Free Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Kim Cooper Page A

have gone in one direction. If Robert hadn’t have been there, that record would probably have been more like the cassettes—a really passionate, chaotic thing. And with just Robert it might have been more like
Avery
, with the capturing of things. Also, the way Jeremy played the drums—the sheer volume—and the band’sabsolute desire to capture it, affected the approach to recording tremendously.”
    The horn arrangements, which are so distinctive a part of the sonic landscape of the album, were mainly composed by Robert working on the piano or organ. He’d write the parts out to the best of his ability, then confer with trombonist Rick Benjamin, who would ensure that the notation was correct. Only then would the full horn section of Rick and Merisa Bissinger (sax and flugelhorn) come into the studio. These players were Denver locals who Robert continues to call in to work on numerous projects, including all the Apples’ records, the Minders and his solo recordings. The parts Scott Spillane wrote can be recognized by their blaring, boisterous qualities, while Robert’s arrangements are the pretty, sad, melodic parts, some of which Scott played alone, others that used the full horn section.
    When Scott arrived in Denver, Robert sat down at the piano and showed him the parts that he and Jeff had worked out for several of the songs. Scott can read bass clef, but trumpet is written in treble, so he had to take the parts and rewrite them in the bass clef so he could learn them. For the more orchestrated parts, Scott would revive his Queens working method and disappear into the basement for days at a time while the band was recording other things, practicing and working them up until he had something worth coming upstairs and showing to everyone.
    The most horn-driven piece on the album came to Denver fully formed, a Scott Spillane composition. He’d started writing “The Fool” in Austin as a favor for a friend who was writing a short film of that name and needed a soundtrack. He finished it in Grandma’s basement, whilebored and messing around with Julian’s accordion one day. Director Joey Foreman was then studying at the University of Austin; he later moved to Athens and did animation and film projections for Olivia Tremor Control performances, plus videos for OTC and the Circulatory System. Scott remembers that the film starred a little boy whose Italian father was always haranguing him and asking “Who’s more foolish—the fool or the fool who follows the fool?” Jim McIntyre recalls that “The Fool” was recorded live to two-track DAT.
    Jeremy Barnes thinks that the best of the horn arrangements came late in the recording process, after both Scott and Robert had presented their own concepts, and worked together to develop charts for the final takes. The combination of Robert’s harmonic sense and Scott’s highly individual playing style produced something remarkable. Jeremy raves, “Scott is basically a one-man horn section. He plays completely from his heart, unlike anyone else I have ever played with.”
    Julian reflects, “Scott’s modesty aside, his horn playing and his parts were and are all his own, and special for all the world. Distinct. Again, the tension of Scott being heartfelt, explosive, and Robert trying to superimpose arrangement and control, made for something nice.”
    It was no small thing to keep so many players fed and modestly comfortable during the month-plus process of getting
Aeroplane
down on tape. In addition to the core band of Jeff, Jeremy, Julian and Scott, Laura Carter arrived part-way through the sessions to add her zanzithophone * parts and be with Jeff, and there was a constant stream of uncreditedmusicians who dropped in for an hour or a few days. Most of them crashed on Robert’s living room floor, while Jeff made sure his friends weren’t hungry. They found one magical dish on the local Chinese take-out menu that could somehow serve everyone for about $5, or they