Deerhunter!

I'm listening to the Fluorescent Grey EP today for the millionth time, and I think what makes better, in addition to the improved songwriting and crisper recording, is the more mature playing on drums. On their first album, supposedly he had only played drums for a few months, and even on Cryptograms he was still a little shaky, and sounded like most drummers do after around 2-3 years of playing.

On Fluorescent Grey he sounds much more restrained, fluid and powerful. Maybe I'm just noticing it because I've played drums for a long time, but he sounds like he's finally hit that zone where he can play instinctively.

Like I said, the songs themselves are better, too. With 6 or 7 Fluorescent Grey caliber songs and a few instrumentals thrown in, I have really high hopes for their next release, whenever that may come.

sucks, really a lot. live show? terrible. literally a disaster. just further proof that pitchfork really does brainwash people.

whether they intend to or not.

WILL SUCCESS SPOIL DEER HUNTER?

haha. don't call this as backlash. i've been holding back for a long time on that one. really, seeing them live i was literally amazed at how awkward they all were with their instruments. rather than feeling like i was seeing "wire in '77" like the above commenter, i thought that i was caught in one of those sick fake-band money-making schemes. it amazes me that someone decided to compare their music to harold budd's, given that they're practically the direct opposite of sophistication.

The second time I saw them (at the Pitchfork festival, hardy har har) was a lot worse than the first, but I chalked that up to the terrible sound. I think they forgot to turn the snare drum mic on for half the show, and at times all of the sound out of the entire right half of the speakers would cut in and out intermittently.

Who compared them to Harold Budd? I'm guessing it was just a lazy reference to their instrumentals, which at times assume an ambient structure.

sucks, really a lot. live show? terrible. literally a disaster. just further proof that pitchfork really does brainwash people.

but then who brainwashed pitchfork?

i'm not sold on these guys myself, they come across to me as just another of the many bands who can't get over how cool it sounds if you turn the reverb way up on all the instruments and make everything all blurry

but then who brainwashed pitchfork?

The underpants gnomes, obvs.

I'm in Boston for the summer, and one night in July I had to make a choice. Deerhunter, the Besnard Lakes, and Dan Deacon were all playing simultaneous shows at three different clubs. I saw the Besnard Lakes. They were quite good.

Was this decision wise or foolish? Perhaps only time will tell...

they come across to me as just another of the many bands who can't get over how cool it sounds if you turn the reverb way up on all the instruments and make everything all blurry

Yeah, I can see that. Last time I saw them I was struck by what a combination they are of perhaps the two biggest musical influences of the early 1990s, Nirvana and MBV. From Nirvana, and the Pixies by extension, they take the softer verse-loud chorus dynamic, with the hazy, reverbed-out blast of a chorus taken from MBV. Deerhunter use that trick on many of their songs that have vocals, and your appreciation of Cryptograms depends largely on how much you like the sound of echoing, looping vocals and guitars crashing into each other. I like the trick a lot, myself. I was more impressed with the Flourescent Grey EP because they didn't rely on that trick so much. Their songwriting evolved into something much more unique.

Z S pretty much otm. I love their one trick and, by extension, Cryptograms and their live show... but yeah, Fluorescent Grey is something else. I'm not quite sure what yet. but I'm excited, so there's that.

but then who brainwashed pitchfork?

The underpants gnomes, obvs.

-- Drooone, Monday, August 6, 2007 8:31 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

obviously it doesn't take actual brainwashing, it just has to be your buddy's band, or to come out on kranky. it probably is great for someone close to them to be doing what they're doing. the records actually sound fine, professional, i'd just hold way back on calling them great.

Last time I saw them I was struck by what a combination they are of perhaps the two biggest musical influences of the early 1990s, Nirvana and MBV.

I hear that. I also hear early R.E.M. in Deerhunter's sound. They both have that hazy, mysterious Southern Gothic Rock sound and -- for some Deerhunter songs, at least -- I can hear the same "big beat" that there was in early R.E.M. I'm thinking more of the stuff on Deerhunter's EP (especially Fluorescent Grey), which I think is much better than the full-length disc.

just further proof that pitchfork really does brainwash people.

Pitchfork was the only place that hyped this band. And certainly not every magazine, blog, college radio station, podcast and MTV2 on earth.

there actually was an mtv news "segment" on the "burgeoning atlanta indie scene" that profiled deerhunter, black lips and snowden. suffice to say that the term "psych-rock" was thrown around quite a bit.

I like how because one dude doesn't like it, everyone who does was "brainwashed" by Pitchfork.

I mean how can I respond to that? I'm brainwashed so my opinions aren't my own!

<I>I'm in Boston for the summer, and one night in July I had to make a choice. Deerhunter, the Besnard Lakes, and Dan Deacon were all playing simultaneous shows at three different clubs. I saw the Besnard Lakes. They were quite good.

Was this decision wise or foolish? Perhaps only time will tell...</I>

Maybe not for Deerhunter (I liked it but wasn't completely destroyed or anything) but I imagine this was the show @ the ICA? Was gorgeous, such an excellent space. After the first track they opened the black curtains along the back that opens out into the harbor and they played down the sunset. The KFW opener was absolutely gorgeous too.

just saying its a lot easier to folks to walk around saying that deerhunter was an amazing live-show, a new, progressive, uncompromising sound without giving it a second, or possibly first, thought when pitchfork writes about them constantly that way (and all their activities) than it would be if say Stylus or any other web publication would

this sums up what i was saying much more nicely.

excerpt from andy beta's 'beta blog': But as I get this Deerhunter assignment, I find the disc more enjoyable, though nothing brilliant. It's a good start, nothing less or more. Hopefully it augurs well their next few years, allowing them to really do something, but for now, they remain just this pretty good rock band. Why do they deserve such a shitstorm of praise following them everywhere?

During my phone interview, I ask singer Bradford Cox about what it means for Deerhunter to be deemed 'insane.'

Cox asks me upfront: "When you saw us were you let down?"

“Sorta. I mean, I didn't see what anyone was talking about.”

"That’s because you're a rational, sane person," he laughed. "You wanna know the secret? You're probably a nice dude, that's what it is. It's your problem, not mine, buddy. You're too nice, rational, and smart. Let me tell you why. If you wanna know what this 'insane live show' boils down to is: people have never seen a skinny person before get on stage and not be shy about it. I don't have to do anything. I just have a weird appearance."

Such is hype.

just saying its a lot easier to folks to walk around saying that deerhunter was an amazing live-show, a new, progressive, uncompromising sound without giving it a second, or possibly first, thought when pitchfork writes about them constantly that way (and all their activities) than it would be if say Stylus or any other web publication would

Does this suggest that Pitchfork now informs what we consider a good live show? I've been to enough shows to know damn well when a band has kicked my ass. New? Nope. Progressive? Hardly. Uncompromising? That's a bullshit word. Loud, exciting, well-performed? Fuckin' a. The album and ep are both decent, I wouldn't put them where pitchfork has but what the hell. I give enough credit to ILM to believe that everyone in this thread has judged them on their own merits and not what a website has said.

Sorry, but you did not like that show as much as you thought you did. Pitchfork brainwashed you, bro. :(

My whole life is a lie! I need to go listen to some Okkervil River leaks.

taking the cure to talk ironically about likes, i like how you latch onto a word that i obviously used without much seriousness and are taking it as a cause to act snarky. i also like how you act like you're taking these things personally, for yourself or on behalf of other people, ignoring that everyone who posts here does so probably to voice their opinion rather than try to convince someone of anything.

i'm just as happy to stop giving this band lip service as you are for me to.

just saying its a lot easier to folks to walk around saying that deerhunter was an amazing live-show, a new, progressive, uncompromising sound without giving it a second, or possibly first, thought when pitchfork writes about them constantly that way (and all their activities) than it would be if say Stylus or any other web publication would

I'd argue the opposite. Pitchfork can definitely create hype (see: Arcade Fire, Shins), but they can also create a backlash (see: Arcade Fire, Shins), once a band gets pegged as a Pitchfork Band. If Pitchfork would've never reviewed Deerhunter, perhaps I wouldn't have to deal with assertions that I only like them because I've been 'brainwashed'. Although, I suppose the truth is that I was primarily brainwashed by Stylus and Dusted Magazine, where I first read about Deerhunter. I only like music that I'm brainwashed into liking.

pitchfork hasn't broken a band in ages, you people are nuts.

http://jasonmystic.net/hypnotist.jpg

errrrr
http://jasonmystic.net/hypnotist.jpg

Also, not all of that hype was particularly positive. When those stories came out on Pitchfork about Deerhunter's blog, it almost seemed as if there was a lot of tension between the two.

honestly, I was kinda surprised/impressed that pitchfork even reviewed Cryptograms, cuz it hadn't really struck me as the kind of that they would normally be into.

*"the kind of thing that" etc etc

So, anyone else heard the new Atlas Sound record? I'm really loving it. I'd almost say it was by far the best thing I've heard all year (mainly electronic, occasional guitars and live drums accompany, keyboards that gravitate between "Zuckerzeit" era Cluster, Talk Talk, I hear a little Seefeel in it too). However, I just downloaded the new EP at the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound blog, and the second song on it, "Activation", sounding remotely unlike anything on either the Deerhunter records or his own full length, blows everything they've ever done out of the water.

The Joe Meek cover at the end is similarly great, with the same sort of spaghetti western produced sound.

I am digging Atlas Sound, we got it at KOPN this week. Proceeding to check out this new ep, too. Thanks for the heads up, Zach.

No problem, Sean.

http://www.gifs.net/Animation11/Animals/Cats/big_cat.gif

You know, delete "Hunting Quail" from that EP's playlist, and it's a pretty consistently great release. Best free thing I've downloaded all year. Dude puts up new songs about every four or five days, steadily. He's like a good Bob Pollard that's nice enough to release all the extra stuff as free, the night of recording, even. New touring band lineup looks goods, too:

B. COX (GUITAR, BASS, VOCALS)
BRIAN FOOTE (SYNTH, SAMPLER, PERCUSSION, VOCALS)
ADAM FORKNER (GUITAR, EFFECTS, LOOPS, DRUMS)
STEPHANIE MACKSEY (DRUMS, GUITAR)
HONEY OWENS (BASS, VOCALS, GUITAR)

Sorry, I don't mean to shout the names out, I just apple-X and apple-T'd it over from the website.

Uh, I apple-V'd it, I mean, not apple-T.

Atlas Sound are all right. Nothing fantastic tho.

the new album is pretty fantastic

You mean the Atlas Sound disc or the forthcoming Deerhunter disc?

yeah the new one is really "pretty"

So less rock-oriented than the debut? Is it more like the soft(er) electronic sounds on Atlas Sounds?

This guy records/releases a lot of music.

yeah daniel the new one is called microcastle

there are some quieter non-ambient moments but they're not electronic perse

just really nice guitar strumming

Do you know which label it's coming out on and (generally) when?

(I'm asking because if it's on Kranky, it should appear on eMusic).

i'm pretty sure they're still on kranky but i don't think this has a date yet

I've listened to this three times through. It's not bad at all. I'd rate it at about Cryptograms level of quality, which is decent, but after the awesome awesomeness of Fluorescent Grey, the Atlas Sound LP, and some of the random free tracks that get uploaded at deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com ("Activation", "Cloves" and "Sea Burial", specificially), I can't help but feel pretty disappointed.

That "trick" I was talking about upthread, busting into the MBV/Pixies/Nirvana chorus - I miss it, I can't lie. I think I remember reading somewhere that they went into the recording process with the intent to not use their various loop stations that they use in the live show, or at least not RELY on them. I miss the loop stations. Fluorescent Grey and the Atlas Sound LP are night time, woozy hazy records. The new one is sobering.

the new one is like summer backyard drinking jamz at least like half of it is (compared to atlas sound, cryptograms/floursecent grey)

sounds horrible.

Yeah, I've had the same thought a few times as I listen to it. I'm going to give it one more go, tonight, in "fuzzy" mode. I'm rooting for some sort of personal breakthrough with this. (plz post this in ILX posters casually mentioning ilicit or dangerous hobbies they engage in in an attempt to sound cool thread thanks)

i saw them in concert last night in paris, and cox made some girl from the audience read into the microphone the description of him in in the program, which included the phrase, 'anorexic giant.' he wanted the journalist that wrote it to come down to the stage so he could pee on him. 'this festival can suck my big american dick.'

i did my best to make that sound not amusing, because it wasn't.

he was quite amusing at Primavera. he regaled us with a little tale of witnessing a woman getting "finger banged" in a castle in Malaga.

the music was good though!

i am starting to hear the doowoop- Everly bros connection on certain songs, on others not so much. it's a record where he's not really moving forward, but sideways, whether that's a good or bad thing, i still can't tell.

alos, it's weird how his voice sounds different from record to record, sometimes from song to song. the thing about this band i've noticed is that about half of their records (flourescent grey excepted) are really great, the other half are sonically pleasant but not very engaging, boderline boring I would say.

does atlas sound deserve its own thread?

wow, that Atlas Sound EP is pretty good. can't believe I hadn't listened to it until now. mega bonus points to the Joe Meek cover, and even more bonus points for the intro reminding me of "Pueblo Domain", one of those awesome Pavement songs I always forget exists.

Er, sorry dudez I'm finally coming around on this. "Nothing Ever Happened" finally clicked for me tonight. What a striking structure! The chorus, perfect, only comes around once. You spend the whole rest of the song waiting for it to come back around, but instead you get pitchbending keyboard leads all the way home. I don't know what this record is, what mood it's for, if I'll come back to it later. It's confounding. YES.

does atlas sound deserve its own thread?

If he puts out another release as good as the last one, yes. Either way, an Atlas Sound thread won't happen for another 3-4 years (if the internet is still around then (if the WORLD is still around then ahahaha)).

they'll never do anything as good as Flourescent Grey again though, I think

i think cryptograms is awful and up until bradford tuned his schtick down i actively hated this band, but microcastle is a minor miracle imo. just completely chill, great drum sound, haunting if you want it to be but also relaxing and warm if you want it to be that. "nothing ever happened" is already a classic and the album starts and ends really well.

bradford was great at pfork too

I just finished listening to cryptograms like 15 minutes ago. I think it's a great album.

So a girl I used to know apparently joined this band recently. I guess I should check them out, what should I expect? All I got from Wikipedia was that they have "antics" of some sort and that they have an album called "Turn It Up, Faggot" which doesn't really inspire me...but they're good?

i dig 'em.
get the fluorescent grey ep.

seriously who woulda thought they could lock into a groove like the one on "nothing ever happened"

yea, i'm not a huge fan of cryptograms, but microcastle is doing it for me. 'twilight at carbon lake' kicking my ass

i think cryptograms is awful and up until bradford tuned his schtick down i actively hated this band

Sort of surprised you feel this way, Jordan. A lot of Cryptograms washes over me and I can't recall specific tunes, but it has a great vibe, and a dangerous edge that's sometimes sorely lacking in indie. But I'm glad to hear you like the new disc.

get the fluorescent grey ep.

Yeah, it's much poppier than Cryptograms. And the first song on it -- Fluorescent Grey -- is where all the experimenting and fusing of drone and ambient and rock really pay off. The song is swirling and driving and has great texture and a real edge to it.

i still think their best moment 'like new.'

im not into ambience really, and things that i let wash over me are usually happy/sunny stuff (something like the ruby suns maybe) so if i just thought cryptograms was really boring. couldn't grasp any of it, but it's not my type of music either so it's not so much an indictment of the album as something larger i guess.

i don't like when bands like this try on "pop", it just never clicks with me. the songs on here that i love, "agoraphobia"/"never stops"/"nothing ever happened" are really propulsive even in a back-porch/relaxed type way

which makes the ambient stuff here way more special imo

Ah. I was just about to ask whether the new songs are less ambient/droning and more pop-oriented.

get the fluorescent grey ep.

Can't be said enough, really.

i know there was an interview on pitchfork with bradford (done by marc hogan i think) that's not this one http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/43085-interview-deerhunter

id like to read it but the current incarnation of pfork's search feature is the worst on the internet i think and i'm tired of filtering through google results

help

maybe im making this up actually

this one? http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/42945-deerhunters-cox-talks-lp3-atlas-sound-dresses

Never Stops is one of my fave songs of 2008 thus far....

this might be the one:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/47762-interview-atlas-sound

yesss

thanks dude

Jordan, want some advice? Be wary of any interview/blog entry involving Bradford. Dude makes great music, consistently and prolifically, but he's stuck in the mindset of a 17-year-old boy. A good number of people hate Deerhunter/Atlas Sound based upon the dumb things he has said or done, without ever hearing more than 2 songs. Anyways, I digress, but the point is that reading a substantial amount of what he has to say is more likely to diminish rather than enhance your appreciation of his music.

and that they have an album called "Turn It Up, Faggot"

I still have never gotten around to listening to this, and I doubt I will anytime soon, since Bradford basically disowns it every time someone brings it up.

funny you say that cuz i was gonna post in here about how much his rambling shit in this interview makes me like him/identify with him a lot more than if someone just gave me an untitled cd-r. maybe its cuz i've always been slightly fascinated w/ bradford even when i thought the music was awful (i remember reading this interview pretty clearly even though at the time i hated deerhunter and thought atlas sound was just "nice", which is i was looking for this interview specifically), but i couldn't imagine listening to deerhunter in "just listening to the music" mode. i think he's a really interesting and conflicted dude that i identify closely with which is why i even bothered to spend time w/ microcastle and makes me even happier to like it.

haha, even better for you then!

Yeah, although I advised not reading his interviews and blog, I guess I really advise not letting it ruin the music for you, if it rubs you the wrong way. Myself, I read pretty much everything he says like a pathetic fanboy. Once you get into it, it's like sitting in on therapy with a strange child.

Thanks for the tips, y'all - I'll do some seeking around, prolly this Fluorescent Gray thing...

You're welcome. I'd say to grab that song (Fluorescent Grey) in particular.

I can't believe how early this leaked. How long til I can actually buy it, end of October? It leaked almost 5 months early...Sheesh. 2008 man, 2008.

As usual, my gut assessment was totally off. It's a good thing I'm terrible at writing about music (good thing I'm posting on ILM, amirite?), because I'm completely incapable of making good snap judgments. This fucking rules. It's still not as consistent as Fluorescent Grey, but hey, this is 12 good-to-great songs in a row, can't complain.

A heads up for those interested:

Kranky finally has the Atlas Sound album on vinyl, and similarly to the Cryptograms+Fluorescent Grey package, it will be augmented with the 6-track Another Bedroom EP (which I haven't yet heard).

Meanwhile, the countdown to the Microcastles release continues, and for me at least, it's holding up quite well upon repeated listens.

im surprised/happy at how much i love microcastle

has anyone heard weird era cont.?

Yeah, what's the deal with that? I was just catching up with their blog (surprise, surprise: more controversy!) and his last post has all this stuff about Logos (apparently the new Atlas Sound album that will be out next year) and Weird Era material leaking. I'm doing a little "internet research" right now.

yeah i tried to find either of those online but i couldn't

my favorite atlas sound thing is the live recording from lisbon

Ah. Someone on the deerhunter forum posted this a few weeks ago:

Bradford accidentally posted a link to his mediafire account, people on atease discovered said mistake [which was in place for at least six + hours]. New Deerhunter album was found, Weird Era Cont., [which is most probably the "surprise" to come with the physical Microcastles] alongside a complete demo version of the Logos album and a few remixes/demos/artwork that hadn't been made available. Feel sorry for the guy, but I have listened so am probably a bad person.

I am live blogging my perusal of other forums. This is internet 3.EXTREME

I guess after he discovered the leak, he freaked out and posted a picture of him flipping blog readers off, and then said he was going to totally scrap the whole album now, named the post something like "R.I.P. Logos 2007-2008", etc. But now he has apologized, deleted said post, and replaced it with a picture of him giving the peace sign. All is well.

Oh, I guesss Stereogum covered this on Aug. 18th: http://stereogum.com/archives/so-much-drama-on-deerhunters-blog_015211.html

The era of extreme internet is over.

this band is so heroic

May as well bump this thread too. Jordan have you heard Weird Era Cont. yet? What other band releases a free bonus LP along with their "official" release, and then makes the bonus material even better? Deerhunter for prez!

for me, it wasn't better, but it surely was of very high quality. i especially love how he fleshed out "calvary scars," which was one of my favorites on "Microcastle"

OMG this "microcastles" thing is so good! who knew?

me

i'm a bit mystified by the reaction to this record.. i don't mind the album, 'never stops' and 'nothing ever happened' are pretty good, but the rest seems rather unremarkable at best

shudder to think what the songs are "at worst!"

well, i think calvary scars and cover me slowly are both crap

I'm not entirely sold on this album yet. But it's growing on me. I can tell it's a grower. Last night I listened to it backwards (last track first, first track last) and it worked rather well.

prob my album of the year.

I think I'm on the same page as ESOJ here. Wished I could get more excited by it, but bar a couple of songs, it's a bit of a snoozer. Not made it to Weird Era yet though.

Those of you that dig Atlas Sound would do well to check this out:

http://southernshelter.com/2009/01/atlas-sound-drunken-unicorn-123108.html

A solo set with a bunch of new songs. "Quick Canal" is the standout new song, imo. It reaaally gets cooking, especially around 4:00-6:00 in. If he can build it to that kind of an intensity all by himself (it's a solo set), I can't wait to see how a properly recorded version would sound, either as Atlas Sound or with the rest of Deerhunter.

Anyone pick up the $30.00 UK version of the Atlas Sound album that came with the bonus disc? I found it used for 1/3 retail price, listened once, new tracks are pretty nice if a bit similar to the album tracks.

I got the 2xLP a few months ago from Kranky that has the same bonus material(the Recent Bedroom EP). I enjoyed it and didn't mind the similarity to the album itself, since I really liked the album. But yeah, it doesn't represent the same kind of huge leap forward that that Fluorescent Grey EP did, or overwhelm with variety and volume like Weird Era.

http://stereogum.com/archives/mp3/new-deerhunter-rainwater-cassette-exchange_065012.html

^ is that out?

It's on eMusic, so yeah.

I was just about to revive this!

I've been listening to it today for the first time. "Disappearing Ink" is awesome.

I'm still a bit underwhelmed by the title track, which I guess is the track that's being "pushed" (by that I mean it's the one that you see streaming on various music sites and blogs).

dr. glass

Got a promo yesterday, but then had to miss them live last night. Good. Bad. Happy. Sad.

Saw them last night, fantastic show. Pure joy flying around the room.

that "diamonds" song is the only one i could do without. but you know, i still prefer atlas sound overall.

Looking forward to this.

MAIN STAGE
A round robin collaborative experience featuring:
DAN DEACON/ DEERHUNTER/ NO AGE
W/ Ed Schrader, White Rainbow & Infinite Body

??

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3445/3743448982_6ff83265c9_b.jpg

they were kinda boring live but i don't think they're suited for this particular "round robin collaborative experience" thing. the spectacle of it was pretty cool and interesting even if it fails execution-wise. maybe it'll gel better further along the tour?

gonna see this show on thurs, without knowing any of those bands' songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_rvs_hoL_E

I saw Dan Deacon last fall on his last Round Robin tour, and it wasn't that good. A lot of 15 year olds and some weird band singing about how "We're building a ghost town!"

That being said, this is a much better lineup than what they put together last time.

that was the opener in that clip and probably the best part of the night. the rest of it involved each band taking turns playing one song and the crowd moving stage to stage each time. funny to watch in a schizo way, they would go apeshit for no age then chillout for deerhunter then back again. i really really don't get dan deacon although one of his songs was pretty cool but mostly i don't get his audience/fans. bet someone could write a good paper tying it to fascism or state-sponsored crowd control ;). also, his fans exhibited the absolute worst examples of dancing, or non-dancing dancing, i've ever seen outside of a wedding reception. could probably just be chalked up to LOL WHITE PEOPLE but could just be LOL INDIE

could probably just be chalked up to LOL WHITE PEOPLE but could just be LOL INDIE

This is the same thing as far as I'm concerned.

lol you can see at the very end of that clip all the kids started doing some weird jazz-hands thing en masse just as he was starting his first song. crazy kids and their cult musician leaders! he had a cool light-show gizmo setup going along with his music.

</old man yells at cloud>

weird era cont. is the best

even better than CARVE YOUR INITALS INTO THE WALLS OF THE NIGHT?

if thats anything like their other old stuff ('turn it up..') it probably sux

that reminds me though, what do people recommend on that blog as far as all the atlas sound shit he puts on there

Recording the new LP at the moment with Ben Allen in the engineering seat. I look forward to hearing this!!

so that means a 2011 release, i assume?

Really?

i was asking, not insisting.

In the past they've had pretty quick turn around on LP's and i tend to enjoy their less polished work; mainly Fluorescent Grey and Weird Era but also Turn it up Faggot.
There's no mention of a release date that i can find.

I like this band! It's a pleasure to be enjoying this type of music again. I know I'm late but I had dismissed them because of their terrible name, but this is great. Atlas Sound good too.

If I was like, 17, I would be tacking pictures of Deerhunter to my wall, I think

FYI:
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

I have a friend who does that shit with Deerhunter and he's 27 or 28...

xp

"a friend"

I have this friend who got a bj and now he's got these open sores down there but he's not sure if maybe that's normal sometimes and he's afraid to tell his mom…what should my friend do

ban Z S

My poor friend

Roll some Honey Nut (must be Honey Nut) Cheerios up with some tobacco and smoke them, down to the very end. You'll get crazy high and then be cured of all known diseases. My friend taught me this.

xp

http://theaudioperv.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/thedearhuntersingle.jpg

from Magiska by TishTash May 24, 2011:

The Deer Hunter – The Color Spectrum – 2011

01. Filth And Squalor (Black) (04:01)
02. Deny It All (Red) (03:35)
03. But There’s Wolves? (Orange) (04:06)
04. She’s Always Singing (Yellow) (02:45)
05. Things That Hide Away (Green) (03:24)
06. The Canopy (Green) (03:53)
07. Trapdoor (Blue) (03:53)
08. What Time Taught Us (Indigo) (04:06)
09. Lillian (Violet) (04:07)
10. Home (White) (03:55)
11. Fall And Flee (White) (04:05)

Casey Crescenzo has never been one to release a straightforward album. There seems to be a pattern of an underlying concept driving every one of his records, dating back to his past work with The Receiving End of Sirens and his current band The Dear Hunter. The Dear Hunter announced that The Color Spectrum would be a collection of nine EPs of four songs each, for every color in the ROYGBIV spectrum, along with Black and White, to be released on June 14th in vinyl and digital formats, as well as a compilation of 11 of the 36 tracks in CD and digital formats. The compilation reveals that Crescenzo is not only a mad genius who is able to make a story out of any concept, but also a highly talented musician able to tack multiple genres.

“Filth and Squalor” – Black EP

“Filth and Squalor” is the second song released from the first EP, along with “This Body,” which was released a few weeks ago. With the two songs as indication, fans can expect a heavily electronic, Radiohead-esque collection, with condemning lyrics confronting the actions of man.

“Deny It All” – Red EP

This looks to be the most alternative, straightforward of the EPs. Featuring guest vocals from Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestraand instrumentals by the rest of the band, the song comes off as a southern rocker focusing on religion.

“But There’s Wolves?” – Orange EP

“But There’s Wolves?” has all the fuzz and swing of ‘70s rock anthems similar to bands like latter era The Rolling Stones andAerosmith. Featuring Crescenzo’s soaring vocals and a blistering solo in the bridge of the song, this EP is sure to please classic rock fans.

“She’s Always Singing” – Yellow EP

More similar to fun. and Panic! At the Disco than anything previously done by Crescenzo, “She’s Always Singing” is one of the more intriguing songs on the collection. An upbeat, bouncing take on love, chalk full of gang vocal “ba-ba-bas” and Beach Boys-esque humming, this is surely a song that captures the summer spirit.

“Things That Hide Away” and “The Canopy” – Green EP

The two songs here feature plenty of slide guitar and acoustics, giving this EP an Americana, rootsy feel to both songs. Sure to be a favorite among fans of Wilco and country.

“Trapdoor” – Blue EP

Crescenzo does his best attempt at a croon on “Trapdoor,” which is the most “slow-dance” styled song on the collection. With this song as a signal, it seems the Blue EP will be the most relationship-based EP in the collection.

“What Time Taught Us” – Indigo EP

Much like the Black EP, “What Time Taught Us” features heavily electronic instrumentation, though not as heavy and biting as the previous collection. The band captures a dreamlike sound that fits the song perfectly, along with repeating vocals and dancing keys.

“Lillian” – Violet EP

“Lillian” is the most similar to the songs from the Act series, primarily the second chapter, featuring heavy strings and Crescenzo’s gravelly higher range. This is a favorite of mine from the collection and is sure to be a favorite among fans of the previous works by the band.

“Home” and “Fall and Flee” – White EP

Both songs feature effects on vocals, giving them a soothing (and fitting) heavenly feel, considering the color. The pair make up some of the “happier” songs on the collection.

Overall, the idea of The Color Spectrum might make some scratch their heads as it is intensely different from the storyline featured on every other The Dear Hunter release. However, this is a must-own for fans of Crescenzo, as it shows just how much of a musical genius he is.

wrong band

how funny, this is what i get when i don't check facts and post while drinking.

sorry board.

so is the new Lotus Plaza that good? i'd like to hear it, but the damn BNM tag means its been sold out everywhere i've looked this week

Really really listening to Lindsey Buckingham's 'Law and Order' for the first time, getting some serious perspective on Atlas Sound.

Esp "Mary Lee Jones", "I'll Tell You Now", "It Was I" ... the whole record seems like it must've been a real touchstone for Bradford Cox. The 50s rock influences, synths, production sound, subject matter, vocal treatments. At some points their voices even sound kind of similar.

They'll be doing Cryptograms, Microcastle & Halcyon Digest in full at a newly announced ATP next June: http://www.atpfestival.com/events/deerhunter.php

new album, may 7

http://pitchfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/content/DH_Mono_CoverArt_zps0ba17472.jpg?wmode=transparent

pumped as usual

Tracklist:

01 Neon Junkyard
02 Leather Jacket II
03 The Missing
04 Pensacola
05 Dream Captain
06 Blue Agent
07 T.H.M.
08 Sleepwalking
09 Back to the Middle
10 Monomania
11 Nitebike
12 Punk (La Vie Anté:rieure)

shoulda used the press photo as the cover imo
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/as/deerhunter-2013.jpg

yeah, i was thinking the same thing!

<3 this song title

02 Leather Jacket II

It's so funny that Bradford's back in dresses again!

http://distilleryimage5.s3.amazonaws.com/5cb7c3da078f11e2864822000a1e8ae8_7.jpg

This is about ten years old. I'm behind Bradford on his left.

There can't be any happiness involved in maintaining that anorexic level of skinniness.FFS.

see first reply in this thread, and response.

oh. guess in my response to that i didn't elaborate beyond "he has that disorder. forgot it's name". anyway.

Sorry that was a piss-poor contribution, didn't read it from the start.

But at the moment my wife is suffering from a terminal disease and can barely walk and has perma-migraines so my sympathy only has a limited reach.

"Leather Jacket II" is crazy delicious/disjointed

Great album but I'm still coming to grips with is

And I'm someone who'd kinda written Deerhunter off

(And post-Logos AS too)

lol, there's only one post-Logos album! people didn't seem to like that one much, but i thought it was awesome.

Is it streaming somewhere?

the last atlas sound was awesome!

yeah Parallax might be my very fav Atlas Sound. definitely preferred it to Halcyon Digest, tho I still need to give the latter another chance

Woah what is this leaked or something?

Yeah Bradford has Marfan syndrome (same thing Joey Ramone had), which is why he's skinny and has a concave chest.

My drummer loves this band and Atlas Sound. I just hear extremely weedy psychedelia whenever he plays it - Grizzly Bear but even more hollowed-out. Am I wrong?

stoked. that press photo.. who are those dudes? looks like maybe drummer and lockett on the left but no idea about the other two

guy on the far right is the replacement for the bassist, who left recently (i think). second to right has been in the band a long time (i think) but seems to keep a low profile

lovelovelove this album. title track is a MONSTER.

guy on the far right is the replacement for the bassist, who left recently (i think). second to right has been in the band a long time (i think) but seems to keep a low profile
― your holiness, we have an official energy drink (Z S), Thursday, March 28, 2013 1:14 PM

ok i figured one had to be new bassist. the other guy was not with them when saw them live. its not the black lips guy?

Shame about the bass player. He was a beast, his propulsive playing drives all my favourite Deerhunter songs. Fucking wrecked out his mind every time I've seen them live though. Shame.

New non-bass player member is Frankie Broyles, who was in ATL garage bank The Balkans. They were going on tour w Atlas Sound a year or two ago but i think they broke up before they went on tour or something. Frankie does cool shoegaze solo stuff and ended up opening as a solo act on the tour, and he's been working w Bradford pretty regularly ever since.

Josh, Moses and Lockett all got married last year. I can't wait to hear the new stuff but I'll miss Josh. I was enthralled with the bass riff on "Cryptograms" from the first time i heard it.

garage bank LOL

sometimes ATL feels like a garage bank

oh, i liked the one Balkans song i heard. RIP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYUENZQ84-E

^^^^ That's the one

wacky fallon performance

new album is far better than the last one to my ears. much more upbeat and garagey, lots of fun.

^^^
THIS

"Let's quit with tons of studio experiments and just rock like a band again"

thought that their last album had some of the band's most upbeat moments ever tbh (fountain stairs, coronado) but yeah i'm excited to hear it

Yeah I always thought the bass parts were the most compelling. Bummer I guess, but I haven't heard the new record at all yet.

garagey

i don't consider this a good thing tbh

trust me markers this album is a good thing

i hope you're right for the sake of humanity

if you're wrong we're all fucked

I'm as right as a subjective opinion can ever be.

WOW, the fallon performance blew me away

Best thing about that performance was obviously Brad walking through the hall. I was kinda hoping for something more punk and raw based on the hype, this pretty much sounds like HD-era Deerhunter song w an extra guitar.

Which is still GREAT EFFING MUSIC imo. Just not as strange or surprising as i was hoping for.

what do they think about the band "the dear hunter"

great name

They are probably just glad they did not name their band "The Dear Hunter"

Monomania song reminds me of early Telescopes. Probably had a lot to do with that wig.

new bassist is Josh McKay from Macha

that fallon performance was incredible

he kinda looked like a zombie John Cooper Clarke on the show

fucking lol at this interview http://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/deerhunter-really-really-dislike-morrissey-and-the-smiths

"The Smiths wrote complaint slips that nobody read. Morrissey's influence is so crippling that it could even deteriorate the flower of modern creative thought. It's like a pungent death shroud over the future and the past."

he's a great, GREAT interviewee.

I've never liked anything I've heard by them, but that interview makes me want to try again. I tried again withThe Smiths a few months ago based on Bands you keep trying to like but can't get into . I tried them out again, but after a couple of days, it got all "Yep: nope."

Ha that was fun

The new album is wonderful, and probably a fine starting point, how's life.

Never really got into this band very much but I like this a lot - it occurs to me this sounds quite a bit like Jay Reatard - they were friends were they not?

They did a split 7" covering one another in 2008, and "He Would Have Laughed" is apparently an elegy for Jay.

Yeah this is cool. It's a great modern southern psych record. The 'punk' bits are only on a few songs in the beginning and I was getting a Strokes vibe from one track and a CCR vibe from another. The freakout ending to "Leather Jacket II" is really great. It's kind of weird, like a big mix of all previous DH stuff crammed into one album. Some parts of it literally sound like 2007-era home demos, some parts of it sound like Halcyon Digest-era songs. Feels like an album of really great songs that will grow on me more and more with every successive listen, but right now nothing stands out immensely.

Here's a cool interview

http://bombsite.com/issues/1000/articles/7159

God, this album is great. Definitely feeling the CCR vibe on the Pensacola track.

lol morrissey

God, this album is great. Definitely feeling the CCR vibe on the Pensacola track.
― scubasteve, Thursday, April 11, 2013 10:37 AM

how do u already have it

oh it leaked

3 -4 songs in - this is a much more direct - rock n' roll record. Like they are on different drugs for this one. Bradford Cox singing is more vehement and the whole sound is more convincing. Very enjoyable indeed.

I love how all of "Monomania" is just set up/window dressing for that climatic last minute

Need to give the whole time to gel as an album. Half of its amazing, half is pro forma - like this should be 3 or 5 eps

Oh, "THM." You foxy, uncouth minx, you.

I am seriously crazy nuts about this whole album...

Parts of this record remind me of the Pumpkins' more contemplative side...

Best:

LJ II
Pensacola
THM
Monomania
Nitebike
Punk

Definitely.

The closing trio are just gangbusters.

"Back to Middle" has me wanting a video featuring Pundt and Cox dressed up as Laverne and Shirley for some reason

"leather jacket ii" sounds like the oh sees

this is pretty good but i miss the arty less direct-r'n'r side of theirs

pitchfork article/interview from today:

Shortly before the band entered producer Nicolas Vernhes' Brooklyn-based Rare Book Room studio at the top of 2013, McKay was added as bassist, and Deerhunter's current incarnation bashed out Monomania over a few weeks, recording straight to Tascam eight-track recorders (hence the album's bruised, brutally lo-fi feel).

Nitebike sounds like Johnny Thunders?

http://www.collapseboard.com/reviews/albums-reviews/deerhunter-monomania-4ad/#comment-390212

This review sums up how I feel about this record and band exactly.

That review kinda says it, doesn't it?

About Deerhunter, specifically.

I was just thinking about this last night, how Cox works best in a self-curated compilation sense.

I played this for someone the other day, and while the highs are really good, it's the first album of theirs where a song comes on and I immediately want to skip to another.

Kind of amazed that lots of people think this is the best record yet.

or their most consistent.

Think i still like Microcastle/Weird Era way more than this

i'm with u

Microcastle was a bit overfussed. However Weird Era is a huge favorite for me.

I thought halcyon digest was super consistent, but excited to hear this one

It's streaming on NPR.

thanks Evan

instant reaction upon first listen is that, lo fi production aside, it sounds really underwritten

It's starting to seem like

Lockett Pundt is to Bradford Cox as
Tobin Sprout is to Robert Pollard

i agree w/ both of those xposts. also, getting tired of Bradford's vocal schtick—weary, distorted, wasted, etc.

why can't they just bust out the sweeet shoogaze jams : /

this is the first deerhunter album that isn't doing it for me. much preferred the last atlas sound to it.

I want to like this band - I listened to cryptograms, I bought a copy of Microcastle when it came out etc but nothing grabs me about them. I guess it's okay when I'm listening to it but an hour later I've completely forgotten everything about it.

and now it sounds like they've made a BRMC record? lol

Weird Era is where it's at. Best thing they've done.

I am liking this less the more I listen - although I still find this more listenable than previous efforts which sounded like hazy blah to me.

Z S, can you just email me directly? I keep trying to respond to yr ILX mail and every time I enter the word code the shit doesn't work

Elisionbebop

It's a gmail address

I'm returning from a camping trip right now but I'll be home later tonight! Btw I think I included my email address in the ilx mail message? Maybe not, I can't remember.

hinklepink otm, though i'm still in the "wow, this is great!" phase. i've liked stray tracks in the past, but this is the first deerhunter album to really grab me. did like that one cover with the deers having cock sex.

"Blue Agent" sort of feels like it hits that "Flourescent Grey"-era mysteriousness. That one acoustic song is super Kurt Vile, which is cool, cos it's good, and Kurt Vile is a rad dude.

That one acoustic song is super Kurt Vile, which is cool, cos it's good, and Kurt Vile is a rad dude.

"nitebike" - kv's def in there, but the first thing it suggested to me was acoustic johnny thunders.

last three tracks are stunning! "monomania" is maybe the best heads-down rock song i've heard so far this year, all the more so for the emotional heft. i got everything maxed and it still isn't loud enough. "monomonomania monomonomania" part could go for another half hour and still i'd be happy.

a lot of complaining abt the turn to garage rock, but i get the feeling that the whole album is a presented as a tribute to misspent youth, triumphant nostalgia for past misery. that's mostly a product of "punk (la vie anterieure)", but i'm trying it on as a frame.

"pensacola" is only track i'm not feeling, too familiar, not enough energy to pull it off.

Contrnderizer mostly OTM

With "Pensecola" a weird thing happens - for the first 30 seconds I'm like ugh, then it wins me over

maybe i'll get there, i've only listened twice

"monomania" is maybe the best heads-down rock song i've heard so far this year, all the more so for the emotional heft.

^^^^ this.

couldn't tell he was saying "monomania" at the end of "monomania" what does that mean

if we're going to do rock again these guys might be sensitive

said with love

and hate of course

*too

idk seems like the same mistake Animal Collective made

i like this album a lot. people are overstating the "rock album" thing, it's just a slightly grittier deerhunter album

One of those bands I've heard a bunch, seen live a couple of times and still can't recall a single note of. I think I fell asleep the last time they played, which didn't help.

been meaning to revisit older stuff after this tbh

would be glad to eventually argue them over sonic youth one day

cryptograms

^ a type of ograms

I like the title track but it does run on a bit.

remember a single of theirs off p4k infinite playlist or whatever early

title track kewl

"Finding the fluorescence in the junk
By night illuminates the day
Finding ancient language in the blood
Fading a little more each day"

l0l do you guys have tumblers?

just not sure if "we" need this

holy shit i hate myself

don't hate yourself just stop posting for a bit eh?

Or consolidate a little

would feel better

if I was talking to you about rock that mattered

I mean Hi

nice to meet you

but fuck the bullshit

^ it's the new style

contenderizer has been on a tumblr i can smell it

it must be terrible to need attention so bad.

when everyone laughs with tom eventually

pout

"PUNCH" you

lol

nobody cares abhout tom

disgustingly sacred

sorry this was way too early for this

hah huh?

A. Sandwich what do you think of "Pensacola" does it make you want to rock out like you were listening to "96 Tears"?

this album rules!!!!!

kinda has a subway sect vibe

i liked em ok before but this is so much more needed
there are so many kind reverb rock post shoegaze dudes out there that are good at it but there's not that many real fucked up rackety twee punk bands

Yeah, this one is great. Wasn't much of a fan of their dopey-sounding shoegazery stuff either, but I've been listening to this a lot.

To me the sound is like if Ariel Pink made a tribute to Dylan and the Stones in the style of the Pixies.

sometimes the guitars even evoke the Voidoids, and that's heady territory for me

last 5 posts OTM

kinda has a subway sect vibe

interviewed Bradford at his home in April, he had Subway Sect 7" sitting pride of place in his 7" rack

definitely feeling alone imo of thinking this record is one of the weakest things that have come out of this group of people. after the previous album and the fantastic last lotus plaza album it feels really half assed

upon 3 listens, i'm still a bit underwhelmed. i like the idea of what they're trying to do but not much has stuck with me yet. still, i've had similar initial feelings about other things that they've done, and i've always come around, so i'll give it some more chances.

i like how half assed and sloppy it is!

but like i said i like cryptograms/flourescent grey pretty well but i didn't dig em that much

i think this is more for ppl that don't like deerhunter all that much

electricsound otm and my favorite track on monomania is lockett's

this record is kinda punk

i found nothing to latch onto here, aside from the gnarly outro of 'monomania' (the track). i second the suggestions that it is half-assed.

it's too early to say, but i wonder how much the personnel changes (McKay and Broyles in, former bassist Josh Fauver out) affected the sound and approach to Monomania.

Former bassist was brilliant on Weird Era far as I'm concerned.

Yeah this is definitely half-assed, but I kind of feel like that's the point? Not to excuse a half-ass record by one of my favorite bands going right now, since I'm feeling a little underwhelmed by it too, but I think this feels to me like some sort of purge for Bradford in a way. Like this kind of ties into the American thing he was hinting on with the last Atlas Sound record (meaning American music, rockabilly crooner sort of thing). Though this one jumps the focus up to a sort of American punk and garage rock vibe. I don't know, I've always felt like his music has, for the most part, been a nice melding of vibes and ideas but this and Parallax were both more explicit about "the past" (i.e. the pompadour and the old-time microphone on the cover of the last one). I guess this just feels really intentional in its half-assedness and, even if it doesn't succeed as one of their better "ALBUMS", I think it sort of serves a purpose in his overall discography.

Please excuse the rambling, I've been at work for about 15 hours today and am running on fuuuuumes.

sometimes the guitars even evoke the Voidoids, and that's heady territory for me

Voidoids is an apt comparison I think, cos it also has that snot-nosed Dylan in a leather jacket with a shit-eating grin vibe to it that was kicking around in the later half of the 70s that Richard Hell is as good an example of as anyone else.

I think it's pretty good. They're trying stuff out, songs are still compelling...

this may be a shitty thing to say, but i wonder how well-equipped some of the naysayers are to fairly & honestly evaluate a loosened-up garage rock record. cuz that's basically what this is, and within that ballpark, it's real damn good, imo.

Are the naysayers lo-fi/garage fans in general?

yeah, that's what i'm asking

What garage acts will you accept as sufficient to prove garage fluency?

I used to listen to Scared of Chaka in high school, does that count

sure, everybody gets to decide for themselves. i freely admit that i'm not a huge fan of blurry shoegaze in general, and that perhaps disinclined me to spend much time getting to know previous deerhunters.

though i did like parts of cryptograms / fluorescent gray

used to listen to Scared of Chaka in high school, does that count

― global tetrahedron, Wednesday, May 15, 2013 10:55 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

disqualified on shins connection

Strokes are acceptable currency.

srsly i don't think you need to be "qualified" or anything but my point above was that this might be a deerhunter record for ppl that weren't big deerhunter fans

It's certainly miles from Cryptograms!

haha, I was actually going to say that it's closest to the aggression of the songs on Cryptograms (particularly the non-instrumentals on the first side of Cryptograms). To me it seems furthest away from the more sleepy vibes (I mean that in a positive way!) of Halcyon Digest.

I keep forgetting that one exists for some reason, and I like it very much.

I preferred the shoe gaze era but this is nice

Their (his?) other records never really hit me, but this one is hot.
Great vocals... more variety of mood than I expected... superbly executed sloppiness.

Some of the lyrics are a bit predictable/goofy, but there's an awful lot to like here.

i guess i've been spoiled by cox's prolificacy but i'm kinda dying for some new atlas sound/deerhunter material

v ambient

https://soundcloud.com/geonorth/lotus-plaza-b-gemini-pt-1

bring back the 2007 blog era

get well soon boo

http://music.blog.ajc.com/2014/12/05/deerhunter-singer-bradford-cox-hit-by-car-in-atlanta/

i saw that, he looked pretty out of it!

Bradford is spinning some excellent tunes on the radio right now:

http://1690wmlb.com/

and there's a new track:

http://www.stereogum.com/1824332/deerhunter-snakeskin/mp3s/

I'm really digging "Snakeskin" a lot!

this song is great!

wow, i really like it too. great bassline, extra credit for the drum break.

i really don't like the new song much, but i'm sure i'll come around. it sounds like another band's good song, just not this band. hard to explain.

there's a good interview up at pitchfork today: http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/9707-beyond-nostalgia-a-conversation-with-deerhunters-bradford-cox/

Pitchfork: I don’t think most people understand the seriousness of your car accident last year. How did that experience affect you?

BC: It erased all illusions for me. When I got hit by the car, I just felt no interest in anything else. I became very depressed. As a result, I've been on antidepressants and I feel like I have no sexuality left. A lot of people complain about that side effect, but I love it. I feel outside of society. But I lost that manic urge that I used as fuel with Monomania.

Pitchfork: Where does all of that energy refocus itself?

BC: I just want safety. I would like to avoid physical pain and illness and mind my own business and have peace and quiet. The dog came along right around the same time and really changed how I felt about loneliness; I've never felt lonely since I've gotten a dog.

i guess that to some people that might sound like a really boring creative place, but i sympathize with that zone and i'm excited to hear the rest of the album (despite not being a huge fan of the snakeskin).

new album is great. very much the anti-monomania (which i also loved)

also, i thought the intro was spot on:

Wading through swampy Atlanta traffic en route to Bradford Cox’s home, I start to think about the first time I encountered Deerhunter face-to-face. It was at a 2007 show around the release of their breakthrough album Cryptograms in which the band essentially destroyed a tiny Brooklyn venue while Cox lurched about the stage in a dress. There was a hysterical, desperate energy—something queer in the truest sense of the word—that separated Deerhunter from all of their mid-oughts peers. Their music was equal parts noise and beauty, layers of reverb and feedback wrapped around pristine pop executions. As a frontman, Cox was both volatile and unnervingly frail. Back then, it looked as if he might collapse at any minute.

that aligns with my feeling when i saw them around the same time (guess i posted about the experience at the beginning of this thread). for a while i was always a little disappointed that deerhunter/atlas sound was straying away from that sound and performance style because it was so amazing. there were still remnants of it in Weird Era and the occasional song since, but it's been largely been replaced by something much more intricate than what i imagined could sound like back in 2007.

(also i'm super happy that they went back to the halcyon digest producer (ben allen), which was beautifully produced (i thought). monomania remains my least favorite thing they've done, and i think a lot of that just comes down to the production, and also a general ramshackle feeling that they didn't do enough takes. listening to it again this morning, i feel like opener "neon junkyard" would be a standout track on many of their other albums, but the production leaves it in limbo. it's too loud to be pretty but too thin to feel loud. it's weird. (still love T.H.M. though)

new song is cool, my streak of really liking every other deerhunter record may well continue

http://4ad.com/uploads/news/648_c_w_450_h_450.jpg

new song "breaker" sounds like a boring real estate song.

is that the album cover above? That's a photo by John Divola - the museum where I work had a show of his photographs a year or two back. http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/john-divola-far-i-could-get

new song "breaker" sounds like a boring real estate song.

― tomorrow, Tuesday, September 15, 2015 6:12 PM (33 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No wonder I like it!

i don't really like these first two songs at all. :(

I think the chorus is pretty on "Breaker". But yeah overall it could be coming from any indie band.

haha, i thought you liked it!

but yeah, both of the songs i've heard are swinging toward the generic side of the pendulum.

I do! Wasn't taking that back. Just admitting that it's indeed more generic.

"Snakeskin" hit me hard tho, something about the funkiness and lyrical intrigue. This is just falling flat. Pretty, maybe, but flat.

I'll suspend judgment until I can hear the whole thing; both Parallax and Monomania had tracks that were somewhat forgettable taken singly, but effective in an album setting.

Quite the opposite for me, I didn't really connect with "Snakeskin" but immediately love "Breaker." I find it sweet that after so many years of being in a band together Bradford and Lockett are still so close that they've decided to merge their voices and faces for a song. Also the transitions back to the verses are lovely.

Do I hear "Radio Gaga" in the drumbeat of "Breaker"?

theres tour dates for winter w/ atlas sound opening :B

I get Lansing-Dreiden vibes from these new songs. I like them all together.

"these new songs" = new album songs on spotify

I got my copy on Tuesday thanks to the friendly dudes at my local brick and mortar but I haven't listened to it yet ...

First half of this is lovely, and then the second is much more lacklustre save from "Snakeskin".

I'm not hearing what the Pitchfork review does. A lot of this is pleasant tunefulness.

The Pitchfork review agrees that it is a tuneful record. Or do you just mean that it's not as good as Pitchfork's rating?

pleasant tunefulness could be your life

at least so far seems like his most conventional album and that may be a good thing

New album is slaying

Hoping my initial reaction of "pleasant" will grow into "slaying"

I like this a ton, much more than the last one, which I thought was a slog after Halcyon Digest (which I love and is still my favorite).

"breaker" is a masterful song

it is super duper

i will try to channel a little league dad and say they are "in the zone" there

Yeah "Breaker" is really good.

Trying to channel Beach House on "Take Care" imo

bradford cox goes full on adrian belew-era david bowie here:

http://pitchfork.com/news/61992-deerhunter-perform-extended-version-of-snakeskin-and-more-fading-frontier-tracks-on-kcrw/

from the interviews and stuff over the last year or so (since his accident) i had the impression that he was stabilizing a bit but he seems genuinely unhinged here

That's kind of weird to watch
Live takes make me want to listen to the album again
Halcyon digest is still great

i wouldn't count myself as a fan but that footage is wicked - he is very compelling - great to see them so loose and noisy

So I guess the blonde hair in the last couple of videos was a wig. He looks like Glenn Morrow in that performance.

best band

Really like the new album but "leather and wood" is a momentum killer.

not sure why dude is so obsessed with kandinsky. who's to say what "now" is -- seems kind of self-serving. i can appreciate penderecki with or without historizing him same as michaelangelo or george eliot. but whatever, just glad someone as beyond talented as ATLAS SOUND isn't totally dumbing himself down. new album is killer

the opener and duplex planet are great. looking forward to atlas sound live

I like this new record a lot.

m2

yeah, i agree with a bunch of people on this thread. new album is great, loving it.

http://pitchfork.com/news/62421-bradford-cox-details-alleged-aggressive-encounter-with-billy-corgan-and-smashing-pumpkins-crew/

whoa

"The encounter didn't happen. We have video of it."

I mean, in the best possible way Brad is an unreliable narrator, but Corgan *did send his bodyguards after Everett True in the 90s following a bad review.

Love the italics in

you were invited to open for the Smashing Pumpkins.

Damn.

you were invited to open for the Smashing Pumpkins.

they played snippets of "today" in philly last night amid another 20+ minute "rap" about people recording his stage banter. hope dude isn't turning into mark kozelek

bradford's letter was nice, and his point about banter is pretty otm

can i sue billy cogan bc the world is not a vampire?

Billy saw Twilight coming from a mile away

LOL @ bradford slinking away with his tail between his legs

Don't see it as slinking away. See it as him suggesting the whole thing is pretty ridiculous (as is most pitchfork live-show related controversy) and then offering up an eloquent retraction, ie why make it any worse? Kozelek would in turn piss on it further, I feel.

You might remember that back at the same year of this "incident" p4k was writing about how Bradford was blogging about his poop or something. If that says anything.

Funny how Trollzelek is so legendary at making these things worse he has already been brought up in two entirely different ways itt for no other reason.

if Bradford's story had any truth behind it, he'd stick to it and demand SP release the video tape. As it stands, his story is slanderous and I'm glad he quickly apologized for it.

i like the part where he's led to the backroom with corgan alone is his chair like Brando in Apocalypse Now

you are opening for the smashing pumpkins at the ohio state university

why does billy tape all of his interactions? is the larger question here

To keep bullshit like this from sullying his reputation.

That's why I always have a GoPro strapped to my head.

i'd want to act up if there was all that surveillance

still i call bullshit on BC. i'm not a smashing pumpkins fan or anything but the one time i saw them, a loooong time ago, SHUDDER to THINK opened up when they were in full glam prog mode. the audience were booing the fuck out of them and started throwing shit. it got bad enough billy ended up walking out, picking up a shoe someone had chucked at the stage, sniffing it, and saying into the mic, "you boo these guys, you boo us -- and we don't play when people boo us," then walking back off stage. hard for me to picture that guy pulling a total 360 and turning into an asshole as huge as BC describes

in other news, show was flat out awesome in philly last night. twenty minutes of "nothing ever happened" sounded like prime CAN or NEU!

I think we can all agree that BC comes off as the asshole here, while BC, on the other hand, is looking good.

heh

What have the atlas sound portions of this tour been like? New stuff? Old stuff? New takes on old stuff?

I'm curious about that as well

New stuff? Old stuff? New takes on old stuff?

all of the above. was just him with what seemed to be a portable version of his studio setup. did some abstract things, taped voice interludes, different sounding version of 'sheila', some older stuff, newer stuff that i didn't recognize.

nothing ever happens is turning into their sister ray, went on for at least 20-30 min. his mid-set stage rant was about his love for the 9:30 club which was sweet

I was in the car for a few hours today and listened to the not-particularly-new one. Liked a couple of songs, didn't like a couple towards the end, neutral on most of it. The one song I love is "Ad Astra."

i thought the vaguely english-beat-sounding version (complete with near-constant sax) of "living my life" they did on tv recently was a lot better than the version recorded for the album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7PAacr7LJc

cool version!

maybe on paper lyrics seem a bit grim, but the way it's sung inspires a lot of confidence imo

bradford cox's hat also deserve a lot of props.

They're playing a greatest hits sort of setlist on their current tour. Last night's First Ave show was so good they could immediately release it as a live album.

Sounds good to this casual fan of theirs

today i wondered "what's up with deerhunter?", so i googled "deerhunter live"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2EuD9C8VbA

i guess it's not nice to judge based on a show that seemed plagued with poor sound, but they kind of look lost out there, and at some point half the band got replaced (or left)?

only lineup changes they've had lately are adding a keyboard player + percussionist, they changed bass players a few album ago but thats it

I saw a similar show a few years back, sound was very noisy, hard to make out which songs they were playing, pretty disappointing

Halcyon Digest and Fading Frontier are all time for me

i wish we could get a new Lotus Plaza album

Weird to see the bass missing an A string, I wonder why?

oops now I see!

i wish we could get a new Lotus Plaza album

― alpine static, Sunday, June 17, 2018 4:02 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Seconded (though I would also be up for a decent Atlas Sound LP, the last one didn't do it for me)

By the way, the Moon Diagrams (by drummer Moses) stuff has been great too, don't sleep on that.

https://geographicnorth.bandcamp.com/music

will check out Moon Diagrams and revisit my Atlas Sound stuff, but truth is i liked the last Lotus Plaza album more than *any* Deerhunter or Deerhunter-related release thus far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG2TgCuMcjM&feature=youtu.be

new (very good, imo) single, album titled Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared out January 18th

also, there's this wild thing on their website labeled "A Note From Bradford" that i'm really into—total Timecube vibes https://deerhuntermusic.com/anotefrombradford/

huh, not sure what happened with the video, hope this link works

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG2TgCuMcjM&feature=youtu.be

So great, that old Deerhunter magic. The Double Dream of Spring tape, which I just recently managed to hear, also has lots of harpsichord.

fuck yeah harpsichord

Awful news:

Farewell to Josh Fauver, who made our world better with his music. This long live performance of “Nothing Ever Happened” stands out https://t.co/xHQMegsS8y

— Lance Bangs (@lancebangs) November 4, 2018

damn, RIP. i briefly met him at a party after a show at the empty bottle back during their cryptograms era, and he was so friendly and down to earth. :(

RIP

also, holy heck at the performance link Bangs shared

He was hypnotic the one time I saw him play.

All the posts linked here are sweet/heartbreaking.

:((

Holy shit I really love this band

that new single is v good

they (cox) have a bunch of spotify playlists published too, like this one https://open.spotify.com/user/deerhunter_official/playlist/3FiBxPoOphlVNme450gY3V?si=282NlapkQ2eKJJihd5ZiAQ

what a fuckin weirdo

https://www.stereogum.com/2027586/deerhunter-2019-interview/franchises/interview/?utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral

But in a good way

I was very influenced by contemporary harpsichord music — a lot of Spanish composers, Genoveva Gálvez. A lot of people hear the harpsichord and think about baroque pop, and I strongly put my hand up at that. “No, no, no, no.” I enjoy the actual acoustics and temper of that instrument — the velocity, the rhythmic pushback. It’s not a liquid instrument, it’s very hard. It’s not a psychedelic instrument, and I hate psychedelic music. People always used to call Cryptograms psychedelic, and I would go, “No — it’s concrète.” It’s not pink and warm and fuzzy. It’s bloodstained and visceral.

i enjoy reading his ramblings, but cryptograms is not concrète, unless i'm either hearing it completely wrong or i misunderstand the genre

this is an enjoyable read, imo:

https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/9k4pjv/rank-your-records-deerhunter-bradford-cox

BC talking about Lockett's songwriting just made me want a new Lotus Plaza album (as I have said before itt) even more

http://deerhunterofficial.bandcamp.com/album/why-hasnt-everything-already-disappeared

Looks like the whole thing is available to hear already... Seems slightly fishy tho, idk.

dang, it's gone now!

it leaked a while ago so i'm guessing someone uploaded the leak to bandcamp as 'deerhunterofficial' to try and scam some money out of people

ah, makes sense.

btw that noisey.vice link above is a pretty entertaining read, with the usual dose of bonkers statements from bradford. putting monomania at the top is challopsy enough, but then "Monomania is the greatest album I’ve ever made and anybody that doesn’t like it has no idea what I’m about or what I’m doing. They’re simply avid fans of what’s called indie rock and think we’re a notable indie rock band."

lol, ok

was surprised that weird era didn't make his top 5, either.

monomania is my fave of his albums tbh

He also sez Stereolab's "Blue Milk" is the greatest song of all time. I like it, yeah. Greatest? I dunno.

He says Desire Lines is his favourite Deerhunter song, which is magnificently otm - it's the only thing they've done that's completely blown me away and transcended what I thought the band capable of

This album is really, really good

I’ve listened to this three times now. I like it but it’s just sort of an average Deerhunter album. Nothing surprising nor extraordinarily compelling. Solid, I guess.

I am liking it v much

Cannot get 'What Happens to People' out of my brain

'Elemental' has a real 'Let England Shake' (the album) vibe

the rest is microcastle with piano + LES lyric vibes

desire lines is their best for sure

except for the length it's indistinguishable from guided by voices. there's even a lyrical nod to "echos myron"

this is fine. i feel like all their albums after Halcyon have been a bit samey though and thisi isn't an exception.

Keeping my fingers crossed that snow either doesn't fall here tomorrow or is light because DEERHUNTER ARE COMING TO BMORE

BMore show sold out before I could get tix . Live in DC area but couldn’t make DC gig the night before that I heard was good but deafeningly loud.

It was amazing. Sorry you weren't able to get tickets.

JFC

https://www.stereogum.com/2051988/deerhunter-bradford-cox-heckler-cultural-appropriation/video/

Uhh..

“During the set, Bradford Cox started a dialogue with a heckler accusing him of cultural appropriation because he said he’s a huge fan of Twin Peaks, and he said was planning on staying in North Bend at the Salish Lodge that night so that he could explore Snoqualmie the next day.”

I fail to see how this is cultural appropriation...?

Exactly.

i'm not sure what thread to bump for this, and i haven't listened enough to start a new thread and proselytize, but i've been listening to a lot of Ulrika Spacek recently (just their album Modern English Decoration - haven't even gotten to their other stuff) and it's very good. there's an early deerhunter-y vibe to some of the songs and i feel confident throwing a RIYL deerhunter tag on there, even though there are other strong influences as well

which*

realized it's way past time I put together mixes for my two favorite bands (Girlpool next), figured I'd share

1. Game of Diamonds
2. Futurism
3. Duplex Planet
4. Memory Boy
5. Microcastle
6. Vox Celeste
7. Strange Lights
8. Dream Captain
9. Revival
10. River Card
11. Pensacola
12. Eveningness

13. Like New
14. Parallax
15. Helicopter
16. Nothing Ever Happened
17. The Missing
18. Criminals
19. Take Care
20. What Happens to People?
21. Doldrums
22. Cover Me (Slowly)
23. Agoraphobia

felt incomplete without some (4) Atlas Sound & a (1) Lotus Plaza. an earlier version (that I've already road tripped with, therefore official?) had "Mona Lisa" instead of "Parallax," there's no good way to not overrepresent that album

i was thinking of deerhunter/bradford cox today, and how it's been a minute since i heard anything from them. i did some light searching, found speculation on reddit that cox is just kind of taking it easy/doesn't feel like playing music lately (the spoon guy suggested as much in an interview a while back). but also, he returned earlier this year for an improv experimental set in athens:

https://www.stereogum.com/2230238/bradford-cox-performs-for-the-first-time-in-years-at-vintage-market-in-athens-ga/news/

Covid considered, they are not too much behind their typical album cycle. I’m friendly with Lockett and the last time I saw him he said they are still planning to continue being a band. Bradford has always had health problems, so I think it might just be a pause.

so has anyone heard any whispers of anything lately? moses had an album out in june under his moon diagrams name and i've noticed he's had some shows. tbh i kept hoping someone would interview him and ask about deerhunter but i never found anything. there were some new videos of lockett & brad shared on instagram back in march or april. it seemed like brad was still making music- no idea if he plans to share any though. anything else? hoping against hope for something, anything ...

Same