Neutral Milk Hotel - Rare Demo Tapes

NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL MEGA POST! This post contains 6 rare demo tapes and 1 live bootleg recorded at a record store...

Beauty; Pretty good tape. It's a probably one of my favorites because of the track "conversation with Will Hart" which, as the title suggests, is a conversation with Will from The Olivia Tremor Control. Stand out tracks include "Engine", "Circle of Friends", and "Bucket". Volume is kinda low on this tape so make sure to turn up your speakers.

Hype City Soundtrack; The first "official" album from NMH. Pretty interesting tape. I love his sound collages and whatnot. This one is my all time favorite tape, so be sure to check this one out.

Invent Yourself A Shortcake; WARNING; avoid this one unless, like me, you can appreciate sound collages, noise, or drone. This is VERY experimental and not at all like Jeff played at the end of his career. Favorite tracks are; "Digestion Machine", "Calypso", and "A&E Melody".

Shannon's Monroe House Demos; I will quote this from neutralmilkhotel.org; "This recording is a cassette of Jeff Mangum home demos recorded circa 1991-1993 originally given to Shannon Palmer in August 1994 by John Fernandes (Olivia Tremor Control) when they were housemates. In November 2005, Shannon kindly sent the tape to neutralmilkhotel.org to digitalize and enable it to be shared online. We wanted to first get Jeff's permission, however he has been elusive and has yet to give a verdict. A few songs have "leaked" from it, however.
It came with no track info, so most of the song titles have been guessed (Unconfirmed titles are indicated on the tracklist in parenthesis), though some have been identified thanks to detective work and friendly folks." Very awesome tape, it WAS my favorite....but I've grown tired of it honestly. My favorite tracks are "Jennifer", "Arms So Real", "Smile".

Unreleased Demo #1; Not much to say; no one really knows much about this tape at all. It just showed up on soulseek one day. Worth a listen.

Unreleased Demo #2; Same story as above....it surfaced around 2005.

Aquarius Records Show; One of the BEST Neutral Milk Hotel bootlegs. It's a live solo show Jeff did to promote In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. This is one of the few time he's played "Oh Sister" the partner song (and the better of the two) to "Oh, Comely". I'm not sure which one you're suppose to listen to first, but they definitely are related...

Anyway, here are all the tapes split into two links.

Part 1

Part 2

ENJOY!

Bones That Have Been Woven - Debut LP

FUUUUUUUUUUCK YEAH!

The new WOVEN BONES LP is out. Head over to my favorite blog Le Noise to check it out! I'll write up a nice post about it once I digest it. But of course, you'll be greeted with the same wild, fuzzy hard driven garage rock that we're all used to.

Jacuzzi Boys - Smells Dead music video

Jacuzzi Boys first ever official video!!! It suits them. It has a really hazy vibe...

Jacuzzi Boys - Smells Dead from John McSwain on Vimeo.

DRAWGASMIC!!!

I know I've been ignoring the art aspect of this blog for a while, but this post will definitely make up for it! My art is being featured in drawgasmic! It's going to be a one night show with a book being published as a follow up!! Awesome? Yes!

Neon Tongues - Big Kid

I fucking love Neon Tongues! This is their Big Kid tape - it only has two songs. Side A is a scuzzy, lo-fi, garage-pop jam that will be permanently ingrained into your brain because it's so damn catchy! Side B is good as well; not really much to say. I really hope these guys release something new though, I haven't heard anything from them since this tape was released 7 months or so ago.

Try it

Dick Dog - Demo

I got this submission about a week ago and it's pretty great. Dick Dog, from cali, play a brand of shoegaze influenced garage rock/pop. Tracks like "The Buzz" have really dreamy dual vocals with a female vocalist. They're pretty good song writers, but I can see a lot of potential for growth as this band matures.

Try it

Myspace

Sweatstock and Record Store Day

Took me an entire 24 hours just to recover from Sweatstock and Record Store Day. I'll line out my entire day and include a link to see pictures of the event.

We get to Sweat Records an hour after it opens to get the first picks on the exclusive records. Sweat had a problem with their distributors and were short-stocked on all the releases. Nothing really caught my eye...I saw a Thee Silver Mt. Zion release that, as far as I know, was not a RSD exclusive. Mountain Goats release looked pretty good, but that's about it. I was really looking forward to the Black Tambourine re-release, however, they didn't have it in stock. Everyone was clamoring over the extremely over-hyped and mediocre Surfers Blood split 7". I can't even say their name without spitting. YUCK! After that, we decided to kill some time until the bands played, so we went down the street to acquire food products for sustenance. Got back and the scene was complete chaos...middle-aged hipsters wandering around the freebie table holding at least two Malfi's (the friendswithyou toy giveaway) and a bunch of posters of bands they don't like (Tokio Hotel).

Outside the bands had begun to set up. To me, the bands were filler until the Jacuzzi Boys and No Age, however I was pleasantly surprised by Animal Tropical and Otto van Schirach. The singer from a musical act I already hated (Raffa and Rainer) pissed me off though, leading me to hate her music with an even more fiery passion and indignation... You know when you see someone and you just instantly hate them, and everything they do pisses you off? Well, that's what happened with her. I mean, seriously, who the fuck wears a yellow dress and turquoise boots? And that whole "cute" folk bullshit is so overplayed. Fuck Raffa and Rainer!

Anyway, the Jacuzzi Boys were a great show but being that it was so bright out, the music didn't go well with the mood. Otto Van Schirach blew my fucking mind with their stage antics. Costumes, magic staffs, and a giant phallic trash bag filled with air, bopping over the crowd is was everyone that caught their set were greeted with. Afterward I caught half the No Age show and then headed inside see my friend MC Jumanji perform with Juan Basshead (did I get that right?). They were great - they basically got half the people from outside to come in and filled Sweat Records to the brim with people. By now it was 11 and the show shifted from Sweat Records (who were getting ready to close) to Churchills! Didn't really get to enjoy much of Sweatstock Part 2 at Churchills because I was planning on going to the So Raw after party. However, I did catch this one band (whose name I did not catch) that sounded like the Yeah Yeah Yeah's (in a good way).

At So Raw I was greeted with, after paying the 5 dollar cover fee, free beer and jello shots! Yum. So Raw was exactly the kind of place I was looking for. They were playing fuzzy garage rock all night, the mood was just right. Then, to my surprise, the Jacuzzi Boys started setting up (bonus Jacuzzi Boys show!). The reason it was a surprise was because the only bands on the bill were Teenagers and Lil Daggers, none of which, to my knowledge, played. I later found out it was due to a family emergency. Here's hoping everything is fine. Anyway, they setup and TeePee get's up and plays first (another awesome surprise). Now, here's where the night get's a little weird...half a song into the Jacuzzi Boys set a fight breaks out...the band slowly stops playing and lead singer wields his guitar like a battle axe. Then another brawl broke out and it was lead outside at which point they closed the barb-wire gate and continued with the show leaving the brawlers locked outside. I left after this, I believe it was around 1am or 2am, and I figured Lil Daggers weren't going to play.

So, there you have it, I hope everyone had a good time on RSD and for the locals; I hope you enjoyed Sweatstock!

For anyone curious as to what I bought, I got the Solace Media Corporation Comp CD. I had no clue what I was buying. The packaging was really great, everything was DIY. It was limited to 111 copies. Turns out it was a noise/drone/sound collage compilation. Not what I was hoping for, but not disappointed either. I'd upload for you guys, but it turns out their website allows you to grab it for free, so I'll post a link at the bottom for those interested.

Links;
Sweatstock pictures
So Raw Fest
Sweat Records
Solace Media Corp

Dose One - Soft Skulls

Spoken word album, so not really much to say on my part. Really contemplative and moody. Some lines are kinda witty as well. I did some research on this guy, apparently he's associated with Anitcon and Why?. Take a listen if you're interested in a change of pace.

Try it

Black Vatican - Zed Omega

One of my favorite Night People releases (next to The Twerps, of course)! Black Vatican are one of the best blown-speaker-pop bands I know about. The dusty fuzz and scuzz is all part of their charm. They released this cassette in 07, I believe, and I haven't heard from them much after that. Which is a damn shame - I would've liked to have seen what else they could churn out. Halfway through the album, after all the fuzz dies down, they have this very zen-like song that features trickling water.

Stand out tracks are; "I Was Born To Live Life", "I Don't Wanna Fight", "Dream Jogger", and "Hey, Do It".

UPDATE: Andy from Black Vatican contacted me with this info; "BV is putting out a new full LP this Summer on Locust Music. It's called "Oceanic Feelin'". A lot of the stuff on this tape also appears on a split LP with True Primes also on Locust. This split kinda didn't register for whatever reason, even though I think sounds good."

Be sure to look out for it when it gets released! It'll be completely worth the purchase as these guys are great!

Try it

Combatwoundedveteran - I know A Girls That Developes Crime Scene Photos

Not the kind of music I usually post or even listen to, but I have a soft spot for Florida bands. Combatwoundedveteran play a brand of hardcore punk that is heavily influenced by early screamo like Orchid and Jeromes Dream and grindcore. Extremely sonically abrasive music. Not recommended unless you already enjoy (early)screamo, emo-violence, grindcore, or hardcore punk. With that said, most people seem to think that the lyrical content is mindless dribble - while true in some cases, this band was actually very socially pro-active and most of their lyrics reflect as such. They dealt with social issues such as gender roles, materialism, politics, etc. Most songs fall short at just under a minute, while some songs, on their earlier release, pass the 6 minute mark.

Try it

Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti - YAS DuDette

A rare tour-only cassette tape featuring hard to find Ariel Pink songs and obscure/unreleased b-sides. I went through a phase with this release - I really enjoyed the first half, but once I passed the mid-point it starts to drag out and get redundant. I don't listen to it much anymore, but, if you're a hardcore Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti fan, you'll know what to expect and enjoy it regardless. Stand out tracks for me include "Bogalusa, Louisiana", "My Molly", and "Poultry Heads."

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Psychedelic Horseshit - Shitgaze Anthems

So many things one could say about this band! For starters; their name! What the fuck is "Psychedelic Horsehit?" I personally enjoy it but everyone seems to really hate their name. Anyway, this band is completely underrated in terms of jump starting the entire "shitgaze" movement. "What is shitgaze" you might ask. Well, shitgaze was coined as a joke at first to describe the sonically abrasive manner in which this band played - to further explain it's a reference to the "shoegaze" genre of music and the fact that, because they pushed the amps to their limits, it sounded like "shit". To those with sophisticated ears, you can very easily hear the pop aesthetic buried under the awesome layer of fuzz. Those that can't/won't are missing out.

One good reason to follow this band is the drama the lead singer is always providing with various feuds with other bands such as Wavves and TV on the Radio. Here's a funny interview showcasing as such.

Anyway, check out this awesome album if you're into lo-fi rock/pop or, and I might be stretching this, shoegaze.

Try it

Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland 1945 7"

A lot of people, when confronted with the subject of Neutral Milk Hotel, seem to forget the bands other releases besides "In The Aeroplane Over The Sea". So, I'm going to post this 7" which features everyones favorite song, "Holland 1945", on side A. It's the same version that's on the album, so it's not really interesting... The fun part comes on side B, which is a live recording of one of the best NMH songs, "Engine". Simply beautiful... I have old versions of Engine, but since this one is post ITAOTS it features Julian on the singing saw offering a ghostly howl to go along with Jeffs signing. I'm going to post other NMH demos pretty soon, so make sure to look out for those.

Try it

Believe In Your Drill

I have a bunch of new posts planned, but I've been pretty busy with things... I suppose busy isn't the right word - I've been "down". I haven't focused a single day on my art work in almost a year....I was put on the "waiting list" for New World....no job, no money, no car, etc. Fuck...

Ah well, nothing a few episodes of Gurren Lagann can't fix. I suppose I just wanted to let everyone know I'm not dead. HA!