Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

This experimental, avant guard band is probably one of my favorite bands now. Why? Because their various unheard noises, heavy African beat, long songs, beach boy sounding voices, out of whack time signatures (on occasion), and electronic blends all mashed up into one complicated, but rewarding album make Animal Collective the most unique, original band I've ever heard. Ever. Their songs are all so long, that you can't tell anything from the iTunes 30 second previews. So don't judge the album on that. Trust me. Here's a little bio/history of Animal Collective. The band consists of David Portner, Josh Dibb, Brian Weitz, and Noah Lennox, of the very similar sounding, one-man band Panda Bear. Their first four albums are very much full of experimental, misty sounds, like you can't exactly tell what they were getting at. By the way, this is their 8th studio album. They're very soothing, but rough around the edges, I would say. But then Sung Tongs came out in 2004. This was really their strongest, most popular album since Spirits, Their Gone, Spirits, They've Vanished, which was their first album. Sung Tongs was a big leap from their early stuff. Their melodies became more clear, their was more of a strong beat. They were also incorporating more electronic noises. Then in 2005, Feels was released, which is, infact, my second favorite album by A.C. The songs on it seem like songs you would hear in your dreams. So slowly they were gaining popularity. Their next album, called Strawberry Jam, was very popular when it came out in 2007, with the extremely electronic, avant-guard songs Fireworks and Peacebone. And so now we have Merriweather Post Pavilion, released on January 20th, 2009 (on mah birthday!). Probably Animal Collective's best, and clearest album yet. Why do I think so? Because of its long steady songs that slowly pull you into their heavy, primative beat and unignorable, pulsing sound that makes you want to just get up and do a little jig. Plus, it's the only album cover that "moves".

Watch the video for their critically acclaimed, awesome song My Girls here.



-Julian