- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
-
Nov 14, 2013These pseudo-mashups expand Elverum’s vision to a Cinerama-like depth of field with the picture beautifully warping around the edges. Whatever Elverum’s true intentions with this release, it certainly has a welcome place in his vast and varied discography.
-
Nov 22, 2013Ultimately, Pre-Human Ideas is less a testament to the untapped power of Auto-Tune than further testament to the genius of Elverum himself.
-
Nov 14, 2013On a very basic level Pre-Human Ideas may appear to be the work of an artist diving headfirst into insanity. But at its core the album is one of the most personal and engaging releases of Mount Eerie’s career.
-
Nov 14, 2013Pre-Human Ideas is a step toward breaking the barrier between disparate environments--mountains and websites--all by creating something using a simple computer program. Meditate on that during the organ prologue and epilogue here, and better know Phil Elverum.
-
Dec 11, 2013More than just musical footnotes, these reworkings add extra depth to Mount Eerie's already complex body of work.
-
UncutNov 20, 2013The synths and drum machines that supplant those albums' painstaking arrangements highlight robust songwriting underpinning standout "The Place I Live," while new vocal counter-melodies lift Elverum's "O Superman" choir out of the murk. [Dec 2013, p.70]
-
Nov 14, 2013While some results sound a little too much like a Speak and Spell, the compositions largely survive their robotic mutations, some even gaining new generations of melancholy and grayness via their detachment from the world of simple human emotion.
-
Nov 21, 2013This is another great move by a revered musician, but the delivery isn’t always as exciting as the idea.
-
Nov 14, 2013There is a somewhat disconcerting beauty to some of Pre-Human Ideas’ songs.
-
Nov 14, 2013Certainly there is enough here to delight die-hard fans. But, overall, it’s barely more than a set of curios, which may have been better off released as a free download.