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Deerhunter began in 2001 with
the ambition of fusing the lulling hypnotic states
induced by ambient and minimalist music with the klang
and propulsion of garage rock. The band has weathered
chaotic line-up changes, the death of a member, and
much discouragement. Their live performances almost
always leave audiences polarized, and have been referred
to by Karen O of the yeah yeah yeah’s
in NME as bordering on “a religious experience.” They
are based in Atlanta.
Cryptograms, the second full-length
offering from Deerhunter, is their first from Kranky.
The album took almost two years to finish and was the
product of emotional, physical, and financial strain
on the group. The result is an album that finds the band
shifting from discordant catharsis, and forming a sonic
identity that completely expresses the place from which
they have arrived. The album functions in part as a study
in duality and the concept of the same experiences seen
from two angles, present and past. The most obvious manifestation
of this is in the chronological sequencing. The first
half of the album was recorded first unsuccessfully in
2005. These recordings were a blur at best, wordless
and bordering on psychological atrophy. The sessions
failed to provide anything tangible, and were racked
with technical and personal problems, including out-of-tune
pianos, panic attacks, and a tape machine that seemed
to fail to capture the full spectrum of ambience the
band was exploring. The band returned home, having failed,
and considered giving up. The idea arose to give it one
last shot and exactly one year from the date of the recording
of their first self-titled LP at a small studio in rural
GA, they returned to that same studio and plugged in.
The session resulted in the first half of the record
which was recorded in one day and completely filled the
reel of tape they brought with them. Cryptograms’ first side begins with an introduction
leading to the title track, and ends with the tape literally
spinning off the end of the reel in the middle of a drone
layered with bells and accordion (“Red Ink”).
The second half of the record, also recorded in one day,
in the November of 2005, represents the band in an entirely
different state. “Spring Hall Convert” opens
with the line, ”...so I woke up…” and
introduces a set of focused psyche-pop songs fixating
on adolescence, illness, and failing connections.
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