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March 16th, 2006 by Dave McGovern (Permalink)
Director: Kim Cooper Year: 2006 Add Comments |
Jeff Mangum and Neutral Milk Hotel have undoubtedly created some of the most influential music in the Indie community. The mythologization of Mangum has also added to the appeal of Neutral Milk Hotel. Robert Johnson, the first American musician to really capitalize on this type of self-mythology, was on the run for the devil. Jeff is wrestling with demons unknown and has disappeared from the public eye, but not their awareness, at least to a certain section of the public. Kim Cooper wrote a book over the highly lauded Magnum fronted Neutral Milk Hotel album, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. I initially believed that the book In the Aeroplane Over the Sea would lay to rest some of the Mangum lore, but on the contrary the book by Cooper instead, I feel, adds to it.
Jeff is not directly interviewed in the book, but his stories are told through second hand accounts of most others involved with the Elephant 6 Collective and the making of Aeroplane. It is interesting to see how Jeff’s peers view him. There does seem to be an almost across the board canonization of Jeff and his music. Magnum’s writing process was described several times as being “channeled” from another plane of existence–adding to that visionary lore. Of course the book isn’t all about Jeff.
While Magnum develops a super-human aura throughout the book the remaining members are brought to life. The book opens with the meeting of Jeff and Robert Schneider as children. Elephant 6’s roots are covered to provide some footing for the recording process and subsequent post Aeroplane release tour, which would end up to be the band’s last. Some of the most entertaining sections deal with the insanity of the live show and the equally crazy tour stories.
Other interesting aspects that Cooper touches upon are the effects of the album upon the fans. She mentions a post on the elephant six message board showing the extreme level of fanaticism that many Neutral Milk Hotel fans aspire to.
The book reports the facts and doesn’t interpret or offer any of Kim’s personal insight into the album. This interpretation has already been done to death by countless fans and writers; her section on the actual songs of the album is brief and tastefully done; just covering the bare essentials of each song.
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was an incredibly fast read. This is the first in-depth and mostly first hand glimpse into the magic of Neutral Milk Hotel. The book also has a fantastic quote by Julian Koster, member of NMH and the Elephant 6 collective, which articulates extremely accurately the appeal of Neutral Milk Hotel, Jeff Mangum, music and really art in general:
“Any time I encounter something beautiful that came out of a human somewhere, that’s them, that’s their own soul. That’s just pure, whatever its physicality is, if the person can play piano, if they can’t play piano, if they’re tone deaf, whatever it is, if it’s pure, it hits you like a sledgehammer. It fills up your own soul, it makes you want to cry, it makes you glad you’re alive, it lets you come out of you.”
The quote is a bit heavy handed because there is great truth in it. Magnum’s honesty has had a positive and comforting effect in mine and many other’s lives. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is an honest look at the people behind a record that arguably spawned a new movement in music. Thanks to the book fans now have a slightly better idea of who Jeff Mangum is, but much of the mystery still remains.
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