tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post319351678524539602..comments2024-03-02T07:40:22.786+03:00Comments on Only Solitaire blog: Neutral Milk Hotel: In The Aeroplane Over The SeaUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-23286566128204939572019-03-13T01:03:44.170+03:002019-03-13T01:03:44.170+03:00This is a thoughtful and fair review (as always Ge...This is a thoughtful and fair review (as always George), but I do feel that you've missed what might be the key theme to this album, and part of its appeal.<br /><br />This album is not about Anne Frank but Sex, and particularly the feelings of young people confronted with the strange, ugly, beautiful appeal of sex and relationships for the first time. For all of Mangum's obliqueness he's pretty clear on this subject: "as we lay and learned what each other's bodies were for," "in the dark we will take off our clothes," "semen stains the mountain tops," "wanting something warm and moving," "Your father made fetuses with flesh licking ladies," "from above you I sank into your soul." <br /><br />In this context, I'd suggest the two-headed boy's second head is pretty obvious. And at this risk of getting all Freudian, think about all the phallic imagery in the first track: carrot, flower, tower, snake. Sure Mangum mixes in imagery of religion, death, and WWII, but the overriding theme is a young man trying to make sense of sex, women, and relationships. Such themes are ubiquitous in rock music of course, but Mangum presents them as a warped, surreal fairytale, an even stranger take on Alice and Wonderland. In this context even the musical saw and drunken horns contribute to the atmosphere, as do Mangum's strained, unhinged vocals.<br /><br />And that's a key part of this album's appeal IMO. Most people proclaiming this the greatest album of all time heard it somewhere between 12-25, the precise age at which it would have the most resonance and when its vision of sexual relationships makes the most sense. All these factors are extra-musical of course, but still contribute to a special impact if you're in the right audience. Certainly not the greatest album ever, but still unique and occasionally touching if you're in the right mood.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04758690057578436214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-82091942694152941982019-03-13T00:59:00.693+03:002019-03-13T00:59:00.693+03:00So sad this beautiful album has been treated like ...So sad this beautiful album has been treated like this..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-4138613070457492572019-03-12T22:50:41.834+03:002019-03-12T22:50:41.834+03:00Thanks for the thoughtful comment. However, first ...Thanks for the thoughtful comment. However, first of all, the Wizard of Oz analogy is weak, since there is no connection to Wizard of Oz whatsoever on the original album; Anne Frank IS, want it or not, one of the deliberate symbolic images on this record, and clearly this is a delicate symbol to handle, so if you do this "oddly", you can expect a certain reaction, Wikipedia-fodder bullshit or not.<br /><br />Second, fine, it's not an album about Anne Frank (and I think I made that fairly well understood in the text), it's an album about Mangum's childhood. This does not excuse it from any single problem that has been mentioned in the review.G. S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05848634884798924824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-33393702698152475592019-03-12T21:50:51.207+03:002019-03-12T21:50:51.207+03:00"What do carrot flowers have to do with Anne ..."What do carrot flowers have to do with Anne Frank?"<br /><br />Reading this particular review is a little like reading a middling review of Dark Side of the Moon in which a befuddled reviewer repeatedly grapples with its unclear associations to the Wizard of Oz.<br /><br />The drawn out, heartfelt declaration, "I LOVE YOU JESUS CHRIST!" should be an early tip-off that the notion of this album being about a young Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis is largely irrelevant. <br /><br />If Anne Frank's diary is what helped get Mangum's addled brain going, then whatever -- I'm sure acid, pot, speed, and a fucked up childhood did too, but that doesn't sound so good in dumbass promotional interviews. Better to hide behind famous adolescent literature when speaking publicly about something intimately personal. Besides, Mangus -- never quite seeming in his right mind to me -- is about as reliable a source for what his albums are "about" as Barret or Dylan would be at their most overwhelmed. <br /><br />It doesn't take much critical thinking to understand that the central subject is simply Mangum's own childhood. Not an ideal one, for sure, but no literal holocaust either. The sense of childlike exuberance, helter-skelter sensuality, and domestic chaos is too specific and too obviously personal to be about anyone else. <br /><br />Of course, I disagree strongly about the quality, importance, and (perhaps accidental) genius of the album -- be that as it may -- but let's dispense with red herring, promotional, Wikipedia-fodder bullshit when sitting down to give a legendary album its proper due.<br /><br />The fact that Holland, 1945 -- of all songs! -- is the ONLY one George singled out as a highlight speaks volumes about the limiting effect that promotional interviews and all the secondary chatter they beget can have on what we're able to appreciate about a musical work of art.<br /><br />Forget the interviews, the reviews, and even the songs; this is one case where only the album can say the thing. And it does. And it ain't about Anne freakin'forkin' Frank (No offense).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> Carlo Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15917117446627317130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-74234156072575135282019-03-12T21:37:27.739+03:002019-03-12T21:37:27.739+03:00This is the kind of "thoughtful condemnation&...This is the kind of "thoughtful condemnation" that is both your specialty and an incredibly rare thing in our contemporary critical landscape. (Which is mostly either mushy vague ruminations of love or mean-spirited, unfair attacks.) Thank you, George.<br /><br />I, of course, love this album. Though only about a third as much as I did when I was a teen. (Which means I still like it quite a bit.)jackwolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14610982403956562457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-17440068700347453082019-03-12T19:27:17.771+03:002019-03-12T19:27:17.771+03:00I would actually say it is obscene to call this al...I would actually say it is obscene to call this album a masterpiece (this is in reference to the anonymous comment above), but then it certainly looks like a half-assed attempt at trolling. I mean, fucking Queen? Come on, man, you can do better than that. Alexey P.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-36964231006483913732019-03-12T16:31:38.044+03:002019-03-12T16:31:38.044+03:00I normally don't care much about production, b...I normally don't care much about production, but this album is nigh unlistenable due to the cacaphony of brass, off-key vocals, electronic whizzing, primitive acoustic strumming and distortion that seem to all fight for supremacy in the mix. Holland, 1945 might be a good song, but why elevate this version when it's obvious that even an acoustic demo would probably be superior, see e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sFJPIqkpII<br /><br />I think I do get why people like this album. There is something about primitive guitar strumming and overemoting vocals which can be emotionally resonant if the mood strikes you, because it's so immediate and tries to directly reach you. Combined with the mystique, both biographical and lyrical, it can reach prophetic status. And at that point it ceases to matter whether the music is any good. If you're a person alienated from society who finds cultural norms oppressive and who is not drawn to conventional music because it's fake and commercial and so on, then you might be drawn to NMH, because Magnum speaks for you and is your soulmate or whatever. It doesn't matter that he is weird, because he appeals to weird people.<br /><br />The conflict comes when people try to objectively rate this album and point out there are contemporaries of Magnum who are more musically interesting, lyrically cleverer etc. And this offends fans, because depressed loners are by nature narcissists who feel like people who don't like their super special record are kind of robots without inner life. Yet by rating this album comparatively you destroy its mystique, it ends up as just another above average indie record, and you even risk hinting at the reasons for its popularity having more to do with hype and arbitrary factors than with any special quality. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-66560186073376697802019-03-12T13:25:10.460+03:002019-03-12T13:25:10.460+03:00Please stop bullshitting me, strange anonymous per...Please stop bullshitting me, strange anonymous person. There are literally hundreds of "non-rock-obvious" albums that I have given positive reviews to over the years. If Neutral Milk Hotel do not happen to be among them, there are clearly more complex reasons behind that than OPENYOURMINDTOTHEGREATMYSTERYBLAHBLAHBLAH.G. S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05848634884798924824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-16182536114331005822019-03-12T13:17:57.638+03:002019-03-12T13:17:57.638+03:00oh, okay. he did give Loveless a fairly decent rev...oh, okay. he did give Loveless a fairly decent review, but even with that album it took him ages to come a.<br /><br />let's not forgetMoon Pix, Desertshore, Pink Moon...any classic that goes beyond the rock "obviousness"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-57523343408375852012019-03-12T11:55:45.598+03:002019-03-12T11:55:45.598+03:00"Trashes Loveless?" "Stick to your ..."Trashes Loveless?" "Stick to your Queen reviews?" Do you even read the texts before commenting on them? G. S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05848634884798924824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-7239915022718210292019-03-12T11:52:27.820+03:002019-03-12T11:52:27.820+03:00George trashes masterpieces like this and Loveless...George trashes masterpieces like this and Loveless and it is a dead giveaway his music tastes are sadly as conventional and old-fashion as it gets...<br /><br />...luckily, almost everyone disagree.<br /><br />Please never review Astral Weeks and Ys. Stick to your Queen reviews.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-660808341284783109.post-61815621389925296852019-03-12T00:01:17.946+03:002019-03-12T00:01:17.946+03:00I like your honest review and the way you approach...I like your honest review and the way you approach the album. I share much of your view on this album, although it doesn't nag me the way it seems to do to you (I take the music for what it is outside of it's reputation). There are 3-4 attractive songs on the album and I appreciate singing along with these songs feeling like I can keep up with the actual singer without being blessed without a good voice myself (I don't care about the lyrics and, like you, don't get much of the overall message, but singing the words feels good).<br /><br />One things that does bother a bit is, that if you don't like an album, specifically for more albums, all is wrong suddenly: really, does it matter what the album sleeve looks like? It's not like Funeral's artwork is better (or worse).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com