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Go Listen to 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea'

Zook

Perpetual Lazy Bum
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Stamping your library books.
Link to original post: [drupal=3744]Go Listen to 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea'[/drupal]



I am an extremely cautious consumer. Before I buy anything, I do extensive research on it to see what other people thought of it. Nowadays I generally just apply this philosophy to things that can be measurably compared (for example, after comparing and contrasting the 5th and 6th gen iPod Nanos, the prior was the clear choice for me), but I use to have this attitude towards matters of personal taste, too. I would always see what critics thought of movies, video games, and music before I bought them.

I hate wasting money.

A few years ago, I got my first MP3 player: a little iPod Shuffle. I needed some music for it, and being very anti-piracy, went to iTunes to browse.

After hours of wading through music, I stumbled across an album called "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea," by a group called "Neutral Milk Hotel." Right here I knew this had to be something different; not only was the band's name completely nonsensical and the album's title oddly intriguing, but it has some of the strangest album art I've ever seen. Just look at it:



It's just really, really weird. It's completely out of place, first off; this doesn't seem like the sort of thing you'd see as album art, it looks like artwork you'd see at a really old carnival or something. Second, what is going on here? What's up with that ladie's face? When I first saw it, I thought it was a slice out of a potato or a mirror or something; now I see that it's supposed to be a drum of some sort.

After I fell in love with the album I had to buy a physical copy, and found that the artwork on the back cover is even weirder.



I don't even have to say anything about this. It speaks for itself.

I'm going way off track. I opened it up in iTunes, and saw that nearly everyone had glowing reviews for it (with the occasional 'I don't get this urrrrrg' here and there). I figured hey, why not.

The first time I listened to Aeroplane was on a car ride. Snowy day. I didn't really absorb it all that much at the time; I found it had some cryptic lyrics, bad singing, but generally pretty cool.

I decided to listen to it again that night in bed, and was blown away. By the end of it, I was in tears.

I don't hesitate to say that Aeroplane is the best piece of music I have ever heard. It is a glimpse into another person's mind and heart, it's raw emotion in the form of sound waves. It's a confession that you thought would always be a secret. It's childish innocence and adolescent sex. It's comforting at one time and depressing at another, it's familiar and alien, it's about Jeff Mangum (the guy who wrote/sang this peice of art) and it's about you, all at once. I can't express how strongly I feel about how beautiful I think Aeroplane is.

I urge you: go buy this album. Borrow it from a friend. Torrent it. I don't care how you get a copy of this album, just get it. Listen to it casually while you surf the web. Tonight, when you're laying down in bed, listen to it again, with your eyes closed and just letting it envelop you. Come back here, and tell me what your reaction was, if any.

I warn you, this may be difficult for some to listen to at first. The singer isn't talented, and I've seen some people complain that the music isn't very complicated or whatever. It's the singer's lack of talent which really creates the raw emotion that bubbles up inside you, though. Listen to it a few times; it gets better and better with each listening. My brother hated it at first, and now it's his favorite album. Be open-minded.

tl;dr Go download 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,' listen to it a few times, and tell me how you feel about it/whether or not you have an emotional response to it.
 

marthsword

Smash Ace
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Sep 4, 2006
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Bedridden.
And one day we will die and our ashes will fly through the AERO-PLANE over the seaaa.

90's indie was the best of that decade. Pavement, Afghan Wigs, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr. Especially Sebadoh. And Yo La Tengo, though they're more noise rock.

Best Neutral Milk Hotel song is king of carrot flowers. Part 1. Part 2 is only humorous, still decent though. If you wanna talk music, leave me a visitor message. I'm into 80's punk, older doo-wop, big band. Bands: Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, The Smiths, Dion & The Belmonts, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Islands, Decemberists.
 

johncindy

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jan 13, 2011
Messages
0
interesting...

hey guys,
i have just joined and i like the concept.
sounds good to me!!!!!
 

Fly_Amanita

Master of Caribou
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Aug 24, 2007
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4,224
Location
Claremont, CA
And the spambot cycle is complete.

On topic, this used to be one of my favorite albums from the 90s, but I no longer care for it much.
 

Lore

Infinite Gravity
BRoomer
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Mar 5, 2008
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Formerly 'Werekill' and 'NeoTermina'
I just found this album a few months ago, and I love it. It's a great album to listen to on a rainy day.

And no, I don't mean that it is depressing; I just love the atmosphere of a nice, rainy day. Dark, cloudy days are nice too.
 

Geist

Smash Master
Joined
Sep 26, 2007
Messages
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Menswear section
lol necro threeeeaad

I Just finished listening to it a few times. Definitely a great album, and I can respect it even though it's not my cup of tea.
Even though the songs weren't highly complex etc, like you mentioned, I found it highly, highly nuanced, and filled with truckloads of legitimate emotion. For some reason it didn't quite completely click with me though; it didn't hit me as hard as, say, Dark Side of the Moon did.

Still a great addition to have though, I'll definitely give these songs more listens when I'm in the mood for them. I have a feeling I haven't fully tapped into it yet.
 

MarthTrinity

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 9, 2007
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Location
The Cosmos Beneath Rosalina's Skirt
Necro thread that caught my interest...

Ages ago (probably about three years ago or so now...) my friend highly recommended this CD to myself and another friend. We used to carpool together on the way to school so we decided we'd listen to it then. Oh my -GOD- did I hate this CD with every fiber of my being. Singing was terrible, lyrics were stupid (and I'm used to weird lyrics), music wasn't that great even...we really couldn't see what was so great about this and wondered if our friend maybe recommended it as a joke or something because of how bad it was.

But, because he's a really awesome friend of ours, we forced ourselves to listen to that CD and only that CD for an entire week straight. Every day on the way to school and on the way back we'd listen to it and, surprisingly to us, it actually grew on us considerably.

I wouldn't say it radically changed for me...it's not my favorite CD or anything but it's certainly a great one. I guess it just goes to show that music can certainly change for the better the more you listen to it (usually songs get worse the more you play them, at least for me). I suppose that's more of a warning for people who may listen to it because of this thread than anything else, chances are you might end up hating it on first listen.
 

§witch

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
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Location
Ontario, Canada
Oh comely is the only song I can still listen to and honestly enjoy. I loved the whole album when I first started to listen to it though.
 

Luigitoilet

shattering perfection
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secret room of wonder and despair
while this thread is up, i wanna beg everyone to stop ignoring On Avery Island because it is almost just as good as Aeroplane and yet nobody ever talks about it. Three Peaches literally saved my life
 

Zook

Perpetual Lazy Bum
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Stamping your library books.
I would agree that, lyrically, On Avery Island is just as good as Aeroplane, if not even a bit better. I get why a lot of people don't like it immediately and therefor don't really give it a chance, as the music itself isn't nearly as poppy as Aeroplane's was. Also too much white noise.
 

#HBC | Joker

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The guy on the backcover art on the very far left, with the drum. That's the same drum as the lady's face from the front. Aside from the design on it, it's identical.
 
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