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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
From its outset, Clear Moon suggests a retreat from Wind’s Poem’s death metal approach.
11y
90
The album is wonderfully uneven and mysteriously unfinished, and while we might look forward to its second half for a sense of balance and completion, I’m content enough to dwell amidst its own jagged remains.
11y
90
At the end of the forty minutes or so of Clear Moon it's hard not to achieve a sort of base level spiritual awareness about your life.
10y
86
This record, as much of Elverum’s work is, is a grower in the most beautiful sense, and one that I can’t imagine will lose its brilliance any time soon.
11y
85
Here the format of choice continues to be long, desolate tracks heavily informed by the brooding tone of black metal acts like Burzum and Xasthur. Though sonically, Clear Moon is more reserved.
83
It feels like a collection of secrets Elverum has cupped in his palm to pour directly, and privately, into your ear alone, a rich meditation on the many meanings of the word "home."
11y
80
Clear Moon is one of Mount Eerie's more open-ended albums in a while.
11y
80
An undulant echo-folk tour of the Pacific Northwest in heavy fog: Breathtaking.
11y
80
Elverum’s utilization of metallic and avant-garde elements into what might otherwise be considered a folk album demonstrates a songwriter unlimited by genre and also turned on by creative possibility.
11y
80
The stars align, in the form humming organs, and a clear moon is all we see. Elverum’s glow has never shined so bright.
11y
80
Clear Moon is yet another immensely accomplished record by any immensely accomplished musician.
11y
80
The sensory overload of Elverum’s music can be consciousness changing.
11y
80
Dreamlike imagery and weatherproof melodies battered by squalls of guitar, horns and chorales of electric noise.
Print Only
1y
79
It is this very resistance to ease and clarity that makes Clear Moon admirable: rather than attempting to find answers, Elverum just plunges more deeply into his central confusion, reveling in its infinite insolvability.
11y
75
Clear Moon is a thunderous effort, but it’s hard to ignore the other Phil Elverum hiding behind the clouds, composing his next tweet.
11y
70
Elverum’s explorations usually fall somewhere in between the folksy camping-trip harmonies and the heavier, distortion-soaked misanthropy of his northwest contemporaries, and they definitely lean toward the latter on this outing.
11y
70
A singular voice that has taken in feathery folk, gospel chanting and spine-crushing metal.
70
It's a very solid album. Phil keeps the sounds of Mount Eerie potent, strange, and emotionally affecting while changing things up enough to keep his musical trajectory interesting for longtime fans.
70
With archly named instrumentals, an ending that feels more like the subdued dawn of a second act and the prospect of a follow-up immediately around the corner, Clear Moon feels slightly incomplete.
Nothing beats lighting up a joint and strolling through dark, mossy wildwoods with this album spinning in your ears.
Shoutout to @bigmeanie for inspiring this review! Her deep dive of Phil Elverum's entire discography is one of the most dedicated and impressively executed accomplishments on this site. She deserves much more credit for this feat, and I just wanted to use my slightly larger platform to share my admiration of her work.
"Clear Moon" is undoubtedly one of my favorite ... read more
What the actual hell this is so beautiful
Welp, here we are are again. Phil gets another 100. He is so god damn consistent. I cant fucking help it though with an album like this. Going into this, I didn’t really know what to expect because I was just going on a deep dive through Phil’s work and wtf, this album is just so ethereal and pretty. I had to sit with this one for awhile after I listened to it for the first time because I was just awestruck, but also I felt the need to try ... read more
Reviewing Every Phil Elverum Project Available (45/61)
The second installment in this unnamed series of odd Mount Eerie albums comes in the way of Clear Moon, a record that sees Phil go for a droney, at times post-rock inspired take on folk. Yeah, it's another masterpiece. The songs are brilliantly constructed, incredibly written, immensely layered chunks of brilliance that never fail to impress me. They're nothing short of genius, another fantastic genre that Phil does the upmost justice to. ... read more
Nothing beats lighting up a joint and strolling through dark, mossy wildwoods with this album spinning in your ears.
Shoutout to @bigmeanie for inspiring this review! Her deep dive of Phil Elverum's entire discography is one of the most dedicated and impressively executed accomplishments on this site. She deserves much more credit for this feat, and I just wanted to use my slightly larger platform to share my admiration of her work.
"Clear Moon" is undoubtedly one of my favorite ... read more
This is probably the most mild I've felt on a Phil project, and God bless him, its got nothing to do with any fault of his or of the music or production on any level. Phil's whole MO is exploring the qualities of sound in its different forms and seeing which emotions he can extract from that. Here he's chosen to explore a less chaotic and abrasive sound in favor of a more cold and ethereal, wintry one.
Whereas a lot of his previous material sort of occupies the realm of sort of natural and ... read more
Reviewing Every Phil Elverum Project Available (45/61)
The second installment in this unnamed series of odd Mount Eerie albums comes in the way of Clear Moon, a record that sees Phil go for a droney, at times post-rock inspired take on folk. Yeah, it's another masterpiece. The songs are brilliantly constructed, incredibly written, immensely layered chunks of brilliance that never fail to impress me. They're nothing short of genius, another fantastic genre that Phil does the upmost justice to. ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | Through the Trees, Pt. 2 5:50 | 95 |
| 2 | the Place Lives 2:42 | 87 |
| 3 | the Place I Live 5:58 | 88 |
| 4 | (Something) 1:31 | 80 |
| 5 | Lone Bell 4:15 | 88 |
| 6 | House Shape 4:03 | 87 |
| 7 | Over Dark Water 3:06 | 86 |
| 8 | (Something) 0:30 | 74 |
| 9 | Clear Moon 7:20 | 85 |
| 10 | Yawning Sky 3:28 | 90 |
| 11 | (Synthesizer) 2:59 | 87 |
Total Length: 41 minutes
Year End Lists
| #4 | / | Tiny Mix Tapes |
| #11 | / | Beats Per Minute |
| #21 | / | No Ripcord |
| #29 | / | Cokemachineglow |
Added on: February 22, 2012