Dawn by Mount Eerie & other stuff

+ Mount Eerie – Dawn

Download: Mount Eerie – Dawn

This is one of those albums that I have to be in a particular mood to listen to.  Somber may be the right word.  Not particularly unhappy but just kind of meh.  This is an album that focuses on the overall mood of the record instead of hooks and crescendos.  Good stuff.

Here’s a snippet from a reviewer who hit’s the nail on the head:

On “I Say ‘No’,” Elverum sings: “I close my eyes/ I say nothing now/ There’s a ringing in my ear that’s faint and high/ And when I listen close to it/ It says:”Here, the song abruptly stops, and you’re left pondering what that faint ringing is saying. A few years back, he capped off a live set in Minneapolis with this peculiar ending. With uncomfortable shuffling and puzzled reactions, the audience stayed silent for what seemed like an eternity, as Elverum sat motionless, eyes closed. It was an excruciating yet delicate moment that seemed to slow everything down to a snail pace; I didn’t want it to end. The crowd eventually gave in, awkwardly, with hesitant clapping, but that moment, even in retrospect, felt beyond time.

Much like his other works, Dawn is knee-deep in mud. You can hear the seams — the out-of-tune harmonies (“Climb Over,” “Dead of Night”), misplaced notes (“We Squirm”), the rhythmic flux (“I Say ‘No’”). Elverum has always couched his worldviews in a fleetingly imprecise, ill-defined momentum — his songs don’t really sound like “songs”; they sound like versions. And they’ve always had a sort of romanticized purity, an effortless, in-the-moment construction. Perhaps that’s why you see his writing scrawled on the package when you order directly from him, or maybe why his projects are so multi-faceted and multi-layered while retaining a sense of whimsy, of unhinged creativity. The profundity is offset by capriciousness and DIY ethics.

+ A few other things I’ve been meaning to post:

Youtube Easter Egg:  Play the classic arcade game Snake while your video of a dog barfing loads.

Bill Murray gives an interview in the new GQ