neutral milk hotel demos

[alexandra]

ahahaha I totally read that the same way Andrew did.

maybe i should type an actual sentence instead of just consonants next time around. lordy, i think i spend too much time on the internet.

More people should adhere to the "type the whole word out" modus operandi.  It'd make me happy at any rate.

that's just asking way too much and you know it.

 :wink:

[dieblucasdie]

Well if you were still in your "female Freddy Knuckles" stage on this forum, I would have read it as woman-PMS, but now that you're in your "Nerd-Goddess" stage, I just assumed something related to computers.

[alexandra]

Wha? i have stages? don't make me drink beer at you.

[jebreject]

lmao

[Chet]

Wha? i have stages? don't make me drink beer at you.

That's possibly my favourite thing anyone has ever said since my girlfriend made up a song in which the opening line was "Everything in the world smells like beef to me."

[Greg Nog]

More people should adhere to the "type the whole word out" modus operandi.  It'd make me happy at any rate.

Maaik, why do you hate Australia?

[dieblucasdie]

lmao

GODDAMN IT WHAT DID WE JUST SAY ABOUT ACRONYMS?

[alexandra]

stfu?



^ look! a vowel!

[Andrew_TSKS]

hahahaha omg

[John]

I have to say, no matter what good or ill comes of this thread, "wtf lptj pms?" gave me a laff so hard it makes it all worthwhile

[jebreject]

lmao

GODDAMN IT WHAT DID WE JUST SAY ABOUT ACRONYMS?

rtfm, n00b!

[rockmeamadeus]

lmao

GODDAMN IT WHAT DID WE JUST SAY ABOUT ACRONYMS?

rtfm, n00b!

n00b isn't an acronym, DOUCHEBAD.

[Chet]

Kinda BOT I'm guessing this is kinda why Jeff likes to hide

link

[jebreject]

lmao

GODDAMN IT WHAT DID WE JUST SAY ABOUT ACRONYMS?

rtfm, n00b!

n00b isn't an acronym, DOUCHEBAD.

ema, cssw!!!111

[lucky strike]

leetspeak for the win

[Universal Coffee]

wtityb

[HierarchyOfHoaxes]

I was trying to create a fake account called "Discount Housing" where I would arrive in this thread and tell y'all how much "all of us at the discount housing office" where enjoying the new jams.  But alas, I never got the account confirmation email.

[alexandra]

I was trying to create a fake account called "Discount Housing" where I would arrive in this thread and tell y'all how much "all of us at the discount housing office" where enjoying the new jams.  But alas, I never got the account confirmation email.

http://www.lastplanetojakarta.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3488


we knew there was one, too bad it didn't work out

[HierarchyOfHoaxes]

I was trying to create a fake account called "Discount Housing" where I would arrive in this thread and tell y'all how much "all of us at the discount housing office" where enjoying the new jams.  But alas, I never got the account confirmation email.

http://www.lastplanetojakarta.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3488


we knew there was one, too bad it didn't work out

"were enjoying the new jams" rather

oh man that's funny that I didn't even have to post to cause a stir.

[Doctor Bob]

you're right.  i got the wrong impression.
also, i like john's cover, even though he forgot a bunch of the words.

This went unremarked on, and as one who invited the E6 people to drop by I just wanted to say thanks for at least giving us a fair hearing.  Welcome, Lusitania.

Also,

Which is cool. I'd be more inclined to just ignore that whole thing, but then again, I'm Catholic

Aye there's the rub, if you will.
I spent 12 years in a Catholic school, so the rest of my life will be spent in a guilt-induced whirlwind of attempts to get up everybody's noses in order to redress the imbalance and distance myself from my dark, dark past.

[Andrew_TSKS]

Actually, libraries have huge collections of people’s unpublished private correspondences and stuff. Also, they definitely do seek out unpublished manuscripts – they just kept them in the archival section.

i totally knew this and i have no idea why i didn't think to mention it. there's actually some crucial recent scholarship concerning Philip K. Dick that occurred as a result of the archive of his work that's in a certain California library (i forget which one). the four pages of his novel "Lies Inc" that have been missing from the manuscript since before original publication, that had to be filled in by a British writer after his death in order for the novel to be published (which only occurred posthumously, as the novel was rejected for publication during his lifetime) were randomly found mixed into the manuscript of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep". So the version of "Lies Inc" that was published recently is the first publication of the entire manuscript the way Dick intended it. Which is awesome.

but yeah, so libraries do keep archival material, including rough drafts and unpublished material. good call luanda.

[Maaik]

That was beautiful, luanda.

I actually have written songs about friends to varying receptions.  One was about actual photographs of my family, which were private, but now that there is a song about them, to a degree, my mom, dad, brother and sister are public figures.  I didn't ask their permission to do this, and obviously we are in no position to feel any of the larger ramifications of being private citizens made public, but the seeds are planted.  The most recent was the song I wrote about my friend Brian in which I mentioned his dad's death.  I was terrified of letting him hear the song, as I didn't know if that was something he wanted discussed in a song.  But he loved it and went so far as to call me "a good man" and thustly were we both honored.

[John]

So if anybody around here is thinking, like John, at this point that they have things they’d like to burn or take a sledge hammer to--- I beg of you, write down a list of what you’re destroying and why and then stash it somewhere, so at least the destroying doesn’t come across as meaningless.

this appeals to conflicting desires for me - on the one hand, I really love to read, for example, the list of works lost in the fire at Alexandria - such a universe of possibility, almost better than the works themselves could possibly be - but on the other hand, I'm a Blanchot fan: the idea of works being granted total oblivion (even minor stuff like the stuff I have in mind) is almost irresistably sweet to me. It's very hard to explain, that part.

In re: your excellent post - sure, we have unpublished manuscripts, but in the past people couldn't start reading them 'til after the author died. I have less of a problem with those than with the present phenomonon of freely distributing juvenalia, ephemera, etc. that a living artist clearly hasn't made any effort to disseminate himself.

[Danen]

Okay I've been quiet around here of late but this is worth weighing in on. For one thing, those who want the REAL (as opposed to pitchfork/etc "legendary freak" Mangum hype) story of these and all of Mangum's early work are encouraged to pick up Kim Cooper's EXCEPTIONAL book 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' put out as part of the (largely terrific) 33 1/3 book series by Continuum Books.  Here's a few quotes direct from the sources (ie people from Elf Power; Robert Schneider; Spillane; etc) on Mangum and these tapes.  First, about the infamous "Monroe house:"

"Jeff almost lived in the Monroe House, but moved out after just one night in fall 1993 because the signal from KLPI was bleeding into his Fostex X-26 four track, making it impossible to record there." And yeah, there were lots of parties and playing and such but it was more just a place for people to hang out and play around.  Speaking of, a few words on the tapes:

"They would start bands, write songs, record "albums," dub them onto cassettes, draw cover art and then circulate these little objects within their small world...they didn't seek outside approval...the few copies that did sneak out into the greater world were probably baffling."  In other words, this was music made by friends for friends and not meant to be taken seriously (I've seen people give harsh reviews for 'Invent Yourself a Shortcake' -wtf? It's not like THAT was submitted to Merge - or anybody. It's like reviewing somebody's home photo album). On the other hand, if Jeff gives Shannon permission to post the demos then have at them - but keep their history in mind.  That's all I'm saying.

  Here's another interesting bit from the book regarding Mangum's persona at the end of NMH (originally to be called 'Milk' until Mangum found out another band had that name):

"...inside the Myth Machine, an alternate version of Jeff Mangum was constructed and given breath. This Bizarro World Jeff was a crazy recluse, a Syd Barrett for the late '90's..." From all I've read it seems Mangum decided he didn't WANT to become any bigger than he was, that he wanted to drop out for awhile and come back when everyone had forgotten about him.  The problem is, I think, that the myth keeps growing.  As the book makes clear, Mangum didn't REALLY take anything (besides his drum playing) seriously (outside of his solo acoustic live sets which he'd pull off at parties) until the 7" single "Everything Is," and even then didn't consider his band to be real (NONE of the E6 bands were real except OTC until the mid-90's) until the recording (with Robert Schneider - great section about this) of 'On Avery Island.'

The book also includes a step-by-step analysis (with Schneider's comments) on how the Aeroplane album was put together (including how they get that amazing acoustic sound - Schneider does not get enough credit for his part in this) and why Jeff felt he needed to leave the business.  Rather than flipping out, I get the sense that he felt bad for having to tell Scott and Julian that he was quiting.  If you want a real feel for the man and his amazing music (which hopefully will come back) I would urge you to ignore the demos (or at least keep them in perspective) and read the book - accompanied, of course, by a fresh listening of 'Avery' and 'Aeroplane.' To me, removing the myth makes the work twice as good as it was before.  And if he makes good on his promise to come back ("like Robert Wyatt" - his hero) in ten years then we've only got 2 years left...

Edit: my fear: Mangum, like Alanis, makes a "tenth year anniversary unplugged" version of 'Aeroplane' to sell exclusively at Starbucks and THIS is his comeback.  

[Bernard]

Mangum, like Alanis

There's something I never thought I'd see.