At least if Deerhunter decide to pack it in now, they’ll have this near-masterpiece to sit by the side of their excellent debut. But here’s hoping that they continue to perplex, offend, and amaze much, much longer.

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15y

Best of 2007

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Sputnikmusic

Though it moves through many genres and ideas, Cryptograms feels like it keeps an air of desperation and inner turmoil about it. That they dress it up in such a magnificent sonic disguise just makes the whole package more appealing for us disaffected youth here.

13y

This Atlanta five-piece's shimmering Kranky debut is alternately murky and ethereal, drawing equal influence from classic shoegaze, early Factory Records LPs, and the enigmatic ambient recordings with which it shares a label, shifting between impressionistic, reverb-saturated reverie and psych-heavy pop gems.

15y

When the proper songs throughout are so uniformly good in spite of their fractured approaches, complaining about scarcity seems despicably greedy.

The sequencing allows the listener space to breathe at the most opportune moments, and its leaps from ambience into adrenaline-soaked enthusiasm for hand-clap-happy high-jinx are worthy of celebration.

15y

The band's accomplished second full-length occasionally surprises with its accessibility.

10y

Its unified, gorgeous, unpretentious originality shines like a beacon of hope in the ever dumbed down world of commercialized indie rock.

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Half of me thinks the group was aiming for a bit of something hypnotized and dreamy, that they worship Spacemen 3 and the patience that entails. But then the other half thinks Cryptograms is something gritty and furious, maybe something religious, but still something of a turtlehead waiting to poke through.

11y

Live, the band still indulges in reedy derangement, but even at its most unhinged, Cryptograms is cohesive-showing Deerhunter’s ability to pile on as much kindling as klang.

10y

An album as ultimately disappointing as it is initially thrilling.

15y

Yes, there's a greater recognition of the importance of maturity and structure and intellectualism here, but it's overshadowed by a heightened sense of gravitas and a concern for the unconventional that ends up dulling whatever it is they may have created.

12y

Both sides would be well served by a bit of mingling.

11y

Live may well be the best place to encounter them.

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Host

Imagine your best album being this early in you career, crazy. "Cryptograms" is Deerhunter at their wildest. It's at their most innovative, creative, and ambitious. They do this by making sonically crazy songs with absurd structures and psychedelic undertones. They build upon each other in such a fun way and the chemistry between all these songs are second to none. My favorite incorporations of these ideas are the ink songs. The other ones do these things to of course, but the ink ... read more

mugiwatari

o Deerhunter é uma banda que demorei um pouco pra gostar mesmo eles sendo totalmente meu tipo de música e o que me fez gostar definitivamente deles foi esse álbum, que considero o melhor deles. essas pataquadas experimentais loucamente psicodélicas que eles fizeram aqui me conquistaram horrores já na primeira ouvida ("Octet" maior exemplo disso, música fascinante e mal compreendida!). gosto bastante também das músicas ... read more

2mo

Liminal Raptor

This album tickles the balls in all the right ways. Sure, it's not Deerhunter at their most cohesive and focused, but Cryptograms captures them probably at their most adventurous, versatile and daring. Somehow, even though there is a multitude of different songmaking approaches and soundscapes, this album flows perfectly well, almost seemlessly.

Cryptograms is mainly a psychedelic rock experience, but the guitars are very jangly and raw. This album has some of my favourite guitar sounds ... read more

1y*

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DJbingleton

Not as good as Halcyon Digest, but still a great start for this band. I like both the more upbeat tracks and the ambient tracks, and I especially like how the album flows. The mixing isnt perfect but tbh that makes this album stand out more

Favorite Tracks: Cryptograms, Octet, Spring Hall Convert, Strange Lights
Least Favorite Track: Tape Hiss Orchid (Just cause its the shortest)

MusicNotMusic

didn't enjoy the ambient sections as much as the other songs, but the band shows potential here

2mo

s1eepmask

i remember lightly checking this album out over a year ago from youtube recommendations and being very intrigued. coming back to the album again it's one hell of a trippy listen. won't be for everyone all the time, as the vocals are very muddy paired with droning and psychadelic instrumentals. usually a consistently great thing for me, but this album is a bit of a hard listen. regardless, i quite enjoyed listening to this album (and on vinyl too! pick up the 2lp if you ever find it in ... read more

2mo

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Track List

1	Intro 2:50	78
2	Cryptograms 4:17	88
3	White Ink 4:59	84
4	Lake Somerset 3:49	83
5	Providence 4:08	76
6	Octet 7:50	82
7	Red Ink 3:40	76
8	Spring Hall Convert 4:29	91
9	Strange Lights 3:38	88
10	Hazel St 3:48	84
11	Tape Hiss Orchid 1:12	74
12	Heatherwood 3:37	84