Jeff Magnum writes songs that read like bad dreams...
He inherits a world of cannibalism,
elastic sexuality and freaks of nature.
We can only assume he likes
it there.
Neutral Milk Hotel is derived from the
Elephant 6 music collective
They are a group of friends who
grew up together in the boondocks
of Louisiana.
Where Art-minded kids have to band together
and play music with each other.
But small town isolation has
produced oddly fresh music:
folk-pop united with
a fuzzy musical circus.
Neutral Milk Hotel combines:
Jeff Mangum's distinctive lyrics
with music that borrows from
psychedelic rock, folk, and jazz
to expose the listener to a bevy of emotions
expressed in "radiantly poetic fashion."
For example, From the song “Oh Comely”
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
Neutral Milk Hotel first released a series of
cassettes and 7 inch singles between 1991
and 1996:
These are very rare and sell for large sums of money
1991: Invent yourself a shortcake (cassette)
1992: Beauty (cassette)
1993: Hype City (cassette)
1994: Everything Is (7 inch)
in 1996 came Neutral Milk Hotel’s debut LP, On Avery Island.
"Jeff Mangum recorded this album while
living in a 6 by 6-foot walk-in closet….
He also does not own a phone…
But he is one of the reasons that rock music, almost in spite of
itself, continued to matter in 1996."
- Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune
Musically, it's a fuzzy take on psych-folk/pop music with Mangum's
unique voice, diction and stream-of-conscious lyrics
Spin Magazine said this album is one of the ten best
"you didn't hear" of 1996.
1998 brought the acclaimed "Aeroplane Over The Sea"
There are very few albums that resist categorization quite
so effortlessly as In "Aeroplane Over The Sea."
Mangum sings as if possessed, painfully conveying
fractured and moving tales with the skill of a brilliant
novelist.
It's a surreal universe of sad, awkward emotions, fanciful
characters and equally colorful instrumentation, like
Flugelhorn
Euphonium
Uillean Pipes
…and the Zanzithophone
Which is an electronic MIDI saxophone
that Casio used to make.
Apperently no one took picture of it either.
Magnet magazine named
Neutral Milk Hotel the
artists of the year for 1998
CMJ New Music Report chose
"Aeroplane Over The Sea" as its
album of the year.
Pitchforkmedia.com selected this
as the #4 album of the 90's
Neutral Milk Hotel played their last show on December 5th, 1998
Then…..nothing
Some people thought he dropped off the face of the earth
Others thought he was kidnapped by a group of rogue midgets
But he wasn't
He's really into Bulgarian folk music now.
In 2001, Magnum released a compilation of Bulgarian folk music
And I think that's about it.
All info and pictures from:
Pitchforkmedia.com
Neutralmilkhotel.net
Elephant6.com
http://members.cox.net/nmhdd/
Music: Neutral Milk Hotel – [Untitled]