Pitchfork har konsekvent skrevet en notits hver gang Neutral Milk Hotels frontmand Jeff Mangum har rørt på sig. Og det har han efter mange års pause gjort en del på det seneste! Hurra for det, for med albummene On Avery Island (1996) og ikke mindst In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998) var bandets to eneste albums også to af halvfemsernes bedste.
Nu er der så for alvor noget at skrive om, for den 22. november udgiver Mangum selv et stort vinyl-boks-set med alt hvad bandet har udgivet – inkl. femten hidtil ikke udgivede numre, der selvom boksen kun udkommer på vinyl, vil kunne downloades fra d. 22. november. Man kan allerede nu lytte til de tidl. uudgivne numre ”Oh Sister” og ”Ferris Wheel On Fire” her.
Jeff Mangum tager på tour i USA – og giver en enkelt koncert i London – i forbindelse med udgivelsen, men hvorvidt han endelig har tænkt sig at indspille nyt materiale er endnu uvist. Men indtil da er der en tidlig julegave til undertegnede i hus.
Boksen indeholder følgende:
On Avery Island
12″ Deluxe Gatefold
Neutral Milk Hotel’s debut album, released by Merge Records in 1996.
•Song Against Sex
•You’ve Passed
•Someone Is Waiting
•A Baby for Pree
•Marching Theme
•Where You’ll Find Me Now
•Avery Island/April 1st
•Gardenhead/Leave Me Alone
•Three Peaches
•Naomi
•April 8th
•Pree-Sisters Swallowing a Donkey’s EyeIn the Aeroplane Over the Sea
12″ Deluxe Gatefold
Neutral Milk Hotel’s second album, released by Merge Records in 1998.
•The King of Carrot Flowers Pt 1
•The King of Carrot Flowers Pts 2 & 3
•In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
•Two-Headed Boy
•The Fool
•Holland, 1945
•Communist Daughter
•Oh Comely
•Ghost
•Untitled
•Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2Everything Is
10″ EP
Remastered 10″ featuring the four songs from the original release plus three bonus tracks and new artwork.
•Side A –
•Everything Is
•Here We Are (for W. Cullen Hart)
•Unborn
•Side B –
•Tuesday Moon
•Ruby Bulbs
•Snow Song, Pt. 1
•Aunt Eggma BlowtorchFerris Wheel On Fire
Bonus 10″ EP
Previously unreleased 10″ featuring eight acoustic recordings (seven studio tracks heard here for the first time)
•Side A –
•Oh Sister
•Ferris Wheel on Fire
•Home
•April 8th
•Side B –
•I Will Bury You In Time
•Engine
•A Baby For Pree/Glow Into You
•My Dream Girl Don’t ExistHolland, 1945
7″ Picture Disk
Originally released in 1998 and out of print ever since, featuring a remastered version of Holland 1945 with full color poster.
•Side A –
•Holland, 1945
•Side B –
•EngineYou’ve Passed / Where You’ll Find Me Now
Two early unreleased 4-track recordings, in some ways superior to the “Avery Island” versions.
•Side A –
•You’ve Passed
•Side B –
•Where You’ll Find Me NowLittle Birds
7″ record
Two versions of “Little Birds”, one a previously unreleased studio recording and one remastered version performed live in Athens, GA.
•Side A –
•Little Birds (studio)
•Side B –
Little Birds (live)Two Posters
24″ x 24″
One featuring the flying gramophone image from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea insert by artist Brian Dewan.
The other poster features the “woman leaking with light” front cover image of the box set, printed with silver ink on black paper.