Search - Neutral Milk Hotel :: Everything Is

Vintage early E6

A. Temple | Ann Arbor, MI | 09/18/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a rerelase of the "Everything Is" single from 1994, plus one bonus track, "Tuesday Moon." Although the depth of Neutral Milk Hotel's two full-lengths hasn't really been developed yet, there's some very accomplished songwriting here, and some rather nice lyrics ("Won't you stay awhile? We can close the door and sleep all day"). The best track by far is the warm, fuzzed-out, lo-fi title track, which is clearly the product of the same collective as early Olivia Tremor Control tracks like "Beneath the Climb" and "Fireplace", although a bit more melodically sophisticated. Weirdly, though, Jeff Mangum doesn't really sound like himself on most of these tracks. You can hear the roots of his distinctive vocal style on "Everything Is", but he has something akin to a California surfer accent on "Snow Song Pt. 1", and "Tuesday Moon" sounds more like the crazier side of Of Montreal ("Coquelicot", for example) than anything else. "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch" is not a song but a bedroom sound collage in true, self-indulgent-but-fun Elephant 6 fashion. Crying babies, vocal samples, out-of-tune piano noodling and random assorted noises combine into an entertaining, if a bit pointless, composition.All in all, this is a very nice collection, although I wouldn't recommend it as anyone's first Neutral Milk Hotel purchase. And it is a bit overpriced...Still, it's essential for any NMH fan who wants to see where the band was coming from."

"Everything Is" excellent

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 04/25/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Buzzing, staticky voices open the "Everything Is" EP, followed by a staticky, buzzing drum solo. Neutral Milk Hotel is in fine form here, with frontman Jeff Mangum providing his usual hallucinatory innocence to the offbeat songs and catchy, fuzzy music.The "Everything Is" single is a solid, swirling song with a weird spoken intro. It's also insanely catchy by Neutral Milk Hotel's standards, enough to make you bounce in your seat. A slower, rippling song follows in "Snow Song Pt. 1" and the bouncy, unexceptional "Tuesday Night." Perhaps strangest and most striking is the eerie "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch" is basically an experimental collage of music and recorded sounds.Neutral Milk Hotel is known for its low-fi sound, and that's definitely present here. It's rough and unpolished (anyone else hear Mangum coughing into the mike?), which makes its quality all the more striking. Mangum's high-pitched voice sounds full and solid in this outing, without the reedy quality he had in "Avery Island." Mangum's sweetly psychedelic lyrics are as striking as ever ("As children draped in flowers form a chain/They sing a song with jelly jars and bird calls/As night falls into dust and it's day again"), and the fuzz guitar and rapid-fire percussion are pretty solid. And in "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch," things get even weirder. It was recorded when Mangum was only seventeen, and so this is just a bunch of sounds patched together. There's a food blender, vocal samples, somebody singing, his sister playing piano, accordian, and strange sonic waves.It's hardly the best introduction for someone new to Neutral Milk Hotel, but "Everything Is" is a solid EP of this brilliantly oddball band's bits and pieces. People who love bucking musical conventions will adore this."

Enjoyable for some

Joshua W. Braun | Henderson, NV USA | 04/23/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I personally love Neutral Milk Hotel, and I'm glad I purchased this, but it's certainly not for everyone. The recording is extremely low-fi, and there is a great deal of spoken interludes before songs. "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch" is almost entirely one strange sample of a sample. But I do feel the rest of the songs are of good caliber, but their certainly not Neutral Milk Hotel's best. If you're looking for an introduction to NMH, stick to the full lengths, this ep is probably only enjoyable for devout fans."