Mount Eerie

Ambitious programmatic lo-fi from the incredibly prolific Phil Elvrum and super-star collaborators, including Calvin Johnson, Mirah, Little Wings, The Blow, Karl Blau, and Yume Bitsu. Instead of offering the short gems of The Glow 2, this album is meant to be heard continuously, filled with long tracks and transitions where you have to work through noise and sounds and moods to get to vocal reflections. This is a great follow-up, taking the abstract elements from their other work and expanding them further, while still retaining the sweet, despairing vocal melodies and next-to-you acoustic guitar presence in some of the tracks. If you need immediate gratification, try tracks #2 or 3, but if you love the band already, you will love this album. Sadly, the Microphones are no more, but expect to hear more stories from Phil Elvrum under the name Mount Eerie.

1. 17 minutes. starts with dead air sound and occasional pulses. gradually, african rhythms come in more and more intensely. at about 11:00 voice and guitar come in, more song-like. by the end, beautiful white noise, like static snow from a television or pipes constantly blowing steam.
2. noise continues from previous track. 0:15 voice and acoustic guitar dominate the rest of the track. sweet melancholic chorus. the only lullaby on this album.
3. amazing song! great distorted drums + anguished voice. female voices add a great commentary. wonderful climactic moments. sustained notes carry to end.
4. sustained notes continue into this multi-movement track. begins with vocals, chant, and grumbling organ. aggressive mood change, makes me think of sesame street monsters doing mushrooms and whip-its. returns to introspective guitar + voice, followed by more of the noise from earlier. do not trip to this song!
5. organ + chant expressing a grand despair. big sound not far from flaming lips.