''Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill'' is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American musician Liz Harris under the stage name

Grouper Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is u ...

. It was released on June 10, 2008 on Type Records. The album was later reissued alongside Grouper's '' The Man Who Died in His Boat'' in 2013 by Kranky.

Cover

The cover photograph is of Liz Harris as a child; the photograph was taken by her mother.

Critical reception and legacy

Mike McGonigal of '' Pitchfork'' described ''Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill'' as "druggy and sexy and arty and pretty, but never pretentious", calling it "an arresting album of pastoral psychedelic pop". Reflecting on ''Deer'' for its 10th anniversary, ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

''s Gabriela Tully Claymore credited it with drawing people's attention to Harris' Grouper project. She wrote that it influenced a somewhat "perplexing" fandom despite how unconventional and non-commercial Harris' music was. Claymore also dubbed ''Deer'' her "first set of songs that sound like ''songs''." '' Pitchfork'' echoed this, noting the tracks as "proper songs" that drew on

British folk Throughout the history of the British Isles, the United Kingdom has been a major music producer, drawing inspiration from Church Music. Traditional folk music, using instruments of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Each of the ...

devotional music A devotional song is a hymn that accompanies religious observances and rituals. Traditionally devotional music has been a part of Hindu music, Jewish music, Buddhist music, Islamic music and Christian music. Each major religion has its own tra ...

, and "

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

lullabies". Placing it at #6 on their 2018 list of

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

's 30 best albums, they called its music "crushingly sad" while still giving off "a feeling that art just might save us."

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 2008 albums Grouper (musician) albums