Josh Fauver, ex-bassist of Deerhunter, dead at 39.
November 4, 2018 1:11 PM Subscribe
Josh Fauver, the "longest running bassist" for indie-rock darlings Deerhunter, died yesterday at the age of 39. No cause of death has been reported, with the band posting a photo of them on Instagram with the caption "Very difficult times now".
Fauver was in the band from their debut album, 2005's so-called "self-titled" album (named after a taunt hurled at the band during one of their live shows), 2007's Cryptograms, 2007's Fluorescent Grey EP, 2008's Microcastle, as well as the 2008 follow-up Weird Era Cont., 2009's Rainwater Cassette Exchange, and finally 2010's Halcyon Digest.
His bass playing is probably best exemplified on the Microcastle standout and fan favorite Nothing Ever Happened, which he co-wrote with vocalist/guitarist Bradford Cox.
Other standouts (in my opinion) include:
Never Stops
Hazel St.
Memory Boy
Desire Lines
Josh also ran the label Army of Bad Luck, and was in the Atlanta bands Electrosleep International and S.I.D.S.
Rest in peace.
His bass playing is probably best exemplified on the Microcastle standout and fan favorite Nothing Ever Happened, which he co-wrote with vocalist/guitarist Bradford Cox.
Other standouts (in my opinion) include:
Never Stops
Hazel St.
Memory Boy
Desire Lines
Josh also ran the label Army of Bad Luck, and was in the Atlanta bands Electrosleep International and S.I.D.S.
Rest in peace.
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posted by BlackLeotardFront at 2:13 PM on November 4, 2018
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 2:13 PM on November 4, 2018
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posted by Joey Michaels at 2:18 PM on November 4, 2018
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:18 PM on November 4, 2018
Whaaaat? Roy Hargrove yesterday and now this. Damn.
posted by nikaspark at 2:29 PM on November 4, 2018
posted by nikaspark at 2:29 PM on November 4, 2018
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posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 5:23 PM on November 4, 2018
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 5:23 PM on November 4, 2018
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posted by dudemanlives at 5:59 PM on November 4, 2018
posted by dudemanlives at 5:59 PM on November 4, 2018
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i hope nobody minds if i rant for a little while, because deerhunter were THE band for me in high school, after the white album and trent reznor's entire discography Microcastle was maybe the first CD i bought with my own money. i had seen them open for nine inch nails before i knew any of their songs (a performance i unfortunately have no memory of) and when i heard that Microcastle had a whole second album hidden inside the shrink-wrap i knew i had to have it. that record cracked my skull open and led me down a musical journey i'm still on ten years later. one of those albums that literally changed my life.
though there are still highlights, nothing the band made after Halcyon Digest really stuck with me the same way the earlier stuff did. i never knew what to attribute that to. part of it, i think, is just that distance that sets in when one gets older, though other bands i loved then are still putting out records i rank among their best. there was definitely a shift in bradford's songwriting, which is also reflected in his only post Halcyon solo album, Parallax, so it's not JUST Josh leaving, but until now i'd never really thought that maybe huge part of it WAS Josh leaving. funny how that works. his playing was such a huge part of their sound. the bassline to Never Stops almost sounds like something out of a novelty song, chintzy and spooky and perfect, when i was 15 it felt otherworldly and alien, like a song from an alternate universe 1957 where lovesick teenagers were listening to My Bloody Valentine in their Camaros.
a few other highlights from josh's tenure in the band:
-The title track of 2007's Cryptograms. Josh arguably played the lead instrument on a lot of this record, driving the songs forward so that Bradford and Lockett could embellish them with textural guitar. this is probably the clearest example of that.
-Vox Celeste, a song he owned from the first note to the last. and a brief instrumental from the same record, Moon Witch Cartridge, which nails that sort of otherworldly 50s novelty style of playing that i love so much (and which i have a very hard time describing).
-my favorite Fauver performance has to be Octet. his circular riff gives form to the formless, creating life among the primordial soup of liquid guitars and bubbling synths. the impact of his playing is made clear during the last two minutes of the song, where the bass cuts out completely and the rest of the instruments lose their grip to one another, drifting aimlessly away like somebody turned off the gravity.
-lastly, of course, there's Twilight at Carbon Lake, a song on my (very short) shortlist of contenders for "best song ever written." there's nothing particularly showy or unique about his playing on this track, he's actually fairly restrained until the song explodes into turmoil, bradford and his guitar wailing to God or something, moses crashing his cymbals into icebergs, and underneath all the cacophony there's josh fauver, anchoring the heavens to the earth.
posted by JimBennett at 6:45 PM on November 4, 2018 [8 favorites]
i hope nobody minds if i rant for a little while, because deerhunter were THE band for me in high school, after the white album and trent reznor's entire discography Microcastle was maybe the first CD i bought with my own money. i had seen them open for nine inch nails before i knew any of their songs (a performance i unfortunately have no memory of) and when i heard that Microcastle had a whole second album hidden inside the shrink-wrap i knew i had to have it. that record cracked my skull open and led me down a musical journey i'm still on ten years later. one of those albums that literally changed my life.
though there are still highlights, nothing the band made after Halcyon Digest really stuck with me the same way the earlier stuff did. i never knew what to attribute that to. part of it, i think, is just that distance that sets in when one gets older, though other bands i loved then are still putting out records i rank among their best. there was definitely a shift in bradford's songwriting, which is also reflected in his only post Halcyon solo album, Parallax, so it's not JUST Josh leaving, but until now i'd never really thought that maybe huge part of it WAS Josh leaving. funny how that works. his playing was such a huge part of their sound. the bassline to Never Stops almost sounds like something out of a novelty song, chintzy and spooky and perfect, when i was 15 it felt otherworldly and alien, like a song from an alternate universe 1957 where lovesick teenagers were listening to My Bloody Valentine in their Camaros.
a few other highlights from josh's tenure in the band:
-The title track of 2007's Cryptograms. Josh arguably played the lead instrument on a lot of this record, driving the songs forward so that Bradford and Lockett could embellish them with textural guitar. this is probably the clearest example of that.
-Vox Celeste, a song he owned from the first note to the last. and a brief instrumental from the same record, Moon Witch Cartridge, which nails that sort of otherworldly 50s novelty style of playing that i love so much (and which i have a very hard time describing).
-my favorite Fauver performance has to be Octet. his circular riff gives form to the formless, creating life among the primordial soup of liquid guitars and bubbling synths. the impact of his playing is made clear during the last two minutes of the song, where the bass cuts out completely and the rest of the instruments lose their grip to one another, drifting aimlessly away like somebody turned off the gravity.
-lastly, of course, there's Twilight at Carbon Lake, a song on my (very short) shortlist of contenders for "best song ever written." there's nothing particularly showy or unique about his playing on this track, he's actually fairly restrained until the song explodes into turmoil, bradford and his guitar wailing to God or something, moses crashing his cymbals into icebergs, and underneath all the cacophony there's josh fauver, anchoring the heavens to the earth.
posted by JimBennett at 6:45 PM on November 4, 2018 [8 favorites]
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posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 9:57 AM on November 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 9:57 AM on November 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
Hey everybody, I’m in contact with the mods about the f-word that’s in the post. I’m super sorry for anybody that I offended by putting it in there, as I know it’s a very charged word. I’ll be more thoughtful in the future. I told the person who emailed me to change it up so that it’s not there.
posted by gucci mane at 2:17 PM on November 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by gucci mane at 2:17 PM on November 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
Mod note: As noted, edited the post slightly to be more coy about the album title that contains a slur so people don't have to deal with seeing it on the front page.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:19 PM on November 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 2:19 PM on November 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
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