In Remembrance: Neutral Milk Hotel
Nuetral Milk Hotel is indie folk at its finest. Why did you have to go?
How to connect Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley to Neutral Milk Hotel in five easy steps:
1. Jenny Lewis’ side project, Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins, recorded an album in 2006 called Rabbit Fur Coat; Ben Gibbard contributed vocals to this album.
2. On September 19, 2009, Ben Gibbard (who shall henceforth be known as the Lucky Bastard) married the impeccably beautiful Zooey Deschanel.
3. Zooey Deschanel is half of the indie duo She&Him, the other half of course being M. Ward.
4. M. Ward has appeared on several Bright Eyes records.
5. You know who else has appeared on a Bright Eyes album? Damn straight, Jeremy Barnes of Neutral Milk Hotel.
Now that you’ve had your mind sufficiently blown, let’s get down to things.
An original player in The Elephant 6 Collective, Neutral Milk Hotel was formed in 1989 by singer-songwriter Jeff Magnum as a continuation of his solo musical project. In 1991, Magnum, along with several other musically inclined friends started the Elephant 6 Collective and Recording Company in Denver. Elephant 6 would grow to include Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples in Stereo, Elf Power, Of Montreal and Olivia Tremor Control. In 1991, Magnum also released his first demo under the name Neutral Milk Hotel (formerly known simply as Milk), called Invent Yourself a Shortcake.
In 1992, Magnum recorded his second demo, Beauty. Following this, he released a third and final demo in 1993 called Hype City Soundtrack. Fellow Elephant 6 founder and longtime friend, Robert Schneider, produced all three of these demos. Schneider was also the main singer/songwriter behind The Apples in Stereo. All of the demos were released on cassette and distributed among and by members of the collective.
The first widely distributed material from Neutral Milk Hotel was the Everything Is EP. At this point, Neutral Milk Hotel was still by and large a solo operation coordinated by Magnum. It was released as a 7” by a small independent label in Seattle named Cher Doll. The first 50 copies of the album came in unique packaging, each cover designed personally by Magnum. While only receiving mediocre reviews, it helped the project gain some national attention. Fire Records would later reissue the EP once in 1995 in CD format, and again by Orange Twin in 2001.
1996 witnessed the release of Neutral Milk Hotel’s first studio album, On Avery Island. It was also the first album by the band to feature multiple musicians listed in addition to Magnum. Robert Schneider, who contributed some instrumental work for the album, also produced it. The album received favorable reviews from the press and was released by Merge Records.
Neutral Milk Hotel’s second and final LP, In the Aeroplane over the Sea, was released in early 1998 and featured the band’s first full lineup. This lineup featured Jeremy Barnes on drums and organ, Scott Spillane on brass, and Julian Koster on various other instruments. Also released on Merge Records, the album received superb reviews and continues to sell an impressive amount of copies to this day. It also went on to appear in several publications’ top album lists.
Despite ever increasing popularity, Magnum disbanded the group in early 1999. After which Magnum suffered a nervous breakdown and has since only returned to the stage for a single show. It is unknown what the current status of the band really is. Occasionally members have hinted towards a reunion, however it’s yet to be seen. In 2005 Orange Twin announced they would be releasing a rarities album of the group, but soon after the announcement Magnum decided against such plans.
In early 2001, Magnum and Koster were contributors to Major Organ and the Adding Machine, an Elephant 6 project and album of the same title. Currently Magnum is not associated with any concrete projects. Koster, however, continues to make music with his longtime project, The Music Tapes. Scott Spillane went on to form an indie pop band called The Gerbils. They have since disbanded after the death of guitarist Will Westbrook in 2006. Barnes continues to make music with his own project on The Leaf Label named A Hawk And A Hacksaw.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Oct 05, 2009 @ 9:00 am