''Microcastle'' is the third album by

Deerhunter Deerhunter is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001. The band currently consists of Bradford Cox (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Moses Archuleta (drums, electronics, sound treatments), Lotus Plaza, Lockett Pundt (guitar, ...

. After the album had been leaked on the internet, it became available on

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on August 19, 2008, while physical copies were released on October 27, 2008. In the U.S. the album was released on Kranky and on

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

in Europe. The album was recorded over the course of one week in April 2008 by

Nicolas Vernhes Nicolas Vernhes is a French record producer, recording engineer and record label owner. He is best known for his work with the American indie rock acts Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The Fiery Furnaces, Dirty Projectors, Wild Nothing and The War ...

at Rare Book Room Studios in Brooklyn, NY. In the U.S., the album has managed to sell over 50,000 units. Unlike '' Cryptograms'', the band decided to forgo heavy utilization of effects pedals. Throughout the recording of the record, only a number of drum tracks and the vocals on "Agoraphobia" were treated. Of the musical direction of the new material, Bradford Cox has said "I'm more interested in the micro-structure. I want things to be a lot shorter, I don't want there to be as much long-windedness to it." The band premiered the album live at Brooklyn's Market Hotel on April 11, 2008. A bonus disc, ''

Weird Era Cont. ''Weird Era Cont.'' is the fourth album by Deerhunter released concurrently with ''Microcastle''. After ''Microcastle'' had leaked months in advance of its planned release date, the band recorded a new album in an attempt to reward those who awa ...

'', was released concurrently with the album. "Saved By Old Times" features an appearance by Cole Alexander of the Black Lips. His appearance was recorded over an iChat session.

Vinyl versions

The original pressing of the vinyl on Kranky was one white vinyl LP, had a single panel jacket with different artwork than the CD (see alternate artwork), and came with ''

'' on CD in its own paper sleeve. Since the album has gained popularity, there has been another pressing, with both parts of the album being pressed on black vinyl in a gatefold jacket with the orange artwork originally used for the CD.

Reception

''Microcastle'' has been met with much acclaim since its release, currently holding an 81 rating on Metacritic, from a weighted average of 35 professional critics, indicating "Universal Acclaim". Both Tiny Mix Tapes and

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awarded the album with a perfect score. ''

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'', ''

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'', '' The New York Times'' and '' The Guardian'' all gave the album an 8/10. Rolling Stone rewarded the album a 3.5 score, and RS contributor, Daniel Kreps listed ''Microcastle''/''Weird Era Cont.'' as his favorite album of 2008. '' Pitchfork'' also rated the album highly, naming the album 50th best record of the decade and 5th best of the year, along with awarding it with a 9.2 upon initial review. ''Pitchfork'' also named “Nothing Ever Happened” the 6th best song of the year and 81st best song of the decade.

Hype Machine Hype Machine is a music blog aggregator created by Anthony Volodkin. History Hype Machine was originally a music database created in 2005 by Anthony Volodkin, then a sophomore computer science major at Hunter College.Heilemann, JohCapturing the ...

rated the album as 11th best of the year.Top 50 Albums of 2008 / The Hype Machine
Hypem.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-29.

Track listing

* Tracks 6–8 are part of a

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Personnel

;Deerhunter *

Moses Archuleta Moses Archuleta is an American drummer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, occasional keyboardist and co-founder of the indie rock band Deerhunter, with whom he has recorded seven studio albums. Archuleta also records so ...

– drums * Bradford J. Cox – guitar, keyboards, vocals * Joshua Fauver – bass * Lockett Pundt – guitar, vocals on "Agoraphobia" & "Neither of Us, Uncertainly" ;Additional musicians *Cole Alexander – vocal montage on "Saved By Old Times" *

- SK-1 on "Agoraphobia" ;Technical staff *Joe Lambert – mastering *

– producer, engineer

Chart positions

References

External links

Video of the group discussing and recording the album
{{Authority control 2008 albums Deerhunter albums Kranky albums 4AD albums