The Moon and Antarctica is one of two albums released in 2000 that, even at the end of the decade, still top “best of” lists, the other being Radiohead's Kid A. Notoriously out of print and fetching eBay prices well into the hundreds of dollars, the vinyl version of the album was finally reissued in honor of Record Store Day 2010 and is now once again available, and you can find it in our store. This edition is a double album that retains the original artwork (unlike the CD reissue from 2004) and comes with a full lyric sheet and a digital download.
It's a very cold album, and despite layers of loops and backmasked guitars, it retains a one-dimensional, lo-fi feel. This is arguably Modest Mouse's last and most developed foray through the indie garage rock style that early fans love them for, tones of 2004's more lush, pop-oriented Good News for People Who Love Bad News already peeking through Isaac Brock's yelps and frantic guitar. The vinyl edition of this album isn't too sonically distinct from its CD counterpart (the mix is the same as the 2004 reissue, not the original 2000 mix with which Brock was reportedly dissatisfied). The sequencing of the tracks helps break up a couple of the longer songs that always made the album difficult to listen to in one sitting for me. Fans of vinyl's unique properties will enjoy the locked groove on the end of the A side, turning “Perfect Disguise” into a hiccuping vocal loop and highlighting the potential infinity inherent in playing music on a circular track; otherwise, the album is identical to the CD release.
In one of the many deceptively-simple-yet-deep observations on the album, Brock considers that “anyone can equally, easily fuck you over.” Fortunately for us, this reissue of The Moon and Antarctica is a worthy addition to any vinyl collection, if only for its heretofore unattainable status, but most certainly also for the music contained within it.
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