by The Microphones
Released September 11, 2001 via K Records
Reviewed September 24, 2021
Top tracks (based on community voting)
The Moon (65%), The Glow, Pt. 2 (63%), I Want Wind to Blow (57%)
The Microphones had already begun garnering a name for themselves, but nothing could have prepared them for the reception of their masterpiece, The Glow, Pt. 2. Well-regarded by just about everyone who has heard it, Glow stands as one of music’s most beloved albums. Phil Elverum’s third work with The Microphones is a musically dense experience that challenges the listener, while also delivering substance that lingers beyond the album’s final moments. In a beautiful world of lo-fi textures, noisy rumbles, and soul piercing silence, Elverum crafts these expressions of emotion in a variety of ways. His vocals can portray an anxious innocence; but push him to the wall, and a monster erupts to shake you. This album’s instrumentation can be stunning one moment, only to be swallowed up by misery moments later. The Glow, Pt. 2 is a brilliantly executed album on all fronts, and remains a staple of indie music at large. – Jared (10/10)
Despite its density, sitting at 20 tracks and over an hour in length, The Glow, Pt. 2 never falters in quality or cohesiveness. A landmark record in the realms of indie folk and indie pop, Phil Elverum (as the Microphones) displays a mastery of musicianship on all fronts. There’s an ever-present somber spirit, but it exists aside an overwhelming and cathartic sense of freedom; tender, simplistic, and unquestionably lo-fi. Intimate, perplexing, and unique, Elverum’s playing and the atmosphere it creates is wholly singular to this record. And as a songwriter, Elverum captures a similar sense of intimacy through introspection and depictions of nature that are equally harsh as they are simply beautiful. Everything intertwines as a deep longing for something more; something that will revitalize the spirit and provide solace. In all its intricacies, The Glow, Pt. 2 just might be that something, even if the comfort it provides is ultimately fleeting. – Dominick (9.4/10)
The Glow Pt. 2 is The Microphones’ third studio album, and a staple of the lo-fi and indie realms, standing alone in its field of excellence. Great albums, in a similar way to great books, welcome the audience into their world and offer a break from what we call reality. Existing within these worlds are sights and sounds rather foreign to the human psyche, but the underlying emotion is deeply rooted within the human experience. They are worlds that teeter on the edge of tangibility. The lushest melodies and rhythms unearth themselves from under the rubble, clueing the listener in on the rhyme and reason to it all; the moral fibers of what we think is normal. Twin Peaks did this well in the world of television, stretching and bending beyond interpretation unapologetically—ripping reality into ribbons. The Glow Pt. 2 and similar works are essential in the development of ideas and art as a whole. – Peter (9/10)
Hadley: 10/10 | Jared: 10/10 | Cam: 9.5/10
Dominick: 9.4/10 | DeVán: 9/10 | Peter: 9/10
