So I'm listening to the new Animal Collective 'Merriweather Post Pavillion' for the 1st time and I'm officially blown away. I wish we'd had a listening copy of this a while back so I could digest it properly. Didn't Grizzly Bear leak some of the album a while back? Maybe that's why we didn't sent a listening copy. I suppose once something hits the torrent sites the labels expect you to get 'em from there. I don't know.. you try to do the right thing....
If you want to know where I'm at with Animal Collective then I quite liked Strawberry Jam (better than Feels), didn't really like Feels, loved Sung Tongs to absolute death and thought everything before that was bollocks. So where does Merriweather Post Pavillion stand? Well I'm actually on my 2nd listen now and it's by far their best album since Sung Tongs. It's an incredibly inventive album. There's more ideas on here than most bands would have in their entire career. It sounds an awful lot like Panda Bear's Person Pitch at times and if you're after a comparison that's as close as I can get. Weird electronics and pop mixed together to make the most skewed sounding pop music I've heard in years... I can hear bits of Pink Floyd and the Beach Boys amongst the tribal African chants, techno and psychedelia... There's even the odd track which reminds me of something from The Beta Band's 3 EP's. Blissful summery pop and I can see this album being absolutely massive. It sounds more electronic than Strawberry Jam and the songs are definitely stronger than those (it was a bit patchy at times). I'm thinking they've come to a point in their career where people of all tastes will listen to this and get something out of it as their one of those bands now. Released on double vinyl now with a download code and the CD is out in a few weeks (finally the vinyl comes first!) It's well good!
Love this record? Hate it? Tell us.
What their label says...
Animal Collective’s ninth album and second for Domino is garnering praise from all quarters with some already hailing it as their defining moment. · Animal Collective are now something of a talismanic force amongst their peers and the bands their working methods have influenced. Listening to ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’ you’ll hear echoes of everything they’ve recorded to date, especially the mesmeric and melodic repetition of Panda Bear’s last solo opus ‘Person Pitch’.
Tracks
In The Flowers * My Girls * Also Frightened * Summertime Clothes * Daily Routine * Bluish * Guys Eyes * Taste * Lion In A Coma * No More Runnin’ * Brother Sport
Other items by Animal Collective
Brothersport Animal Collective 10" (vinyl), £5.49 Sorry - sold out.
