Winds Poem (Dig)

Mount Eerie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 18, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: P.W. Elverum & Sun
• ASIN: B002GHHHII
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,488 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Wind's Dark Poem

2. Through the Trees

3. My Heart Is Not at Peace

4. The Hidden Stone

5. Wind Speaks

6. Summons

7. The Mouth of Sky

8. Between Two Mysteries

9. Ancient Questions

10. (Something)

11. Lost Wisdom, Pt. 2

12. Stone's Ode

Editorial Reviews

Released in 2009.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An all-encompasing doom / drone gem, August 29, 2009

By 

somethingexcellent (Lincoln, NE United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Winds Poem (Dig) (Audio CD)

After some of his earlier success, Phil Elverum has seeming gone in every direction possible. He kicked things off by releasing an album that was nearly strictly vocals and rhythms ("Mount Eerie") and even released that album in the two separate pieces in limited edition. Then, he adopted the namesake of the album and put out a variety of albums that included collaborations with Julie Doiron & Fred Squire and a couple releases on his own label (P.W. Elverum & Sun) that pushed into an art object realm. One of which ("pts. 6 & 7") is an incredible earth-friendly 132 page book with a 10' record that definitely falls into a, "for the hardcore fans" category.

Despite the slew of different recordings (including one made in a desolate Norwegian cabin), "Wind's Poem" in some ways feels like the first true new Mount Eerie album since the aforementioned album by The Microphones of the same name. Twelve songs run just over 54 minutes and veers back and forth between droning dirges of slow core wonder, cinematic shufflers that draw heavily from Angelo Badalamentit, and incredibly loud passages that sound like the group doing their best conjuring of doom metal.

The P.W. Elverum label is pitching it as, "the best record ever made by Mount Eerie or any related projects," and after spending some time with it, I have a hard time arguing with that statement. When all is said and done, I may find myself ultimately going back to The Glow pt. 2 a bit more than this, but it's certainly a substantial release, and one that seems like it will have even more sway when the temperature drops and seems to fall in line even more with the sounds on the release.

A sort of album-length meditation on decay and life and death, "Wind's Poem" isn't an easy listen (at least, as much as earlier work from Elverum), but it's certainly not a big challenge either. There are melodies that creep and stick in your brain and subtle layering that rewards on multiple listens.

Because the album roils and rolls over its duration, there's really no better place to start than at the feverish opener of "Wind's Dark Poem." Opening with a swarm of massive guitars, it curtails only slightly to let the warm words of Elverum slightly peek through, but mainly keeps the amp-shredding wall going for a full 4 minutes. On first listen, it comes as a real shock (as in, "is this really Mount Eerie?"), but now I can't imagine a more emphatic way for the album to announce itself.

From there, the album sloughs off into the quieter "Wind Speaks" before settling into the serious 11-minute drone epic of "Through The Trees." The latter finds held organ chords mixing with pitch-bent tape loops, muffled drums, and all kinds of other time-bending instrumentation that sounds like it's being slowly stretched and warped with age. A couple other songs again blister with ringing drums and overblown guitars ("something" and "the Mouth of Sky") before the latter couple tracks veer into a slightly more heady realm.

One of these is "Between Two Mysteries" and it can't be a simple coincidence that the track borrows a chord progression from the aforementioned Badalamenti as it weaves a story of a semi-magical locale that sounds an awful lot like Twin Peaks. It's also one of a couple songs on the album where a little bit of sunlight manages to creep through the darkness, and it helps lighten the load considerably.

After all the random side projects and solo seclusion efforts and other random merchandise, Wind's Poem arrives as a solid and cohesive album from a group that hasn't always been the most focused. It's by no means a feel-good release, but the arc of the album plays in its favor, moving through some devastating passages before lightening the load towards the end.

[from somethingexcellent reviews]

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A profoundly sculpted and fine-tuned work of timeless art, October 11, 2009

By 

E-CLoud "E-Cloud" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winds Poem (Dig) (Audio CD)

My familiarity with Phil's music only goes so far as the Microphones The Glow Pt. 2 and Mount Eerie, and now Wind's Poem. So I only can compare this album with those two. But this goes WAY farther and deeper than those two works, and farther than I thought music could go. Most reviews of Wind's Poem are fairly good, but in my opinion Mount Eerie has outdone itself here. It's such an honest and heartfelt struggle with eternal questions, the internal violence and fear portrayed with as much care and attention as the peaceful, spiritual moments. This is the most spiritual album I know of at the moment, he really gets at the heart of being human. It's as devastating and cold as it is beautiful and warm. I have a feeling I will be coming back to this album even in 50 years. I can see some people not liking this album because it is too intense and too serious. But anyone who's had a spiritual crisis or has meditated on the profoundly terrifying spiritual questions, this album addresses these issues with humanity, feeling, and honesty in a way few records do. Highly suggested for poetic souls.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars poor sound quality, January 30, 2010

By 

emily allgaier "bambu" (in-between) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Winds Poem (Dig) (Audio CD)

it's unfortunate that the sound quality of this album is terrible, as the lyrics and music are quite good. i would have given wind's poem more than three stars, but it's frustrating to listen to it because of all the ssshhhhhhhhhh noise. maybe it's supposed to be the wind? whatever it is, i don't reccomend getting this album because of it. try lost wisdom instead.