Great albums sometimes go unnoticed. As was also the case on 10 February 1998. »In The Aeroplane Over The Sea« was released on this day, surreal love-child of indie rock and psychedelic folk, recorded the previous summer by Neutral Milk Hotel. A sound which is characterised by unconventional (because: mostly simply non-existent) equipment and massive over-modulation on the entire record. The critics were taken with it to the point of irritation.
The British music journalist Dele Fadele wrote for the NME at the time: »A sick and confused person like Jeff Mangum should not normally be let loose on an audience which has been drinking.« »In The Aeroplane Over The Sea« is notable not only for its sound but also for Mangum’s lyrics, which in a conventional sense attempts to make little to no sense – and yet evoke pretty much the whole gamut of human emotions.
No Sense, All Emotions
Which is also down to the story: »In The Aeroplane Over The Sea« is supposed to be a concept album about the life of Anne Frank. The five-piece band has never officially confirmed this, but the lyrics and the few interviews given reveal enough hints. (»They have never actually denied that Anne Frank’s fate is a subject of the record, however«). The fact that Jeff Mangum is said to have cried for three days after reading Anne Frank’s diaries is a myth that surrounds the album.
This fits with the story that the group claims to have spotted a doppelganger of Anne Frank on a trip to the Musée Mécanique in San Francisco some months before recording the album. (See Kim Cooper’s excellent contribution to the »33 1/3« book series.). In an interview, Mangum answered the question of whether their current album and previous début »On Avery Island« were concept albums: »No. Stories. But I think a story is a concept, isn’t it?«
»In The Aeroplane Over The Sea« continues to be an resurrection of the emotions to this day. Mangum screams his way through the songs in places, everything seems more or less warped, constantly on the verge of collapse.
Concept album or not: »In The Aeroplane Over The Sea« continues to be an resurrection of the emotions to this day. Mangum screams his way through the songs in places, everything seems more or less warped, constantly on the verge of collapse. But it’s definitely authentic, honest, gripping. When Jeff Mangum says that he doesn’t write songs in the actual sense, but that everything takes place in his head in a process that is difficult to understand from the outside, then yes, that fits with this album. Nightmares and insomnia during the making are another part of the story.
The Record as a Meme
Neutral Milk Hotel, part of the collective Elephant 6, not only created a masterpiece of psychedelic folk with »In The Aeroplane Over The Sea« ten years ago, but the Internet rediscovered the record. As a meme. A moderator on Reddit paired the familiar face on the cover with a T-shirt in the style of Animal Collective’s »Merriweather Post Pavilion« and pinned it as a cue (some say warning) for new users in a music subforum. At that point, the record had long since become part of the hipster neurosis of the time, the »you just don’t understand the album« discussion culture on the net. Numerous memes, tweets and posts about the album followed. And the eleven songs began to captivate listeners once again successfully withstanding the scorn and irony.
Neutral Milk Hotel, part of the collective Elephant 6, not only created a masterpiece of psychedelic folk with »In The Aeroplane Over The Sea« ten years ago, but the Internet rediscovered the record. As a meme. A moderator on Reddit paired the familiar face on the cover with a T-shirt in the style of Animal Collective’s »Merriweather Post Pavilion« and pinned it as a cue (some say warning) for new users in a music subforum. At that point, the record had long since become part of the hipster neurosis of the time, the »you just don’t understand the album« discussion culture on the net. Numerous memes, tweets and posts about the album followed. And the eleven songs began to captivate listeners once again successfully withstanding the scorn and irony.
Those looking for an introduction should listen to »Oh Comely«, the eight-minute folk funeral march. Or the incredibly catchy »Holland, 1945« with its meandering horns. Or simply let the whole album carry you to another place. »In The Aeroplane Over The Sea« is a victory of the unconscious and imperfect, the unwieldy and truthful over all the other stuff out there, over the mania for optimisation and the slick and polished. It’s an album that makes the world feel different after listening to it. And that’s exactly why this record is one of the most important albums of recent decades.
