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Neutral Milk Hotel · Deprogrammed Music Podcast

0:32
It's Deprogram, the podcast where we try to get you into a
0:36
band. That's right, we've done all the
0:37
work for you. All you have to do is press play
0:40
and listen. My name is Justin and you could
0:42
call me band Curious because I am indeed curious about bands.
0:46
And in doing that, I like to bring my friends together to
0:49
talk about a band. And on the other end of this
0:52
conversation, we will have a top ten circuit list to offer you so
0:56
you can get into this band as well.
1:00
And I don't know, man, like there's lots of different
1:03
directions I can go with this. But you know what, here we are
1:07
is where we're going because here we are indeed.
1:10
This one was like just super fast.
1:12
Like I, I feel like I didn't even notice it get put up on on
1:16
the board, John. But like we were talking after
1:23
Counting Crows, right? Yeah, it was after Counting
1:27
Crows. We we did the Counting Crows and
1:28
you you kind of were like neutral milk Hotel and then you
1:32
said, Gavin, you ready to do that one?
1:33
And here we are. So it kind of got blasted like I
1:37
don't I don't know when you put this on the board.
1:40
I don't know, like what made you want to shoot it up the ladder?
1:43
Talk to me about Neutral Milk Hotel.
1:45
Yeah, I mean, I can tell you because I put it on the Discord
1:50
because I was looking. It was January 21st and then the
1:54
next day Gavin jumped on it because I had looked and I they
1:59
only had like the two records in an EP.
2:01
So I was always like, oh, you know, I bet there's probably not
2:03
enough. But then the they put out a box
2:06
set a few years ago and the stuff from the box that was
2:10
added like an extra EP and another EP.
2:13
So it ended up being just barely enough.
2:16
So yeah, it's one that I probably would have put up a
2:20
long time ago if I had known that that there was enough
2:22
songs. But yeah, Neutral Milk Hotel is
2:27
maybe one of the most beloved underground bands of the last 30
2:31
years because of this record that they put out called In the
2:35
Airplane Over the Sea, which has become like one of these cult
2:40
classic records. One of these records that gets
2:43
passed down from, you know, from brother to sister and sister to
2:47
brother and generation to generation is like, oh, this is
2:51
important. This is one of those records
2:53
that it's it's entered that Pantheon Media.
2:57
It always shows up on like best of the 90s, you know, whatever.
3:02
And it's an interesting story because it kind of came out of
3:05
nowhere. Like Neutral Milk Hotel was part
3:08
of this group called the Elephant 6 Recording Company.
3:13
And they ended up in Athens around the same time that I was
3:17
there. Athens, GA.
3:19
And I had probably had plenty of chances of see them, but I never
3:23
did 'cause like I was super into punk rock and like all this
3:26
other stuff was like, no, I don't care.
3:28
You know, we'll like they just, they, they just play.
3:31
There's all a bunch of hippies. Like these people were
3:34
legitimate weirdos around that time.
3:37
There's a there's a documentary that came out a couple years ago
3:40
called The Elephant 6 Recording Company, which I highly
3:42
recommend. It talks a lot about
3:45
Neutromicotel on this record, but it's basically the, the you
3:51
know, the, the guy behind it is this guy Jeff Mangum.
3:54
And he had been around a while and like played it on different
3:58
bands and Neutral Hotel was kind of the rotating cast of
4:01
characters. And he finally kind of
4:04
fine-tuned it and honed it into this project.
4:07
And so the record comes out like the first record comes out in
4:13
96, and then Airplane comes out in 98.
4:16
And then over the years, like I finally got turned on to it
4:19
probably 2001 or 2002, where people were like, oh, this is
4:25
actually kind of brilliant and started listening to it and
4:29
you're like, oh, yeah, like there this guy is.
4:32
He's on to something here. And it became this huge thing.
4:36
And like, the pressure, I think got to him.
4:40
He just retreated from music and everything.
4:44
Did they didn't tour? He just became a recluse
4:48
basically for 15 years almost. And they announced they were
4:54
going to reunite in I think it was 2013 and people freaked out
5:00
like there was, I mean, the, the tour sold out in minutes.
5:04
I didn't even get a chance to go.
5:07
But, and then they, they played toward for a couple years,
5:10
played big shows and then that was it.
5:13
They were done. And it's, it's added this air of
5:16
like mystery and like suppose like for the early 2000s he
5:21
would be like, so, oh, he's in Belgium doing field recordings
5:24
or oh, he was, he was seen at a Trader Joe's in Brooklyn or
5:28
something. Like you would, you would get
5:29
these like sightings of him. And it became this, this thing,
5:33
you know, back in the Pitchfork years and all that.
5:36
But the bottom line is like, you know, the, the music is good.
5:40
Like they, they were doing this kind of like what if Brian
5:44
Wilson did even more drugs and then got into Pavement sort of
5:47
thing early on. And then it it morphed into more
5:51
of this like really powerful acoustic thing.
5:55
And they were using these interesting recording techniques
5:57
to like get this fuzz on it and, and put this distortion on it
6:01
and analog and all that. It sounds.
6:03
Nothing else sounds like it. And it's another one of those
6:07
things where, you know, a lot of people heard it and they were
6:10
like, oh, I want to start a band, stuff like that.
6:12
Like the Decemberist, Neutral Milk Hotels, a huge influence on
6:16
them, the Arcade Fire that kind of took what this was and made
6:22
it into something more commercial because this is not
6:25
commercial music, right? It's very much out there.
6:29
And I'd even mention Anne Frank, which I'm sure we're going to
6:31
get to. But they're just they're they're
6:34
one of those Endingmatic kind of bands that have this like
6:38
history and mystery and like mysterious aura around them.
6:41
So I've been wanting to talk about them for a while.
6:44
It's going to be fun. I interestingly enough, like
6:49
this is funny because I, I feel like this has happened a couple
6:51
times recently, Gavin, where like on paper, it probably seems
6:55
like this wouldn't be your jam. And like, as as John's talking,
7:01
I'm going, oh, OK, now I'm now the pieces are coming together.
7:05
Like the first thing he said that made me go, yeah, that's is
7:09
legitimate weirdos. I was like, OK, yeah, there's
7:12
there's Gavin right there. And then there is a a sense of
7:15
these are legitimate weirdos in the music.
7:18
So like, yeah, I guess it's so like, what is the the missing
7:21
puzzle piece other than that they're legitimate weirdos.
7:23
What makes you want to talk about these guys?
7:26
Yeah, yeah, I think thanks for having me on the show.
7:28
It's good to be here with you guys.
7:31
I think so. I, I, my friend who's a crazy
7:37
record collector like me, bought Airplane when it came out in 98
7:44
and was like, you got to hear this and played it for me in a
7:48
immediate. I mean, it's hard to, if you're
7:51
into any kind of like indie music, it's just a fucking no
7:56
brainer. It's like what?
7:57
Wow, it's powerful. That first song coming right out
8:00
the gate on that record, it just asserts itself in a way that is
8:04
sort of undeniable. And I love that record.
8:09
I bought it and it that record was a big deal when it came out.
8:13
It I mean, John's talking about, I mean, it's it's gotten to be a
8:17
bigger deal, but it wasn't like, you know, it took five years for
8:21
people to figure out that that record came out or that that's
8:23
true about their first about on Avery Island, right.
8:26
But like in the airplane, I remember it kind of hit hard,
8:32
like the people that were into independent records and weird
8:36
music, but immediately were sort of enthralled by that record.
8:43
And it is sort of an enthralling record.
8:46
It, it, it comes with like a whole kind of world identicate
8:53
like it, it, it, it's pulling from like, it's like, you know,
9:00
all the graphics and, and, and topography and subject matter.
9:05
It's like a mix of like marching band punk, Like what if the kids
9:12
at your school that were in the marching band, like heard the
9:15
Sex Pistols, you know, and it's like kind of like Victorian
9:18
scrapbooking and it's got like some circus, like some circus
9:23
art, right? Circus freaks like the like
9:26
those cool like big tapestries that they would make it, you
9:30
know, about the circus and like world fair.
9:33
Like if you're into like the world fair and all those like
9:37
old, all the old art around that like amazing contraptions.
9:41
So it's a little bit like Jules Verne, you know, like there's
9:45
some of that shit in there. And it's just like, it was just
9:48
like really endearing and, and, and kind of magical, like a
9:52
little kid. It reminded me of reading like
9:54
adventure books when you're a a boy, you know, like something's
10:00
going on there. It's strange.
10:04
And then I remember reading an article about his disappearance,
10:13
like John was talking about and about like all the rumors and
10:17
like, and I that's like totally like catnip for me, you know,
10:22
like the, the, you know, the missing genius.
10:25
You know what, what happened? What people who just people who
10:30
quit at their at their height of their powers are, are there's
10:35
always a really good story. And so, but then I kind of just
10:39
like wasn't paying attention. And then I was in El Paso with
10:44
Jen. That's another story.
10:46
But what was I doing in El Paso? And, and like, we were at this
10:50
hotel. This is I don't even know when
10:53
this was like in the early 2000s And like no, no, no, this would
11:02
have been in the early twenty 10's.
11:06
And there was a bar next door to the hotel and on the marquee it
11:11
said Neutral Milk hotel was playing.
11:13
And like I, I couldn't believe it.
11:15
I I hadn't really been keeping up with them.
11:18
So I didn't know that he had returned to music and we just
11:22
walked next door and saw them with like 100 people in this.
11:27
Like, I don't know if you guys have ever been to El Paso, but
11:29
that place is a trick and like super desolate and weird.
11:33
Like they have like really the Main St. in El Paso.
11:37
And this is relevant as like these really old giant pawn
11:42
shops that have been there forever that sell like a real
11:48
mermaid in a in a jar, you know, on the fucking counter.
11:52
And like they're like curio shops, which is very like
11:55
neutral milk Hotel. And it was just a really weird
11:58
place to see them. He was great.
12:01
The audience sang like every new, every word to every song.
12:05
He seemed really happy. He kind of looked like Jesus
12:07
Christ and, like, had a big beard and, you know, was wearing
12:11
white, which is always interesting, the all white move.
12:17
But yeah, like, I think that the songs are like religious hymns
12:25
kind of. And like, at their best, like
12:27
there's moments in some of their songs where you can feel them
12:32
kind of like, touch that part of you that that would respond to a
12:36
religious hymn. Like when his voice, it's really
12:39
high and like, he kind of takes you up and out of yourself.
12:44
And yeah, I'm not like, a huge fan or anything, but I think
12:48
that that one record is like, an amazing feat that they pulled
12:51
off. It's really special, yeah.
12:54
I, I'm loving hearing this because as I mentioned to you,
13:00
like before we went on Gavin, the, the, my relationship, this
13:03
is banned. Like this isn't like a all the,
13:06
you know, everybody telling me I got to listen, I got to listen
13:09
to The Beatles and you know, oh, you got to listen to Neutral
13:12
Milk Hotel. I never got that, but I did.
13:17
My, my cousin who lived in a small town in Oklahoma.
13:24
We met up in New York 1 summer and I mean, he was still like
13:30
young, like 1617, like impressionable.
13:33
And we were talking, just talking about music because we
13:37
hadn't really known each other. Not necessarily a strange, just
13:42
he lived in Oklahoma, I lived in Virginia.
13:44
Just we didn't cross paths and we're talking about music and he
13:49
asks, you know, what kind of music do you like?
13:50
And you know, I mentioned that, you know, I like indie music.
13:53
And this was probably sometime in like 2012, thirteen maybe.
13:59
It's so like I'm I'm doing your music show, which is all
14:03
musicians from where I live, independent bands like in my
14:08
area. So like when I was referencing
14:11
Indy, it was like that. And he goes, oh, you mean like
14:15
Neutral Milk Hotel? And I like he probably could
14:18
have seen the question mark coming out of my head.
14:20
Like I was like, who the Hell's this?
14:23
You know, not enough for me to to go do the dive, you know,
14:28
stream wasn't quite what it is now.
14:31
So like I didn't have the means to just go do it.
14:33
But I found that this band it it it's funny, like we kind of talk
14:40
about like the feeling of of steampunk.
14:43
Like I almost immediately got this feeling of like, what what
14:47
if you just collected all the frogs, more serious songs like
14:51
like early frog, stuff like that.
14:53
They were just recording in their living room.
14:56
And then like it's kind of halfway between that and Modest
15:00
Mouse. Like like Modest Mouse mouse
15:02
with less Polish. And like all that to say, like
15:07
I, I fit right in at home. Like this isn't a band I'm I'm
15:10
probably going to visit a ton, but like I fit right in at home.
15:13
I, I found them almost immediately.
15:15
Like I kind of like fell into the groove with them.
15:18
It it for as abrasive as it technically is, I never was
15:25
appalled. I was never, it was never
15:28
shocking. I never pulled back on them.
15:30
Like I kind of eased into them. I kind of was like, yeah, OK, I
15:35
I know what's going on here. So I found that nice.
15:40
To that point, though, like as we're building lists here, John,
15:43
like the good news is we get half the discog, right?
15:47
Like it's only we came out to what, 41 songs?
15:51
So we get 20 picks. But like when you're going
15:54
through like, what is it that you're leaning towards?
16:00
Yeah, I mean, it's going to be heavy on aeroplane, right,
16:04
Because that's the one that sticks out.
16:06
But there's there's also some great stuff in the early years
16:10
too. I mean, a lot of it is, you
16:11
know, there's a lot of tape collage stuff and a lot of, you
16:15
know, field recording type stuff and just feedback.
16:17
There's 113 minute feedback song with loops and all that.
16:21
So, but you could tell, like, you know, the, and especially
16:26
the stuff from the box said it's like, oh, he took this lyric and
16:29
turned it into this and he took this part of the song and
16:33
combined it with this other song to make this.
16:35
And like that stuff is really interesting to see how that the,
16:40
the process of that and like how it how it went on, you know,
16:43
through their, you know, their short history.
16:48
So as a matter of of doing that and then, you know, just picking
16:52
pick a lot of it, just picking my favorite songs, the ones that
16:55
with the hooks that I that I go back to a lot.
16:58
So I mean he he made a point of airplane there Gavin is.
17:03
Is that kind of what you build around or did you have a
17:06
different approach? Yeah, I'm definitely heavy on
17:11
airplane too, but it was really fun to go back.
17:17
I heard the box that when it came out, but I haven't listened
17:18
to it since and it was fun to revisit on Avery Island.
17:24
It was better than I remembered it being the first record and I
17:29
didn't really have a plan. I mean, I kind of just used like
17:32
a like a water finding stick and like just kind of what I was
17:40
drawn to. There's some songs that feel
17:45
like a more of like underdeveloped, like a sketch
17:50
and others, which is not a deal breaker for me, but but I was,
17:56
I, I tried to get more to the songs that like had figured out
18:01
how they want to touch you. Like they have something in them
18:04
that are that's like reaching out and like and touching you.
18:08
I guess that's the best way I can say it.
18:12
I'll say this, I did not overthink this list at all.
18:16
Again, like it, it, it wouldn't be, it would be really hard to
18:20
overthink it. As I was going through, like I
18:24
just kind of grabbed the ones that really were kind of, you
18:28
know, not necessarily standing out, but I gravitated towards.
18:31
So like maybe kind of what you're talking about, Gavin, the
18:34
ones that like kind of touched me, kind of spoke to me.
18:38
So like I, I, I think I ended up there 21 on my first pass.
18:43
I'm like, I'm not going to overthink this.
18:45
Like I'm, you know, I'm pretty close to the finish line.
18:49
And so I, I just kind of Google searched, Hey, you know,
18:53
essential neutral Milk Hotel and I've, I've found this list on
18:57
Reddit and it was almost all 20, the 21 songs I had.
19:02
So it's like, all right, well, I'm on pace.
19:06
So let me just find which one needs to go again.
19:10
Like I didn't want to overthink it.
19:11
I ended up heavy on airplane over the sea as well, Not
19:18
because it's necessarily better, but like I feel like it kind of
19:22
does that thing that you're talking about Gavin, like where
19:25
it just kind of draws me. And I'll say this, there's one
19:28
song that came up already that I'm going to be, you know, the
19:31
spoiler on unfortunately. But like, I feel like there's
19:35
enough common ground the rest of here, John, that that we should
19:41
be all right, right? Like the math, Math says so,
19:43
right? Oh yeah, yeah, I think so.
19:49
I'm going to go pretty. I'm going to be pretty
19:55
optimistic and say 8. Oh hell yeah.
19:58
I like that. Gavin, what do you think We.
20:02
Go 7. OK, well, based on like the fact
20:08
that I kind of accidentally found a good 20, like I think
20:13
you guys are right. So I'll just I'll just go the
20:16
one over. I'll go 9.
20:17
Why not? Why not take the over here?
20:20
All right, we're going to take a quick pause and on the other
20:22
side of it, we're going to start playing the game.
20:24
Mr. Broken Jack. And with that, the name of the
20:33
game is deprogrammed. The three of us gone through the
20:36
Neutral Milk Hotel discography and plucked out 20 songs that
20:39
we're now going to mash together in an attempt to create a top 10
20:42
starter kit for you in case you have never given Neutral Milk
20:46
Hotel the time of day. I didn't get a ton of answers
20:50
for this, but this is the only one that I got twice other than
20:54
I think two people said all of them.
20:55
Which not necessarily incorrect here, right?
20:58
Like it's 41 songs. So like they're not exactly
21:01
wrong. I usually hate that answer, but
21:04
when it's a small discography, it's it's kind of right.
21:07
But I did get somebody say like you hate to go chalk, but it's
21:11
kind of this one. And I kind of agree.
21:13
How about Holland 1945? Or is it 1845?
21:17
I can't read my writing. 1945, yeah, yeah, totally.
21:22
Yeah, of course. And like, that's one of the ones
21:25
that's directly references the the Anne Frank story on the I
21:30
mean that that that was a big part of the inspiration for that
21:32
record in the, in the live at Jittery Joes, which we took one
21:36
song from cover, he talks about like, oh, it's this this family
21:40
that I read about that I kind of became obsessed with.
21:42
And he would dream about it. And a lot of the songs came from
21:45
that. And this one especially.
21:46
Yeah, it's it's a banger. Yeah, I feel like it just kind
21:50
of it does the thing that we've been talking about, like with
21:52
all the the distortion, it kind of puts you in a place and
21:56
paints a really great picture. Like you can kind of see it and
22:02
feel it and touch it and yeah, there we go.
22:04
Yeah, it's great song. It was a 7 inch too, right?
22:07
John wasn't a single. I think it was.
22:09
Oh yeah, yeah. All right, so that might be the
22:13
chalk, but we'll find out if there's more chalk, John.
22:19
All right, I'm going to go. I'm going to stay off of
22:25
airplane for a moment. Don't worry, I have plenty left.
22:28
Don't don't send your letters just yet, but I'm going to go
22:31
with garden head slash. Leave me alone.
22:35
Yeah, I got it. Me too.
22:38
Nice. Excellent.
22:41
All right, play that. Sometimes I need like the prompt
22:53
just to see if I have further thoughts.
22:55
One of these days I'll write them down.
22:58
All right, boom. Just like that, we got 2 and
23:04
Gavin. I'll stay on the first record
23:08
with you. I took Avery Island April first.
23:11
Oh. Man, no.
23:14
No. Bent.
23:18
That's hard to do. It's hard to bend on a.
23:21
Yeah, I know. Episode where you can take one
23:23
out of every two songs. Yeah, I can't believe that
23:28
happened. I feel bad, but you can't take
23:33
them all is the the real truth. There we go.
23:39
All right. Well, like John said, like
23:43
there's plenty of time to get back to airplane, so I'll get
23:46
back there. I'll I feel like this is where I
23:53
want to go next. How about Naomi?
23:59
That was my last cut. Oh.
24:02
I've got it. Yeah.
24:03
All right. We'll take a two there, we'll
24:06
take A2. All right, John.
24:11
All right, this song is I think it it when it came out on the
24:16
box said it was it was big deal. It floated around because it's
24:19
the only song on here, the only original song that was written
24:23
after Aeroplanes. So people took it as like a
24:28
taste of like what would have happened if they had stuck
24:31
around and and written another record.
24:33
And it's it's very dark. It's actually the subject matter
24:37
is I don't know if you remember Matthew Shepard, the kid in in
24:41
Utah who was beaten to death for being gay.
24:45
It's that inspired this song. It's little birds.
24:49
I got it. But I couldn't fit it at the
24:52
end. I couldn't fit it.
24:54
That's cool song. And and I I didn't know that you
24:57
you hit me to that. And that's really a
25:00
heartbreaking story. Yeah.
25:03
I'm glad I got it too. Yeah.
25:04
That gets to hang around 222. All right.
25:11
And I, I should point out that I actually had that song before
25:15
seeing that you had said that in the chat.
25:17
And I was like, oh, well, OK. Well, that's.
25:20
I'm glad I found that. Yeah.
25:22
Yeah. All right, Gavin.
25:25
I took communist daughter off airplane over the sea.
25:28
Yes. Yes.
25:31
Like I think you read a lot of stuff where that's people's
25:34
least favorite song on the record, but I love it.
25:35
Yeah, I have. It you too.
25:36
It's so good. It's really good.
25:40
Hey, here's 1. Like this is an episode where
25:44
I'm not sure what the home runs are.
25:46
I feel like maybe we got the home run.
25:49
It's, it's that whole record, man, like.
25:51
Exactly. Yeah, if we don't have all the
25:53
songs, people are going to write letters.
25:55
Yeah. All right, boom, boom, boom, up
25:59
to three. Let me kind of get that on over.
26:06
And I don't know, should I stay on that record or should I find
26:13
try to find you guys elsewhere? I'll stay off it for now because
26:18
I've got plenty left from there. So how about Song Against Sex?
26:29
No. Yes.
26:32
Yeah, right. Take a two there.
26:35
Great title though. Boom and boom.
26:40
All right, John. OK, back to me.
26:47
Let's go with a song. I love this title.
26:52
It's, it's ominous in a very interesting way.
26:55
How about I will bury you in time?
26:57
Yeah. That was the other one I was
26:58
looking at. No.
27:02
Take it to there. Our reputation is continuing,
27:05
Gavin. We're very different reasons.
27:11
Happens every time. I know if we were roommates in
27:14
college, we could just string up a tapestry across the room.
27:18
Stay on that side. I'll stay on the side.
27:22
All right, Gavin. So they put out a 10 inch called
27:29
Ferris Wheel on Fire, which collects stuff from 92 to 95.
27:34
That's really cool. I took engine off that from 93.
27:40
I got it. Yeah, he introduces this on the
27:45
the live record as it's a it's a children's song and he talks
27:49
about how his his life was in the shitter and his girlfriend,
27:52
I'm paraphrasing, but his girlfriend had moved to Seattle
27:55
and all the stuff. And it's like I wrote this song
27:57
I felt good for for about 5 minutes and then went back in
28:00
the shitter again. It's a happy song like I called
28:04
the children's song. So yes, I have engine.
28:06
Oh. Yeah, right.
28:09
It's interesting to see like the ones that we hit on that aren't
28:12
on that the the record. Yeah, yeah.
28:16
So all right, starting to tap out of all my non that record
28:25
stuff, though I still have a good good couple.
28:31
All right, how about two headed boy?
28:38
Yeah. Of course.
28:41
Yeah, that, that, that. That's a stupendous song,
28:49
stentorian. We're we're going to blow past
28:53
that nine you guys. Bombastic.
28:56
Look, I'm all I always love when like the conversation is cutting
29:00
songs instead of, you know, instead of like trying to get
29:05
ones in. Yeah.
29:07
It's it is funny how like it never used to happen and then
29:11
over the last couple years it's happened like a good.
29:13
Handle what's the record 13? 13 is no 14.
29:18
I think Hendrix beat a JRAJR was the first one to do it at 13 and
29:23
I think Hendrix did 14. We we might be pushing that.
29:27
Maybe. Where are we at already?
29:29
5, Right. And we're not even halfway
29:31
through. Yeah.
29:33
All right, John. OK, I've talked a lot about that
29:40
live record. It's the live at Jittery Joe's.
29:43
He did an acoustic show before Airplane came out, and it's a
29:47
lot of early versions of those songs, and a lot of it's the
29:51
same stuff that we already had, so it felt like it would been
29:53
redundant to add. If there's one song on there, it
29:57
is a cover of an old girl group song that Phil Spector produced.
30:02
But his version is unbelievable and it's I Love How You Love Me,
30:06
No. I didn't take it, but that was
30:12
really cool to listen to. I didn't even know about that
30:14
record. And it's cool.
30:15
It's in Athens, right, John? It's a yeah.
30:18
Oh yeah, the coffee place used to go there all the time.
30:21
OK, cool. Yeah.
30:22
And it was nice hearing and talk like, you know, to the crowd.
30:26
And yeah, that would have been like right before his life
30:29
changed like forever so. Oh yeah.
30:32
Yeah, cool captured that moment in time.
30:34
I would have been. I was probably a freshman in
30:36
college at the time, just walking around listening to the
30:40
Descendants or something. Yeah, you may have been at the
30:43
coffee shop and just not noticed he was playing.
30:46
No, I would have noticed, but yeah.
30:51
All right, into the bin it goes. Unfortunately, I feel like there
30:54
will be a couple binners. It's just the nature of the
30:57
beast, Gavin. I took their first single.
31:02
Everything is from 93. I love that no.
31:08
I've got it. Ultimately, I, I think I may
31:12
have been wrong there, but you know, it's all right because I
31:16
was, yeah, I was listening to it beforehand and I was like, oh
31:19
man. Like in hindsight, you know,
31:23
maybe I should have kept it, but I was trying to not do the
31:26
thing, even though the song does the thing.
31:29
Yeah, that that's the peak. Beach Boys on more drugs.
31:33
Yeah, it's a good, it's a good song, yeah.
31:36
All right, all. I'll stay there, though.
31:39
I'll stay with one of the ones that I picked.
31:41
How about Tuesday Moon? No.
31:47
I like that pic but I didn't have it.
31:49
All right into the bin it goes. John All right, let's see if we
31:56
can hit on another one. We've been stuck on five for a
31:59
whole round or something and that seems wrong.
32:00
So I'm going to take the one off of airplane that's I think it's
32:06
8 minutes long. It was recorded in one take.
32:09
Oh comely. Yeah, I got it.
32:12
I didn't take it. Oh, OK.
32:19
And just like that, now we're up and over for NTP is out, out
32:23
now. So anything that gets bend is
32:26
out. But we do have a conversation to
32:28
be had. Yeah.
32:30
All right, Gavin. I took Ferris Wheel on fire from
32:34
93. No.
32:39
No. Yeah, again, no real reason.
32:45
Just don't. So, all right, I already did
32:50
that one. I'll go back to on Avery Island.
32:59
How about April 8th? No.
33:05
No. Been to two in a row.
33:09
All right, John. All right, we got it in this
33:15
skid title track in the airplane over the sea.
33:19
Yes, yeah, yeah. There we go. 23123 I don't know
33:26
why I was avoiding it, but yes. Oh man, I forgot to scoot this
33:31
one up to the top. Oopsies.
33:35
So now we're at six. Yeah.
33:41
And let me grab that one and play it real quick underneath
33:47
and then we will get to Gavin's pick.
33:51
I'm going to stay on airplane. Do you guys have ghost?
33:56
Yeah. Yes.
33:59
Hey all. Right, boom and boom.
34:06
Get that going underneath this and come on 7.
34:25
So we're right at Gavin 7 and we're humming along.
34:35
I feel like I feel like I shouldn't.
34:40
It shouldn't Abandoned that, eh? How about untitled?
34:47
Yeah, No, no, I'll. Take it to you there though.
34:53
Had had to cut something off. Of it, something had to go.
34:56
Yeah, yeah. All right, John.
35:03
All right, how about a baby for pre?
35:06
No, no. There's a couple pre songs
35:10
right? Yeah.
35:11
Yes, this is just the straight up.
35:14
Pre on Gabrie Island you don't have it.
35:18
Gavin. Well, I don't think I think
35:21
Justin alluded to not having the song, but I took the track one
35:27
off Airplane. The King of Carrot Flowers, Part
35:30
1. I love it, but I don't have it.
35:35
Yes, of course. It may be my favorite.
35:39
I'm by them. I always have a have an issue
35:43
and this is a stupid reason to cut it but I always have an
35:47
issue with I love a song sequel but I always have problems with
35:51
like songs that are multi part if that makes sense as opposed
35:56
to like it's not a sequel It's like I didn't know how to tackle
36:00
it. I guess is what I'm saying is do
36:02
I take 123 as one part or? So this is interesting too.
36:07
If you listen to the live at Jittery Joes.
36:10
This Part 1 was originally called Jesus Christ.
36:14
And then there was another song called Up and Over we Go.
36:17
And you can hear him like someone he asked for requests
36:20
and someone goes Jesus Christ. He's like, oh, that, that
36:23
doesn't go anywhere. I'm not going to play that.
36:24
And then he thinks he goes, oh, maybe I could combine it with up
36:27
and over we go. You hear him like decide that at
36:30
the show and then it turns into this thing on the record of
36:32
somebody. That's awesome.
36:35
That is pretty cool. Yeah.
36:37
All right. Yeah, I don't know.
36:42
I I feel like when you say Jesus Christ, he's not being ironic,
36:47
you know, like. Right.
36:49
I thought he was when I first heard it, but as I've grown
36:52
older, I, I don't know his, you know, religious situation, but I
36:59
think he's being genuine in that song.
37:01
Yeah. Holy shit.
37:06
Untitled. Was it 2?
37:07
Right. Yeah.
37:07
All right. Yeah. 12345 OK, so we are like
37:16
let's do two more and then dump out.
37:27
How about did I do this? I don't think I did.
37:32
How about home? No.
37:36
No all. Right, John.
37:42
Well, my prediction that we were going to hit 14 is optimistic,
37:46
but let's see if we can get another one here.
37:50
I'm I'm going to again live up to my reputation of being a last
37:53
track aficionado. And this one's cool.
37:56
You can hear him actually get up out of his chair, like set the
38:00
guitar down and get up out of his chair at the end. 2 Headed
38:02
Boy, Part 2. Very good, but no.
38:06
That was my second or the last cut and it's situation.
38:11
It's like something's got to go off that record.
38:13
That's a great song. I want to cut that song now.
38:16
We're going to get letters. He does get it.
38:20
Well, you know, somebody's got to complain about something, I
38:24
guess, Gavin. Well, I'll follow you into the
38:31
grave here. Let's put the Just put the nail
38:33
in this one, The King of Carrot Flowers Part 2 and three I had.
38:38
No. Did you have a John?
38:45
Say again, sorry did. You have the King of Carrot
38:47
Flowers Part 2 and 3. Yes, I definitely did.
38:51
OK. All right.
38:53
That's a two. I guess I could have done like
38:55
you guys didn't, just taking them both.
38:58
I just put it up, yeah. Yes.
39:02
I guess I could have thought of it that way instead of thinking
39:06
of it as one song. All right, one last round.
39:12
How about my dream girl doesn't exist?
39:16
Yeah. That was the last cut.
39:22
I'll take it to you there though, but all right.
39:25
You guys know that he he's playing that at Aquarius
39:28
Records. Do you guys know Aquarius in San
39:30
Francisco? Yeah, yeah.
39:34
In 92, which it's just this record store that's been in San
39:37
Francisco forever and like it may have closed, it's sold a
39:42
couple times, but but it's been there since forever and all
39:47
that. Like you can go in there and
39:49
look around and not know like 1 record.
39:52
Like, it is like the most obscure record story only has
39:56
like the weirdest shit. And the employees write on index
40:02
cards with colored pens about each record.
40:05
And like, so there's just index cards everywhere and they're
40:09
writing like novels about these records that, you know, two
40:13
people know about. It's like really wild.
40:16
So it's really funny that he would have been playing there
40:18
live in 92. It's like perfect, fucking
40:21
perfect store for him, you know? All right, John.
40:28
All right, how about well, I took one song on this.
40:32
How about a baby for pre slash glow into you?
40:35
No. No.
40:37
I think that was my 21. I think.
40:43
All right, Gavin. You guys aren't into the baby
40:46
songs all? Right, get it, get it.
40:51
I took marching theme off Avery Island.
40:54
No. No.
40:58
I guess we were bound to have like just straight up misses,
41:01
All right? I only got 3 left here.
41:05
I don't have high aspirations for them.
41:09
That we'll see. All right, how about here we
41:11
are? No.
41:14
No. How about oh sister?
41:19
Yes. No.
41:23
I got 1 left. Let me do mark this down.
41:29
Last but not least, sign the dotted line.
41:35
No. Oh, the the Chris Knox cover.
41:38
I like that, but no all. Right in the bin it goes.
41:42
So we are going to land on Gavin 7 I believe.
41:46
Yeah, I don't I don't think we got past that.
41:48
Here, let me let me do the math and make sure.
41:51
What is signed on the dotted line?
41:54
It's the last song that he recorded, a song for Chris Knox
41:59
tribute album. Oh, is that on our list?
42:03
Yeah, it was. Yeah.
42:03
It was like the last song, so. Chris Knox from New Zealand.
42:09
Oh man, I think I fucked up and didn't have that for some reason
42:14
which is weird. You want to pick another Justin
42:18
or something? No, I can always just put my
42:22
vote behind something I should have been on.
42:24
No. Worries.
42:27
No worries. All right, so again, Gavin's
42:30
number 7 is going to win, but let's see if we can make the
42:34
conversation a little bit more difficult.
42:37
John, what do you got left? I only got 1 left.
42:40
It's where you'll find me now. Yeah, I've got that on Avery
42:44
Island. Yeah, we got a lot of twos.
42:50
And what do you got left Gavin? Just for shits and gigs.
42:54
I took Ruby bulbs off the everything is 10 inch I had I
43:01
had snow song the original B side off the first single and I
43:06
took someone is waiting off on Avery Island that. 1 was
43:11
definitely on my radar. All right, let me shake this up.
43:18
We'll read down the seven and then we will try to work on
43:23
these twos before Gavin gets his final say.
43:28
All right, the seven in our garden head.
43:31
Leave me alone. Holland 1945, engine communist
43:35
daughter, 2 headed boy in the airplane over the sea and ghost
43:40
off to a hot start. Let's see what these twos are,
43:43
eh? So I think I can go to this tab
43:47
1212 that we need to tick to tick down to two.
43:52
That's crazy. All right, so we've got Naomi,
43:56
Little birds. I'll bury you in time.
43:58
A song against sex. Everything is O comely untitled
44:02
King of Carrot flowers Part 1, King of Carrot flowers Part 2
44:06
and three. My dream girl doesn't exist.
44:08
O sister, where you'll find me now is the question.
44:16
The two carat songs, 8:00 and 9:00, and then Gavin's final
44:19
say. Or is it something else, John?
44:25
It might be, but I would I would probably throw Little Birds in
44:32
there. I think that's such an
44:36
interesting song and for it to be the the only one recorded
44:40
after Airplane, I think that would be cool to have on there.
44:47
Before we get to your, your 10, Gavin, is, is there something
44:50
that you kind of were off on that you feel like?
44:53
Yeah, I'd, I'd like to put my vote behind that.
44:57
Well, originally I was looking at what's in We got a we got we
45:03
got 5 airplane songs in and we got and we only have one thing
45:14
off Avery Island in. So I was looking at where you'll
45:20
find me now on on Avery Island, which I really like just to try
45:26
to get because that was that's a record, you know, like that's a
45:28
real record. It's like substantial and
45:31
probably should be better represented.
45:34
But I mean, I'm I like this. We could do I I like little
45:41
birds and I really like the subject matter and throw the
45:47
throw the two carrot flowers in and we're fucking Bob's your
45:51
uncle. I mean is I guess, you know,
45:58
because ultimately one of these songs is like just
46:02
straightforward your pick Gavin, because you want.
46:05
So yeah, if that's what you want to do.
46:08
Like I we can cosign it and and close shop.
46:12
Now hold on, hold on, hold on. Like there's a there's a point
46:21
to be made to. Like I'm I could play devil's
46:23
advocate for every single song, but like, everything is.
46:29
Yeah. We don't have anything.
46:33
The early, early stuff that's that could be good to have on
46:38
there. I'd be fine with that.
46:41
Oh, Comely is such a like a powerful performance.
46:47
Like I could fight for that one being on there.
46:52
So we could do little birds and everything is.
47:00
And then, I mean, Gavin's pick can be whatever he wants it to
47:03
be, obviously. But since he's already put out
47:06
where you'll find me now that could be #10.
47:10
OK, you know what? I'm I'm off the little birds
47:12
train. I'm going to keep that as
47:14
something that people have to go find.
47:18
And it's going to be, it's the treat that you you get for going
47:22
and listening to the whole list because it's, it's at the
47:25
bottom. So now I'm going to fight for
47:30
everything is and, and yeah, I don't know.
47:38
Because like, do you, can you break up the, the king of carrot
47:41
flowers? Can you like, can we really like
47:43
take one and not the other one? Right.
47:45
That's why I that's why I didn't pick both, because that's what I
47:49
I couldn't. Well, if you if you had picked
47:52
both, we wouldn't have had to have this conversation because
47:54
they both put it on there. Also true.
47:55
Yeah, I'm yeah. OK.
48:00
If we if we can think of those as one song, just into that.
48:04
That see, we're getting into Pink Floyd territory like.
48:09
We're gonna we're invoking the Fredo rule.
48:17
What do you think? So really it's about.
48:22
It there's a lot of good twos, man.
48:24
It's like, well, I don't know what to do, Yeah.
48:28
'Cause like, either way, like, like, oh, comely's gonna get
48:32
left off. Are you kidding me?
48:33
Like, yeah, I don't. I don't know.
48:42
Well, which all right, so it can be easily explained away.
48:49
If as if we take if we take one, we have to take the other, then
48:56
that's I mean, that was the reason I didn't take both, then
49:00
that's the reason why we're not taking both.
49:03
And we can suggest, I mean, it is track 1 and 2 go take those
49:09
in and those should be at the top of your list past our 10.
49:13
And then that cake keeps, you know, the three spots open as
49:18
opposed to taking up two spots with what is technically.
49:22
So, so I'm, I'm listening to them as we're talking and parts
49:28
two and three I think are better because Part 1 is just like a,
49:35
it's more like just an intro, right?
49:38
It's like you're it's not a full fully fledged, fully formed
49:45
idea. So my thought would be to do to
49:54
do either we'll take care of flowers Part 2 and 3, then
50:00
either everything is or O comely.
50:05
OK. And then that still.
50:06
Gives and leave off Part 1. Yeah.
50:09
Does that sound like a a good enough compromise?
50:14
You haven't, yeah. So take.
50:15
So take two and three and everything is.
50:21
Or O comely. Yeah, so the thing about O
50:25
Comely for me, I I love everything on that record.
50:27
So I'm not, I mean, you know, we're splitting hairs, right?
50:32
We're talking about like a masterpiece, in my opinion, this
50:34
record. But for me it's like it's it's a
50:38
pretty dour song. And this band for me is
50:42
revelatory, like like almost like they get into like a
50:47
fervor. So I like they're up like
50:50
spirituals more than they're like down spirituals.
50:54
I think I'm just trying to explain why I and it's a really
50:57
long song, you know, which is fine.
51:00
I love a lot of long songs. I'm just trying to explain why I
51:03
didn't have it, I guess. I mean, it was like I had 22 and
51:06
that was my 22nd cut. OK, We got three spots left, so
51:15
we do. Well, let's do.
51:17
Let's do carrot flowers Part 2 and three.
51:19
Right, Justin? Let's do that one.
51:21
Yeah, let's grab that. So now we.
51:23
So that's number 8. Right, and so now #9 I mean, we
51:28
could be looking at again, if we're leaving O comely off, then
51:31
we could be looking at it from a hey, we're just getting
51:35
something off of everything is is also it does the thing.
51:39
So like that is a, you know, I didn't take it, but it does do
51:42
the thing. Like I settled into this band
51:45
rather easily because of everything is.
51:49
So I mean that is a plus. OK, but let's do that at 9:00
51:53
then. OK, that was one of my original
51:56
ideas and I can, if I can, sit here for the next hour and
52:00
circle talk myself out of it. Unless we just do it.
52:04
All right, so let's grab everything is as #9 and then
52:07
that's going to take us to a Gavin's final say.
52:11
Or I'm flip. I mean, John, if you're that
52:14
passionate, I don't feel that passionate about anything that's
52:18
left. So if you're that passionate
52:21
about clonely, take that and I'll take everything is because
52:26
that satisfies like the early. Would you consider that an early
52:32
song or were you talking about earlier songs that we should
52:35
have? What do you mean?
52:37
When you were like, we don't really have any of the real
52:40
early stuff covered, I mean. Yeah, I was talking about
52:43
everything is, yeah. Yeah, because that's as early as
52:45
it gets. Like, I guess they have a couple
52:49
of 92 songs on Ferris Wheel, right?
52:54
But we already have My Dream Girl, right?
52:56
They didn't come out in 92. They didn't.
52:58
We didn't know they were around till later.
52:59
Right, right, right, right. Yeah.
53:02
OK, so then let's do that. So take Oak Lonely and I'll take
53:06
everything is. All right, boom.
53:09
Let me change that to say final say and I'll read this down and
53:16
make sure I got it right. I think I do.
53:20
And shifter a little bit of shifty Roux.
53:24
Come on, keep up. OK, yes, garden head, leave me
53:35
alone. Holland 1945 engine communist
53:38
daughter, 2 headed boy in the airplane over the sea ghost
53:41
everything is king of carrot flowers Part 2 and three and O
53:44
calmly rounds out our ten. I mean, I kind of alluded to
53:49
this, but obviously there's a conversation to be had.
53:53
Is it Holland 1945 or is it something else, John?
53:58
For me, it's in the airplane over the sea.
54:01
I think that is like a it encompasses everything.
54:05
I love the lyrics that like how strange it is to be anything at
54:11
all like that and it like it's Colin 1945.
54:16
Yes, it's it's a banger, like I said, but it just has it just
54:20
does one thing really. I think in the airplane over the
54:23
sea, you get a lot of it builds and like you get a lot of that
54:27
weird instrumentation. You get the Zanzeth, a phone and
54:30
the saw and all the other weird stuff they were doing horns and
54:34
all that. I think it that that is the one
54:36
for me that like it encompasses everything on that record.
54:39
That's good. What?
54:40
Do you think Gavin? Yeah, I had circled Holland 1945
54:46
and the Airplane Over the Sea and Two Headed Boy.
54:49
Those were the three that I was thinking of.
54:52
I think I'm, I mean, Holland 1945 just rolls.
54:58
It's like it's a banger. Like it's got a great chorus,
55:01
it's got great momentum. It's catchy as fuck.
55:04
It's like it's just a really great trick that they do.
55:08
It's like a great song. But I think John swayed me
55:12
argument for airplane I I think that's right.
55:16
I'll, I'll say this too, because we can't really bring up the the
55:20
best of conversation because like this is kind of the best of
55:24
panel. I think a long 45 is a more like
55:29
immediately accessible song, but I think that interesting song.
55:34
And well, to that point, like. For accomplished more
55:38
accomplished. And to the point, I think that's
55:40
more the idea here. Like, yes, it is nice that
55:45
Holland 1945 is accessible, but if you trick somebody and say
55:50
that they're an accessible band, then I don't I don't think
55:54
they're getting the right picture.
55:56
Like, and I shouldn't say that say it in that way, but like I
56:02
don't think they necessarily are.
56:04
Like it didn't turn me off. I found it accessible, but it's
56:08
because it kind of lives somewhere in a vein of things
56:12
that I like anyway. So like I could see somebody
56:16
hearing everything is and going Nope, you know, like so all
56:22
right, let's go within the airplane over the sea.
56:25
I'll get it queued up. I'll run this list down one last
56:28
go and we will wrap her on up. QQQ come on, there we go.
56:38
It's a little loud. Let me turn that down in the
56:42
airplane in the airplane over the sea is our #1 garden had
56:47
leave me alone. Holland 1945 engine communist
56:50
daughter 2 headed boy ghost. Everything is king of carrot
56:53
flowers, parts two and three and O comely rounds out our ten and
56:59
with that in the airplane let's I can talk.
57:03
I swear I can. Let's let in the airplane over
57:05
the sea. Get a moment in the sun.
57:20
There we go. We have done it.
57:23
We have turned you on to Neutral Milk Hotel.
57:27
You're very welcome for that. Again, this is a place where we
57:30
do all the work. Literally all you had to do was
57:33
listen to us talk about it. I, I don't know how to make it
57:36
any easier for you. I am currently going through a
57:40
lot of old episodes and trying to tag playlists to them.
57:45
So if you're listening on Spotify, it will for sure show
57:49
up probably like right next to it.
57:53
I am trying to include links in the description.
57:57
I think going back the last like 2 years for sure they're in
58:00
there. I am just I'm working through it
58:02
so it will come eventually. So if you wanted to listen to
58:06
this list, that's how you get it.
58:07
Otherwise put the list together yourself.
58:08
This is definitely one of those bands where I think it's 2 1/2
58:12
hours worth of music. I would just listen to all of
58:14
it. This is anything up your street,
58:17
but you're you're probably going to love it and just hit hit play
58:21
and don't worry about anything we said.
58:26
I would also say that patreon.com/O Hydrasen is a
58:30
great place to support this show.
58:32
Hey man, look at that. I transitioned it.
58:36
You can give a dollar a month. It would be super appreciative
58:41
and it gets you in the door. It gets you the after the fact
58:44
conversation and we're about to have it gets you deprogrammed
58:46
before the rest of the world, the ever so slipping and less
58:51
occasional. Oh, hi, Justin pods, you know
58:54
random stuff happening over there.
58:57
Check that out. I'm also on sub stack.
58:58
Nothing much really shaking there yet.
59:02
As I mentioned, I am trying to work through like older
59:05
episodes. I'm thinking about writing
59:06
little articles about episodes as I go or about the bands.
59:12
More on that as it comes Like don't count on that.
59:15
I'm not promising anything. It is something that I'd like to
59:18
do. Who knows if it's going to come,
59:21
but all that you know. Sub stack Patreon, super
59:24
helpful. Patreon also gets you an invite
59:27
into the Legion of Stupid. Discord at that $1.00 level
59:31
gives you just all your general channels.
59:32
If you go to the $5 level, there's a couple secret channels
59:36
that you'll get in, like where we kind of talk about ideas.
59:40
I share stuff from my band Undercutters, go in there.
59:45
Stuff like that happens in the $5 level.
59:47
If you got it, If you ain't, I understand.
59:51
We are a podcast. So like if you ain't got the
59:53
money but you do want to help the show, tell somebody that you
59:55
listen to it. Sharing is caring, you know, if
1:00:00
you leave a review, that's super helpful.
1:00:02
Rating five stars is super helpful.
1:00:04
All that stuff helps. But honestly, to me, the best
1:00:07
thing you can do is tell somebody that you listened to
1:00:09
the show, hey, I listened to the program.
1:00:12
And who's your two about that? Neutral Milk Hotel, one of them
1:00:15
among the people. We'll see you next week.