World of Wild Beards Incorporated

Might as well start off strong, eh? To celebrate my purchase today of Kim Cooper's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea book, I thought I'd post a lovely bit of Neutral Milk Hotel goodness. While Jeff Mangum dropped off the radar a couple years prior, he and fellow Elephant 6 popster Laura Carter turned up for a one-off gig in New Zealand in 2001. Believed to be Jeff Mangum's only show since NYE '98, the gig is captured here in a terrific soundboard recording. Interestingly, the band was billed as World of Wild Beards Incorporated rather than as Neutral Milk Hotel -- Jeff explains why during the show. It's a unique moment for perhaps the most celebrated of the Elephant 6 artists.


World of Wild Beards Incorporated (Neutral Milk Hotel)
February 4, 2001
King's Arms
Auckland, New Zealand

01 - Two-Headed Boy
02 - I Love How You Love Me [Phil Spector cover]
03 - Song Against Sex
04 - King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1
05 - King of Carrot Flowers Pts. 2 & 3
06 - Everything Is
07 - Gardenhead - Leave Me Alone
08 - Ghost
09 - Oh Comely
10 - Engine
11 - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
12 - World of Wild Beards Inc. explanation
13 - Mother [John Lennon cover]

Laura Carter (NMH, Elf Power) and Chris Knox (Tall Dwarfs) join Jeff on various tracks.

You can read a bunch more about the show here. Enjoy!

And so it begins....

This, friends, is the inaugural post on Cable and Tweed. However you got here, thanks for stopping by. Huzzah.

In its usual self-important fashion, Pitchfork spewed forth a charming line in a recent article:

"...any hipster nerd with a DSL connection can share his/her eclectic taste with the world..."

You know what? They're right. And while they were being dismissive, it encouraged me to stop simply trolling everyone else's music blogs and add another superfluous weblog to the mix. Take that, Pitchfork. Neener neener neener.

It's not my intention to compete with the big ol' music blogs out there -- I really just want an outlet where I can share things I like and distribute my concert recordings. Expect a heavy focus on Atlanta/Athens area stuff and other fun indie tidbits. Updates won't be daily; I'm a hard-working grad student/instructor and I don't have the time. Still, I'll do what I can to keep it interesting. On that note... PLAY BALL!