Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

these kids should have stayed in church

vocals play little to no role in judging this band. no one who likes Animal Collective likes them because they really really enjoy the sound of Avey Tare's voice.

The sound of Avey's vocals aren't very important on this record - esp. compared to Feels where his vocals were consistently marvellous and totally crucial to the sound/feel of the songs (e.g. the wonderful chorus on "Banshee Beat"), or Strawberry Jam where his grunty/moany/squealy angst really set the tone of his songs.

Conversely, I can see how Panda Bear's backing vocals (present even on most of Avey's songs here) could form a stumbling block for anyone who didn't like them.

I'm nowhere near the stage of being able to pick out individual vocals. I'm still luxuriating in its glorious entirety. It gets better every time I listen. (And really: I was deeply unsure about it from what I'd read.)

I am finding it weird how when I say I like this record people act like I am a member of some Divine Light Missionary Cult...is this how Animal Collective fans really are?

I politely told a couple who knocked on my door a few days ago that, sorry, I couldn't afford a magazine subscription.

Conversely, I can see how Panda Bear's backing vocals (present even on most of Avey's songs here) could form a stumbling block for anyone who didn't like them.

http://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/images/sign-with-sharp-edges.jpg

xpost to Tim

okay, perhaps i was overstating it. i guess i figured that that melody and creation of mood were the band's more obvious strengths (mood far past simply what the singer's voice sounds like, that is). i just imagine that when someone says that they don't like a singer's voice, it has less to do with whatever processing is or isn't done to it or whether or not you can hear it easily in the mix or whether at any given point you are being breathy or screamy or yelpy, and more just to do with simply the quality of the voice (not the best choice of words, i know). and this is coming from someone who DOES enjoy both these guys' voices and the way they inform the tone of their songs, but it just doesn't seem quite as essential an aspect - i.e. someone else could be singing the same notes and i'd enjoy it almost as much.

having been listening to it in lieu of just about anything else for the past month, I am beginning to be a wee bit embarrassed by how much I like this album.

"someone else could be singing the same notes and i'd enjoy it almost as much."

Yes, but I think probably the vocals-haters (which i am certainly not) would dislike the vocal arrangements * on songs like "Also Frightened", "Guys Eyes", "No More Runnin", "Taste" and "Brothersport" regardless of which voices were actually singing them.

* i.e. use of close harmonies, Beach Boys-meets-barbershop style overlapping etc.

The Beach Boys comparison thing didn't happen before 'Person Pitch' did it? I think some of that record does exhibit a big Beach Boys thing but I can't hear it on MPP unless all vocal harmonies = Beach Boys. It's lazy journalese, no?

Knowing how huge a fan of the Beach Boys Mackro is, say, he would not have have busted out the comparison if he did not feel it was applicable, and in the case of AC's use of the sound, an example of how not to do it.

to give AC (and by proxy Panda Bear) some credit here, these guys have been able to use (not all the time as has been stated) Wilson-esque vocal harmonies that don't resolve in an expected way. Sure, AC harmonizes a lot, but it's a basically a genetic code in the listener whether one detects resolution in places in songs or not. On the flip, the Beach Boys and certainly many groups influenced by them in between (High Llamas, Fleet Foxes kinda, etc.) have followed more Beach Boys traditions than just the vocal harmonizing and the resolutions. AC just use the harmonizing as one of many colors in their palette -- which may drive people more attuned to Beach Boys type songs crazy. So, yeah, I admit I'm probably in this latter ol' fogey category.

I have this same issue with the Fleet Foxes album. The techniques are superb, but the results aren't always all that. I like that album more than this new AC one.. however, the Foxes are certainly trying harder to emulate Beach Boys, whereas it's just a relatively smaller part of AC, me thinks.

So yeah, i'll put the whole Beach Boys thing to rest here. sorry folx.

Keep in mind that I've been on a steady diet of Slade, Sweet, Flipper, and The Free Design lately.. so my concepts of harmonizing are kinda uncalibrated right now.

whoo boy, terrified to even get involved here but "college" on sung tongs is unexplainable as anything other than a bboys homage

dumb video http://www.myanimalhome.net/

http://www.nyctaper.com/?p=511

20. Chicago Bulls — Pass Goat the mic, let him get him up in the air: "The Bulls are like the new Animal Collective record. There's no real rhyme or reason to it. You don't really know what they're all about. It's not as good as people think, but it's not as bad as people think either. Wins over the Raptors and Cavs are the equivalent of 'My Girls' and 'Brother Sport,' if you're wondering. (You weren't wondering.)" [J.E.]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/BDL-NBA-Power-Rankings-Do-you-believe-in-Magic-;_ylt=AtoZq4_U3li.ch_rUHXTJka8vLYF?urn=nba,135466

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/BDL-NBA-Power-Rankings-Do-you-believe-in-Magic-?urn=nba,135466

Still can't bring myself to listen to the version I downloaded weeks ago.

lol @ that thing comparing anco and the bulls, though it's really more true for the bulls.

ok well michael chornomanz sent me an apology and now we are total bros

:(

And then you danced.

hes a nice kid!!!!

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

Parody of Barack Obama ... best music writing of 2008 so far...

From Ronan F's Irish friend Una

http://unarocks.blogspot.com/2009/01/celebrity-album-reviews-1-barack-obama.html

Celebrity Album Reviews #1: Barack Obama reviews Animal Collective - 'Merriweather Post Pavilion'

I stand here today humbled by the album before me, grateful for the sounds that have been bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by a record label. Animal Collective have now made nine albums. The songs have been recorded during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often an album is released amidst gathering clouds and raging storms, genres blurring beyond recognition, a music industry in freefall. So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

Today I say to you that the complexities of this record are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, music lover – they will be met.

On this day, we appreciate this record because we have chosen progress over the static, avant-guarde beauty over reluctant discord. From the glowing synth of ‘My Girls’, inspired by our forefather Frankie Knuckles, to the expansive exquisiteness of ‘Summertime Clothes’. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to landfill indie, the petty pop and false promises, the worn out MOR rock, all of these things that for far too long have strangled our music collections.

Animal Collective remain a young band, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. Their time has come to reaffirm their enduring spirit, to choose a better history, and to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, of innovation and experimentation in indie music.

Everywhere on this record, there are intricacies. The sounds are as glorious as they are mysterious. The progress in vocal harmonies and melodies is tinged with bravery, courage and hope. All this they do so well. We are the keepers of this legacy.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them. The question we ask today is not whether this album is cool or not, but whether it works.

Men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration over this magnificent album. So let us mark this record with remembrance, of who Animal Collective are and how far they have travelled.

In the year of Animal Collective’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of musicians huddled by dying cigarette lights on the shores of home studios. Music was being abandoned. The enemy of thoughtless songwriting was advancing. At a moment when the outcome of the flux in the industry was most in doubt, Animal Collective banded together and succeeded. And like true citizens, they persevered in their craft, and it is only because of that, they can produce such work now.

With eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon them, they carry forth that great gift of ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’ and will deliver it safely to future generations. Thank you. God bless you. And God bless Animal Collective.
Posted by UnaRocks at 3:29 PM

rewind..Parody of Barack Obama ... best music writing of 2009 so far...

oops wrong merriweather "post" pavilion

xx-post that's priceless

tbf though that's abt the nicest way one could call someone a "fucking asshole"

yeah i mean hes no taylor saporito

who thought i owed him an apology for "making it personal"

friend?? haha

http://www.myspace.com/zimmermanbrain

let's not forget these glorious indie masterpieces from Taylor Saporito

http://www.myspace.com/zimmermanbrain

let's not forget these glorious indie masterpieces from Taylor Saporito

stupid internet

Is it much to admit I need
A solid soul and the blood I bleed
With a little girl, and by my spouse
I only want a proper house

I don't care for fancy things
Or to take part in a precious race
And children cry for the one who has
A real big heart and a father's grace

I don't mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status
I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls

straight·for·ward

1. Proceeding in a straight course; direct.
2.
a. Not circuitous or evasive; honest and frank. See Synonyms at frank1.
b. Free from ambiguity or pretense; plain and open.
adv.
In a direct course or an honest manner.

I take back everything bad I ever said about Animal Collective. This album is tremendous.

why do you like it so much mordy

Well, for one thing I find it much more memorable, more hooky, and more -- poppy? than their other albums (and side projects). So it's actually a joy to listen to the music. And once I can get into the frame of a song, I can start to appreciate all the other sonic stuff that's going on. So "Summertime Clothes" sounds drenched in water, and when they sing "I don't mean to seem I care about material things" on "My Girls," I both love the lyrics (which are, FBOFW, key for me), but also love the way his voice moves around the lyrics.

I think what's really distinguished this album for me from their other output is that it's immediately accessible on a very - what Frank might call - a free lunch level, and then it builds on that for me. But there's a place for me to start. By contrast, with Person Pitch, I felt like I was just banging my head against these monoliths over and over again without making any headway. I need some 'in' before I can start to love everything else -- and I really love everything else with this album too. But as elaboration.

Not sure if this makes total sense. If not, I'll try to figure out my reactions to this album better.

no, i get what you mean with the 'in' song. preson pitch is my fav thing related to them by a considerable distance, but it took me a while to get into too. once "carrots" hit me, i was able to love the rest.
as for this one, i really like "in the flowers" a lot, but i can't seem to connect with another song to the same extent. i used to really love the old live version of "brother sport" too, but i'm not feeling this new, aired out album track

I think my favorite three tracks are My Girls, Summertime Clothes, and Bluish. The last almost entirely for the "curls" section.

Also, I got new speakers tonight, and that might've made a huge difference since they are the warmest sounding sound system I've ever used in my living room.

does anyone know how many copies this sold in its first week?

hang on let me log in to soundscan

Merriweather Post Pavilion - 5,567,987 units

lil wayne cameos carry weight grady!

5.5 million!? wow...