Deerhunter

As we wait for February's icy blast, this five-piece from Atlanta can warm your heart. Formed in 2001, it appears to be Deerhunter's ambition to revisit two previously diametrically opposed genres and send them crashing together: the hypnotic wash of ambient and minimalist music with the sturm und drang of garage rock. At any moment recalling some of Spacemen 3 or My Bloody Valentine's finest moments, this is a post millenial neurotic fog of delayed guitars, lo-fi drums and distant vocals.

Almost inevitably they have been picked up by that bastion of edgy and out there, Kranky, and clearly show the company's desire to break free from any cliches that might remain caught up in their back list. So Krank104, Crypotograms, has exploded into existance and is a schizophrenic collection of tracks. At times forming long drawn-out washes of sound revisiting Eno and Budd, at others angular psych-rock recalling Sonic Youth or bursting with dream-pop colour.

Two tracks really can't adequately cover the range of Deerhunter's ambition, but they are typical of the quality of the album as a whole.

Deerhunter - Spring Hall Convert on Kranky
Deerhunter - Heatherwood on Kranky

Stars of the Lid

Stars of the Lid, the divine post-ambient pairing of Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride, are readying their latest long player, Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline, a typically monumental 3LP/double CD release through Kranky and scheduled to appear on April 2.

Following up on their last slab of drone/ambient released nearly 6 years ago, The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid, they are refining the sound of tectonic plates moving. Apreludes (In C Sharp Minor) is a typically dense miasma of drones dripping in beautiful melancholy and is a teaser for the album to come.

While most albums of this length would be considered a marathon at best, SOTL are one of the few contemporary groups who can create such a consistently enthralling series of sonambulant resonances ... the soundtrack to a film yet to me made.

Apreludes (In C Sharp Minor) on Kranky