new: Deerhunter

"With Elaborate Designs"

If you follow the Deerhunter blog, or attended their hometown Halloween show in ATL a few weeks back, you probably already knew about On Platts Eyotts Island. Deerhunter pressed 200 limited edition cassette copies of the session, which features stripped down versions of Cryptograms gem "Spring Hall Convert", as well as some choice Microcastle material, and you can now listen digitally courtesy of 4AD. From the press release:

This session was recorded during the evening of the 15th of September at Studio Plateaux, a DIY studio nestled on the Platts Eyott island - a nature reserve with the western end designated as Green Belt - on the Thames - London.

The idea behind the session was in memory of John Peel and his famous Radio 1 sessions. The studio equipment is a rare collection of vintage Ribbon microphones, preamps, tape machines and effects, all resourced over many years and sourced from around the world.

Bradford Cox recorded the songs like a continuous stream of consciousness; the session intended to be listened in order and uninterrupted. Kristian Craig Robinson (Capitol K) produced and engineered the session, while Bradford reworked several songs from Microcastle, a ne version of ‘Spring Hall Convert’ from Cryptograms and a couple of unreleased songs.

Track List
1. Cum horizon (improvisation)
2. Spring Hall Convert
3. Microcastle
4. Saved By Old Times
5. Never Stops
6. Backspace Century (Version II)
7. Calvary Scars

For a chance to win one of the pink cassettes, click here.

we saw: Deerhunter @ Music Hall

"Light of My Focus, Light of My Bed"
(Photo by t-fal)
Friday night we saw Deerhunter for the third time since Microcastle leaked in June. While their LPR show was outstanding, the show at Music Hall had all the trappings of a classic rock show, minus all the cliches. The band jumped right into killer material ("Cryptograms", "Never Stops"), building momentum through kraut-rock rhythms and an absolutely bombastic wall of sound. As per usual, MHOW sounded impeccable, as you can tell from NYC Tapers recording (equally as impeccable, as expected. Dude srsly's got it going on.) After "Never Stops", Bradford and Co. dropped it down a knotch for Flourescent Grey's "Dr. Glass" which seamlessly segued into Cryptogram's "Hazel Street." Reverb and Delay pedals were in full effect. Things were getting epic. At this point there had been maybe two lines of banter, pre-show at that, making this show inherently different than LPR's Bradford story-teller show. They were on fire. The crowd knew it. And I think they did as well.

If that wasn't enough, they segued "Hazel Street" into "Nothing Ever Happened", arguably the most in your face (and poppiest) of the Microcastle material, and easily one of the best Deerhunter jams for highway rocking. 5 songs in and they were absolutely murdering it. The first part of their set took the ole North 6 to the astral plane, where they brought out parts of the Microcastle suite and "Flourescent Grey." The only thing missing was "Strange Lights", but no complaints on our end.

Get the show from NYC Taper asap.

Setlist
Cryptograms
Never Stops
Dr. Glass
Hazel St.
Nothing Ever Happened
Microcastle
Vox Celeste
Saved By Old Times
Fluorescent Grey
Calvary Scars II > Aux Out
encore break
Microcastle Intro
Agoraphobia
Twilight At Carbon Lake
Heatherwood
Operation

we saw: Deerhunter

"It Never Stops"
(Photo by EduardoO)

We hadn't planned on seeing Deerhunter Tuesday night and that was dumb. Luckily, my brain shifted into gear after a cross country flight, and I was lucky enough to find 2 for face on C-List by 8 a.m. Nice. Microcastle, soon to be released by Kranky, has been leaked for almost 3 months and according to iTunes I've played it over 25 times. Yeah, it's good...damn good. When we saw the band play an afternoon set at McCarren (with King Khan) earlier in the summer, we were psyched at how great the rhythmic noise of Microcastle sounded live. Surely, the band had expanded on the ethereal noize and distorted melodies of Cryptograms, but Microcastle is anything but a pop record...Or is it just that, Deerhunter's pop record.

Bradford mentioned at (le) Poisson Rouge that New York City is noted for blending the "avant garde with the pop" and that pretty much summed up the evening. That, and noize. Lots of it. Loud motherfucking noize that left us with nothing to do but stare at the floor and shake the shit out of our heads until we were dizzy, as if we just spent an hour and a half on an amphetamine driven merry-go-round. It was beautifully ecstatic the way Bradford, Whitney and Lockett built a massive wall of noize behind three guitars, bolstered by an incredibly tight and, dare I say, groovy rhythm section that really is the nuts and bolts of Deerhunter. Without Moses Archuletta's ferocious drumming and Joshua Fauver's driving bass, the band would have no basis for the fervent noize excursions that they invoke. Truth be told, it's the mess of noise, behind simple, yet utterly insatiable rhythms that make Deerhunter great.

We got a good mix of Cryptograms and Microcastle material, including "Intro->Agoraphobia", which we hadn't heard live yet, and which Bradford sang, yet Lockett sings on record. Interesting, although I definitely prefer Lockett's vocal on the first proper Microcastle jam. "Never Stops" and "Nothing Ever Happened" both raged, as did "Strange Lights", "Hazle St" and "Saved By Old Times." Deerhunter is jetting off to Europe this week, but will be back in the states very soon, with shows in both Brooklyn and NYC. I recommend peeping at least one of them, even if you caught them at the pool, because there is nothing better than being drenched in explosive noize in the dark, while bursts of flaming colors blanket the band.

If you've yet to hear the melodic majesty of Microcastle, peep this vid for two of the albums highlights, which don't sound as good as on record, but you'll get the drift.

Deerhunter "Never Stops" & "Nothing Ever Happened"

new: Atlas Sound

LOOOOPY
It's been nearly two months since we posted anything by Deerhunter frontman/Atlas Sound craftsman Bradford Cox, which is the equivalent to five years for most artists. If you've been playing along, every so often Bradford releases a MicroMix or a Digital 7" or a homemade EP or whatever the fuck release he wants to put out via the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound/ Lotus Plaza blog. It happens quite often but regardless of Bradford's insane output, my heart always begins to flutter at the site of a new post on the Deerhunter blog (Yes, my life has reached that pathetic point where I get very excited about obscure blog only releases). Cox's new Amsterdam Midi digital 7" is another fine example of what one man can do in a hotel room with a laptop and midi controller. I'd like to think my stone-made compositions were this hypnotic, but they definitely don't compare with the looping transcendence Cox composed in an Amsterdam hotel. As always, highly rec'd.

P.S. The new Deerhunter album is... how do I say...ah yes... sick.
Atlas Sound- Amsterdam Midi Digital 7"
A: BALCONY
b/w
B: CANAL