Neutral Milk Hotel: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

     In a previous post, I mentioned that I have a goosebump albums list, which is, Soft Bulletin by Flaming Lips, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot by Sparklehorse and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel. Aeroplane ( this is how I'll refer to it from now on) is the most difficult, rewarding and emotionally draining album I've ever listened to. I'm not a writer for Pitchfork, so I'm not going to try to breakdown Aeroplane or Jeff Mangum's mind in this post. However, I do want to recommend this album to my kids and offer them some guidance. But first a little background.
     I never heard this album until I moved to Cleveland. When we came down here to look for a place to live, I naturally checked out the radio dial. I began at the left of the dial, because that's where the college stations usually are. I landed on 91.1 FM which is WRUW out of Case Western University. They were playing "Just Like Heaven" by the Cure which isn't unusual, but I stopped to listen. Then they played the Dinosaur Jr. cover. I had found my station. Over the years I've discovered dozens of artists by listening to WRUW and one of them is Neutral Milk Hotel. There are three shows on WRUW that I'd like to plug since anyone can listen to them on the interwebs; Stone Cold Bikini ( hosted by Christine Saturday 9-11 AM), Chasing Infinity (hosted by Ed Sunday 8-10 AM) and Cream of Broccoli Radio Hour ( which is actually two hours hosted by Brandt Sunday 10AM-12PM).
     I'd also like to mention Kim Cooper's awesome 33 1/3 book on Aeroplane. In my opinion it's the best book in the series, so far, and a great resource for listening to the album. Most of the guidance I'll give my kids is taken from her book. As I mentioned before, this is an emotionally draining album and it really can't be listened to casually. You need to be in the right frame of mind and have time to listen to the whole album straight through. Aeroplane is an organic whole and listening to individual tracks out of their context diminishes their impact. That said, when I first heard "The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1" on WRUW it was out of context, but I bought the album anyway. Also, I think it helped that I heard Aeroplane when I was in my forties. Had I heard this album twenty years ago I probably wouldn't have gotten it, especially "King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2". Personally this is the most difficult song on the album. Mangum begins by wailing "I love you Jesus Christ". As someone who doesn't believe in Christianity this is a towering obstacle to get past when listening to a song. Twenty years ago I would have turned it off at that point. The way I rationalize it is I interpret him as telling someone he loves them and using Jesus Christ for emphasis. My older daughters are more religious than me, so maybe they won't have this problem and would enjoy Aeroplane on a different level than me.
     While I'm typing this post I put the final track, "Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2" on Youtube. It is my favorite song on the album and I instantly got chills. I don't even want to dissect it for this post, lest I might destroy it. If you're reading this you probably love this album and know what I mean. If you haven't heard it I appeal to you to give it a try. At the end of the album when he sings " but don't hate her when she gets up to leave" you are left emotionally devasted. Then you hear Mangum set down his guitar and get up to leave. I can only listen to this album once every few months, because of the emotional toll it takes. I really can't recommend it enough. Peace.