Now Only is, more than anything, a depiction of the prolonged effects of grief. A Crow Looked at Me displays the more immediate feelings that come with losing a loved one- shock, disgust, terror, and seemingly infinite isolation.
Now Only certainly contains all these feelings as well, but also further reflections that naturally come as a part of grief as well. The opener, for instance, depicts Elverum and his late wife’s initial meeting thirteen years prior to her passing- a reflection ... read more
We can recontextualize Sauna as being the last Mount Eerie record before the tragic passing of Elverum’s wife, Genevieve- as such, there’s an almost unspoken tragedy to be had in hearing her harmonies lay over Elverum’s entirely unaware this would be their last intersection. There are stronger Mount Eerie albums both before and after this, but few as piviotal to Elverum’s circumstances
Not *quite* as off-putting as I was expecting? Phil Elverum does auto-tune is pretty succinctly the mission statement here, and yeah, it’s no 22, a Million. Still, the record somehow manages to be appropriately Elverum-somber even with auto-tune laden production, so I give it some credit for that
An overall somewhat forgettable venture into heavy atmosphere among a sea of shining gems. I Walked Home Beholding is such a gem though
‘Psychedelic’ is a term that, to some extent, could be used to describe just about every project Elverum has ever released, but Clear Moon is right up there with The Glow, Pt. 2 as his most explicitly spacey project. The production here sounds so shrouded in some hazy, opaque fog, and the cryptic-as-ever lyricism only helps keep things tightly locked
After a few records of (relative) lofty folk, Elverum leans back into the snarling, oppressive atmosphere his 2008 EP Black Wooden Ceiling Opening displayed. Wind’s Poem knows it ought not move *only* in darkness, opting instead to intermittently move in brewing calm and rapturous expulsions of noise
I take back what I said about Dawn & Lost Wisdom- this is far and away Elverum’s most sonically stripped back project. Unlike the aforementioned, however, White Stag feels like a barren skeleton as opposed to a delicate creature. Which is to say- there’s very little of substance here despite this record sounding perfectly pleasant for the runtime
Featuring some refurbishments from Lost Wisdom but primarily new cuts, Dawn rivals the former for being Elverum’s most sonically stripped back record to date- and it’s gorgeous. Tracks such as Moon Sequel, I Say No, and Great Ghosts are essential singer-songwriter cuts, while just about every track from Lost Wisdom finds a stronger, more intimate version here
One of Mount Eerie’s most immediate albums by far- a set of generally loftier folk cuts features a splendor of gorgeous harmonies, with impressive lyricism to boot. If you’re looking for an Elverum project that’s straight to the point folk, Lost Wisdom is almost definitely your best bet
This seemingly innocuous EP is deeply significant for being the first moment where the distinction between Elverum's Microphones-helmed works and Mount Eerie- an untamable darkness. From Elverum's early demos, erratic noise has always been a star player in his winning formula. But here, noise is used to portray an intense... misery, almost? The post-hc and even Black Metal elements thrown in creep up on you brilliantly, and before you know it you're absorbed by the sweeping ... read more
Certainly could slot right in with The Microphones’ Mount Eerie release (some confusing naming conventions at play here), though at the same time these do feel suited as B-Sides as well
Imagine ‘Indietronica Karaoke ft. Phil Elverum’, but the results are… a bit better than you’d expect?
The transition from ‘The Microphones’ to Mount Eeeie may seem relatively trite based upon how sonically similar this record sounds to the former’s early records, though that’s not to this project’s fault- certain moments here twinkle and shine
It says a lot of Elverum’s ability to make completely unrelated noises sound intriguing that this record even has a score this high- hardly an LP and more just a way to commit some poems to tape
Makes Don’t Wake Me Up sound properly sanded. Obviously a project that doesn’t stack up against Elverum’s other Microphone efforts, but it’s also apparent that’s not the intention. Elverum’s experiments are always worth hearing at *least* once
Though titled 'It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water', 'The Glow Pt. 1' would be an equally apt title. After Elverum's scrappy-yet-charming debut, quantum leaps already are taken forward that push his unique brand of crashing psych folk to consistently thrilling places. The sort of appetizer for what would be Elverum's eternal opus- what an appetizer.
The Microphones’ debut is rough around the edges, even in comparison to Elverum’s patented noisy-folk-collage trademark- but there’s heaps of character and innovation even this early on that would blossom into true mastery of his ambitions not long to follow. Worth a listen for any fan of Elverum’s, even tangentially
FINAL RANDOM ROULETTE (for now) #215:
(I swear I didn’t intentionally set Ichiko Aoba as the bookends to this series, the RNG really did do it like that funnily enough.)
Describing this record feels like describing a waterfall- so many adjectives adjacent to ‘beautiful’ would work, but ultimately, I think the best descriptor of the gorgeously lush folk instrumentation found here is just that. Beautiful. A gorgeous record to end this randomized series on
RANDOM ROULETTE #214:
Compared to the immediately towering Symbolic or Sound of Perseverance, Human may seem relatively frail- that couldn't be further from the truth. There's a ferocity here that sounds even more demented and fierce than Death's usual- the shorter runtime feels like a worthy trade-off for some of Death's most utterly essential cuts such as Lack of Comprehension, Suicide Machine, and Cosmic Sea
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On Jalen Ngonda - Doctrine of Love
"@Shayden 100% agree, it’s a throwback record done right"
On 2Pac - Me Against The World
"@Cloudboy019 yeah I def get what you mean. Pac’s cadence and energy is so infectious for me I was able to look past the production being relatively ‘one-note’, even though like you said it is excellent production. That’s an excellent analogy"
On 2Pac - Me Against The World
"@Cloudboy019 that's a fair critique, I will say flow is not Pac's strongsuit, though a lot of people would probably disagree with that. The production is pretty much perfect here imo but it is definitely uniform across the record so I could see it growing stale if G-Funk adjacent stuff isn't as much your bag"
On David Bowie - David Bowie [Space Oddity]
"@usur_disc350 I’ll admit I’ve not revisited this much at all in the last couple years, but I’ll definitely stand by it having several great cuts beyond the title track"
On usur_disc350's review of McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!
"Honestly, really well put. I still have this rated pretty highly but I'd say I feel similarly, there's a sheen over this style of 'indie rap' that's starting to feel like the sheen that's covered a large bulk of indie rock the past decade (post-Mac if you will), it's a sheen of homogenization. Hadn't really put much thought to it until now but I think this absolutely hits the nail on the head, and is probably why despite there being so much 'good' hip-hop nowadays, the bulk of it feels like one big swirl of sameness. Excellent take"
On susquatch - Water Plant
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On Faith Evans & The Notorious B.I.G. - The King & I
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On Doofy's review of The The - Infected
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On Clifford Brown & Max Roach - Clifford Brown & Max Roach
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On My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe
"@Trazyn I hate saying ‘annoying’ bc that’s reductive, there are def moments where the lyricism along with the vocal style felt really contrived and grating to me though. Overall it’s certainly not an ‘annoying’ album, just nothing particularly new for Windmill. I would say I’m annoyed with the windmill scene in general nowadays"
On Tangerine Dream - Rubycon
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On 𝒩𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓉's review of Slayyyter - WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA
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On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"@ScaredDog6163 yeah for sure! I appreciate the compliment! Jeff Buckley is a perfect example of why 90s rock really shouldn’t be funneled into those two ‘categories’ I listed because he blends so many styles and sounds (a major reason why Grace is one of the most majestic albums of all time). I’m the same as you in that there’s very little I truly dislike that I listen to- it makes it a lot easier to be encouraged to check out more stuff! Let me know when you’ve got those reviews typed out, I’d love to check em out!"
On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"Sorry for the long winded answer, hope that helps! If you need help finding some specific bands lmk too and I can try and throw you some based on what you currently rock with 🤘"
On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"The other main strain in my mind is Slacker Rock (the kind I tend to prefer a bit). This is your Pavements, Built to Spills, Weezers, etc. This style of rock tended to ‘look forward’ whereas grunge took influence from a lot of its contemporaries in many ways.
In terms of what I’d do for a deep dive now- honestly, I’d determine which strain you like more and start with the big bands before digging deeper, maybe even trying out some of the influences/ similar bands. For instance, if you really fw Weezer I’d recommend other Geek/Wacky Rock bands like Cake or Grandaddy. Same goes for, say, AIC- you could check out other alternative metal bands for instance."
On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"@ScaredDog6163 for sure! I went on a pretty big 90s rock binge a couple years back and it’s definitely a vast canyon. This is a wildly simplified answer, but imo there are two *main* streams of 90s rock. The first is what most people think of , being Grunge. These are your Nirvanas and Pearl Jams and basically what the average person will probably think of when they think of ‘90s rock’- and it’s great! Grunge pulls a lot from heavier influences depending on the band, such as Punk and Noise Rock for Nirvana or even Metal with bands like Alice In Chains."
On The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme
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On Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
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On Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
"@Iam_AKne no I’m not, it’s funny you ask because in high school I had plans to maybe become a writer but it never panned out"
On Johnny Blue Skies - Mutiny After Midnight
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On Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
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On Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage Acts II & III
"@ScottShelby that does look interesting, I’ll try and get to it later today, thanks again for all the recs! You’re the Zappa guy so it’s been helpful as a total Zappa novice"
On Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage Acts II & III
"@ScottShelby honestly, having sampled a handful of tracks from his studio records to follow from here I think I’m going to bow out for the time being on his discography, I’d prefer to end it on a high note. Someday I’ll eventually go the whole distance but I think I’d honestly just get burned out going through a series of just messy subpar records tbh"
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