Indie darlings Deerhunter, led by resident genius Bradford Cox, had quite an interesting 2008. After Cox took time away from the better-known Deerhunter to release his excellent Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel under the Atlas Sound moniker, Deerhunter came back into the spotlight in a big way. They finished their latest album, Microcastle, only to have it leaked almost instantly months before the intended release date. The band could have very easily been bitter and disavowed the record, but decided to instead add a bonus for the people who went out and bought the physical release of the album. This bonus came in the form of another amazing record, this time being Weird Era Cont. EP, which came with each copy of Microcastle when it was finally released. The bands’ spirit of giving continued recently when they recently released a mixtape cassette titled On Platts Eyott Island. Cox said that they made the tape in the style of an in studio performance using vintage gear and made the mix in honor of the late John Peel.

It was recorded on 200 tapes, half of which were orange and sold at their Halloween gig and the other half were pink and given away to a few very lucky fans in a drawing. The mix, which includes slightly reworked versions of some of their best songs, including “Spring Hall Convert,” “Microcastle,” and “Never Stops” also has a couple of unreleased songs for the die hard Deerhunter fans out there. The whole record, recorded in one night, is a hazy mix that has beautifully smooth transitions from one song to the next and is a great companion piece to their other recent work. Cox said the record, recorded on a nature reserve on an Island on the Thames in England, is meant to be played as one flowing piece of work as he recorded it as a “continuous stream of consciousness.” Cox’s vocals are still fragile and beautiful and all wrapped in a cocoon of swirling echo, but it is the music that shows more restraint and sets this tape apart from their other recent releases. I assume the physical tapes are long gone by now, but Cox is generous enough to offer free streams of the albums (on an awesome tape player) at their at the 4AD website. While it’s not the best thing that the band has done and should not be a starting point for people unfamiliar with Deerhunter, it is a valuable document that provides another piece of the puzzle that made for a pretty interesting year for this talented and eccentric band. Here is to hoping that 2009 will be just as productive and entertaining for the guys and girls in Deerhunter.

Deerhunter “Cum Horizon (improvisation)” (mp3)

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Also: (Deerhunter, Times New Viking & Disappears @ Triple Rock Social Club)