The Moon and Antarctica
| The Moon & Antarctica | ||||
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| Studio album by Modest Mouse | ||||
| Released | June 13, 2000 | |||
| Recorded | July–November 1999 | |||
| Studio | Clava Studios in Chicago, Illinois | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Length | 59:43 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Producer | Brian Deck | |||
| Modest Mouse chronology | ||||
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| Alternative covers | ||||
Promo cover (2000)
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Reissue cover (2004)
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 82/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The Austin Chronicle |  |
| The List | |
| Melody Maker | |
| NME | 7/10 |
| Pitchfork | 9.8/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Select | 4/5 |
| The Village Voice | A− |
The Moon & Antarctica is the third studio album by American rock band Modest Mouse, first released by Epic Records on June 13, 2000. The album was the band's first release on a major label and was released on both compact disc and vinyl LP. It has since been reissued twice on CD and vinyl. The album peaked at number 120 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart.
The album was acclaimed and praised by fans and critics alike both for its in-depth discussion of dense subject matter and frontman Isaac Brock's clever and introspective lyrics. The album was also hailed for being an expansion of the band's unique sound. This was due both to the band's new major label budget and tools as well as the production of Brian Deck. The title of the album is taken from the opening scene of Blade Runner, where the main character is reading a newspaper, headlined: "Farming the Oceans, the Moon and Antarctica."
The album was the band's first released by a major record label, being issued on Epic Records. Despite the fans' common concern that the switch to a major record label would change the band's unique sound, Isaac Brock assured fans that this would not be the case, "I don't think the new album is at all overpolished or anything. We spent more time getting crazy sounds than making things sound polished."
The album was produced by Brian Deck, who first met the band on a concert in Detroit, "We ended up on a bill together at The Magic Stick in Detroit, and we got along really well, we hung out till the end of the night—and maybe consumed a fair amount of beer together." says Deck. Deck and Brock fell out of touch shortly thereafter, but reconnected a few years later, when Brock invited Califone (which included several members of Deck's band Red Red Meat) to hit the road as Modest Mouse's opening act.
The album was the first project to be recorded in Clava Studios in Chicago. When Modest Mouse band members arrived for the recording, the studio was not completely finished. Though Deck was mostly producing under Perishable Records at the time, and the studio was built mostly for Perishable projects, Deck had no problems producing under Epic Records. Despite being under a major label the band "remains largely self-managed and still drive themselves across the country on tour, "and Brock was fairly involved in the mixing process. Deck said of Brock's involvement that, "By the end of making the record, he was able to mastermind some cool maneuvers with plug-ins and Pro Tools. It wasn't so much that he was mixing, but he could look at a song, understand the musical event that he wanted to make happen, understand the tools at his disposal, relate it in a way that I could understand, and make it happen pretty quickly."
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