Neutral Milk Hotel is an American popular music band, centering around its chief lyricist and songwriter, Jeff Mangum, who, on the band's two full-length albums, plays with a number of other musicians, notably Jeremy Barnes , Scott Spillane and producer-instrumentalist Robert Schneider. Neutral Milk Hotel is a part of the Elephant 6 collective.
The band's second LP, In the Aeroplane over the Sea is notable as a critically acclaimed work and a fairly popular recording. It is a spiritually motivated work conceptually based on the beauty to be found in the horrific fate of Anne Frank and similarly overwhelming tragedies. (Mangum is reported to have, during a live performance, described some of the songs off this album as based on urgent, recurring dreams he had of a Jewish family during World War II.) The album was highly praised by critics for its wildly inventive instrumentation and Mangum's provocative and impassioned lyrics. Although it met with scant response from the general public when it was released, the recording has continued to gain momentum in indie music circles and has become a cult classic, selling well over 100,000 copies according to Merge Records.
Although all the members are still active with one another in other projects, it is unknown whether any more Neutral Milk Hotel albums will be released. There were plans to release a Neutral Milk Hotel rarities album on the Orange Twin label, however after an announcement in 2005 on the Orange Twin website claiming that Jeff Mangum had in fact eventually decided against the project, it is unclear if this will ever happen.
Discography
Albums
EPs and singles
Compilation appearances
Books
External links