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Avg: 4.0 (1380 ratings)
- Date Released: March 5, 2004
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Rock
- Label: Epic
- Copyright: (P) 2000 Sony Music Entertainment Inc., 2004 BBC
A spacious and spooky listen brimming with brash arrangements
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We Say...
As if the idea of Modest Mouse on a major label wasn't subversive enough, the group's Epic debut, The Moon & Antarctica, features the creepiest car commercial jingle ever. Seriously now: did Nissan even listen to the profoundly sad "Gravity Rides Everything" before green-lighting its woozy tales of bad motels, saggy fruit flesh, spilled milk and sinking corpses? On a similar note, we're willing to bet that Modest Mouse's new home didn't expect them to deliver a disc that reeked of death and deception — a spacious and spooky listen brimming with brash arrangements (some songs even mess with experimental electronic music) and the many guises of Isaac Brock. (The frontman broke his jaw in the middle of the Moon sessions, but that didn't keep him from funneling his frayed nerves into a whole lotta hooting and hollering.)
To truly understand what's achieved on this album, you might want to skip right to "The Stars Are Projectors," one of the most awe-inspiring epics in Modest Mouse's 15-plus years at the forefront of indie rock. Split into several movements, the song hits its stride six minutes in, as Jeremiah Green's percussion picks up speed alongside skittering synths and swift violin stabs. "The Cold Part" also drifts along in all the right places, maintaining a fog-like atmosphere for five minutes. All and all, it's not the most uplifting material, but we're happy to report that Modest Mouse's commercial 'breakthrough' is as sublime as this stuff gets. -
They Say...
Modest Mouse's Epic debut, The Moon & Antarctica, finds them strangely subdued, focusing on mortality as well as the moody, acoustic side of their music and downplaying the edgy, spastic rock that helped make them indie stars. Not that their first major-label release sounds like a sellout -- actually, the slight sheen of Brian Deck's production enhances the album's introspective tone -- but occasionally The Moon & Antarctica's melancholy becomes ponderous. Unfortunately, the album's middle stretch contains three such songs, "The Cold Part," "Alone Down There," and "The Stars Are Projectors," which tend to blur together into one 17-minute-long piece that bogs down the album's momentum. Individually, each of these songs is sweeping and haunting in its own right, but grouping them together blunts their impact. However, this trilogy does provide a sharp contrast to, as well as a bridge across, The Moon & Antarctica's more vibrant beginning and end. Though it explores death and the afterlife, The Moon & Antarctica's liveliest moments are its most effective. "3rd Planet"'s simple, ramshackle melody and strange, moving lyrics ("Your heart felt good"), the elastic guitars on "Gravity Rides Everything," and the angular, jumpy "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" and "A Different City" get the album off to a strong start, while the fresh, unaffected "Wild Packs of Family Dogs," "Paper Thin Walls," and "Lives" bring it to an atmospheric, affecting peak before "What People Are Made Of" closes the album with a climactic burst of noise. Their most cohesive collection of songs to date, The Moon & Antarctica is an impressive, if flawed, map of Modest Mouse's ambitions and fears. [The 2004 reissue has been remastered and features BBC performances of "3rd Planet," "Perfect Disguise," and "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes," as well as an instrumental version of "Custom Concern" from This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About.]
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| 01. |  |
3rd Planet |
3:59 |
|
| 02. | |
Gravity Rides Everything |
4:20 |
|
| 03. | |
Dark Center Of The Universe |
5:03 |
|
| 04. | |
Perfect Disguise |
2:32 |
|
| 05. | |
Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes |
3:41 |
|
| 06. | |
A Different City |
3:07 |
|
| 07. | |
The Cold Part |
5:01 |
|
| 08. | |
Alone Down There |
2:22 |
|
| 09. | |
The Stars Are Projectors |
8:46 |
|
| 10. | |
Wild Packs Of Family Dogs |
1:45 |
|
| 11. | |
Paper Thin Walls |
3:01 |
|
| 12. | |
I Came As A Rat |
3:47 |
|
| 13. | |
Lives |
3:18 |
|
| 14. | |
Life Like Weeds |
6:31 |
|
| 15. | |
What People Are Made Of |
2:14 |
|
| 16. | |
3rd Planet |
4:01 |
|
| 17. | |
Perfect Disguise |
3:00 |
|
| 18. | |
Custom Concern |
1:59 |
|
| 19. | |
Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes |
3:08 |
|
19 Total Tracks, 71:35 Total Length
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Credits
- Terry Riley - Violin // Terry Riley - Violin // Brian Deck - Keyboards // Brian Deck - Producer // Brian Deck - Engineer // Brian Deck - Mixing // Phil Ek - Engineer // Bob Ludwig - Mastering // Tim Rutili - Vocals (Background) // Ben Massarella - Percussion // Simon Askew - Producer // Modest Mouse - Main Performer // Modest Mouse - Main Performer // Mary Maurer - Art Direction // Mary Maurer - Photo Illustration // Beverly Blankenship - Banjo // Beverly Blankenship - Guitar // Beverly Blankenship - Keyboards // Beverly Blankenship - Lap Steel Guitar // Nick Fountain - Engineer // Jeremiah Green - Drums // Eric Judy - Bass // Chiyoko Yoshida - Vocals (Background) // Kevo Sassouni - Design
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