Search - Jeff Magnum :: Live at Jittery Joe's

I would pay whatever it took to see Jeff Mangum perform.

Wendell Chancellor | Utah | 12/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
If you told me Jeff Mangum would be playing again for a few friends at a coffee house in Athens, Georgia: I would leave before you finished telling me. I would pay just about whatever price it took to get there. I would ride forty hours on a bus. I would drive through two nights. I would take rides from truckers who listen to nothing but Neil Diamond.



And I would do it just to hear Jeff perform again.



You see, by the time I first tuned in, the Jeff-Mangum-Neutral-Milk-Hotel-Elephant-Six train had left the station. By then, all chances of seeing Jeff and NMH perform live had long since dried up. This is why "Live at Jittery Joe's" is such a gift.



"Live at Jittery Joe's" offers a glimpse of an artist on the brink. Jeff is about to paint his masterpiece. He will record "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" within the next year or so of this performance. The fascination of "Live at Jittery Joe's" is hearing that all the elements are there--waiting for Jeff (and NMH and Robert Schneider) to bring them together.



There is a haunting beauty and an emotional ache about "Live at Jittery Joe's." At no moment is it deeper than when Jeff sings Phil Spector's "I Love How You Love Me." We ache because we know the end of the story; NMH records "Aeroplane," tours, tours some more, and then Jeff falls of the map. Perhaps for good.



For me, the most poignant moments come in watching the Quicktime video of the evening (included with the CD). In some measure, Jeff's music is about childhood, innocence and the loss of that innocence. During the video, Jeff fades into the darkness and the camera follows a two-year-old girl, playing in the background. Her image matches and intensifies the effect of the music.



Realistically, this shouldn't be your introduction to Jeff's music. Buy "Aeroplane" first. Digest it some. Buy "On Avery Island." Then you will be ready for "Live at Jittery Joe's."

"

Jeff Mangum's "lost work"

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 04/06/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jeff Mangum is the frontman of the acid-weird indie-rock group known as Neutral Milk Hotel. "Live at Jittery Joe's," a recording made at a Georgia coffeehouse between Neutral Milk Hotel's two albums, is a casual, offbeat little live recording. It's not astounding, but it's pleasant.In it, Mangum takes requests and plays various songs from both albums -- a faster version of "A Baby For Pree," the enjoyably weird "Engine," a cover of Phil Spector's "I Love How You Love Me," and versions of ""Where You'll Find Me Now" and "Two-Headed Boy Part 2" that alter the original lyrics ("In my dreams you're alive/And you're crying..."). A few of Mangum's songs stumble: "I Will Bury You in Time" is weak by comparison, and songs like "Gardenhead" suffer musically from a lack of fuzz guitar.Mangum tends to create strange, tangled, vivid songs, and they don't lose their punch because he's playing acoustic music in a coffeehouse. "Live" feels very casual and relaxed, as if he's really enjoying what he's doing. "Live"'s sound quality suffers somewhat, since it is basically a bootleg. It could use some tighter editing and some cleaning up. (Will no one take the baby out of the coffeehouse?) It's also nice to hear some alternate versions of already existing songs ("Baby For Pree"), as well as unreleased material ("Engine"). Not to mention some spur-of-the-moment changes -- mashing together a song about Jesus to a Neutral Milk Hotel song, for example. It's weird, but it works.But the brilliant guy behind Neutral Milk Hotel is in fine form here. Mangum's flawed voice is solidly poignant, very strong and emotional. His acoustic guitar playing doesn't have the texture of his band's electronic/fuzz sound, so expect something more folkie than indie. His guitar playing is strong and pleasantly quirky.Despite subpar sound quality and some songs that don't work, Jeff Mangum's "Live At Jittery Joe's" is intimately odd. A curiosity for fans of Neutral Milk Hotel."

Vulnerability at its most beautiful

twoheadedgirl | Tempe, AZ | 09/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jeff Mangum has a way with words that I have never encountered before. At first listen, his songs sound unassuming and happy, but slipped into their charming melodies are heartaching stories of unresolved love and pain (many loosely based on the Diary of Anne Frank). His voice is untrained and vulnerable and utterly captivating with its unusual turns. His lyrics are obscure and strange, becoming more accessible and beautiful with further listening. Recorded in 1997, Jitter Joe's provides an intimate conglomeration of "On Avery Island" and early versions of songs from "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea", plus a wistful cover of Phil Spector's "I Love How You Love Me". "Two Headed Boy Pt. Two" stands out in particular, with alternate lyrics from the album, along with "Naomi" and "Oh Comely". Where the previous versions of these songs are accompanied by trumpets and electronics, Jeff Mangum plays alone on this album, and offers a simple but poignant look at the man who is the genius behind Neutral Milk Hotel. There is much interaction with the audience between tracks, and interesting explanations for some of the songs are given. The entire show is included on the CD as a Quicktime video. An absolutely incredible album."