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General Information
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Artist...............: The Microphones
Album................: The Glow Pt. 2
Released.............: September 25, 2001
Label................: K
Genre................: Lo-Fi
Ripper...............: XLD 116.6
Encoder..............: FLAC 1.2.1 (-8)
Scans................: Full, PNG 300 dpi
Source...............: Original CD (KLP 133)
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Tracklist
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01. I Want Wind to Blow (5:33)
02. The Glow, Pt. 2 (4:59)
03. The Moon (5:17)
04. Headless Horseman (3:10)
05. My Roots Are Strong and Deep (1:53)
06. Instrumental (1:38)
07. The Mansion (3:34)
08. (Something) (1:46)
09. (Something) (2:54)
10. I'll Not Contain You (2:51)
11. The Gleam, Pt. 2 (1:59)
12. Map (5:01)
13. You'll Be in the Air (2:42)
14. I Want to Be Cold (1:42)
15. I Am Bored (1:36)
16. I Felt My Size (2:20)
17. Instrumental (1:57)
18. I Felt Your Shape (1:56)
19. Samurai Sword (4:08)
20. My Warm Blood (9:27)
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Review
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While It Was Hot We Stayed in the Water expanded the Microphones' lo-fi, psych
pop horizons, their 66-minute epic The Glow, Pt. 2 marks an even bigger
departure. Named after It Was Hot's sprawling centerpiece, the album explores
and explodes styles and moods over the course of 20 songs that lead into one
another breathlessly, as if even an hour simply isn't enough time for Phil
Elvrum and company to pack in all of their ideas. The album revels in its
kaleidoscopic sounds, spanning pastoral folky ballads, playful symphonic pop,
and gusts of white noise. Flourishes like the steel drums on the title track
and the double-tracked vocals and xylophones on "The Map" make The Glow, Pt. 2
something of a rarity: a lo-fi album designed for headphones. The distorted
drums, murky organs, and crisp acoustic guitars that punctuate the album have
an oversaturated, almost tangible quality that, while dense, never overwhelms
Elvrum's fragile voice or poetic lyrics. The beautiful acoustic ballad "I Felt
Your Shape" cautions against holding on too tight to someone, literally or
figuratively; "I Am Bored" sets the boredom of a dying relationship to noisy
fuzz pop. But it's The Glow, Pt. 2's deep, nearly spiritual yearning that
makes it the Microphones' most compelling album to date. Vague, strangely
hymnal lyrics like "Through rotting skin I'll leave my coffin/Through callous
work I will grow soft," from "I'll Not Contain You," resonate emotionally,
albeit cryptically. At times, The Glow, Pt. 2 resembles My Bloody Valentine's
Isn't Anything ("I Want to Be Cold") and His Name Is Alive's Home Is in Your
Head (especially on the instrumentals); like those bands' best work, the album
is dense with musical quick-changes, production tricks, and evocative imagery.
Expansive yet accessible, indulgent yet unpretentious, The Glow, Pt. 2
redefines the Microphones' fascinatingly contradictory music.
(Heather Phares @ AMG)
