Deerhunter lead singer Bradford Cox once posted an "unused vocal take" from the recording sessions for Microcastle at Rare Book Room. The clip, presumably created for the "sound collage" on the album's Cole Alexander (Black Lips)-featuring "Saved by Old Times" (here is how that came together), found Cox quoting the movie Annie. Not Annie Hall, Annie. Cox has said that the song itself dates back to Deerhunter's own old times, when the band was just him and a former drummer. An awareness of the past was certainly present on Cryptograms' clearest tracks, like the "Texas Never Whispers"-ing strummer "Hazel St.", and age 16 was also a defining manta on the Fluorescent Grey EP. I mean, with different song selection, even Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. could've focused on the neighborhoods of days long past-- the front lawns of "Little Kids", the basketmaker's shop of the stream-of-consciousness "Vox Humana"-- and then, by finale "Twilight at Carbon Lake", finally escaped the ghosts that haunt its days.You get the feeling Cox could produce any number of alternate takes of Deerhunter songs, many of them every bit as satisfying as the ostensibly definitive versions. This stripped-down take on "Saved by Old Times" is one of six Microcastle songs Cox re-recorded during an overnight session at London's Capitol K studio, after what was supposed to be a day off. Cox plays all the instruments himself; Alexander's freakout is replaced by an ambiguously pretty vocal about something that "hangs from a chain." Whether Cox's refrain about a "land of oh-way-oh" is some kind of abbreviation or a reference out of another childhood movie-- maybe The Wizard of Oz (starts about 10 minutes in)?-- this recording shows "Saved by Old Times" is still an engrossing song even without its "The Murder Mystery"-style Microcastle production. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness.Note: You can listen to the others tracks from this session-- collectively being called the On Platts Eyott Island Session-- with this nifty player here. The set is also being released as a limited edition cassette, with some for sale at tonight at Deerhunter's Halloween show in Atlanta. Check Pitchfork news shortly for more details.MP3:> Deerhunter: "Saved by Old Times"[original version from Microcastle; out now on Kranky/4AD]