Cryptograms (album)

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Cryptograms
Studio album by Deerhunter
Released January 29, 2007
Recorded 2005
Genre Shoegaze, ambient, psychedelic, pop
Length 48:24
Label Kranky Records krank104
Producer Chris Bishop
Professional reviews
Deerhunter chronology
"Turn It Up Faggot"/Deerhunter
(2005)		 Cryptograms
(2007)		 Microcastle
(2008)

Cryptograms is the second album from ambient and psychedelic rock group Deerhunter, released by Kranky Records on January 29, 2007 on CD and vinyl.[11] Deerhunter recorded the album over two day-long recording sessions months apart, after an earlier failed recording session. The band only went into the studio again after encouragement from members of the band Liars. Cryptograms's two halves are musically distinct, the first being more ambient in nature, the second containing more elements of pop music. The album's lyrics include themes of death, isolation, and companionship, as well as reflections on life experiences of Bradford Cox, the band's lead vocalist. Reviews of Cryptograms were generally positive, and several publications gave the album a spot on their lists of the best albums of 2007.

Contents

[edit] Recording

Deerhunter first attempted to record their second album with acclaimed folk musician Samara Lubleski at Rare Book Room studios in New York. This recording session failed, due in part to the physical and mental state of Cox, who had influenza and walking pneumonia at the time. Cox later described the results of these sessions as sounding like "if you listen to Loveless on mushrooms, and I mean that in not a complimentary way". In an interview with Pitchfork Media, Cox said that the music "still exists on a scratched CD-R under my bed", which "nobody will ever hear".[12] Remixed 'tape collage' versions of the tracks were later released as free downloads on the Deerhunter blog.[13]

After this session the band returned to Atlanta, only giving recording a second try after encouragement from members of the band Liars.[12] This time successful, the album was recorded in two parts: the first half was recorded over one day-long session, completely filling the reel of tape the band had brought with them. The last song of this recording session, "Red Ink", ends with the tape spinning off the reel.[11] The second half, recorded months later over a single day in November, begins with the song "Spring Hall Convert". During this recording session Cox had the flu, and his congestion caused his voice on the album's pop tracks to sound "really weird…I always thought I would go back and redo them, but we never did."[14]

[edit] Music and lyrics
"Spring Hall Convert"
The first track from Deerhunter's second recording session on Cryptograms. The song's lyrics relate to Cox's hospitalization as a teenager, due to his genetic disorder.
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Cryptograms is more "subdued and introverted" than its predecessor, Turn It Up Faggot. Cox has shown much disdain for the band's debut album, saying, "I hate that album, I really do. I liked it when we did it, but we were a young band-- just really desperate to put something out-- and I don't think we were ready."[12] The sound of Cryptograms is due in part to how the new record "developed out of different circumstances, altogether. There were a lot more intense personal things going on. It was less about anger and frustration and more just being stunned or spaced-out by everything", according to Cox.[14] With regards to the production of Cryptograms and Cox's own musical talent, he has insisted he has "no idea" what he is doing: "I like the record a lot and I'm very proud of it, but it would be pretentious and false for me to act like we had this vision from the beginning, because we didn't."[12]

Deerhunter's two recording sessions produced two halves of the album with distinct musical styles. The first half of the album is more ambient in nature,[4] containing five ambient instrumental tracks, starting with the album's introduction, entitled "Intro".[15] With the song "Providence", the band "tried to capture a certain [feeling of] solitude." The idea for the song came about when, while touring in Providence, Rhode Island Cox had an argument with other members of the band. Having left his bandmates, Cox "walked around Providence at dusk" feeling "totally alone", while admiring his "meditative" surroundings.[15] In describing the sounds of instrumental track "Red Ink", Cox wrote that the band "tried to create the kind of atmosphere…where you have a dream that you have died and you understand the technical aspects of the death experience totally and it feels like reality".[15]

The second half of the album, which begins with "Spring Hall Convert", contains more elements of psychedelic and pop music.[11] This track originates from a demo Cox recorded in October 1998, when he was still a teenager.[16] On the Deerhunter blog, Cox described two girls he knew from his school as one day being "bathed in this golden spring light in the hallway…[I] felt really close to them, like we were sisters." The same day he recorded "Spring Hall Convert" on a Karaoke Machine; Cox wanted the song to reflect the "acid trip" he experienced seeing his friends in this light.[15] He calls the song's drum track characteristic of his "stonedness" at the time, adding that "Hydrocodone was [also] a factor."[16] The lyrics of the track reflect Cox's experiences with his genetic disorder Marfan syndrome. As a teenager he underwent "extensive" surgeries for his chest, ribs, and back. The song was written "from the perspective of someone going in and out of consciousness during chemotherapy, and how they would miss their friends, their past experiences, and anything that reminded them of normalcy."[15] The original lyrics of the song written in 1998 were not changed when the track was re-recorded for Cryptograms.[16]

In "Octet", Cox sings "I was the corpse that spiraled out into phantom hallways". The imagery of this song was inspired by the cover art of the Grove paperback edition of the Dennis Cooper novel Closer.[15][17] In the album’s closing track, "Heatherwood", Cox tells of the house he was born in, where he suspects he may someday return to die.[15] "Strange Lights" is a song about "companionship, and facing uncertainty with someone". The song is based on a dream guitarist Lockett Pundt had in which himself, Cox, and a third person "walked into the sun together, knowing it was going to kill us."[15] The idea for the song "Lake Somerset" reportedly came from a trip Cox took to the zoo while hung over, during which he saw a turtle eating carrots. "It was cool and adorable…It had this cute neck and was very small. It chewed slowly." When video producer James Sumner approached the band to make a music video for "Lake Somerset", Cox told Sumner he "wanted a video of a turtle eating a piece of pizza." Several days later, Sumner posted his video to YouTube; it consists of a man in a turtle suit eating pizza for four straight minutes.[18][19] Cox has said that the band's greatest achievement with Cryptograms was "evoking a feeling of someone who's woken up after being strung out one too many nights…It's the feeling of being lovesick and very spaced-out."[14]

[edit] Reception

Cryptograms has seen fairly positive reviews since its release, earning a Metacritic score of 77.[20] Pitchfork Media awarded the album the publication's "Best New Music" accolade, and later placed it fourteenth on a list of the fifty best albums of 2007.[6][21] Pitchfork staff writer Marc Hogan wrote that Cryptograms "is alternately murky...ethereal, amorphous and incisive", calling the second half of the album "vastly more accessible" than the first.[6] Mike Diver of Drowned in Sound found the album's two halves "absolutely coherent; the sequencing allows the listener space to breathe at the most opportune moments, and its leaps from ambience into adrenaline-soaked enthusiasm...are worthy of celebration."[4] Tiny Mix Tapes's Paul Haney considers the second half of Cryptograms "some of the best psych-crazed pop since Jason Pierce and Julian Cope became isolated loners", citing "Spring Hall Convert", "Heatherwood", and "Strange Lights" as exemplary tracks.[9] Nick Sylvester of The Phoenix considered the first half of the album to be irregular in style and quality, but found that this gave the transition between its two halves "a black-and-white-to-Technicolor moment (or TV to HDTV, if you prefer): “Spring Hall Convert” combines Deerhunter’s come-up and come-down into the most uplifting rock song I’ve heard in a while, an explosion of gritty Velvet downstrums and swirling vocal harmonies."[10]

The first half of Cryptograms was called "the problem child" by Kevin Elliott of Stylus Magazine, characterizing this child as having been "medicated at a young age to subdue constant anxiety and the fear of death, overly mired in thoughts of regret and anguish, overwhelmed with ideas and insight."[8] Mike Schiller of PopMatters found that because the second half of Cryptograms "fixate[s] on examples of Deerhunter’s songcraft, which is actually somewhat average", the use of delay effects "mask[s] whatever deficiencies in musicianship Deerhunter might choose to hide". He believes the potential seen in the first half of the album is lost in the second.[7] AllMusic writer Marisa Brown felt the band's ambient music is used to the extent that it becomes "commonplace, despite its avant-garde leanings." The writer found that when Deerhunter "aims for the provocative and the esoteric", the band often "overreach[es] and end[s] up hitting something much more ordinary, predictably "experimental"…in a genre that's supposed to be anything but."[1] Dom Sinacola of Cokemachineglow stated that all of Cryptograms "sounds, as a whole, too coherently cold", the tracks "Providence" and "Heatherwood" being exceptions.[3]

The album placed high on lists of the best albums of 2007 of several publications, earning spots in the top twenty with Pitchfork Media, Tiny Mix Tapes, The Phoenix, and Drowned in Sound,[21][22][23][24] and placing fifth in a list of twenty-five albums put out by Tiny Mix Tapes.[22] Readers of Pitchfork placed Cryptograms nineteenth out of twenty-five in a year-end poll.[25] Another article by Pitchfork gave musicians the opportunity to publicize their favorite records from 2007. Cryptograms received praise from Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear, ranking the album as his third favorite of 2007. Klaxons's James Righton and Black Lips's Cole Alexander placed the album on their own top tens as well. Pitchfork later ranked Cryptograms number 160 on their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s.[26] Deerhunter followed up Cryptograms several months after its release with the extended play Fluorescent Grey EP. The two can be purchased together as a vinyl bundle from Kranky.[11]

[edit] Track listing

All lyrics written by Bradford Cox.

  1. "Intro"  – 2:50
  2. "Cryptograms"  – 4:17 (download)
  3. "White Ink"  – 4:59
  4. "Lake Somerset"  – 3:49
  5. "Providence"  – 4:08 (download)
  6. "Octet"  – 7:50
  7. "Red Ink"  – 3:40
  8. "Spring Hall Convert"  – 4:29 (download)
  9. "Strange Lights"  – 3:38 (download)
  10. "Hazel St."  – 3:48
  11. "Tape Hiss Orchid"  – 1:12
  12. "Heatherwood"  – 3:37 (download)

[edit] Personnel

Deerhunter

  • Bradford Cox — vocals, electronics, tapes, drum, acoustic slide guitar, bell set, accordion, electric guitar
  • Moses Archuleta — synth/pads, drums, electronics, treatments
  • Josh Fauver — tremolo bass, bass, reverse guitar, vocals
  • Colin Mee — guitar, tapes, electric guitar
  • Lockett Pundt — synth bells, guitar, acoustic slide guitar, hammond organ, vocals

Other personnel

  • Chris Bishop — recording
  • Nicolas Vernhes — mixing
  • Jennifer Munson — mastering

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Brown, Marisa. "Cryptograms". AllMusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gxfpxqyrldke. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  2. ^ Cunningham, Nate (2007-02-21). "Cryptograms Review". ARTISTdirect. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gxfpxqyrldke. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  3. ^ a b Sinacola, Dom (2007-01-11). "Deerhunter: Cryptograms (Kranky; 2007)". Cokemachineglow. http://www.cokemachineglow.com/record_review/1083/deerhunter-cryptograms-2007. Retrieved 2009-11-07. 
  4. ^ a b c Diver, Mike (2007-03-06). "Review / Deerhunter – Cryptograms". Drowned in Sound. http://drownedinsound.com/releases/9467/reviews/1702882-. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  5. ^ Rae-Hunter, Casey (2007-02-09). "Dusted Reviews: Deerhunter – Cryptograms". Dusted Magazine. http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/3372. Retrieved 2009-11-07. 
  6. ^ a b c Hogan, Marc (2007-01-30). "Album Reviews: Deerhunter: Cryptograms". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9824-cryptograms/. 
  7. ^ a b Schiller, Mike (2007-02-08). "Deerhunter: Cryptograms < Reviews". http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/deerhunter-cryptograms. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  8. ^ a b Elliott, Kevin J. (2007-02-02). "Deerhunter – Cryptograms – Review". Stylus Magazine. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/deerhunter/cryptograms.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  9. ^ a b Haney, Paul. "Deerhunter – Cryptograms". Tiny Mix Tapes. http://www.tinymixtapes.com/Deerhunter. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  10. ^ a b Sylvester, Nick (2007-01-30). "Deerhunter – Cryptograms – Kranky". The Phoenix. http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Music/32616-DEERHUNTER-CRYPTOGRAMS/. Retrieved 2009-11-07. 
  11. ^ a b c d "KRANK 104 – Deerhunter, "Cryptograms"". Brainwashed. http://www.brainwashed.com/common/htdocs/discog/krank104.html. Retrieved 2007-06-09. 
  12. ^ a b c d "Interview: Deerhunter". Pitchfork Media. 2007-06-11. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/43085-interview-deerhunter. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  13. ^ Cox, Bradford (2008-01-25). "Cryptograms Mixtape". http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/2008/01/cryptograms-mixtape.html. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  14. ^ a b c Radford, Chad (2007-02-12). "Interview: Deerhunter". Stylus Magazine. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/interview/deerhunter.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h Cox, Bradford. "Cryptograms LP + Fluorescent Grey EP Lyrics". http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/2007/07/cryptograms-lp-fluorescent-grey-ep.html. Retrieved 2007-07-16. 
  16. ^ a b c Cox, Bradford (2008-01-22). "Spring Hall Convert 4-Track Demos". Blogger. http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/2008/01/spring-hall-convert-4-track-demos.html. Retrieved 2009-12-20. 
  17. ^ "Closer: A Novel (Cooper, Dennis) (9780802132123): Dennis Cooper: Books". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Closer-Novel-Cooper-Dennis/dp/080213212X. Retrieved 2009-12-01. 
  18. ^ Braun, Jon. "Deehunter: "The Ladness of Slaughter"". The Nerve. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928192619/http://www.thenervemagazine.com/2007/04/article_template.php?id=9. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  19. ^ Sumner, James. (2006-11-02). Deerhunter: "Lake Somerset". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EuzC_eOdAE. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  20. ^ "Cryptograms reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/deerhunter/cryptograms?q=cryptograms. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  21. ^ a b Pitchfork staff (2007-12-18). "Staff Lists: Top 50 Albums of 2007". Pitchfork Media. p. 4. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/6753-top-50-albums-of-2007/4/. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  22. ^ a b TMT Staff. "2007: Tiny Mix Tapes Favourite Albums of 2007". Tiny Mix Tapes. http://www.tinymixtapes.com/2007-Tiny-Mix-Tapes-Favorite,4902. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  23. ^ Diver, Mike. "DiS's albums of 2007: 15–11". Drowned In Sound. http://drownedinsound.com/articles/2665004. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  24. ^ Ashare, Matt (2007-12-17). "The year the music thrived". The Phoenix. http://thephoenix.com/Article.aspx?id=53043&page=1. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
  25. ^ Pitchfork readers (2008-01-02). "2007 Pitchfork Readers Poll". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/47707-2007-pitchfork-readers-poll. Retrieved 2007-01-03. 
  26. ^ Pitchfork staff (2009-09-28). "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200–151". Pitchfork. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7706-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-200-151/5/. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Deerhunter
Moses Archuleta · Bradford Cox · Josh Fauver · Lockett Pundt
Studio albums
EPs & Singles
Splits
Associated acts
Atlas Sound (Bradford Cox) · Lotus Plaza (Lockett Pundt)
Studio albums
Splits
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