Deerhunter - Microcastle / Weird Era Cont. (2008) V0

Microcastle is the third album by Deerhunter. After the album had been leaked on the internet, it became available on iTunes on August 19, 2008, while physical copies saw a release date of October 27, 2008. In the U.S. the album was released on Kranky and on 4AD in Europe. The album was recorded over the course of one week in April 2008 by Nicholas Vernhes 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., 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.

"Cover Me (Slowly)" (Cox, Pundt) - 1:21
"Agoraphobia" (Pundt) - 3:22
"Never Stops" - 3:04
"Little Kids" (Cox, Pundt) - 4:22
"Microcastle" - 3:40
"Calvary Scars" - 1:37
"Green Jacket" - 2:09
"Activa" - 1:49
"Nothing Ever Happened" (Fauver, Archuleta) - 5:50
"Saved by Old Times" - 3:50
"Neither of Us, Uncertainly" (Pundt) - 5:25
"Twilight at Carbon Lake" - 4:24

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 awaited its street release date although like Microcastle, it also leaked in advance. Weird Era Cont. was officially made available as a bonus disc/12", depending on format, with both the 4AD and Kranky releases.

The album is unique in the Deerhunter canon in that it includes songs composed and performed entirely by singular members of the band, outside what would normally be Atlas Sound or Lotus Plaza. The majority of the album was recorded by the band themselves, with a portion of the album recorded in a studio. In terms of the production of the record, guitarist Lockett Pundt stated: "We kind of wanted it to have an old and haunted vibe in regards to the production of the songs. Probably not something that we would do again."

"Backspace Century" - 2:19
"Operation" - 4:04
"Ghost Outfit" - 0:33
"Dot Gain" - 3:19
"Vox Celeste" - 3:31
"Cicadas" - 2:30
"Vox Humana" - 2:32
"VHS Dream" - 2:33
"Focus Group" - 2:49
"Slow Swords" - 3:25
"Weird Era" - 2:40
"Moon Witch Cartridge" - 1:32
"Calvary Scars II/Aux. Out" - 10:12