2005, Merge
Like their Elephant 6 labelmates and kindred spirits Olivia Tremor Control's Music From the Unrealized Film Script 'Dusk at Cubist Castle,' Neutral Milk Hotel's debut, On Avery Island, is an inscrutable concept album, a chronicle of an insular world told in a remarkably universal language. A fuzzy masterpiece of experimental lo-fi recording, the album wraps its ragged pop songs in ribbons of loops, marching-band squawks, and Casio noodling; the opener "Song Against Sex" is as much a manifesto as a kick-off, a self-propelled marvel hopped up on rapid-fire wordplay and a stunningly ramshackle melody punctuated by bloated trombone moans. Throughout the record, Jeff Mangum's wheels threaten to fly off at any time -- his songs are cryptic and crazed, his ideas fast and furious, and together they force the home-recording concept out of the basement and into a brave new world. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Tracklisting
Disc 1
| 1 | Song Against Sex |
| 2 | You've Passed |
| 3 | Someone Is Waiting |
| 4 | Baby for Pree |
| 5 | Marching Theme |
| 6 | Where You'll Find Me Now |
| 7 | Avery Island/April 1st |
| 8 | Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone |
| 9 | Three Peaches |
| 10 | Naomi |
| 11 | April 8th |
| 12 | Pree-Sisters Swallowing a Donkey's Eye |
Customer Reviews





