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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Microcastle
by Deerhunter
The rock group from Georgia recorded the album in a week in Brooklyn, New york.
| LABEL: |
Kranky |
| RELEASE DATE: |
28 October 2008 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rock, Experimental |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Tiny Mix Tapes
It may end angrily, but when it’s all said and done, Microcastle is a blissful retreat from the known.
100
Sputnikmusic
But for all the praise it should receive for being the record Deerhunter were destined to make, what will make Microcastle a classic (and this has every right to become a classic) is what the album means to the person listening.
92
Pitchfork
Here, the band comes into their own by applying their own inspiringly distinctive, bleakly appealing sensibility to whatever ideas happen to move them.
91
Lost At Sea
Deerhunter have indeed created a masterpiece. While it's not perfect, it has the charm and scope and full realization that was lacking in the band's earlier work.
91
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The bolder sound signals that Deerhunter is now less concerned with the scarring effects of loss, conflict, and the passage of time, and more concerned with the ways to escape those things--even if that escape is fleeting.
90
Drowned In Sound
Where the split-personality of Cryptograms hinted as much, a cohesive effort on Microcastle delivers the goods in its entirety.
90
musicOMH.com
The sounds on Microcastle form a lush landscape.
90
Paste Magazine
Though Microcastle is hardly straightforward, it’s an aggressive step toward the mainstream that sacrifices none of Deerhunter’s woozy adventurousness.
90
Slant Magazine
In putting the brakes on their revolutionary impulses to instead embrace old tropes and familiar sounds, Deerhunter has hit upon an endearing, awesome universality.
86
Filter
Microcastle shows Deerhunter [sic] progresing with reason, creating one of their best releases yet. [Fall 2008, p.92]
80
Under The Radar
The recording is their cleanest yet, but worry not--there's plenty of ambience and guitar noise to be had. [Fall 2008, p.74]
80
Hartford Courant
It's a very consistent record, with lots of wide-open spaces and quivering quietness, and just about every sound seems to fit perfectly exactly where it sits.
80
All Music Guide
Microcastle proves that Deerhunter can make music that sounds very different from what they'd done before, yet still feels of a piece with their body of work.
80
Billboard
Another winner full of eerie beauty and restraint.
80
Dot Music
That rare thing in modern music, you feel Deerhunter grow with each second of song that passes, a band who delight in running under their own graceful steam rather than gasping at the airs of others.
80
Prefix Magazine
Continuing the convention-defying structure that Deerhunter pioneered with "Cryptograms," Microcastle starts slow and spirals into something much larger.
80
NOW Magazine
If you’re not up on that stuff, Microcastle may seem like a more impressive creative breakthrough than it actually is, which could explain the gushy reviews.
80
Mojo
Microcastle could be 4AD's best release in well over a decade. [Dec 2008, p.108]
80
Sputnikmusic
The placement of certain tracks on Microcastle are an obvious glaring weakness, but one cannot take away the pure execution and quality of the songs.
80
Spin
Where Cox's Atlas Sound output is scattered and eclectic, Microcastle, Deerhunter's third album, is focused and consistent.
80
The New York Times
In Deerhunter’s latest songs Mr. Cox sings about time, perception, crucifixion and murder, while the band maintains its gift for realizing just how far a small idea can be carried through repetition and accretion.
80
The Guardian
Fresh on the heels of his deliciously spooky Atlas Sound solo album, the bizarre and beguiling Bradford Cox outdid himself again on his Brooklyn-based band's third record.
80
Magnet
The constant fluidity here makes the album’s unpredictability seem grounded and cohesive instead of erratic.
75
Los Angeles Times
It’s an excellent indie starter kit for the kids just plucking “Loveless” out of the bin.
74
cokemachineglow
Smartly, Microcastle stops short of alienating, an adjective more than a few scribes have lobbed at "Cryptograms."
70
Alternative Press
The richly recorded songs spool out with a natural ease. [Nov 2008, p.154]
70
Almost Cool
Less visceral than "Cryptograms," this follow-up shows two sides of a group that still hasn't quite figured out exactly what they want to be.
70
Urb
The ’Hunter may not have bagged a 14-point buck this time around, but Microcastle is still good enough to stuff and mount on the wall.
70
Dusted Magazine
The music doesn’t go far enough--it’s too restrained and mellow--but the point of view is crystal clear. This is alternative rock clinically perfected in a perpetual adolescence.
70
Rolling Stone
On the group's third album, the usually extroverted singer, known for sporting dresses onstage, seems to be withdrawing, embracing a more delicate, acid-dipped sound. Microcastle has only one rave-up, but it's a killer: 'Nothing Ever Happened.'
70
Blender
Scary. And at times, scary good. [Nov 2008, p.73]
70
PopMatters
By discarding the hazy ambience of "Cryptograms" and revealing their winsome heart, Deerhunter have rewarded those who applauded their bravery and may even convince the doubters that they are as significant an act as their fans have faithfully prognosticated.
60
Q Magazine
An intriguingly woozy melange of out-of-focus vocals, feedback squalls and metronomic beats, everything coming together just so on the compelling 'Nothing Ever Happened.' [Nov 2008, p.121]
60
Uncut
Much of this album sounds like its been stitched together from 4AD's finest moments. [Dec 2008, p.88]
50
Hot Press
Deerhunter's latest features more pop melodies and fuzzy soundscapes, forsaking the raw, intense sound we all love.
The average user rating for this album is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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