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December 15, 2004
Little Birds
Jeff Mangum - Live at Jittery Joe's - I Love How You Love Me
This is a cover of the Paris Sisters' Phil Spector-produced hit single, and it's a good showcase for Jeff Mangum's singing. 'Live at Jittery Joe's', which is a record of Mangum playing Neutral Milk Hotel songs at an Athens bookstore/coffeeshop, was the first NMH material I had ever heard, and was unlike anything I had ever heard before. Songs like 'Two-headed Boy', 'Engine', and 'Baby for Pree' were almost frightening in their intensity- Mangum's lyrics, coupled with his wrenching delivery, made 'Jittery Joe's' one of the most emotional and oddly voyeuristic records of 2001.
Which is why this song is so compelling- Mangum isn't singing his own words here, and the arrangement is so sparse and wholesome. Despite the facts that 1)this song was originally sung by a woman, and 2) released 40 years prior to Mangum's performance, he puts so much passion into it, singing with an unreserved enthusiasm. It's almost perverse to hear a man who's written songs about ovaries and freezing Siamese twins sit down and earnestly belt out such a slinky (but chaste) girl group ballad. Fantastic.
You can buy 'Live at Jittery Joe's' right here, it's definitely worth it. (quick note: the song only lasts about to the 2:20 mark of the file, then there's about a minute of Mangum discussing the song 'Engine')
Posted by matt at December 15, 2004 08:00 AM