As the band name Deerhunter suggests, Cryptograms has a very organic sound to it. From the opening four tracks that constantly revert to samples of a babbling steam and of chirping frogs, to the last songs that sound very home-made and warm.
Cryptograms' first four songs, following each other successively, alternates between instrumental and vocal. They love to use delays and decaying snippets of a base line that will trail away into the blend of other sounds. Each song is crammed with as many components and subtleties as you might imagine. It can all become a poorly separated mess, but that's the point.
The title track Cryptograms uses a primal, distorted scream as it's melody that grows higher, whilst antagonised by a friendly baseline in one ear and a repeating chirp of guitar in the other. Deerhunter will throw everything into their concoctions, and it tends to come out well.
After the heavier first third, the second part just lifts off. The relaxing instrumental… more »

As the band name Deerhunter suggests, Cryptograms has a very organic sound to it. From the opening four tracks that constantly revert to samples of a babbling steam and of chirping frogs, to the last songs that sound very home-made and warm.
Cryptograms' first four songs, following each other successively, alternates between instrumental and vocal. They love to use delays and decaying snippets of a base line that will trail away into the blend of other sounds. Each song is crammed with as many components and subtleties as you might imagine. It can all become a poorly separated mess, but that's the point.
The title track Cryptograms uses a primal, distorted scream as it's melody that grows higher, whilst antagonised by a friendly baseline in one ear and a repeating chirp of guitar in the other. Deerhunter will throw everything into their concoctions, and it tends to come out well.
After the heavier first third, the second part just lifts off. The relaxing instrumental Providence doesn't stop and return to lyrics, it leads into another passage called Octet, which progresses into a pulsing centrepiece that takes you deeper into a simple repetition with chopped up samples and hints of guitar threatening to strike up swirling around it's primal core. And suddenly it all locks into place and makes sense as the drums pound and the base responds.
By the end of the comedown, soothing ambience of Red Ink, you'll suddenly realise how far you've travelled from voices and structured songs. I personally was a bit disappointed with Cryptograms' third and final session. It breaks into a more pop-like ending, with more discernable vocals and a definite start, middle, end. But it's dreamy style and warmth is pleasant, and will grow on many listeners.
This is a great album, that reveals itself to you slowly. Every time you hear something you didn't notice before, its like discovering a little secret they hid in there.