Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Albert Ayler In the Aeroplane Over the Sea?



Sometimes you can convince yourself you hear something even if it isn't really there. For instance, is that Albert Ayler keening amidst the horns on The Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea?

The short answer is no, for Ayler, the free jazz saxophonist, died under mysterious circumstances in 1970, nearly thirty years before Neutral Milk released their master work.

The longer answer leaves the door ajar, as the ears don't lie.

For those of you who don't know Ayler, he grew up in a household that encouraged him to engage music. As a young man he joined the army, where he played in the army band. Many of Ayler's songs begin deceptively simple, with bold, military march-like statements or folk-like melodies. He quickly dismantles the familiarity of these formats, though, usually after running through a melody's first phrase. He eviscerates his songs and pushes them as far as he can, either by expanding them to skyward or folding them into some minute, mitochondrial corner. The results make for exhilarating, if not difficult listening.

The universe he unfurls finds a kindred spirit in Jeff Mangum's voice, itself a rude but convincing instrument, and instrumentation found on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.

Mangum's lyrics have a certain biology to them, the human body and the human condition are fraught with bewildering emotion, but also clinical objectivity. When he sings "Now how I remember you / How I would push my fingers through / Your mouth to make those muscles move / That made your voice so smooth and sweet," I cannot tell if this is a tender moment, or one of self serving discovery. Need they be mutually exclusive? Ayler explores a similar sentiment in his songs, especially as he allows his rhythm sections to explore their instruments with an intimacy befitting of any Two-Headed Boy.

To that end, I cobbled together an album of both artists.

In the Aylerplane Over the Sea :

1 : Ghosts: First Version : Albert Ayler (Spiritual Unity)
2 : King Of Carrot Flowers Part 1
3 : King Of Carrot Flowers Part 2 & 3
4 : In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
5 : Two-Headed Boy
6 : Our Prayer : Albert Ayler (The House That Trane Built Impulse Records Story)
7 : Holland, 1945
8 : Communist Daughter
9 : Oh Comely
10 : Ghost
11 : Our Prayer : Albert Ayler (At Slug's Saloon Vol. 1)
12 : Two-Headed Boy Part 2

Any takers?