Okay, So I Took One Photo of Neutral Milk Hotel

At last weekend's Merge 25 festival, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Merge Records, Neutral Milk Hotel closed the big concert on Saturday outside the legendary Cat's Cradle in Carrboro.   Many may know that it's a standing request of Jeff Mangum's and Neutral Milk Hotel's that their shows not be photographed or videotaped.  One can debate whether that's a cynical move with capitalist motives, an attempt at stemming the sometimes obscene reliance on technology that we've developed, or a heartfelt plea from an individual who grapples with legitimate anxiety issues.

But this is not the place for that debate.  This is my confessional.

I tried to respect those wishes.  I really did.  But about three songs in -- right about when Mangum began to strum the opening notes of King of Carrot Flowers Part 1 -- I just couldn't.  The lighting was just so... so... perfect.  Pale blue spotlights, dimmed at the band's request, illuminated Scott Spillane's beard like an inverted phoenix.  They cast a cobalt halo over Mangum, setting him aglow, making him seem almost angelic.  As if that wasn't enough temptation, the sunset began to paint the sky behind this scene with a turquoise hue that could only be described as surreal, a perfect natural complement to the artifice of the stage lights.

So I stole my way to the back bleachers.  And yes, I discreetly pulled the Nikon D3100 out of my backpack.  I removed the lens cap.  I checked my settings.  And then I snuck this one, quick, guilty homage.  I can't say that I regret it.  I won't.

Scroll down to see the photo...













It's one of the best photos I've ever taken, if I do say so myself.

Also, below are a couple of close-ups cropped from the original (since I didn't want to risk more than one shot).

Julian Kostner and Jeff Mangum...

Scott Spillane and Jeremy Barnes...

Forgive me, Jeff.

Magic and Wonder: The Music Tapes' Traveling Imaginary Tour (Cat's Cradle, 1/28/13)

The Music Tapes impart a childlike glee and a magical wonder to their audience through their shows.  Since things like magic and wonder can be hard to express with mere words, I thought I’d try something different for their indoor circus-tent tour, the Traveling Imaginary.  So I’ve made a short little film to capture what my “night at the circus” was like.

Bandleader Julian Kostner, member of the Elephant 6 Collective and formerly of Neutral Milk Hotel, is whimsy personified.  It’s as if he’s on a mission to help all of us reclaim our inner child.  Having seen the Music Tapes twice, I can attest that they’re making great strides towards that noble cause… be it via big-top, lullaby, or Christmas caroling tours.  In addition to the music, props, and games, Julian is a wonderful storyteller.  His lilting voice relates tales of quirky characters and places unknown, or forgotten, touching the mind and the heart. 

I’ll leave the stories to him.  It seems only right that some of these things should be kept secret, as they are best experienced in person.  Even one of the games was kept hidden from those of us in attendance, unless -- and only if -- they chose (one-by-one) to play it! 

I’ll just let the film tell the rest of the tale.  Enjoy!

The Music Tapes - Pure Whimsy, and the Power of Music (Tir Na Nog, Raleigh, 12/1/11)

Not to snub T0W3RS and the Toddlers (who were both great), and Depressed Buttons (with whom I would liked to have caught up; I remember hanging out with some of them passing through Pensacola with Conor Oberst and Commander Venus, when they were but wee little ones). They all played later this night. But I caught the opening show of the Hopscotch -- ticket sales, not festival -- kickoff party at Tir Na Nog, and the evening really could have ended there and been great.

Merge Record's the Music Tapes brought the kind of whimsical innocence and purity that is far too lacking in this world. Having been a fan of the Elephant 6 Collective and their various bands for some time (Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo, Of Montreal...), and having caught a snippet of Julian Kostner's musical saw and quirky singing and storytelling at the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour earlier this year, I was eager to see him play with his own band.

What it ended up being was a very sweet, intimate performance probably not unlike their caroling tour appearances (this was the initial stop on the route this year)... except they usually don't do it in clubs, but at houses where they're invited. Being unplugged, they unfortunately had to work to be heard over the crowd eating and talking on the other side of the bar at this admittedly early show (TNN has to sell food, too!). But no mind. The mouse orchestra, singing snowman, and mechanized organ-playing tower didn't seem to mind (you had to be there).


Right from the beginning, the crowd pulled up close, squatting near the candles, Christmas lights, and other decorations laid on the floor in front of the band. Julian Kostner began by telling stories, as a way of introducing and bridging songs, Christmastime or otherwise. One such tale was about how Archibald Leach (one Cary Grant, as a child) wrote a melody, which became lost in an old hat for years, and was found one day by Billie Holiday, and thus entered the lexicon of Christmas as "The First Noel". Whether true or not, his unique delivery and storytelling ability was utterly charming. Banjoes (usually being bowed, like a violin), signing saws (of which Kostner is a -- if not THE -- master), and various brass instruments made for a mysterious, quiet, sweet and sometimes funny performance.


But the most touching part of the show was when Julian told the story of how people sing songs for many reasons... faith, love, fun, hope. Then he told of a hobo who, long ago, sat on a bench singing a Christmas song. And this poor man never would have dreamed -- how COULD he? -- that he would be here, 30 years later, performing that song with us, for us, this night. Then he set out a tape (on an old reel to reel), pushed play, and the band began to accompany this beautiful voice... the voice of a lost soul who has probably long since left this earth. But at the beginning of this Christmas season, he was here with us. At Tir Na Nog. In Raleigh, North Carolina. Serenading us.


I wanted to ask who that man was, and what the song was, but I never got the chance. But the important part, I think, is that his voice is still alive and bringing pleasure to people around the country, many years later, being carried far beyond the hope and faith that he himself probably had.

This is what music, and a project like the Music Tapes, can do. It makes me think of my father, an opera singer for his entire life, who probably can no longer remember who Enrico Caruso was due to Alzheimer's. It makes me all damn misty-eyed. It makes me think I need to bring some music to play for him when I visit him at Christmastime.

Here are the Music Tapes singing "How Long Has This Been Going On?"... not the 1970s "AM Gold" song by ACE, but an oldie that's been recorded by Audrey Hepburn and Jerry Jeff Walker, among others. BTW, that's a bough of mistletoe Julian's passing over the crowd, as he sings about kissing.



P.S.: I asked Julian after if he (being a member of the legendary Neutral Milk Hotel, though not its driving force, Jeff Mangum) minded me using a lyric from "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" as the name of my blog. He said "Sure, that's fine. I'm sure Jeff wouldn't mind." Again, touching.

The Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour - 3/26/11

The Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour passed through Raleigh Saturday night, playing Kings Barcade downtown. For the uninitiated, the Elephant 6 Collective is a group of musicians and artists loosely based in Athens, GA. It was started by members of the bands Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo, and others, back in the mid-late 90s, when those bands were starting to make waves. It wasn't so much a label as a place for members to play together and support each others' art. Many Elephant 6 bands share or have shared members throughout the years. Some of the other bands falling under the umbrella of Elephant 6 include Of Montreal, Elf Power, Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, The Gerbils, The Music Tapes, and The Sunshine Fix.

I remember back in the mid-90s, we at KLSU (Baton Rouge) were obsessed with Pixies, Superchunk, Sebadoh, GbV... the usual indie thing. But down in NOLA, WTUL was taking a more pop tack. They were playing these odd little happy/quirky records by acts like Of Montreal and Apples in Stereo. These bands were so far ahead of their time, college radio was even a little slow to pick up. But they just kept releasing and producing album after album of great psych/pop/weirdness. Today, I'd venture to say that more bands are influenced by Elephant 6 than by Nirvana and Green Day combined (okay, recording, touring bands, not 13-year-old kids in their garages).

I always felt like I missed the boat somewhat on Elephant 6, and Neutral Milk Hotel in particular. There they were starting in Louisiana as I was hosting a college radio local/regional music show on just a few dozen miles south. I remember hearing about this obscure little album from a Ruston band called "On Avery Island", but by that time, I was no longer on the air. For those unfamiliar with NMH, their CD "In The Aeroplane Over the Sea" is widely considered one of the best albums in the past 20 years (or best ever by many, myself included). I asked NMH-members Scott Spillane and Julian Kostner after the show why I may have missed them (only Scott was with them at the time), and they said basically that they only played house parties and in North Louisiana for the first couple of years. After 2-3 years, they realized they could/should start touring. Jeff Mangum (NMH's front man) may have played a couple of shows in NOLA, but I never caught wind of them, much to my chagrin.

But there's always time to catch up, and this tour was a great opportunity for that. The reunion/supergroup/whatever tour that is Holiday Surprise was more like a family event than a show. These people know each other well, having played together on many an album and in many a band. They're all multi-instrumentalists, and they're also very much into having fun. They started in the audience, as the performers (scattered among the crowd) sang/chanted "You're going on a trip / your mind is not quite fit / your brain circuitry's abnormalities have brought you this...", making their way to the stage in the dark, and kicking into the first number. They bounced around from song to song by various E6 bands, leaning a lot towards Olivia Tremor Control... several members of that band were represented. "White Sky" (from the Gerbils), with Scott Spillane singing, was a standout. So was the poppy "Holiday" (OTC). Julian Kostner demonstrated his mastery of the musical saw, for which he is apparently quite well known. It provided an element of mystery and magic, just as it has on several Elephant 6 releases.

Julian Kostner (NMH, OTC, Music Tapes) on musical sawWonderful stories were told, winter's end foretold (via a giant snowman throwing a snowball through the moon, with the help of an audience member), and the crowd was serenaded by a Mechanical Organ Playing Tower. Violins and various brass instruments were everywhere, the latter played especially sublimely by Scott Spillane.

Scott Spillane (NMH, Gerbils)But mostly, Elephant 6 just rocked out... in the high-energy, neo-psychedelic, mode that is their penchant. The closing (Sun Ra's "Enlightenment") was another "kumbayah" moment. The band stepped back out into the audience and encouraged us to sing along, repeating the words to teach us. It must have gone on for 20 minutes before the members of the collective marched out, parade-style... tubas, trumpets, saws and all. The show clocked in at over 3 hours.

Bill Doss (OTC, The Sunshine Fix)John Fernandes (OTC, Circulatory System)Although most indie-hipsters would never admit to playing the game de riguer of the night (and every night of this tour), they all were at least wondering: Would the notably reclusive Jeff Mangum show up, and maybe even play? No, he didn't make an appearance Saturday, as he did on the tour a couple of years ago. It's probably better for this tour, as his music is darker and of a different tone than most of the material they were playing. And the band didn't play any NMH (or Of Montreal, or Apples In Stereo) songs, either. The night didn't suffer for it, though. This bunch has a very deep catalog of good music to draw from, and it was a rollicking good time! Besides, for those into the Apples, frontman Robert Schneider will be playing a rare show in Durham (at the Casbah) in April.

So, all-in-all, the 2011 Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour lived up to it's billing, and demonstrated that this collective of artists that has inspired so many already still has inspiration to spare.

Horns were blared......guitars pounded......and stories told.It was "Yip Jump Music!" (apologies to Daniel Johnston)