Song Islands

Microphones | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 20, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: K. Records
• ASIN: B00006EXJI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #345,146 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A compilation of 21 songs from scattered 7-inch singles, Song Islands is alternately lovely, interesting, and noisy. Most appealing to completists, it presents everything from deconstructive percussive experiments to ragged choral works featuring K Records recording artists Mirah and Khaela Maricich (the Blow) and Knw-Yr-Own's Karl Blau (D+), as well as Kyle Field (Little Wings) and Calvin Johnson (Dub Narcotic Sound System and Beat Happening). Phil Elvrum's gentle vocals and personal lyrics are encompassed in acid post-rock one moment and reflective folk settings the next. This fresh and cliché-free music deserves a close listen. --Jillian Steinberger

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars its sort of like a tangerine, November 7, 2003

By 

Adam Trunoske (Mount Clemens, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Song Islands (Audio CD)

Song Islands is like a tangerine without the tang, its still really good and tasty, but it lacks that wholesome bite, most likely because it came from a slew of 7" singles rather than a straight shot set of recordings. This is still a really good album, but the Glow Pt2 is still better.The highlight of this album is most certainly the track titled "The Moon". Acoustic guitar mixed with heavy, low end piano makes this track complete. Phils sound is excellent. Buy all of these albums.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Will delight, March 31, 2003

By 

a1 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Song Islands (Audio CD)

This is earnest, experimental but unaffected noise pop. Lo-fi genius. This album has some old ones, some new ones, and some new versions of old ones. Phil Elvrum's boyishly sweet voice and the spontaneous feel of these tracks makes it sound like a recording of a kid fooling around and banging things in the band hall. Songs by The Microphones often sound like experiments in sound, with an innocent, Modest-Mouse-style voice singing pop melodies to smooth it out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "No [song] is an island...", August 20, 2002

By 

Craig Clarke "Living After Midnight: Hard and... (New England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Song Islands (Audio CD)

I was afraid it would happen, but by this point it was official: I had become a Microphones obsessive. Not just a fan, a fanatic. While perusing the K records website, I found myself wanting everything associated with the Microphones, even non-music stuff like the button, T-shirt, and pennant (sadly, no longer available).

Not that this derides the quality of music found on Song Islands (or Island Songs, if you happen to be the proud owner of a Japanese import copy). While definitely not as cohesive as a full-album effort like The Glow, Pt. 2, or even It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water, this collection of various singles released over the years by Elvrum and company is quite charming in its disconnectedness. Unlike the band's albums, this one benefits from "shuffle" play, allowing one to experience each song on its own merits and not as part of a whole. Although, listened to in order (they are arranged chronologically), it allows one to examine the growth and development of one of indie rock's finest performers.

The songs on Song Islands range from the campfire singalong "I Can't Believe You Actually Died" to two separate versions of "The Moon" (officially found on The Glow, Pt. 2) to the next rendition in the Glow series, "The Glow Pt. 4." Released primarily as a appetizer for the mother-of-all concept albums, Mt. Eerie, this career-spanning retrospective was more than enough to satisfy this Microphones fan until the full meal arrived.