Nuetral Milk Hotel

all i hear about this band is how utterly amazing they are, one of the 33 1/3 books is about one of their records.

i've heard "in an aeroplane..." several times in various settings and i have to say i'm not exactly impressed.

any fans on here wanna tell me what it's all about?

thx, i luv u

WHERE IS THE C

I'm not sure what it's all about, but I like some of the stuff on "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea." Namely the title track and "Oh Comely."

anytime I've ever visited the music board on 4chan (I wouldn't recommend it) there was always at least one troll thread with the cover of in the aeroplane... or a parody image. so yeah, this album is a 4chan meme.

My guess is that when it was released (1998) it sounded fresh and new, and then 4 years later other bands caught on copying it's sound and it's feel and general aesthetic. The Shins and the Decembrists are two examples that I can think of off the top of my head, but there are countless others. Personally I've never found it quite as special as people make it out to be, with other bands doing the orchestra lo-fi stuff better and earlier and better and later. Part of the allure of that record is that after it, Jeff Mangum or whatever his name is kind of dropped of the face of the earth, and the outfit went silent. I can understand it's popularity, it certainly has a boc-esque aesthetic about it, except with guitars and horns. It's defentely not something to be despised by any means, but it's doesn't quite chart as a classic in my book. What's to be despised are the 14 year old emo girls who claim it defines their life.

in the aeroplane over the sea is a fuckin great album if you disagree you're wrong. and you can see how serious i am by how poorly punctuated that sentence is. too bad jeff mangum became a hermit or whatever.

Superior band:

  On 8/23/2009 at 12:24 AM, Iain C said:

Superior band:

perhaps. just cause they managed more than one good album ha.

A Hawk And A Hacksaw is better.

i'm kind of torn between olivia tremor control and circulatory system. the self-titled circulatory system is my favorite of any releases from the two bands. NMH is sweet, but i can't listen to them any more.

I get the impression that Neutral Milk Hotel played a big part in defining the sound of indie rock of the last decade and because of this their music may not sound as unique as it once did due to the large number of people drawing from their style. Of course, that could just be in my head. Can I get a second opinion from someone who knows more about the roots of indie rock?

I happen to love ITAOTS. The first time I heard the title track I was smitten. It was love at first listen. I don't think there's a bad track to be found on that album, which makes me feel incredibly joyous and happy to be alive every time I sit down and put it on. For that reason it has consistently hovered around in my top 10 favorite albums.

Let's hear it for that fuzz bass, folks!

They were definitely influential, but it's not like they were massive innovators or anything, they hardly invented lo-fi psychedelic-tinged indie rock

http://www.e6townhall.com/

... for fans of Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, of Montreal, Sunshine Fix, Apples in Stereo and all other Elephant 6 related bands.

Jefferoo

Senior E6er

Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 2,551

  On 8/22/2009 at 11:47 PM, nene multiple assgasms said:

anytime I've ever visited the music board on 4chan (I wouldn't recommend it) there was always at least one troll thread with the cover of in the aeroplane... or a parody image. so yeah, this album is a 4chan meme.

4chan's music board would be responsible for this then i guess:

http://www.last.fm/music/Neutral+Milk+Hotel

  On 8/23/2009 at 2:43 AM, KY said:

i'm kind of torn between olivia tremor control and circulatory system. the self-titled circulatory system is my favorite of any releases from the two bands. NMH is sweet, but i can't listen to them any more.

yeah, there was a time when I listened to them a lot. now I'd rather slap on an album by one of the otc related bands or the gerbils.

  On 8/23/2009 at 12:02 AM, dr lopez said:

... The Shins and the Decembrists are two examples that I can think of off the top of my head...

I remember a few months back playing In the Aeroplane Over the Sea for a few friends in the car and one of them said, "This shit would be good if the Shins didn't do it first." I later killed her and drugged the others. The rest of the story is trussed between the moon and I.

  On 8/23/2009 at 5:33 AM, goffer said:

  On 8/23/2009 at 12:02 AM, dr lopez said:

... The Shins and the Decembrists are two examples that I can think of off the top of my head...

 

I remember a few months back playing In the Aeroplane Over the Sea for a few friends in the car and one of them said, "This shit would be good if the Shins didn't do it first." I later killed her and drugged the others. The rest of the story is trussed between the moon and I.

lol

yeah if it wasn't for the shins appearance on t&e.... i dunno, fuck those guys

Nuetral

  On 8/23/2009 at 5:32 AM, futuregirlfriend said:

  On 8/23/2009 at 2:43 AM, KY said:

i'm kind of torn between olivia tremor control and circulatory system. the self-titled circulatory system is my favorite of any releases from the two bands. NMH is sweet, but i can't listen to them any more.

 

yeah, there was a time when I listened to them a lot. now I'd rather slap on an album by one of the otc related bands or the gerbils.

word up to the gerbils. are you sleepy is awesome. i managed to track down the battle of electricity online too but its pretty whack. :(

  On 8/23/2009 at 8:32 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

  On 8/23/2009 at 4:30 AM, Wall Bird said:

I get the impression that Neutral Milk Hotel played a big part in defining the sound of indie rock of the last decade and because of this their music may not sound as unique as it once did due to the large number of people drawing from their style. Of course, that could just be in my head. Can I get a second opinion from someone who knows more about the roots of indie rock?

 

I happen to love ITAOTS. The first time I heard the title track I was smitten. It was love at first listen. I don't think there's a bad track to be found on that album, which makes me feel incredibly joyous and happy to be alive every time I sit down and put it on. For that reason it has consistently hovered around in my top 10 favorite albums.

 

Let's hear it for that fuzz bass, folks!

 

Basically before NMH indie was more hardcore influenced. Though there were a few bands with a similar sound releasing stuff as early as 96.

 

Do you ever stop giving wrong opinions on the history of music?

"Hey, you like that Beat Happening album?"

"Yeah, I was digging the hardcore influences."

"Slanted and Enchanted? Nah mate, too hardcore for me."

"Belle and Sebastian? Punk band innit?"

  On 8/23/2009 at 5:13 AM, jefferoo said:

http://www.e6townhall.com/

 

... for fans of Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, of Montreal, Sunshine Fix, Apples in Stereo and all other Elephant 6 related bands.

 

Jefferoo

Senior E6er

Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 2,551

Ah yeah, I knew you were into this stuff. Would you believe I only just heard the first Sunshine Fix tape? The version of Love Athena made my life complete; that was the first OTC song I heard years and years and years ago.

What are you on about? That's exactly what you did:

  On 8/23/2009 at 8:32 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

Basically before NMH indie was more hardcore influenced.

The extent of Pavement's hardcore influences is not the point. You could say there's hardcore influences on NMH, if you wanted to be a total cock about it. NMH did not come up with a revolutionary new sound for "indie", they grew out of a lot of separate scenes and influences (not least other bands in the immediate E6 scene) which stretch back a lot further than 1996.

  On 8/23/2009 at 2:57 PM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

Also just how can an opinion be wrong? Who are you decide the validity of anyone's opinion? If someone said "the best colour is blue" would you tell them that they are wrong?

You were presenting your opinion as fact. A wrong fact. But I'm confident that most of your opinions are wrong.

By the way, nice edit faggot

In a sense, I am looking for an argument because I love upsetting teenage noobs on WATMM. But your statement a was laughably ignorant, unfathomably broad assertion which you have now gone back on by agreeing with me. Therefore, I LOL. And you're still wrong about

  Quote

it is undeniable that "indie" music changed to sound more like NMH after they released aeroplane i.e. less hardcore influenced.

Go on, explain how.

You guys don't know anything about hardcore.

Yes, twee/folksy sounds became the indie mainstream (yes, it exists) in the late 90s into this decade, but that was not a direct result of NMH's influences alone jesus christ. Even for contemporary artists, I would say Belle and Sebastian had as much or more influence on that particularly turgid and boring brand of indie rock.

To be fair to them Death Cab have some good songs.

Edit, to make my point a bit clearer, it was an evolution of a sound which had been developing for a very long time, since the 1980s really