want him to return to the world of music and wow us again and again by repeating his brilliance with more albums like Aero Plane. He doesn’t have to though; he’s already created his masterpiece. If he wants to stay hidden away from his fame, I understand perfectly. I wouldn’t want the entire Indie rock world staring at me all the time either.
-Afterthought-
I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love Bob Dylan. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It. I Love It.
2 comments:
I always take Andrew's musical recommendations seriously; some suck, but I know it goes both ways. I must say, I was instantly skeptical when the lead lyrics on the first song were "I love you Jesus Christ." Not that there is anything wrong with the dude, not at all.
Don't let that those first lyrics turn your ear, you don't want to miss this, seriously, no ... seriously. If you need to, do as I did and just let there be a comma after "you." Probably is given Ani's insight into the album being about An Frank (is that the Anne Frank?)
Gotta live with this album for a while. I can already tell it's only going to get better.
So, Andrew, is On Avery Island as great?
Hey Andrew,
Your review of "in The Aero Plane Over The Sea" leaves me helplessly in need of this album. I am a songwriter and feel naive and incomplete without this music. Thanks,
Friend of Kathy T
Post a Comment