Cali - Re: The Microphones

[hazey]

I thought I'd post it here, in broad daylight (so to speak), as it might get lost in the ever expanding "what you listening to" thread.

I can't tell you a helluva lot more than what the synopsis on allmusic.com already mentions, but in a nutshell:

The Microphones is basically a one-man band (with recurrent pal musicians' guest appearances on most of the albums), the man being a now 27 year old Phil Elv(e)rum (I'll explain the name spelling shortly ). The band hails from a teeny tiny town located in the foot hills of Mount Erie (vital part of Phil's persona) in north western Washington. The guy is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer/songwriter, painter, writer, etc, etc. His first five "official" albums (Tests, Don't Wake Me Up, It Was Hot..., The Glow Pt.2, and Mount Eerie) were released under the moniker The Microphones. Somewhere during the 2002-2003 winter Phil decided to take some time off from it all, a self-imposed hiatus in the middle of nowhere of the cold and dark Norway. He lived a life of a hermit for six months during which The Microphones and Phil Elvrum "died", and Mount Eerie and Phil Elverum were (re)born. Coincidentally, the place he was staying at in Norway was called Elverum (I believe his ancestors hail from there), which accounts for the extra E he added to his last name. He then went to tour Japan, came back to the States and now records and performs music as Mount Eerie (also the name of his last album as The Microphones). Side note: the live performances from Japan were issued as his official sixth album, but because he didn't want his first album as Mount Eerie to be a "live" one, he's still credited as The Microphones on it.

You still with me?

The music Phil makes as Mount Eerie is both completely different as what he used to do as The Microphones, and yet basically a weirdish continuation of his previous work. The only "official" Mount Eerie album is the one that came out just recently, called No Flashlight. Arguably, one can barely even call it an album (I think Phil's impending insanity might have finally taken over ). The tracks are very bare and stripped down, with Phil basically (story)telling who/what he is now.

It might be a handful to take in, I suppose I could have just written that Phil is a singer/songwriter from the States, but one must know all the bare necessities to even attempt to grasp Phil and his work. He's very good buddies with Kyle Field of Little Wings, whom you also dig. At least I think it was you who recently bought the Light Green Leaves album. They guest star on each other's albums quite often.

If this doesn't make much sense, questions are always welcome.