The Depths · All albums

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel · 1998

• Scores: Noise 2, Unease 2, Complexity 2 (each 1 to 5)
• Genre: Folk, Rock, Indie rock, Folk rock
• Mood: yearning, fervent, bittersweet
• Sound: fuzzed acoustic guitars, singing saw, brass and bagpipes, lo-fi, strained vocals

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea pairs strummed, fuzzed-out acoustic guitar with an odd mix of instruments: singing saw, uilleann pipes, bowed banjo, a Wandering Genie organ, brass and shortwave radio. Robert Schneider produced it in Denver in 1997 and avoided effects pedals, getting the distortion from heavy compression, a tube preamp placed close to the guitar and cassette tape. The production is deliberately lo-fi, and the songs run into each other, swinging between slow funeral-march passages and fast punk-influenced sections. Jeff Mangum’s lyrics are surreal and opaque, drawing on childhood fantasy, nostalgia and Anne Frank’s diary. The band’s mix of influences, including circus music, musique concrète and free jazz, helped shape later indie folk, and its vocal style influenced the Decemberists and Beirut.

Track list

1. The King of Carrot Flowers, Pt. One (2:00)
2. The King of Carrot Flowers, Pts. Two & Three (3:06)
3. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (3:22)
4. Two-Headed Boy (4:26)
5. The Fool (1:53)
6. Holland, 1945 (3:15)
7. Communist Daughter (1:57)
8. Oh Comely (8:18)
9. Ghost (4:08)
10. [untitled] (2:16)
11. Two-Headed Boy, Pt. Two (5:13)