In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Found the way the book deified Jeff Mangum while describing Neutral Milk Hotel and The Aeroplane Over the Sea as almost supernatural happenings just the most tired Pitchfork-esq aggrandizement. Maybe I should have expected it for this particular album, but the constant “it was like he wasn't even writing lyrics but channeling a spiritual voice” embellishment feels so silly and precluded any actual criticism or analysis of the album beyond a short, haphazard section attempting to interpret the lyrics. Hollow criticism aside, comparing Mangum leaving the band to the death of Anne Frank (which happens multiple times!) is just a wildly gross extension of the already icky allusions to her made in the lyrics. Two stars for the legitimately very interesting section discussing how they achieved the analog fuzz sound on the album (it's as convoluted as you would expect). Would love to know if there are any good 33 1⁄3 books or if they're all just masturbatory touring profiles.