Neutral Territory

by Patrick Rapa

ROCK/BENEFIT

Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, released in 1998, is almost without argument the greatest indie rock album of all time. It's a spellbinding array of sensual, lyrical images, grand arrangements and fuzz-folky rock 'n' roll. After Aeroplane, frontman Jeff Mangum stopped writing songs (or at least sharing them with us) and eventually walked away from music. Rumor is he works on a farm near Athens, Ga.

Recreating Mr. Mangum's opus would be no easy task, but Philly folkie Adam Arcuragi and the rest of the Holy Rattlesnakes are going to give it a shot in the name of charity. The band — artisans of the guitar, trumpet, singing saw and such, from National Eye, Evil Janet, Like Moving Insects and more — plans on covering the entirety of Aeroplane in order, to raise money for Doctors Without Borders and tsunami relief.

"I made up packets for everyone with chords and lyrics and interviews with Jeff Mangum," says Arcuragi. "I even researched some of the weird instruments in the liner notes. Did you know that the zanzithophone is a MIDI sax? We've had a ball trying to balance what we can do with what we want to do in terms of instrumentation. Everyone sings along to each song and, not to get mushy, it is really beautiful."

According to Arcuragi, the trick isn't to reproduce the album note-for-note but to let the material steer the sound. "We would have to try really hard to mess it up. The lyrics are brilliant. I mean they are on par with Graves or Rimbaud and the music is so enveloping, the album just tunes you in to that place where everything is light and gorgeous," he says. "So we are really just trying our hardest to remove ourselves from the performance and act more like instruments through which the piece can act."

As for the songwriter, will we ever hear Jeff Mangum again? If "the last thing I did creatively was something as good as Aeroplane, man, I don't think I'd do shit for a long time," figures Arcuragi. "Secretly, I hope that this turns into a huge thing and we are able to give a ton of money to Doctors Without Borders, and Jeff catches wind of it, and it inspires him to start recording again. Or maybe even just ask me to come and hang out down in Georgia for a spell. I have family there, Mangum, if you read this, so it's not like I'd need a place to stay."

Wed., March 2, 8 p.m., $6, The Khyber, 56 S. Second St., 215-238-5888.