Remember when April Ludgate-Dwyer (played by Aubrey Plaza) of NBC's Parks and Recreation said that her favorite band was Neutral Milk Hotel in an episode last season? That ruled. It was surreal hearing that particular band name dropped on network television -- NMH isn't your garden variety hip reference. The band's music is dark, strange, and haunting (not to mention rollicking, from time to time).
The band's masterpiece In the Aeroplane over the Sea remains a touchstone for indie-folkies, the kind of kids who often display their tunes at the Trunk Space. So call it serendipity that former Neutral Milk Hotel member Julian Koster's project Music Tapes is scheduled to play a last minute show at Trunk Space tonight right as an unreleased song from the Aeroplane sessions featuring Koster and NMH main-dude Jeff Mangum hits the interwebs.
The song, "Engine," features Koster on singing saw, and Mangum on vocals and guitar.
"Sweet babies call for the cool taste of milking," Mangum sings over haunting chords and the spectral sounds of the saw.
I've been listening to the song on a loop for the past hour. Seriously gorgeous. Previously unreleased, it will be a featured on the Neutral Milk Hotel Box Set due on November 22. Listen to the song here.
Koster and the Music Tapes play tonight with local act The Roar, which will feature songwriter Owen Evans playing solo. The performance is scheduled to start at 9 p.m.
