Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (33 1/3)

I have read a few 33 1/3 books over the years and they area always interesting and give a more full appreciation of the albums they cover. "ITAOTS" is no exception. I grew up around the same time as Jeff and his friends, and although not a musician myself, my close friends played in bands in and around Baltimore and their early adventures resonated with me. It's good to know that such soulful, earnest music was made by a group of people who were so talented and dedicated to each other and their art. There were a couple things that I want to mention, however. There are very few references to experimentation with drugs, which I was sort of surprised with. There is one instance where Jeff is on MDMA and is musically inspired, and there is another where some of the band recall their horn player accepting a joint on more than one occasion which affected his playing. I wasn't expecting NMH to be like Led Zeppelin when it came to substance abuse, but taking into account their ages and that particular time and place (i.e. college towns, early 1990's) it is hard to believe that consumption of various substances along the way may have had a affect on their creative process and the music they made. The other is the repeated critically toned apologies of the writer when it comes to Jeff Mangum's musical profession of love for Jesus Christ on the epic 2nd track of "ITAOTS". When I first heard the song, I was struck with the lyric because one doesn't often hear Jesus name checked in rock and roll (sorry, I despise the term "alternative rock"). In the book however, it is pointed out that Jeff's upfront high regard for Jesus was met with disdain by some in the band and that it required a moderate leap of faith for some of his contemporaries to get past such an apparent outrage. Later it is brought up again that, at the time, fans of NMH had to "get past" that lyric when first hearing the album, especially those who may have been "anti-Christian" or at least something along those lines. I don't doubt that the author was documenting real occurrences and genuine reactions, but I really do find it sad that even among these open minded, creative young people a simple shout out to Jesus would be such a burden. I can't help but wonder if Jeff had instead mentioned Vishnu, Allah, or the Buddha would the reaction have been the same? I don't look to rock music to be proselytized to and the faith based contemporary music I have heard has little to recommend it, even to a Christian such as myself, but the fact remains that the people who balked at Jeff's lyric decades ago have easily become the majority voice in a popular culture that often chooses to denigrate Christianity whenever possible. I could be off the mark but it was just something that struck me while I was reading. I recommend this book without reservation!

The 33 1/3 series of music books has to be one of the most entertaining, inspired and informative sets of music and cultural writing ever to come out. And Neutral Milk Hotel was perhaps one of the best indy bands ever to record. So it only makes sense that a 33 1/3 book about NMH would be an amazing experience.And it is.The mastermind behind NMH, Jeff Mangum, is famously elusive and his lyrics are beautifully mysterious. So if ever an album cried out for an explanatory book to be written about it, it's "In The Aeroplane Over the Sea".Yet, at the same time, I was slightly hesitant to read this book - I'm always afraid that learning about a song's lyrics (even sometimes learning exactly what the words are) might ruin my deeply personal enjoyment of the music itself.But you needn't worry about that with this book. I came away from it appreciating NMH all the more.Kim Cooper does an excellent job of describing the unique coming together of people, places and ideas that created one of the most unusual and inspired albums of all time. I especially enjoyed learning about the other members of NMH - something that's not often talked about because of the deification of Jeff Mangum, however well-deserved.And this book does what the best books about cultural phenomena do - it demystifies its subject without ruining the wonder and beauty of the music itself.Thanks, Kim Cooper!

I found out about this series relatively recently and decided to go with this book as an introduction. It was a deliberate choice - I was vaguely familiar with the album beforehand - so I could gauge the overall effect of the book, how much I learned, how much it changed my outlook on the musicIt was generally very informative. Apparently this is not necessarily the "norm" for the series, but Cooper's little volume gives a moderately detailed background of the band's members, friends, and communities. You'll learn a lot about the spirits that inspired and carried the work through to completion. I would have preferred a more detailed discussion of the album's tracks themselves, but I had a good time with the reading regardless.The writing isn't great. It's sometimes overly simplistic. But then again it's a brief history and discussion and not a dramatic interpretation, so you can't really expect expressive writing. I've read that some 33 1/3 books are overly expressive or off-topic, so in retrospect I'm glad Cooper stayed focused.If you're looking for a definitive, concise take on Mangum's album, look no farther. You'll find most everything you need to know here.

If you haven’t heard the album IN THE AEROPOANE OVER THE SEA, get it by whatever means necessary. Pour a glass of you choice alcohol and be transported on a musical adventure through time and space and Jeff Mangums head.Then when you’ve listened to it over and over an over and want more get this book. It is sooooo insightful and unlocks a lot of the lyrics as well as the mystery of why the band gave up making music.

So the 33 1/3 series are generally great stories recounting brilliant bands and meaningful albums. This is the story of one of the most influential bands' most influential albums.This book is more about the band than the album, but for a band like this that only had two albums, and both were very passionate, it is next to impossible to separate the two entities.The book is well written, not the most excited thing that I have ever read, but entertaining none the less. If you are a fan of Neutral Milk Hotel and never got to see their stage show or hear them live, this book does a good job of describing it and attempting to place you there in the crowd.Definitely a good buy for only a few bucks.

More of a potted history of Neutral Milk Hotel which is OK, but, and a big but, In the Aeroplane over the Sea, which is a fantastic album, is only covered in a small part of the book, and then there is rather a lot of the author's opinion rather than fact.

I love the album but this book is disappointing, it is obvious she is a big fan but the content is uninteresting and tenuous to say the least, just one example of how little information she managed to extract from Jeff Mangum is when she describes the album cover as bathers waving from the shore when it is obvious they are Nazi salutes given the nature of the album, this is one record that could never be explained as it is shrouded in mystery and that is how it should stay.

Simply great. If you have any experience or relationship with "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea" then I implore you to buy this book. I cannot believe I went all this time without knowing the full details of it's creation.

The 33 1/3 series is clearly a major contribution to discussion of popular music - excellent contributions thus far include Joe Pernice's 'Meat is Murder', Michaelangelo Matos' 'Sign'O'the Times', Andy Miller's 'The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society' & Bill Janovitz's 'Exile on Main Street.' There are some great titles in the series I'm going to get to at some point - 'Let It Be', 'Endtroducing', 'Murmur' and upcoming books on 'Loveless', 'Daydream Nation', 'Doolittle' & 'There's a Riot Goin' On'. Clearly devoting a book to one album is a great idea and antithetical to the listy phase of things at present or the fairly brief articles these days. Though I'm not sure books on 'Abba Gold' or 'OK Computer' are particularly interesting - everything has a flaw?Kim Cooper's meticulously written book focuses on "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" by Neutral Milk Hotel, a record that surfaced in the late 1990s and became extemely culty. It is only with its reissue on Domino records last year that this cult has been addressed - its following in America is immense and it has become the kind of record websites and their cyber musings amass around. Personally the first time I heard the record I was slightly confounded, more to the seemingly cut-up lyrics which appeared to allude to WWII - I wondered if comprehending the lyrics would involve smoking something illicit and watching as much of 'The World at War' as is possible. Perhaps then things would be illuminated?So, Cooper's book is probably an ideal primer to a great record - like some books on 'Ulysses' it can help crystallise certain ideas going on here. Cooper's book isn't a conventional track-by-track analysis like the 33 1/3 on '...The Village Green Preservation Society'- it focuses on the bohemian Elephant 6 collective that included not only Neutral Milk Hotel, but other acts such as Elf Power, Olivia Tremor Control Apples in Stereo & The Minders. It's a reminder of an alternative commune like scene where people are into art rather than commerce and the array of influences that stimulated the artists behind Neutral Milk Hotel: Sun Ra, Robert Wyatt, obscure Folkways recordings, Alfred Jarry, John Coltrane, Amos Tutuola, Yoko Ono, Voltaire, John Cage, Haruki Murakami ('The Wind Up Bird Chronicle'), Steve Reich, They Might Be Giants, 'Pet Sounds/the original Smile', Os Mutantes, The Kinks, Charlie Haden, Beat Happening etc. Listening to "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" this makes sense.Cooper traces the development of the conceptual band around Jeff Magnum and his colleagues, towards the NMH debut 'On Avery Island' (1996) and towards the album under focus. It's interesting to note how Magnum & co developed some of these songs live and also anecdotes like the girl who might have been the ghost of Anne Frank.Yes, Anne Frank - how does she come into this? As long-time and not that long time listeners of "In the Aeroplane..." are aware, the album is a conceptual piece centred around the tragic figure of Anne Frank who left her timeless diary to the generations that followed. 'The Diary of a Little Girl' (the definitive edition) is the other book of supportive reading that will bring this album out for the listener. Cooper then follows through the story to the point Jeff Magnum wanted no more - and NMH ceased to exist. This book celebrates one of the great albums of recent years and a cult classic with a sizeable following the world over. Probably the best book of this excellent series I've read so far...What album would I like to write a 33 1/3 on? - I'd probably plump for Swell Maps...in "Jane from Occupied Europe", Ride's 'Nowhere', Associates' 'Sulk', Dexy's 'Don't Stand Me Down', baader meinhof, Scott Walker's 'Tilt', American Music Club's 'Everclear' or Echo & the Bunnymen's 'Crocodiles'...

Unfortunately this book is one of the weakest of the 33 1/3 series. So many of the others books are more engaging. Some put us in the head of people who were growing up at the time of a record coming out, others look in-depth at an album and a band. This book does neither, really being all about how they care for each other a lot and move from here to there to there in the country, giving nothing in the way of vignettes to give us a glimpse of how they are or what it was like. The attempts at analysis finally come but there's such a lack of confidence and they are so sketchy that it's hardly worth it after all. In contrast, Meat Is Murder, Let It Be (Replacements), The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society and Doolittle are all a great read.