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 Who is Jeff Mangum? In the early 90s, four young men in Denver formed a musical collective known as The Elephant 6 Recording Company. The first bands to come of this were The Olivia Tremor Control, The Apples in Stereo, and Neutral Milk Hotel. While Neutral Milk Hotel were technically a band, it was more or less a thing wholly inside the head of a man named Jeff Mangum. While he only released two studio albums - On Avery Island and In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - before having a mental breakdown, they are regarded by many as two of the most important, and best, independent rock albums of the 90s (some would say "ever"). The latter album ended with the sound of Jeff putting down his guitar and walking away, which was either a genius bit of foreshadowing or a sad premonition. After touring throughout 1998, the band simply stopped. The last show Jeff played before his recent return was New Year's Eve, 1998. 2002 posted:Jeff: I went through a period, after Aeroplane , when a lot of the basic assumptions I held about reality started crumbling. It wasn't until 2010 that he fully returned to live performances, a few minor appearances notwithstanding. Last year, he curated and headlined the long-running concert event All Tomorrow's Parties. Now, he's set to embark on his first major tour in over a decade (and, allegedly, his "last"). Tour Dates posted:01-09 Buffalo, NY - Ashbury Hall, Babeville Yes, it would appear to be entirely an East Coast tour. There hasn't been any indication of West Coast dates. Personally, I'm planning on flying to Texas to catch it. I'm sure a lot of you are attending these shows, and it would be nice to hear about how they go.
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Jan 4, 2013 20:57
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 21:08 |
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He was with Olivia Tremor Control when I saw them in early '99, but they didn't play any NMH songs. I don't even remember for sure if Jeff actually played with the band or just stood there. Like most people, I assumed there would be plenty of chances to see him so I passed up the '98 tour entirely. I usually don't get very excited about these kind of tours. I didn't really care when the Pixies got back together and didn't bother, I only saw a post-reunion Dinosaur Jr. show because it was free (it ended up being totally amazing, though, to my surprise), and I completely ignored the Pavement reunion. With this, though, it's like... yeah, I kind of care. On Avery Island was the soundtrack to all of '97 and '98 for me for a variety of reasons. The one song I really hope he does is "Song Against Sex". fake edit: I was in Athens when he recorded the Live at Jittery Joe's show and passed it up for... I don't even remember why, probably drug related.
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Jan 4, 2013 22:27
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Davincie posted:I sure hope you bothered listening to more Dinosaur Jr. because Farm is one of their best albums ever. Oh, I sure did! The show was before the album came out, but yeah, it's become probably my second favorite of theirs.
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Jan 5, 2013 01:19
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Yeah, every show I've checked on sold out very fast. Understandable, since they're all small venues and it's Jeff loving Mangum. I find it pretty strange that he decided not to play a show in Athens, though, since the Elephant 6 commune is still a thing. The girl that originally introduced me to the band lived in it for a while, according to her they do a lot of cocaine. She babysat Will Cullen Hart's kids at one point around 7 years ago and claims he and his wife tried to get her to have a threesome with them. 
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Jan 5, 2013 20:06
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answersyouseek posted:I saw him last year in DC and it was pretty good but made worse by all the weirdos freaking out and crying through the set because it was "just so beautiful". This is the sort of thing that would normally bug me but I could see it being actually that good/powerful. I've broken down and cried at every Spiritualized show I've seen, and at Silver Mt. Zion once. I mean I didn't "freak out", mind you, but yeah. I think one should go to any of these shows and expect that to happen, really.
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Jan 7, 2013 17:13
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At least in my experience, the "legend" has been there since the first album, really. I knew people back then that were just as into it as the obsessives of today. I disagree about him being not as good on his own though, Live at Jittery Joe's is fantastic. That cover of "I Love How You Love Me", my god.
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Jan 7, 2013 20:22
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boozy posted:I didn't know this, was he really always treated with the same strange reverence as he is today? I don't think it was universal like it is now - for example, Pitchfork's initial review of In the Aeroplane "only" gave it an 8.7 (they've since "revised" and gave it a 10, natch). But certainly the people I knew that were into them, that got me into them, they were obsessive about it. I distinctly recall hating the name of the band well before I even heard them because of people I knew who talked them up as the best thing ever (and that was just based on On Avery Island, they went much crazier later). In my opinion it detracted somewhat from the rest of Elephant 6. Olivia Tremor Control had done arguably the best pop album since Pet Sounds with Music From the Unrealized Film Script Dusk at Cubist Castle and Elf Power's When the Red King Comes was every bit as good to me as On Avery Island. Speaking of which, there is even evidence that within E6 themselves Jeff had already reached legend status - Elf Power's "The Arrow Flies Close" describes a fictional funeral, with the lyric "I hope Jeff will sing me a song" (followed by him faintly singing "la, la, la" in the background), for example. The last show they did in '98 that I mention in the OP was a party for E6 members and friends, certainly suggesting that even they knew they had something special, way back then.
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Jan 8, 2013 18:33
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exquisite tea posted:It pains me greatly that I will never write lyrics even half as good as Two Headed Boy Pt. 2. Every line is so beautiful and haunting. I've always held that Aeroplane is a flawed, not flawless, album. The title track has never appealed to me, and "Oh Comely" started to really drag after the first few months I had the record. So that's 1/4 of the album right there. Maybe I just always wanted, and still want, more along the lines of "Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone" (oh my god that song) and "Song Against Sex". But "Two Headed Boy Pt. 2". That song is unassailable. Unassailable. Gets me every time. Hell, just thinking about it is making me tear up. e: re: Gardenhead, I think that "I just want to dance in your tangles to give me some reason to move" is literally the greatest lyric I've ever heard.
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Jan 8, 2013 20:40
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Flying to Dallas tomorrow. The friend we're gonna be staying with has secured some acid and tested it to make sure it's strong. Oh my.
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Jan 17, 2013 23:45
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I've only taken psychedelics when seeing bands very few times, for things like Acid Mothers Temple or Polyphonic Spree. I don't know, it seems like a good idea for some reason.
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Jan 18, 2013 01:14
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The Read Menace posted:He's already said this will not be his "last" tour. Motherfucker he's playing Oregon on my birthday. Well poo poo I guess I have to go to that one too. Should have known he'd add West Coast dates. Probably see the San Diego show too because gently caress it.
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Jan 20, 2013 10:32
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We're in the aeroport waiting on the aeroplane back home. Have not been to sleep yet. RE: Seeing Jeff would not be psychedelic - that's all subjective I guess. I haven't actually done LSD in years, it's never around anymore. But when I got into it in the 90s, it was always a "serious" drug. Like, I'd take acid and read a book or talk to people or just walk around with people looking at things. And then sometimes I'd take acid and listen to depressing music and be very introspective. So for me, well for all of us, it was a good idea. We were pretty out there when he started. Didn't listen to the Tall Firs. Opened with "Oh Comely", which is good because it got it out of the way. Then he did King of Carrot Flowers 1-3 right into Gardenhead, which flooded me with memories and had me frozen in place as my mind went back in time 14 years. Just amazing. Came back to myself and blissed out for a bit being cliche with my wife. One of us was going a bit nuts, dancing and all. And then he did Song Against Sex. Got completely lost in there. And then Naomi and I was singing along full volume with that one. I felt amazing. Then into Ghost. Which was even more amazing. Everyone was hand drumming. Encore was Two Headed pt 2, just perfect. Ended up with my eyes leaking a bit. It was surreal how quiet everyone was as they left the venue. Until we got outside, where everyone was being too big and loud. Walked for an hour or so just looking at poo poo, didn't really talk. Caught a cab home and discussed the show all night. Now I'm in an airport, and that is not a cool place after so much sleep deprivation. But it was so worth it. Definitely going to try and catch West Coast shows.
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Jan 21, 2013 20:21
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The show I saw was definitely pretty fuckin' weird since I had spent 15-16 years building it up in my head. I could go to the Asheville show for free (know the guy who books in that area), except for the cost of two plane tickets, which is... a little excessive if I can just wait until the "real" tour. Honestly I wouldn't have flown us to the Texas show if it hadn't doubled as a visit to old friends. It's definitely cool that it'll be a full band experience, I want to hear that fuzzy guitar.
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May 7, 2013 03:40
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IllIllIll posted:So I just started listening to NMH a week ago or so. I'd always heard the name of the band mentioned in discussions of indie music, but the name just sounded so pretentious Don't worry, I felt this way all the way back in 1997, I had a friend who wouldn't shut up about them and I hated the name so much I dodged them until I started dating a girl who literally forced me to listen. Even then, I hated them at first, for about a week.
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Jul 5, 2013 10:39
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Oh Goddamn I am seriously tempted to fly GA and see all three of those 40 Watt Club shows just for the 3 different openers.
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Jul 31, 2013 21:46
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Rageaholic Monkey posted:A New Orleans show! gently caress yeah! Dude you know it will. Good luck though. That's one of the shows I'm thinking of attending, since I have a friend there who's due for a visit. I'm starting to realize just how much I travel to see shows with old friends. Lot of frequent flier miles!
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Aug 1, 2013 07:51
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dsipal posted:Is anyone else in North Carolina going to the Cat's Cradle to see Neutral Milk Hotel? From what I understand the tickets for both slots sold out in no time at all, even at $35. Not surprising, since last I was in the area AC was pretty notorious about giving/selling tickets to employees and their friends. It's really lovely, though at the time I was hypocritically taking advantage of it by never paying to go to an AC show. He's also a really lovely person for many other reasons.
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Oct 8, 2013 11:32
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NicelyNice posted:Glad to hear the show is good. I have tickets to see them play with Okkervil and Sebadoh in Tokyo this November, pretty excited. You motherfucker, that is one hell of a lineup. My God.
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Oct 18, 2013 23:18
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Not that I have a problem with it but why are we using spoiler tags? Anyway, I'm seeing them next week.  Even though I haven't really liked the past, like, four or five Elf Power albums, I'm still excited to see them live again, they're nice guys and fun.
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Feb 10, 2014 22:29
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Yeah, I mean, NMH could play literally every song they've ever recorded and it'd only be a 2 hour concert. Kind of a shame there aren't any new songs being written during the tour, though.
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Feb 12, 2014 19:26
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juche mane posted:the dirty looks that were shot at audience members who had the balls to yell or interact were unbelievable. Where was this? My experience with last year's tour was the exact opposite of this, every audience member was going hog wild and nobody gave poo poo one.
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Feb 14, 2014 00:26
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 21:08 |
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Dacap posted:This article is the worst thing. Good lord, Salon has gotten even worse than I last looked. That makes Pitchfork look like Freaky Trigger. Jeez. I'll get around to posting about last week's NMH show eventually, there was a lot going on that made it... kind of a hosed up night and distracted me from the songs.
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Feb 26, 2014 02:27
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