Strictly Public & Non-Confidential - Album Review #1

‘In the Aeroplane Over the Sea’ by Neutral Milk Hotel

It’s Christmas 1945 and I’m in Amsterdam booking a room for the night in the Neutral Milk Hotel. I meet a man at reception by the name of Jeff Magnum who gives me a complimentary copy of the hotel’s signature album ‘In the Aeroplane Over the Sea’. Inscribed on my hotel key card are the words ‘and this is the room, one afternoon I knew I could love you’. Jeff tells me that’s from the second verse of King of Carrot Flowers pt.1, to make hotel guests feel welcome. A list of recommended songs on the back of the card include ‘O Comely’, ‘Holland, 1945’, ‘In the Aeroplane Over the Sea’ and ‘Ghost’. I ascend the spiral staircase to my room and a multitude of framed pictures paint colorful descriptions of the album on the walls. Distortion.com Perfectly arranged chaos 90s Lo-Fi…psychedelia…. The cracked logic of a dream Melancholic glee and funereal jubilee Salvador Dali plays the bagpipes Marching Band on Acid Kaleidoscope album [feat. Anne Frank]

Arriving at my room I perch on the edge of the bed. Looking around everything slowly starts to seem vaguely familiar and it dawns on me that I am not actually in Amsterdam but at home in Notting Hill. Going to the window my eyes squint looking up at the glaring sun and I see a wooden aeroplane gliding overhead with the Wright Brothers throwing something down at me shouting ‘ashes and confetti are not mutually exclusive’.

I hope you the reader enjoy this album and whilst it certainly does not fit into the conventional norms and the music may in fact grate on some listener’s ears, it deserves credit for its bold, independent and multifaceted approach and particularly because of its acknowledgment of the life of Anne Frank.

Signed for and on behalf of

……………………………… Musik Bier Name: ……………………………… Date: ………………………………

Rating: 4/5