I recently decided to re-visit the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound/Lotus Plaza blog to check up on the news of my favorite indie conglomerate to see if he had posted any new singles or demos (and he had) and saw some interesting news. On Saturday, August 16th 2008, the lead singer and brain behind Deerhunter and his solo project Atlas Sound had posted a new EP for his followers, unbeknown to him, Mediafire (a file-sharing website) had linked to his archive, instead of his EP post. Fans were now able to access his secret music files which contained the unmastered demos to his new Atlas Sound project called "Logos" and the side album to "Microcastles" called "Weird Era, Cont."
When Bradford found out that this new album had leaked he freaked, which is typical and expected for someone who must have worked as hard as he did on "Logos." He called out his fans, saying that they had broken his privacy and ruined a perfectly good album. He consequently dropped the album altogether and is now working on one called "Weekend." The catch to this story is that Bradford Cox didn't know that this "stealing" wasn't actually stealing since the link on his website allowed everyone to access "Logos." When he found this out he posted an apology:
"I accept my mistake. I apologize for my reaction, especially since it was misinterpreted so widely to be directed at fans. I appreciate and am very grateful for the fact that people want to hear my music and the music we make with deerhunter. I don't take that for granted. My anger was very much directed at dickwads who mock the dead. And my anger was directed at myself. Sorry for projecting.
I have researched it and am not going to make excuses but the fact is that Mediafire has made several upgrades recently when I was taking a break from blogging. In all seriousness, I AM THE ONE WHO FUCKED UP by not realizing that without creating an account, Mediafire has been archiving my uploads "for my convienience" via my "browser chache (!?!)" and that as part of their new "convienient" features they offer automatic "folder sharing" which must be turned off. I don't blame anyone for, and am not accusing anyone of STEALING things. How many songs have I given away on this blog? I have always uploaded the same way and copied and pasted the link from the same place. I didn't expect this to be any different.
TO ACTUAL FANS, SUPPORTERS, AND FRIENDS: I don't blame you for my mistake. I'm NOT pissed if you download the stuff. Please don't apologize. I'd probably do the same thing. I feel like a hypocrite for making people feel guilty on that end. I will finish Logos, but for now I'm taking a quick break to get away from this weird glowing box that makes me insecure and feel like i have to defend myself all the time. Please enjoy Microcastle and Weird Era Cont., and the Logos demos that I probably would have posted for free here anyway AFTER the album was finished.
Please keep in mind that these records are made possible by our record labels, Kranky and 4AD. Microcastle was released today on iTunes. If you downloaded it in advance through the leak and you can afford it I urge you to support those labels and us by downloading it legally.
Also, although I am grateful, please do not send paypal donations. I have refunded the ones that I received.
I also want to make something very clear and I'm going to keep it short: I don't sit around scheming up ways to get publicity. Nobody affiliated with us our any of our labels leaked Microcastle. I had no intention of leaking Weird Era or Logos. When I make records by myself or with Deerhunter, I enjoy taking into consideration LOTS of aspects about the WHOLE RELEASE. I wanted Microcastle and Weird Era to be a Fall / Winter record. That might sound stupid to some of you but its the whole truth. I don't blame you for listening to it now that its widely available, but its just another part of the project that was taken out of my hands by someone not associated with the band or label. Weird Era, I reiterate, was MY MISTAKE.
I have disabled the comments on this blog, not for fear of negative feedback, but because several of my friends and band mates urged me to do so. I apologize to our friends and fans that will no longer be able to communicate here but there is always the deerhunter forum maintained by Oliver, Madeline, and Gaurav. My intention is not censorship. I despise censorship. But friends and family come before politics for me.
I am seriously ending all bad vibes here.
Cox"
After finding out this news i went to numerous blogs to find a posting of "Logos" so that i may give it a listen. Once i downloaded it I started to listen to it and i was utterly amazed. "Logos" is one of the most beautiful ambient/psychedelia albums i have ever heard. It flows with a perfect tone of relaxation and the composition is near godliness, and its not even mastered yet! Songs like "An Orchid" and "Quick Canal" create this ambiance that i have yet to hear on any Atlas Sound song. Now I am a huge fan of Deerhunter but I definetely think that Bradford Cox outdid himself with "Logos." "Microcastles" doesn't even come near to the mastery present in this album. Even with a song or two missing vocal tracks, the instrumentals are beautiful enough on their own to be left alone. Luckily he may finish "Logos" in the future...but who knows...for now we will just have to wait and live with the beautiful demos.
Highlights: An Orchid, Avoid the Void, and Nocturnal Divers
Rating: 97%
I have researched it and am not going to make excuses but the fact is that Mediafire has made several upgrades recently when I was taking a break from blogging. In all seriousness, I AM THE ONE WHO FUCKED UP by not realizing that without creating an account, Mediafire has been archiving my uploads "for my convienience" via my "browser chache (!?!)" and that as part of their new "convienient" features they offer automatic "folder sharing" which must be turned off. I don't blame anyone for, and am not accusing anyone of STEALING things. How many songs have I given away on this blog? I have always uploaded the same way and copied and pasted the link from the same place. I didn't expect this to be any different.
TO ACTUAL FANS, SUPPORTERS, AND FRIENDS: I don't blame you for my mistake. I'm NOT pissed if you download the stuff. Please don't apologize. I'd probably do the same thing. I feel like a hypocrite for making people feel guilty on that end. I will finish Logos, but for now I'm taking a quick break to get away from this weird glowing box that makes me insecure and feel like i have to defend myself all the time. Please enjoy Microcastle and Weird Era Cont., and the Logos demos that I probably would have posted for free here anyway AFTER the album was finished.
Please keep in mind that these records are made possible by our record labels, Kranky and 4AD. Microcastle was released today on iTunes. If you downloaded it in advance through the leak and you can afford it I urge you to support those labels and us by downloading it legally.
Also, although I am grateful, please do not send paypal donations. I have refunded the ones that I received.
I also want to make something very clear and I'm going to keep it short: I don't sit around scheming up ways to get publicity. Nobody affiliated with us our any of our labels leaked Microcastle. I had no intention of leaking Weird Era or Logos. When I make records by myself or with Deerhunter, I enjoy taking into consideration LOTS of aspects about the WHOLE RELEASE. I wanted Microcastle and Weird Era to be a Fall / Winter record. That might sound stupid to some of you but its the whole truth. I don't blame you for listening to it now that its widely available, but its just another part of the project that was taken out of my hands by someone not associated with the band or label. Weird Era, I reiterate, was MY MISTAKE.
I have disabled the comments on this blog, not for fear of negative feedback, but because several of my friends and band mates urged me to do so. I apologize to our friends and fans that will no longer be able to communicate here but there is always the deerhunter forum maintained by Oliver, Madeline, and Gaurav. My intention is not censorship. I despise censorship. But friends and family come before politics for me.
I am seriously ending all bad vibes here.
Cox"
After finding out this news i went to numerous blogs to find a posting of "Logos" so that i may give it a listen. Once i downloaded it I started to listen to it and i was utterly amazed. "Logos" is one of the most beautiful ambient/psychedelia albums i have ever heard. It flows with a perfect tone of relaxation and the composition is near godliness, and its not even mastered yet! Songs like "An Orchid" and "Quick Canal" create this ambiance that i have yet to hear on any Atlas Sound song. Now I am a huge fan of Deerhunter but I definetely think that Bradford Cox outdid himself with "Logos." "Microcastles" doesn't even come near to the mastery present in this album. Even with a song or two missing vocal tracks, the instrumentals are beautiful enough on their own to be left alone. Luckily he may finish "Logos" in the future...but who knows...for now we will just have to wait and live with the beautiful demos.
Highlights: An Orchid, Avoid the Void, and Nocturnal Divers
Rating: 97%
