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Neutral Milk Hotel
Why I checked in to their post-grunge haven.
Musical nourishment.
While the memory of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain was still fresh in everyone's mind, grunge died a terrible, terrible death at the hands of Candlebox and Ugly Kid Joe (never mind the "grunge" of Collective Soul).
For a short, painstaking time, the music industry attempted to convince us that techno music from across the pond was the Next Big Thing. Who can forget the soothing sounds of "Smack My Bitch Up" by The Prodigy? How a band that once counted as a key member a person who just danced didn't make it is beyond me.
Then, on Feb. 10, 1998, Neutral Milk Hotel, essentially songwriter Jeff Mangum and an assorted cast of friends, released In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Almost no one heard it. But it was the perfect album for a time without any distinct musical identity, for into this musical void came Jeff Magnum, all bending notes above trees and love songs to Jesus so torturous they seemed true. Mangum sounded out of his time, and would seem completely at home today on a bill next to Of Montreal or Animal Collective.
Or he would have if, scant months after the release of Aeroplane, the band didn't...er...disband and never perform again.
In keeping with the true nature of a legend, Mangum has become a shadowy figure wrapped in mystery and online conjecture. (The vast proliferation of fan sites attests to his continued appeal.)
Neutral Milk Hotel would have provided the perfect soundtrack to my 24th year. I was in my second tour of substitute teaching duty, still the young rebel educationalist, busy warping the minds of elementary students with songs about putting bubblegum in their hair. Mangum showed me that such things could gain currency in the cultural milieu...or at least on critics' top-10 lists.
Unfortunately, I completely missed them. I didn't hear Neutral Milk Hotel until 2006 when my girlfriend sent me the title song in an e-mail, and chances are even if I had heard them before, I would have dismissed their music as "weird." (I was still listlessly clinging to Pearl Jam and U2.)
But right now, they sound perfect.
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But how Brooklyn's Marah is taking him on. - Vampire Weekend's Love Bites
A genuinely new breed of pop. - Schmaltzy vs. Sincere and Sexy
Good Valentine's music from Bird, Buckley and Magnetic Fields.
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- ...while on the streets, pirates and ninjas put aside mutual animosity to join student protests
5
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auntiesocial
4 years ago
This is an article?
I'll summarize it for you:
There is this great obscure record that has been thought of by every critic and their dog as one of the greatest albums ever made for many years and I never heard of until just now and I think I would have liked it when I was younger, but that was before I became a culture writer with my finger on the pulse of music, so who knows. Do I seriously get paid for this?
towelpower
4 years ago
Auntie ought to be more social
Easy there auntie. We get it, you don't leave your bedroom much. Are you this pleasant in person?
Doryokoflo
4 years ago
Love Songs
I missed out on my chance to comment on Love Songs:
1. You said 'Hallelujah' is a Leonard Cohen song. I believe it is a John Cale song.
2. Someone defended Bon Jovi's cover of 'Hallelujah.' Can I mark that comment as offensive? Just kidding. 'Living on a Prayer' rocks.
3. Your friend's quote that questions the sincerity of Mr. Big is very profound. You sure it wasn't Lao Tzu who said that first?
uvicrepresent
4 years ago
Under appreciated
I also discovered this album in a couple years ago. Its amazing, even though its over a decade old, you can play it next to the seemingly very modern Hissing Fauna album or animal collective as you said.
Indeed its influence is profound, and also very wide ranging. Groups such as the Arcade Fire, Clap your hands and say yeah, Bright Eyes and many others. Girl Talk, which has popularized the growing hiphop/mash-up/dance genre among the American Apparel set sampled NMH's "Holland 1945" which just goes to show its wide-ranging appeal.
Thank god they re-released their "aeroplane" album so people could realize what they've missed.
thomas
4 years ago
Hallelujah
@Doryokoflo
Hallelujah is most definitely a Leonard Cohen song, first recorded for Various Positions. Many people have covered it, including John Cale.