Microphones in 2020

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Holden
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Microphones in 2020

Post by Holden »

Any discussion about this album? I see it’s #1 for 2020 in the users scores on Rate Your Music, Album of the Year and Metacritic.
"The better a singer's voice, the harder it is to believe what they're saying."
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PlasticRam
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by PlasticRam »

Didn't like it. Thought it was boring.
I feel like that
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styrofoamboots
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by styrofoamboots »

Personally, I liked it, especially with the accompanying YouTube video. However, it's definitely overrated right now on RYM and the like. Doesn't come close to The Glow, Pt. 2 IMO.
Nick
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by Nick »

I like it a good deal, but not nearly as much as A Crow Looked at Me. It's an impressive album, but I don't have much of a desire to listen to it again.
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Holden
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by Holden »

I’d have to say that I definitely liked it more than A Crow Looked At Me, which underwhelmed me to a great extent, at least compared to the acclaim. I was shocked to find how much I actually enjoyed The Glow, Pt. 2 (likely to sit in my top 30 of all time) because of my lukewarm opinion of A Crow Looked at Me, which won’t be making my Top 500 list. I will say Microphones in 2020 was very enjoyable, but certainly not as good as The Glow, Pt. 2, nor is it the best album of the year, but it’ll probably end up in my EOY list around 20 or so.
"The better a singer's voice, the harder it is to believe what they're saying."
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Listyguy
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by Listyguy »

I thoroughly enjoyed it, but yeah it's not as great as The Glow, Pt. 2 (if we want to compare it to other Elverum albums). It certainly begets itself to repeated listenings though, it's a very layered work (even if it's relatively simple instrumentally).
jamieW
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by jamieW »

I was a bit disappointed myself. There was only 1 song on the entire album that I really loved.
Harold
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by Harold »

jamieW wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:56 pm I was a bit disappointed myself. There was only 1 song on the entire album that I really loved.
I see what you did there...
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by jamieW »

Harold wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 4:27 pm
jamieW wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:56 pm I was a bit disappointed myself. There was only 1 song on the entire album that I really loved.
I see what you did there...
;)

In all seriousness, the race for 2020 album of the year is over for me. I loved "A Crow Looked at Me," but this is Phil's masterpiece to my ears. 44 minutes that flew by with one fresh "variation on a theme" after another.
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by Jackson »

jamieW wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:19 pm
Harold wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 4:27 pm
jamieW wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:56 pm I was a bit disappointed myself. There was only 1 song on the entire album that I really loved.
I see what you did there...
;)

In all seriousness, the race for 2020 album of the year is over for me. I loved "A Crow Looked at Me," but this is Phil's masterpiece to my ears. 44 minutes that flew by with one fresh "variation on a theme" after another.
Welcome back JamieW - feels like it's been a while since I've seen you around here.

This album is an incredible experience, especially if you watch along with the Youtube lyric video. Elverum has a talent for writing lyrics that can effectively pivot between the incredibly personal and the philosophical.
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by jamieW »

Jackson wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 7:54 pm
jamieW wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:19 pm
Harold wrote: Sat Aug 22, 2020 4:27 pm

I see what you did there...
;)

In all seriousness, the race for 2020 album of the year is over for me. I loved "A Crow Looked at Me," but this is Phil's masterpiece to my ears. 44 minutes that flew by with one fresh "variation on a theme" after another.
Welcome back JamieW - feels like it's been a while since I've seen you around here.

This album is an incredible experience, especially if you watch along with the Youtube lyric video. Elverum has a talent for writing lyrics that can effectively pivot between the incredibly personal and the philosophical.
Thanks, Jackson!

I was a little nervous about listening to "Microphones" again, as I wondered how much of my emotional response was related to being swept away by the ultra-personal video. But I bought the album on I-Tunes and listened to it again today while I was working and I'm happy to say it struck me just as powerfully without the visuals. I began seriously listening to music in 1982 and this is certainly one of my highlights over the past 40 years. Surprises like this are why I'll always love music.
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Krurze
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Re: Microphones in 2020

Post by Krurze »

First of all, I have huge respect and admiration for A Crow Looked at Me. So my expectations for Microphones in 2020 were pretty high. In the first few minutes of the album, I was a bit underwhelmed. I looked how much time had passed for the first time at the 13 minute mark and it felt more like 25 minutes at that point. Then a few minutes later my first fully fledged reaction formed and it was something along those lines: "This guy is really full of himself."

I think what made ACLAM so special was the association of Elverum's hyper-personal and sober lyricism with a personal experience that is once-in-a-lifetime devastating. On the other hand his style of storytelling just doesn't seem to match with a thematic arch that is basically just him telling how he got where he is for 45 minutes. As I said, it just feels a litte self-opinionated. I do get that the motives and questions he touches upon are potentially universal, but I didn't feel he gave me any fresh or insightful perspectives on them.

Well maybe this work just was not for me as I only knew ACLAM and WInd's Poem before hearing this or maybe I was just not in the right mood, but it was a disappointing listen for me. But some of Elverum's photographs were really cool.
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