Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Jeff Mangum - Live at Jittery Joe'sMost people either love or hate Jeff Mangum's voice. Personally, I love it. A lot. It's got John Darnielle's nasally charm and a helluva lot of emotion. His voice isn't the only thing I love. In fact, I find the man to be extremely interesting. His obsession with Anne Frank? Yeah, that's creepy but endearing. His strange and wonderful lyrics? His disturbing doodles? Fascinating. It really is a shame that such a brilliant songwriter like Mangum is on indefinite hiatus.
An essential album for any Neutral Milk Hotel fan, Live at Jittery Joe's is a 1997 recording of Mangum playing a solo set at an Athens, GA coffeehouse. It's got everything you would have heard were you actually there– song introductions, Jeff's goddamn beautiful vocals, applause, Jeff's requests for water, awkward mid-song pauses, a fussy/happy baby, the whole shebang. Of the 12 tracks on the disc, my favorite would have to be "Engine." I've heard many versions of the song, but this one is particularly touching. An awesome cover of Phil Spector's "I Love How You Love Me" is a close second, though– my old newspaper advisor even played that at her wedding.
Buy:here
In other news, hey guyz!!! S^???!? So I'm Emily, the other writer. I will probably post a ridiculous amount of indie pop. Swedish pop, to be more specific. I love that stuff. Prepare yo'selves.
-emily
# posted by emily @ 12:31 AM 
