Wednesday, September 17, 2008

song of the day - 9.17.08: jeff mangum - naomi (live at jittery joe's)



I love music with innovative electronic sounds and high production quality as much as the next audiophile, but sometimes, all it takes to make a great recording is a man and his guitar at a coffee shop. Jeff Mangum, of Neutral Milk Hotel quasi-fame, lets it all out on this recording of "Naomi", a song that appears on NMH's first of two albums, On Avery Island. The show at Jittery Joe's was recorded as a live album called, appropriately, Live at Jittery Joe's. You can hear babies screaming, candid song introductions from Mangum, and audience interaction on the album between the stunning performances of songs from both of NMH's albums. How I wish I could have been there. I'd strongly recommend all of this album and both NMH albums to anyone, but this track is the best of the lot. I don't even usually like live recordings, but in this case, it works so well. On full display are his typically simple chord patterns strummed in accompaniment of his unique, raspy, dramatic voice. The lyrics are too bizarre to understand, but we can catch his drift with the raw emotion in his voice. Brilliant song. Brilliant performance. Enjoy.

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