Aug

19

Song in a Jar: Mount Eerie, “Stone’s Ode”

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Do you think this metal is black?

When I heard Phil Elverum would be making a Mount Eerie album influenced by Scandinavian black metal, I worried. Black metal typically manifests as maudlin nihilism, and hasn’t drawn me in. While Wind’s Poem does contain some chaotic, heavy, distorted passages, it also goes subdued with tracks like this one, which closes the album. It also bears mentioning that Elverum has tended to punctuate with noise and distortion throughout his career, last year’s Lost Wisdom being a notable exception.

On “Stone’s Ode” the lyrics work with familiar Elverum themes. The stone is Read more

May

18

Song in Plaster - The Microphones, “I Want Wind to Blow”

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The skin on my shoulders was gold.
The place Edward always took his son was enclosed from every angle by trees. Time had stacked rock on rock and moss gilded and glorified an altar-shaped pile. Water ran from under a tall rock face into a pool and a forever-decaying evergreen sprouted mushrooms. In a warmer climate you could almost live there. Branches hung down like curtains.

Edward first brought his son out a few weeks after the Read more

Apr

8

Song in a Jar (with a Damp Cotton Swab) : Mount Eerie, “Grave Robbers”

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Mount Eerie - Lost Wisdom mp3One of my favorite albums from last year contained four songs that come in under two minutes a piece. Mount Eerie’s Lost Wisdom songs wasted no time. Appropriate for an album full of songs aware of mortality. Behind even the breakup songs lurks the specter of death and the unknown. The short songs know exactly what they’ve come to do and spend no time on pleasantries. Nothing against pleasantries, but there’s something greatly refreshing Read more