Live at Jittery Joe's
Live at Jitter Joe'sis a long-rumored recording of the Neutral  Milk Hotel lead singer performing at an Athens, Georgia, coffee shop in early  1997. His set includes selections fromOn Avery IslandandIn the Aeroplane over the  Sea(the latter of which would not appear for another year), a generous  portion of B-sides and unreleased tracks, and a heartfelt cover of Phil  Spector's "I Love How You Love Me." It's enthralling to hear these songs in such  a casual, unadorned setting: one envies the small crowd in attendance. Mangum's  clearly having fun, joking with the audience and asking for requests. It's  particularly revealing when he refers to "Two-Headed Boy, Part II" as a song  that "will probably never come out or anything," and spontaneously decides to  merge a short hymn to Jesus with "Up and Over We Go"--a medley that would later  turn up on record as "King of Carrot Flowers, Part II and III." Also included: a  QuickTime video of the entire set shot by video director Lance Bangs. It's just  Mangum in almost complete darkness, with a few colored lights hanging behind him  and a small child cavorting in the background. The visuals are sweet yet  mysterious--the perfect accompaniment to these brilliant songs.--Mike  Appelstein