"Everything Is" was the first recording mass-released by

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock ...

, at that point still largely an outlet for the songwriting of

Jeff Mangum Jeff Mangum (born 24 October 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who gained prominence as the founder, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of Neutral Milk Hotel, as well for his co-founding of The Elephant 6 Recording Company. Ma ...

instead of a fully formed band. The recording was originally the second release on the fledgling Seattle label Cher Doll Records in 1993,Cher Doll Records on TweeNet
/ref> in the form of a 7", with "Everything Is" as the A side, and "Snow Song Pt. 1" as the B side. The first 50 7"s pressed also featured different artwork, with each sleeve being personally

xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...

ed by Mangum.Neutral Milk Hotel releases
/ref> The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

label

Fire Records Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the las ...

re-released the record in 1995, on CD and 7", with the 7" retaining the same A and B sides, and the CD version featuring an extra track, "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch", a five-minute sound collage by Mangum. Both CD and 7" featured different artwork (which can be seen to the right). The Fire version is also out of print,orange twin
/ref> though not as collectible as the Cher Doll version. In 2001, the recently founded

Orange Twin Records Orange Twin Records is an Athens, Georgia-based record label run by Laura Carter of the band Elf Power. The label started in 1999 originally as a fundraiser for the Orange Twin Conservation Community and has released influential works by Jeff Ma ...

(owned by members of

Elephant 6 The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a loosely defined musical collective from the United States. Notable bands associated with the collective include the Apples in Stereo, Beulah, Circulatory System, Elf Power, the Minders, Neutral Milk Hotel, ...

luminaries

Elf Power Elf Power is an American indie rock band that originated in Athens, Georgia, United States. The line-up consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rieger, keyboardist Laura Carter, guitarist Dave Wrathgabar, bassist Bryan Poole, and drummer Peter Al ...

) re-released the single, this time on CD only, adding the extra track "Tuesday Moon". The artwork remained the same as was previously seen on the Fire release. This version is currently in print.orange twin
/ref> The songs featured on the EP are distinctly representative of the early, 'embryonic' Neutral Milk Hotel, and indeed, all but "Snow Song Pt. 1" feature in identical versions on earlier tapes which are in circulation. "Everything Is" appears on the second unnamed demo, which is assumed to have been produced in 1993. "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch" also features on this demo, and a slightly longer version appears on 1992's ''

Beauty Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...

'' as "Hypnotic Sounds", allegedly one of the first Neutral Milk Hotel recordings. "Tuesday Moon" can also be found on '' Invent Yourself a Shortcake'', listed as "Love You on a Tuesday", although the version that appears on the Orange Twin re-release is culled from 1993's '' Hype City Soundtrack''. While the simple collage of "Aunt Eggma Blowtorch" is often divisive, "Everything Is" itself is a fan favorite, and was played live by the band on several occasions. "Tuesday Moon" appears on several live bootlegs, and "Snow Song Pt. 1" often featured in the band's pre-''Aeroplane'' live set, usually after "Ruby Bulbs". Very few live versions of "Snow Song Pt. 1" include the second verse. The UK release of ''

On Avery Island ''On Avery Island'' is the debut studio album by Neutral Milk Hotel, released on March 26, 1996, by Merge Records. At the time, Neutral Milk Hotel was a solo project of American musician Jeff Mangum, who recorded the album with producer Robert Sch ...

'' (on Fire Records) featured the original two tracks from the "Everything Is" single as bonus tracks, though without the band's permission. In December 2011, the EP was re-released as part of the "Walking Wall of Words" box set self-released by Neutral Milk Hotel records. This 10" version of the album featured three new songs and new artwork. The EP was made available for sale as a digital download – in the expanded 7 track edition – from the band's official website in 2019.

Recording and sound

The EP ''Everything Is'' was recorded between 1991 and 1993 on Jeff Mangum's four-track recorder, still using the name to branch out with his musical projects instead of forming an actual band. Throughout the recording of the EP, Jeff featured many friends and fellow musicians on the recordings on several songs, while Robert Schneider proceeded to master the album from the original cassette recordings. The sound of the EP ''Everything Is'' differs from his work from ''On Avery Island'' onwards, as it was still a projection of his experimentation and lo-fi outlet. The bulk of the EP includes lo-fi, fuzzy, and psychedelic-influenced songs that range from being closely related to his acoustic-based work to

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

-like rhythms and

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

tones. Before "Everything Is", Jeff experimented with noise and tape loops, and after the EP he began working with acoustic melodies and horn sections. This is often seen as the bridging point between his two styles.

Track listing and formats

Personnel

Credits adapted from the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

of ''Everything Is''. Neutral Milk Hotel *

– guitar, drums, voice, accordion, tapes, label collages, album design,

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Additional musicians *Shannon Willis – voice on "Ruby Bulbs" *

Bill Doss Bill Doss (September 12, 1968 – July 30, 2012Robert Schneider Robert Peter Schneider (born March 9, 1971) is an American musician and mathematician. He is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer of rock/pop band the Apples in Stereo and has produced and performed on albums by Neutral Milk Ho ...

– mixing *

Will Cullen Hart William Cullen Hart (born June 14, 1971) is an American pop musician. He was a co-founder of The Elephant 6 Recording Company, as well as the rock band The Olivia Tremor Control. Following that band's breakup, Hart and several other former memb ...

– front cover *Mark Ohe – album design

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Everything Is (Ep) Neutral Milk Hotel albums 1993 debut singles Fire Records (UK) EPs