Halcyon Digest

This album is all atmosphere, specifically the atmosphere of realizing you are trapped in an indie horror movie. Stay out of the woods. Favorite tracks: "He Would Have Laughed," "Desire Lines"

Yessss så glad for at se den her plade på listen! Lyder lige så alien som den gjorde i 2010!

The outro of Desire Lines is way to short.

Great

Muy buen disco. Muy melancólico, de pronto con algo de ira o incertidumbre, pero siempre atrapante. Me sorprendió mucho y lo escuché dos veces para confirmar las 5 estrellas.

Really surprising. Enjoyed it a lot.

Deerhunter has been a regular on my playlists since this album came out. Five stars for Desire Lines and He Would Have Laughed by them selves. Desire Lines itself is a masterpiece. Perfect rainy Sunday morning soundtrack this weekend.

Damn, this is right up my alley. Some transitions between songs were rough, but others were beautifully done. Sometimes a song would start and I didn't think it would match the vibe, but in the end I loved the whole album. Amazing to drive to on a groggy morning Didn't like Basement Scene, but Desire Lines is my new jam

Wow this is a blast from the past for me. I was really into these guys back then and for some reason I haven't listened to them in many years. It still 100% holds up as some gorgeous indie rock. Bradford Cox is such an interesting person.

A beautiful album and some of the best indie rock I had never heard of. Reminds me a lot of STRFKR. Sometimes a little like The Strokes.

This album comes up a lot in “Best of…” type lists, but that doesn’t always mean much. In this case, I was really impressed. Jangly, often Baroque and a bit shimmery pop.

How have i not heard of this band? Listened to this twice - awesome SP vibes!

My vibe, my tribe.

An absolute pear of an album. Memories become pearls of pain and desire to shape the past around pain and what could have been but wasn’t. A wondrous collection gets better over time.

Incredible album. The atmosphere here is one of a kind. I still don't even really know where this album takes me when I listen to it

Wow was not expecting Deerhunter. I live between Atlanta and Athens so this one definitely has a local personal connection to me. David Barbe also worked on this one who is a legend in the Athens music community (his band Mercyland sound eerily like Green Day but came a bit earlier). I've never listened to this one all the way through but it was fantastic. I played it again and the songs were even better on a second listen. Rating: 4.8

лютая имба, очень зашло. добавил альбик и сохранил несколько треков.

Really cool. I gotta give this a few more listens.

if i could give this perfect album a thousand stars out of 5 i would give it a million.

Their masterpiece. An album that I loved the moment it came out for the emotional depth to both the songwriting and the production which marries that garage rock and dream pop sound so perfectly.

Amazing album! Love the music, love the vibe, love the often weird lyrics.

My kinds of indie. Specifically the sound bath and acoustic-plinky-plonky-talking varieties. Perfectly of its time (2010), made me think of Parachutes and Eyes Open and In Rainbows and Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, hinting at Coast Modern. e.g., Sailing, Desire Lines (Coldplay), Basement Scenes (Radiohead), Helicopter, He Would Have Laughed This week. Was fire.

I've heard about this band for years and not really stopped to listen, I really enjoyed their sound. An indie sound by very interesting.

Incredible spiritual experience

I like 1 song from this so 5 stsrs

This might be quintessential Pitchforkbait and Fantanobait But damn, it's great bait

I LOVED THIS

I think this a fantastic album. Definitely deserving of being on this list (even though most people on this site seem to disagree). Favorite song: He Would Have Laughed Least favorite song: Sailing

Unreal. Favorite for life

Another of my favourite records of the early 2010s! Chuffed it made this list as it’s a right underrated gem for me. Deerhunter are one of them bands that are huge without ever being big. Ive seen them headline festivals with tens of thousands there to see them, whilst also touring smallish venues for them. They’re consistent too, each record is well worth a listen and I’d probably say this is their best (albeit Monomania will always be my favourite, if that makes sense). He might say some strange things at times but Bradford Cox doesn’t half know how to write, and I’d put Halcyon Digest in that category of ‘essential indie everyone should listen to at least once!’

Electro-chill avec sonorités travaillées/raw

I hate it so very much when I scan the reviews for an album and the majority of positive comments are suffused with nostalgia. And yet here I am, about to do just that. The only fault I can throw this album's way is that my spotify algorithm LOVES throwing He Would Have Laughed into every mix, but that's not the fault of the music.

5/5

"Halcyon Digest" is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Deerhunter. Psychedelic pop, deam pop, indie pop and noise pop. Yes, they all fit. According to lead singer and guitarist Bradford Cox, the album title is a reference to a collection of fond memories and even invented ones and the way we write/re-write memories to be what we want to remember. That's pretty much the overarching theme in a number of these songs. Other band members included Moses Archuleta (drums) Joshua Fauver (bass) and Lockett Pundt (guitar, vocals). The album had universal acclaim. A thump followed by a synth swishing sounding like turning pages in a book or time warping starts "Earthquake." Guitars strings come in along with a hand clap. Eventually, another guitar trembling is layered. Cox singing extremely slowly about the end of a relationship. As with many of these songs, there's a dreamy quality. The pace picks up with melodic guitars in their single "Memory Boy." A moving bass and drums. Cox is reconstructing the places he's been. Lockett Pundt takes the lead vocals in the wonderful "Desire Lines." Layered, harmonious guitars come in immediately. Pundt sings about walking free and urging someone to come with him. Classic pop structure in the beginning with a great vocal chorus and keeps building. The song then explodes gloriously into dual, layered guitars escalating the scales. Four minutes of heaven that could last forever. An indie pop classic. The album ends with "He Would Have Laughed," a tribute to indie artist Jay Reatard who past away. High-pitched guitar strings with tribal percussion and drums. The song changes to a more pychedelic folk-pop song. Cox's lyrics are cryptic in his tribute. Some of the songs on this album are dreamy, trippy and pychedelic pop, while others are sparse and stripped down. There's quite a variety within and between songs with the above descriptors. Mostly, the lyrics are positive and fit the Halcyon-themed motif. There's really no weak spots in this album. It's great on the headphones. Hands down, it's one of my favorite albums of the 2000's. A must listen.

3.06? We can do better than that for the peak of indie rock. Deerhunter were a band that I was completely infatuated with this time last year, and remain in my top 5 artists ever - I believe they're the only one to show up on this list (Swans, Boris, Unwound aren't here, as I'd expect, and I'll only end up talking about Jim O'Rourke via the Wilco connection) so I'd best make this review worth it. I even named my band after one of their albums! So I do feel a real affinity to this band. Not this album particularly, but that's only because Microcastle and Weird Era Continued are as close to perfect as you can get with indie rock, and Halcyon Digest isn't far off either. A big complaint people seem to have with this album is that it's "pretentious". To me, that word in the context of music means an album that's kind of up its own arse. Listening to songs like Don't Cry, Memory Boy, Revival, Coronado and Fountain Stairs, I really can't see how that could possibly be the case. Those songs are quite simple and, importantly, know they're quite simple. They don't do anything more than they need to and start citing philosophy and spouting psuedo-intellectualism. Bradford Cox's lyrical style is effectively just stream of consciousness, and with that in mind, going into this album looking squarely at the lyrics is the wrong approach. It's a mood-setter, and for the vast majority of the songs, outlines the feel of them perfectly. There are exceptions to this rule of course, but those are actually usually the standouts. Take a song like like Helicopter, which is, for my money, the best song on here, where they crafted an entire story accessible in the liner notes to create context and backstory for the subject of the song. It elevates the song a fair bit - but it's not necessary to enjoying the song, and the themes of loneliness and isolation on that song are still poignant even without that. Or the 7-minute closing track He Would Have Laughed, dedicated to extremely talented garage rocker Jay Reatard, a contemporary of Deerhunter and collaborator with Bradford Cox on one occasion. It's a song dealing with his death and it's a fitting tribute, with the song ending so abruptly, just as it feels like it's winding down. Now, the music itself is on another level. On this album they distill the shoegazier moments from Microcastle and some excellent pop songwriting (Revival and Coronado are so clearly inspired by The Beatles at points) that they still add their own noisy edge to, similarly to what Pavement were doing a decade prior. The way Earthquake builds throughout its runtime is to die for, the outro on Desire Lines is absolutely perfect, somehow eclipsing what would be the best chorus on the album if not for Helicopter, and speaking of which, the bridge between the final two choruses on Helicopter is a particularly euphoric moment. There's a moment on He Would Have Laughed when an acoustic guitar comes in and the feel of the song shifts entirely, but it's still the same song at its core. This part of the review is obviously going to be a little more personal to me, but I do feel like Bradford Cox, as a songwriter, creates queer music. Halcyon Digest and especially Monomania are the best examples of this, but the brand of queerness on this album is one that I've always found myself identifying with heavily. There's an essay that RateYourMusic user spectreview wrote about a similar thing - I'll link it at the end of the review. But there is something in there that I, as someone who does struggle with queer identity, find extremely comforting. There's a certain warmth to this album at its core, beneath its cold exterior. It's so easy to discount an album like this as "hipster rubbish for flannel-wearing IPA drinkers", but you could do a similar thing for any other album that's ever existed. The Dark Side of the Moon? Basic shite for people who don't listen to that much music really. Highway to Hell? Novelty music that old people with bad beards take seriously. The Glowing Man by Swans? Overly-long wank that never ends. That last one is my favourite album of all time, and I love Dark Side as well. It's easy to discredit an album on arbitrary means, and sometimes maybe we should. But this is still a significant album, and I love it more than about 995 other albums on this list. "Now they are through with me." Also, here's the essay I was talking about earlier in the review: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/spectreview/deerhunter-were-my-first-queer-salve/ 10/10

Fire. Kinda radioheady but its own thing. Really cool and varied

Never heard of them before. They couple bouncy pop with quirky background sounds and slightly fuzzy vocals--reminds me of the kind of band only the cool kids knew about. Basement Scene sounds like the Everly Brothers on acid, and what's not to like about that? Elsewhere, they sound like the sadly pissed-off children of Jesus and Mary Chain who wished their parents let them outside to ride bikes like the other kids. Nice sax in Coronado! He Would Have Laughed is a beautiful end to an album that has definitely been a journey--a good one.

I love this album. It sounded great when it came out and sounds great today. I can get not seeing how incredible it is because maybe it only speaks to a certain breed, but man it's good

Vilket otroligt album. Dom lite lugnare låtarna bidrar och är inte bara utfyllnad. Outrot på Desire Lines är så jävla läckert

I love this album.

This is very indie pop/rock. With a little bit of flair/artistry sprinkled in. Which is to say, I loved it.

I rather enjoyed this collection of tracks - sounds like white album period Beatles, where catchy pop melodies mingle with dark soundscapes and post psychedelia. Well worth a listen.

Well this was a nice find, I liked it!

I'm not super impressed or enchanted but it's pleasant and easy to listen and I've already listened to it three times since yesterday and I'm going to listen to it more so 5 stars are probably fair

Fantastic indie rock, heavy, but buoyant sound, bit of shoegaze. An album that really encapsulates that era of indie rock. Amazing production all around, fantastic songs tied together by themes of nostalgia and longing.

großartig

Glad this one is on the list. It was my 2nd most favourite album from 2010. Perhaps I liked it a bit better then than now - listening to it again now it is noticeable that not every song is strong - but still a great record overall, and I will have to go for 5 stars. Favourite song: Desire Lines, which seems to be the consensus view Score: 9/10

I was slightly annoyed to see this as Spotify constantly suggests it to me. I’ve seen them live and don’t remember having strong feelings about them. It really won me over this time, not sure why. I’m a bit annoyed Spotify was right

Deerhunter was never meant to be a pretty band. The accidental brainchild of gay frontperson Bradford Cox, they had always meant the punky band to be a side-project, only finding the side-project blowing up in the cool and hip indie sphere of Pitchfork as the band gradually turned more ambient and neo-psychedelic. But that mean, abrasive and standoffish undercurrent still stayed, just hidden under layers of very pretty guitar noise. Halcyon Digest is Deerhunter's peak in creating beautiful soundscapes. Earthquake, Sailing and Basement Scene are great vibe songs, gently creating a watery soundscape to create a melancholic mood. But even in these songs, there is something uncanny going on: Earthquake has those gulping sounds and very soft but thumping percussion, Sailing has droning guitar feedback buried in the background, while Bradford covers their voice in layers of feedback and compression in Basement Scene. They evoke a sense of nostalgia, but it's not a simple nostalgia; more like something has burned off the edges of the memory, whether by the difficulty of recalling, or because the memory is actually painful. Surrounding the slower songs are some great poppy and punky songs like Don't Cry, Revival and Memory Boy. But even in the seemingly happier songs, the lyrics carry a sinister undertone, like the subject is actually going through something traumatic; Don't Cry suggesting a target of paedophilia being poached. Main single Helicopter is inspired by the fictional story of a gay victim of human trafficking falling from a helicopter. He Would Have Laughed is an eulogy to a friend of the band, comprised out of a repeating weird melody, seemingly random phrases, before after five minutes the clouds seem to part and a folksy guitar appears as the line "Where did my friends go?" is being sung, before the melody returns and after a short while, the song suddenly cuts out, almost as a metaphor for the last moments of consciousness before dying. Sure, dealing with such subject matter seem to be a little tactless and crass (again, that mean undercurrent), but these songs share that subtext of gay anger and longing. A confusing feeling, but Bradford Cox never plays their cards straight in this album. It's always pretty layers stacked upon sharp layers. However, the other members of the band help this album from sinking into despair. Moses Archuleta's simple, no-nonsense drumming gives the songs a lumbering sense of force, while co-songwriter and singer Lockett Puntt gives two great songs acting as counterforce. His songs Desire Lines and Fountain Stairs are almost anthemic and U2-like, especially with that repetitive drive from the guitar, were it not for the longing vibe. With the sense of anthemic drive, the beautiful guitar tones and the gay subtext all in perfect balance, its easy to see why this is Deerhunter's most beloved album. Still, it's not quite my personal favourite album. I tend to gravitate more towards the earlier Microcastle, for its better sense of drive, or the later Monomania, for taking the angry subtext into text. Even Fading Frontiers, which is a way more uneven album than the rest of their catalog, has better pop highlights with even prettier sounds. But still, Halcyon Digest is a damn fine work from one of my favourite bands. Decent 5

Alright

i will never not think of kyle

Wish I could give it half a star. Man I love Deerhunter, but also hell some songs do go on for a bit too long. 9/10

Lovely stuff. Reminds me of numerous 80s indie bands, Echo, Siouxsie, Cure, Pixies and others. Definitely gonna buy this.

oh wow i had to relisten to those songs a few times they’re devastating fav song: basement scene (makes me feel a certain way), helicopter (i have no friends), he would have laughed (the lyrics, i don’t want to grow up)

First time listening to this album and I was in love with it from start to finish. Something about “Earthquake” hit my soul wherever lives memories of floating through nights of live music, it made me emotional!! The effervescent psychedelic songs, the campy upper songs, it all just hits for me

I love this record. One of my favorites of the 2010s and one I revisit a ton. Songs like “Revival”, “Coronado”, and “Desire Lines” are all fantastic songs. Easy 5/5 for me

Ooh, I like this. Kind of feels like an indie horror movie with a positive, if bittersweet ending.

I dismissed this album when it was released as peak P4k fodder -- unintelligible lyrics, crunchy guitars, nothing particularly danceable or beautiful or stunningly innovative. To me, it sounded just like everything else that was being played in Urban Outfitters at the time. But in retrospect, I think this album is great. Sure, it doesn't seem groundbreaking in the way some other albums on this list surely are, but it does sound like something that would still stand out if it were released now, 13 years later. The songs are varied enough that it kept me interested and curious about what would come next. There's so much beautiful, layered, subtle texture in the bass & more muted background percussion. It reminds me of some of the Beatles' albums where I still discover "new" elements each time I listen.

When I first heard this album at 19, it was one of those experiences where I just kept saying to myself, “you can make a song like this?” It is still a sentiment I feel today. I come back to this one nearly every year. It is one of my most heavily played albums, and yet I am constantly finding new things to love and appreciate. The tripped out anxieties filtered through a dreamlike (and sometimes nightmarish) lens have always been incredible relatable to me, and the sonic soundscape only echos those feelings. Even as I evolve and change as a person, this album still remains relevant. A strange mix of the beauty and fears found in life, Halcyon Digest will be an album I’ll never grow tired of, and one that I think should be heard by anyone feeling a little lost and introspective.

I really liked this. I went through and listened to their whole discography today.

крайне приятный альбомчик

I loved it. I was already a fan of Deerhunter and had no idea

few things make me happier than a really, really good alternative album - 10/10

At the time of writing this, I haven’t finished listening, but what I’ve heard so far makes this an easy 5.

guite good

Un álbum con un sonido muy experimental, el cuál recuerda a las canciones de los Beatles en diferentes aspectos, con un buen uso de sintetizadores y guitarras

Finally, some good music

mastapiece

Alternative rock, 2010. One of the greatest albums of the 2000s because of its production and its composition. Listeners of every generation could enjoy this LP because there is a strong connection between classic and original. All the songs are perfectly disposed during the tracklist and the project feels like a true masterpiece: songs like "Desire Lines" and "He Would Have Laughed" are a prove of it.

A very lovely, beautifully intricate and well produced piece of contemporary indie/psych pop. Excellent cover art as well. Added to my snow playlist. Helicopter is an incredible tune.

Heard this for first time around 2014. The last track is my favorite, and I don't think there is a bad song on the album.

Super refreshing and unique. A great listen.

I've been a long time fan of this album and it was nice to hear all the songs again, especially on the second listen. Certainly Revival is the first stand out track, Desire Lines, and He Would Have Laughed are also favourites.

Amazing album

Four stars and a half An all-time classic, and an album which still holds its own years after it was released. As is usually the case with those classic albums, I won't write a full-blown review here given that others have already written wonderful stuff about them and there's not much I can add that I feel could be relevant and interesting. Halcyon Digest is just a timeless gem for anyone who has even a remote interest in indie-rock. Go and listen to it a.s.a.p. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 944 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 26 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 15 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important to me): 16

Never had the chance to listen to Deerhunter. This is... really good!

Love this gentle album

This kind of music is right up my alley and I liked every song but it gets a five mostly because I listened to it while on a really relaxing walk on the first nice day in February. Immaculate vibes

I heard this in 2010 and loved it and i still listen to it every once in a while and love it. Seen them play live 4 or 5 times and loved it. Its beautiful, its crushing, it is cute, it's rough it is almost perfect. Fav tracks: helicopter, he would have laughed

As a wannabe psychedelic junkie, I approve this album.

was massively into these in the early 10's, dropped off the radar a bit but still sounds great

Brill, listened to it again all over. Deep, dark, and textural.

omgeez love

I've been meaning to listen to Deerhunter!

кайфовое инди, сигаретс афтер секс? лёгкий туманный приятный звук. нескучные аранжировки, откисалово, одно из немногих, что тут понравилось

Me encantó. Lei año 2010 y pensé "ah nuevisimo" y despues cai que pasaron 10 años. Tiene un monton de capas de cuerdas superpuestas que con buenos auriculares te derriten el cerebro cuando les prestas atencion. Amo este tipo de arreglos, y el disco está remil bien producido. Las voces tambien son excelentes, un callback muy bueno a Arcade Fire o a Jesus and Mary Chain si querés ir un poco para atrás. La verdad me voló la cabeza. La tema tica del disco es otra cosa que me gustó, creo que es el primer disco que habla mas o menos de como es descubrir musica nueva y sentir felicidad al respecto. Faveadisimo.

Oh man, so good. Coronado <3 <3 <3

most excellent!

M'ha encantat. Alt-brit-rock!

Great record

amazing

Hadn't heard this before. Some of it was quite beautiful. It was certainly beautifully produced. I found my attention flagging towards the end, but I'll bet with more listens this one would really grow on me.

At first this struck me as just some twee indie pop but there's some great songs here. Enjoyed this

I think I may have just discovered a gem I had not noticed. Deerhunter is hard to genre, kind of shoegaze, sort of alternative rock/ say college radio, they say ambient punk. I like that. But certainly it varies and is never boring. I found that my youtube matrix kept kicking me out and playing Deerhunter songs off album, but it never mattered because I still actually really enjoyed what I was listening to; and for me, who gets rather bored by "whole albums in a row" easily, that is saying something. I will definitely add some of their songs to my playlist and continue to pay attention to this new discovery!

Had never heard of this group before but I really enjoyed it. Will have to revisit

Deerhunter were an important part of the mid aughts/early 2010s indie explosion and this is probably their opus. I feel like Deerhunter blurred the line between melodic and dreamy shoegaze pretty well and I consider them a gateway band into some of the more experimental acts of the era. 9/10

Not bad. A few interesting ideas here. Definitely influenced by British eighties indie with shades of cure, cocteaus, Mary chain and joy division running through these tracks. Must investigate further.

pretty good! i like this type of folk music, the production is really good. love the harshness of some of the sounds used and the overall mixing is pretty good. the avant garde feel to it makes it a 4 for me

I really liked this. Sonically super dense and atmospheric with some great lyrics and production. Especially liked the opener and closer

I feel like this album kept growing on me the further it got. I wasn't totally sold on it at first, but by the time He Would Have Laughed came to an end, I was hooked and wanted more. I'm definitely a fan of their lo-fi, psychedelic, experimental sound. It kind of sounds like a more psychedelic and experimental Mac Demarco. Like maybe what it would sound like if Mac made an album with Tame Impala or something.

75/100. A fragment can sometimes reveal more than a complete story. It leaves room for mystery, and mystery has a way of lingering long after explanation has been forgotten. This album is a great example of how simplicity can be far more powerful than complexity. Some of these songs genuinely feel like they suspend gravity. The hazy production and psychedelic textures create a floating sensation that makes the album easy to disappear into. What really elevates the record is its concept. The album is fundamentally about memory, how the past never truly leaves us, even as it slowly erodes, distorts and changes shape over time. Rather than simply looking back nostalgically, the album explores how strange it is to carry decades of vanished moments inside your head. That idea gives the music a unique emotional depth. The songs often feel like fragments of memories themselves, beautiful, faded, comforting and slightly unsettling all at once. A beautiful record built around a fantastic concept.

Intrigued by the first song. Loved the second song and third was good too. Then some of the slow songs were too slow or repetitive. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this album and will probably listen to it again sometime but skip a few songs. Don't Cry is a fun song.

Ween lite, but I love ween so I enjoyed this

Rate: 8/10.

An album with a dark and intimidating aura, every song doesn't shine as much as "Helicopter" but they're all still able to keep the mood in an engrossing way. As threatening as death on the horizon, and with some very unusual sound to take in

.

Another album/band I would've loved back in high school during my indie phase. Reminds me of the Strokes and Arctic Monkeys a bit. Favorite track: Memory Boy

Quite good

We have noted across several reviews that music circa 2010 has generally not aged well. This may be a product of human nature, rather than the music itself. It could be some sort of built-in progress driver at work, when we have a desire to flee from the recent past towards the creation of the new. I bet there are a few albums in this bracket that are tedious listens in 2026, but will reemerge as classics in 2040. Anyway, for me, Deerhunter is mostly immune to this pointless, speculative analysis because I like listening to their records right now. This is the end of my semi-coherent hot-take.

Este fue un disco aclamado en su momento. A día de hoy conserva toda su valor. Microcastle ya había sido muy bueno, pero este Halcyon Digest fue excelente. Entre Beach Boys y Spacemen 3. No son Animal Collective ni Flaming Lips, son otra cosa pero igualmente recomendable. Earthquake pone las coordenadas, ambient-dream-pop-psicodelia... Don´t cry sigue esa estela elevando ritmo y pulsaciones. Revival es más Beach Boys (Animal collective). Helicopter es otra delicia. Desire Lines fue su tema más conocido. Imposible no acordarse de Arcade Fire. En Fountain Stars aparece la inspiración de los Jesus and Mary Chain más melódicos. Después del saxo de Coronado cierran con He wold have laughed, entre Vampire Weekend y ellos mismos. Un disco eterno para un grupo que nunca defrauda.

J’ai bien kiffé !! Je connaissais que Desire Lines, j’aime bien le côté indie années 2010 un peu beach house par moments

i did not listen to the whole thing but really loved the instrumentation and vibe

RATING: 8.5/10 HIGHLIGHT: He Would Have Laughed LOWLIGHT: Fountain Stairs

"he would have laughed" rules

Did enjoy

Always liked this album, some really good songs on it

I was so ready to clown on this one because it started out with such a basic 2010s indie type sound. But it was genuinely really good. Good production, and intriguing sounds. Would listen again.

I like it. It's nothing special, but is pretty good for what it is.

Sailing // Memory Boy // Desire Lines // Helicopter //

Dreamy indie rock that really is all over the spectrum sound wise. Some songs reminded me of Buddy Holly, some reminded me of a gritty 90's garage rockers, yet others had me thinking about hippies. I could see myself listening to this more and having it really grow on me, like other albums in this genre have for me.

I think this is my new favorite band. This has some inventive poppy-sounding stuff with a dark edge that I find really appealing, like Talking Heads or Beck. Arty and played with confidence. A nice surprise, I had heard of them but never heard them.

chill nok

Highlights: Earthquake, Don't Cry, Revival, Basement Scene, Helicopter, Fountain Stairs, Coronado, He Would Have Laughed

Love this album; I meant to give the whole thing a listen for ages; was not disappointed.

This laid-back record trends dangerously close to falling into boring territory, but the vast sonic palette pulled me into its ambiance and atmosphere. Even on more subdued tracks like 'Sailing', the ringing reverb of the electric guitar and the ambient sounds kept the relatively simple song interesting. The distorted vocals reminded me of Mark Linkous and I would best describe the music here as sounding like a more upbeat and hopeful Sparklehorse. There are psychedelic pop songs on here like 'Revival' and 'Memory Boy' that are dripping with melancholy and feel much sadder than anything that came out of the sixties due to the sleepy vocals. This is certainly an album that I'd like to come back to on a late night to fully grasp its atmosphere.

Really good, modern day indie rock record. I don’t think this is everyone’s cup of tea but frankly it’s right up my alley. I should return to this.

NICE

Will revisit this one. Slightly haunting sound. Enjoyed.

1 - Combination of the Two (a fiery Stooges-esque opening with every instrument sounding enraged. It then softens up into a simpler blues song. Joplin's voice, initially distant, towers over everything soon after, which is especially impressive considering this was recorded live. A powerful, raw opener to this album that doesn't at all feel nearly 6 minutes in length) 4.5/5 2 - I Need a Man to Love (Joplin shows her surprisingly good sense of dynamics on the verses of this song. This one is a standout even very early in the album. Joplin's laboured gravelly voice is loud and clear no matter how soft she is. However, it exposes how "raw" her talent truly was, and, hilariously enough, the coarse falsettos kind of recall Marge Simpson to my ears. The distorted guitar solo lends a psychedelic edge to the whole song and really ties it in with its era) 4/5 3 - Summertime (a straight-up blues ballad dominated by Joplin's coarse falsetto. This one recalls Since I've Been Loving You by Led Zeppelin even though this song came first. The main riff being so delicate contrasts with the gruff guitar passages that make up the solos. A change of pace without deviating too far from the high-energy one-two that preceded it) 4/5 4 - Piece of My Heart (one of Joplin's best-known songs. She sounds just incredible on this one, her voice never quite sounding so clear. A soulful performance by all those involved on this song and a standout. This song is a very simple verse-chorus affair but there's just enough change each time to make it worthwhile) 4.5/5 5 - Turtle Blues (a piano-led 12 bar blues piece. Sounds so completely out of its time especially as the rest of the album is incredibly modern (for its time anyway.) Joplin displays a mastery of the blues structure and stylings and, barring the modern sound, this could pass a song 20 to 30 years older than it really was) 4/5 6 - Oh, Sweet Mary (a more adventurous affair than most of the previous tracks. The intro riff sounds prog at times and the song moves from a capella harmonies to huge instrumental freak-outs. After a couple solos, there's a straight-up soul and gospel section to this song. A definite highlight of this album) 4.5/5 7 - Ball and Chain (this 9 minute closer begins with an actual, real noise freakout. While this wasn't unheard of at the time it's certainly not a common occurrence for an album as old as this one. Joplin does her classic rise-and-fall displaying the full extent of her voice and dynamics. Much of the song is another slow blues groove despite the noisier parts. Over time the song quiets down until it's only Joplin singing the outro a capella, which then reveals the entire thing was live. Another excellent track to end off this already strong album) 4/5 OVERALL - 8.4/10

Very cool CD got it in the perfect moment walking through time square and it made a great wind down atmosphere vs the regular noise pollution there is here always. It was like walking in a movie with a perfect background soft pop rock music as backgound to a scene of someone pondering life in the middle of the chaos. Great album to put on and sit and wind down after a long day.

Wonderful atmospheric songcraft that is about more than just love and relationships as subject matter. Not the worst of the uninspiring and sometimes preposterous smash-two-names-together band names, but it also feels like it undersells how good they are.

gran álbum me gustó bastante, es un estilo medio "oscuro", pero la verdad muy chill, todos los temas mantiene un nivel y aunque algunos destacan no me acuerdo de los nombres

Quite liked this. Didn't blow me away but was consistently good.

Pretty good, I would listen again. I was worried I would be bored based on the first track, but it moved to a more lively and less mellow sound.

the whole album felt like a gothic dark wave vibe. My attention was fully grasp by the songs.

Pleasant surprise to find this on the list. Slow start but once it gets going it's a good solid album. Feels like it needs one or two bigger songs to nail its place (if it was me I'd go for microcastle because it feels like it's more consistent)

Noise pop Earthquake Memory boy Fountain stairs

This album represents an indie rock ideal to me. A few less interesting tracks, but far outweighed by the quality of the rest of it. He Would Have Laughed is an all time favourite. Earthquake, Desire Lines, Helicopter, Fountain Stairs live in my DNA. It’s a fringe 5 for me but a 4 seems too low. Edit: I decided to give it a 4 instead. Still love it tho.

i like this a lot!!!!! finally something i actually like and don’t just “appreciate for what it is”!!!!! i’m a deerhunter fan now. this sparked a new joy. i fully added this album to my library. wow. i’m full of renewed zeal to listen to the next album with an open heart.

Malonus pasiklausymas tikrai, norėčiau grįžti prie šito albumo.

Happy to see a lesser known indie band from Atlanta on there and really like Deerhunter. I saw them at a Shaky Knees a few years ago. Awesome set and I ran up to be up close for "Desire Lines." I'd love to meet Bradford Cox at some point or see them again soon.

Man, this album sounds amazing. I love the soundscapes that are created, and it helps that there’s somereally catchy noise pop in here.

I had a few false starts on this one where I got busy and had to stop listening. I think this helped my perception of it, because I became somewhat familiar with the first half. The record seems a little "we have grizzly bear at home" with a dash of the Strokes? All throughout I was going between 3 and a 4 but the saxophone on Coronado pushed it to a 4. Musicians take note - throw on some sloppy saxophone and I am helpless to resist. "Halcyon Digest" seems a bit impenetrable on the surface (I had to look up "halcyon;" that cover art) but really the whole record pretty listener-friendly. It is surprisingly hooky, with some hypnotic jam passages that I dig. I'll revisit this one for sure.

Really good. Never heard of them before. Going to check out their other stuff.

Very good

Removed Album #27 (List: https://pastebin.com/cSThNiK9) Eugh. Creepy cover art. The name of this album isn't much better. I know what these two words mean, but I'm not sure what their specific meaning is when paired together. I can't help but think of a cannibal who eats children. All of this waffling is to say that I have no idea what genre this album belongs to. If it were released in the 70s I'd easily hedge my bets on some edgy, heavy, provocative post-punk album, though I'm not so sure where the needle will land now that we're in the 2010s. Fuck it. I'm going for something electronic with a dark, brooding atmosphere. Those first 20 seconds of the album had me on edge, I won't lie. Oh, God. I like this. It's kind of right in line with the music I listen to. What does that say about me after all that I've bloviated about in the previous paragraph? The instrumentation is fantastic across the board. The electric guitars have a buzzing, grunting aggression to them, but also a calmer, more focused side as well. They're balanced out very nicely by the remaining instruments into an ultimately soft overarching sound, notably the great acoustic guitars, muffled percussion and ambient, electronic sounds working in the background. There's a very effective use of reverb on this album too, which isn't something I traditionally care for. It disturbs the serene instrumentals in a pretty fantastic way on the handful of tracks where it features. The vocals are well-matched with this genre, too. The soft, relaxed performances are obviously in-line with everything else this album has going for it. The lyrics were admittedly kind of minimalist, vague, hipster indie wank, though to be fair I wasn't listening too closely since I was busy writing this review. Overall, I liked this album and am compelled to give it a closer look sometime in the future. This album was, tragically, removed from a future edition of the book, and it's my job to figure out why. Let's see. It was added to the 2011 edition and pulled from either the 2018 or 2021 updates of the book (I'm really hoping someone uploads a scan of those books with how many times I've had to say that now). The entry for this album says that it's their best release, is pretty experimental and has some good lyrics. It's "...ambiguous and nostalgic, with occasionally brooding lyrics contrarily packaged in music brimful of inventiveness, confidence and direction." Wikipedia doesn't offer much aside from it being well-received by critics. It also performed pretty well on the US charts as well as a few of the alternative charts in Germany. Decent rap sheet, though I guess the critical response to this album wasn't enough to make it stick. When you're updating the list and refusing to pull any albums released prior to 1997, these indie nominations kind of become easy pickings due to the lack of prominence as well as the general difficulty which comes with maintaining a high quality discography - especially when you don't have access to top-quality producers or equipment. A shame, as part of this list's mission statement was to turn people onto the lesser represented picks. I've clicked through the remainder of Deerhunter's discography and they've had a very commendable run with the critics. Even if they had bombed before and after this album released, I'm willing to stick my neck out for it simply because I like it. Thank you for putting this cool new band onto my radar, Mr. Dimery. I cosign this inclusion.

A great album

Super chill, low-fi, and dreamy, with a bit of an early 90s vibe. Very nice. - Heard before? I hadn't even heard of this band before. - Will I listen again? Definitely. - Does it inspire me to listen to more of this artist? Yes.

Chamber pop crossed with shoegaze. It's got a fuzzy lo-fi aesthetic and it's chill - I dig it. Helicopter in particular really nails that euphoric blissed-out state. A couple of the songs remind me a little of Galaxie 500, some have a VU feel. Definitely will check out more.

Ostao mi je u sjećanju kao dosta življi album

Never heard of this artist before. Reminds me quite a bit of Vampire Weekend. I will want to listen to their other albums in the future.

I used to listen to the last song on this album on repeat during my freshman year so hearing it makes me nostalgic. Outside of that, it’s just a fantastic and dreamy song. I was very glad to find that many of the other songs on the album were also very distinct and delightful to listen to. There’s some lows on the album, but it’s still very strong.

I kind forgot about DH. This is a fantastic album. Diminishing returns after this long player sadly.

Some fairly standard fare with some interesting detours into experimentation. I would argue that it does not stand out as an album that should be on an ‘essential’ list but I do like their music beyond this album and hopefully it increases their listener base.

Listened to a fair bit of them when they first properly came on the scene with ‘cryptograms’ but stopped listening around ‘wierd era cont’ so this was a first listen. Really solid continuation of their sound and this seems to have refined it further. If anything, I’d like them to commit to have even more reverb and fuzz on it and wash over with more of that wall of sound. Good album though, will catch up on some more recent releases following this.

Odd album cover. On Wikipedia it says they mixed the album with someone who worked on Merriweather Post Pavillion, another album on this list, which makes sense. Overall enjoyed this one. Millennial vibes.

New to me. I was enjoying the album and by Revival was convinced it is a keeper, then I got to Desire Lines. The album is on my Wantlist, and Desire Lines has been on repeat.

he would have laughed + revival

Okay I liked this one. Good all around

Suprising listening! Loved the ambiance throughout the album and saved a few songs to my library.

Deerhunter, along with Wilco, belongs on a list of bands I should be all in on, but I just can't get there.

feels like sun bleached transmission. an indie nostalgia.

Magnifique album

it was calming

Weird

This album is interesting because I generally liked the music, but none of the songs really stood out to me or are singles that i would play again. But its good music to listen to while cooking or playing a board game. My favorite song was He Would Have Laughed which feels like a Wilco song from summerteeth

Some really good mid-aughts indie rock here that brings me back to the days when this kind of stuff was a good chunk of my iPod. Some very Grizzly bear-like moments, even a song that reminded me a ton of Spoon (Coronado). I think the middle part of the record is the best - Revival, Memory Boy, Desire Lines are all great, somewhat poppy, rock songs. Enough variation going on with sonic textures to keep things interesting. He Would Have Laughed is a nice closer. Overall really enjoyed.

Cool to have some rather current music in this list. Never actually listened to deerhunter but am glad that this album was suggested here. Very gloomy, dreamy listen with a lot of things happening. Like the concept of bottling up memories here. Throughout many strong tracks that are all interesting by their own. And yet, i adore how every flows. songs i liked the most are earthquake, desire lines and he would have lughed.

4/5 - atmospheric and dreamy. I really liked this

I never heard of Deerhunter before, I liked this album. They reminded of The National.

Hated the first song and was wondering if I would DNF this album, but I ended up loving the rest of it, so much so that I immediately played it again. Still hate the first track, though.

I've listened to this before, however, I think it's a good follow up album to the superior microcastle.

based on the first two songs earthquake and don’t cry, i like it a lot. this is something that i’d genuinely listen to

I don’t remember why but I bought a used cd of this album. It probably appeared on some best of list somewhere (in fact I double checked and it was ranked the 3rd best album of the first half of the 2010s by Pitchfork). Definitely an underwhelming album at first, but it reveals itself slowly. Quite beautiful and moving once you really get into it

Couple of bangers with great instrumentals in between.

I probably overrated this when it came out. It was one of my favorites at the time, but listening to it again, I think the 3-4 songs I really like were buoying the rest of the album.

What a pleasant surprise. I never heard of this band but I like them. I find their music to be wistful, and at times dreamy. This album is going into my rotation.

Pleasant listening

I actually really liked this! Interesting music, textured and layered. It's a type of music I've not really listened to before but could see myself enjoying with more exploration.

A little pavement, a little strokes, smidge of James, a bit chill, a tad creative. Very sad story. Enjoyed this a lot, gone into my albums to listen to afterwards list.

Deerhunter aren't just revivalists, though: in the main this is timeless music, seemingly made with the conviction that loveliness will always be lovely. And on the seven-minute closer, He Would Have Laughed, the combination of effects, melody, harmonies and instrumentation results in a song that manages to look forwards and backwards simultaneously.

pretty good. good atmosphere

Дірхантер для мене свого часу був втіленням пітчфорк музики. Я не можу сказати, що колись сильно ним заслуховувася, проте слухав мабуть всю дискографію. Цей мабуть найкращий у них. Хороші тихі та тендітні пісні.

Поважний гурт і альбом приємний. Desire Lines улюблена пісня тут.

I found it tricky to rate this album; it’s an album I already knew but had only listened a few times and used to mainly come back to it for Helicopter and He Would Have Laughed. It requires some patience, it takes a while to get going but the second half makes up for it and probably would have been easier to give 4 stars had the whole album been like the last 5-6 tracks. However, considering I just gave Boston 3 stars, I thought this should go a little higher.

I really liked the opening track of this album, it kind of reminded me of a more reigned in, shoe-gazey version of Grandaddy. Rest of the album was pretty good too. I didn't love every song, but there's definitely enough that this is an album I would love to come back to from time to time. 3.5/5

eh pedradaça, não tem jeito. acho fantástico esse aqui, mas falta algo. eu escutei muito mais o microcastle, acho que ali eles tão mais indiezinho. aqui eh mais dark, mas ainda bem gostosinho de ouvir. bão demais!!

drone/jangle

- Started off really slow, was worried I was onto a total clunker but it picked up enormously from Memory Boy onwards. - Desire Lines is like a great lost Arcade Fire track. Fantastic stuff. I also loved the guitar riff of Fountain Stairs. The second half is pure, solid catchy indie rock. Loved it. - From the jaws of a really poor score this got really good and I’ll gladly listen again, but I’ll be looking forwards to track 5 onwards.

3.9/5 first time listen actually very good though production cld b better

ITS DREAM POP!!!!! it's ok dream pop! Some tracks really shine (it's when the melodies are strong, shocking I know Clo) e.g. the run of Desire Lines -> Basement Scene -> Helicopter is brilliant, and I loved the closing track. Nothing too special overall though.

Standouts: Earthquake 😵‍💫 Desire Lines 😵‍💫 Basement Scene (?) Helicopter Not heard of this artist but nice to get some more modern music. I've always been interested in psychedelic music but not found a jumping in point The textures and layering were amazing in the first song hoping that continues About half way through and I'm generally enjoying it so far but the first song was so much better Desire Lines brought back the fuzz I enjoyed from the first song We're so back Why'd the last song just cut off ? Post thoughts: The first song was stunning but then the songs until desire lines were not really for me The 2nd half saved this album from being relegated to mid imo and had a really strong ending low 4

Had a good time with this one, I loved the opening and ending of the album a lot. Too tired to say much more now but good vibes

Very interesting. It felt indie, and I mean that in a good way.

One of those acts I loved in the indie sleaze 2010s era because they weren’t as pop and polish. Listening with fresh ears and this album is a product of its time. Still really enjoy the dreamy shoegaze elements. I need to go back and relisten to all of those old Deerhunter albums. 4/5

Amazing, quite surprised I'd never even heard of them before. I think this is a perfect piece of experimental stuff, I feel like there's so many different influences in here that it feels totally unique. I feel like some parts remind me a lot of The Strokes, maybe vocally more than other parts. I love the synth stuff, especially the washed-out ambient sort of stuff. I feel like a lot of bits are very low-fi, reminds me a bit of guided by voices. There's also a lot of acoustic guitars, which I like a lot as a contrast to the fuzzy distortion. I think it sounds like a driven DI'ed guitar sound, which I think is really underused. Also they're really catchy, which I think is always good when the instrumentation is more experimental. Favourite songs: all. Overall around 8/10

Another tick for the 1001 list - didn't know I needed this in my life. Cool indie vibes. Desire Lines - that section from about 3 minutes in is totally my jam. Revival is good too.

Some nice hypnotic tunes. I really liked Desire Lines. Happy to have a few more listens.

I'm usually a bit confused by the post-2000s inclusions on this list, especially when it comes to alternative music. But this really holds up and it was great to revisit an album I'd not returned to in a while. Helicopter is still a bop.

I've seen this album cover before (how could you forget it) and always assumed based on it and the band name that this was going to be metal. Imagine my surprise when Earthquake met me with the exact opposite -- a slow and spacey song in which the percussion trudges along and the guitar threatens to stop any number of times. The whole thing gives the effect of swimming through molasses or a mild opioid induced haze. Revival is more upbeat and reminds me a bit of Animal Collective in some senses -- nice song. Love the dreamy reverberation lacing Basement Scene. Helicopter is a nice and airy one as well. He Would Have Laughed sounds familiar in the best of ways. Something about the guitar tone is so warm and inviting here. For once though I wish there was a better fadeout at the end. Felt like having the carpet pulled out from under my ears to go from so much bliss to nothingness. I really enjoyed this album and have listened to it about 5 times since Friday. I feel like this strikes a dream-poppy vibe that is not quite as ethereal or spacey Beach House, but exists in a similarly enjoyable realm. For me this is a high 4 verging 5.

Holy shit I did not expect Deerhunter to be on this list but I'm not upset about it. Love these guys. Off the bat Desire Lines and Helicopter are two of my fav songs off this and was lucky to see both of them live at Shaky Knees. Forgot how damn fun Revival is too. Yup Desire Lines is still amazing. Only song the lead vocalist doesn't sing too. The end of it is just mesmerizing. Basement Scene sounds like it's straight out of the 60's pop in some parts. Helicopter is such a beauty. The organized chaos back into beauty towards the end always gets me. Perfect tripping song. Ends so well with Coronado and He Would Have Laughed. All in all this is a super nostalgic album and just encapsulates some 2010's indie music for me. High af 4. BRB going to listen to Deerhunter the rest of the day.

Chill

l’album è molto nostalgico e mi piace un sacco che abbiano cercato di raccontare il modo in cui funziona la memoria e come percepiamo diversamente i ricordi nel tempo. poi in generale proprio bello da ascoltare

Mi è piaciuto molto, un bel mix di indie rock, un po' elettronica, non male. Sicuramente lo devo riascoltare ma bella vibe. L'unica cosa ho trovato un po' inquietante la copertina

Some really nice songs, I think a few more listens will be worth it.

Denne syntes jeg var kjempebra!

Seriously impressive album. Psychedelic trance-inducing. Not much more to say. 4/5

Slow building but really enjoyed it

I’m on a great run this week of albums/bands I’ve never heard of that really stop me in my tracks and make me listen. This is moody in a great way. Wikipedia says it’s dream pop, which describes it better than I could have. Count me in as a new fan.

Never heard of before. But a very pleasant surprise.

Cool indie

I really like albums like this, just a very simple and straightforward indie rock album, nothing too crazy about it but I'm just glad to have discovered it.

pretty pretty pretty good like i remember

Very nice

Enjoyed it, I think I need to listen a few more times for it to become as great as its acclaim suggests. I like a lot of bands that are this style, so with more listens this could be a 5 star album.

better than I thought for never having heard of

Not bad indie lo-fi.

Earthquake is unexpectedly beautiful, and sets the tone for the whole album, which was really beautiful. Reminds me of Low Roar a little bit. I like it.

Makes me feel like I'm dreaming.

This album is quite deceptive, in the sense that it takes a couple of listens to really understand it. At first glance you may wonder why it's on this list, as it is not reinventing any wheel, or really a sound that is very unique to them. After spending the day with it, I started to get it more, my initial reaction of "why this one?" softened. Some songs are really all time great. Helicopter is perfect for example. In general, the writing is quite precise and succinct, albeit not very specific or original (Desire Line for example is a good song that doesn't say much in terms of meaning). It leaves the impression that the words are kinda working for the music, rather than the other way around. It doesn't need to be that profound of a meaning every time, it's much more about the sound of words and the syllables in my opinion, none of it feels accidental or there as a flourish. It's very much precise, which is interesting given the diversity of sounds. It's not all "dream pop" and the soundscape is quite larger than the opening would suggest. So it has ambition, which is important to me in rating and appreciating an album. However, it is not perfect either, I still think it starts at track 3 though, and the first two are skips in my opinion. I don't think it's revolutionary, or a must listen, but it's nice, it's solid, and very much a window in indie 2010's. That sound in the larger sense deserves recognition on there.

Ein großartiges Album. Auch heute noch tolle Lieder.

chill

#DÍA 40: 1001 Discos Que Hay Que Escuchar Antes De Morir (English Translation Below) Alcanzando los 40 álbumes, uno moderadamente moderno de pura psicodelia indie. Ahora veo que Deerhunter comenzó la década pasada pisando fuerte con este LP, ojalá me hubiese tocado este antes que Django Django para hacerme una mejor idea de lo que es la Neo-Psychedelia… Tuvo una fabulosa recepción y no es para menos, sólo hay calidad aquí. Producido por mano de santo, Halcyon Digest arranca de un modo que se me asemeja a deathconsciousness de Have a Nice Life, solo que menos abrumadoramente depresivo, es más como nadar entre recuerdos borrosos o pura nostalgia… El sonido es fabuloso, hay un manejo de texturas impecable, tonos de guitarra que te masajean el cerebro, un bajo limpio y sereno y la percusión es sólida pero en un estilo íntimo, entre Indie y Trip Hop. Los añadidos de sintetizadores son enriquecedores, en general hay una paleta sonora que parece infinita y nada chirría, ni siquiera esa especie de clavicordio de los versos en Helicopter. La voz de Cox es fantástica, tiene una fragilidad y una dulzura, que junto a lo orgánico de la grabación tiene un acabado cercano y pero muy expresivo y creíble. Sobre todo me sorprende Sailing, un tema guiado casi completamente por su voz y una extraña progresión de acordes en la guitarra, donde ahí hace muestra de una voz relajada y unos falsetes preciosos. Los temas sobre madurar, nostalgia, miedo, soledad y pesimismo inundan el álbum. El tema de apertura ya nos habla sobre una situación de inestabilidad y desconcierto, luego acompañada de Don’t Cry, que parece ponerse en el lugar de un mayor que trata de consolar a un niño cuyos sentimientos no parecen atendidos. Sailing es una expresión preciosa de la soledad y lo ambigua que se siente, entre refugio y tortura. Desire Lines, interpretada en voz por el guitarrista Lockett Pundt, trata sobre cómo cambiamos de ideales y metas mientras crecemos, siempre con un cierto miedo y tentación a escapar, como parece que nos hace vivir la banda al envolvernos en un torrente psicodélico durante más de la mitad del tema. En general el álbum es genial, la dinámica entre temas lentos, largos con composiciones más abstractas junto a otros más directos y pegadizos hacen una experiencia genial. Pienso que la única canción que no aporta demasiado es Fountain Stairs, que parece más convencional y no tiene tanta exploración sónica como el resto de temas. Aparte que el siguiente tema, Coronado, tiene un estilo también luminoso que termina por opacar por completo a la anterior. Merece la pena escucharlo, tengo pocas pegas que ponerle, a lo mejor me hubiese gustado un final más hipnótico como hacen en Desire Lines, no tan abrupto… Pero en fin, muy buen álbum de indie, muy recomendable para fans del Shoegaze o en general de la música alternativa, sobre todo aquella más natural y orgánica. Favoritas: Earthquake, Don’t Cry, Sailing, Desire Lines, Helicopter, Coronado, He Would Have Laughed Menos favorita: Fountain Stairs #DAY 40: 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die Reaching the 40-album mark, here’s a moderately modern record of pure indie psychedelia. Now I see that Deerhunter started off the last decade strong with this LP. I wish I had come across it before Django Django, to get a better idea of what Neo-Psychedelia really is… It received fabulous acclaim, and for good reason, man, this is pure quality throughout. Produced to perfection, Halcyon Digest opens in a way that reminds me of deathconsciousness by Have a Nice Life —only less overwhelmingly depressive— it’s more like swimming through blurry memories or pure nostalgia… The sound is gorgeous: impeccable handling of textures, guitar tones that massage your brain, a clean and serene bass, and percussion that’s solid yet intimate, somewhere between Indie and Trip Hop. The touches of synthesizers are enriching, and overall there’s a sonic palette that feels infinite. Nothing clashes, not even that clavichord-like sound in the verses of Helicopter. Cox’s voice is fantastic, fragile and sweet, yet with an organic quality in the recording that makes it both private and deeply expressive. Sailing especially surprises me, a track guided almost entirely by his voice and a strange chord progression on guitar, where he showcases a relaxed delivery and some beautiful falsettos. Themes of growing up, nostalgia, fear, loneliness, and pessimism flood the album. The opener already speaks of instability and disorientation, followed by Don’t Cry, which feels like the perspective of an elder trying to comfort a child whose feelings are being overlooked. Sailing is a beautiful expression of loneliness and its ambiguity: sometimes a refuge, sometimes torture. Desire Lines, sung by guitarist Lockett Pundt, deals with how our ideals and goals shift as we grow, always with a certain fear and temptation to escape. Then, the band translates this into music by wrapping us in a psychedelic torrent that takes over more than half the track. Overall, the album is brilliant, the dynamic between slower, longer and more abstract compositions and the more direct and catchy songs creates a wonderful experience. The only track I feel doesn’t add much is Fountain Stairs, which sounds more conventional and doesn’t dive as deeply into sonic exploration as the others. On top of that, the following track, Coronado, with its equally bright style, completely overshadows it. It’s well worth listening to, I have very few complaints. Maybe I would have liked a more hypnotic finale like they did on Desire Lines, not such an abrupt close… But in the end, it’s a very good indie album, highly recommended for fans of Shoegaze or alternative music in general, especially the more natural and organic side of it. Favorites: Earthquake, Don’t Cry, Sailing, Desire Lines, Helicopter, Coronado, He Would Have Laughed Least favorite: Fountain Stairs

Not sure of I liked this because it's good or because I was really stoned

If you told me, this was early demo tapes of Cyndi Lauper, I would believe you

I’m at a 3.5 and I’ve got to talk myself one way or the other. This album is… interesting. From the first track, I thought it would be a Cocteau Twins / My Bloody Valentine-esque shoegaze-y album with an indie rock lean, and I was pretty sold on it. Once the track abruptly ended though, and I got thrown into something similar yet different, and that pattern repeated for the next few tracks, I couldn’t really grasp the concept of the album. This is my first Deerhunter album (& possibly my only one, since it’s the only one on the list), so I just didn’t have anything to go off of. I googled stuff while listening, sure, but nothing about this album became more clear to me as a result of it. The lyrics felt weird, the instrumentation felt a bit repetitive, the vocals unclear at times, and overall, the thing just felt… blurry. All of that is intentional, and it’s why I’m nearly tempted to go up to a 4 solely on account of the guts it takes to release an album that’s so… forcefully cryptic, yet still so open. On a first listen, there’s not really an overarching theme here, nor is there a sense of continuity. A few tracks flow into each other, but usually, these cut off abruptly. It took googling the album title to reveal much more; “Halcyon” means happiness, so we’re digesting happiness throughout the album here, as the album is hopping from piece to piece, a series of memories, capped off by “He Would Have Laughed”. If you check the song titles, it all seems to add up. In a way, this album is telling you exactly what it is, if you choose to engage deeper with it: a long tribute to a life well lived, abruptly cutting off at possibly its happiest moment right before death. Normally, that sort of narrative revealing itself to my brain would be able to convince me to bump an album up, as it explains far more, giving everything a bit of depth, and expanding the soundscape. The issue, however, is that for as cool as the concept is, I don’t think the album itself really does a great job of actively telling that story. In the abstract & on paper, the idea of floating from memory to memory works, but in execution, I don’t think this album sells it well enough from a musical standpoint. The abrupt cuts feel too abrupt, the lyricism feels a bit too abstract, the instrumentation feels a bit stale at times, a few tracks go too long, and vocally, it never feels as engaged as it could be. I know some of that is intentional, but there are ways to do it that blend into the music in a way that keeps the listener engaged without the need to figure out the narrative. For a 46 minute album, these are genuine criticisms that I can’t fully ignore. Going into this album with nothing to work off of, it’s up to the music to be able to create & set the tone to its most fulfilling potential, and I just don’t think it gets there. So, what the hell do I rate this? I’m not really sure. I’ll compromise. I think, just for the sake of the site, I’m going to give it a 4 solely to keep the average steady & as a vote of confidence for what the album is trying to achieve (and what it arguably does achieve). For my musical tastes, I think it’s at a 3.5 that I’ll bump down to a 3, but it’s far from a bad album. It’s a recommended one that I just think doesn’t meet its full potential for my tastes, as there are other albums on the list that nail this sort of dreamy, floating, stream of consciousness vibe just a little more effectively to my ears. It’s still a good album, and for the site, I’ll give it a 4.

I had only heard of Deerhunter through them showing up on Indie playlists. At that point in my life, the musical universe had expanded so much, as much as it continues to expand today, into highlighting bands I know nothing of. Deerhunter fell by the wayside as a I chose to follow similar sounding bands like Wilco, Band of Horses, etc. So listening to this album was familiar sound-wise, and it contains a lot of elements similar to the aforementioned bands. It is one I will revisit, especially after finding a few tracks I really like so far in Revival, Fountain Stairs, and Desire Lines. These all sandwiched between the opening and closing tracks that encapsulate this album perfectly.

Highlights: Helicopter

This was a little different and better than what I was anticipating. It’s indie rock with a neo-psychedelia, dreamy, and ethereal soundscape. You have reverb-drenched guitars, with a mix of traditional and electronic percussion. The electronic elements are subtle, adding depth and atmosphere to the songs. The production is very crisp and clean. It’s not the best thing I’ve come across, but I’m definitely going to play it a few more times just to absorb it better.

The 1920s were the best. There's a reason why they're remembered as the Roaring '20s.

File this one in the “I should have totally known this one but didn’t for some reason” folder. This band is from my hometown and was hanging out in the town I went to college at the time this album was recorded. I used to go to a lot of local shows and I know several of Deerhunter’s associates acts, but somehow completely missed this whole band in the 00s.

Not half bad for hipster bollocks. Sounds pretty good as a whole

Beautiful anthemic indie songs that please the ears

Lovely ambient rock, kind of like a vanilla Radiohead. 4/5

thoughts: the opening track feels very “shoegaze vocals over a 90s RPG soundtrack” (complimentary). there are a lot of panda bear-y, beach house-ish vibes through this but with some more conventional song structures. (they even jumped on the saxophone-in-indie-music trend in the back half!) i’m really surprised this album didn’t fall into my early 2010s music view because i’d have been all over it songs: “earthquake”, “memory boy”, “he would have laughed” rating: 8.1/10

It was a great surprise to see Veckatimest on this list, and now it’s a great surprise to see another record in the same late 2000s / early 2010s indie scene that I hold close to my heart. Though I hadn’t heard this yet. The Spotify description of Deerhunter says they make “charming, wistful pop”, and it’s hard to disagree. It isn’t half charming, and by jove if it isn’t wistful too. There’s a mix of everything that indeed makes this musical niche so charming, the psychedelic swelling, nonsensical, simple and generic lyrics, and most of all, a great variety of guitar sounds. Combine them all and you get a lovely ¾ of an hour spent with Deerhunter, extremely replayable and endlessly comforting.

Indeed I did hear from this record before. The one Interpol adjacent track 'Desire Lines' wormed my ears, and now I can hear the a little overlap with The Strokes and some of the other aughties New York aesthetics. Apart from those dated tinges there's a lot of free roaming, lo-fi daydreamy variety. But now I have to also disclose I still idolize 4AD and the Athens GA music scene, so that combination might misdirect my discernment.

oh very radiohead at times. big fan

Il y a du potentiel et de la variété mais j'ai pas réussi à accrocher totalement pendant que Paul accrochait ses dents: dans la pile LATER. La deuxième toune fait très Wilco de Wilco The Album ou Star Wars

Dreamy, gloomy 8/10

Maaan this is really nice. Shoegaze that doesn't make me want to fall asleep or put a gun in my mouth. This album DOES make me want to lay in bed all day (in a good way), like I'm just vibing. I really enjoyed this especially Helicopter. Very close to a 5 but there were a few forgettable songs

Had never heard if it but excellent album, hauntingly good lyrics and a wide range of musical styles. Will definately listen again

This was good, im not sure if its something I'd go back to but it felt like it belonged with its eerie indie vibe.

at least 5 times better than expected

This is an above average indie album from the 2010's and I generally like it fine. BUT!... I'm having trouble figuring out what separates it from 100 other indie albums from that era that I like as much or more.

This grew on me as the album went on. At times a little ploddy and boring, but at its best moments just had that certain je ne sais quoi. Fave Tracks: Helicopter, He Would Have Laughed 3.6/5

Okay. det her var fedt nok. Jeg er en sucker for lidt fin shuegaze, og det her ramte lige hvor det skulle idag.

Et album jeg fik hørt i 3 bider. Nok ikke de bedste forudsætninger. Det har en cool vibe men det fanger mig ikke 100% ind. Tænker det er et album jeg skal genbesøge

4.1 I've had a couple of these tracks before years ago on my discover weekly random playlists, so it was good to hear the full album. A lot more varied than the tracks I saved. A bit psychadelic pop, but without it inducing any eye-rolling. Very inoffensive, but not in a bland way. Will put it on my rotation list for sure.

This is peak Deerhunter. In the height of 2000s indie rock, Deerhunter was one of those bands that was always on the periphery of my music tastes. At best, their early records were ambitious, creative and obscure. At worst, they were ambient noise sludge for pretentious hipsters. I really do think everything came together with this record. I listened to it a bit in 2010, but really dabbled more into in 2013. But even then.. it never totally scratched my itch, and admittedly, I'm still not sure that it does. This record does have some incredible songs. Revival and Coronado are fantastic songs, and even the whimsical lazy ballads like Sailing have a place. I like the experimental elements, the peppy fast indie rock songs, the slow ones. There are parts of this record that do kind of bleed into themselves and kind of draw out. I get lost, but not in the a fun. More in a way that it just becomes noise. Still a really good album, and I had a blast giving it a few spins this morning.

Has some really good songs. Strong album overall

Not bad, as far as Indie albums go. I liked the opener Earthquake especially. 3.5/5

Own this on CD. Intense and sonically interesting. Great with headphones. Uses distortion to drive emotional feeling of loss and confusion - like Bon Iver, Wilco, and Wye Oak.

Will listen again at some point. Probably in the fall or winter

I enjoyed the vocals and instrumentals overall. This album is a well-packaged one; the more upbeat tracks have better replay value. I liked the sound and style offered up, even on the slower and moodier tracks

Im convinced this album has subliminal messaging in it that makes you wanna blow your brains out. Was super obsessed with this album in uni and listened to it a lot, despite being adamant it was a 6/10 Its a bit better than that on the whole with some masterpiece singles. Maybe (?) The saddest album ever made, idk it certainly gives Antennas by GSYBE and XXX by Danny Brown competition 7/10

I love mopey, dream-pop shit and this hit just right for me. Only a few tracks stand out to me as highlights but the overall vibe of this album is immaculate. It does verge on becoming repetitive but I have a feeling this may be due to listening to it too many times in one day. Four solid tracks and a bunch of other decent tracks makes for a good album, the quality peters out towards the end but the closer brings it home. Highlights: Earthquake, Revival, Basement Scene, He Would Have Laughed

Great album. Love the psychedelic vibe.

'Come on, kid / Keep your head up and sigh / You don't need to understand / The reasons why oh why oh why oh why oh.' Tho it starts off slow and a bit purple, Halcyon Digest clarifies via simple, unfeigned emotiveness. Cox sings w/ just enuf power and art to keep things soulfully afloat, avoiding the all too common flatness of indie rock. The songwriting is tight, a mix of short tracks that keep things honest and long ones that give you time to ruminate and explore. Lyrically, there's a gorgeous integrity, like: 'It could be the death of me / Knowing that my friends / Will not remember me.' In the end, however, it suffers from what all indie rock suffers from: softness; intensities that stem from problems that ain't problems. But very good 'tis.

havent heard this since it dropped when I was 12 years old due to its positive pitchfork review and i usually hate bullshit like this.... but i liked it :)

Great record. I’ve heard the name for years but never got a chance to check out this band. Added to the rotation for sure.

I came to Deerhunter a bit late, without any early associations, but this album has a number of tracks that stuck with me. It dives into themes like nostalgia, identity, purpose, spirituality, even death in a way that feels both intimate and universal. There’s a bittersweet, almost upbeat melancholy throughout that feels honest, not forced. Desire Lines a favorite. Helicopter stands out with layered instruments, and the final track, He Would Have Laughed, haunts me a bit.

I remember hearing "Desire Lines" and "He Would Have Laughed" somewhere, so that was my point of entry for this band. A fantastic introduction, I must say. However, my memory is a piece of mouldering cheese, so it's very possible I have listened to this record before and just forgot. Funny that some of the themes of this record deal with how we remember things. Anyhow, in this release, I'm hearing a big Pet Sounds influence, but with strong lonely, misunderstood, twee, wearing-a-cardigan-in-the-summer-with-a-messed-up-haircut vibes. Also a lot of 60s rock/soul, Phil Spector-style production projected through a modern, angular, shimmering indie rock prism. And I am totally here for it. I like the buzzy, narcotic, lo-fi spacey feel of it; all young and free and drenched in reverb. It reminds me a bit of the sense of discovery I felt when I first heard Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. Although the compositions are quite varied, they still feel unified presented here as a whole. I seldom pay attention to lyrics, but I bet the words are kinda brooding and sad. I can totally see this becoming a classic of the era. I have mistakenly overlooked these guys. Since I'm not that familiar with the rest of their stuff, I will be dedicating the rest of the day to catching up on their entire discography. Di đi mau!

moody, vibey, lush. bradford cox is a really talented musician and an interesting person. i was really excited to see deerhunter on here, but candidly, i kind of wish this was Microcastle instead, which i found much more dynamic and even more impressive.

what a cool, weird, trippy indie rock album. i've listened to this a few times now and while it's not my favorite, it's got some neat vibes. favorites: revival, desire lines, helicopter, he would have laughed

The album is not bad, there are a lot of sounds (music). A little overwhelming but not too bad. The bass and the vocals are my favorite. Sailing is the best song. overall 7/10

Was trying to place where I knew Revival from, then realized Aldous Harding did a (great) cover of it. And Desire Lines outro reminded me of Pixies No. 13 Baby. Overall, this was the kind of thing I like.

I like the balance between the up beat higher energy tracks and the slower contemplative ones. Some of these songs are prime staring -out-a-rain-soaked-bus-window or listlessly-swinging-in-a-park-on-a-foggy-summer-night tracks.

One of those albums I've always been aware of but never given the proper time to listen to. It's great!

I'm personally a big fan of the indie sound that Deerhunter has. Some of the songs are so ethereal and some are pretty acoustic so it has a great blend of sounds to keep me interested. Really solid album, overall.

Another group I’ve never heard of, but I really liked. Who knew I liked Indie? That last song He Would Have Laughed is so good!

I am baffled by this album. I love some of the songs, and am really annoyed by others. Sometimes I hear some hints of Velvet Underground, sometimes a little Floyd influence, and other times it sounds like whiney Indie bullshit.

Indie rock is a huge blindspot for me. I wasn't interested in most any of it I listened to in the '90s and thus have never tried since. What I heard by chance in the '00s I hated more still. Never heard of Deerhunter but they seem exactly what a Pitchfork reviewer would lord over the unwashed masses. I listened to this album twice back to back because it was hard to tell if I like it. I legit like two songs: Earthquake and Helicopter. Earthquake sets a mood the rest of the album does not maintain which I find disappointing. Overall the production is fantastic which is what I love the most. And the cover art is weird and great. I can't say this band is my thing but this is a pretty good album. I see myself liking specific songs from them more than full albums.

I didn't know this band but they are completely up my street. Going into heavy rotation, though missing out on full marks by a whisker.

Enjoyed that

A perfect example of dark indie that I absolutely love but that has passed me by when i was 22 years old in 2010. Lovely to visit.

Worth listening to the whole album, good sequencing

quite pleasant actually

Very enjoyable record and one I’ll return to. Easy to listen to end to end. A defined sound that didn’t get tedious which could be a tendency with the kind of vibe, vocals, and instrumentation.

I don't remember liking this when it came out. Enjoyed it a lot more on this listen.

Hard one to rate. It's not bad at all, and parts of it are pretty good. Should really be a 3.5, but that's not an option. I've been hard on albums lately, I'll bump it up.

This one really landed for me, and I might even rank it higher in the long run. (But, alas, changing ratings is not allowed.) A lot of it feels like music from an earlier time, beamed into space, bounced off a satellite near Neptune, only to return home warped, echoy and more compelling than it departed.

This band (and album) completely passed me by despite apparently putting out music when I would have still been squarely into the indie scene. That said, the Spotify algorithm put 'Desire Lines' on my radar and I've got several songs from this album on various playlists. I wish I liked the whole album as much as I like a handful of songs. While a few tracks give a Grizzly Bear feel, his vocals aren't as strong and they veer from dreamy into sleepy (an admittedly fine line) more often than not. Maybe a high 3, but rounding up since this is a nice relief from the last few weeks of dreck.

This was quite enjoyable.

Some looong songs but I don’t even hate it because the album was a vibe. Obviously indie. Would be cool to listen to while high. Quite repetitive but felt like listening to mantras. Definitely interesting to listen to.

Indie, with psychedelic sound. Nice atmosphere. Reminds me of Beatles in places but more psychedelic. Some folk elements. Some places sounds like KGLW Oddments with slow reverb heavy psych songs (Helicopter) Best Track - Helicopter/He Would Have Laughed

4,3/5. Erg verrast door dit album. Grote hoogtepunten en interessante soundscapes. Erg "eery" atmosfeer gevuld met rauwe emotie. Afwisselend korte nummers zoals revival en memory boy, tot wat langere meer uitgewerkte stukken zoals destiny lines en he would have laughed. Ook medium length nummers zoals coronado en basement scene zijn uitblinkers op hun eigen manier. Moest het een paar keer luisteren voordat ik wende aan de hele "vibe" van het album, maar als ik het nu zo terugluister zit er geen slecht nummer tussen, hoewel sommige meer uitblinken. Hoogtepunten zijn voor mij destiny lines, revival, coronado en he would have laughed.

Very distorted and beautiful album, something to zone off to, rather than actively listen. Songs do blend together a little bit, but to me this enhances the experience

Really good, almost minimalist in the first half and picks up like a snow ball throughout. Then it ends with He Would Have Laughed which is an incredible song.

I'm not as blown away by this album as many seem to be, but I often find a lot of indie music from the 10's to be fairly toothless in a lot of ways. I do not find this album toothless in that way, entirely, but the back third starts to go that direction. The first 2/3rd's has a lot more pop hooks than I was expecting, and the music is a great mix of shoegazey indie semi-noisy rock.

Une belle surprise, mystérieux et original

There were moments where it almost lost me but the second half of the album was stronger than the first(other than the second one which was the best of the bunch), feels like a 2010's indie rock album a nice discovery to have. 8/10 Coronado and Don't Cry were my highlights. Album cover is weird

very chill asexual album to have on in the background. it sounds like a lot of other good things, and that's good. you want that.

a heartwarming 3.5

8/10 Really lovely Indie Rock record with some AnCo worship that works really well. I love the production and atmosphere of the whole record, mixing Psychedelia and Dream Pop to create some hypnotic and beautiful tunes. Even though there’s a bit of more mellow and less memorable moments on the album, they are still able to be a “vibe”, and the best tracks are still manage to be some of the best songs of that era. shoutout asexual people, they got some bangers

Lovely, lovely Deerhunter, with their 2010 sound. What is it about this year (it's the fact that Veckatemist is never more than 5mm from my mind) that makes it so instantly recognisable? Anyway, it's great, somewhere in the field of dream pop, but with a little electronic sound in the mix. Really liked it thanks.

Overall pretty enjoyable, mix of indie/psychedelic and more ambient music. Quite varied.

Enjoyable besides 3 songs.

Звучит прикольно необычно

aesthetically v cryptic particularly on a first listen but the tracklist rly seems to come more and more into focus as it advances. i like the motif of references to Memory and Remembrance because thats often what navigating this feels like...great balance here between the atmospheric hazes and the emotive melodies. feels like a record that should b changing people's brain chemistry when they find it at just the right time in their lives, tho to what im not sure. but certainly a lot of great songs, imaginatively arranged both in literal arrangement and in the involving and changing shape of the tracklist