and most people would find cryptograms not accessible at all

I found "Microcastle" very pleasant to listen to. It's certainly not crowd-pleasing stuff, and so I can imagine why their live performances are maligned in the way that they are. If you prefer razzle-dazzle and !PERSONALITY! (in the capitalised sense) in your music, it's probably best to look elsewhere. In fact, I would imagine that the critical hype that surrounds this band was bound to diminish in the public realm since for the most part the listening public prefer their music to be laden with razzle-dazzle and !PERSONALITY!, when this band really isn't about that, IMO.

the public likes good music.
and i dunno wtf "razzle-dazzle and !PERSONALITY!" is

People only interested in razzle-dazzle and, um, !PERSONALITY! (in the capitalised sense???), would almost certainly not even find themselves listening to a band like Deerhunter in the first place. As such, the lack of those two notions would not really come up as an issue.



I agree with the one who said that Cryptograms is NOT the place to start with Deerhunter. More like Fluorescent Grey EP or Microcastle. The former is probably even more accessible than the latter. Great stuff.

Point taken. "!Personality!" (in the capitalised sense) was meant to be taken as any kind of band that thrives on the cult of personality, whichever form it may take. Most bands have some form of "personality politics" behind their image. But if so, Deerhunter certainly have a public face, an "image" to maintain. So my comment shoots itself in the foot.

I suppose I was merely responding to the negative response to this band, and there is a lot of it out there, which I can't fathom since I can't hear anything wrong with it. While I can understand that it isn't for everyone, it seems that even indie fans are calling this band overhyped, awful, dreadful, etc., when I can't see how one's response to this band could possibly be vitriolic and negative. Perhaps indifferent, since no form of music can possibly please everyone, but not absolutely vitriolic. Is this response a result of the lead singer's persona? Even if they've been almost universally lauded by critics, this doesn't mean that they've achieved any kind of real prominence out there: I'm sure that most people on the street will not have heard of them. (Or is it the case that critics heap praise upon a particularly obscure, inaccessible band in order to be trend setters while absenting themselves from the realm of music that real people enjoy? In which case I maintain that even though Deerhunter has not achieved mainstream prominence, the music on Microcastle is, to my ears, "accessible".)

Exactly why it's so frustrating when people call underground bands 'overhyped'- as much as every blog on the web might be talking about a certain band, chances are only like 3% of the population has even heard of them.


Oh and by the way, anyone hear the new tracks from Deerhunter's new EP, "Rainwater Cassette Exchange"? The title track is excellent, and the demos I've heard of 'Dissapearing Ink' and 'Game of Diamonds' are excellent as well, although I haven't heard the versions that are to be released.

ooo can you pm me possibly?

Deerhunter are most definitely one of my favorite bands around today. I didn't care much for Cryptograms that first time I heard it. I didn't dislike it but had no effect on me at all so I completely forgot about them. Then I heard Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. and I absolutely loved it so I went back and heard Cryptograms and enjoyed it much more. And the new Rainwater Cassette Exchange is wonderful.

There are some interesting songs on the album's accompanying disk Weird Era Cont.: my favourite of the moment is "Vox Humana". I listen to it on repeat lately.