Neutral Milk Hotel was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
indie rockIndie rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The term is often used to describe the means of production and distribution of independent underground music, as well as the style of music that was first associated with this means of...
band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter
Jeff MangumJeff 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 members of the Elephant 6, attended Ruston High School in the late 1980s...
in the early 1990s. Later members included
Jeremy BarnesJeremy Barnes is the founding member of A Hawk and a Hacksaw and former drummer of the now-defunct band Neutral Milk Hotel. He has also worked and recorded with Bright Eyes, Bablicon, Beirut, The Gerbils, Broadcast and Alan Jenkins and The Thurston Lava Tube. He has toured as a one-man solo act...
(drums),
Scott SpillaneScott Spillane is one of the leaders of the Athens, Georgia, USA band The Gerbils. He is also known for his work playing horns for Neutral Milk Hotel, and appearing on albums and in live shows by Elephant 6 artists such as The Olivia Tremor Control, of Montreal and Elf Power.Scott is a carpenter...
(horns) and
Julian KosterJulian Koster is a member of the Elephant 6 Collective. He is the leader of The Music Tapes, and a former member of Neutral Milk Hotel and Chocolate USA. He is also believed to be closely connected to the highly secretive Major Organ and the Adding Machine...
(banjo, bass guitar,
musical sawA musical saw, also called a singing saw, is the application of a hand saw as a musical instrument. The sound created is an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin, or a woman's clear voice...
, accordion, synthesizer). Additional contributors included
Robert SchneiderRobert Peter Schneider is one of the co-founders of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, along with Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss, and Jeff Mangum...
(producer, instrumentalist),
Laura CarterLaura Carter is a multi-instrumentalist musician from Athens, GA. She is more 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...
(
zanzithophoneThe zanzithophone is the name given to an electronic MIDI saxophone, formerly produced by Casio as the Casio DH-100 or DH-200 . It produces a piercing, unearthly nasal tone. This instrument is most notably used by The Elephant 6 Recording Company based in Athens, Georgia. It looks like a whitish...
) and other members of the Elephant 6 Collective. 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
EPAn extended play is a vinyl record, CD, or music download which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as an LP. Usually, a CD single has around 10–28 minutes of music, an EP has up to 36 minutes, and an album generally has 30–80 minutes. Mini-LPs generally contain 20–30...
Everything IsEverything 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-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 Schneider, who contributed production and instrumentation. Neutral Milk Hotel released
In 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...
in 1998, which became their most well-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 100,000 copies and is often ranked as one of the greatest albums of its time. 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 was a part of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, based in
Athens, GeorgiaAthens-Clarke County is a unified city-county in Georgia, U.S., in the northeastern part of the state. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial creation of Athens and its subsequent growth...
. The band was one of Elephant 6's three first projects, alongside
The Apples in StereoThe 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 majority of the band's music...
and Olivia Tremor Control.
Origins
Jeff Mangum, along with high-school friends
Will Cullen HartWilliam "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 DossBill Doss is among the co-founders of the Elephant Six Collective, 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 ControlThe Olivia Tremor Control was an Athens, Georgia indie rock band 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 DemiseCalifornia 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 ShortcakeInvent Yourself a Shortcake is a self-recorded demo tape by Neutral Milk Hotel. It was originally recorded on cassette and distributed among other Elephant 6 musicians.-Track listing:# "Digestion Machine" - 5:24# "Calypso Part One" - 3:17...
, 1992's
BeautyBeauty is a self-recorded demo tape by Neutral Milk Hotel. It was originally recorded on cassette and distributed among other Elephant 6 musicians.-Track listing:# "Engine" - 4:22# "Circle of Friends" - 3:28# "Wishful Eyes" - 6:00...
(not to be confused with the earlier cassette), and 1993's
Hype City SoundtrackHype City Soundtrack is a self-recorded demo tape by Neutral Milk Hotel. It was originally recorded on cassette and distributed among other Elephant 6 musicians.-Track listing:# "Up and Over We Go" - 2:34# "Wood Guitar" - 2:36# "Tuesday Moon" - 4:01...
, 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 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...
.
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
SeattleSeattle is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Situated in the western part of Washington State on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Sealth, of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes...
,
WashingtonWashington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute. It was admitted to the Union as the...
, released on
Cher Doll RecordsCher 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 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, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the state of Colorado, in the United States. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River Valley on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, where Mangum was backed by
Robert SchneiderRobert 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 StereoThe 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 majority of the band's music...
, Rick Benjamin of The Perry Weissman 3 and Lisa Janssen of
Secret SquareSecret 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 RecordsMerge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance; it began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends.-History:...
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 YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Soon after this, they moved to
Athens, GeorgiaAthens-Clarke County is a unified city-county in Georgia, U.S., in the northeastern part of the state. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial creation of Athens and its subsequent growth...
, 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 LP,
In 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...
, released in 1998, is notable as a critically acclaimed work and a widely popular recording. It is a spiritually motivated work conceptually based on the beauty to be found in the horrific fate of
Anne FrankAnnelies Marie "Anne" Frank was a Jewish girl who was born in the city of Frankfurt am Main in Weimar Germany, and who lived most of her life in or near Amsterdam, in the Netherlands...
. 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
dreamDreams are a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is known as...
s he had of a
JewishJudaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
familyFamily denotes a group of people or animals affiliated by a consanguinity, affinity or co-residence...
during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into 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 met with scant response from the general public when it was released, the recording has continued to gain momentum in
indieIndie rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The term is often used to describe the means of production and distribution of independent underground music, as well as the style of music that was first associated with this means of...
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
circles, selling well over 100,000 copies, according to
Merge RecordsMerge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance; it began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends.-History:...
. 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. is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by Michael Stipe , Peter Buck , Mike Mills , and Bill Berry . R.E.M. was one of the first popular alternative rock bands, and gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's unclear vocals. 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 PowerElf 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, drummer Eric Harris, cellist Heather McIntosh and violinist John Fernandes...
, 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" 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...
". He explained to the audience that the song is about a boy whose body becomes filled up with miniature birds that come out of the bathtub faucet and protect him from his murderous father (who has apparently already killed the main character's younger brother).
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
Although some of the members are occasionally active with one another in other projects, it is unknown whether any more Neutral Milk Hotel albums will be released. 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 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 IsEverything 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'sLive 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. It was recorded by filmmaker Lance Bangs at the Athens, GA based venue Jittery Joe's on March 7, 1997 during a live solo performance featuring only Jeff. Jeff had...
, a live recording by filmmaker
Lance BangsLance Bangs is a filmmaker, documentarian, and music video director who has created videos for Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Green Day, the Arcade Fire, the Shins, Belle & Sebastian, Menomena, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, R.E.M., Mike Watt, Death Cab for Cutie, The Black Keys, Kanye West, and Pavement...
of a show Mangum played in a coffee house in
Athens, GeorgiaThe 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-52's, and several long-time indie rock groups...
in 1997. The
Major Organ and the Adding MachineMajor 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 Montrealof Montreal is an American indie pop band formed in Athens, Georgia. Fronted by Kevin Barnes, it was among the second wave of groups to emerge from The Elephant 6 Recording Company.-History:...
's
Kevin BarnesKevin L. Barnes is the singer 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 with a woman from Montreal...
,
Elf PowerElf 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, drummer Eric Harris, cellist Heather McIntosh and violinist John Fernandes...
's Andrew Reiger and the Olivia Tremor Control and
Circulatory SystemCirculatory System is a psychedelic rock musical ensemble formed by musician/painter Will Cullen Hart, and featuring Derek Almstead, Suzanne Allison, Peter Erchick, John Fernandes, Nesey Gallons, Charlie Johnston, and Heather McIntosh....
's
Will Cullen HartWilliam "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 HarrisEric 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 IOrange 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 only played live proper again once, at the Kings Arms pub in
AucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with a population approaching 1.4 million residents, percent of the country's population. Demographic trends indicate that it will continue to grow faster than the rest...
,
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
, at the request of the
Tall DwarfsTall 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 KnoxChris 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 CarterLaura Carter is a multi-instrumentalist musician from Athens, GA. She is more 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 SpectorHarvey Philip "Phil" Spector is an American pioneering record producer and songwriter who was convicted of murder in 2009....
's "I Love How You Love Me" and
John LennonJohn Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English rock musician, singer-songwriter, author, and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles...
'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 InstrumentsThe 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 TapesThe Music Tapes is an indie pop project of Elephant 6 member Julian Koster, also of Neutral Milk Hotel, and the earlier Chocolate U.S.A.. Music Tapes releases are characterised by their unusual orchestration , which produces an effect which is part...
, Scott Spillane as
The GerbilsThe 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 BarnesJeremy Barnes is the founding member of A Hawk and a Hacksaw and former drummer of the now-defunct band Neutral Milk Hotel. He has also worked and recorded with Bright Eyes, Bablicon, Beirut, The Gerbils, Broadcast and Alan Jenkins and The Thurston Lava Tube. He has toured as a one-man solo act...
as
A Hawk and a HacksawA Hawk and a Hacksaw is a folk band from Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is currently on The Leaf Label. The band consists primarily of percussionist Jeremy Barnes, who was previously the drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel and Bablicon, and violinist Heather Trost...
,
BabliconBablicon 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 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...
was re-released by Domino Records in the UK, in a sleeve featuring praise from, among others,
Franz FerdinandFranz Ferdinand are a Scottish rock band that formed in Glasgow, Scotland, 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 the...
and Arcade Fire, bands influenced by NMH. Mangum has also done a few small art projects—following a charity auction on
eBayeBay Inc. is an American Internet company 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. A majority of the sales take place through a set-time auction format, but subsequent methods include...
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 StoneRolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, 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. Gleason.The magazine was named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same...
,
Pitchfork MediaPitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on independent music, especially indie rock...
, and
Billboard. However, it was eventually discredited by
Robert SchneiderRobert 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 StereoThe 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 majority of the band's music...
, 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 and Columbus shows. This was the first time since the World of Wild Beards Incorporated show that Mangum had played a Neutral Milk Hotel song in public.
Discography
- 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...
(1996)
- 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...
(1998)
External links