Deerhunter/Atlas Sound/Lotus Plaza

[joplinpicasso]

As a stalwart fan of both Bradford Cox and Lockett Pundt, I am again interested to see the level of interest in all related music of theirs on this board. I believe Parallax was amazing, and Lotus Plaza is supposedly recording right now.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rY5Uf4E0e4&ob=av3e

And to think I got into Deerhunter through the Lights In The Sky Tour Sampler...

[thevoid99]

Deerhunter is all kinds of awesome and I like their additional side projects.

[Mantra]

Lotus Plaza is supposedly recording right now.

So glad to hear this. I thought the first Lotus Plaza album was extremely underrated. A lot of people seemed to think it was kind of average, but I found myself going back to it many, many times. It's not very innovative or anything, but I just I really like the youthful, nostalgic vibe that it has.

This might be my favorite Deerhunter-related song.

"A Threaded Needle" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl_osed-DWU)

[joplinpicasso]

Regarding The Floodlight Collective, I know what you mean. Initially, I couldn't really get into the whole thing, but I soon came around only this year. Ah! And totally agreed on "A Threaded Needle"!, though this song has racked up a tad more plays by me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUnjJ2G_qk4

It wasn't online, so I had no choice but to put it up myself.

[westost]

I might have to give Lotus Plaza another chance, can't say I was impressed on my first and only listen a few years back.

Parallax is great though, I don't like it more than LTBLTWCS, but it beats Logos (although that was a good album too). Did you guys see the live performance of the title track on pitchfork.tv? That was breathtaking.

[joplinpicasso]

That Creator's Project performance is the only Bradford Cox-related performance I've missed in the NYC area in two years, ha. The title track is pretty cool, but I'm in love with so many other tracks on the record, which beats both Logos AND Let The Blind....

After the two upcoming NY Atlas Sound shows, I'll have seen DH/AS live thirteen times so far :eek:

[Mantra]

I personally hated Let the Blind... because it struck me and as just a bunch of aimless laptop noodlings. Logos seemed like a strong step forward, albeit a little fragmented and inconsistent. But Parallex is fucking solid. I need to listen to it some more. He's gone from being an unremarkable bedroom producer to a really great songwriter.

[westost]

Wow, I wish I could see DH again soon, but I guess I'll have to travel somewhere to do that; they rarely come to Sweden. They really are amazing live, even if the Bradford was in a really bad mood when I saw them back in 09.

[joplinpicasso]

East coast Lotus Plaza tour. Apparently new album will be a paraphrased Einstein quote, Spooky Action at a Distance.

[Amaro]

Halcyon Digest is just solid. Thank the heavens, a Deerhunter record hits me proper.

[joplinpicasso]

Hehe ;) I'll be at ATP in the UK this year -- Deerhunter will be curating the second weekend and performing three albums in full. Amazing.

[thefragile_jake]

They're working on a new record for this year, which is awesome but it looks like Josh Fauver left the band.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/deerhunter-record-new-album-in-brooklyn-20130208/0684827

Kind of depressing, he always had such a cool stage presence about him. I saw them at the Pitchfork Music Festival in 2011 and a cigarette was dangling from his mouth almost the entire set. That bass line on "Nothing Ever Happened" is amazing.

Either way, I can't wait for another record...I loved Digest.

[Kid Charlemagne]

Frankie Broyles is in Deerhunter! Frankie is the younger brother of my brother's best friend. So excited about this since BALKANS was awesome and he was doing work with Atlas Sound. Couldn't happen to a better dude.

[richardp]

YES!! Maybe now Deerhunter will FINALLY fucking come perform in Kansas City. Been waiting years to see them, and I literally don't think that they've EVER come here.

[thefragile_jake]

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

That's the cover of the new record Monomania and here's the 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)

Record comes out May 7th, get pumped!

[thevoid99]

Oh yeah!!! New Deerhunter!!! I'm going to miss Josh. I spent part of the show trying to tell him his shoe was untied when I saw them a few years ago.

[xmd 5a]

Awesome! Deerhunter is grwat. Especially love Weird Era and Cryptograms, as well as their weird early stuff showcased on Carve Your Initials into the Walls. Atlas Sounds is great too. Let the Blind and Logos are really good albums. I was less convinced by Parallax. Seems like Deerhunter-lite, minus all the cool experimental elements.

Gave the Lotus Plaza albums a recent spin. Solid stuff.

[thefragile_jake]

I was less convinced by Parallax. Seems like Deerhunter-lite, minus all the cool experimental elements.

Yeah, I had the same feeling. I could tell I liked it, but it felt like it was trying to go for a Halcyon Digest II....which in itself is kind of impossible because of how well put together HD is.

[joplinpicasso]

Strange, because I feel that Cox's fringe singer/songwriter persona was best executed on Parallax compared to other AS records. Monomania will kill. I saw the band at MoMA in Brooklyn last month performing "Dream Captain" (?) and it was intense.

[Collin]

Excited for this. Halcyon Digest has become one of my all time favorite records. In my opinion it's the best blend of their atmospheric dreaminess with their pop melodies and heavy lyrics. The production is just ace. So many good tracks on that thing, Earthquake (when he does that soft breath in the background near the midway point, i get chills), Don't Cry, Sailing, Desire Lines, Helicopter, Coronado, He Would Have Laughed and that's not even counting for the singles Revival/Memory Boy. damn, i love that album.

[joplinpicasso]

Deerhunter were in top form on Jimmy Fallon tonight. New title track is available on iTunes.

[Kid Charlemagne]

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

FUCK! This is good!

[xmd 5a]

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

FUCK! This is good!


Pretty damn awesome track. Sounds somewhat like something that could've come off the debut...

[richardp]

Did anyone else see the Fallon performance? Good god, if that's not the most punk thing we'll see all year, than I don't know what is. This track is UNBELIEVABLE.

[Kid Charlemagne]

Did anyone else see the Fallon performance? Good god, if that's not the most punk thing we'll see all year, than I don't know what is. This track is UNBELIEVABLE.

Yeah, the performance was awesome, the missing fingers, the elevator, the distortion. So badass. Watching the performance, then seeing that the song was released was a good way to end my day yesterday.

[thevoid99]

I watched it last night. Man, they were great. Bradford was amazing. The performance itself will definitely be one of the great moments in Jimmy Fallon. I really hope to see them again live.

[richardp]

monomonomania,
monomonomania,

[thefragile_jake]

....we have leakage.

[kas23]

Can't say I'm impressed by this. And I've lived everything they've put out.

[joplinpicasso]

Posted from DH board:

First listen through Monomania, I felt like I was enjoying sounds and bits more than the whole songs. After going back again and checking out those specific parts that I liked, they blended into full passages. This record is great. I still need to digest it more. The comparisons to TIUF are only apt because of Brad's vocal effects and the title track, in my opinion. They're trying to make compact statements within each track as opposed to an overarching album scheme (this is supported by a recent interview).

The first half functions as consecutive garage rock punches and the second half flows beautifully. Damn, the more I write about it and listen to different sections, the more that I love it.

Initial favorites: "Neon Junkyard", "The Missing", "Sleepwalking", **"Back To The Middle" (has a classic Strokes feel in the best way). Hm, also "Dream Captain"

[richardp]

It's not full of crazy punk psych-outs like I thought, but this is still a GREAT album. It'll take more listens to decide if it tops Halcyon as their best album, but not really disappointed in anything from it at the moment.

[thefragile_jake]

I was basically thinking the same thing you guys were, Digest was more dreamy at times and the songs immediately hit me but Monomania has a more fuzzy garage rock n' roll vibe going on...I really do like it but where as Digest for sure was like an instant connection I think my third or so listen really had me loving this album.

They haven't made a bad record at all.

[thevoid99]

It is a step down a bit from the last album as I was hoping for some more weirder stuff but still, it's a great album. They've been consistently good since Cryptograms.

[ZeroSum]

New album definitely feels like a grower. I downloaded it late last night and was initially pretty disappointed, but then listened to it again on my commute to school this morning and found myself enjoying it a lot. Every song seems pretty great to me, and a lot of them are ridiculously melodic in the best way possible. I love how noisy the end of the title track is. I really wish the high school me appreciated music like this back when I saw them open for NIN in 2008... It was just a little too weird for me back then, unfortunately. All of their albums are great.

[Mantra]

It's alright. It kinda reminds me of the Rainwater Cassette EP, just because of how barebones and garage-y it sounds. I do like it, but I really miss all the jammy/weird/ambient experimental stuff, like Octet, Red Ink, Activa, Slow Swords, etc.

Nite Bike is incredible though. Holy fuck, I played it like 40 times in a row last night. Perfect song.

[Hazekiah]

Deer Hunter performs "Monomania" live on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." (http://www.thespacelab.tv/spaceLAB/2013/04April/016-SMP-Deerhunter-Night-Jimmy-Fallon-Music-Videos.html)

Pretty cool stuff.

I don't know a lot about them but since they opened for NIN a while back I've got a pal who kicked me this link and asked if I had any idea what the singer had done to his fingers to leave them all bloody and stumpy and bandaged like that. From what little I know of them it seems like they could easily just have been done up like that as part of the show...but I figured I'd pass it along here and see if anyone knows more about it.

[october_midnight]

Deer Hunter performs "Monomania" live on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." (http://www.thespacelab.tv/spaceLAB/2013/04April/016-SMP-Deerhunter-Night-Jimmy-Fallon-Music-Videos.html)

Pretty cool stuff.

I don't know a lot about them but since they opened for NIN a while back I've got a pal who kicked me this link and asked if I had any idea what the singer had done to his fingers to leave them all bloody and stumpy and bandaged like that. From what little I know of them it seems like they could easily just have been done up like that as part of the show...but I figured I'd pass it along here and see if anyone knows more about it.

From what I've been told from my friend who's a big fan of theirs, it's part of a new 'stage persona' named Connie Lungpin that Bradford's kicking up. Not sure if that's it, but I think his hand thing was fake.

[Hazekiah]

Hmm, okay...why not, lol.

Thanks, it seemed pretty obvious that he just had his fingers curled-up under there, but that didn't necessarily mean they weren't actually injured somehow so I thought it best to check. I'd heard about various other showmanship-antics before but you never know.

Interesting.

Anyway, they seem fun. Too bad I never got to see them with NIN but maybe I'll catch 'em at a festival or whatever someday. Based purely on the handful of songs I've heard (pun intended), I'd be down with that.

[xmd 5a]

Quite enjoying the album. It's no Cryptograms, but it's a fun Is This It?-esque rawk-out. Glad they're changing things up a little.

"Back to the Middle" in particular is really doing it for me.

[kas23]

Back to the Middle is the best song on there.

This album really came alive after a few listens. I love it.

[rampface]

I've been a Deerhunter fanboy since '07 so of course I'm enjoying every second of this. My jams so far are Dream Captain, T.H.M., The Missing, Neon Junkyard, and Pensacola.

As for info on the Fallon performance, Bradford said that Connie Lungpin was just something he spouted out to the Pitchfork guys and they ran the story. It's not a new alter ego. That was just something to make their television appearance entertaining. He also said his hand was bandaged as a tribute to his dad who recently lost a finger.

cant wait to see these guys open for The Breeders in May!!

[Mantra]

These dudes got a new album coming out on October 16th called Fading Frontier. I am psyched as FUCK.

Here's the fucking cover...

http://pitchfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/content/unnamed%20%2848%29.jpg?wmode=transparent


Isn't that a nice cover? Now here's the goddamn tracklist (note the guests)...

01 All The Same
02 Living My Life
03 Breaker
04 Duplex Planet (ft. Tim Gane of Stereolab on Electronic Harpsichord)
05 Take Care (ft. James Cargill of Broadcast on Synthesisers and Tapes)
06 Leather and Wood
07 Snakeskin (ft. Zumi Rosow on Treated Alto Saxophone)
08 Ad Astra
09 Carrion



And here's the video for the new single, which is really fun and cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG6jk5Q90DA

I get more and more into this song the more I listen. It's like a Some Girls-era Stones track, except it's probably a little better than that.

Everybody: let's all feel happy about this shit, because this is good news. Even if Monomania was a little on the whatever-ish side, Deerhunter are a fucking solid band.

[thevoid99]

Oh, I'm excited for this. Especially as I'm a big Deerhunter fan.

[joplinpicasso]

Delayed update: Fading Frontier is a graceful album, still dripping with the melancholy gloss and whimsical dread of other DH albums. Fans that missed out, please consider doing internet searches for: Bradford Cox's 'concept map' of the album and info about his near-death car crash; Lockett Pundt's foray into more solo material and obsession with synths, the band's comments about chasing both the music industry and personal endeavors as 'fading frontiers'; Cox's words about the cover art and what it means. Lots of elements to unpack in this record. Consider re-visiting.