Today, one of my favorite Neutral Milk Hotel tracks. "Bucket" first appeared on the Yoyo Records compilation Periscope in 1994, inconspicuously placed twelfth in the track lineup, but outclassing everything else on the record. I'm surprised Jeff Mangum didn't revisit the track for his first album, On Avery Island , where it would fit right in. Neutral Milk Hotel - Bucket
We Didn't Need To Breathe - Seamonster Annalee - Seamonster There's something naggingly familiar about the way the man who calls himself Adrian Seamonster gravely strum-and-moans a dream journey from an oxygenless world into outer space in "We Didn't Need To Breathe." Or how he eee-eee-eees through his teeth over churning beds of electro-folk psychedelia in "Annalee." And that's because few young musicians make [...]
photo by dianne jones i maybe the only one that feels this way, but at this point in time its probably best if mr mangum never returns from his wily globe trotting escapades or chilling out in athens or where ever he is laying his head these days. it would be like getting back with a crazy ex-lover after years of being apart. sure, at the time they held this mystical like control over you but over the years people change and it never really amounts to anything but an awkward and unsatisfying [...]
Nearly ten years ago, a little band called Neutral Milk Hotel from Athens, Georgia made an album that is widely considered to be one of THE best albums to be created in it's decade. Then that same band fell off the face of the earth, ignoring all the rave reviews they had received ans turning down opening slots in a way that would make any self-respecting band manager enter cardiac arrest (See: R.E.M.) This sort of Jandekian like mystery around their music has only stirred the pot of interest in Mangum and friends, making for a [...]
Goosebumps sneak up your unsuspecting arms or your stomach takes a nosedive. The ordinary scenery you're driving by becomes instantly indelible or a moment is forever tattooed with a lyric. It's hard to say what will happen when you hear that monumental album, but the change is seismic. It's a rite of passage every music fan should experience at least once, hearing their preconceptions of what an album can accomplish expanding and exploding song by song. I asked some of my fellow bloggers—Chris, Shane, Tim, Bryan and Paul—to share the works that've had the biggest impact and influence on the [...]
It seems as if internet critics, Tiny Mix Tapes, have gone ahead and started their April Fools Day posting a few days early. The pranksters have started the biggest web rumor of the day. According to this page , "the mighty Neutral Milk Hotel, the most indie-celebrated band of the past decade, is reforming to play one of the two days of TMFest in what Jeff has promised will be a one-off gig". NMH loyals, take this with a HUGE grain of salt. MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel - Hotel [...]
For those of you who are proud owners of a Nintendo Wii console, you know there's a certain joy in creating the little avatars that you use in some of the games called Miis. Since the launch of the Wii, these Miis have taken off and now their are websites soley dedicated to creating and sharing your Miis ( Mii Plaza is my favorite). As I was searching through Mii Plaza the other day, I found two interesting entries in the music category - Viva Voce and Inara George (both created by an "artist" by the name [...]
In the face of huge and incredibly wealthy companies suing one other over because of their fears of the internet, and all the terrible, terrible things it will bring, it might be a good idea to think about how far things have come since the days of Napster and Audiogalaxy. Once, bands and labels did as much as they could to prevent mp3s reaching the internet. Now, almost all labels are engaged with it, and it forms as much a part of their promotional and retail world as anything else - and that's before getting into the whole Web 2.0 [...]
I'm spending most of today packing in preparation for a short excursion - I have to go somewhere on Spring Break, right? Anyway, I got a solid chuckle out of the following video which cleverly toys with the idea of our modern day entanglement in all things legal. Aptly titled "Consent," this six minute short is sure to be categorized as an ingenious classic for those who haven't seen it. [MP3] Neutral [...]
Is it easy to compile a list of your 100 favourite songs of all time. No of course it isn't. That's why I did it. Of course the first obvious thing to consider is that it is impossible to hear every song ever recorded. Also how do you compare songs of different eras. Songs that you love now and songs that came before your time. How do you compare a Public Enemy song to a Carter Family song. How about lining up The Clash versus Animal Collective. Its not easy! However I did it and I'm happy with it. This [...]
Photography by Jonathan Charles I've been doing this thing lately, where I randomly buy CDs via the Amazon zShops. CDs I love but have long since worn out, scratched up, or have gotten lost... Throw it in my cart, cheapest shipping and forget about it. A week later a little surprise in my mailbox. Finally dawned on me to pick up one of my favorite albums that I'm very excited to share today. Simply, one of the best albums ever made. Neutral Milk Hotel's In The [...]
When was the last time a band made you take a large swiss knife, cut out alphabets from an important document (like a printout of an airline ticket), arrange them on a silk souveneir brought from Sikkim and decorate them with your eight year old cousin's art? When was the last time you felt like expressing music physically in a crude expression of pure joy? For me it was when I heard Elephant and feverishly pasted Jack and Meg [...]
Jeff Mangum :: San Francisco July 4, 1996 (live at aquarius records) Download: MP3: Jeff Mangum :: Oh Comely MP3: Jeff Mangum :: Engine MP3: Jeff Mangum :: Oh Sister MP3: Jeff Mangum :: My Dream Girl MP3: Jeff Mangum :: Sailing Through MP3: Jeff Mangum :: She Did A Lot of Acid/Beautiful Baby --- MP3: Neutral Milk Hotel :: Glue (Gerbils cover from [...]
Any holiday that gives me an excuse to make a mix is fine by me. Sure, I've been known to say I hate this day and damn all those happy lovey dovey people, but in actuality Valentines Day isn't half bad. Who doesn't like chocolate and cheesy romantic gestures? And let's be honest, who doesn't like love songs. Not this girl. I woke up this morning to a good amount of snow and an even greater hangover -- the perfect mindset to make a Valentines Day mix. It's a bit of an eclectic bunch of songs: some [...]
Day 4 in a crazy attempt to post 5 love songs every day till Valentines Day Everybody knows that a guy in a band is sexier than a guy not in a band. Here's 5 bands that laid some game down by naming a song after a girl. The Pixies - Allison [MP3] Tunng - Jenny Again [MP3] * Neutral Milk Hotel - Naomi [MP3] Iron And Wine - [...]
Excited yet? I am, and I've already heard the whole show! Local boy DJ Jester (left) opened the show, he had also opened for Of Montreal when I saw them last in Austin, he's kickass. His set started off with a nice short mix of Neutral Milk Hotel's "King Of Carrot Flower" . He did better with "All My Exes" the last time I heard him, but I especially like the "Fraggle Rock" > "Word Up" mix in this one. Download the whole set below. And just [...]
CRAZY ON YOU Heart Dreamboat Annie Capitol : 1976 [Buy it] BIZARRE LOVE TRIANGLE New Order Brotherhood Factory : 1986 [Buy it] COMMUNIST DAUGHTER Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea Merge : 1998 [Buy it] These neighbors of mine have been having really loud sex; I can hear it through the airshaft every night. Well, at least [...]
Something of a slow news week musically speaking. A collective inhalation while everyone scratches around for new Modest Mouse tracks, waiting to put forward their opinion on the Swan Lake album. Happy Monday everybody. Listen: Don't Know Won't Like - Guess Who? Ghost Cauldron - Right Now feat. Perilaus Bull Neutral Milk Hotel - ...
It can’t be any coincidence that all young songwriters, when first learning how to play guitar and put together songs, come up with some insane melody or chord progression that blows your socks off. But after listening to one full bar it all sounds eerily familiar, as in it might possibly be the refrain from that one song by that one band that you wish you could remember because it sounds a lot
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