Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

Really liking this, have replayed "Desire Lines" a couple times already this morning.

to what extent does this sound like microcastle?

sounds looser and less developed to me

is it rockin or slow and ballady

mix of both, a bit more ballady than rockin i think. ballads are better overall, maybe.

Much thicker than Microcastle, thicker textures, crunchy guitars, a little banjo, lots of additional percussion. Really love the production on this. Very wide-screen. You can tell playing all those open air festivals has influenced these songs, both in scope and sound.

It's going to be hard to knock Microcastle (and especially) Weird Era from my top of the list because that double record is like Deerhunter's White Album. But "Don't Cry", "Memory Boy", and "Basement Scene" really capture that 60s girl group inspired ambient punk feeling with some really wonderful songs that are some of the best the group has done.

Keep in mind when i say '60s girl group inspired ambient punk' i don't mean the superficial affectations that get taken up by every indie band in existence these days ("Be My Baby" drum beat, anyone?). It has more to do with songcraft for Deerhunter: the nostalgic melodies, the stomping beats, the chord structures.

"Coronado" is Bradford living out his Strokes dreams to great swaggering effect! And yes the last track is really awe-inspiring. Another great record from probably my favorite band of the 21st century.

Deerhunter (for me) have this weird thing where it takes like a year or two for me to really grasp/dig whatever album EP is in question - like, Microcastle/Weird Era didn't start making real intuitive sense until just recently.

Microcastle blah blah whatever... does anyone else still like Cryptograms best??

yes, which is why i'm asking these questions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC6Yp7RvUYw

this has grown on me big time. love this track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mBSOtdOjoc

am0n otm

at first I thought Bradford was singing "and the blogs they know my name" on "Basement Scene"

markers do u dig the whole album

i still havent listened to this, damn

i've listened to about half--like it better than much of microcastle but i wish they would rock and i wish bradford would be a little stronger with the vocal melodies.

The Bluffs is an Atlanta ghetto where back in the day kids would go to score hard drugs. Kinda funny that he would sing about that, because I'm pretty sure Bradford doesn't really do many drugs at all, and never has.

seeing them on saturday w/ Casino vs. Japan, and Real Estate. very psyched! can't remember the last time i liked all three bands on a bill.

My friend refused to listen to casino vs japan at 930 club and left me stranded on the main floor while he went downstairs to avoid the noise. I thought it was pretty damn good. Deerhunter was a lot like their albums, really high highs and then some stuff you have to be patient for. If you enjoy the downtime then it's a great show.

"The Bluffs is an Atlanta ghetto where back in the day kids would go to score hard drugs. Kinda funny that he would sing about that, because I'm pretty sure Bradford doesn't really do many drugs at all, and never has."

really? from some of his lyrics i've had the sense that dude has dabbled, at the very least.

yeah, desire lines is a jam

^ yeah and unfortunately they opened with it last night, so it was basically a soundcheck while the awful sound was sorted out. and then they were great, if punishingly loud. Casino Vs. Japan was great too. Real Estate didn't really 'translate' in the large club; their lo-fi charms lost in that setting (and also horrible sound). and, WTF with all the people down on the floor TEXTING during the show? annoying and rude. honestly, young people these days.

good to know - they're playing the same night as of montreal/janelle monae and i have a decision to make here...

not that you're making it easy, mind you

ok i've gotten pretty into this record--there's some wonderful stuff on it. desire lines, fountains stairs, revival, helicopter, etc. etc. really starting to respect how they don't let themselves be pinned down as "sounding like" any one thing, even when that results in them doing stuff i'm not crazy about. they're gonna have an unbelievable best of comp someday.

I've got a running DeerSoundPlaza best of playlist in iTunes that I update every time there's a new deerhunter-related release. And yeah, I'm totally biased, but to me it's already awesome!

I need to check out the Lotus Plaza stuff.

It's kinda weird to recommend…like on the "best of" list I've got going, there's only one lotus plaza track, and even that one isn't like shit yr pants awesome. But taken as a whole, I really like the LP and it works really well as a soundtrack to a hazy Saturday afternoon.

Next Lotus Plaza album gonna blow some minds.

hey this record is alright. i thought microcastle was 75% weak but this one holds up right through

^ yes. and if new Lotus Plaza is even half as great as his tracks on HD, well,,,,lookout! srsly, Desire Lines is brilliant.

He had some of the best tunes on microcastle, too. Adam, have you heard the new lotus plaza? I didn't even know it was in the works! Is it on kranky again?

which are his tracks on MCastle? i have a vinyl copy--the single lp version--and there's no info at all. bought it used, maybe there's a missing insert or something...

i know "agoraphobia" for one

this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is a hell of a song.

unsettling, too.

"Neither of Us, Uncertainly" is the other

ugh saxophone on 'coronado'

― am0n, Wednesday, September 15, 2010 5:33 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

lol it took some time but i really like this song, including the sax.

"He had some of the best tunes on microcastle, too. Adam, have you heard the new lotus plaza? I didn't even know it was in the works! Is it on kranky again?"

I played bass in a live LP lineup almost a year ago and we learned 10 or so songs, two of which were Desire Lines and Fountain Stairs, and the rest of them were on that level and some of them even better. There's also this song he did w his girlfriend singing called "Nice Weekend", that was some incredible epic 3 minute shoegaze pop that i really hope comes out on something...

I really like the sax on Coronado, too.

Ace remix of "Helicopter" by Diplo & Lunice. Really like this video too, with footage from Andrey Stvolinsky's Slow Moscow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD1B6FDuunQ

It looks better on Vimeo, but not sure if that'll embed so:

Helicopter remix video prettier

I listened to this today because I heard Helicopter and liked the main hook, but overall this is some seriously weak songwriting.

lol it took some time but i really like this song, including the sax.

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, November 9, 2010 1:16 PM

its grown on me. good album for walking in the snow

http://stereogum.com/645172/expanded-deerhunter-do-letterman/video/

Check me out on keys there, wearing a cape in Sky Saxon/Beefheart tribute!

nice! u gave paul shaffer an acid flashback

paulol

Paul Shaffer is my hero. At load out there was a beautiful Vox Continental with the black keys just like the Animals used to use. After soundcheck he was really into that Farfisa I played and I complimented him on the Vox. He said he owned several. The man has taste!

Here's a bunch of photos i took from the show:
http://rabbitscgi.blogspot.com/2011/02/deerhunter-on-late-show-exclusive.html

He said he owned several.

people who have worked out how to live

Sounds like Adam Bruneau has figured out how to live too!

yes!