The Microphones Is The Name Of A Project That Anacortes WA's Phil Elverum Has Headed Since 1996. Its Sound Is Best Described As Lo-Fi "fuzz Folk " Including Drum-Crashing Bass-Thrashing Sonic Freakouts Strummy Classical Guitar Love Songs Angelic Vocal Choirs And Almost-Whispered Vocals Over Harmoniums And Bell Kits.
In 2004 Elverum Abandoned The "Microphones" Name To Begin Recording As Mount Eerie Briefly Returning In December 2007 When He Began Selling A New 7" Single By The Microphones "Don't Smoke" "Get Off The Internet" On His Website And At Concerts.
In 2020 Elverum Returned To The Microphones Name Once More To Release The Project's 14th Album Microphones In 2020. Microphones Memberscollaborators Include Karl Blau Dennis Driscoll Kyle Field Aka Little Wings Mirah Khaela Maricich Aka The Blow Adrian Orange Aka Thanksgiving Adam Forkner And K Records' Founder Calvin Johnson Of Beat Happening And The Halo Benders. . User-Contributed Text Is Available Under The Creative Commons By-SA License Additional Terms May Apply.
The First Song On The Microphones' Third And Most Well-Known Album “The Glow Pt. 2“. In The Aftermath Of A Catastrophic Event Most Probably A Breakup All The Commotion And Turmoil Have Died Down. Now That He’s All Alone All He Wants Is Change – For The Wind To Blow And Take Him Anywhere Else. This Song Sets Up The Tone Of The Aftermath Of Loss For The Whole Album As Well As The Themes Of Using Nature As A Way To Cope With Emotion And The Overwhelming Feeling That Something Big Has Been Lost. This Track Was Featured On The Song Exploder Podcast In Which Phil Dissects The Musical And Lyrical Development Of The Song. “I Don’t Remember What Got Me Thinking About Storms As A Metaphor For Emotional Turmoil But There Were A Bunch Of Songs On This Theme. This One I Remember Writing Discovering The Guitar Line Sitting On The Guest Bed In My Friend Mirah’s Parents’ House Outside Philadelphia In The Fall Of 2000 In The Middle Of A Long Tour. Life At Home Was Confusing And Stagnant And So ‘I Want Wind To Blow.…’ Means ‘I Want Crazy Events To Happen To Me. I’m Tired Of Gray. Give Me Black Or White.’ Also My Hometown Anacortes Is More Exposed And More Windy On Its Island Than The Basin Holding Olympia Where I Lived At The Time. I Missed Home.” The Believer – PHIL ELVERUM ON SIX OF HIS SONGS