This record follows Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie, The Microphones, The Thunderclouds) and his recorded experiences after the passing of his late wife Genevieve from pancreatic cancer. Each song is less lyrics and music, and more poetry and spoken word over idle, ambient instrumentation, taking occasional breaks to simply meditate in repetitive guitar riffs or repeating measures on a piano. Up to this point, a large part of Phil's music has been hidden in complex metaphors when he chooses to show himself to his audience. Here, however, in the wake of his family tragedy, he reveals himself. Seldom is there metaphor in his lyricism on "A Crow Looked At Me". This album is indeed music, for all it's blunt, minimalist approach. What it is not, is entertainment. It is not an art piece the collector proudly hangs in his foyer as a conversation piece for guests. It's a piece that is hidden away securely in his basement, away from the world, so that every few months he may venture down and quietly, alone, pull the piece out and study it, before delicately and respectfully replacing it back in it's containment. When I was burning CDs to listen to in my car after my auxiliary cord fried and I couldn't afford a repair or replacement, I distinctly ignored my download for this record. The thought of merrily throwing it on to accompany a short drive to work felt wrong. And that is how this record interacts with it's audience. On the insert, Phil, remarks that he was once guarded to keep his life private in the house of his family, but now, raising a motherless child, he exposes himself, his story belonging to no one. He divulges every excruciating detail with lyrics like "Do the people around me want to keep hearing about my dead wife?/Or does the room go silent when I mention you, shining alive?/I live with your absence/And it's been two months since you died/I'll speak to your absence and carry our stories around my whole life", from "My Chasm". This perspective of speaking directly to his late wife is repeated throughout every track of the record. This is a painful listen, but it's become one of my most cherished. I can't recommend this to any particular listener however; You may think you understand, having lost someone to cancer, being a songwriter, being a widow or widower, being a parent. I thought perhaps with my experiences I could personally empathize with Phil on this record, but in reality, this is Phil's story and his only, and we're no more than voyeurs .

If you are just discovering this one... buy directly from Phil... I'm not aware of any surface noise or skips.. side A bummed me out so bad, I've yet to flip

I'm very conflicted about this album. There's no doubt it's a real work of art, and for me the best album of the year, though it's not really fair to compare it to any other albums, safe maybe for Sufjan's Carrie And Lowell. On the other hand it's an album that, maybe because it came out when I was having hard time with my life myself, gave me worst panic attacks I've ever had, and I still keep getting those. I saw Phil play most of these songs at a concert earlier this year, and they were even more powerful when I could see him sing them. He had lots of copies of this album with him, but I couldn't bring myself to buying that and got something else instead, because I'm straight up afraid of listening to it.Absolute masterpiece, yet I can't recommend it. But I can say that at that concert Phil played a few new tracks, and they were even better and more moving, while being a bit more optimistic in tone, and if he's going to make a new album out of these, it's going to be even better than this.

What an album indeed. Just to be clear it sounds great. Near flawless pressing and the gatefold is sturdier than you would think. Some might complain about a noise floor but Im quite sure its just the recordings themselves. Great all around. But with that out of the way I think its important to understand what you are buying. This is not a piece of musical revolution. Some parts of it I feel are quite smartly put together like the beat in some songs seemingly matching the sound of a life support machine in the background. But Its about a mans life and thoughts after his wife's departure from life. Whats important here are the lyrics which is why its great that they are all featured (with few errors) inside the gatefold. The singing is clear and should be the focus of the listener. Its a terribly depressing session to have but its unique and worth a listen.Equipment used:Rega RP1 with base carbon cartCyrus 2 amplifier System Fidelity SF5030 tower speakers Custom made HQ speaker cables

I repeat DO NOT BUY THIS FROM DISCOGS, please buy from Mount Eerie's website

Pretty expensive if you are living outside the USA like me, to be honest... I was lucky enough to discover a copy in a small store in Brussels.

android2k3 I repeat DO NOT BUY THIS FROM DISCOGS, please buy from Mount Eerie's website Unless you are an EU buyer, or perhaps they can offer special shipping like stating the value of the package as 5$ instead of 25. Otherwise some of us need to pay a 25$ customs fee that makes it overpriced. I got mine from a UK shop online called Norman records.

Sadly my copy has some annoying surface noise in the right channel throughout the first side, but I'm hoping its just my copy... Getting a replacement tomorrow.

Yes, actually. No problems at all with my new one. Sorry for the late reply

Same here. First 3-4 tracks on side A in the right channel.Does your replacement sound better?

Anyone else's lyrics have a couple typos in it? Mine has one on Toothbrush/Trash and one on Crow. I don't really mind at all but was just curious.

Yes, same...The overall packaging is top notch Phil. Vinyl sounds great.