Album Review: Stargaze - Deerhoof Chamber Variations

Adapted from nine-and-a-half songs penned by Greg Saunier — drummer and composer — for his acclaimed band Deerhoof, the Berlin-based instrumental collective's debut EP offers an abstract suite of classical orchestral arrangements. 

While one ponders what exactly constitutes half a song, the 19-minute EP slips by, with only the choral vocals of Data providing a grabbing reprieve from the dramatic and intoxicating arrangements. Though recorded to be heard as a continuous piece, you can easily feel the split between individual songs, and while the arrangements remain less Tchaikovsky and more John Williams, Stargaze debuts with a brilliant and totally left-of-centre take on the work of an indie-rock powerhouse.