In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel (1998)

The “Elephant 6” collective was a loosely-coordinated movement in lo-fi indie rock in the 90s. There were a bunch of bands involved, and a bunch more who were inspired by them even if they were never really considered members. Jeff Mangum was the mind behind Neutral Milk Hotel (he also played in Olivia Tremor Control, I think), and he created the one thing most any rock fan knows about Elephant 6’s weird little pocket universe, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea.

For me, anyway, this thing was inevitable. I heard it from my previously mentioned mp3 sharing days, but I would have come across it eventually, and loved it. There’s something about the dynamics of it. Just when you need a little crescendo, you get one. Just when you think the acoustic guitars should explode into fuzzy distortion, they do. Just when you think you need a little bit more than the fuzzy guitar, you get a brass section (trombone, I’m pretty sure). Your experience will vary, but this one really sticks with me because it sounds so much like I think great music ought to sound.

There isn’t a lot of other Neutral Milk Hotel music: Mangum seems to keep himself busy, just not with recording as NMH. But Aeroplane is a great piece of work, and I’m happy if I have the privilege of being the one to expose you to it.

King of Carrot Flowers pt 1 - it’s all great, but part 1 is particularly distinctive

Holland 1945 - just turn it up and bounce.