Mount Eerie

When performing solo, Washington state's pop savant Phil Elverum operates under the name the Microphones — but when he hauls his troupe of players along with him, the project is known as Mount Eerie. The difference may be mostly academic, but the live experience is vastly different; drawing from a full arsenal of vocalists, instrumentalists and textures, Elverum is able to breathe stunning life into his compositions. Orchestrally sprawling and heartbreakingly gritty at the same time, the project's new full-length, Wind's Poem, is aptly titled: With a smooth, certain grace, it moves from pulsing noise to gentle whisper in the span of heartbeats.