The Microphones were a band formed by Phil Elverum, who was the only consistent member of the group. They made short folk songs that would unexpectedly build into loud rock songs. Phil Elverum's musical outlet was also very prolific. They would release album after album, with tracklists ranging from ten songs to thirty songs. For some reason, The Microphones "split up." Shortly thereafter, Phil Elverum and co. made a new project named Mount Eerie.
Something never drew me towards listening to them. I never listened to them, so why not try? I was just not interested in hearing this. Months later, I read about Mount Eerie's latest offspring Wind's Poem. The album cover had this dark texture to it that I had never seen before, so I decided to take a listen.
Upon listening, "Wind's Dark Poem" began and sure enough, I heard that same ol' fuzzy sound The Microphones used to make. But there was something different, it had a different tone. It wasn't as poppy as The Microphones were. It was a lot more like... drone metal! The drone goes on for a while and you start to hear Elverum's voice in the midst. The track slowly fades, removing any folk from the song. "Through The Trees" is a long, slow ballad(?) that begins with an organ and later receives vocals from Elverum and his band. Drums begin very slowly, there's no build. But the thing about this album is that nearly every track on here is an ambient soundscape disguised as the "folk" tag that has been slapped onto Phil Elverum for years. Some tracks, however, are more fuzz focussed than others. Pounding drums, slow and distorted guitar; you'd be surprised. But the majority of the tracks here consist of just soft ambience. It was very unexpected. A lot of the tracks are also sequels to some previous Mount Eerie songs. There's also the reoccurring "(something)" title. I suppose it's his way of saying "Untitled." The album isn't a good one to start with from Mount Eerie or even The Microphones for that matter. It's imperative to get a sense of what Phil Elverum is going for in his releases.
Another thing about Wind's Poem is that it's consistent, unlike some Microphones albums. There aren't any fillers on this. But then again, it depends on what you would say is a filler. If you consider quiet folk songs that you can barely hear as fillers, than don't buy this. You will be displeased with how many "fillers" on on this. To others, this may be considered one of the most well thought-out releases of 2009. Consistent, raw, soft, dark, and noisy. I'll be talking about this five months from now.
Mount Eerie still has that "folky" output. It just depends on what album you listen to.
ReplyDeleteLost Wisdom has some really straightforward songwriting on it, and Black Wooden Ceiling Opening is actually a lot of hardcore metal/punk renditions of older Mount Eerie songs. If Mount Eerie does anything consistently, it's come out with a different direction on each album.