Pre-Human Ideas

Pre-Human Ideas is a compilation album released by Phil Elverum under the name Mount Eerie, on November 12, 2013. The album consists of computerised versions of songs from his 2012 releases Clear Moon and Ocean Roar, plus 2 organs excerpts from the songs 'Pale lights' and 'the Place Lives' from Clear Moon and Ocean Roar respectively.[1]

Pre-Human Ideas
Compilation album by Mount Eerie
Released	November 12, 2013
Recorded	2011-2013
Genre	Electronic, experimental
Length	41:10
Label	P.W. Elverum & Sun. (ELV 034)
Producer	Phil Elverum
Mount Eerie chronology
Live in Bloomington, September 30, 2011 (2013) Pre-Human Ideas (2013) Sauna (2015)

The album is a diversion from Elverum's typical sound with his vocals layered in autotune and pitched higher in some instances to resemble a female voice.[2]

Recording

Recording took place over the time span of 3 years in the recording studio 'unknown' in Anacortes, Washington.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	71/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Consequence of Sound	D[5]
Exclaim!	7/10[6]
Paste	8.8/10[7]
Pitchfork	7.2/10[8]
Sputnikmusic	4/5[2]
Under The Radar	8/10[9]

The album received generally positive reviews upon release. Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album has received an average score of 72 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[3]

Heather Phares of AllMusic wrote that the album was "More than just musical footnotes, these reworkings add extra depth to Mount Eerie's already complex body of work".[4] Alex Young of Consequence of Sound said of the album "overall, it’s barely more than a set of curios, which may have been better off released as a free download".[5] Eric Hill of Exclaim! described the album as "sweet and creepy" and thinking that the experimentation, on the whole, was a success.[6] Robert Ham of Paste wrote that the album "certainly has a welcome place in his vast and varied discography".[7]

Legacy

Eric Hill of Exclaim! Included the album in a guide to Elverum's music however told readers to avoid it.[10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"ORGANS (Pale Lights)"	06:00
2.	"No Inside, No Out"	01:51
3.	"I Say "No""	03:30
4.	"the Hidden Stone"	02:57
5.	"the Place Lives"	02:44
6.	"the Place I Live"	03:49
7.	"Lone Bell"	04:11
8.	"House Shape"	04:21
9.	"Clear Moon"	02:56
10.	"Yawning Sky"	03:16
11.	"Ocean Roar"	02:52
12.	"ORGANS (the Place Lives)"	02:38

Personnel

• Phil Elverum – songwriting, vocals

Production

• Timothy Stollenwerk – digital mastering
• John Golden – vinyl mastering

References

1. "Bandcamp". November 12, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
2. "Mount Eerie Pre Human Ideas". Sputnikmusic. November 12, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
3. "Pre-human Ideas". Metacritic. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
4. Phares, Heather. "Mount Eerie Pre-Human Ideas". AllMusic.
5. Young, Alex (November 14, 2013). "Mount Eerie – Pre-Human Ideas". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
6. Hill, Eric (November 11, 2013). "Mount Eerie Pre-Human Ideas". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
7. Ham, Robert (November 12, 2013). "Mount Eerie: Pre-Human Ideas". Paste. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
8. D. Larson, Jeremy (November 11, 2013). "Pre Human Ideas". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
9. "Mount Eerie Pre-Human Ideas". Under The Radar. November 22, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
10. Hill, Eric (March 21, 2017). "An Essential Guide to Mount Eerie, the Microphones and the World of Phil Elverum". Exclaim!. Retrieved 2020-07-22.