Engine, Engine, No. 9...

Neutral Milk Hotel - "Engine"

Gibberish is underrated. If you scour the reviews section of Amazon, amongst other places, it's tough not to be inundated with sour-grapes hack music critics that deny any set of lyrics not going from point "A" to point "B" in the strightforward manner advocated by grandmothers, Republicans, and ESL students alike.

Nonsense can be a gorgeous phenomenon; just ask Lewis Carroll, killa cam, or anyone that has ever taken mushrooms. Jeff Mangum, the driving force behind Psychedelic revivalists Neutral Milk Hotel, is another staunch advocate of the compelling power of acid-headed gobbledygook.

Currently a recluse in the mode of Brian Wilson (circa-1980) or Sly Stone (until he re-emerged with that shitty blonde mohawk), Mangum spent most of the 1990's releasing groundbreaking experimental recordings as a member of the Elephant6 Collective, culminating in the 1998 landmark recording "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea". While the bare emotional content and bat-shit crazy lyrics ultimately pushed dude off the deep-end, he did leave us one last reminder of his unparalleled talent: 1998 b-side "Engine".

Much like Van Morrison's work in the late 60's and early 70's, Mangum's voice exists as a conduit for lyrics channeled from a place unknown to singer and listener alike. Attempting to transcribe these words devoid of sonic context would make them look ridiculous, bold poetic structure aside. In execution, however, the beauty is stark and phenomenal.

While the place of Neutral Milk Hotel in the musical pantheon is up for serious debate (it's hard to pen a mushmouthed, lysergic concept album about Anne Frank and not open yourself up to some ridicule), they undoubtedly rank as one of the 90's most profoundly unique acts.[1]

[1] And using a saw as an instrument is fucking cool. Ask Armand Van Helden.