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

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

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

Jeff Mangum Jeffrey Nye 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 Comp ...

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 (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 l ...

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 the CD and 7" featured different artwork. The Fire version is also out of print, 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 ...

(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, ...

band

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 ...

) 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 no longer in print. 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 them pleasure, pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, art and taste are the main subjects of aesthetics, one of the fie ...

'' 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''. The UK release of ''

On Avery Island ''On Avery Island'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Neutral Milk Hotel. It was released in the United States on March 26, 1996, by Merge Records, and in the United Kingdom on September 30, 1996, by Fire Records. At the time, Neutra ...

'' (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. The 10" EP was added to streaming services in February 2023, after the announcement of a vinyl box set of the Neutral Milk Hotel back catalogue on

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

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 mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

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 cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

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

– guitar, drums, voice, accordion, tapes, label collages, album design, producer Additional musicians *Shannon Willis – voice on "Ruby Bulbs" *

Bill Doss Bill Doss (September 12, 1968 – July 30, 2012) was an American rock musician. He co-founded The Elephant 6 Recording Company in Athens, Georgia, and was a key member of the Olivia Tremor Control. Following the band's breakup, he led the Sunshi ...

– drums on "Ruby Bulbs" *Yvonne Grzenkowicz – dream tape on "Tuesday Moon" *Colby Katz – voice Technical personnel *

Robert 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 ...

– mixing *

Will Cullen Hart William Cullen Hart (June 14, 1971 – November 29, 2024) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and visual artist. He was a co-founder of the Elephant 6 Recording Company, as well as the rock band the Olivia Tremor Control. Following that ...

– front cover *Mark Ohe – album design

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Everything Is (Ep) Neutral Milk Hotel albums 1993 debut singles Fire Records (UK) EPs Elephant 6 EPs