Search - Deerhunter :: Rainwater Cassette Exchange

FIFTEEN MINUTES OF GENIUS, CREATIVITY & MADNESS!!!

Rafael Cova | Caracas, Venezuela | 06/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"They're back, very Fast (successfully), they return with a five track EP, Deerhunter is a strange (Bradford Cox) (GOOD...SO COOL!!!) band that makes you feel and vibrate with the music, outside conventional, without any kind of attachment to the trends.



You may feel SAD, HAPPY, IMPRESS, STUNNING, SATISFACTION... many things that will make you shake and feel, you can be sure of that.



Deerhunter is an incredible band that once again leaves us with an amazing and great material. Every time they handed us a new piece of their projects is leaving an essence that needs to be supplemented in the following, and this is the confirmation.



Its contradictory in sound with abrasive musings sat unapologetically and uncomfortably next to timid and withdrawn melancholy and though they're both equally as enjoyable as each other, it does make for a disjointed listen overall. Much like the bulk of their material, the listener always feels just a room away from the actual music being played; leaning sneakily against the wall, ears pricked and hovering just a millimeter away from the door, decoding the cryptic and private lyrics that sound muffled through the barrier. It's almost like spying on the members creating their own music; you never feel fully immersed but you'll always be gripped and enthralled.



"Game Of Diamonds" is probably the strongest song and builds a fragile, dreamy atmosphere with a relatively simple rhythm and pace. "No one ever walked with me, I got so tired on my feet, I lay drunk on the bowery, telling other men too much of me." Yawns Cox in the second and final verse. It's relaxed and down-played, letting it drift along instead of a gallop. It's not necessarily one of their strongest tracks overall but it fits comfortably as a Microcastle afterthought (which it basically is).

Final track Circulation holds a lo-fi version of a Strokes riff and adds an authentic, 60's American surf tint to the record with it's surprisingly jovial rhythm. Cox is still one of the most interesting front-men to listen to and absorb and the rest of the band never once falter behind him, reinforcing their unique sonic territory wonderfully.



Highly recommended."

A Frustratingly Underwhelming Release by a Usually Great Ban

N. Spadaro | San Francisco, California | 07/21/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"With Rainwater Cassette Exchange, we have another solid release from an increasingly prolific band. What we don't have, however, is any new justification for either the band's popularity or RCE's existence.



For the most part, Bradford Cox and co. stick to the guns they've been using since their breakthrough album Cryptograms- the guns they polished and cleaned on Microcastle/ Weird Era Cont. And while those shimmering guitars, those propulsive drums, and Mr. Cox's vocals- eerie, ethereal, and wholly human- came together beautifully on the band's full-length releases, producing tidal, inescapable epics (truly great albums in the face of that medium's alleged death), they fall short here. Nor does the band offer any new elements or hints at future evolutions of their sound, as they did on 2007's Fluorescent Grey EP, which served as a bridge between the sonic textures of Cryptograms and the comparatively poppy Microcastle.



RCE feels, instead, like a collection of tracks your Deerhunter-obsessed friend might send you, in an effort to sell you on the band. Each track is, again, solid- they encapsulate the stylistic elements that have garnered the band their well-deserved fame. Sadly, though, Deerhunter has never been a 'singles' band. With a few notable exceptions, their songs work best in terms of the album as a whole, and Rainwater Cassette Exchange, topping out at fifteen minutes, can't provide the engrossing, cathartic experience of a full-length. So while the diehard fans should be satisfied, anyone who isn't should give Cryptograms or Microcastle a shot, and pass on Rainwater Cassette Exchange, for now."

This is perfect.

redtelephone | Tucson | 08/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thank you for restoring my faith in music. This has the production value of bands like The Flaming Lips, Grizzly Bear, or Godspeed. Those bands know the benefits of spending forever in the studio and perfecting the texture of their songs. Often bands that fall into that category have a hard time writing songs worthy of that level of production. But this has both. I think Deerhunter likes putting out EP's because it is a more manageable number of songs to write and then perfect. There is no filler here.



Best album I've heard in years."