Don't Wake Me Up
Cover for the CD release
Studio album by
the Microphones
ReleasedAugust 24, 1999
RecordedApril 25, 1998 – March 1, 1999[1]
Studio
Genre
Length39:32
LabelK Records (KLP 099)
P.W. Elverum & Sun (ELV 028)
The Microphones chronology
Tests
(1998)		 Don't Wake Me Up
(1999)		 Window
(2000)

Don't Wake Me Up is the debut studio album by American musical project the Microphones. It was released by K Records on August 24, 1999, and reissued on vinyl via P.W. Elverum & Sun on April 16, 2013. The album was recorded between April 25, 1998, and March 1, 1999, in studios in Olympia and Anacortes, Washington.

Don't Wake Me Up is a lo-fi rock and indie rock album that uses metaphorical and sometimes cryptic lyricism. The album also includes field recordings, as well as elements of pop and noise rock. It received positive reviews from AllMusic, Pitchfork, and Sputnikmusic. Don't Wake Me Up gave Phil Elverum a small following, and "set a new precedent" for K Records, due to Elverum's production being perceived as high-quality despite recording limitations.

Background

After gaining presence in Anacortes, Washington's independent music scene,[2]: 227–229  Phil Elverum joined the band D+, comprised of himself, Karl Blau, and Bret Lunsford at the time of his joining.[2]: 228  He became associated with K Records with the release of D+'s debut album.[2]: 229  After Elverum toured with D+, K Records founder Calvin Johnson gave Elverum access to the Dub Narcotic Studio, where he experimented with recording; Elverum lacked concern for the studio's modest equipment.[2]: 230  Elverum began the Microphones initially as a solo project, releasing cassette tapes of tests and experiments.[2]: 231 

Recording and composition

Dub Narcotic Studio in Olympia, Washington, where the album was partially recorded.

Don't Wake Me Up was recorded between April 25, 1998, and March 1, 1999, in Dub Narcotic Studio in Olympia, Washington, and the Business in Anacortes, Washington.[1] The album was primarily written and composed by Elverum. The studios in which Don't Wake Me Up was recorded lacked high-fidelity recording equipment.[2]: 233  Johnson said, "[Elverum] didn't have the attitude that this wasn't a real studio. He was more like, 'Hey, this is fun.'"[2]: 233  Elverum described the studio as a "huge empty warehouse".[3]

Elverum was 21 at the time of the album's release, and 20 during its recording.[3] During an interview with Impose, he said that "much of [the album] was recorded [...] at the same place where I did my high school recording experiments, so it was still very connected to adolescence."[3] The album was partially recorded in Elverum's hometown, Anacortes, Washington, although he was living in Olympia, at the time of recording.[3] As he described, he had "newly moved away from home for the first time". Elverum stated he recorded the album "living nocturnally ... [d]rinking pots of black tea all night" to stay up.[3]

Music and lyrics

"What might first have appeared scattered or sloppy in execution eventually revealed an artist developing a tone that embraced the juxtaposition of harmony and dissonance".[4]

— Eric Hill of Exclaim!

Don't Wake Me Up has been described primarily as a lo-fi rock[5][6] and indie rock[7] album, which includes elements of pop,[7] and noise rock.[7] Ryan Schreiber of Pitchfork called the mix of genres an "incredible balance" between noise rock and ambience, combining to become "distinctly indie rock".[7] Nitsuh Abebe of AllMusic wrote, "Don't Wake Me Up moves between gritty lo-fi rock and droning, spacy constructions; a delicate pop melodicism lies beneath the surface noise of both".[5]

According to AsleepInTheBack of Sputnikmusic, the album's lyrics portray "various universal human experiences", told mostly using metaphors and quasi-stories.[8] Many lines in the album are cryptic, although themes are recognizable;[8] AsleepInTheBack wrote, "whilst general themes seep through his elusive ramblings, it's hard to feel confident that one has truly grasped the precise messages Phil wishes to convey."[8]

The opener, "Ocean 1, 2, 3", begins with a field recording of waves, which are replaced by vocal harmonies and crescendo of bass and keyboards.[7] Then—described by Ryan Schreiber of Pitchfork as "when you least expect it"—a section of lo-fi rock continues until the song's end.[7] "Florida Beach" uses a short snippet of "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys.[7] "Here with Summer" uses the Mellotron, which Schreiber called "relaxed" and "sighing". The track transitions into "Where It's Hotter (Part 3)".[7] Both tracks use organs and layered vocals;[8] their textures are "dense", but not "claustrophobic", according to AsleepInTheBack.[8]

Legacy

The release of Don't Wake Me Up gave Phil Elverum a small following,[6] and according to Ian Gormely of Exclaim!, was the "first time Elverum [was] able to connect with an audience".[6] According to Love Rock Revolution by Mark Baumgarten, the release of the album "set a new precedent for [‍K Records‍]" since Elverum's production was perceived as high-quality despite the studio's recording limitations.[2]: 233  Baumgarten wrote that Don't Wake Me up was "praised for its production rather than accepted despite it".[2]: 233  The album gave K Records a greater trust in Elverum's musical abilities.[2]: 234 

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Pitchfork8.2/10[7]
Sputnikmusic4.0/5[8]

Don't Wake Me Up received positive reviews from AllMusic, Pitchfork, and Sputnikmusic.

Nitsuh Abebe of AllMusic rated the album four out of five stars, and praised its composition and textures.[5] Abebe compared the album's sound to Stereolab's Transient Random-Noise Bursts with Announcements and Grandaddy's early music, and Elverum's vocals to His Name Is Alive.[5]

Ryan Schreiber of Pitchfork, who gave the album 8.2 out of 10, praised the album's pop culture references, "muddy production" and lack of high fidelity.[7] Schreiber also praised the album's cohesiveness: "its 15 tracks blend seamlessly together, creating a whole vision instead of just compiling a handful of pop songs".[7]

In AsleepInTheBack's 2017 review for Sputnikmusic, they rated the album 4.0 out of 5.[8] They described the album as containing a "loose patchwork of sounds and textures" which invoke isolation.[8] AsleepInTheBack called the album a "journey," since according to them, like other art, the album's underlying meanings are difficult to interpret.[8]

Track listing

  1. "Ocean 1, 2, 3" – 2:59
  2. "Florida Beach" – 2:17
  3. "Here with Summer" – 3:59
  4. "Where It's Hotter Pt. 3" – 2:58
  5. "I'm Getting Cold" – 1:20
  6. "I'll Be in the Air" – 2:25
  7. "Tonight There'll Be Clouds" – 4:04
  8. "You Were in the Air" – 3:20
  9. "What Happened to You?" – 2:25
  10. "It Wouldn't" – 2:23
  11. "I'm in Hell" – 2:02
  12. "Don't Wake Me Up" – 3:13
  13. "Sweetheart Sleep Tight" – 2:15
  14. "Instrumental" – 1:53
  15. "I Felt You" – 2:01

Personnel

Adapted from the album's liner notes.[1]

Release history

Release dates and formats for Don't Wake Me Up[9][10]
Region Date Format Label Catalog num.
United States August 24, 1999 LP, CD K Records KLP099
United States April 16, 2013 LP (reissue) P.W. Elverum & Sun ELV028

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Elverum, Phil (1999). Don't Wake Me Up (Media notes). K Records. KLP099.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Baumgarten, Mark (2012). Love rock revolution : K Records and the rise of independent music. Seattle: Sasquatch Books. ISBN 978-1-57061-822-2. OCLC 755697720.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "A very Spook Houses guide to The Microphones reissues". Impose. September 10, 2013. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  4. ↑ Hill, Eric. "An Essential Guide to Mount Eerie, the Microphones and the World of Phil Elverum". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Abebe, Nitsuh. "Review Don't Wake Me Up – The Microphones". Allmusic. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 Gormely, Ian. "Microphones, Mount Eerie and Melancholy: The Career of Phil Elverum". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Schreiber, Ryan. "Microphones Don't Wake Me Up". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 AsleepInTheBack. "Review: The Microphones – Don't Wake Me Up". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Catalog". P.W. Elverum & Sun. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  10. ↑ "K Discography". The K Mail Order Department. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
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