| Black Wooden Ceiling Opening | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| EP by | ||||
| Released | March 4, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | Department of Safety Anacortes, Washington October 30, 2006 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock, black metal | |||
| Length | 21:39 | |||
| Label | Southern Distribution P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. (ELV 016) | |||
| Producer | Phil Elverum | |||
| Mount Eerie chronology | ||||
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Black Wooden Ceiling Opening is an EP released by Mount Eerie. It was released on March 4, 2008. The EP was described by singer Phil Elverum as "black metal using natural materials". [1] [2]
The album was recorded by Phil Elverum, Jason Anderson and Kjetil Jenssen on October 30, 2006 in Anacortes, Washington. [3] It was released alongside an 11-song bootleg recording of the same group of musicians featured on the album live in concert at the Department of Safety in Anacortes, WA. [3]
Elverum found the inspiration for the song "Domesticated Dog" from his time spent riding in a minivan across Montana with Calvin Johnson and his mother in September 2006. He speculated that the “sleeping giant” in the last verse "came from those reclining-human-like Montana hills." [4] "Don't Smoke" came from Elverum's desire to "be more confrontational and pragmatic" with his songs hoping to get his audience who were "vegan and radical and eat healthy food" yet smoked cigarettes to stop. [4]
3 of the 6 tracks have been released prior to the EP's release, albeit in different versions: "Blue Light on the Floor" was released on Mount Eerie pts. 6 & 7 , "Don't Smoke" was released on Don't Smoke/Get Off the Internet under The Microphones name and "Stop Singing" was released on No Flashlight .
Expanding on the sound of heavier songs on previous albums like The Glow Pt. 2. Black Wooden Ceiling Opening sees Elverum go for a dark and raw aesthetic, incorporating elements of black metal and hardcore. [1] [5] Eric Hill of Exclaim! described it as a "quick distillation of everything that Mount Eerie was in the mid-2000s," and the closet to metal Elverum has produced. [6]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Tiny Mix Tapes |   [7] |
| Pitchfork Media | (7.6/10) [1] |
Upon release, the EP received a generally positive reception. Brock Thiessen of Exclaim! wrote that "The record shows him having a bit of fun with his work and to the listener's benefit, including three superb reinterpretations of older, more reserved Mount Eerie tracks" and that "Factor in some added live tracks and there's no denying Black Wooden is an important and enjoyable part of the Elverum catalogue". [2] Jessica Suarez of Pitchfork wrote that "Like a smoker, Elverum's compulsion to keep going trumps his own best interests-- when he recognizes that compulsion is when he's at his best". [1]
"JSPICER" of Tinymixtapes wrote that "Black Wooden Ceiling Opening isn’t so much about reinvention as it is about reinterpretation." and that "With this EP, Phil isn’t cashing in on fan loyalty, nor is he trying any fancy parlor tricks. Black Wooden Ceiling Opening is simply another side of Phil’s Mount Eerie persona. And, for me, discovering Phil’s playful side through this EP has been a pleasure akin to sex" [7]
All tracks are written by Phil Elverum.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Appetite" | 4:13 |
| 2. | "Domesticated Dog" | 2:09 |
| 3. | "In Moonlight" | 4:25 |
| 4. | "Blue Light on the Floor" | 2:24 |
| 5. | "Don't Smoke" | 2:52 |
| 6. | "Stop Singing" | 2:52 |
| Total length: | 21:39 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Intro" | 1:12 |
| 8. | "Appetite" | 4:38 |
| 9. | "Domesticated Dog" | 2:22 |
| 10. | "Don't Smoke" | 3:35 |
| 11. | "Stop Singing" | 5:29 |
| 12. | "In Moonlight" | 4:51 |
| 13. | "The Universe Is Shown" | 2:58 |
| 14. | "No Inside, No Out" | 2:20 |
| 15. | "Uncertainty" | 2:15 |
| 16. | "The Moan" | 2:26 |
| 17. | "Blue Light On The Floor" | 4:55 |
| Total length: | 56:00 | |
The Microphones are an American indie folk, indie rock, and experimental project from Olympia, Washington. The project was founded in 1996 and ended in 2003, with a short reunion following in 2007 and revivals in 2019 and 2020. Across every iteration of the Microphones, it has been fronted by Phil Elverum. Elverum is the principal songwriter and producer behind the band's albums, but he has also collaborated with other local musicians on his other recordings and tours. Many of Elverum's recordings from the project's initial period were released by the label K Records.
Mount Eerie is the musical project of American songwriter and producer Phil Elverum. Elverum is the principal member of the band, but has collaborated with many other musicians on his records and in live performances. Most of Mount Eerie's releases have been issued on Elverum's label P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd., and feature highly detailed packaging with his own artwork.
Philip Whitman Elverum is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and visual artist, best known for his musical projects The Microphones and Mount Eerie. Based in Anacortes, Washington, in the mid-2000s he began to spell his surname Elvrum as "Elverum".
The Glow Pt. 2 is the third studio album by American indie folk and indie rock project the Microphones. It was released on September 11, 2001, through K Records and later through P.W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. Recording was done on analog equipment at Dub Narcotic, Olympia, Washington, from May 2000 to March 2001. The album takes influences from numerous music genres such as black metal, ambient and avant-garde, as well as non-musical sources like the American drama television show Twin Peaks and primary member Phil Elverum's relationship to Khaela Maricich. Elverum was responsible for the album's production in its entirety.
"No Flashlight": Songs of the Fulfilled Night is the first studio album released by the band Mount Eerie. It was released on the 9th May 2005 and features appearances by Geneviève Castrée and Jason Wall.
Mount Eerie is the fourth studio album by American indie folk and indie rock band the Microphones, released by K Records on January 21, 2003. The album is named after the mountain Mount Erie near Anacortes, Washington, which is the hometown of Phil Elverum, the band's frontman. The album received generally positive reviews from critics, including accolades such as Pitchfork's "Best New Music" title and inclusion on Treblezine's list of "essential" psychedelic folk albums.
Don't Wake Me Up is the debut studio album by American musical project the Microphones. It was released by K Records on August 24, 1999, and reissued on vinyl via P.W. Elverum & Sun on April 16, 2013. The album was recorded between April 25, 1998 and March 1, 1999, in studios in Olympia and Anacortes, Washington.
Seven New Songs of "Mount Eerie" is the debut EP by Mount Eerie, released on June 1, 2004.
Mount Eerie pts. 6 & 7 is an EP released by Mount Eerie. This release acts as an extension to 2003's Mount Eerie, the fourth studio album by Phil Elverum's previous band The Microphones. It was released on a 10" picture disc packaged in a 132-page hardcover artbook of photography taken by Elverum.
Lost Wisdom is the second studio album by Mount Eerie, with Canadian musicians Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire. It was released on October 7, 2008 on P. W. Elverum & Sun, less than a month before Elverum's next album under the Mount Eerie name, Dawn, was released, which featured songs from this album. A follow-up album, Lost Wisdom pt. 2, was released in 2019, without Frederick Squire.
Dawn, also known as Dawn: Winter Journal, is the third full-length album by Mount Eerie. It was officially released November 1, 2008 on P. W. Elverum & Sun.
Wind's Poem is the fourth full-length album by Mount Eerie, released on July 14, 2009. Several of the tracks are inspired by black metal, and showcases Phil Elverum's "relatively newfound affinity for Xasthur and other lynchpins of the unholy genre."
Clear Moon is the fifth studio album by Mount Eerie, a solo project by American musician Phil Elverum. It was released May 22, 2012 on Elverum's own label P.W. Elverum & Sun. The album was written and produced entirely by Elverum, who recorded it at his studio the Unknown.
Sauna is the seventh full-length album by Mount Eerie. It was released on February 3, 2015.
A Crow Looked at Me is the eighth studio album by Mount Eerie, a solo project of the American musician Phil Elverum. Released in 2017, it was composed in the aftermath of his 35-year-old wife Geneviève Castrée's diagnosis with pancreatic cancer in 2015, and her death in July 2016. Elverum wrote and recorded the songs over a six-week period in the room where she died, mostly using her instruments. His sparse lyrics and minimalistic musical accompaniment drew influence from a broad range of artists, including the poet Gary Snyder, author Karl Ove Knausgård and songwriter Julie Doiron.
Now Only is the ninth studio album by Mount Eerie, the solo project of American musician Phil Elverum. It was released on March 16, 2018, on Elverum's record label P.W. Elverum & Sun. Like the preceding Mount Eerie album A Crow Looked at Me, Now Only is a concept album in the aftermath of the death of Elverum's wife, the cartoonist and musician Geneviève Castrée; Elverum described it as the second part of that album. The album was entirely written and produced by Elverum, and recorded in the room in which Castrée died.
Lost Wisdom pt. 2 is the second collaborative studio album by Mount Eerie and Julie Doiron. It was released on November 8, 2019. Like the previous two Mount Eerie albums it concerns the death of Geneviève Castrée, the first wife of Mount Eerie's principal member Phil Elverum, as well as his recent divorce from Michelle Williams. The album is a sequel to the 2008 collaborative album Lost Wisdom.
Pre-Human Ideas is a compilation album released by Phil Elverum under the name Mount Eerie, on November 12, 2013. The album consists of computerised versions of songs from his 2012 releases Clear Moon and Ocean Roar, plus 2 organ excerpts from the songs "Pale Lights" and "The Place Lives" from Clear Moon and Ocean Roar respectively.
Black Wooden is a compilation EP by Mount Eerie, the musical project of musician Phil Elverum. It was released on December 14, 2009. It is the first and only record by Elverum to be released under the Latitudes Series by Southern Records.
The Microphones is 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, 3 extended plays, and 8 singles. Elverum began the Microphones initially as a solo project, releasing cassette demos of tests and experiments. Between 1996 to 1998, Elverum released four demos, most of which were released on Bret Lunsford's label Knw-Yr-Own. The CD Tests, released in June 1998, was compiled from tracks on previous cassettes. The same year, the band released the 7" single "Bass Drum Dream". 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. Two more 7-inches were released in 1999: "Feedback " and "Moon Moon".
