Animal Collective thread

[thestand]

Originally Posted by brendangen412

where, when?

http://myanimalhome.net/images/invite.jpg

[thestand]

And FYI, the ufck Merriweather Post Pavilion Thread is on post #256. So you bitches get to crackolatin'. Sure, it started in mid-07. But still.

[thestand]

Oh and Brendan, if you go, you best be taping that shit.

[brendangen412]

i emailed them, we'll seee what happens.

[thestand]

In the Flowers 5:20
My Girls 5:40
Also Frightened 5:14
Summertime Clothes 4:31
Daily Routine 5:46
Bluish 5:13
Guys Eyes 4:31
Taste 3:53
Lion in a Coma 4:12
No More Runnin' 4:24
Brother Sport 5:59

Total run time: 56:42

[thestand]

Guys Eyes is confirmed to be "Song for Ariel". All songs are much more bassy than they were in the live setting. All songs seemed a bit slower and more rhythmic (in the best way possible).

[hockeyman14]

did you go to the listening party??

[thestand]

Nope, I'm getting all of this from an Animal Collective board, and from atease (Radiohead board, but judging by your avatar, there's a good chance you knew that. )

[hockeyman14]

yeah ive been reading atease quite a bit. they are huge on animal collective. i actually havent let myself listen to any of the new tracks so im really excited for this

[thestand]

It's also come out that the album will have an inner and outer sleeve. So that whole trippy optical illusion thing will more than likely be the outer sleeve, with the underwater swimming shot being the inner cover.

[thestand]

Here's a track-by-track review from collected animals. Spoilered for size, actual "spoiler"-ness, and fanboyism.

ok, first let me say that, based on the one time i've listened to mpp, i feel that it puts virtually everything else they've done to shame. this is HIGHLY relative shame, because, you know, it's ac. but anyway, i'll just point out a few notable things. i didn't take any notes, so this is from memmmmmorey.

1. in the flowers- not one of my fav live tracks, but srsly PERFECT opener. ethereal as fuck in the beginning, as one would expect, and avey thankfully doesn't overdo his vocal performance, as i feel he often does live during the "flowers in her hair" part. then about halfway through, the song just EXPLODES to life and a HUGE beat comes in along with all kinds of lush psychedelic goodness. instant smile, which was a theme for the night. seriously, this album is AURAL PROZAC.

2. my girls- the main arpeggio loop is less piano-ey and more electronic than when they play it live. then in comes panda's voice, HUGE, front and center, maybe doubled. god i love this song. extra fat electronic beats that i believe were missing live. just enormous low end and electro rhythms throughout. though the big speakers blaring the music may have contributed to the monolithic nature of the sound.

3. also frightened- i also wasn't in love with this one live, but on the album it's just gorgeous. stellar avey-panda harmonies, lots of reverb. the production throughout the lp is extremely dense, so i don't want to say too much, as i might misrepresent the music. FEEL ME?

4. summertime clothes- they nailed it. this will probably be a single.

5. daily routine- very interesting, because it's basically the only remotely melancholy song on the album (save, arguably, no more runnin), the only minor key song. so it's definitely a break from the nonstop merriment that is merriweather PP. it's gorgeous as you'd expect, and there's a long ambient outro.

6. bluish- yeah, not grace, BETTER (though grace was among my least fav live tracks, so go figure). avey sings lead, i think (though it was hard to tell at a few points in the album, because they're singing simultaneously so much and the production is so dense). has a reggae-ish beat during the verses, which morphs into more of a bossanova-ish thing in the chorus. the bass was so huge it kinda obscured the chords at a few points, which probably would have happened more with other songs had i not been previously familiar with them. but, again, that was probably the speakers. basically, bluish is TROPIC THUNDER.

7. guys eyes- OMFG. there's a bit of a lull after bluish and then, BOOM- "i really want to-" and so on, building, until there are what seems like 20 panda bears all singing different intertwining melodies. i can't do this justice. i just can't.

8. taste- much better than i remember it live, and there's a real tight, hard-hitting beat that was news to me.

9. lion in a coma- absolutely NUTS. sooo intricate. 9/4 time signature. this song provides the strawberry jam-ish cartoony zaniness missing from the rest of the album.

10. no more runnin- GORGEOUS. very much like they DO IT LIVE, but perfectly realized and more WIDESCREEN. the calm before the. . .

11. brother sport (it's 2 words on the tracklist postcard they handed out)- after no more runnin subsides, it's straight into "OPEN UP YOUR-" That's right, straight COLD OPEN on this one, no instrumental intro, which works beautifully. panda's voice again is HUGE and upfront. avey's screams (if that's even what they are here) during the middle section are there, but they're muffled. but of course, the reason we all love this song so much is the OUTRO. my biggest fear going into this thing was that they wouldn't handle the outro to brother sport correctly. but they totally fucking nailed it. they start into "halfway to fully grown," basically continuing at the same energy level as in the middle break. this goes on for a bit. then the percussion kinda gradually drops out, and it feels like it's winding down, but then there's this sudden RAVEy buildup with a super RAVEy synth, and it just EXPLODES in to big beat bliss. and it goes on like that for another minute, which felt just long enough. well, it could have gone on longer, but it def wasn't too short. everyone says this album sounds like ecstasy, and it's true. the whole thing makes me just wanna take e and touch myself.

so yeah. just brilliant. i was gonna try to be sneaky and stay for the second playing, but i didn't want to push my luck. i'm tempted to be ridiculous and say album of the year 09, but of course we're getting 2 new dirty projectors albums and probably a new joanna newsom, so that would be grossly premature. definitely blows anything from this year out of the water. i dunno. any questions?

Click the "Show Spoiler" Button to reveal hidden text.

[GLR87]

i think that album cover is cool as shit personally...

[ComeNFrmTheCold]

Originally Posted by thestand

Here's a track-by-track review from collected animals. Spoilered for size, actual "spoiler"-ness, and fanboyism.

ok, first let me say that, based on the one time i've listened to mpp, i feel that it puts virtually everything else they've done to shame. this is HIGHLY relative shame, because, you know, it's ac. but anyway, i'll just point out a few notable things. i didn't take any notes, so this is from memmmmmorey.

1. in the flowers- not one of my fav live tracks, but srsly PERFECT opener. ethereal as fuck in the beginning, as one would expect, and avey thankfully doesn't overdo his vocal performance, as i feel he often does live during the "flowers in her hair" part. then about halfway through, the song just EXPLODES to life and a HUGE beat comes in along with all kinds of lush psychedelic goodness. instant smile, which was a theme for the night. seriously, this album is AURAL PROZAC.

2. my girls- the main arpeggio loop is less piano-ey and more electronic than when they play it live. then in comes panda's voice, HUGE, front and center, maybe doubled. god i love this song. extra fat electronic beats that i believe were missing live. just enormous low end and electro rhythms throughout. though the big speakers blaring the music may have contributed to the monolithic nature of the sound.

3. also frightened- i also wasn't in love with this one live, but on the album it's just gorgeous. stellar avey-panda harmonies, lots of reverb. the production throughout the lp is extremely dense, so i don't want to say too much, as i might misrepresent the music. FEEL ME?

4. summertime clothes- they nailed it. this will probably be a single.

5. daily routine- very interesting, because it's basically the only remotely melancholy song on the album (save, arguably, no more runnin), the only minor key song. so it's definitely a break from the nonstop merriment that is merriweather PP. it's gorgeous as you'd expect, and there's a long ambient outro.

6. bluish- yeah, not grace, BETTER (though grace was among my least fav live tracks, so go figure). avey sings lead, i think (though it was hard to tell at a few points in the album, because they're singing simultaneously so much and the production is so dense). has a reggae-ish beat during the verses, which morphs into more of a bossanova-ish thing in the chorus. the bass was so huge it kinda obscured the chords at a few points, which probably would have happened more with other songs had i not been previously familiar with them. but, again, that was probably the speakers. basically, bluish is TROPIC THUNDER.

7. guys eyes- OMFG. there's a bit of a lull after bluish and then, BOOM- "i really want to-" and so on, building, until there are what seems like 20 panda bears all singing different intertwining melodies. i can't do this justice. i just can't.

8. taste- much better than i remember it live, and there's a real tight, hard-hitting beat that was news to me.

9. lion in a coma- absolutely NUTS. sooo intricate. 9/4 time signature. this song provides the strawberry jam-ish cartoony zaniness missing from the rest of the album.

10. no more runnin- GORGEOUS. very much like they DO IT LIVE, but perfectly realized and more WIDESCREEN. the calm before the. . .

11. brother sport (it's 2 words on the tracklist postcard they handed out)- after no more runnin subsides, it's straight into "OPEN UP YOUR-" That's right, straight COLD OPEN on this one, no instrumental intro, which works beautifully. panda's voice again is HUGE and upfront. avey's screams (if that's even what they are here) during the middle section are there, but they're muffled. but of course, the reason we all love this song so much is the OUTRO. my biggest fear going into this thing was that they wouldn't handle the outro to brother sport correctly. but they totally fucking nailed it. they start into "halfway to fully grown," basically continuing at the same energy level as in the middle break. this goes on for a bit. then the percussion kinda gradually drops out, and it feels like it's winding down, but then there's this sudden RAVEy buildup with a super RAVEy synth, and it just EXPLODES in to big beat bliss. and it goes on like that for another minute, which felt just long enough. well, it could have gone on longer, but it def wasn't too short. everyone says this album sounds like ecstasy, and it's true. the whole thing makes me just wanna take e and touch myself.

so yeah. just brilliant. i was gonna try to be sneaky and stay for the second playing, but i didn't want to push my luck. i'm tempted to be ridiculous and say album of the year 09, but of course we're getting 2 new dirty projectors albums and probably a new joanna newsom, so that would be grossly premature. definitely blows anything from this year out of the water. i dunno. any questions?

Click the "Show Spoiler" Button to reveal hidden text.

You have no idea how badly this makes me want the new album...

Originally Posted by GLR87

i think that album cover is cool as shit personally...

I dislike the album art on both so far. Then again a lot of my favorite albums have shitty album art. As long as the music's good, the rest doesn't matter anyway.

[thestand]

Another track-by-track.

In the Flowers: Probably my favorite. Its breakdown part is absolutely stunning with percussion. The "I'm a dancer" voice effect was not in the end like it is in most live recordings, but in the beginning. Hearing this song without the percussion would feel strange now.

My Girls: The beginning sample seemed more electronic then it does live. Sounded like a hip hop song. I wouldn't be surprised to see this as the single.

Also Frightened: Loved the humming at the end. I hadn't listened to this one much before, but it was great.

Summertime Clothes: The vocals feel very raw. The "don't cool off, I like your walk" sounded a little bit different than it does live.

Daily Routine: I can't say enough about this one. Panda's voice in the second half of the song is absolutely angelic. After the first time he sings "stop and look at traffic signals," instead of going back to the electronic sound as it does live, Panda's voice comes in all choppy for a beautiful effect then goes back to the verse. The beginning is great. The notes of the electronic sample are played individually and get faster and faster until it hits its normal pace. I expected this one to be a bit longer then it was though, but I'm not complaining.

Bluish: If I had a top 10 songs to have sex to list, Bluish would be number one. Stunning.

Guys Eyes: Was never a big fan of this one until tonight. They really took this song to the limit.

Taste: Wow, this one sounded so different. It was slower and didn't have the clicking sample or whatever that is so prevalent throughout the live recordings. The "you can cook a rose, but I don't eat those" is now something like "you can _____ the rose, cause you can't eat those" the first time around. They no longer scream "TASTE!" either. Not that I heard anyway.

Lion in a Coma: Sounded like it does in the boots, but less hectic. This song really adds a cool element to the album.

No More Runnin: Sounded mostly like it does in the boots. Still really beautiful and one of the highlights. It's the perfect song to lead into Brothersport.

Brothersport: What can I say about this amazing one that probably hasn't already been said? Starts off with what sounds like a note sliding up a guitar quickly, then right into the verse. The screams are muffled or something. Didn't take away from anything. Lots of new sounds in that section though. Most I didn't catch till the second time around. The climax/ending is....wow. Starts big, gets quieter, then blows up. It is truly an explosion. Didn't end on the "MAAAAAATT" sample like I thought it might. I don't know if I can listen to live recordings of this one anymore...the album version was too great.

Click the "Show Spoiler" Button to reveal hidden text.

[trlev]

i hope they extend this.

11-06 Santiago, Chile - Industria Cultural
11-08 São Paulo, Brazil - Planeta Terra Festival
11-09 Buenos Aires, Argentina - La Trastienda
11-13 Lima, Peru - Centro Fundación Telefónica
01-12 London, England - Koko
01-13 Glasgow, Scotland - Glasgow School of Arts
01-14 Manchester, England - Club Academy
01-15 Brighton, England - Concorde 2
01-16 Paris, France - Bataclan
01-17 Leuven, Belgium - Stuk
01-18 Berlin, Germany - Postbanhof
01-20 New York, NY - Grand Ballroom
01-22 Chicago, IL - Metro
01-24 Los Angeles, CA - Fonda

[thestand]

I won't be in NY when they're there.

[brendangen412]

I won't be in NY when they're there.
probably.

listening to Campfire Songs.

[ComeNFrmTheCold]

They're coming nowhere even remotely close to me...

[thestand]

To the 4 guys I PMed a few days ago- no go. Sorry.

[umphucked88]

Damn, these reviews are making me even more excited for this album. This needs to hurry up and leak

[bennetts]

Originally Posted by GLR87

i think that album cover is cool as shit personally...

same, I love covers that don't mention the band's name

[thestand]

Originally Posted by umphucked88

Damn, these reviews are making me even more excited for this album. This needs to hurry up and leak

Yeah, and now that it's confirmed that Guys Eyes is Song for Ariel, that has basically become my third most anticipated track, behind My Girls and Brother Sport (which is back to two words, FYI).

[clayj41]

They're in Chicago two nights after The Killers. Looks like I might have to head back that Thursday.

[thestand]

Was not aware you were a fan, Clay. Very cool.

If you do go, I hope you get a good show. I think I've said it before, but I've seen them three times, and two shows were absolutely amazing. The other one was a Brooklyn show, meaning they were at their own house before the show, which explained why they were high out of their gourds for the show. And the show wasn't great.

But like I said, when they're on (which is how they've been basically all of 2008), it's a fantastic show.

[ComeNFrmTheCold]

Brother Sport I believe is going to be the essential track on this album. I am calling it now.

[clayj41]

Originally Posted by thestand

Was not aware you were a fan, Clay. Very cool.

If you do go, I hope you get a good show. I think I've said it before, but I've seen them three times, and two shows were absolutely amazing. The other one was a Brooklyn show, meaning they were at their own house before the show, which explained why they were high out of their gourds for the show. And the show wasn't great.

But like I said, when they're on (which is how they've been basically all of 2008), it's a fantastic show.

I'm a casual fan at best. I remember you saying that they've played one of the best shows you've ever seen and one of the worst. I'll hope for the former...I'm always looking for great live music.

[thestand]

Dude, it's going to be fucking mega. Especially since there's no intro, it's straight into "Open up your-". I called Brother Sport being my song of the year about 8 months ago. Sucks that we have to wait until '09. But I think it'll be worth it.

EDIT: To Jordan. Damn my non-quoting habits.

[ComeNFrmTheCold]

Originally Posted by thestand

Dude, it's going to be fucking mega. Especially since there's no intro, it's straight into "Open up your-". I called Brother Sport being my song of the year about 8 months ago. Sucks that we have to wait until '09. But I think it'll be worth it.

EDIT: To Jordan. Damn my non-quoting habits.

Yeah. It's going to fucking blow my mind. I am really excited to see with what they did with it in the studio, especially the screaming middle bridge part. The song literally destroys me in an awesome way.

[trlev]

if you need help in numbing the wait, there's a pretty cool phaseone mp3 floating around of a remix of panda bear's 'i'm not'. it gives the song a little darker more hip-hop almost dub type sound.

[thestand]

From our friends at Domino.

Animal Collective is set to release Merriweather Post Pavilion, their 9th full length album, on the 12th of January 2009 on Domino Records.

There will be more special, limited and also vinyl editions of this album available to pre-order nearer to release. If you would like to be notified when these are added to the site, please sign up to our Animal Collective mailing list and we'll let you know!

Fuck. Yes. I don't even care what is involved. I'll be getting vinyl and the special/limited edition. This is one of only a few bands out there that I have no qualms with whoring my money.