Neutral Milk Hotel
Encyclopedia
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American
indie rock
band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Mangum
in the early 1990s. The band was noted for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and eclectic instrumentation.
The first release under the Neutral Milk Hotel moniker was the 1994 EP
Everything Is
, a short collection of tracks featuring Mangum. On the band's full-length debut album On Avery Island
, which followed shortly thereafter, Mangum was joined by childhood friend and The Apples in Stereo
frontman Robert Schneider
, who contributed production and instrumentation. Upon the album's release, the full band was formed and extensive touring began.
Neutral Milk Hotel released In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
in 1998, which became their better known and critically acclaimed album. Although the album did not meet commercial success at the time of release, it has gone on to sell over 300,000 copies and received critical acclaim from several publications, including Pitchfork Media
, Magnet Magazine
, All Music
, and The Pazz & Jop
poll. Despite growing popularity, the group disbanded in 1999 after Mangum became disenchanted with touring and the music press, later having a nervous breakdown.
Neutral Milk Hotel is a part of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, based in Athens, Georgia
. The band was one of Elephant 6's three first projects, alongside The Apples in Stereo and Olivia Tremor Control.
and Bill Doss
, formed The Olivia Tremor Control
, with Mangum appearing on their first release, the California Demise
7".
Prior to recording for friends under the NMH moniker, Mangum recorded a few cassettes under the name Milk; the most well-known of these tapes was called Pygmie Barn in E Minor. These are the earliest known recordings that Mangum initiated and executed himself. There were only an estimated dozen or so copies ever made of this tape, none of which has been made public. It was revealed circa 2006 on the Elephant 6 online forums that another tape under said name, entitled Beauty, was released, along with several recordings under the name Rubby Bulbs (also a song dating from that era, perhaps the only Milk song to be played by Neutral Milk Hotel).
Neutral Milk Hotel began simply as a recording project for Mangum, in the early 1990s. He produced several demo cassettes, among them 1991's Invent Yourself a Shortcake, 1992's Beauty
(not to be confused with the earlier cassette), and 1993's Hype City Soundtrack, along with two more from this period, seemingly unnamed. Although easily found on the Internet, these demos capture the project at a very embryonic stage: songs are played in between various sound collages and tape experiments, one of which consists only of a six minute conversation between Mangum and Hart. Another track, "Digestion Machine", features a varied collage of voices answering the question asked by Mangum, "What does the digestion machine mean to you?" The more accessible "Synthetic Flying Machine", also titled "Up and Over", later became "The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 3" on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
.
During this period, Mangum was wandering the country, staying in the closets of friends, and in a state of perpetual unemployment. It was in these circumstances that the band's first formal releases took shape. Strictly speaking, however, the 'band' usually consisted of Mangum and whoever else was present at the time. This is obvious on Neutral Milk Hotel's first release, a 7" record entitled Everything Is, recorded when Mangum was spending time in Seattle
, Washington, released on Cher Doll Records
in 1994.
, followed, this time recorded mainly in Denver, Colorado
, where Mangum was backed by the album's producer Robert Schneider
of The Apples in Stereo
, Rick Benjamin of The Perry Weissman 3 and Lisa Janssen of Secret Square
. It was released by Merge Records
in 1996.
After the release of Avery Island, Neutral Milk Hotel became a fully-fledged band, as Julian Koster, Scott Spillane and Jeremy Barnes joined Mangum, the band now being based in New York City
. Soon after this, they moved to Athens, Georgia
, where many of Mangum's friends had begun to settle, and the Elephant 6 recording company began to take shape. After this, the band went back to Denver, to record a proper follow up to On Avery Island.
, released in 1998 and also produced by Schneider, is notable as a critically acclaimed and widely popular album. It is largely inspired by the story of holocaust victim Anne Frank
. During live performances, including the one released under the title Live at Jittery Joe's, Mangum has described some of the songs off this album as based on urgent, recurring dream
s he had of a Jewish
family
during World War II
. The album was highly praised by critics for its wildly inventive instrumentation and Mangum's provocative and impassioned lyrics. Although it was met with scant response from the general public when it was released, the recording has continued to gain momentum in indie
music
circles, selling over 300,000 copies, according to Merge Records
. However, the record (along with the year of constant touring that succeeded it) took its toll on Mangum. The band abruptly went on hiatus, turning down all requests for shows, including a support slot for R.E.M.
Before Neutral Milk Hotel began their indefinite hiatus, Mangum played live at a house show on December 5, 1998 in Athens on Chris Bilheimer's birthday. The bill was shared with Elf Power
, and the audience was made up almost completely of friends and bandmates. Playing solo and acoustic, Mangum opened the set with what was to be the only post-Aeroplane composition to be performed in public, "Little Birds
", a song about a boy whose body becomes filled with miniature birds that protect him from his murderous father.
Mangum finished the rest of the evening with most of the Aeroplane songs, encouraging the audience to sing along in substitute for the horn parts. For the last several songs, Scott Spillane took his trumpet in to an adjacent room and played his parts through the wall. A recording of the show circulated on the internet, but it has never been officially released, most likely due to the poor quality of the recording.
Mangum played another show on December 31, 1998, at which he performed the songs "Oh Sister", "Engine", and "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea", joined by Koster and Spillane.
; its cancellation was subsequently announced in 2005 on Orange Twin's website, which stated that Mangum decided against the project.
There has, however, been some activity since Aeroplane. First, Orange Twin re-released Everything Is
, complete with extra bonus tracks, as well as Live at Jittery Joe's
, a live recording by filmmaker Lance Bangs
of a show Mangum played in a coffee house in Athens, Georgia
in 1997. The Major Organ and the Adding Machine
album, a rather secretive project released by Orange Twin in 2001 and consisting mainly of experimental musical collage, features Mangum, along with Julian Koster, of Montreal
's Kevin Barnes
, Elf Power
's Andrew Reiger and the Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System
's Will Cullen Hart
and Eric Harris
. There was also the release of Orange Twin Field Works: Volume I
, Mangum's field recording of a Bulgarian folk festival, also on Orange Twin in 2001. He also played drums on the first Circulatory System album.
Since the breakup of Neutral Milk Hotel, Jeff Mangum has appeared live very infrequently, including once, at the Kings Arms pub in Auckland
, New Zealand
, at the request of the Tall Dwarfs
's Chris Knox
. The band was billed as the World of Wild Beards Incorporated, although when he explained this bizarre name during the course of the show, Mangum gave a small speech about an obscure, seemingly fictional company of the early 20th century named "Walking Wall of Beards Incorporated". The show consisted of performances by Mangum, Laura Carter
, and Chris Knox. Mangum played 13 songs, about half of them from Aeroplane, and covered Phil Spector
's "I Love How You Love Me" and John Lennon
's "Mother", with Chris Knox joining him on the latter. A recording of the show exists, but it has never been officially released.
Mangum has also made occasional appearances with Elf Power and The Instruments
, and came onstage at the first of the Olivia Tremor Control's New York shows on their 2005 reunion tours, to sing briefly.
The other members are all still releasing material: Julian Koster as The Music Tapes
, Scott Spillane as The Gerbils
and Jeremy Barnes
as A Hawk and a Hacksaw
, Bablicon
and Marta Tennae.
In 2005, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
was re-released by Domino Records in the UK, in a sleeve featuring praise from, among others, Franz Ferdinand
and Arcade Fire, bands influenced by NMH. Mangum has also done a few small art projects—following a charity auction on eBay
of an acoustic guitar decorated by Mangum himself, more guitars hand-decorated by Mangum were sold via Orange Twin Records for $900 apiece. Also, a number of his original drawings, this time costing only $10 each, were sold via Neutral Milk Hotel's website.
In 2006, a message was posted on the Elephant 6 message board, purportedly from Mangum, suggesting that he would record and tour again, though it was unclear if it would be under the Neutral Milk Hotel moniker. It soon caused an enormous stir within the indie community, and news of the message appeared in Rolling Stone
, Pitchfork Media
, and Billboard
. However, it was eventually discredited by Robert Schneider
, of The Apples in Stereo
, a close friend of Mangum's. The perpetrator of the hoax is still unknown.
In October 2008, Mangum made appearances during the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour. He played "Engine" (The "Holland, 1945" B-side) with Julian Koster at the Pittsburgh, Columbus, Chicago, Bloomington & Lexington, KY shows.
On May 6, 2010, Jeff Mangum played a 5-song acoustic set at the Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan at a benefit concert for his friend Chris Knox who was undergoing health issues at the time. Despite a message from the concert managers that the show was a one time benefit for Chris Knox and not the restart of Jeff Mangum's musical career, the show sparked rumors that Magnum would begin recording and touring again. On December 4, 2010, Jeff Mangum played a surprise 10-song set of Neutral Milk Hotel songs in a Bushwick, Brooklyn loft building known as The Schoolhouse to a crowd of only 100 invited guests.
In the January 2011 edition of Q Magazine, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was included in the top 250 albums of the past 25 years. Jeff Mangum has announced a number of performances for the Fall of 2011. These include curating an All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in New Jersey. On August 26, 2011, Mangum launched the website walkingwallofwords.com, where he is self-releasing a box set of Neutral Milk Hotel albums and unreleased tracks, as well as one-of-a-kind drawings and a radio show he curated. On October 4, 2011, Jeff Mangum made an appearance at Zuccotti Park
and played several songs to the protesters participating in Occupy Wall Street
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Mangum
Jeff Mangum
Jeff Mangum is a musician best known for being the lyricist, vocalist and guitarist of the band Neutral Milk Hotel, as well as being one of the cofounders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. Mangum, along with the other founding members of the Elephant 6, attended Ruston High School in the late...
in the early 1990s. The band was noted for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and eclectic instrumentation.
The first release under the Neutral Milk Hotel moniker was the 1994 EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Everything Is
Everything Is (EP)
Everything Is was the first recording mass-released by Neutral Milk Hotel, which at this point was largely still an outlet for the songwriting of Jeff Mangum, instead of a fully formed band. The recording was originally the second release on the fledgling Seattle label Cher Doll Records in 1994....
, a short collection of tracks featuring Mangum. On the band's full-length debut album On Avery Island
On Avery Island
-Track listing:All songs written by Jeff Mangum except where noted. Horn arrangements by Robert Schneider.#"Song Against Sex" – 3:40#"You've Passed" – 2:54#"Someone Is Waiting" – 2:31#"A Baby for Pree" – 1:21#"Marching Theme" – 2:58...
, which followed shortly thereafter, Mangum was joined by childhood friend and The Apples in Stereo
The Apples in Stereo
The Apples in Stereo, styled The Apples in stereo, is an American indie rock band associated with The Elephant Six Collective, a group of bands also including Neutral Milk Hotel and The Olivia Tremor Control. The band is largely a product of lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Schneider, who writes the...
frontman Robert Schneider
Robert Schneider
Robert Peter Schneider is one of the co-founders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, along with Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss, and Jeff Mangum...
, who contributed production and instrumentation. Upon the album's release, the full band was formed and extensive touring began.
Neutral Milk Hotel released In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second studio album by American indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released in the United States on February 10, 1998 on Merge Records...
in 1998, which became their better known and critically acclaimed album. Although the album did not meet commercial success at the time of release, it has gone on to sell over 300,000 copies and received critical acclaim from several publications, including Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
, Magnet Magazine
Magnet (magazine)
Magnet is a music magazine which generally focuses on alternative, independent, or out-of-the-mainstream bands.-History:The magazine is published four times a year, and is independently owned and edited by Eric T. Miller. Music magazines with a similar focus in the 1990s era included Option,...
, All Music
All Music
All Music was an Italian free-to-air television station which mainly broadcast music videos and music programs. Originally called Rete A, the name was changed to Rete A - All Music , and for a brief period was affiliated before with MTV Italy and after with VIVA.-History:In late 2004 the former...
, and The Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
poll. Despite growing popularity, the group disbanded in 1999 after Mangum became disenchanted with touring and the music press, later having a nervous breakdown.
Neutral Milk Hotel is a part of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, based in Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
. The band was one of Elephant 6's three first projects, alongside The Apples in Stereo and Olivia Tremor Control.
Origins
Jeff Mangum, along with high-school friends Will Cullen HartWill Cullen Hart
William "Will" Cullen Hart is one of the co-founders of the Elephant Six Collective, as well as the rock band The Olivia Tremor Control...
and Bill Doss
Bill Doss
Bill Doss is among the co-founders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, based in Athens, Georgia, and one of the key creative forces behind The Olivia Tremor Control, one of the leaders of the collective, and later, following the band's break-up, The Sunshine Fix...
, formed The Olivia Tremor Control
The Olivia Tremor Control
The Olivia Tremor Control is an indie rock band prominent in the mid to late 1990s which, along with The Apples in Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel, was one of the three original Elephant 6 projects...
, with Mangum appearing on their first release, the California Demise
California Demise
California Demise is an EP released by The Olivia Tremor Control. Recorded at 210 Sunset Ave on various four tracks by Bill Doss, Jeff Mangum, Will Cullen Hart and a few others. This was the second Elephant Six 7" EP...
7".
Prior to recording for friends under the NMH moniker, Mangum recorded a few cassettes under the name Milk; the most well-known of these tapes was called Pygmie Barn in E Minor. These are the earliest known recordings that Mangum initiated and executed himself. There were only an estimated dozen or so copies ever made of this tape, none of which has been made public. It was revealed circa 2006 on the Elephant 6 online forums that another tape under said name, entitled Beauty, was released, along with several recordings under the name Rubby Bulbs (also a song dating from that era, perhaps the only Milk song to be played by Neutral Milk Hotel).
Neutral Milk Hotel began simply as a recording project for Mangum, in the early 1990s. He produced several demo cassettes, among them 1991's Invent Yourself a Shortcake, 1992's Beauty
Beauty (album)
Beauty is the second demo recorded by Neutral Milk Hotel, recorded in 1992, released on a cassette tape.-Track listing:All songs written by Jeff Mangum except where noted.#"Engine" – 4:23#"Circle of Friends" – 3:28...
(not to be confused with the earlier cassette), and 1993's Hype City Soundtrack, along with two more from this period, seemingly unnamed. Although easily found on the Internet, these demos capture the project at a very embryonic stage: songs are played in between various sound collages and tape experiments, one of which consists only of a six minute conversation between Mangum and Hart. Another track, "Digestion Machine", features a varied collage of voices answering the question asked by Mangum, "What does the digestion machine mean to you?" The more accessible "Synthetic Flying Machine", also titled "Up and Over", later became "The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 3" on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second studio album by American indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released in the United States on February 10, 1998 on Merge Records...
.
During this period, Mangum was wandering the country, staying in the closets of friends, and in a state of perpetual unemployment. It was in these circumstances that the band's first formal releases took shape. Strictly speaking, however, the 'band' usually consisted of Mangum and whoever else was present at the time. This is obvious on Neutral Milk Hotel's first release, a 7" record entitled Everything Is, recorded when Mangum was spending time in Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Washington, released on Cher Doll Records
Cher Doll Records
Cher Doll Records is a small independent record label founded in Seattle, Washington by Nancy Ostrander in 1993. The label released records for several indie-pop bands including Neutral Milk Hotel's first single on a two sided seven-inch record.-History:...
in 1994.
On Avery Island
A full album, On Avery IslandOn Avery Island
-Track listing:All songs written by Jeff Mangum except where noted. Horn arrangements by Robert Schneider.#"Song Against Sex" – 3:40#"You've Passed" – 2:54#"Someone Is Waiting" – 2:31#"A Baby for Pree" – 1:21#"Marching Theme" – 2:58...
, followed, this time recorded mainly in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, where Mangum was backed by the album's producer Robert Schneider
Robert Schneider
Robert Peter Schneider is one of the co-founders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, along with Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss, and Jeff Mangum...
of The Apples in Stereo
The Apples in Stereo
The Apples in Stereo, styled The Apples in stereo, is an American indie rock band associated with The Elephant Six Collective, a group of bands also including Neutral Milk Hotel and The Olivia Tremor Control. The band is largely a product of lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Schneider, who writes the...
, Rick Benjamin of The Perry Weissman 3 and Lisa Janssen of Secret Square
Secret Square
Secret Square was an early, now-defunct side project of The Apples in Stereo drummer and vocalist Hilarie Sidney and Lisa Janssen, who played bass on the Neutral Milk Hotel album On Avery Island...
. It was released by Merge Records
Merge Records
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...
in 1996.
After the release of Avery Island, Neutral Milk Hotel became a fully-fledged band, as Julian Koster, Scott Spillane and Jeremy Barnes joined Mangum, the band now being based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Soon after this, they moved to Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia
Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...
, where many of Mangum's friends had begun to settle, and the Elephant 6 recording company began to take shape. After this, the band went back to Denver, to record a proper follow up to On Avery Island.
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
The band's second album, In the Aeroplane Over the SeaIn the Aeroplane Over the Sea
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second studio album by American indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released in the United States on February 10, 1998 on Merge Records...
, released in 1998 and also produced by Schneider, is notable as a critically acclaimed and widely popular album. It is largely inspired by the story of holocaust victim Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...
. During live performances, including the one released under the title Live at Jittery Joe's, Mangum has described some of the songs off this album as based on urgent, recurring dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s he had of a Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
family
Family
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The album was highly praised by critics for its wildly inventive instrumentation and Mangum's provocative and impassioned lyrics. Although it was met with scant response from the general public when it was released, the recording has continued to gain momentum in indie
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
circles, selling over 300,000 copies, according to Merge Records
Merge Records
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...
. However, the record (along with the year of constant touring that succeeded it) took its toll on Mangum. The band abruptly went on hiatus, turning down all requests for shows, including a support slot for R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
Before Neutral Milk Hotel began their indefinite hiatus, Mangum played live at a house show on December 5, 1998 in Athens on Chris Bilheimer's birthday. The bill was shared with Elf Power
Elf Power
Elf Power is an indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia. Currently, the line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Jimmy Hughes, bassist Derek Almstead, and drummer Eric Harris...
, and the audience was made up almost completely of friends and bandmates. Playing solo and acoustic, Mangum opened the set with what was to be the only post-Aeroplane composition to be performed in public, "Little Birds
Little Birds (song)
"Little Birds" is the only song by Neutral Milk Hotel written after the release of In the Aeroplane over the Sea of which a recorded version exists. Jeff Mangum played the song live and before the song described what it was about:...
", a song about a boy whose body becomes filled with miniature birds that protect him from his murderous father.
Mangum finished the rest of the evening with most of the Aeroplane songs, encouraging the audience to sing along in substitute for the horn parts. For the last several songs, Scott Spillane took his trumpet in to an adjacent room and played his parts through the wall. A recording of the show circulated on the internet, but it has never been officially released, most likely due to the poor quality of the recording.
Mangum played another show on December 31, 1998, at which he performed the songs "Oh Sister", "Engine", and "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea", joined by Koster and Spillane.
Hiatus
During the hiatus, some of the members have been occasionally active with one another in other projects. When asked in an interview if he intends to write another album, Mangum said, "I don't know. It would be nice, but sometimes I kind of doubt it." There were plans to release a rarities album on Orange Twin RecordsOrange Twin Records
Orange Twin Records is an Athens, Georgia-based record label run by Laura Carter, a multi-instrumental member of Elephant 6 popsters Elf Power....
; its cancellation was subsequently announced in 2005 on Orange Twin's website, which stated that Mangum decided against the project.
There has, however, been some activity since Aeroplane. First, Orange Twin re-released Everything Is
Everything Is (EP)
Everything Is was the first recording mass-released by Neutral Milk Hotel, which at this point was largely still an outlet for the songwriting of Jeff Mangum, instead of a fully formed band. The recording was originally the second release on the fledgling Seattle label Cher Doll Records in 1994....
, complete with extra bonus tracks, as well as Live at Jittery Joe's
Live at Jittery Joe's
Live at Jittery Joe's was an album released in 2001 by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to battle the high prices of bootlegs on eBay. Filmmaker Lance Bangs recorded it at the Athens, GA venue Jittery Joe's on March 7, 1997 during a live solo performance featuring only Jeff...
, a live recording by filmmaker Lance Bangs
Lance Bangs
Lance Bangs is an American filmmaker, documentarian, and music video director who has created videos for Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Green Day, the Arcade Fire, the Shins, The Thermals, Belle & Sebastian, Menomena, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, R.E.M., Mike Watt, Death Cab for Cutie, The Black Keys, Kanye West, and...
of a show Mangum played in a coffee house in Athens, Georgia
Music of Athens, Georgia
The music of Athens, Georgia, includes a wide variety of popular music and was an important part of the early evolution of alternative rock and New Wave. The city is well known as the home of chart-topping bands like R.E.M. and The B-52s, and several long-time indie rock groups...
in 1997. The Major Organ and the Adding Machine
Major Organ and the Adding Machine
Major Organ and the Adding Machine is an Elephant 6 supergroup led by the elusive and possibly fictional Major Organ. The liner notes of Major Organ and the Adding Machine, the band's debut album, leave it a mystery as to who is officially featured, and when performing live on the Holiday Surprise...
album, a rather secretive project released by Orange Twin in 2001 and consisting mainly of experimental musical collage, features Mangum, along with Julian Koster, of Montreal
Of Montreal
Of Montreal is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. It was founded by frontman Kevin Barnes in 1996, named after a failed romance with a woman "of Montreal." The band is one of the bands of the Elephant 6 collective...
's Kevin Barnes
Kevin Barnes
Kevin L. Barnes is the singer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the indie rock group Of Montreal, part of the Elephant 6 Collective. Barnes started the band on his own and, although providing several stories as to the origin of the name, is said to have named it after a failed romance...
, Elf Power
Elf Power
Elf Power is an indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia. Currently, the line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Jimmy Hughes, bassist Derek Almstead, and drummer Eric Harris...
's Andrew Reiger and the Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System
Circulatory System
Circulatory System is a psychedelic rock musical ensemble formed by musician/painter Will Cullen Hart, and featuring Derek Almstead, Suzanne Allison, Peter Erchick, John Fernandes, Charlie Johnston, and Heather McIntosh....
's Will Cullen Hart
Will Cullen Hart
William "Will" Cullen Hart is one of the co-founders of the Elephant Six Collective, as well as the rock band The Olivia Tremor Control...
and Eric Harris
Eric Harris (musician)
Eric Harris is an American musician who played the drums for The Olivia Tremor Control from 1995 to 2000. Harris currently drums for Elf Power.-References:*...
. There was also the release of Orange Twin Field Works: Volume I
Orange Twin Field Works: Volume I
Orange Twin Field Works: Volume I is a collection of Bulgarian folk music released by Jeff Mangum, previously of Neutral Milk Hotel. The album contains one track, a little over a half hour of different segments from a single festival.-External links:...
, Mangum's field recording of a Bulgarian folk festival, also on Orange Twin in 2001. He also played drums on the first Circulatory System album.
Since the breakup of Neutral Milk Hotel, Jeff Mangum has appeared live very infrequently, including once, at the Kings Arms pub in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, at the request of the Tall Dwarfs
Tall Dwarfs
Tall Dwarfs are a New Zealand rock band formed in 1981 by Chris Knox and Alec Bathgate who, through their do-it-yourself ethic, helped pioneer the lo-fi style of rock music. The duo formed out of the ashes of Toy Love....
's Chris Knox
Chris Knox
Chris Knox is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist, and DVD reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the group Tall Dwarfs with guitarist Alec Bathgate, much loved for their honest,...
. The band was billed as the World of Wild Beards Incorporated, although when he explained this bizarre name during the course of the show, Mangum gave a small speech about an obscure, seemingly fictional company of the early 20th century named "Walking Wall of Beards Incorporated". The show consisted of performances by Mangum, Laura Carter
Laura Carter
Laura Carter is a multi-instrumentalist musician from Athens, GA.She is most notably in the indie rock band Elf Power, but has performed with a number of bands within the Elephant Six Collective, such as Nana Grizol, The Gerbils, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Dixie Blood Moustache...
, and Chris Knox. Mangum played 13 songs, about half of them from Aeroplane, and covered Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
's "I Love How You Love Me" and John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's "Mother", with Chris Knox joining him on the latter. A recording of the show exists, but it has never been officially released.
Mangum has also made occasional appearances with Elf Power and The Instruments
The Instruments
The Instruments is the musical project of Heather McIntosh, cellist in a number of Athens, Georgia groups including Circulatory System, Elf Power, and Japancakes. Their first album, Billions of Phonographs, was released on Orange Twin Records in 2003, followed by 2006's Cast A Half Shadow and...
, and came onstage at the first of the Olivia Tremor Control's New York shows on their 2005 reunion tours, to sing briefly.
The other members are all still releasing material: Julian Koster as The Music Tapes
The Music Tapes
The Music Tapes is an experimental pop music project of Elephant 6 member Julian Koster, also of Neutral Milk Hotel, and the earlier Chocolate U.S.A....
, Scott Spillane as The Gerbils
The Gerbils
The Gerbils are an indie rock band that formed in Athens, GA in 1998. Part of the Elephant Six Collective, the band released two albums and toured nationwide during their tenure.-Bio:...
and Jeremy Barnes
Jeremy Barnes
Jeremy Barnes is an American musician. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of a local businessman. In 1995 he moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University but later dropped out. He joined the band Neutral Milk Hotel in January 1996. The band disbanded in 1998 and Barnes spent time...
as A Hawk and a Hacksaw
A Hawk and a Hacksaw
A Hawk and a Hacksaw is a band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, currently signed to L.M. Dupli-cation. The band consists of accordionist Jeremy Barnes, who was previously the drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel and Bablicon, and violinist Heather Trost...
, Bablicon
Bablicon
Bablicon was an Elephant 6-related free-jazz band consisting of members of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils.The band was formed in 1996 when Dave McDonnell , Jeremy Barnes , and Griffin Rodriguez teamed up to write and improvise music...
and Marta Tennae.
In 2005, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second studio album by American indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released in the United States on February 10, 1998 on Merge Records...
was re-released by Domino Records in the UK, in a sleeve featuring praise from, among others, Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...
and Arcade Fire, bands influenced by NMH. Mangum has also done a few small art projects—following a charity auction on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
of an acoustic guitar decorated by Mangum himself, more guitars hand-decorated by Mangum were sold via Orange Twin Records for $900 apiece. Also, a number of his original drawings, this time costing only $10 each, were sold via Neutral Milk Hotel's website.
In 2006, a message was posted on the Elephant 6 message board, purportedly from Mangum, suggesting that he would record and tour again, though it was unclear if it would be under the Neutral Milk Hotel moniker. It soon caused an enormous stir within the indie community, and news of the message appeared in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
, and Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
. However, it was eventually discredited by Robert Schneider
Robert Schneider
Robert Peter Schneider is one of the co-founders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, along with Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss, and Jeff Mangum...
, of The Apples in Stereo
The Apples in Stereo
The Apples in Stereo, styled The Apples in stereo, is an American indie rock band associated with The Elephant Six Collective, a group of bands also including Neutral Milk Hotel and The Olivia Tremor Control. The band is largely a product of lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Schneider, who writes the...
, a close friend of Mangum's. The perpetrator of the hoax is still unknown.
In October 2008, Mangum made appearances during the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour. He played "Engine" (The "Holland, 1945" B-side) with Julian Koster at the Pittsburgh, Columbus, Chicago, Bloomington & Lexington, KY shows.
On May 6, 2010, Jeff Mangum played a 5-song acoustic set at the Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan at a benefit concert for his friend Chris Knox who was undergoing health issues at the time. Despite a message from the concert managers that the show was a one time benefit for Chris Knox and not the restart of Jeff Mangum's musical career, the show sparked rumors that Magnum would begin recording and touring again. On December 4, 2010, Jeff Mangum played a surprise 10-song set of Neutral Milk Hotel songs in a Bushwick, Brooklyn loft building known as The Schoolhouse to a crowd of only 100 invited guests.
In the January 2011 edition of Q Magazine, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was included in the top 250 albums of the past 25 years. Jeff Mangum has announced a number of performances for the Fall of 2011. These include curating an All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in New Jersey. On August 26, 2011, Mangum launched the website walkingwallofwords.com, where he is self-releasing a box set of Neutral Milk Hotel albums and unreleased tracks, as well as one-of-a-kind drawings and a radio show he curated. On October 4, 2011, Jeff Mangum made an appearance at Zuccotti Park
Zuccotti Park
Zuccotti Park, formerly called Liberty Plaza Park, is a publicly accessible park in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is a controlled by Brookfield Properties. The park was created in 1968 by Pittsburgh-based United States Steel, after the property owners negotiated its creation with city...
and played several songs to the protesters participating in Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street is an ongoing series of demonstrations initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters which began September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district...
.
Discography
- Everything Is (EP)Everything Is (EP)Everything Is was the first recording mass-released by Neutral Milk Hotel, which at this point was largely still an outlet for the songwriting of Jeff Mangum, instead of a fully formed band. The recording was originally the second release on the fledgling Seattle label Cher Doll Records in 1994....
(1994) - On Avery IslandOn Avery Island-Track listing:All songs written by Jeff Mangum except where noted. Horn arrangements by Robert Schneider.#"Song Against Sex" – 3:40#"You've Passed" – 2:54#"Someone Is Waiting" – 2:31#"A Baby for Pree" – 1:21#"Marching Theme" – 2:58...
(1996) - In the Aeroplane Over the SeaIn the Aeroplane Over the SeaIn the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second studio album by American indie rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released in the United States on February 10, 1998 on Merge Records...
(1998)