Neutral Milk Hotel

[LetMeSleep]

I like it OK, it's just the overwhelming widespread acclaim that confuzzles me

Yeah I'm confuzzled too.

[BurtReynolds]

How overhyped is it, though? Its not like they are up there with fucking Radiohead or Arcade Fire.

I like the album.

[LetMeSleep]

Lots of friends love that album but it has never struck a chord with me. oh well, maybe another listen is needed one day.

[BurtReynolds]

It can be extremely annoying, too. such a magical album...

[Birds in Hell]

I don't think there has been another record released in my lifetime whose appeal is so profoundly mystifying to me.

yuppp

[stip]

How overhyped is it, though? Its not like they are up there with fucking Radiohead or Arcade Fire.

I like the album.

Ibra meting whether or not it deserves the hype, this is a legendary, 'only to be spoken of in awed, hushed tones' album

[McParadigm]

stip, if you can't be any more hushed and awed than that, please leave the library

[stip]

Wow, what the hell kind of autocorrect wast that? I think I wanted to say bracketing

[McParadigm]

That's it. I'm reporting you for unawed posting at regular volume

[stip]

That should be a thing

[epilogue]

The album does have that affect on a good number of listeners. Not everyone, of course. But when it lands with a listener, it lands hard and it travels all the way. If it has any "legendary" quality, it's that paired with the mystique of Mangum. But dude poured everything he had into a pair of records and one of those records became a cult phenomenon.

One doesn't have to like it, but I don't see how one can deny that it does have a certain power. It deserves the reaction it gets from those under its spell.

Beyond that though, this isn't some untouchable, legendary, widely-known and realized masterpiece. Just because a handful of people "overhype" it, doesn't mean it's overhyped. In the grand scheme that's just not true.

Even in my own circle of friends I know way more people that don't know the record, haven't ever heard of the record, and/or don't give a shit about the record than I those who claim to be transformed by it.

[McParadigm]

Also, if your preference is for broken things...if you have a musical fetish regarding records that feature abstract and surreal lyricism, amateurishly stumbling instrumentation, and well-utilized but unusual sounds...and also want this all to be delivered in total and complete passionate sincerity (preferably at a holler, and with a sprinkling of horns)....it's not like there are a billion records out there for you. It's not really an aesthetic that avalanches down on you like "bass, drums, and heavily-reverbed guitar," "acoustic guitar player with a thesaurus and some subtle keyboards added in for effect," or "distortion pedal pseudo-pop with noise guitar solos."

Maybe if there were as many records like Aeroplane or Rain Dogs out there as there are four-piece bands with effects pedals, drum kits, and amplifiers, that contextual shift would serve to reduce how those albums are received. Maybe they wouldn't seem so gripping and special to the people who are affected by them.

But they're sort of a deviation from the norm, so they stand out.

[Alex]

Saw them last night. Oh my god.

One thing I really believed was that a reunion tour of middle aged people with no new music to speak of, that basically plays up to the popularity of a record made 16 years ago, could not possibly help but injure the mystique and otherworldly quality that record has. How could it possibly do otherwise? It exists beyond place, beyond time. A reunion show? I felt like I was trading a little of that magic in for an experience.

But fuck no. The mystery and impossibility was layered on by the moment. The band looked like misshapen group of homeless people, asylum escapees, and minstrels. Magnum looked like someone who had disappeared for fourteen years. Time had done nothing to overperfect their craft or to stilt their behaviors. The drummer still played to an energy he believed the songs had, but that was beyond anybody else's conscious recognition. The entire band was constantly singing along joyously despite not being mic'd. People wandered the stage in a continual run of instrument change, sometimes grabbing three different ones in a single song. Bowed saw. Concertina. Horns like the finest Tennessee honey. And none of it quite perfect.

No pause between songs, except to grab a drink of water. It was like they didn't dare stop, or the wheels might come off. I've never seen a band so fascinating to watch...so reckless and unafraid yet completely alive within each song.

Neutral Milk Hotel was, for the longest time, like an archaic myth. Aeroplane was a message from somewhere else, an artifact from a culture that never existed. I was certain I was going to have to let that go in order to see them in concert.

I had it backwards; I'd only heard half the myth.

what is tennessee honey? i moved here six months ago and would like to know if i'm missing out on good honey.

[McParadigm]

I actually only know that my cousins, who live in Memphis, use it to refer to women they wish they could get but can not.

Oh, and I think it's a Jack Daniels variation.

Anyway, it sounded good so I used it. Tupelo Honey would have been too...something.

[Alex]

I actually only know that my cousins, who live in Memphis, use it to refer to women they wish they could get but can not.

Oh, and I think it's a Jack Daniels variation.

Anyway, it sounded good so I used it. Tupelo Honey would have been too...something.

hey, you had to use a honey simile. i get that.

[McParadigm]

I felt oddly powerless.

[BurtReynolds]

His voice is a bit cow-like.

[McParadigm]

Moo-Headed Boy

[Gods' Die]

Fuck you guys. I love it.

[Jorge]

This record sucks and nobody should love it