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During the 1990s a genius of pop music came out of the musically depressed
lands of Louisiana: no, not Britney Spears, but Jeff Mangum, the man behind
Neutral Milk Hotel, soon destined to become one of the leaders of the
pop renaissance with Apples In Stereo and
Olivia Tremor Control.
Neutral Milk Hotel debuted with three cassettes,
Invent Yourself A Shortcake (Elephant 6, 1991),
Beauty (Elephant 6, 1992),
Hype City Soundtrack (Elephant 6, 1993)
and the legendary single Everything Is (Cher Doll, 1994), a catchy
refrain set to a simple rhythm.
The fuzzy guitar made people think of a disciple of
Jesus And Mary Chain, a perception
that the hazy sound on the album On Avery Island (Merge, 1996)
did little to change.
Despite the memorable hooks of Song Against Sex and Naomi,
despite the
quirky arrangements a` la Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks (trombone, xylophone,
organ), halfway between the Salvation Army and classical music, the
standout tracks are the feedback-heavy instrumental Marching Theme and
the dadaistic/psychedelic tour de force of
Pree-Sisters Swallowing A Donkey's Eye.
Better production (and a real band) on In the Aeroplane Over The Sea (Merge, 1998)
radically changed the perception without radically changing the melodic
content and presented Mangum as a modern Tom Rapp
covering Buddy Holly
(but also Frank Zappa's Freak Out).
The King Of Carrot Flowers and Two Headed Boy
are heavenly lullabies.
Mangum collaborator Julian Koster released the single
Please Hear Mr Flight Control (Elephant 6, 1998) and the album
1st Imaginary Symphony For Nomad (Merge, 1999) under the moniker
Music Tapes, an album which is a sort of gigantic, mad collage in the vein
of the Fugs' Virgin Forest.
Neutral Milk Hotel's drummer Jeremy Barnes formed Bablicon with
Dave McDonald and Griffin Rodriguez, an avantgarde trio that recorded
In a Different City (Misra, 1999), a noisy, spastic, psychedelic jazz-rock experiment that harks back to Captain Beefheart (minus the voice and the
blues), followed by the calmer mini-album Orange Tapered Moon (Misra, 2000).
A Flat Inside a Fog, the Cat That Was a Dog (Misra, 2001), a gloriously
incoherent statement of ambient cacophony.
Live At Jittery Joes (2001 - Orange Twin, 2005) was a Jeff Mangum solo acoustic live set.
A Hawk And A Hacksaw is the solo project of Neutral Milk Hotel's drummer Jeremy Barnes, originally from New Mexico and now resident in Britain.
A Hawk And A Hacksaw (2004) and
Darkness At Noon (Leaf, 2005) are devoted to ethnic folk with
the kind of drunk attitude that Tom Waits could
concoct.
After relocating back to New Mexico, Barnes recorded
The Way The Wind Blows (Leaf, 2006), that featured
klezmer violinist Heather Trost, a collection that continued the pan-ethnic
program with merely a more profound tone.
The chamber instrumental The Way The Wind Blows pivots on a
touching violin and accordion melody.
Fernando's Giampari is an exuberant post-modernist fantasia on
klezmer and assorted folk dance music.
Other pieces are more directly related to this or that folk tradition.
Notably, the six-minute In The River for horns, organ, violin and accordion sounds like a Slavic funeral march.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Antonio Buono)
Durante gli anni Novanta, un genio della pop music emerse dalle terre musicalmente depresse della Louisiana: no, non Britney Spears, ma Jeff Mangum, l’uomo dietro i Neutral Milk Hotel, presto destinati a divenire una delle guide della rinascita pop con Apples In Stereo e Olivia Tremor Control. I Neutral Milk Hotel debuttarono con tre cassette, Yourself A Shortcake (Elephant 6, 1991), Beauty (Elephant 6, 1992), Hype City Soundtrack (Elephant 6, 1993) e il singolo leggendario Everything Is (Cher Doll, 1994), un accattivante ritornello guidato da un semplice ritmo. Le chitarre sfocate fanno pensare a dei discepoli dei Jesus And Mary Chain, una percezione che il suono caliginoso dell’album On Avery Island (Merge, 1996) riconferma. Nonostante i memorabili ganci di Song Against Sex e Naomi, nonostante i bizzarri arrangiamenti à la Brian Wilson e Van Dyke Parks (trombone, xylophone, organ), a metà tra i Salvation Army e la musica classica, i brani migliori sono lo strumentale heavy di feedback Marching Theme e il tour de force dadaista/psichedelico di Pree-Sisters Swallowing A Donkey's Eye.
Una migliore produzione (e una vera band) su In the Aeroplane Over The Sea (Merge, 1998) cambiano radicalmente la percezione senza cambiare radicalmente il contenuto melodico e presentano Mangum come un moderno Tom Rapp che esegue cover di Buddy Holly (ma anche del Frank Zappa di Freak Out). The King Of Carrot Flowers e Two Headed Boy sono ninnananne paradisiache.
Il collaboratore di Mangum, Julian Koster, pubblica il singolo Please Hear Mr Flight Control (Elephant 6, 1998) e l’album 1st Imaginary Symphony For Nomad (Merge, 1999) sotto la sigla Music Tapes, un album che è una sorta di collage folle e gigantesco nella vena di Virgin Forest dei Fugs.
Il batterista dei Neutral Milk Hotel, Jeremy Barnes, forma i Bablicon con Dave McDonald e Griffin Rodriguez, un trio d’avanguardia che registra In a Different City (Misra, 1999), uno strepitante, spastico, psichedelico esperimento jazz-rock che richiama Captain Beefheart (meno la voce e il blues), seguito dal più calmo mini-album Orange Tapered Moon (Misra, 2000) e A Flat Inside a Fog, the Cat That Was a Dog (Misra, 2001), un estratto gloriosamente incoerente di cacofonia ambient.
Live At Jittery Joes (2001 - Orange Twin, 2005) è un set acustico dal vivo del solo Mangum.
A Hawk And A Hacksaw è il progetto solista di Jeremy Barnes, batterista dei Neutral Milk Hotel, originario del New Mexico e poi residente in Gran Breatagna. A Hawk And A Hacksaw (2004) e Darkness At Noon (Leaf, 2005) è ispirato al folk etnico con il genere di attitudine ubriaca inventata da Tom Waits. Dopo essersi ritrasferito in New Mexico, Barnes registra The Way The Wind Blows (Leaf, 2006), che ospita il violinista klezmer Heather Trost, una collezione che prosegue il programma pan-etnico, con un tono solamente più profondo. Lo strumentale da camera The Way The Wind Blows fa perno su un toccante violino e su una melodia di fisarmonica. Fernando's Giampari è un’esuberante fantasia post-moderna di musica klezmer e di assorta danza folk. Altri pezzi sono più direttamente collegati a questa o quell’altra tradizione folk. In particolare, In The River per corni, organo, violino e fisarmonica suona come una marcia funebre slava.
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