Between Your Ear and the Other Ear

It was recorded at Dub Narcotic Studio in Olympia, Washington during the album sessions for It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water. The track features Khaela Maricich on vocals, with the record’s broader cast including Mirah, Jenn Kliese, Anna Oxygen, Karl Blau, Jason Wall, and Calvin Johnson. It appeared on the Microphones’ September 26, 2000 album It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water, one of the defining K Records releases of the era. The song helped show Phil Elverum’s move toward more deliberate collaboration and more fully shaped songwriting. The title and song became part of the album’s wider afterlife in indie rock and emo, including a later Tigers Jaw title that echoed it. It remains a notable example of the Microphones’ early collaborative period and of Elverum’s headphone-centered production style.