The Moon & Antarctica by Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse
The Moon & Antarctica
2000
Indie
Epic

1. 3rd Planet
2. Gravity Rides Everything
3. Dark Center Of The Universe
4. Perfect Disguise
5. Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes
6. A Different City
7. The Cold Part
8. Alone Down There
9. The Stars Are Projectors
10. Wild Packs Of Family Dogs
11. Paper Thin Walls
12. I Came As A Rat
13. Lives
14. Life Like Weeds
15. What People Are Made Of
(also included is a 500x500 album cover .jpeg, which is incorrectly placed in the "Part 1" folder)

I just got a message that said Hell has frozen over.
I got a phone call from the Lord, saying,
"Hey boy, get a sweater, right now."
So were drinkin', drinkin', drinkin', drinkin',
Coca Coca-Cola
I can feel it rolling right on down
Oh, right on down my throat.
As were headed down the road
Towards tiny cities made of ashes,
I'm gonna get dressed up in plastic
Gonna shake hands with the masses!

"Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes"


Sorry for not posting in almost a week, it took me a long time to decide what to put up next. I think this is a pretty good album to progress with.

The Moon & Antarctica was ranked the #3 best album of the year 2000 by Pitchfork Media, beat out only by Radiohead's Kid A and Sigur Rós' Ágætis Byrjun (which are both absolutely fantastic albums that I am sure to post at a later date), and with good reason. It is reguarded by most Modest Mouse fans as their pinnacle album, and was their most critically acclaimed. Personally, I perfer The Lonesome Crowded West, Modest Mouse's second album, but sadly I don't yet own a copy so I can't rip it for you. But I very much enjoy The Moon & Antarctica, and it's been getting a lot of rotation on my iPod lately.

Modest Mouse has had somewhat of a rise to glory and a downward spiral since their debut in 1993. They began as a very lo-fi indie group whose production value and songwriting skills slowly got better and better, and in turn their music eventually became poppier and poppier until they lost their edge. The Moon & Antarctica has the best production of all their records (in my opinion), but was released before the band gained the appeal of MTV and pop radio. All the grit, angst, and energy is still there, but served on a clean, shiny platter of great production.

What I like about this album is it's subtle use of effects processors to bring everything together smoothly. Issac Brock (the bands frontman, lyricist, and guitarist) knows just when and how much of an effect to use to set a perfect mood for a song. There is a lot of looping going on, but it's not very apparent on first or even the second listen. Also featured is a lot of modulation effects, subtle delay, and even some swooshing reverse guitar, keeping all of the instrumentals sounding hauntingly beautiful.

I do have quite a bit of criticism of The Moon & Antarctica, however, but this is something that really applies to everything put out by Modest Mouse, not just one album. That would be Issac Brock's lyrics. My problem is not with his writing (it's genius, in my opinion) but more about their subject matter. It seems to me that almost every Modest Mouse song is about aethest views toward religion, notably christianity. I'm a christian myself, but don't get me wrong! I have absolutely no problem with listening to anything that would be considered sacreligious by most Baptists, but my beef with Issac is that: "can't he think of anything else to write about?" Now, obviously a lack of religion is very important to Issac, but some kind of variation in subject matter would be nice. I like trying to figure out what songs mean and whatnot. With Modest Mouse, it's more like: "oh... here's another song about God not existing. Okay."

That being said, I do really enjoy the album. The music is top notch, the production is awesome, and the writing is superb. I just wish there was more variation in song subject. Another thing to realize is that this is the remastered version of the album. It was released in 2004, and featured a new (better) cover and 4 live bonus tracks. I didn't include the tracks in this post because I feel it's mostly throwaway material, and I'd rather listen to the album the way it was originally intended, with no live cuts ruining the climactic ending.

Click here to download part 1 (65.03 MB)
Click here to download part 2 (63.05 MB)

Buy it!
CD / Digital Copy