LARPERS Caught by Google Street View

Two battling LARPERS were caught on camera by Google Street View. I'm not kidding. Check it out here. After laughing for a good spell, I began to think about LARPing, and what it could mean to me: you know, the swords, the shields, the never-ending lore. So, I put a mix together of songs that I would pipe into my medieval helmet whilst I don the appropriate garb, wield a battle axe, and smite my enemies.

Please, imagine a montage of me running through fields with a sword slaying some shit up while this playlist is rocking me to victory.

Behold, my LARPING mix:

*MP3: The Microphones - "The Glow Pt. 2"
*MP3: David Bowie - "Life On Mars"
*MP3: Animal Collective - "Brother Sport"
*MP3: Fuck Buttons - "Ribs Out"
*MP3: John Vanderslice - "Time To Go"
*MP3: Deerhoof - "+81"
*MP3: Headlights - "TV"
*MP3: Dr. Dog - "My Old Way"
*MP3: Ten Grand - "Fuck You Guyses Teams"
*MP3: Frightened Rabbit - "I Feel Better"
*MP3: Hockey Night - "Style Raiders"
*MP3: Justin Timberlake - "Summer Love/Set The Mood"
*MP3: Les Savy Fav - "The Orchard"
*MP3: Marnie Stern - "Simon Says"
*MP3: The Knife - "Neverland"
*MP3: Deerhunter - "Lake Somerset"
*MP3: Copeland - "Chin Up"

So, yeah, special note. If you're in a larping club and are reading this, please send me a note, I might totally want in.

Deerhunter - "Microcastle" (Out Today)

Download: Deerhunter - "Nothing Ever Happened"

Yep, another fantastic release from Deerhunter.

Buy it on Amazon.

Deerhunter on MySpace

(Ian Anderson)

Jay Reatard Covers Deerhunter, Tours

Download: Jay Reatard - "Always Wanting More" (via Pitchfork)
Download: Deerhunter - "Wash Off"


Contrary to popular belief, (belief that, to be fair, was probably inspired by this man's moniker), psychotic garage blues-man Jay Reatard is, in fact, a pretty smart guy. Or, at the very least, smart enough to be a great songwriter. The fact that his recently released singles compilation is getting rave reviews should serve as some kind of testament to his garage-rock prowess. Not only that, but the series of singles xthat Jay has been putting out this year on Matador Records demonstrates that Reatard is upholding the greatest garage-rock tendency to put out an insane amount of music in very little time.

For his fourth (out of a scheduled six) single for the veritable indie institution, Reatard is putting out a split 7" with Atlanta neo-shoegazers Deerhunter. On side A, Reatard will cover Deerhunter's "Flourescent Grey"; on Side B, Deerhunter returns the favor by playing Reatard's "Oh, It's Such a Shame". The single will be available for purchase one week from today, on July 14th. One day before that is when Reatard kicks off his tour. Dates are below:

Sun 7/13/08 Sonar Baltimore MD
Mon 7/14/08 Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia PA
Tue 7/15/08 Prospect Park Brooklyn NY w/Spoon
Wed 7/17/08 Lupo’s Providence RI w/Spoon
Sat 7/19/08 Pitchfork Festival Chicago IL
Mon 7/21/08 Triple Rock Minneapolis MN w/Cheap Time
Tue 7/22/08 The Aquarium Fargo ND w/Cheap Time
Fri 7/25/08 Capitol Hill block Party Seattle WA w/Cheap Time
Sat 7/26/08 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver BC w/Les Savy Fav
Sun 7/27/08 Doug Fir Lounge Portland OR w/Cheap Time
Tue 7/29/08 Independent San Francisco CA w/Cheap Time
Wed 7/30/08 Echo Los Angeles CA w/Cheap Time
Thu 7/31/08 Casbah San Diego CA w/Cheap Time
Fri 8/1/08 Hollywood Alley Mesa AZ w/Cheap Time
Sun 8/3/08 Red 7 Austin TX w/Cheap Time
Mon 8/4/08 Club Dada Dallas TX w/Cheap Time

In Deerhunter/Atlas Sound news, Bradford Cox, the man behind both groups, recently remixed London-based group The Chap's "They Have A Name". Listen to the original and the remix below:

Download: The Chap - "They Have A Name" (Atlas Sound Remix)
Download: The Chap - "They Have A Name"

Jay Reatard MySpace Page
Deerhunter MySpace Page
The Chap MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

New Deerhunter - "Winter Never Stops" (Plus: New Atlas Sound EP!!)

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After a brief hiatus of sorts, activity has started to pick up around the Deerhunter camp. The band has added a new guitarist, Whitney Petty, and you can see her in action by watching her play on a new song, presumably one that has been demoed for the Atlanta-based psych-punk group's forthcoming Microcastle record. The track is called "Winter Never Stops", and its a song that, even in acoustic form, is highly reminiscent of The Beatles, as well as Bradford Cox's previous material. Despite the stripped down setting, I can hear the ambient touches that the band will undoubtedly add already.

Additionally, Cox made a new Atlas Sound EP available for download directly from his blog. It's called The Things I Miss EP, and it's all about the stuff that Bradford gets homesick for while he is recording. For instance, "My Car", the first song from the EP that you can listen to at the top of the post.

Download it here.

Deerhunter MySpace PAge

(Jonathan Graef)

Deerhunter To Break Hiatus By Debuting New Record In Its Entirety

Download: Atlas Sound - "Unchained Melody" (Righteous Brothers Cover)
Download: Deerhunter - "Heatherwood"
Download: Deerhunter - "Spring Hall Convert"

Even though Atlanta-based experimental, psychedelic soundscapers Deerhunter proclaimed themselves as being on hiatus, we'd all knew that they'd come back to the live music farm eventually. After all, they've got that ATP VS. P4K gig coming up, and it's not like fans of the ambient-punk group have been suffering for content lately. However, the recent news broken by Bradford Cox himself on the Deerhunter blog that the Atlas Sound show in Brooklyn "will actually be a Deerhunter show" still should come as a surprise. Not only will the quintet be playing their first show in quite some time, but they will also be taking the opportunity to play their new album, Microcastle, in its entirety.

From the Deerhunter blog:

(Deerhunter is) playing the new album "Microcastle" we have recorded with Nicolas Vernhes at the amazing Rare Book Room here in Brooklyn in its entirety. The reason we did not announce it as such is that a.) it was originally intended to be just an atlas sound show, but we have had such a great time recording with each other and rehearsing in the studio that we thought it would be fun to try and pull off an impromptu show with borrowed equipment. and b.) we weren't sure it would work out at first...I don't know much about the details but I'd encourage people to just chill and try and come out and have fun with us. Hope those who are interested will come check out the new songs, they are a lot different and we've been working really hard and having a great time. Respect to all.

Bradford

Read the rest of the post here and listen to one Deerhunter MP3 and one Atlas Sound MP3 at the top of the post.

Deerhunter MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Deerhunter Blog Posts Ominous Castle's Cover Of "Cryptograms" (Plus New Atlas Sound MP3s)

Download: Deerhunter - "Cryptograms"
Download: Ominous Castle - "Cryptograms"
Download: Atlas Sound - "I'll Be Your Mirror"
Download: The Velvet Underground - "I'll Be Your Mirror"
Download: Lotus Plaza - "What Grows"
Download: Atlas Sound - "Walks Backwards"
Download: Atlas Sound - "Cobwebs"

Here's something which you don't necessarily see everyday: An artist posting a cover version of his original song on his very own blog. But that was the case yesterday with Deerhunter's Bradford Cox posting a cover of "Cryptograms", the title track of Atlanta-based quartet's full-length LP released at the beginning of the year, on the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound/Lotus Plaza Blog. Of the cover version, Cox said:

(The Ominous Circle)cover of Cryptograms' title track that in my opinion is far better than the original. Whoever made this please identify yourself and let use know where we can here more of your stuff...
and tell us what you used to record this cover. it sounds amazing.
you improved the vocals a LOT.

After having listened to both versions of "Cryptograms", the original definitely still has the upper hand on the cover. Ominous Castle's version is sounds like someone kidnapped Devo and forced them to record "Cryptograms" as the theme song for a daytime TV game show. It makes sense to bring out some of the new wave influence in Deerhunter's songs, which in turn could highlight any sort of humanism that's been previously hidden in Deerhunter's work. But, in trying to achieve that artistic goal, OC strips away many of the elements which made the original version so compelling. Namely, the dark, hypnotically robotic pulse which drives the song, Bradford Cox's forceful monotone vocals, and the incredibly lush guitars. You could certainly take those elements away and have a compelling version of the same song. However, Ominous Castle's version simply does not work because the band did not replace the original's merits with different ones.

Still, listening to both is absolutely recommended, because it shows what a world of difference something like instrumentation can make.

Listen to both versions of "Cryptograms" at the top of the post, in addition to recent Atlas Sound MP3s, (which includes a cover of The Velvet Underground "I'll Be Your Mirror. We've also gone ahead and posted the original of that one) as well as an Lotus Plaza MP3.

Read the original post here.

Deerhunter MySpace Page
Ominous Castle MySpace Page (maybe)
Deerhunter Blog

(Jonathan Graef)

Deerhunter Go On Daytrotter, Hiatus

Download - Deerhunter - "Cryptograms"
Download - Deerhunter - "White Ink"
Download - Deerhunter - "Strange Lights"
Download - Deerhunter - "Fluorescent Grey"
Download - Deerhunter - "Wash Off"

Oh, ho ho, dear readers! Oh, ho ho!

The day that Deerhunter announced that they're going to be going on hiatus after they finish up their last few tour dates, is the same day that their Daytrotter session got posted. It's kind of ironic that on the day their Daytrotter, which I think is a symbol that a band has arrived/come back/is blowing the fuck up, the band announces that they need some time away.

So if you're upset that you never got to see Deerhunter live, head on over here to ease your pain a little bit.

MySpace Page

(April Wright)