Rene: Welcome to Earshifter. He's Sean Capstick and he's Rene Rouleau. And Sean, tell us why we're here.

Sean: Well, we are a criticism and review podcast, well, not so much criticism because this show is all about bands we feel we love, and we feel that need a greater profile are important to us and we want to share with our listeners.

Rene: Yeah, we basically wanna share the love of the bands that we love. But I got a question before we get into this band, Renee. Okay. How do you feel about the algorithm? What do you mean? 

Sean: Well, you told me the other day that you have turned off your auto suggest, 

Rene: oh, I hate my auto Suggest. 

Sean: Whereas [00:01:00] I like the auto suggest.

Rene: Hmm. 

Sean: So I'm kind of conflicted about the algorithm because I like when a band that I haven't heard comes on, but I feel that's kind of like artificial and not as real as what I hope we can be is that guy in the record store. Back when there were record stores person, you respect person, you want to know their opinion and we are.

Personally curating something that we think you want to hear. 

Rene: Yeah. Yeah. And so I do feel like the auto suggest is a bit of a fake out and I feel it's a lazy as well, so a little judgy guys. But yeah, lazy and I think what this. What this podcast is all about is about exploring and exploring means going out there on your own and finding new things and, and that's what excites both of us, I think the most.

Sean: So who do you wanna talk about today? Who do you want people to explore? 

Rene: Yeah, so today we are talking about Neutral Milk [00:02:00] Hotel, and if you don't know that name, it's gonna sound pretty strange to you, I'm sure. Do you know how they got the name? Well, interesting you say that because we're actually gonna get into that.

But I think also it's, it is like the name is a hint of just how odd and, and unique the music is. Yes. And how odd and unique his singing style is and how odd and unique his lyrics are. Right. It's just a little hint, a glimmer into his world. So if you can 

Sean: get past listening to a band called Neutral Mill Hotel, then maybe they're a band that you should be listening to 

Rene: more.

Yeah, exactly. So neutral Milk hotel, or NMH as we might call it throughout this episode was founded in Rustin, Louisiana in 1989. Originally Jeff Mangum performed under the name milk. But discovered that there were a few other bands named Milk or artists that were named Milk. So he said, oh, okay, well we'll keep the milk but we'll call it [00:03:00] Neutral Milk Hotel.

And why did 

Sean: he not go for milk? Or what's the Clockwork Orange where they go into the bar and milk or something? Like Milk A plus. Yeah, yeah, 

Rene: yeah. That would've been cool. But, and you know what's weird is I did Google like. Why Neutral Milk hotel then come on. But of course, Jeff Mango being who he is, who was like, he, he kept purposely, kind of kept it close to his chest.

Some suggest that it was influenced by the surrealist data is movement and has no real meaning. He probably just liked the sound of it, but he never really revealed why he called them N from Tel. 

Sean: I think this is gonna be a theme of your, uh Yeah. The podcast so far. 

Rene: Yeah. But I love him for it. So, neutral Milk Hotel actually began as a recording project for Jeff Mangum, just him. So let's talk about the sound a little bit first, because the sound is truly unique. And has been described as deliberately low quality sound. It's also been described as old [00:04:00] Eastern European folk music. Yes, that's what I said folks.

Eastern European folk music, jazz, punk, and multi instrumentation, including non-traditional instruments like the singing saw and. Ilin pipes, ilin pipes are also known as union pipes or sometimes called Irish bagpipes, so they're a little bit smaller than your Scottish bagpipes. And the singing saw, well, I, me and Sean, we saw them right together.

Yeah. Do you remember the singing saw? It's a little droney. It's a little droney, but also the way it is is exactly what it sounds like. It's literally a traditional. Hand saw that you put between your legs, between your thighs and you bend it purposely a little bit, and then you take a, a violin bow, let's say, and you put the violin bow over the non sharpp side of that saw, and it creates a sound, a very unique sound.

Okay, so that covers [00:05:00] the quote, weird instruments, but there's also trumpets, ugal, horns, trombones, tuba, french horns and euphoniums. Don't even know what that is, but I love that. The weird instruments where those two, but these two totally normal for a rock band. All those horns. I, 

Sean: I Who doesn't like a phom 

Rene: every now and again.

Exactly. Okay. So, and then, so that's just the sound. Now let's talk in terms of lyrics. And Sean, we all know who is into lyrics more than the other. That would be you. Not to put you on the spot, so, uh, Jeff wrote surreal, opaque lyrics that covered a wide range of topics, including love. Spirituality, nostalgia, sex and loneliness.

He also wrote about the tiredness and disappointing nature of life in general. He had an idealistic vision of how things should work, and he kind of thought that maybe [00:06:00] he could achieve this for himself and his music friends through music. And that was kind of his goal was to retain his idealism and, and, and to.

And find that idealistic view through success with music, which is a little bit of a precursor to where we'll go with this. Now I'm gonna gloss over what became EPS later on, but there were a bunch of early, early songs that were, that are more. Pastiches 

Sean: more like with, you know, like yeah, I'd listened to them that I hadn't before because me too, I had to go back to see them and yeah, you can see that the, the ideas of what the albums would become in those songs.

Yeah. That's kind of interesting to see, you know, he had an idea and he refined it over time. 

Rene: Yeah. So there, there are basically two eps guys that were actually released much, much later. And one is called Everything is ep, and the other one's called Ferris Wheel on Fire, ep. Now the everything is was recorded as early as 1993.

[00:07:00] So you recall that's about three years before Avery Island. But with Ferris Wheel on Fire. I don't know about you, Sean, but I felt like on some of those songs you can really start to hear Jeff developing a more, a much more resting vocal sound in his cadence as. His cadence is very unusual as well.

Mm-hmm. His draggy draggy songs and I think in fact, two of those songs on Ferris Wheel on Fire could have appeared on their first album, which is called Avery Island. Mm-hmm. I feel like the two that belonged there was the title Track, Ferris Wheel on Fire and Engine, both of those being my personal faves off that ep.

So now let's, let's talk about that first album on Avery Island. Okay. Otherwise known as the precursor to their much more famous release which we'll largely focus on in this episode. So Avery Island, I think is just, in my opinion, fully overshadowed. By the [00:08:00] arguable perfection of the second and final album of Neutral Milk Hotel, which was called in the Airplane Over the Sea.

So some critics retrospectively believed that on Avery Island served as a blueprint for. In the airplane over the sea. Mm-hmm. You can, yeah, you can see that. Yeah, you can feel that. So, uh, on Avery Island is released in 1996, recorded in Denver. It's actually a full solo project by Jeff Mangum produced by Robert Schneider of Apples and Stereo and part of the Elephant Six Recording Company, which we're gonna talk about the Elephant Six recording Company a little bit later.

'cause that's a whole other vibe, a whole other thing to get into. So described as an indie rock psychedelic folk album with a purposeful lo-fi sound Rolling Stone magazine. Likened it to the Lo-Fi Indie Rock Act, guided by voices, which you introduced me [00:09:00] to, and we actually saw them live as well. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Love those guys. Who knows? They might even come up in an episode one day. 

Sean: Yeah. Simpler. I mean, guided by voices are, it's straight ahead, rock and roll and, and. Songwriting as opposed to as we'll get into the lyrics when you talk about lyrics. This is not straight ahead. Rock and roll. If you want to hear heads down, no nonsense, mindless, boogie.

Let's talk about it. Other episode dear listener. But yeah, if you're, if you want to hear. A soundscape, I think is the way to describe those. And the soundscape on, on Avery Island is not perfected yet. 

Rene: No. No. But I, I do love quite a few of those songs. I really do. And I, I almost feel it's other worldly is the way to describe the neutral mill hotel world.

It's. It's just onto itself. But anyway, enemy gave it an eight out of 10. And I love this quote, neutral milk hotel can convert miserable as [00:10:00] sin introspection into folky mantras that bore into your skull, like a well aimed power drill. I just feel like they. Took Mangum and, and and wrote that, um, Pitchfork highlighted songs like You've Passed and Garden Head Lead Me Alone.

That's one song, garden Head Lead Me Alone as some of the best NMH songs. Garden head Leave Me Alone is actually one of my faves off the album. It's a bit rockier than a lot of the album, but let's give a listen.[00:11:00] 

Okay, so. Look, I love that song. It's one of my favorite songs on that album. But what I want to do now is I want to contrast that song with my favorite song on this album. And that song is a Baby for pre, and we're gonna hear that right now.

Clip1: Babies to breathe with their hearts hanging open over the sheets.

And the rest of[00:12:00] 

soak inside.

Rene: Okay. So this song is my favorite because it's just such a quiet, delicate song. It reminds me of Elliot Smith's Pilla. Mm-hmm. Which is another song I absolutely love. The whole song, by the way, folks, is one minute, 21 seconds. In fact. About 80% of their songs run between a minute and a half and three minutes.

There are a few exceptions, but that is kind of where it is average wise. Alright. Sean, do you have any comments on this guy? 

Sean: Well, I, so the album is good [00:13:00] again, it's always, I think we're gonna come back to what if with the band, right? Because you've said it, they've, they've got one. Extraordinary album coming next.

So this album is good. If the Airplane Over the Sea came out, I don't think I'd ever listen to this album. I certainly wouldn't listen to the other pre song which is, you know, you highlight, you, we've talked about this in the past. Listeners, Renee likes certain things off the song. He rarely puts the, the record the needle on and listens to it right to the end, but.

The last song is kind of unlistenable. 

Rene: I would fully agree. And it's 13 minutes long. And I do not enjoy that song. No. 

Sean: Now maybe we'll get comments from Nutra meal hotel fans. We're, who will argue that that is the best. That is a sonic experiment. It is a. Droney lively loud [00:14:00] song, you know, all the good things that we like but compared to what came next and be compared to the rest of the album, you know, there's song about sex that you haven't mentioned that is Love it.

You know, A loud, great banger. Yes. So, you know, this album is good, but. Without the rest of the context, I don't think we'd be having this conversation. 

Rene: Hmm, interesting. Is it, let's just talk about that last song, because I actually wanna read it out loud. What it's actually, the full name of the song is Preist Swallowing A Donkey's Eye, that is the name of the song folks.

So again, kind of a glimmer into lyrically where Mango lives and it's, it's another abstract, abstractly abstract where he lives. Yes. Yeah, 

Sean: I think he's less of a lyricist and more of a surrealist abstract. Dads dad. Yeah. He's putting words together that are a conventional [00:15:00] song on the song you like and.

Typically are not conventional songs. They are ideas that people can put whatever they want on them. 

Rene: Yes. Which is very, I feel like you did some research ahead of this and cheated, but uh, yeah, that's actually something he talks about as well. But I think you kind of hit on something too. I think sometimes he just enjoys the words together.

Whether they make sense or not is kind of what you were hinting at, 

Sean: which is I think is a. Powerful using the voice as an instrument, using words as to evoke feelings, as opposed to evoke thought and feelings are thought or vice versa. So he is an abstractionist. Yeah. Yeah. 

Rene: Full stop. Yeah. Yeah. And now I'm gonna say something that surprised me in my research and re-listening of, of the albums.

I actually. Think I enjoy on Avery Island more than Aeroplane, which is gonna just piss you off to no end. But I think there's a couple of [00:16:00] reasons for that. I think maybe I overplayed aeroplane way back when and I just played it too much and then rediscovering the albums. I'm like, yeah, yeah, I know Aeroplane.

But on Avery Island I didn't listen to as much and I really got to appreciate it more. Okay. 

Sean: I 

Rene: am 

Sean: surprised. Yes. Yes, because. On Avery Island is I think one of these albums that you have to listen to. You think it is? Yes. Yeah, I think totally. Yeah. I think it could be, what's the word? 

Rene: Seminal? Yes, yes, yes. I think it could be seminal too.

And then song wise, you hinted at it, but Song, what Song for Sex? 

Sean: Yep. 

Rene: Someone Is Waiting. Love that song where you'll find me Now. Love that song. And then there's another song called Naomi that is the most played song on Spotify, about 8 million listens. And Naomi. Is a song about Galaxy five hundred's, Naomi Yang.

Hmm. 

Sean: I did not know that. Yeah. So it's not an abstraction, it's about a real person. Yeah. [00:17:00] Who would've been a contemporary, a little older than Jeff. But yeah. Okay. 

Rene: Yeah. Yeah, 

Sean: I like that song. But again, it's, I'm surprised that that's the number one song on Spotify 

Rene: meet, uh, sorry, on that album. Oh, okay.

Just that album? Yeah. No, just that album. But it, it's still surprising. Why is Song for Sex not the number one? I would've thought, first of all, Spotify wise, first song is always the most played on any album, right? Generally 'cause everyone just listens to the first song and decides, right? But I'm surprised that Song for Sex was not the most popular song on this album.

But there you go. So I will say it, I'm saying it maybe for contentious points, maybe to just shock you a little bit, but I do find myself gravitating on Avery Island a little bit more than your airplane these days. Hmm. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So anyway, of course Jeff had to tour on Avery Island, right? He had to tour, so, but he had no.

Musicians 'cause it was a solo project. Jeff recruited three musicians to tour with him. Julianne [00:18:00] Custer, he's the guy that wears the funny hat and plays the singing saw and spins around a lot on stage. And then there's Jeremy Barnes and Scott Spillane. And Scott Spillane plays all the horny instruments.

Sean: And who has got the biggest beard before beards were trendy. 

Rene: Truly, yes. Truly the biggest beard epic beard. So they made enough money on that tour to move to Athens, Georgia in 1997, where a large group of Elephant, six musicians were living. There he wrote and demoed nearly every song for the second album, the Epic album, the perfect album.

He played them for the rest of the band, and the band then moved back to Denver. To record their iconic and seminal album in the Airplane Over the Sea with again, Robert Schneider. Essentially what happened was they came back. To Athens, Georgia with the recorded tracks [00:19:00] and went back to the Elephant six group, which is, you know, it's, it's almost like a commune.

The Elephant six recording company. They have potluck dinners and at those potluck dinners, they all share their crazy ideas. They share vegetarian meals. It was actually an event where you bring your recordings and they all listen and. Legend has it that when they played in the airplane Over the sea, the larger group, all the members and, and members of Apples and stereo, Olivia Tremor, control, elf, power of Montreal, all of these bands are relatively famous indie bands.

Mm-hmm. Like Mo, a lot of people would've known who they were, but when they played this album, this recording, apparently everyone was just silent at the end. They were just. Dumbstruck apparently. And in fact he worked on several projects under Elephant six, including he worked on Apples in stereo, he worked on Olivia tremor Control [00:20:00] and two bands.

In the Elephant six, we're actually NMH members as well. So very communal, very like sharing ideas and, and playing on each other's albums which sounds like a nice, nice feeling. Mm-hmm. Okay, so what is Aeroplane really about?

Sean: Whatever you want it to be. 

Rene: That's what I, what he says. Yeah. You cheated dude.

You totally cheated. That is 

Sean: totally what I like. I've tried to figure it out for. Years. 

Rene: Okay. 

Sean: That at one point I thought that Jeff was gay and the two-headed boy was a, about just, you know, being un out of control of your own body and all of the body parts and the, the, the death and the suicidal isolation of, uh, that it's been.

And then I'm like, no, that's completely wrong because. He's talking about a woman that you're gonna talk about that the, that one of the main themes that [00:21:00] actually is obvious, but like I have tried to analyze that album, tried to put it right in my head. I love the words how they roll together. Mm-hmm. But they are ultimately meaningless.

Hmm. Or whatever you want it to mean, which I think is. That's why it's a perfect album because every song is great. I don't think there's one song that I would skip over and you're shaking your head that, uh, you, I wouldn't would do that too. Right? Yeah. So that's rare again for Renee. Yeah. Uh, and but.

It's ultimately not about anything. 

Rene: Yeah. Uh, okay. So you're beating me to the punch a little bit, but I do have a, guys, I'm sorry, but it's a rather long quote, but I think it's a, a poignant quote from Jeff Mangum about how he got to this album. And the quote is so famous that actually Pitchfork used it. A couple other mags used it as well.

It's like a well known on the internet quote. So I'm gonna read it to you. Here's how it goes. He says. [00:22:00] Right before recording on Avery Island, I was walking around in Ruston, Louisiana, waiting to go to Denver to record. I don't consider myself to be a very educated person because I've spent a lot of time and a lot of my life in dreams, and I was walking around wondering if I knew the history of the world, would everything make more sense to me or would I just lose my mind?

And I came to the conclusion that I'd probably just lose my mind the next day. I went into a bookstore and there was the Diary of Anne Frank. I'd never given it any thought in my entire life. I spent two days reading it and then completely flipped out. I spent about three days crying and just was completely flipped out while I was reading the book.

She was alive to me. I pretty much knew what was going to happen. And so that, that's basically what he [00:23:00] claims it's about. But then he later Sean says, but it really can be anything. It could be about anything you want. But the themes that many talk about, and listen, you're not alone. Many people have many kind of theories and, and.

And themes that they think it's about. And some of those are include, uh, mango's urge to save or reclaim the spirit of Anne Frank in the face of an uncaring world. It's also about the universal theme of growing up that's talked about a lot. Mm-hmm. So when we're young, adulthood is overwhelming. You can do as you please as an adult, but at the cost of the comfort and security of your childhood.

And I think that's a struggle that he had as well. And by the way, listeners I just wanna kind of mention this aerial plane is the way it's spelt, it's not spelt the conventional way, which again, is very, very neutral M hotel to spell it in the old timey way versus the [00:24:00] modern way. So the album is also a larger commentary on relationships.

And religion as a whole. Alright, so with that we're gonna go do an actual rapid fire listen of some of the choice tracks off this album partially because we only have two albums to talk about really. And there's so much more else to cover in terms of. Jeff Mango and, and what happens after this? So let's start with the title track in the aerial plane over the sea.

And I said that way on purpose

Clip1: in cloud.

The.[00:25:00] 

Rene: Okay, so Sean. Honestly, this is the most conventional song on the entire album. Totally. But nice song. I like this song. It's a lovely song. It's also the most played song on this album, but it's also kind of the most expected song on this album. It's lovely, but it has no real unusual with music changes versus the first two songs, which maybe I wrongly [00:26:00] skipped.

You know what I mean? Like I love King of Carrot Flowers as part two. 

Sean: I like parts one and three. 

Rene: Okay. Okay. 

Sean: They're all good. All parts. They're all good. 

Rene: They're all good. 

Sean: And they are, they just. Start the album. Like bang. Yeah. Like now you're into surrealism. Suicidal tendencies. Love just crazy lyrics.

And then I think it's appropriate that the title track comes on the third song. 'Cause parts two and three are joined. Oh, yeah. Sorry, I about that should be, yes. Yes. The, uh, so listeners, you should listen to. King of carrot flowers. Parts one, two, and three all together. 'cause we can't play them for you.

But those are worth the price of admission to the album themselves. 

Rene: And this is a testament to the album. It's so hard to, to pick the songs, right? Like I picked this one because it was the most played. So I thought this is a nice, gentle way to ease the listener into this album. [00:27:00] And maybe wrongly 'cause uh, yeah.

The first two songs are just bangers. They're just awesome. The other thing I wanna note though, is in this song you can actually hear the singing saw, which literally sounds like what a saw would sing. Okay, so on that one it's the most played. It's 151 million plays, that single song. Okay, let's just jump into the next song, which is considered their post-punk song on this album, it's called Holland.

1945.[00:28:00] 

Sean: Okay, so the second most conventional song on the album, simple Love Story about a girl who he's never met in 1945, and that's the only girl he is ever loved. So, you know, pining, heartfelt, you know, simple. Boy doesn't meet girl, Mrs. [00:29:00] Girl then moves on 

Rene: and, and again, kind of a straight ahead, although Great.

Post punk song. Yeah. Right. Lots of energy, lots of energy. Do, do, do, do. And, and you're done. In and out pretty quick. Okay. But I think that also speaks to the, the diversity of the album too, right? You got some quiet ones. You got some rock like bangers. The next one is called Oh, comely. That's the one that we're gonna cover next, and that one's an eight minute song.

So we're gonna hear that one next

Clip1: only I crush.[00:30:00] 

Rene: Okay, so apparently. His singing on this song was done in one, what they call scratch Shake, and apparently it tells the story of someone's adulterous father. Any other comments on that one, or are you good? 

Sean: No, that's a, it's a nice song, but again, I would've, if we only have 11 songs to pick, you are picking the every other one that I would've picked.

Wow. Wow. 

Rene: Okay. Okay. Well let, let's, let's talk about music in that time in 1998. Okay. What was going on? In the normal world, the non magm world, basically. So 1998 British top singles stereo [00:31:00] phonics, bartender in the thief. I'm a big fan of the stereo fans, myself Beastie Boys, intergalactic, and your favorite band, Radiohead.

No surprises. So those are the three kind of songs that were there. That's the. Songs that you and I might like. Yep. And then in the pop world, it was Madonna's Ray of Light. Sheryl Crow's My Favorite Mistake, and some Shania Twain and some Boys to Men. So that was the world that we were living in, that Jeff Magnum was not.

Sean: Yeah. And he was creating a little. Corner of the world where you could crawl in and do anything you want. 

Rene: I really love that description actually. That's really apt. That's really cool. Yeah, exactly. So. And, and also they just feel old timey otherworldly. Like really, truly crawl in a corner and just be in that world.

Okay, so this brings us to the album's closing song, which is the final song that I picked off of this album, which you [00:32:00] probably disagree with as well. I 

Sean: don't know. I like the original, the, the part one of Two Headed Boy. Why did you pick Two Headed Boy? Part two. Well, I'll tell you why, but I'll tell you why after we listen.

Okay?

Clip1: And you.

And when.[00:33:00] 

Sean: Okay, so that's a great song. It's got, it's very similar to the, the the unnamed part one, just the two-headed boy. It's droney, it goes on, it hangs. Is that why you like it 

Rene: better? It's everything I love about a song whereas the original two-headed boy, it's faster, it's punchier. And it's great. It's great too.

But this one just makes me a little extra melancholy and sad. And the other reason I did wanna play this and I didn't play the very end of it, but at the end of the song, do you, do you remember what happens At the very end of the song, it Drones 

Sean: goes on, it makes you wanna listen to the album again. 

Rene: Yes.

That and the way it ends is you actually hear Jeff Mangum place his acoustic guitar down on the ground and walk away. Hmm. [00:34:00] And that's the way it ends. So if you think about that ending and you think about the internet and you think about what happens to Jeff Mangu, which we're gonna get to in a minute, there was a lot of talk about why he ended it, the way he ended it, because what happened next is partially what led to the mythology, fascination of the band and this particular album.

So a few months after in the Aeroplane Over the Sea. It was launched and after a very brief tour, Jeff disappeared. Yes. Walked away, stopped making music, walked away. And this disappearance only strengthened the reputation online because everyone was buzzing. This album was the shit, so to speak. And, and he's gone.

And we don't know where he is. We don't know what he is doing. Jeff's reason he had nothing else to say. He felt like 

Sean: it, [00:35:00] which is a good reason. 

Rene: But, but that's funny. But this is gonna bring it down a bit. He also admitted he had a nervous breakdown. Yes. So but you know, he had nothing else to say Is kind of poignant too, right?

Like, and that's why the end of that song. Dropping the guitar walking away is kind of like, I've got nothing else. This is it. We're done. So Slate Magazine called him and I, I kind of like this, the salinger of Indie rock. Interesting. That they call him the Salinger of Indie rock because Salinger too had issues with growing up.

Mm-hmm. And becoming an adult and what that meant and the fakery of it. All right. So I love, I love that quote. Okay, so where'd he go? Where'd he go? Sean? Canada, I wish. Um, uh, so Mango spent years rebuilding himself after his spiritual crisis. And since part of that crisis was his recognition that [00:36:00] music would never save him from his demons, he couldn't very well embark on another album.

He was kind of like, this is it. I'm disillusioned. I had this successful album. Everyone says it's a successful album, and yet. I don't have that idealism anymore and my friends are still unhappy. This is literally how he felt. So he wandered the globe, uh, to find spiritual balance, even spending time in a monastery.

He released a disc of field recordings of Bulgarian folk music. And then disappeared and I listened to some of that folk music, and it's exactly what you would think it would be. Bulgarian folk music. He called himself Jefferson when he hosted a late night radio show on New Jersey's WFMJ a few times until someone discovered him and then he vanished again.

Sometimes he'd appear on stage at Friends Rock shows for a song. Sending the crowd into a tizzy. But when those friends suggest he [00:37:00] record a new album, he disappear again. He did some mystery solo shows and disappeared again. He did one in Toronto. Sean, did you know this? Hmm. No, I did not either, man.

In 2011 at. Trinity St. Paul's Church. 

Sean: Wow. That's a great venue, 

Rene: right? Pretty small. 

Sean: Yeah. 

Rene: Yeah. Well, we're idiots for missing that one. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then they regrouped and NMH regrouped in 2012 for the reunion tour. 160 shows which you and I saw of course, 

Sean: and you saw them twice 

Rene: and I saw them twice.

They're the only band folks that I've seen two nights in a row, and they're, I have no regrets. I loved both nights, just amazing and magical. 

Sean: And it was, they, it didn't feel contrived, it didn't feel they were doing it for the lura, the filthy lura. They. Were energetic and wanted to like, it was a great show.

It brought those albums to life and I didn't feel [00:38:00] like it was forced. Forced or, or you know, like five, 10 years later right. It was like, okay, now I'm seeing this great album albums, but albums album. 

Rene: Yeah. And was super, super fun time. Okay, so. We are getting to the point where we say, is this an year shifter band?

Sean: So I don't even know if they're a band. They're a myth. They're a 

idea that he has created and then walked away from. And you know, like if it, if he's a happier person now than when he was, you know, making music, beautiful music, but tortured music, then great. I'm glad they're not a band. I'm glad they're a myth and, hmm.

I've got a caution for our young listeners with the algorithm. That because how many plays do they have on Spotify? 

Rene: In terms of monthly listeners, they have 1.1 million. 

Sean: So that's [00:39:00] huge for a person that doesn't tour a person, that doesn't promote that, it's only on the strength of this abstraction that that was created, you know, close to 20 years ago.

So. I'm worried that if you were had never listened to it, how is it gonna affect your algorithm? Because are they the beginning or the end? If you are gonna put on. Neutral milk hotel for the first time, please. Dear listeners, put on that Olivia tremor. Control. Put on the microphones, put on early bright eyes, who was very definitely lo-fi and abstract put on Daniel Johnson.

What, who was totally abstract, who else or the Decembers. Early Decembers, they were more humor than abstract. Low fi there, but, but there's a lot of heavily influenced five. Okay. Yeah, yeah. That don't stop here. That this is be this the [00:40:00] beginning of your musical journey. Not the end. Because I unfortunately think with these seminal albums, with these icons, it becomes the end.

And I really think that's what. Maybe some of the pressure that he was under. How do you follow up something that is so perfect as in the airplane over the sea? 

Rene: Yeah, 

Sean: so definitely an ear shifter album. 

Rene: Yes, yes. I, I, you know, I forgot to mention I played Neutral Milk Hotel to my daughter. She's 23 and she's, she's into music.

And you know, sure enough, I think his voice. So emotive and we haven't really talked about his voice per se. But it's polarizing. It can great, it can. Mm-hmm. So be warned, listener, if you go deep you've gotta like his voice and you've gotta like what he's doing with his voice. 'cause I think that's purposeful.

And I think, you know there are some greats out there that do the same thing. Sid Barrett. [00:41:00] Same sort of style, same sort of really emotive, but a little hard to listen to, troubled. 

Sean: And who knows what Pink Floyd could have been if they hadn't kicked him out and became this monolithic rock band. 

Rene: I mean, I love them too, but Sure, yes.

I love them both for different reasons. I really do. Or, or the OG of kind of. Sounding off tune, if you will. Leonard Cohen. Right. My, my parents raised me on Leonard Cohen every Sunday night at dinner. It was Leonard Cohen. And, and that kind of introduced me to music that was different. And, and I mentioned the emus, so call Malloy admits that or not.

Admits call Malloy says duress. Yeah, yeah. Call Malloy has said that Jeff Mangum was a big influence on him. And you can hear it, you can hear it in him. And, but I love the emus too. Probably another episode down the road. 

Intro: Look forward to that. 

Rene: But yeah, I, I think, I think your, your point is well taken that don't let it stop here.

Let explore others. And that's what this show is all [00:42:00] about. I'm surprised you didn't challenge me. 'cause folks we always talk about like, Hey, I'm going to cover this band next. And um, Sean said, really neutral Milk hotel had one album though. And like there are lots of bands that were seminal that only had one album.

Sex Pistols. 

Sean: They had rock and roll swindle 

Rene: bullshit. 

Sean: I think it was the greatest rock 

Rene: and roll swindle, but yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what you did was, you made me dig into that 'cause I was ready for you. So joy Division two albums. 

Sean: What would Joy Division have been like if they hadn't, if Heian Curtis hadn't committed suicide and they hadn't turned into a new order, that could, that's a lovely thought experiment.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they are another two seminal albums about what could have been, yeah. 

Rene: Yep. Stone Roses not a huge fan of myself, but two albums only. And Stone Roses have had major influence on so many bands NWA two albums. So, and Jeff Buckley, who I'm Coly not a fan, uh, [00:43:00] 

Sean: but. What a waste that he Yes.

Died 

Rene: to. Yes. Yes. Pitchfork ultimately gave this album a perfect 10 out of 10, which I thought was rare. But then I dug in. Turns out they've given about 150 perfect tens. But a lot of those were retrospective. So, you know, like Stooges Raw Power, they gave a 10 outta 10 pink Floyd's Animals.

They gave a 10, outta 10. The Clash. They gave a 10, outta 10, uh, warranted. Yeah, all warranted Rems Reckoning, which is one of our favorites. 10 outta 10 led Zeppelin Public Enemy. So I thought it was rare. 150 albums, maybe not so rare. Pitchfork also ranked this album number four on the best albums of the nineties.

Enemy put Aeroplane at 98, number 98 of the greatest albums of all time. Which is a big statement. And 2005 spin listed this album as one of the greatest albums of the last 25 years. Last agreed. [00:44:00] Pardon me? Agreed. All. Agreed on all of that. Sean, 

Sean: what's up next, I want to talk about your band's favorite band.

Whoa. 

Rene: Okay. Alright, well, listeners, stay tuned. Until next time. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Air Shifter. Tune in next time where we'll cover another band that deserves more. You can find Air Shifter on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Friend us or listen to our playlist on Spotify and visit air shifter.com for more information.

Special thanks. Go to our logo designer Stewart Thorsby and our intro Outro music by Joe Novak. You can find him as Byebye Badman, one word on SoundCloud, and a big shout out to Joe for being our awesome sound engineer slash editor. Until next time.