From now until January 13, I'll be featuring my favourite tracks of 2008, some of which have already appeared in Click Hear throughout the year, some of which haven't.
Right now I'd say there is no band more consistent than Atlanta's Deerhunter. Having released my favourite albums of 2007 - the Krautrock/shoegaze/psych/drone/pop tornado Cryptograms, an album I'd consider to be a high point of the last decade, and the immediate follow-up, the Fluorescent Grey EP - I thought they could do no wrong. But I never expected them to come storming back the way they did, and so soon after, considering front-man Bradford Cox was also working on his Atlas Sound project.
But they did, and again released my favourite LP(s) of 2008, knocking out another double whammy with Microcastle and Weird Era Cont.. Because it was the headliner, Microcastle got almost all of the attention, as it should. However, I felt the band's best song was included on the "hidden" disc, Weird Era Cont..
"Vox Humana" feels even more Spector-esque than Microcastle, an album that was heavily inspired by the '50s and '60s. Taking that unforgettable drumbeat from the Ronettes' "Be My Baby," Cox whispers sweet memories, including a nod to the Shangri-Las ("I remember walking by the sand"), all from the perspective of a ghost haunting some poor basketmaker in the '20s. It's a gorgeous homage that uses beautifully worded nostalgia ("I remember cassettes, cathedral") and imagery over top of a timeless sound that deserved much more recognition than it received.
Deerhunter "Vox Humana"
Right now I'd say there is no band more consistent than Atlanta's Deerhunter. Having released my favourite albums of 2007 - the Krautrock/shoegaze/psych/drone/pop tornado Cryptograms, an album I'd consider to be a high point of the last decade, and the immediate follow-up, the Fluorescent Grey EP - I thought they could do no wrong. But I never expected them to come storming back the way they did, and so soon after, considering front-man Bradford Cox was also working on his Atlas Sound project.
But they did, and again released my favourite LP(s) of 2008, knocking out another double whammy with Microcastle and Weird Era Cont.. Because it was the headliner, Microcastle got almost all of the attention, as it should. However, I felt the band's best song was included on the "hidden" disc, Weird Era Cont..
"Vox Humana" feels even more Spector-esque than Microcastle, an album that was heavily inspired by the '50s and '60s. Taking that unforgettable drumbeat from the Ronettes' "Be My Baby," Cox whispers sweet memories, including a nod to the Shangri-Las ("I remember walking by the sand"), all from the perspective of a ghost haunting some poor basketmaker in the '20s. It's a gorgeous homage that uses beautifully worded nostalgia ("I remember cassettes, cathedral") and imagery over top of a timeless sound that deserved much more recognition than it received.
Deerhunter "Vox Humana"