10th Feb - Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Artist – Album: Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Released:  10^th February 1997    

Sounds Like: Impeccable indie

It is damn near impossible for any album to attain universal adoration from indie fans, more so than with any other type of genre. Annoyingly well-informed hipsters like to play at one-upmanship when discussing their favourite discoveries:

“Hey man, I’ve started to get into this new crab-core five piece called Tantric Antarctic, ever heard of them?”

“Obviously dude, they’re like a shit Chessington World of Adventures”

“Yeah, well they’re just a poor man’s Bowser and the Koopa Troops”

“They suck. You should listen to Garry and the Douches”

“You suck. You’re a douche”

Any group that starts to earn a fanbase will automatically be derided simply because somebody else has heard of them. These guys get more precious over their favourite obscure bands than Gollum with the one ring.

It’s testament, then, to the excellence of Neutral Milk Hotel’s second album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea that despite becoming increasingly well known and loved there’s not been any backlash from the enthusiasts. If anything, its stock has grown and since the turn of the millennium it has consistently shown up in best ever lists, even topping a few. If you haven’t heard it yet, do so immediately. You don’t even have to be a music geek to love it.

p.s. It's Chinese New Year today - Kung Hei Fatt Choi! I've been trying to think of ways to shoehorn that into this blog, but it was pretty difficult. Sneakily, I've just done it. You probably didn't even notice.

Albumaday... rating: 10/10

Also released on the 10^th February:

1971: Carole King - Tapestry

Also released on the 10^th February:

2004: Kanye West – The College Dropout

Also released on the 10^th February:

1997: Blur – Blur