the new album is pretty fantastic
― chinchillas they can fit on gorillas, Tuesday, 3 June 2008 21:02 (sixteen years ago) link
You mean the Atlas Sound disc or the forthcoming Deerhunter disc?
― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 3 June 2008 21:40 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah the new one is really "pretty"
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 3 June 2008 21:42 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 3 June 2008 21:43 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah daniel the new one is called microcastle
there are some quieter non-ambient moments but they're not electronic perse
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 3 June 2008 21:48 (sixteen years ago) link
just really nice guitar strumming
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 3 June 2008 21:49 (sixteen years ago) link
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).
― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 3 June 2008 21:52 (sixteen years ago) link
i'm pretty sure they're still on kranky but i don't think this has a date yet
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 3 June 2008 21:53 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Z S, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 00:12 (sixteen years ago) link
the new one is like summer backyard drinking jamz at least like half of it is (compared to atlas sound, cryptograms/floursecent grey)
― chinchillas they can fit on gorillas, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 00:55 (sixteen years ago) link
sounds horrible.
― wilter, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 00:59 (sixteen years ago) link
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)
― Z S, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 01:13 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― poortheatre, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 09:54 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Upt0eleven, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 10:02 (sixteen years ago) link
the music was good though!
― poortheatre, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 10:29 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― oscar, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 22:18 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― oscar, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 22:20 (sixteen years ago) link
does atlas sound deserve its own thread?
― poortheatre, Thursday, 5 June 2008 12:55 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― bernard snowy, Thursday, 5 June 2008 15:13 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
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)).
― Z S, Tuesday, 10 June 2008 05:57 (sixteen years ago) link
they'll never do anything as good as Flourescent Grey again though, I think
― chinchillas they can fit on gorillas, Tuesday, 10 June 2008 08:34 (sixteen years ago) link
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
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 22 July 2008 01:22 (fifteen years ago) link
I just finished listening to cryptograms like 15 minutes ago. I think it's a great album.
― mehlt, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 01:34 (fifteen years ago) link
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?
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 02:16 (fifteen years ago) link
i dig 'em. get the fluorescent grey ep.
― Creeztophair, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 02:29 (fifteen years ago) link
seriously who woulda thought they could lock into a groove like the one on "nothing ever happened"
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 22 July 2008 02:50 (fifteen years ago) link
yea, i'm not a huge fan of cryptograms, but microcastle is doing it for me. 'twilight at carbon lake' kicking my ass
― poortheatre, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 03:41 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 22 July 2008 03:51 (fifteen years ago) link
i still think their best moment 'like new.'
― poortheatre, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 03:54 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 22 July 2008 04:03 (fifteen years ago) link
which makes the ambient stuff here way more special imo
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 22 July 2008 04:08 (fifteen years ago) link
Ah. I was just about to ask whether the new songs are less ambient/droning and more pop-oriented.
― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, 22 July 2008 04:09 (fifteen years ago) link
Can't be said enough, really.
― Z S, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 04:41 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 22 July 2008 08:45 (fifteen years ago) link
maybe im making this up actually
this one? http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/42945-deerhunters-cox-talks-lp3-atlas-sound-dresses
― t_g, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 11:43 (fifteen years ago) link
Never Stops is one of my fave songs of 2008 thus far....
― Michael_Pemulis, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 00:36 (fifteen years ago) link
this might be the one: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/47762-interview-atlas-sound
― marc h., Wednesday, 23 July 2008 02:19 (fifteen years ago) link
yesss
thanks dude
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 23 July 2008 02:21 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Z S, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 02:48 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Z S, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 02:55 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 23 July 2008 02:56 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Z S, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 03:00 (fifteen years ago) link
Thanks for the tips, y'all - I'll do some seeking around, prolly this Fluorescent Gray thing...
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 24 July 2008 01:22 (fifteen years ago) link
You're welcome. I'd say to grab that song (Fluorescent Grey) in particular.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 24 July 2008 01:27 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Z S, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 07:05 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Z S, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 07:08 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Z S, Sunday, 31 August 2008 22:16 (fifteen years ago) link
im surprised/happy at how much i love microcastle
has anyone heard weird era cont.?
― J0rdan S., Sunday, 31 August 2008 22:18 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Z S, Sunday, 31 August 2008 22:25 (fifteen years ago) link