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Gerogia-based
Deerhunter, led by guitarists Colin Mee and Lockett Pundt and vocalist Bradford
Cox, are late shoegazers who split
Cryptograms (Kranky, 2007) between surreal instrumentals and
psychedelic songs.
After the Intro of disquieting "musique concrete",
Cryptograms sets the standard for the songs of the album:
a danceable syncopated rhythm that slowly mutates into a Neu-style "motorik" and a repetitive guitar chord that hints at an anthemic riff without ever delivering it provide the foundations for the singer's rousing mantra.
After a mini-symphony of soaring guitar vibratos and layered instrumental sounds with no drums (White Ink), that provides a glimpse into the spiritual side of their music, the band intones the limping, angular cry of Lake Somerset, with menacing bass and crunching guitar clashing over a quasi-ska beat.
After an instrumental of floating Indian-tinged tones (Providence),
the eight-minute Octet opens with a lengthy sequence of repetitive guitar staccatos and manipulated voices at a relentless rhythm that slowly mutates into a shimmering "motorik" locomotive (also an instrumental piece).
The quietly droning Red Ink introduces to two ditties in the vein of the
Flaming Lips:
Spring Hall Convert and Strange Lights. This last section of the
album is more derivative of conventional psychedelic pop and vastly less
interesting than the previous sections.
The EP Fluorescent Grey (2007) adds four more songs.
Atlas Sound, the brainchild of Bradford Cox, took Deerhunter's pensive side
to new heights on
Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (Kranky, 2008),
thus coining a form of bedroom-pop for the digital age.
Bradford's attention to detail and eccentric constructs sometimes look like an
attempt to promote himself as a
more profound, less operatic and male successor of
Bjork, but the broad palette of
Winter Vacation,
Quarantined,
Bite Marks, as well as his intense singing in between evocative
instrumentals, affirmed the same schizophrenic vision of life of Deerhunter.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Tobia D’Onofrio)
Deerhunter, dalla Georgia, guidati dai chitarristi Colin Mee e Lockett Pundt e dal cantante Bradford Cox, sono tardi shoegazers che hanno diviso Cryptograms (Kranky, 2007) in un lato di ipnotici raga ambient, e un lato di ninna-nanne pop psichedeliche. L’EP Fluorescent Grey (2007) aggiunge delle nuove canzoni.
Atlas Sound, partorito dalla mente di Bradford Cox, porta il lato riflessivo dei Deerhunter verso nuove vette, con l’album Let The Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (Kranky, 2008), coniando una forma di bedroom-pop per l’era digitale. L’attenzione di Bradford per il dettaglio e le costruzioni eccentriche a volte appaiono come un tentativo di promuovere se stesso come un più profondo, meno istrionico successore maschile di Bjork, ma l’ampia tavolozza di Winter Vacation, Quarantined, Bite Marks, insieme all’intenso cantato fra gli evocativi strumentali, afferma la stessa schizofrenica visione di vita di Deerhunter.
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