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The Microphones was the alias of Anacortes, WA-based lo-fi psych-pop mastermind Phil Elvrum, also known for his work as a member of K Records bands D+ and Old Time Relijun. Following a series of cassettes on the local Knw-Yr-Own label, including Wires and Cords, Tests, and a self-titled effort, the Microphones issued their first full-length effort, also titled Tests, on the Elsinor label in the autumn 1999. Don't Wake Me Up appeared on K the next summer, followed in 2000 by Window and It Was Hot We Stayed in the Water. 2001 saw the release of The Glow Pt. 2, which added new dimensions to the Microphones' sprawling sound. Shortly after the release of 2003's concept album Mt. Eerie, Elvrum decided to retire the Microphones moniker and continued to tour and record under the name of the collective's last album.

After the release of the Microphones' 2003 album Mount Eerie, Washington State-based songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Phil Elverum took that title as the name of his subsequent project, which expanded on the searching feel of the Microphones' music. He founded the label P.W. Elverum and Son Ltd., releasing a pair of CD-Rs, Seven New Songs of Mt. Eerie and Mt. Eerie Dances with Wolves/Wolf Mountain Howls in the World in 2004 before Mount Eerie's debut album No Flashlight became the label's first official Mount Eerie release in 2005. A CD/LP set with a poster that holds the record for the world's largest album cover, No Flashlight set the tone for Mount Eerie's further, intricately packaged releases, which were prolific; they included The Drums from No Flashlight, Singers (which featured different vocalists singing Elverum's songs), and the electronic-tinged 11 Old Songs of Mount Eerie, all of which also arrived in 2005. 2007 saw the release of a Microphones single, Don't Smoke/Get Off the Internet and Mount Eerie, Pts. 6 & 7, a picture disc and book of photographs, which was the sequel to the Microphones album that started it all. 2008's Black Wooden Ceiling Opening EP introduced Elverum's concept of playing "black metal with natural materials" and featured a different version of "Don't Smoke." Later that year, the concert DVD Fog Movies Live and a split single with No Kids preceded Lost Wisdom, a collaboration with Eric's Trip and Broken Girl singer Julie Doiron and guitarist Fred Squire. Dawn, a journal/CD set written during Elverum's stay in Norway in late 2002/early 2003, was expected late in 2008, and Wind's Poem was scheduled for spring 2009.