i apologize for editing abby Weezering you all. can’t promise it won’t happen again :)

I feel like everyone discovers this album in their freshman year at college, regardless of age.

YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT LADY'S HEAD HAS BEEN A DRUM AND NOT A COCONUT THIS WHOLE TIME !?!

Once in highschool a guy I only vaguely knew cause his sister was in my grade came up to me and said "hey I heard you like Neutral Milk Hotel" and I was like uh, yeah totally. Definitely heard of that band. And he was like, "What's your favorite song" and I was like "uh. . . .untitled?" and turns out there actually was an untitled song and I came off as cool. Nice. That guy is in jail now for threating to do a mass shooting at a hospital. So. At least he thought I was cool in highschool.

Your channel is like a lavish super deluxe anniversary box set that includes unreleased tracks, mono mixes, 100+ page book, poster, stickers, guitar pick with band logo, and extra anti-static inner sleeves.

One of those albums where it's impossible to tell when it's from just by ear. I remember hearing it in like 2003 and I thought it was from the 70s or something. Absolute gem of a record.

I first heard this album in 2001 and became obsessed with it. There is just something so transcendental about it. I tried to turn on everyone I could to it but only a few got it. Most just looked at me strangely. Oh well, its not for everyone but I still love it today.

"This is the writing of someone who lives life like an open wound" sums the whole album up so succinctly

Incredible album. It only became a meme because it's so moving

I was lucky enough to see NMH on their reunion tour in 2014, which was incredible of course. But the bigger flex is that I saw Jeff on his brief solo acoustic tour the year before. It's the closest thing to a religious experience I've ever had. The entire crowd sang along, but not in your typical rock show way. It felt like a sacrament, like an emotional exorcism. Genuinely the most moving experience I've ever had

you calling oh comely a cry that brings you out of breathe is the greatest description ive ever heard

That's it. "This is a record that sticks with you the rest of your life" well said

April Ludgate's favorite album in parks and rec. For some reason I looked it up and it changed my life :)

I listened to this album about a year ago and I was 15 years old, and I still listen to it often, it seems that with time I understand more about it

I've watched this video twice now and both times I've got really, really emotional. Much like the album itself makes me feel. Your passion and enthusiasm for ITAOTS is absolutely beautiful. You totally get it. I was lucky enough to work in a now sadly defunct record shop here in Scotland which was where I first heard it and I had to make my excuses and leave the shop for a few minutes to compose myself as Two Headed Boy pt.2 came to a close. It completely broke me which, in general, doesn't happen very often but as you intonated it's an absolute emotional rollercoaster and I don't think I've ever heard anyone describe it as perfectly as you have. Thank you.

I constantly worry Jeff Mangum is going to emerge from the shadows and play on some small club in LA and I am going to miss it, but hear how great it is after the fact. Thank you for reminding me to be vigilant and keep an eye out for a show that may never happen

Two headed boy pt. 1 always was my favorite. The lyrics are blunt and haunting

Can’t wait to watch when I get home, good video!!

YES This is my favourite album of all time and I am very happy, thank you so much, Abby. You have made my day

There's a lot of media that gets hyped up due to nostalgia, or its association with a very specific subculture, or even just for its memeability, and ITAOTS has all of that, but it is also a transcendentally good album. Beautifully written, beautifully recorded, massively influential but has never been surpassed, it really is one of those rare treasures that continues to be relevant because new generations of listeners keep finding it and realizing how good it is. My brother first heard it in 2002, and it's one of his favorite albums. I first heard it in 2010, and it's one of my favorite albums. My father first heard it in 2017, and it's one of his favorite albums. Taste and time have practically no effect on it.

Oh this one means a lot to me and yet I can't really put into words what it is that makes it so special. There have been times while driving and listening to it where I've had to pull the car over because I was crying so hard. My wife loves it as well. She listened to it in her car for most of 2020, nothing else. I had to take it away because I was starting to get concerned haha. God bless Mangum for making such a mysterious and bewildering masterpiece. Nothing quite like it, it deserves all the love it gets.

Thanks for this, never heard anything about the album previously. New music to me and I'm obsessed, so good!

Now, that’s an interesting summary. You’ve done wonders with this discovery. Thankyou and thanks for bringing this to us..

Oh THIS is gonna be a GREAT episode. I’m only now seeing this on my recommended feed. I really like what you’re doing Abby. Keep it up.

This was really well done. You even helped me understand myself better with this video. Thank you.

This was amazing!! Thanks for reviewing this album, it is part of my entire life since i discovered NMH 2 years ago. I can say it's the most powerful and emotional thing i've heard in my life.

Great video! I have never even listened to NMH's stuff, this gives me so much impetus to check it out now

got this vid on my homepage and my god i love your in depth exploration of this album

I am so damn happy and amazed that you did a video on this unprecedented album. A good friend of mine, who is also a fan, and I attended a NMH live appearance in June 2015 here in Sacramento. It was truly incredible.

Brilliant summation, Abby

Thank you for introducing me to this jewel, I did not know about this group, so I decided to check them, they are amazing. Loved your outfit by the way!

oh my god YES dood let's gooo this album changed my life for the better forever i'm so glad to be celebrating it here < 3

I’m so excited for this episode! This is one of my favourite albums ever and ‘In the Aeroplane over the Sea’ was one of the first songs I learned on the guitar!

you wanna know what i think ms abby? i think this was so on the nose every word is a pearl right on i was just as stunned with your review as with this album. its not often where every single thing someone sez on the youtubes or anywhere is so factual, inciteful and so perfectly put. bravo m'lady so glad to you put the extra time in for this one it shows.

Yours is the only review of this album on KZfaq that has ever made me want to actually listen to the album. Thanks. I’m genuinely excited to dive into as soon as I can. Thank you Good video!

used to listen to this album all the time in highschool, I understand how it sticks to memories and can make it hard to listen to down the line. love all the albums you compared it to because I can totally see what you mean but wouldn't have ever expected the comparisons haha I'd love to see more reviews of this era and the 2000s/2010s!

I have recently found this channel and this is the absolute best VC channel on KZfaq!

Just found this video today and I love the vibe subscribed!

Not familiar with your channel until today, but that is the power of a top quality thumbnail in action. I laughed myself silly and had to check it out. Pay attention, aspiring KZfaqrs out there.

Great video on one of my all time favorite albums!

Found your station randomly. 'bones of a bird ' was the exact moment I hit subscribe. Perfect.

I have that same box set! Got it as a birthday present too, funnily enough. I adore everything in it, NMH is one of my favorite bands ever. I also love Ferris Wheel on Fire :) great episode

Just found this channel and I'm in love with the style! 🥰

New to your channel, loved this take on one of my fave albums. It's always felt like such a personal album, for the reasons you say at 27:05. I love the pervasive long low note, I love how fun it is to sing all the raw notes, or play along with on the guitar. I hadn't heard the phoebe bridgers cover before, it's so delicate and sad! I also really appreciated the history and background - we all find music in different ways, I found NMH from a live version of two headed boy on kazaa like 20 years ago, and didn't know anything about the story of the band until now. Really cool to learn they were in the same music collective as some of my other fave bands at the time. Also.. damn, that's a heck of a vinyl collection! Much love

oooooh i am PUMPED yt recommended this channel, love the series already

Very impressed with this analysis.

Great video. This is my favorite album

Recently listened to strange days after hearing how much you loved it. Can't wait for your review next week

great video! loved the v subtle mountain goats reference lol

On my flight through the back vids again. I admire you Abigail so much for engaging with this music and for the convincing force of your argument. This was a wonderful video. I wasn't convinced by the music though: given the depth and the empathy you display here that doesn't make me feel confident, I feel kind of shallow for my response.

That was an impressive encapsulation which obviously required a ton of preparation and research. Well done! Though I know this album, I learned a few things I didn't. I also haven't spun it in a while and so what better day then today; 25 years to the day. You're good at this 👍and you do this unlike anyone I've come across in the VC. I hope you continue to find the energy to put these together in what is clearly a "labor of love". EDIT: I should also give cReddit where cReddit is due; since you referenced it in your video. I'm a gen-Xer who discovered NMH from being exposed to all of the chatter on r/vinyl in the 2010s.

Russell would say..."when did you become so professional "..ha! It's unreal how good you are at this. You must love music.

What a thoroughly articulated assessment, as usual. Great job ! I don't know how many copies NMH's single 'Everything Is' were pressed in 1993, but I suspect not many. I bought a copy, liked it, and went to see Jeff Mangum play solo in a small San Francisco venue, a former fire station, which must have been his first tour. I ended up talking to him afterward for quite a while. Interesting and friendly. We exchanged addresses. So I still have one letter or two letters from Jeff from way before 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' was released. An obscure but nice memory.

really good video. hope it blows up i really enjoyed it

Nice work Abby!!! I didn't know them, but they sound sooo good, nice choice... I can't wait for the next Vinyl Monday, you have finally make a Doors album, your favorite and one of my favorites Doors albums!!!!!

Amazing review! Music that awakens the soul. I used to play it while painting, and when the album ended I'd say Hell, and play it again. And again and again.

Wow great review! Subscribed. Between this review and Siamese Dream, I think I found someone that loves music as much as me; possibly more. Your analogy that Aeroplane is Lennon’s White Album contributions if made in the 90’s was hauntingly accurate. Never considered that before, even though the White Album is my all time favorite album.

I’ve seen this album being shown by Mazzy a few times. I’ve never played it until tonight. It is quite catchy and unmediated loved this album. It has became a member of my want list. Thank you for that.

Great album, one of my all time faves

Great video I love the transition joke I'll have to check out this band out

Olivia Tremor Control are fantastic, Jumping Fences is one of the greatest songs ever written. nice for them to get a shoutout here, most people when talking about NMH neglect any of those other E6 bands which is a shame.

Love it when Abby goes full rage mode. Best transition ever!

Love the video, but that Circle Sky transition was great! Hope to see some Monkees reviews in the future!

I was so fully enthralled in the elephant six in high school I can't believe this album is 25 happy birthday

Speaking of aeroplanos and beautiful cover arts and booklets, one of my all time favourite - and also dark - albums is One Hot Minute. That would be the hell of a video!

Nice job !!!

Great record. I listened to this a lot in high school and college, along with MGMT. The late 90s and 2000s Indie era doesn't get enough respect. lol

Thanks Abi. I’ll give this a listen. Sounds really interesting. I’m an older guy. I need to play some more recent albums. Cheers - Aussie Vinyl Guy Wayne

the pause after "amanda palmer..." i felt that in my soul

Nice one! Thanks for sharing your personal connection to it. Please do an Elephant 6 episode!

I have been listening to this album for over a decade and don't know how I feel about it.

it´s funny to think what certain communities on internet can do to the general perception of an album on pop culture. that´s probably the great example of an album estabilished as a classic by the forces of internet discussions on music. great video with great content - and overall great album

When I listen to this record a dim light is shining through even the saddest of its moments. Two headed boy, for instance, ends with this little feeling, longing creature being left alone, but as if it was a movie, Jeff also points us to look around. It's snowing. The pillowy, tiny crystals are falling quitely, absorbing the sound. The guitars and his voice is soft compared to how it sounded previously. The christmas trees, with presents, put there by some unknown circumstance are all covered. Jeff speaks quitely to the two headed boy, like he's leaning down towards him. He knows the boy is afraid and talks to him accordingly, like a parent or guardian: "I have to go but everything will be alright. All the things that await you will wait for you when you're ready to let go". The spirals of white flow softly over the child's eyes, like he's falling asleep. It's an intimate scene of a parent sharing last moment with his child, comforting him before he has to go. It's sad, but it's also beautiful, and I tend to see most of the album's moments in that way. And when the album is legitematly joyful like on the titular track, which is probably my favourite, it's just life-afriming. Everything around is so strange, oh so strange but it's beautiful. Jeff paints beauty into even the most sorrowful of moments. Almost all of them. I just can't help but imagine the two headed boy walk on, leaving little foot-shaped marks, where he walked through the Winter surrounding him into warm, and golden Spring. Anyway, I really enjoyed this review. And the outfit you put together was a great match! You can tell a lot of work was put into it and the results are great! Thank you

Wow. Had no idea it was that old.

This album was one that was in my Amazon recommendations, then Fantano'd, and then my Spotify recommendations and I still don't know if I've listened to it or not... looking forward to watching your video on it

Thanks for this. Gonna share this with Jeff and Chris Bilheimer!

Thanks for introducing this "aging Gen Xer" 😀to an album I've never heard of before! Fun and moving episode. I have a challenge for you -- see if you can get through the upcoming Dark Side of the Moon episode without using the omnipresent "I word" (might I suggest increasingly archaic substitutes such as 'famous', 'legendary', 'recognizable', 'quintessential', 'classic', etc.) Just a pet bugaboo of mine. Carry on. 🙂

Love this album

Ok man you just got yourself a new fan. I'm not a huge fan of this band but I am a fan of you already! The first thing I noticed on revisiting this album was the insane amount of compression, almost like they were trying to say "fuck you and fuck the space between your ears, you're gonna like it anyway" which is pretty cool, even if it's not my cup of sonic tea. Glad to hear you bring it up.

it seems like you understand the album in a way that i can just listen to and hope that one day i'll understand it the same way as well i cry every fucking time i listen to it and i cried watching your video, thanks

Saw them on the Aeroplane album release tour at the Black Cat in DC and of all things they opened for Superchunk! One of the best shows I've ever experienced to this day. I was a huge "On Avery Island" fan already and then they dropped this masterpiece. Total brilliant game changer for sure! But seeing those songs live?! Transcendent! I was weeping tears of joy the whole time, especially when they did Oh Comely. Superchunk was and will always be another favorite band of mine... but I was so blown away by NMH that night, I left the club before Superchunks' set and wandered around around the city for a couple hours in a daze until the show was over. Met up with my friends and went on back to PA. It was just that good! I'll never forget that moment in my life. Pure bliss!

Yo, you're good at this! I discovered this album through the internet, as so many did, in the mid/late 2000's. I was actually looking up bands similar to the band Beirut and someone in a German niche forum on a website that doesn't exist anymore recommended NMH. Little did I know i wouldn't get the Ukulele songs I was looking for, but something that would make me still sing "for maaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaeeeeeeeeeyyyyy" at the top of my lungs 15 years later on a late night drive back from a gig with my band. I still love the album a lot, but i cannot listen to it as often anymore as i used to. Some of the reasons you have mentioned in the video. Anyway, good job

I really dived into this album. I guess what caught me was the resemblance to Syd Barrett's solo carreer.

I love this Fantano bit

Thanks for this one. At the end of the '90s I had pretty much switched new guitar bands off and preferred electronica's comparative freshness (particularly trip hop). The reason I tried NMH is O Comely made it into someone's forum list of creepy songs which I was looking for for a party tape. I napstered the whole album (but, yes, bought a CD soon after) and this record entered my all time favourites. The musicality, arrangement ideas and eerie poetry of the lyrics are still with me (see also anything by The Handsome Family which is almost the same story for me). Funny you mention literary comparisons. Not Salinger, for me, but I remember describing the album a bit like this: imagine picking up a battered novel without a cover or title page in a second hand shop and finding out it was To Kill a Mockingbird. Dependably fun and informative vid, too. Oh, and the 33 1/3 book on it is one of the better ones.

My mother used to play this album for me a lot when I was a baby but I didn't remember. The emotions that went through my brain when I discovered it for myself were something beyond everything.

I just listened to this before watching, having listened to at least part of it before. I would like to say "guess you had to be there" but I was a junior in high school when it came out and never heard of NMH until about a decade later. Interesting enough, but its greatness eludes me.

Elephant 6 and K Records are maybe sone of the most important collectives or record labels in american music, a shame theyve been forgotten in some ways.

as a big fan of this band, and e6 in whole. Im glad that you know your shit! so many reviews of this album are the same anne frank thing, nice to see this!

Thank you.

idrk anything about music i just like listening to it so it kinda blew my mind when you said that NMH is akin to johns contributions to the white album because when i found NMH at 14 i was also very obsessed with the white album! thinking about it i really do see the similarities

🌠Hello Abbey with alotta Rcords..Never heard of this 1..@ least u mentioned F Zappa.. U Rock !!! Go Vermont !!!🦌⛰🌄

Hi Abigail. I just discovered your channel 33 minutes and 29 seconds ago (yes I typed all this in one second). I'm your newest subscriber!

underrated channel

I spent my late teen years listening to Black Sabbath, Yes, Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep, Queen, etc. and sometimes as much as I like new music can't find anything to quite match the sheer creativity that those represent. Still faced desert island disc style to limiting my albums to just a handful, one of those iconic bands would have to make way for Aeroplane! Great review. I couldn't have put it better myself, so I'll probably steal some of your descriptions when people ask me, "What the hell is In the Aeroplane Over the Sea?"

Seeing him live, acoustically, was awesome. Very intense dude

This episode is what finally got me to listen to this album. I've known about it for years. It's obviously pretty big in the music nerd circles of the internet. Every time I get a vinyl Monday notification, I listen to the album before watching the video if I haven't heard it before and I've ended up listening to a lot of really cool albums from doing this. I feel like I'll need to listen to it again to understand it, but I'm really glad I checked it out! This was a great episode btw!

this album is one of my top 5, maybe top 3

Good work at teaching something I was too busy in that year to notice ,I’ll have you know what you did here is what college jazz professor s do 👩‍🎓🧑‍🎓👍

My ex partner did a lovely cover of, in the aeroplane over the sea, when we were teenagers and it still sticks in my head all the time. The lyrics are so vague and mystical in a way that I adore.