Pitchfork

Photo by Mike White

Today, more than two months before its physical release, Deerhunter's third LP Microcastle has made its way to the iTunes Music Store. The disc is still due in physical form October 28 via Kranky in North America and October 27 on 4AD in the rest of the world, but it remains an iTunes digital exclusive until then. [Thanks to reader Oliver Pattenden for the tip.] In the UK, it will be preceded by the single for "Nothing Ever Happened", backed by a demo version of "Little Kids", out October 6 on 4AD.

When Microcastle arrives in stores, it may or may not contain a bonus disc called Weird Era Cont. After the events of last weekend, the decision regarding the inclusion of Weird Era Cont. with the physical release of Microcastle is still up in the air has yet to be announced. See, a few days ago, some Encyclopedia Brown types out there found their way into the MediaShare folder where Deerhunter frontman/Atlas Sound main man Bradford Cox leaves his unfinished demos. Among other things, that folder contained tracks from Weird Era Cont., which Deerhunter had planned to include with the physical release of the long-since-leaked Microcastle. Or, as Bradford put it in a now-deleted entry on the Deerhunter blog, "it was supposed to be a surprise and actually make the idea of an 'Album Release Date' fun. You ruined Christmas" [via At Ease Web].

The archive also contained early demos for Logos, the intended sophomore LP from Atlas Sound. For a brief period of time, Logos was posted to the blog as a free download, with Cox stating, "fuck this shit. I can just make another album. It's not finished and now it never will be." [Via Gorilla Vs Bear].

Make what you will of Bradford calling folks out for finding a public folder on the internet-- "I am a dumbass," he admitted, adding "that does not excuse people from sifting through my garbage"-- but the guy is nothing if not generous, constantly giving away demos for free via the Deerhunter blog.

While all that's being sorted out, feast your ears on the totally legit "Virtual 7" No. 4" from Atlas Sound, and take a glance at Deerhunter's pretty massive tour itinerary and those dates Bradford's doing with Stereolab.

Deerhunter:

09-02 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater !
09-03 Salt Lake, City UT - The E Center of West Valley !
09-04 Portland, OR - MusicFest NW
09-05 Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena !
09-06 Inglewood, CA - The Forum !
09-12 London, England - The Dome
10-31 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse @*
11-01 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel @
11-02 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle @
11-03 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar @
11-04 Washington, DC - Black Cat @#
11-05 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church @#
11-06 Princeton, NJ - Terrace F. Club @#
11-07 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg #@
11-08 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom $@
11-10 Boston, MA - Paradise $@
11-11 Montreal, Quebec - Theatre Plaza %@
11-12 Toronto, Ontario - Lee's Palace %@
11-13 Pontiac, MI - Crofoot Ballroom !@
11-14 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop !@
11-15 Chicago, IL - Metro !@
11-16 Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon !@
11-17 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club !@
11-20 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards ~@
11-21 Seattle, WA - Neumos ~@
11-22 Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater ~@
11-24 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall ~@
11-25 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre ~@
11-28 San Diego, CA - Casbah @
11-29 Phoenix, AZ - Modified Arts @
12-01 Dallas, TX - Palladium Loft @
12-02 Austin, TX - Emo's @
12-03 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live @
12-04 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon @
12-05 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks @
12-06 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree @

! with Nine Inch Nails
@ with Times New Viking
* with Pylon
# with Knyfe Hyts
$ with Vivian Girls
% with Neighborhood Council
! with Disappears
~ with BARR

Atlas Sound:

09-20 Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar *
09-21 Pomona, CA - The Glass House *
09-24 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa *
09-26 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
09-27 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club *
09-29 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle *
09-30 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
10-01 Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero Theater *
10-02 New York, NY - The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza *

* with Stereolab