POP MUSIC is inherently and invariably a language of myth. In all of the capricious postures at work within pop, it’s myth more than anything that lionizes our pop stars—forging idols out of fictions, hyperbole, and cut cognitive corners (Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, et al.). It’s also myth that often circumscribes these same stars; it keeps artists forever mason-jarred on shelves alongside their greatest achievements and most epic failures (see Brian Wilson, Axl Rose, Kevin Shields, et al.).
Jeff Mangum is all myth. It’s the very core of In the Aeroplane over the Sea—the era-defining magnum opus he created with his former band Neutral Milk Hotel way back in 1998. But as much as the music itself, it’s the alluring, now nearly threadbare fable of Mangum the man that has propagated his masterpiece’s strange ascendance from marginal indie-rock gem to almost religious tome. It’s what has come to define Mangum in the eyes of his dutiful flock—and what has kept their flame burning and growing since his purposeful disappearance some 11 years ago. It’s also what makes his recent, modest return to the stage such a dodgy proposition.
Before we get to that though, a bit about that still very marvelous record: A sprawling and stunning yarn, Aeroplane‘s inner mythology is explicit and intentional—its narrative so deliberate in its allegorical thrust that Mangum goes so far as to distill its images down to the language of a nightmarish fairy tale. Child kings, Siamese twins, omniscient ghosts, and mountaintops stained with semen all populate Mangum’s fancifully phrased love letter to Anne Frank—even down to the artwork with its children’s storybook illustrations. It’s a deliberate and grand parable, one genuinely monolithic in its scope and influence. Still, if it was only about the music, Mangum and his masterstroke would simply be another high-water mark in the crowded annuls of ’90s indie rock. Without the myth, Aeroplane would likely be just another brilliant and quietly beloved album.
Here’s the difference: Following its release, Mangum famously and inexplicably retreated from the stage—retiring the Neutral Milk Hotel moniker, abandoning pop music, and (if the well-proliferated legend is to be believed) all but disappearing into willful obscurity. He did this largely without explanation. Theories have been posited about the reasons for Mangum’s departure, a common suggestion being that the crippling fear of following up his masterpiece was simply too much to bear. It can’t be overstated how important this deliberate shroud of mystery has become to the meta-narrative of In the Aeroplane over the Sea: a grand and singular statement that through Mangum’s lilting absence is allowed to exist in a bubble of its own design—free from the trappings of its very real, very human creator.
It’s a gambit, then, for Mangum to dust off these songs and return to the stage after all this time—to anchor the myth in the form of a real live human being again. The reasons for this sudden return remain somewhat unclear. By most reports his recent performances have been riveting affairs playing the Neutral Milk back catalog, devoid of any new material; welcomed clemency for the devout flock that have come to his music since his untimely departure, but a reprieve that comes with more than a little risk to the future of the Mangum legend. It’s his myth to break, but at what cost to the mystery that’s fueled so much of his adulation? What if he writes new songs? And what if they’re just okay?
I don’t give a shit what he sings, as long as he sings.
Who gives a fuck? The songs are great.
complete hipster B.S. – I didn’t give a crap about the fact that Jeff Mangum “retreated” or whatever. I liked the album and hoped there would be more.. but there wasn’t. His myth or legend didn’t add anything to the music for me. The music had all of it already. If he was really worried about what people think, I’m sure he wouldn’t have created Aeroplane in the first place. It was a fulfillment of his own artistic aspirations and I’m sure that is why so many connected to it. If he writes a new album that does the same it is a success.. no matter what the hell people think.
True, that Jeff Mangum is touring again may feel like a risk–but it is the best kind of risk an artist can take. He’s been compared to JD Salinger, who’s career was defined by a similiar myth, but frankly all this tour proves is that Jeff has 10 times JD’s guts. Judging from his interviews and statements he has made about his own creativity, his attitude has always been to value AUTHENTICITY in his art above all else, and that is why his performances have inspired authentic awe in those who have been lucky enough to hear him sing. What Jeff will choose to do next is still anyone’s guess, but nothing his heart allows him to do can possibly damage his myth or his legacy. His return to the stage might be the best artistic risk he has ever taken. Jeff has been doing, truly, a most beautiful thing. All he has to do is continue to follow his heart.
*****
From: http://www.neutralmilkhotel.org/faq.htm
when i wrote aeroplane, i spent 90 percent of my time screaming nonsence
into my little tape recorder, or chopping up sounds with my sound blender, or
just making noise, and 10 percent of my time writing songs. it was very liberating,
because i never thought about what i was doing, and a week before we went to record i didnt even think we had a half finished album. but i didnt care. i figured if we went the studio,and only recorded one finished song, then that would be fine. creating just one minute ofsomething inspiring is an incredibly fun thing to do. so next time you hear that neutral milkis recording, dont get your hopes up. it may only be one minute of music.
major organ was just a bunch of friends putting music together for fun. it was a project
that changed hands at least a dozen times, and most of the time you didnt even know who was working on it,and you never knew where it would go. released mostly to inspire other dreamers and home recorders to do the same with there friends. we weren’t trying to create a masterpiece. trying to do anything is the of death of creativity, and if we can encourage people to not try, but to just do, then we have accomplished our goal.
*****
“I think what Elephant 6 meant for us is very simple: there’s something pure and infinite in you, that wants to come out of you, and can come out of no other person on the planet. That’s as real and important as the fact you’re alive. We were able, at a really young age, to somehow protect each other so we could feel that. The world at large, careerism, money, magazines, your parents, the people at the rock club in your town, other kids, nothing is going to gvie you that message, necessarily. In fact, most things are going to lead you away from it, sadly, because humanity is really confused at the moment. But you wouldn’t exist if the universe didn’t need you. And any time I encounter something beautiful that came out of a human somewhere, that’s them, that’s their soul. That’s just pure, whatever its physicality is, if the person can play piano, if they can’t play piano, if they’re tone deaf, whatever it is, if it’s pure, it hits you like a sledgehammer. It fills up your own soul, it makes you want to cry, it makes you glad you’re alive, it lets *you* come out of *you*. And that’s what we need: we desperately need *you*.”
–Julian Koster, circa 2005, from the book about the making of Aeroplane. Julian has appeared with Jeff on many of the recent tour dates.
*****
Comments made during his Fall tour, From: http://blog.beatgoeson.com/2011/08/15/mangumreview/
JM: Anybody have any questions? Not that I have any answers, but . . .
Fan: Will there be a new album?
JM: I don’t have any fucking idea. I didn’t think I’d be doing this.
Fan: We’re glad you are.
JM: I’m glad I am too. I think it’s good for me, I dunno . . .
Fan: Have you been writing new songs?
JM: I go through periods of writing. I mean, if something came out of my heart naturally I’d put it out, but I’m not gonna make another record because of . . . whatever . . . all the other bullshit.
[applause]
*****
Comments on his creative process in a 2002 interview: http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/5847-neutral-milk-hotel/
Pitchfork: Is this reframing process something you use in your songwriting in general? Do the songs come out of fragments?
Jeff: Yeah, usually I create tunes that are fragmented. I think the biggest obstacle for people with their creativity is that they feel they have to sit down and create this finished, polished product. Especially nowadays, it’s so easy to have a library of two thousand CDs, books and records. So many things. We’re used to having all of these finished works of art in our life that seem to arise out of nothing. I think that so much of the creative process is a fragmentary one, and then it’s about just allowing your intuition to put it together for you. It’s funny how you create something and you think you’re going in a million different directions, and then the thing you end up with is the thing that you wanted to create your whole life, but you’re just as surprised by it as anybody else.
*****
The only thing the myth has done for Aeroplane is, perhaps, given the album more exposure. But time and time again, the album justifies its own stature in the ears of a new listener. When I saw Jeff perform I brought a close friend who knew nothing of the songs and nothing of the myth. After the performance my friend was glowing, saying it was one of the most amazing concerts she has ever been to. Many in the audience knew all of the lyrics by heart, even though most were probably in preschool when Aeroplane was first released. Such a following is not gained through luck alone–Jeff is a rare talent, and I hope the myth of Aeroplane does not stop him from taking the next great risk and daring new material.
I don’t exactly agree with #3 that myths aren’t sometimes properly wrapped up in art, but I still think that’s COTW.
Who invited Pennington back? And why?
Wow! A perfect example of, and exercise in verbosity. I am in awe of the use of so many meaningful words in such a meaningless way in an attempt to showcase that you are employed as a “writer”, but in a more and even less meaningful way, that you are very shallow and make your living commenting on other peoples life’s work. I would stick to commenting on scenes where the level of self delusion and self aggrandizement is on par with this load of dog crap.
ODE
Fart fart fart. Fart fart fart fart fart, fart fart fart. Fart fart? Fart fart fart fart fart, fart, fartfartfart. Fart fart fart fart. But to what fart? I argue that fart fart fart. Fart fart fart fart fart fart. Fart. (I seem to have some terrible gas). Fart fart fart.
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Details fart matter. Grammar matters, fart fart fart. I seem to have a strange fart fetish. Could I fart expand right here a little? Fart fart fart. Ralph Waldo Emerson, fart fart fart:
“A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace” (60).
Obviously, fart fart fart, but if and only fart if fart fart fart. (Please excuse my terrible gas). Fart fart fart fart fart. Fart did you (fart) your sense of humor in fart Vietnam? Fart fart fart fart fart. Oh my I am very embarassed. Wag the dog, fart fart fart. Fart lots of sensory detail, fart fart fart. I am fart doing very well!
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“As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence” (86).
Therefore, fart fart fart fart fart!!. Atomic bomb, exciting fart, fart fartfart . I am very embarassed due to the fact a someone probably farted. But then all of a sudden, FART FART FART!!!!! (no survivors). Fart fart fart fart fart fart. Fart. If you accept the fart fart fart, it follows that fart fart fart fart fart (and please excuse my terrible gas).
Fart fart fart fart fart. Oh my, fart, I am very clever. Fart. Fart fart fart. I seem to have some terrible gas, fart fart fart. Fart fart fart, I fart paper. Fart fart fart:
“And you think that if you can save poor Catherine, you can make them stop, don’t you? You think that if Catherine lives, you’ll never wake up in the dark ever again to that awful screaming of the lambs” (33).
Fart fart fart fart yikes! So fart fart fart fart fart. And finally, fart fart fart fart.
Are you interested in fart fart fart? OK then, fart fart fart. Oh my, I am very embarassed. They fed her her own pet bunny, fart fart fart. Fart fart, how cruel. Fart. Fart fart fart fart fart.
In conclusion, fart fart fart fart. Will there (fart) ever be a fart? Fart fart fart fart, fart fart fart fart. I did a very good job, fart fart fart. Finally, fart, please excuse my terrible gas. Because fart fart fart fart, fart fart, fart fart fart fart. And that’s something that never fart fart fart.
ODE
Fart fart fart. Fart fart fart fart fart, fart fart fart. Fart fart? Fart fart fart fart fart, fart, fartfartfart. Fart fart fart fart. But to what fart? I argue that fart fart fart. Fart fart fart fart fart fart. Fart. (I seem to have some terrible gas). Fart fart fart.
Fart. I hope I can get this done on time, fart fart. Fart. Participation is (fart) worth two letter grades. I’ve given fart lots of good feedback. It was on time, fart. Please excuse my terrible gas.
Details fart matter. Grammar matters, fart fart fart. I seem to have a strange fart fetish. Could I fart expand right here a little? Fart fart fart. Ralph Waldo Emerson, fart fart fart:
“A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise shall give him no peace” (60).
Obviously, fart fart fart, but if and only fart if fart fart fart. (Please excuse my terrible gas). Fart fart fart fart fart. Fart did you (fart) your sense of humor in fart Vietnam? Fart fart fart fart fart. Oh my I am very embarassed. Wag the dog, fart fart fart. Fart lots of sensory detail, fart fart fart. I am fart doing very well!
On the other hand, fart fart fart so pleasee please go to rip van winkel. Fart fart fart fart. Oh my, dutch oven. Fart fart fart fart fart. Fart fart fart fart. Fart fart fart fart fart. Fart fart. Byline, fart fart. Fart fart fart. I got this in on time, fart fart. By the way, I am (fart) so sorry about the smell, fart fart. Art. Fart fart fart. Fart fart fart fart, lightning, fart. Benjamin Franklin said:
“As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence” (86).
Therefore, fart fart fart fart fart!!. Atomic bomb, exciting fart, fart fartfart . I am very embarassed due to the fact a someone probably farted. But then all of a sudden, FART FART FART!!!!! (no survivors). Fart fart fart fart fart fart. Fart. If you accept the fart fart fart, it follows that fart fart fart fart fart (and please excuse my terrible gas).
Fart fart fart fart fart. Oh my, fart, I am very clever. Fart. Fart fart fart. I seem to have some terrible gas, fart fart fart. Fart fart fart, I fart paper. Fart fart fart:
“And you think that if you can save poor Catherine, you can make them stop, don’t you? You think that if Catherine lives, you’ll never wake up in the dark ever again to that awful screaming of the lambs” (33).
Fart fart fart fart yikes! So fart fart fart fart fart. And finally, fart fart fart fart.
Are you interested in fart fart fart? OK then, fart fart fart. Oh my, I am very embarassed. They fed her her own pet bunny, fart fart fart. Fart fart, how cruel. Fart. Fart fart fart fart fart.
In conclusion, fart fart fart fart. Will there (fart) ever be a fart? Fart fart fart fart, fart fart fart fart. I did a very good job, fart fart fart. Finally, fart, please excuse my terrible gas. Because fart fart fart fart, fart fart, fart fart fart fart. And that’s something that never fart fart fart.
Thank you for a well-researched, well-written article, Zac. And thank you for Dakota especially for the wonderful insights and excerpts. I love that book.
The approach in this article felt a little bullying, or threatening, which is somewhat ironic, as frustration with the music media was one of the reasons for Magnum’s retreat.
While I did not expect a gushing review like mine:
http://www.laurelbrauns.com/blog/reviews-s…
… I liked the approach of this writer from the Boston Phoenix. Seemed more appropriately gentle and understanding:
http://blog.thephoenix.com/BLOGS/onthedown…
Anyway, obviously you know what you are talking about, but probably just don’t share the same obsession. Great writing and thanks for letting me join the conversation.