/mu/sings — Chapter 3
THE GLOW PT.2 (2001); by The Microphones
My Experience
I set about consuming this album for the first time in the same way I prepared the first two reviews and just how I like to experience new musical projects in general. I got up in the dark of the early morning, made my living space free of disturbances, got my trusty glass of water, a pencil and some paper for the first round of chaotic note-taking, laid down, closed my eyes, and listened in.
To my disappointment, I found nothing notable contained within. It seemed to me I’ve already heard all of their production tricks before, that the songs weren’t memorable, that the pacing was off… I prepared to write a negative review to balance out the praise I’ve been heaping on /mu/ so far. Very shortly before putting these words together, I listened to it again under very different circumstances, which triggered a sea-change in my opinions.
I don’t know what possessed me to do this, but I put this album on in the background (not even through a pair of headphones!) while focusing on an entirely unrelated task. I don’t normally do this at all — I never much liked studying to music, I don’t listen to music while I work, I hate to have to focus on something that’s not the wobbly air I hear calling to me. Perhaps we’ll never know what triggered this uncharacteristic decision, but it led to a great personal discovery I now hope to share.
The Peripheral Vision Paradox
One of the richest concentrations of the seeing cone cells in your eyes is at the very rim of the retina. Anecdotal evidence has spoken of things in your peripheral vision being perceived subconsciously (or even the ability to perceive invisible things or entities ‘out of the corner of your eye’) since time immemorial, and science has its own two cents to add, research highlighting our paradoxical ability to detect threats or unusual sights more efficiently using the very edges of our field of sight. So, how does this relate to music?
It is now my firm belief that this album weaponizes (if you let it, like I initially refused to) a sort of… not peripheral hearing, per say, as I wasn’t listening to this at the threshold of physically perceiving the sounds. Instead, I listened to it at the threshold of paying attention. Bizarrely, this highly elevated my enjoyment and assessment of the project as a whole. It felt like I’d understood it more once I stopped trying to understand it on the fly. Another comparison I could draw is with the:
Weeping Angels of Doctor Who
These recurring villains are one of the franchise’s best plot devices, beloved by the fans and writers alike. They are immensely powerful… As long as they are unseen. Indeed, they are only able to move about, or do anything at all if they are not being perceived. Unobserved, they are beings comparable in power to reality itself, but as long as you’re looking at them, they’ll stay no more than impotent statues, dead on every level down to the quantum physical.
THE GLOW PT. 2 is very much the same way, except it’s not trying to kill you, it’s performing for you, dancing for you (what do you mean this is an overly convoluted analogy?). The poses it will strike for you will be miraculous, there are nuggets of pure awesome scattered through every song on The Microphones’ masterpiece, but in order to let it do that and show off its variety, you have to look away. I’d like to do a rundown of each track and point out the coolest gems and aspects of them all, simply as a demonstration that this album does have things worth listening for and that I’m not making up esoteric nonsense, and also to make it clearer what this “looking away” should feel like.
Track-by-track Analysis
I Want Wind To Blow
Alright, so right out of the gate this principle is slightly difficult to demonstrate, because the opener here is a far cry from the contentious soundscapes that will follow soon. It’s a pretty catchy, mellowly melancholic folk rock song which does nothing to prepare you for what’s to come. The most THE GLOW PT. 2-esque thing about it, however, is also its best feature — the rhythmic guitar motif it devolves into at the 2:30 second mark. It is downright hypnotic and always makes me want to smile uncontrollably.
The Glow Pt. 2
The transition between the opening track into the title track is where the real magic happens. I won’t spoil its exact peculiarities, but this song contrasts the previous one quite heavily, especially at the beginning. So what I urge you to do is not to expect a hook that’s just as catchy as any on iwwtb, because you won’t hear any. Instead, listen for the contrast between the first song’s performative melancholy compared to this intimacy. The album is only just starting, but the performer is already backstage, wiping off the makeup and showing their inner face.
The Moon
At 1:42, Elvrum’s rambling, almost spoken-word lament is interrupted by the first time by a flying, swiping brass melody. I encourage any potential listener to nod off here, fall into the embrace of the singer’s droning angst and be periodically jerked awake by this lovely five note sequence.
Headless Horseman
On the other hand, the key to enjoying this track is hanging on to the rhythm. Like a pulse, a steady rhythmic sequence carries this song and gives it structure, no thanks to any of its other elements. I don’t want to call yet another thing on this LP ‘hypnotic’, but that’s just the appropriate term.
My Roots Are Strong and Deep
This song is very much a teenage nursery rhyme, and I think this should be embraced. The melody is simple enough to be just about indistinguishable, but what one might call simple, a listener in the right mindset might call… deconstructed. Elemental.
Instrumental #1
I’m a sucker for stereo effects. This is a weakness of mine. When the guitar plucks the string in my left ear, then my right, then my left, then my right… I melt. I know many who don’t fall for this cheap trick. I’m not one of them. Again, this is just one thing to love about the track. If you’re not a fan of this, or any other “key aspect” of a song I point out, you will most likely be able to find another.
The Mansion
The sound-painting is really, really strong here. The lyrics here are often formed around rhyming couplets, two lines which end on the same sound sequence. The way these are spliced into the rhythm here is really satisfying to me.
(Something) & (Something) [1]
The low string sounds! Cello and bowed upright bass are instruments that are often overlooked as sources of instrumental texture and, to put it simply, this is dumb. Relax and feel the tissues of your body vibrate. It’s a treat.
I’ll Not Contain You
The first time you hear the second voice slurs a bit and is behind the first by a fraction of a second, it’s funny. Then it becomes mesmerising (that’s different enough from ‘hypnotising’, right? xD)
The Gleam Pt. 2
I often hear this cited as the best track on the album, and though I don’t fully agree, I see why. The stomping that rhythmically punctuates the whole thing keeps it from meandering and ensures the track presents a unified front. Call me crazy, but I can’t imagine it being anything other than the elephant on the cover!
Map
The actual best song on the album. Just a few words of advice here — don’t worry and sit tight. It’s going somewhere. I would actually use this track as a way of testing whether you’ll enjoy the album or not. If you can successfully space out until IT hits, and then be blown away by it as you rightfully should, then you will love this project.
You’ll Be In The Air
The last lines of this song… sound like fear itself. I’ll let you figure out what that means. I’ll let you figure out why the sound of them scares me so much, it’s not like the lyrics are any different from the rest of this album’s vaguely unsettling material. I’ll let you figure out what’s wrong with me.
I Want To Be Cold
What happens when you’re fully tuned into the album at this point is you start to disassociate from the music and from life itself. Hear that feedback screeching? That’s the fabric of our sinful world coming undone.
I Am Bored
I’m a sucker for stereo effects. This is a weakness of mine. When the guitar plucks the string in my left ear, then my right, then my left, then my right… I melt. I know many who don’t fall for this cheap trick. I’m not one of them. Again, this is just one thing to love about the track. If you’re not a fan of this, or any other “key aspect” of a song I point out, you will most likely be able to find another.
Did that sound familiar to you? It probably wasn’t, it’s just that time is no longer real.
I Felt My Size
Yeah, there’s still a fair amount of distortion in some places, but in the context of what surrounds it, this song actually sounds kind of normal. Don’t you love it when things can be normal?
Instrumental #2
This might be one of my favourite songs where the vocals are just humming. What’s more, they’re not even labelled as vocals, this song is supposedly an instrumental. This might be a bit of a stretch, but this might be another subliminal hint designed to trigger disassociation. Possibly. I might be going mad.
I Felt Your Shape
In the context of what surrounds it, this song actually sounds kind of normal. Don’t you love it when things can be normal? It’s even got a star on Apple Music and everything. Don’t you love listening to normal music? Don’t you love listening to this normal album?
Samurai Sword
N̵̛̰̫͙͐͗̾̈́͗͛̀̈́́̋̎̽̈́̈́̕͜͠͝ó̶̡̨̡͕̝̯̝͎͍̖͖̘͍͇̣̮̦̟̩̟͚͓̱͉̳͎̾̾̄͆̅̏̀͊͑́͑̚͜͝͝ͅt̵̝͚̼̠̹̻̞̑̒̀͛͂̈́͘ ̸̢͙̠͚͔̭͔̱̠͔͍̬͉̭̭̣̲͙̮̩̠̐̔̆̂͒́͘ǎ̴̢͚͈̪̙͈̞̞͉̠͇̣̭̬̈́́̎̆͋̑͋̆̌͋͋̈́͌́́̋̓͋͜͝͝͝ ̸̛̣̙͈̩̯̘̟͈̪̻͔͕̭̳̜̰̹̒̏̊̆͛̎̂͋̔͆̌̍͌͗̽̑̂̊̑̈́̅͒͐̚͠͝͝͠͠͠͝ń̷̡̛̹͔̗͕̠̦̻̽̀͋̅̌͛̌͗͌͛̽́̀̀̾̍͘͜͠͝͠ó̶͈͍̻̗͓̪͉̻̤͈͈̖̪̪̞̖̫͕͉̈́̀̅͌̇͑̉̎̈́͋́̇̓̈̋̈́͛͊̍̅̓͒̂̍̋̀̋͘̚͘͘͠r̷̢̢̨̺̫̠̮͉̼̩̖̖̹͉̻̻̜̫̱̼̝̮̣̼͋̓̇͆͋͆̈̓̇̏͋͛͛̄̄̍͘̕͜͜͠͠m̶̡͖̮͎͕̰͙͙̣̭̹͙̮̠͔̻̟͍̮͇̥͊͗̀͊̏̑̀̔̽̽̌̈́̐̄̒͂̃̇̐̚͝͝͝ā̵̡̡͖̫͍̹̳̙̝͇̲͍̹͕̞͚̤͙̼̗̰̭̌̓̆̇̓̇̚͜͝ͅļ̷̡̧̡̡̡̛̮̟̬͙͖̟̗̻̗̲̰̮͇̜͕͚̥̓̉̋̓̈̉͗͊̂̂̈͆̎̄͆̆͐̽͋̀͋̐̔̉͆̎͘͝͝ ̶̢̢̘̣͈̬̹͇̟̮̣͉͉́̇̈́̀̕͜͜ȁ̵̡̧̢̨̛̛̟̱̬̮̬͖̩̻̝͈̰̱͓͉̳̤̬̖͓̻̠̉͋̂̍̽͊͐̒̄̐́͐̈́̏̓͛͛̽̄̓͊́̽͋͘̕͜͝͝l̸̨̧̛̯̳͍̟͈̫̠͇͚̘̣̖̺̠̳̺͎̰͇̭̯̉͂́́̏̈̐̄̓̾̈̉͌̏̄͗̀͘͝ͅḃ̴̢̢̨̪͍̘̥͖̻̹̬̟͙̯̞̳͉̰̪̞̬͕̲̙̮͓̳̩̇̆͑́̄̑̔̈̇̓͑̎͒́̐͛̋͐̉͒͘͘͝͠ͅu̶̢̙͖̳̦̫͛͋̅̄͂̃̂̾́̐̊̃́͘͝m̵̺̪͕̺̻͍͖̯̖̟̠̗͒̈́͑̎
My Warm Blood
There are 8 minutes of static on this song and this is all an elaborate ploy for me to ensure I’m not the only one who’s sat through it all.
Conclusion (So What Is The Glow?)
This album is not The Shine. This is not The Glitter, The Spark, The Radiance. It doesn’t blind you with a light of magnificence, it doesn’t illuminate anything decently. Just out of sight, just slightly calling for your attention, it glows.
The Microphones finished this album up, wrapped it in a package of relative neatness and released it exactly on, of all possible days, the 11th of September 2001. It’s funny how these things turn out, but I think the immense tragedy hand in hand with which THE GLOW PT. 2 came into the world most likely played a part in its success. The grey ennui of losing touch with reality that this disc represents must have been relatable and a comfort (and also quite closely linked to the underlying idea behind /mu/core as a whole, possibly? I will come back to this point after a few more albums). It is a boon for the troubled mind, a musical blessing for the distracted.
This is very much an album that happens independently of you, whether or not you want it to or not, very much the opposite of its slightly older brother LIFT YOUR SKINNY FISTS LIKE ANTENNAS TO HEAVEN (another /mu/core sibling already discussed in this publication). It’s not an experience where you’ll get anything out of dissecting it while you’re actively listening to it. It’s much more a companion to you than a cerebral puzzle. If you have stuff going on and the world around you doesn’t feel as real anymore, or simply if you’re working on a demanding task and need to do two things poorly at once, you should lend half an ear to this project.
As much as I enjoyed this declaration, to put it simply, this is not my content format. I want to give the listen my all, I want to deconstruct elaborate harmonies as they fall in place around me, the prog beast in me often awakes and demands to count time signatures. I don’t know when next conditions will arise that will drive me to reach for the comfort of this 1 hour 6-minute oeuvre. I don’t think I can put this on the same level as the previously mentioned “Godspeed You! Black Emperor” record or LONG SEASON, simply because I think it lacks some of their depth and richness of texture. Still, this album caused me to fundamentally question my approach to this entire form of art, that doesn’t happen every day!
For this reason, the review stays, on balance, very positive.
Join the journey by hopping on the band wagon and joining our discord! TheWeeklyAlbum hosts deep dive discussions on albums every week.
