Mount Eerie is the fourth studio album by American indie folk and indie rock band the Microphones, released by K Records on January 21, 2003. The album is named after the mountain Mount Erie near Anacortes, Washington, which is the hometown of Phil Elverum, the band's frontman. The album received generally positive reviews from critics, including accolades such as Pitchfork "Best New Music" title and inclusion on Treblezine list of "essential" psychedelic folk albums.
Mount Eerie has been described by Elverum as being about mountains, earth and space. The album is a concept album, consisting of a linear narrative spanning its five songs. Elverum establishes a metaphor for life in which he depicts the womb, birth, and through to death, in the second-last track. His lyrics depict a cast of characters, while the music includes cinematic drums, choirs and drones. Sonically, the album is a continuation of The Glow Pt. 2 (2001), the previous studio album by the Microphones.
After the release of Mount Eerie, Elverum adopted the Mount Eerie moniker, as the themes of his music had changed. The album was released alongside 2 EPs, The Singing from Mount Eerie and The Drums from Mount Eerie, featuring isolated tracks from the album. After its release, Elverum felt that the ending of Mount Eerie narrative was inconclusive, leading him to release the sequel Mount Eerie pts. 6 & 7 in 2007.
Recording and background
Mount Eerie was named after the mountain Mount Erie near Anacortes, Washington. Elverum explained: "from where I grew up, the south side, [the mountain] has a pretty dramatic rock face, and so it was always looming there, especially from where I caught the school bus".
Mount Eerie was recorded between November 21, 2001, and June 10, 2002, at Dub Narcotic Studios in Olympia, Washington. 2 sections of the album, labelled "Big Black Death" and "Wind / Vultures" are solely attributed to Kyle Field and Karl Blau respectively. "Wind / Vultures" was recorded at Quatro-Syncho in Trafton Lake, Washington. Elverum describes Mount Eerie as "a continuation of the sound that concludes The Glow Pt. 2", the Microphones' previous studio album. "I. The Sun" was sonically tied to the closer of The Glow Pt. 2, "My Warm Blood", using the foghorn tape sound that concludes "My Warm Blood".
Elverum used different vocalists to represent different characters because he wanted the album to be more ambiguous and theatrical. He wanted these characters to "feel and seem different". Elverum conceived the first lines for "I. The Sun" during a six-week American tour between November and October 2001. While touring Florida, the presence of the sun, and the state's "menacing" atmosphere led him to writing the chorus of the song. "I. The Sun" was heavily inspired by the soundtrack of Brazilian film Black Orpheus (1959). { { Multiple image|total_width = 300 | image1 = Antônio Carlos Jobim (cropped).jpg | image2 = Luiz Bonfa 1962.jpg | footer = "I. The Sun" was inspired by Black Orpheus'''s soundtrack, written by Antônio Carlos Jobim (left) and Luiz Bonfá (right). }}
The vocal melody for "II. Solar System" was taken from "Fall Flood" by Little Wings. Elverum used the melody due to it being stuck in his head, and noted "our friendship during that time was very freely giving and taking from each other’s ideas and notebooks." Elverum notes about "III: Universe", "the way I recorded the drums was just like, 'Well let’s see what the mic is like if it’s recorded here." Calvin Johnson was cast as the voice of the Universe due to his deep, taunting and booming voice, with Elverum stating "it could only be him I think."
For the choir of "IV: Mount Eerie", Elverum put up posters in Olympia, Washington, asking for singers. He recorded eight singers. In the section labelled "Big Black Death", referred to by Elverum as "Kyle's rap", Kyle Field wrote and sang the lyrics for the personification of death. A line from the section, “Do you see what happens?” is a reference to the 1998 film The Big Lebowski. Elverum attempted to write down all of his ideas for the album prior to recording the album. He created a chart of elements outlining what later became "I. The Sun" and the start of "II. Solar System". Another chart was used to map out the complex drum rhythms on parts of "I. The Sun". A further two charts were used to plan out the harmonies and track recordings for "III. Universe", and another with rough lyrics from "V. Universe". Some lyrics from the album were inspired or directly taken from lines in Elverum's journals, which date to late 2001.