My favorite Earth era is 90's Earth: straight-ahead drone, somewhat melodic, altogether mesmerizing. I tend to not be the most generous music fan when bands I enjoy begin to incorporate elements and tweaking their sound, so when The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull came out, I was a bit disappointed. "What is this alt-country vibe? And Bill Frisell is on this? Say wha?" But don't listen to ol' stick in the mud me -- I would have to say that that LP was a great welcoming call to all the stick-in-the-muds who may shy away from genre labels such as "drone" or "experimental," but would be likely to check out something with a more accessible sound.

This may all sound like I don't really dig Earth anymore, which is not the case at all. I am ecstatic to have to chance to watch them perform material from their new album Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light: 1 at the Tractor on March 3rd. It's their album release show, and promises to be a magical night of music!

more...

People familiar with Mount Eerie and its creative founder/leader Phil Elverum would hardly be surprised by anything he would try; though coming from Anacortes, the band's expected dabbling in the harsh sonic swathes of Black Metal feedback may not be to the delight of some of their fan's appreciation for ambience.

This is a wonderful accompaniment to last year's brittle and elegant Lost Wisdom, the title track of which receives a brutal, hollow reprise here near its end. The songs beneath these waves of distortion are hale and over repeated playing become contagious; but Wind's Poem overall effect inviolates the casual listener's sense of proper balance. The twelve minute "Through the Trees" is where the idea for all this began, and its dirge pace isn't beaten down by the wind of sound upon it -- it's also placed near the front to warn everyone what this is about. Nick Krgovich from Vancouver's No Kids helps out with gentle harmonies, which only at first seem lost beneath the monolithic sound storms that break the listener down over its near hour.

more...

The artist formerly know as the Microphones, Phil Elverum, will be releasing a new album under the Mount Eerie moniker. The album, Lost Wisdom, features the likes of Julie Dorion and Fred Squire, and will be released October 8th.

Here's a track from the upcoming release, featuring the aforementioned collaborators:

Mount Eerie - "Flaming Home"

In other Mount Eerie news, Elverum will be playing What the Heck Fest in Anacortes (July 18-20th) along with the very talented Little Wings, Mirah, Kimya Dawson, Khaela Maricich, Calvin Johnson, Karl Blau and many others. For more information, click here.