New Look at Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Just when I was getting used to hating Pitchfork, they go and publish something wonderful

Today in Pitchfork, writer Mike McGonigal introduces a series of responses by various artists. The artists, including Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal) and Randy Randall (No Age), write their reactions to arguably one of the best albums of the 1990s, Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane over the Sea.

While Pitchfork can be accused of pushing quantity over quality, this article is a gem, due in part to McGonigal's comprehensive and humorous intro. His remark, "I've always joked that David Karsten Daniels and Colin Meloy would each do well to send partial royalty checks to Mangum", made me spit coffee.

From the article:

For all the ways the album has influenced so many people, I wish more would take this away from it-- that it's OK to examine, and be nakedly emotional, about stuff aside from the lint in your belly button. Aeroplane's radiant weirdness works, and is so oddly life-affirming, because it looks right into the face of the heaviest of heavy historical evils.

So it's a shame that some of the artists' responses come off as more than a little pretentious. Especially those who retort with a "meh, never really got it." Of course, I'm making assumptions as to how the artists were approached. Were they asked, "how did you react to Aeroplane when you first heard it?" Or did Pitchfork's many sub editors just trawl the net with the search term "Neutral + Milk + Aeroplane + how + it + made + me + feel"? I don't know, so it's a bit unfair to chastise people like Josh Jones, who says he liked the album only after he heard his girlfriend play a song from it on her guitar.

Regardless, it's worth reading, if not for the intro than for the subject matter. And if you've never heard the album, please have a listen. And then go out and buy it on vinyl--it's too good to simply download.

Band :: Neutral Milk Hotel

Album :: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Song :: Holland, 1945

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