The Microphones were an American indie folk, indie rock, and experimental band, founded and fronted by Phil Elverum. The band has released 5 studio albums, 13 miscellaneous albums,[a] 3 extended plays, and 8 singles. Elverum began the Microphones initially as a solo project, releasing cassette demos of tests and experiments.[1] Between 1996 and 1998, Elverum released four demos,[b] mostly on Bret Lunsford's label Knw-Yr-Own.[3] The CD Tests, released in June 1998, was a compilation album comprising tracks from previous cassettes.[c] The same year, the band released the 7" single "Bass Drum Dream".[4] The band's first studio album, Don't Wake Me Up, was released on K Records in August 1999 and gave the band a small following.[5] Two more 7-inches were released in 1999: "Feedback (Life, Love, Loop)" and "Moon Moon".[6]
| The Microphones discography | |
|---|---|
 Phil Elverum performing in 2008 | |
| Studio albums | 5 |
| Live albums | 1 |
| Compilation albums | 5 |
| EPs | 3 |
| Singles | 8 |
| Demo albums | 4 |
| Other albums | 3 |
The extended play Window: was released in February 2000.[7] In September 2000, the studio album It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water was released on K, solidifying Don't Wake Me Up's sound.[8] The Glow Pt. 2 was released on K in September 2001; it went on to become a cult classic and Elverum's most critically acclaimed album.[9][10] The same month, Blood was released, a limited-copy compilation album.[11] Two 7-inches were released in 2001: "The Moon" and "I Can't Believe You Actually Died", the former included on The Glow Pt. 2.[12]
The single compilation album Song Islands was released in August 2002, and the limited-copy album Little Bird Flies Into A Big Black Cloud was released in September 2002.[13] The 7-inch "Lanterns/Antlers" was also released in 2002, and was included on Song Islands.[13] In 2003, the studio album Mount Eerie was released, along with two extended plays consisting of stems from the album: The Singing from Mt. Eerie and The Drums from Mt. Eerie.[14] Mount Eerie is a concept album that portrays a linear storyline.[15][16] After the release of Mount Eerie, Elverum retired the Microphones pseudonym and opted to release his music under Mount Eerie instead, as the themes of his music had changed.[17]
There were some sparse releases during the Microphones' hiatus: the live album Live in Japan in 2004; the B-sides album The Glow Pt. 2 (Other Songs & Destroyed Versions) in 2007; the 7-inch "Don’t Smoke/Get Off the Internet" in 2007; an appearance on a collaborative single in 2011; and the 2016 compilation album Early Tapes, 1996-1998, made of selections from the early demos. In August 2020, Elverum returned to the Microphones name with the studio album Microphones in 2020, an autobiographical concept album consisting of one 44-minute song.[18] The limited-copy album Foghorn Tape was released in March 2021, consisting of an ambient foghorn recording. In February 2022, Completely Everything, 1996 - 2021 was released, a compilation box set of the five Microphones studio albums, Early Tapes, and Song Islands.[19] Elverum has stated that the box set is the end of the Microphones, which makes Microphones in 2020 the band's final studio album.[20][21]
Albums
Studio albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Don't Wake Me Up |
|
| It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water |
|
| The Glow Pt. 2 |
|
| Mount Eerie |
|
| Microphones in 2020 |
|
Miscellaneous albums
| Title | Description | Release details | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microphone[b] | Demo tape |
| [22][23] |
| Microphone Mix | Demo tape |
| [24] |
| Wires & Cords | Demo tape |
| [22][25] |
| Tests (cassette version)[c] | Demo tape |
| [26] |
| Tests (CD version)[c] | Compilation demo album, made of selections from previous demos. First CD release. |
| [27][28] |
| Blood | Limited-copy album; described by Pitchfork as "a collection of b-sides to singles that never existed". |
| [11][29] |
| Song Islands | Compilation album of "singles and rarities" |
| [30] |
| Little Bird Flies Into A Big Black Cloud | Limited-copy album with stripped down, "intimate" music |
| [31] |
| Live in Japan, February 19th, 21st, and 22nd, 2003 | Live album, recorded in 2003 |
| [32] |
| The Glow Pt. 2 (Other Songs & Destroyed Versions) | Compilation of extras from The Glow Pt. 2 |
| [33] |
| Early Tapes, 1996-1998 | Archival compilation album of selected tracks from the early cassette releases |
| [34] |
| Foghorn Tape | Ambient tape loop of a foghorn recording. Elverum described it as "no songs, no music". |
| [35] |
| Completely Everything, 1996 - 2021 | Compilation box set of the 5 Microphones studio albums, Early Tapes, and Song Islands. Live recordings, the complete discography, stems, and outtakes are included digitally. |
| [19] |
Extended plays
| Title | Release details | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| Window: |
| [7][36] |
| The Singing from Mt. Eerie |
| [14] |
| The Drums from Mt. Eerie |
| [14] |
Singles
| Title | Release details | Album | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Bass Drum Dream" |
| None originally; later included on Song Islands | [4][37] |
| "Feedback (Life, Love, Loop)" |
| None originally; later included on Song Islands | [6][37] |
| "Moon Moon" |
| None originally; later included on Song Islands | [6][37] |
| "The Moon" (as Micro Phones) |
| The Glow Pt. 2 | [12] |
| "I Can't Believe You Actually Died" (as The Microphones' Singers) |
| None originally; later included on Song Islands | [12] |
| "Lanterns/Antlers" a.k.a. "Lanterns (Let Go Of Everything)" |
| Song Islands | [38][39] |
| "Don’t Smoke/Get Off the Internet" |
| — | [40][41] |
| "I Lost My Wind"[d] |
| Collaborate with a 1940s Wire Recorder | [42] |
References and notes
Notes
Citations
Sources
- Baumgarten, Mark (2012). Love rock revolution : K Records and the rise of independent music. Seattle: Sasquatch Books. ISBN 978-1-57061-822-2. OCLC 755697720. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- Ankeny, Jason (n.d.). "The Microphones Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
- Gormely, Ian (November 5, 2018). "Microphones, Mount Eerie and Melancholy: The Career of Phil Elverum". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2022.