::Ok, this is only going to be a short review, mabye I'll post a l o n g e r one later. It is vacation time, y'all::
The Microphones' fourth (and final?) album, Mount Eerie, is truly Phil Elvrum's masterpiece. The record no longer sounds like The Microphones' previous experiments, this is the real deal: the conclusion. Mount Eerie is truly epic in scope. It is a concept record about Phil's (I assume) own personal journey into the afterlife.
All the elements are here. First the record begins with the faint sound of a heart beat, the same noise that ended The Glow, Pt. 2. Gradually tribal drumming swirls in and out of the speakers creating a disorienting effect that feels like one is both arriving at and leaving civilization--like one is losing and regaining consciousness. At around the 10 minute mark, Elvrum's voice overtakes all field recordings and we get his biography and the omnious presence of his death.
Then, amidst cymbal crashes and audio-chaos arises a compressed acoustic guitar and Elvrum's angelic vocals about watching himself from above. The protagonist is not completely comfortable with his situation as we see later he looks upon himself with a mixture of hope and meloncholy. Elvrum sings "Soon a big black cloud will come/ Soon a big black cloud will come/ And press you to the ground/ The air will leave your chest/ And you'll fade from where you're found."
Along the protagonist's travels into the afterlife he meets the Devil (Calvin Johnson) and other supernatural forces all causing him to look forward and back all while forcing him to remain in the present situation. Truly remarkable. The album ends in a state of limbo/heaven/peace. We float along for minutes in melodies not far removed from a Sigur Ros album. A truly blissful state.
The Microphones' Mount Eerie is quite possibly the best album of the year. I have yet to hear something better. With an album so epic in scope, it is pulled off remarkably well. Never has death and all it encompasses seemed so convincing for 40 minutes.
Rating: 10
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