Halcyon Digest
Deerhunter make a record about the joy of early music discovery, and in revisiting that youthful enthusiasm, they brilliantly rekindle it.
Bedroom-pop auteur Bradford Cox has dabbled in the childlike yet menacing psychedelia of Syd Barrett, the sumptuously lonely songcraft of Brian Wilson and Phil Spector, the funky drone of Stereolab, the mind-freezing soundscapes of Brian Eno, and the slapdash four-track buzz-pop of Robert Pollard. But he’s never…
Inspired by the flyer culture of punk and college rock bands of the '70s and '80s, Deerhunter introduced Halcyon Digest with an "interactive Xerox art project" in which fans photocopied an old-school flyer made by Bradford Cox, pasted it around their towns, photographed it, and sent the results back to the band.
On their fourth record, Deerhunter has settled into a comfortable, yet still thrilling, space.
Halcyon Digest’s finest moment suggests that Deerhunter will get by just fine without the histrionics.