Rhett Nelson
This Friday, Phil Elverum—who was treated to the so-called
“stalker” treatment in these pages not too long ago—plays the
Vera Project as Mount Eerie along with fellow Anacortes native Karl
Blau. In advance of the show, here’s a roundup of recently released and
forthcoming pearls from them as well as Anacortes supergroup D+.
Mount Eerie
Black Wooden Ceiling Opening (P.W.
Elverum & Sun)
The latest release from Phil Elverum’s Mount Eerie moniker, Black
Wooden Ceiling Opening, is an EP of six studio tracks plus a live
set performed with a full band. The album’s press materials describe
Elverum’s approach to the EP as “black metal but made of natural
materials,” hence the combination of wood and black in the album’s
title. But Elverum hasn’t added thunderbolt-fast guitar solos or
corpse-painted shrieking to his songs (although “In Moonlight” ends
with a goofy little rush of blast beats and upper-fret shredding).
Rather, he’s simply plugged them into amplification and/or performed
them with a live band.
The result is a record that highlights
Elverum’s noisier
side—his albums have
always had forays into distortion and
raucous, multitracked jams, but they’re usually muffled or mixed into
quieter songs; here, those tendencies are given free rein.
The studio tracks are three old songs of Mount Eerie’s (“Blue Light
on the Floor,” “Don’t Smoke,” and “Stop Singing”) and three newer songs
(“Appetite,” “Domesticated Dog,” and “In Moonlight”). Of the newer
songs, “Domesticated Dog” is easily the catchiest—a rough,
bounding rocker about the tension between the pull of the wild world
against man’s controlled environments. Of the old songs, “Don’t Smoke”
might benefit most from its update here, blooming into an epic plea,
Elverum earnestly straining his voice over bursting, staggering
guitars.
The second half of the EP includes live renditions of the previous
six songs as well as takes on “The Universe Is Shown,” “No Inside, No
Out,” “Uncertainty,” and “The Moan.” As on the studio side of the EP,
these formerly faint songs are distorted, ragged, and barely not
falling apart, with Elverum’s voice frequently a redlining, fuzzed-out
bleat.
This all might be worrying as a permanent shift in direction, but
it’s fine, even fun, as a diversion; the “black wooden” theme will be
further explored on another EP, but future releases also include a
collaboration with Julie Doiron, Lost Wisdom, as well as another
“proper” Mount Eerie record, Wind’s Poem, neither of which is
likely to be as amplified as this record.
D+
On Purpose (Knw Yr Own)
D+ are the trio of Elverum, Blau, and Bret Lunsford. Lunsford was
the guitarist for seminal dream-pop band and K Records flagship act
Beat Happening, along with K captain Calvin Johnson. Post–Beat
Happening, Lunsford helped run Anacortes record store/oddity shop The
Business, where Elverum got his start recording as the Microphones.
Like Beat Happening partner Johnson, Lunsford is at least as notable
for his patronage of other artists and his local scene as he is for his
own continued musical output. Still, this collection of his trio’s
demos, alternate takes, and live versions is well worth a listen on its
own.
Where Elverum’s Anacortes is supernatural, Lunsford’s is perhaps
more realistic. Anacortes, after all, has a refinery, a maritime
industry, fast-food restaurants, new housing developments, and a lot of
conservative retirees—it’s not all wind, water, and moons.
Lunsford’s songs seem to capture the real, human, small-town
tensions—religious, political, and otherwise—of the
place.
The simple, straightforward songs—part folk, part rudimentary
rock—recall Beat Happening as much as you might expect, although
with Lunsford’s reedy voice instead of Johnson’s authoritative
baritone. The production here ranges from simple acoustics to hints of
the more layered work Elverum has honed with his own releases.
Karl Blau
Nature’s Got Away
(K Records)
Karl Blau has probably as prolific an output as his frequent
collaborator Elverum, including several records released via his own
subscription-based label Kelp Lunacy. His latest, Nature’s Got
Away, due out in September on K Records, confirms Blau as a deft
musician, easy with an acoustic guitar and gifted with a rich, resonant
voice. Unfortunately, it also reveals him as an occasionally off
lyricist, prone to indulging in wincing puns like “Carry and Rob.”
Still, Nature’s Got Away is pleasant enough, full of
thoughtfully produced acoustic numbers and boasting a handful of almost
subliminally catchy choruses—such as those of “Make Love That
Lasts,” “Before Telling Dragons,” and “Mockingbird Diet.” The sound is
often soft-focus dreamy, doo-wop nostalgic, Blau’s voice and guitar
treated with pitch-perfect reverb. 
Mount Eerie and Karl Blau play Fri Aug 15, Vera Project, 7:30 pm,
$8/$9, all ages. With Madeline Adams and Your Heart Breaks.