In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the second and final studio album by American band Neutral Milk Hotel, released on February 10, 1998, by Merge Records. The album is predominantly indie rock and psychedelic folk and is characterized by an intentionally low-quality sound. Traditional indie rock instruments like the guitar and drums are paired with less conventional instruments like the singing saw and uilleann pipes. The lyrics are surrealistic and opaque, exploring themes that range from nostalgia to love. An important influence for the album was The Diary of a Young Girl, a book of writings from the diary of Anne Frank.
This article is about the studio album. For the title track, see In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (song).In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
February 10, 1998
July–September 1997
39:55
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was recorded at Pet Sounds Studio from July to September 1997. Producer Robert Schneider worked with bandleader Jeff Mangum to improve upon the low-quality sound of Neutral Milk Hotel's debut album, On Avery Island. Instead of using standard studio equipment like guitar pedals or effects units to induce distortion, Schneider developed a recording technique that involved heavy compression. To promote the album, Neutral Milk Hotel undertook a tour of North America and Europe, and developed a reputation for chaotic and physically demanding performances.
Contemporary reviews were moderately positive; over time, however, the album developed a cult following. This negatively affected Mangum, whose mental health began to deteriorate; as a result, he withdrew from touring, and Neutral Milk Hotel went on hiatus shortly after. In the years since its release, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea has been described by music journalists as both a landmark album for indie rock and as one of the best albums of the 1990s and its critical standing has risen considerably.
Recording[edit]
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was produced by Schneider, and was recorded from July to September 1997.[1] It was recorded at Pet Sounds Studio[a] in Denver, the home of Schneider's friend Jim McIntyre.[13] Schneider paid half the rent for access to every room in the house except McIntyre's bedroom.[14] The recording sessions for In the Aeroplane Over the Sea coincided with several other sessions. Schneider was already producing the Minders' album Hooray for Tuesday when Neutral Milk Hotel members began to arrive, and decided to halt production until In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was finished.[15] McIntyre was recording the Von Hemmling song "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in his bedroom while the band members played, and whenever Koster was not needed, he would work on songs for his experimental pop music and performance art project the Music Tapes, such as "Television Tells Us" and "Aliens".[16]
Schneider separated the band members into different rooms, but always kept Mangum close to the control room in case he wanted to plug Mangum's acoustic guitar into a four-track cartridge.[17] Schneider occasionally tried using an electric guitar, however he wiped these recordings as he felt that they did not have Mangum's distinctive sound.[17] As the sessions progressed, Schneider wanted to find a way to record the acoustic sound into a microphone instead of into the cartridge. He decided to record the sound through Neumann U 87 microphones.[18] According to Scheider: "[Mangum] liked an acoustic plugged in because he kinda found it fuzzy and raw, like an electric guitar, but it had a strummy quality to it, too ... I had developed an acoustic guitar sound on my own that he was really happy with by the second record, and I think it's really good."[19]
Neutral Milk Hotel biographer Kim Cooper believes In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is one of the most heavily distorted albums ever made, but also notes the lack of equipment such as Big Muffs or distortion pedals.[19] Mangum liked having a layer of distortion over the music, but Schneider decided to not use standard effects equipment. Instead, Schneider used heavy compression and placed a Bellari RP-220 tube preamplifier close to his guitar. Schneider then ran the sound through a mixing console and maximised the sound on a cassette tape.[20] This process was done for nearly every instrument used on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Schneider claimed that the nonlinearities of microphone distortion gave the album its unique "warm" quality.[20]
The horn arrangements were primarily written by Schneider. He wrote these parts on a piano or organ, then conferred with trombonist Rick Benjamin to ensure the musical notation was correct.[21] Spillane was the last band member to arrive, so Schneider showed him the arrangements he had already written. The trumpets were written in treble clef, but as Spillane could only read bass clef, he had to rewrite these arrangements before he could learn them.[21] As he did while learning the songs for On Avery Island, Spillane spent hours every day practicing and writing more arrangements in the basement.[21] Toward the end of the recording sessions, Schneider and Spillane worked together to combine their differing arrangements. Schneider's parts were more melancholic while Spillane wrote chaotic and boisterous parts.[22]
Composition[edit]
Music[edit]
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is difficult to categorize into a specific genre.[23] Critics generally describe it as indie rock and psychedelic folk with a lo-fi sound,[24] but also note the wide range of influences, including Eastern European choral music, Canterbury Sound, circus music, musique concrète, drone music, free jazz, and Tropicália.[25] Jason Ankeny of AllMusic compared the album to a "marching band on an acid trip",[26] while Kim Cooper wrote: "the music is like nothing else in the 90s underground".[27] Part of the musical variance comes from the instruments used on the album. Traditional indie rock instruments like the guitar and drums are paired with less conventional instruments like the shortwave radio, singing saw, and uilleann pipes.[28]
Jeff Mangum's guitars are a key component for much of the album. Mangum often plays simple chord progressions, which Erik Himmelsbach of Spin compared to the '50s progression.[29] Other important aspects to the music include the heavy amount of distortion, as well as the multitrack recording method Schneider used for the majority of the instruments.[30] Ankeny described In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as having a greater emphasis on structure and texture; he further noted that, like On Avery Island, "the songs run continuously together".[26] The overall sound of the album sometimes abruptly shifts from track to track.[31] Rolling Stone noted the range of musical styles present, such as slow funeral marches and fast-paced punk rock.[32] Critic Chris DeVille wrote: "On the musical axis, Neutral Milk Hotel veered from piercingly intimate psychedelic campfire sing-alongs to full-band segments that barreled ahead with haphazard grace."[33]
Lyrics[edit]
Mangum wrote the lyrics for every track on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.[1] The lyrics are surreal and often reference seemingly unrelated subject matter.[34] Cooper cites the opening track "King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. One" as an example of this style of songwriting. While the lyrics are about childhood fantasies, there are references to sexual awakenings, domestic violence, religious fanaticism, and tarot card readings.[35] Fans and journalists have long argued over the exact meaning of the album.[36] Some listeners believe there is a central message found throughout the lyrics, while other listeners believe the album is too abstract to derive meaning from.[36] DeVille said: "[In the Aeroplane Over the Sea] collides the familiar and the disorienting in a way that renders meaning elusive even as it provokes intense emotional reckoning."[33]
Common lyrical themes include childhood and nostalgia.[37] Pitchfork's Mark Richardson wrote that the lyrics are written with childlike wonder, in which mundane interactions are illustrated as fantastical moments, stating, "It's like a children's book or a fairy tale, Where the Wild Things Are on wax."[38] Mangum's lyrics have also been seen as a depiction of adolescence, and the need to develop one's own identity.[38] Some critics have compared the album to a coming-of-age story.[39] Mangum's descriptions of these experiences evoke a sense of nostalgia. According to Richardson: "it's an album of memories and associations, how skin feels against the grass and what passes through your mind the first time you realize your own powerlessness. It puts ultimate faith in raw feelings, the kind that consume you without logic or sense."[38]
Love is another prominent lyrical theme, although this concept takes on different forms.[41] P. J. Sauerteig of PopMatters believes In the Aeroplane Over the Sea's central message is Mangum's longing desire to be loved by the people he idolizes, whether that be a love interest or his peers.[41] The lyrics sometimes describe how Mangum wants to physically merge with the things he loves, which symbolizes a need for interconnectedness with loved ones. Sauerteig cites the track "Two-Headed Boy" as an example of this concept. The track describes conjoined twins, although Sauerteig believes they are a metaphor for two people who unsuccessfully merged into one body and, as a result, feel like they are trapped in an interdependent relationship.[41]
Although there is little concrete information as to the genesis of some of the lyrics, Mangum has stated a major influence was Anne Frank, a teenage girl who died in a Nazi concentration camp. Before recording On Avery Island, Mangum read The Diary of a Young Girl, a book of writings from Frank's diary that she kept while in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.[42] He was deeply affected by the book and spent, in his own words, "about three days crying", having dreams of traveling back in time and saving her.[42] Tracks such as "Holland, 1945" and "Ghost" incorporate elements of Anne Frank's life into the lyrics.[33] As a result, some listeners have labeled In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as a concept album.[43] However, Frank's importance to the lyrics is a subject of debate. Some critics argue she is merely an inspiration for some of the tracks, as opposed to an important character within a narrative arc.[44] Writing about the Anne Frank connection, Anwen Crawford of The Monthly said: "It would be overly literal ... to describe In the Aeroplane Over the Sea as an album about the Holocaust, for Frank is only one of many phantasms to populate a set of looping, interlinked narratives that proceed with the closed logic of a dream or a religious vision."[45]
Release and tour[edit]
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea was released in the United States on February 10, 1998, by Merge Records, and in the United Kingdom in May 1998 by The Blue Rose Record Company.[51] Merge pressed 5,500 CD and 1,600 vinyl copies, and expected sales to be similar to On Avery Island, which had sold around 5,000 copies.[52] These initial projections were correct, as the album sold moderately well for the first few months.[53] The song "Holland, 1945" was released as a 7" single on October 13, 1998.[2]
To promote the album, Neutral Milk Hotel embarked on a tour of North America and Europe.[54] Musicians John Fernandes and Will Westbrook were brought on as touring members, and were taught how to play the horn parts with Spillane.[55] For the tour, Mangum wanted the band to learn how to play the Charlie Haden track "Song for Che", a difficult improvisational jazz piece.[56] Although Mangum was expecting a lot out of the newly expanded band, many outsiders noted how caring and nurturing he was toward everyone involved. Filmmaker Lance Bangs said: "He wasn't any kind of a taskmaster—never turning and glaring at anybody—it was never like that. Clearly, there was a love of his circle of friends that made it important for him to build this community and bring them along with him."[57]
While on tour, Neutral Milk Hotel gained a reputation for chaotic and physically demanding concerts. Great Lakes member Ben Crum recalled: "It was definitely dangerous. There often seemed to be a very real chance that someone, probably Julian, would get hurt. Jeff was always doing things like picking him up and throwing him into the drums."[58] The audio technicians for most venues were confused and did not know what to expect. As a result, Laura Carter took on the unusual role of "mix-board translator". According to Carter: "It was more like talking them through what was about to happen, because so much was happening onstage that without someone helping, it was a wail or squeal and the soundman would look at twenty instruments onstage and not know what to dive for."[59]
Aftermath[edit]
Breakup and Mangum's reclusion[edit]
After the album's release, Neutral Milk Hotel's heightened profile had a negative effect on Mangum.[69] In a 2002 interview, Mangum said that "a lot of the basic assumptions [he] held about reality started crumbling". He would sometimes shut himself inside his home for days on end, and hoarded rice in preparation for the possible Y2K problem.[70] Some journalists have speculated he became tired of touring and constantly explaining his lyrics to fans; Elephant 6 biographer Adam Clair believes he may have been overwhelmed by the way fans viewed his music, and the high expectations placed upon any subsequent recordings.[71] Regardless of the reason, Mangum decided that he could not continue performing, and preferred to disappear from the public eye.[70] He did not inform the band, finding it impossible to justify a breakup immediately after their first genuine success, especially since some of them had quit their jobs to join Neutral Milk Hotel. Instead, he avoided the topic of new music altogether and increasingly isolated himself.[72] The situation resulted in the unspoken, unannounced breakup of Neutral Milk Hotel shortly after the tour.[73] The band members remained friends but moved on to other projects. Mangum occasionally worked on music over the next few years—he released Orange Twin Field Works: Volume I and played as a touring member of Circulatory System in 2001, and briefly hosted a program for the freeform radio station WFMU in 2002—but kept to himself and released no new songs for Neutral Milk Hotel.[74]
Cult following[edit]
There was no public explanation for the band's sudden breakup. Slate alleged that some fans were angry or accused Mangum of being selfish, and others wrote hoax blog posts giving fake details of upcoming tours and other false information.[70] The large response helped the album gain a cult following, and converted Mangum into a larger-than-life figure.[75] In 2003, Creative Loafing writer Kevin Griffis dedicated a cover story to trying to track down Mangum for personal closure. The search ended when Mangum sent him an email that read: "I'm not an idea. I am a person, who obviously wants to be left alone."[76] Journalist Mark Richardson attempted to explain the album's rise in popularity: "Because [Mangum] was inaccessible, there was no outlet for connection other than the record itself and other fans who shared a passion. By doing nothing, Neutral Milk Hotel developed a cult."[38]
Some journalists have noted the release of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea coincided with the rise of the Internet.[77] The album, and by extension Neutral Milk Hotel, became common fixtures on online message boards, and early music websites like Pitchfork gave the band an increased level of promotion.[78] Winkie wrote: "Would Aeroplane occupy the same untouchable place in American indie-rock culture if it was released in 1992? Or 1987? It's hard to say. The internet has a one-of-a-kind relationship with Neutral Milk Hotel."[64] Memes about In the Aeroplane Over the Sea proliferated on websites like 4chan, reflecting a wave of "hipster" listeners who first discovered the album online, long after the band had broken up.[79]