Summary: At that stage they were truly at the top of their game. The early critical acclaim of albums like Reveille and Apple O’ had led to a genuine swell of interest in Deerhoof’s peculiar, deeply original avant garde rock music and by the time Milk Man appeared in 2004, there was a sense that they’d reached the next level. Milk Man was a breath of fresh air, with the band’s four members combining disparate elements – pop, metal, Broadway musicals and TV themes – to emerge with a record so confounding that it was adapted into a children’s ballet not long afterwards. By the time they reached 2005 and The Runners Four, Pitchfork was right. In the years since, Deerhoof have toured with Radiohead and The Flaming Lips, collaborated with Questlove and The Late Late Show with James Corden bandleader Reggie Watts and released a slew of albums. They’re still in a league of their own, penning music that defies simple comparison, and this summer they dropped their latest full-length, the urgent and economical The Magic. To celebrate this record, the band have thrown together their first FACT mix, and it’s (almost predictably) all over the shop. Where else will you find a Perez Prado track mixed into Cate Le Bon, before Marcellus Pittman segues into DJ Rashad via some Star Trek sound effects? Like everything Deerhoof does, it’s eclectic but not elitist – just turn up, tune in and leave your inhibitions at the door.
