The Mysterious Sounds of Neutral Milk Hotel

Album cover for Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In the Aeroplane Over The Sea.”

The first time I heard Neutral Milk Hotel, I was driving back from my friend’s home in Calabasas. He gave me a CD called In the Aeroplane Over The Sea with the admonition, “This one’s kinda weird but I think you’ll like it.” I cued the first track “The King of Carrot Flowers.” The song starts with a simple acoustic guitar. Then the vocals come in, a male baritone sounding like calamine lotion on a fierce rash. The…