m_thomp

to me, Sung Tongs is like two dudes playing acoustic guitars (maybe with weed) in a shed in the winter having a blast (thats what it was),

And that's why it's so good in my opinion. When you consider what most people would consider restrictions - two people, barely a drum kit, and acoustic guitars - it's incredibly inventive. Only in the last couple of songs does it taper out.

Feels is a summertime jamfest of guitars and drums about love (it was), Strawberry Jam was 4 guys maturing into legitimate songwriters, and Merriweather Post Pavillion is everyone working at the same goal. I can't imagine what their next album will be like but I think it may be the album most similar to their past stuff.

I read an interview once in which Noah said that Strawberry Jam was entitled that because he was on a plane once and with his meal he received a small pot of Strawberry Jam, and that best summed up exactly how they wanted the album to sound. And that makes sense to me, when you compare it to MPP it's a lot denser and glossier.

the only recognizable samples they used were the jaw harp in 'Lion in a Coma' and the G and Fmaj7 chords of 'Guys Eyes' are sampled from The Zombies (Leave Me Be), but I dont remember what song. there are some samples that run throughout that are the guys playing- most of the drums I believe are altered beats by Panda Bear, and there are a bunch of other samples that drift throughout that are from other sources, but they're usually extra things and dont pertain to the melody or chords.

I thought that the Zombies sample got dropped? I do know that Panda Bear includes the sample in his live set solo rendition of Guys Eyes, though.

I think Daily Routine needs to go. Maybe No More Runnin', too.

No and no. No More Runnin is perfect and perfectly placed too.

Thanks for your help guys. I think I'm as confused now as I was before I wrote the request. I'm not being cheeky but you all have differing opinions, so I guess any form of consensus regarding Glass is difficult.

Solo Piano has come up a couple of times so I think that's going to be my next port of call. Many thanks again.

For the past few days I've been listening to Philip Glass' Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack. This is my first taste of Glass' work and I'm very taken by it, however, I'm a bit green when it comes to the rest of the Glass back catalogue and don't know what's best to sample next, or even what to avoid.

Are there any Glass afficienados out there who could give me some pointers and recommendations?

Does the new Animal Collective sound anything like Person Pitch? I really didnt like that album but am intrigued by everyones positive comments here!

I think there's only one song (Daily Routine) on MPP that would sit happily alongside Person Pitch, that's primarily because it's a Panda Bear-penned track and vocally it's very similar - lots of emphasis and stress on individual syllables. However, all the accompanying music is different there's something quite sea-drenched and sun-kissed about the music on Person Pitch; Daily Routine, and other tracks on MPP, are brighter, poppier and ambient-y/techno-y. If you're familar with the German label, Kompakt, it's a bit like that, in particular their Pop Ambient series.

it's a very cool video, especially when they turn into water.

 

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

 

(oh, and poptodd - you are allowed to come and talk in the other animal collective thread if you want!)

Now transcribe the Daily Routine lyrics, which, although I like it, I cannot understand anything bar the "look at traffic lights" bit - Noah's singing sounds like a special needs kid learning to read.

Pass go and collect

thanks for the interview. i've listened to half of it the other day, and i'll listen to the rest later. then we can argue some more about how much they are like the beach boys or not.

If you're halfway through then I think you've passed all the Beach Boys discussions, they circled that in My Girls section.

I've been listening a lot to Sung Tongs recently, which I really rate. Surprised it didn't make your 'next picks' choices to Moss. That's the album I think is the most distant from Beach Boys beyond mere technique.

Thinking about it, though, a lot of my favourite AC songs (Loch Raven, Derek, No More Runnin) are the ones least comparable to Beach Boys. Which either means I'm right (I am, and you know it), or I have a built-in Beach Boys soundalike filter.

Just found out they are playing the Boulder Theater here in Colorado on June 2nd. How are these guys live?

I caught them last week in London. For Animal Collective it was about as straightforward as it gets, in that they, quite unexpectedly, played the bulk of Merriweather, one new song and a few reworkings (one quite radical) of some older material. As for how they sound, the Merriweather material is very similar to the records. They sometimes alter things slightly, e.g. Daily Routine's slow outro becomes much slower. It's really in the old material that they change things round, almost unrecognisably so, and that material is often been given a reboot to make it more contemporary and more in the spirit of MPP. Winters Love and Who Could Win A Rabbit being two which have benefited from this approach.

However, they're going to be touring these shores again in March when it's expected that more of the new unrecorded material will surface, which by the time they get to Boulder would probably be a lot more refined and sound better for it. As for indications as to what the new material will be like, judging from the new track I heard, still samplely/synth based and still upbeat but slightly funkier. There is a possibility that Deakin (erstwhile guitarist) may be returning to the fold by that time.

Here you go, folks:

Animal Collective - MPP playback interview (minus the music)

i think they definately sound at times like the beatles on this new album. i'm sure, i've said that before - if not, i should have done. as for them not actually trying to sound like the beach boys, that doesn't mean they don't. i think from what you've just said - about the everly brothers and doo-wop etc... that's exactly the sort of thing that the beach boys were inspired by - which is why they probably sound like each other so much - in terms of what they do with vocal arrangements.

 

i'll like to hear that radio show.

Hmm I understand what you're saying, that as a result of mutual inspirations AC end up in a similar territory as the Beach Boys as a result of a happy accident (or unhappy if you hate either band). It's just that beyond them both liking vocal harmonies and arrangements I can't really hear any explicit similarities (someone like the Incredible String Band, on the other hand, is a different matter - not on MPP though). It's more of a case them using a similar technique/process than the music sounding similar. Which I guess is a bit like saying My Bloody Valentine and Metallica sound similar because they both like really loud guitars. I'm being facetious with that last statement, y'understand. Same process, different results.

I have the interview sans the music on mp3, so I'll upload for those of you who are quite familiar with the tunes - which I guess you are Mr. Backpack.

They clocked in at no. 26 in the UK album hit parade. That's worrying ten places below Roger Whittaker. Nevermind, to actually see an Animal Collective album chart make me very happy. Yes, I'm easily pleased!

Touching on the Beach Boys allusions, I heard an album playback on the radio last week which went track-by-track through MPP with Brian/Geo and Dave/Avey providing commentary. The reaction when the interviewer referenced the Beach Boys was one of bemusement and I got the impression that they hear it a lot but don't really subscribe to it. They could hear how people would, particularly with some of Panda's phrasing being similar to Brian Wilson's. They seemed quite ambivalent to the association. There was a passive suggestion that the Beach Boys similarities could be as a result of people's (mostly reviewers) limited frame of reference, and that they felt it most in European interviews, when the interviewers would equate 'harmonies' to 'being inspired by the Beach Boys'. For the record they said they were more inspired by the Everly Brothers, Fleetwood Mac and old doo-wop bands.

They enjoyed the Beach Boys, but claim that they're not as significant or as important to them as people think. In contrast, they, again particularly in Europe, said that when they mentioned that the Beatles were an inspiration to the sound they're often met with exasparated looks.

As has been said before, to me they seem to just place more importance on harmonies and vocal melodies than most other contemporary bands do, in that they spend time arranging them, consciously use "vocal tricks" (as they put it) to create a different feel, and look to compliment and juxtapose each of the lead vocal lines.

I can definitely hear the Beatles thing on the new album. I think there similar descending vocal harmonies on Also Frightened as there is on Paperback Writer.

I'll post up a link to the radio playback if anyone's interested. I can't access the radio station's site at the moment (it's banned from my work) but they have archives and hopefully it's captured there. It does give a valuable insight into not only the process but also what they were looking to achieve from MPP.

Gotta love doing the road trip. Here are some of mine of the past few years:

August 04 to Sept 04

San Francisco - Santa Cruz - Modesto - Yosemite National Park - Reno - Eugene - Portland - Seattle

My first time in the US with lots of memories, most of the truly unforgettable ones being the interactions with the local folk rather than the inspiring scenery and nature. For example, Modesto seemed such a quiet town but the people there were so warm and friendly. We were treated with almost regal regard and curiosity by almost everyone we met - I guess they don't get many visitors from the UK over there. This was best typified by our selections on the bar jukebox causing a group of locals to come over over, shoot the breeze (and pool), which ended up with them inviting us back to their party to drink liquor (gotta love that phrase) until the wee small hours. We had Warren Zevon to thank for that.

Sept 07

Toronto - Algonquin Provincial Park - Ottawa - Montreal - Quebec City - Tadoussac - Trois Rivieres - Kingston - Niagara-On-The-Lake - Toronto

Fascinating trip for oh-so-many reasons. Standout highlight for me was Tadoussac where we were spoiled by nature: whale-watching, maginificient trail walks and the beachsand at nighttime, which had the magical properties of twinkling in the dark when you stamped on it.

Sept 08 to Oct 08

San Francisco - Monterey - Sonoma - Mendocino - Arcata - Redding - Mount Lassen National Park - Corvallis - Portland - Seattle - Vancouver

Brilliant for testing the political temperature of a nation, we were there during the presidential debates, and got a real feeling for the importance, passion and the inevitable sea change that followed during the actual election. Oh, and I got to see (and hear) first hand just what local opinion was about Sarah Palin. Difficult to pick out highlights, because there were so many, but the drive out of Mount Lassen National Park was an unforgetable experience: one highway, three seasons visible (snow in one direction, downpours and lightning in another, flag-cracking sunshine in another) and Neil Young's Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere pumping out of the stereo.

i didn't even know there was a good cd version out. i'm going looking for that now then. really i'm just waiting to get an actual cd of it, cos my cd player/amp ect... always sound a million times better than any mp3 i've ever had. but, that'll have to wait until next week.

 

my current favs happen to be bluish (which i loved even from that little clip that leaked ages ago), guys eyes, and summertime clothes.

I don't know whether the mp3's are sourced from a CD, they're just downloads. The vinyl came out on Tuesday in the States, and were given a password to download the album for free. The version I've got comes from that. It sounds worlds better, there's much more clarity around everything in the mix, and is markedly different from the Christmas-time leak.

I think there's only one track that isn't at the same level as the others, and that's Also Frightened. I still think it's good, but compared to the rest it pales; the vocals on the verse are a little too mundane and bored-sounding.

It's been a long time since I've enjoyed an album end-to-end as much as this.

this album really does sound good to me right now. i can't fathom how anyone could not like it really, but then maybe i'm looking at it from the viewpoint of their other albums, and how this sounds a lot more commericial in many ways. maybe it's still not inviting enough for mass appeal.

I was initially disappointed with the album. Or rather disappointed with the first leak - the high and mid ranges were all murky, couldn't decipher vocals, etc. It's only from yesterday, when the legit download to the vinyl buyers was made available, and the subsequent leak, that it's all started to make sense, perfect sense at that. I urge anyone interested in listening to either buy it, or grab a leak of that.

It's now so much sharper, brighter and more crystalline, and given that they're heading off in pop, ambient, techno territories, that's exactly how it should sound.

I was surprised with it because I thought, through seeing them live and listening to bootlegs, that Brother Sport and My Girls would be the standout cuts. They're great, but I'm really taken with Daily Routine, Lion In A Coma and, especially, No More Runnin (which is pretty damn near perfect).

would def give it somewhere in the 8.5 range, which is saying a lot considering my past disinterest in the band.

That's 1.1 below Pitchfork! For shame, Mr. Solace, for shame.

Actually, should anyone actually know how this decimalized scoring system works, could they let me know? For example, in the case of Animal Collective and Pitchfork, what separates a 9.6 album from a 9.5 album? Isn't that beyond splitting hairs, and more akin to splitting the dandruff on the hairs?

crickey! i've been pronouncing it BON (like bon jovi) EYE (like the thing you see stuff with) and VUR (like an chinaman saying fur).

Similar to that, but I'd pronounced your EYE bit just like the 'e' in 'email'. Maybe because I thought the title was a play on 'en hiver', and our French teacher taught us to say 'en hiver' (or 'in winter') that way.

Or maybe it's because I'm a Londoner? Which I'm not.

Spent the whole morning staring at other people's 2008 top 10 lists (none of yours) so it's time to chip in with mine:

1. Koushik - Out My Window

2. TV On The Radio - Dear Science

3. Portishead - Third

4. Clark - Turning Dragon

5. Department Of Eagles - In Ear Park

6. El Guincho - Alegranza

7. Sigur R

Got hold of My Girls yesterday and it's fab. Very poppy too, with a great, highly danceable rhythm.

animal collective make music to be happy to, and you can dance to it - those things must count for something surely?!

You're right. But I don't subscribe to animal collective making purely happy music: have you heard some of Avey Tare's lyrics? The music might be fun stuff, but some of his words are like bittersweet Grimm Fairy tales.

Edit: Anyone from England using the word "props" should have their head pinned on a spike at Traitor's Gate. And made to wear a pair of British Kinights trainers.

when you folks claiming they are the Radiohead of the 00's, it's pretty hard to take those types of comments seriously.

I've certainly not claimed that, I wouldn't use Radiohead as fair comparison anyway, or indeed a good barometer of taste.

Infact the only lauding I've done is say that I like their music and think their new album will be something special.

i thought that was the good thing about them. although, that is kind of what you think about joanna newsom's voice - the childish, all over the place thing - isn't it? i personally don't hear anything childish about animal collective now (maybe in the past), but personally i think they are making the most sophisticated sounding music at the moment - in terms of what they are doing with harmonies, and production etc...

 

np/ graham nash - songs for beginners

My dislike of Joanna is partially to do with that. Not childish so much, but that fact that she posseses a voice that I struggle to find convincing. I find it contrived and, yes, childlike - think, Bonnie Langford.

The feeling I get from speaking to others that causes so much concern about AC is that they're both amorphous and juvenile, in that it just refuses to to sit still: vocally and melodically it's prone to spasmodic eruptions and tangential whimsy.

And that's the stuff I like because rather than be tossed together, or be the product of dicking around, I find Animal Collective endlessly exciting and inventive.

In fact the thing I like listening to most by them is boot of the Amsterdam gig.

NP: Animal Collective : Amsterdam Melkweg Oct 07

and i've heard 2 songs off the new one so far, neither really changed my opinion, but i wasn't annoyed by them at least...

What are the two songs you've heard? If either of them are Brother Sport or Bluish then I don't think they could ever switch you on.

What is it that doesn't appeal and that you don't rate? I know quite a few people who hate them and the constant reason given is that they sound too childish, in a hyperactive toddler way.

NP: The tiny snatches of Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion that are circulating. This equates to one almost complete song and two partials.

Judging from what I've heard, this album will be exceptional.

You may be better off waiting if you were thinking of buying any of the current reissues. See here:

New Order reissues plagued with sound problems

 

A music label renowned for its elaborate reissues of vintage albums has annoyed British rock group New Order and its fans with a flawed package of the group's classics discs.

 

Rhino Records reissued "collector's editions" of New Order's first five albums, which all originally came out in the 1980s. Each one features a bonus disc, with 7- and 12-inch versions, instrumentals and remixes.

 

But alert fans quickly complained of about 300 errors, mostly relating to poor sound quality on the bonus discs. The pops and crackles on many of the tracks suggest they were transferred directly from commercially available vinyl recordings rather than from the original master tapes.

 

The discs were released in Britain last month, and music magazines there, such as Q and Mojo, did not mention any of the technical shortcomings in their rave reviews.

 

But Peter Hook, the bass player with the defunct group, said in his MySpace page that the reissue project was a "mess." He blamed the label for not sending out advance copies so that he and his former bandmates could do some quality control.

 

Despite the discontent, Rhino released the discs in the United States last Tuesday, and U.S. fans noticed the same problems. Rhino, an affiliate of Warner Bros. Records, plans to reissue the reissues, and will allow fans to exchange their dud CDs.

 

"Warner Bros. UK, Rhino and New Order regret that the initial pressings of the Collector Editions of 'Movement,' 'Power, Corruption & Lies,' 'Low-Life,' 'Brotherhood' and 'Technique' contain some minor audio problems on the bonus discs," a statement issued Thursday said.

 

"We are now in the process of correcting the problems, but it should be noted that due to the age and condition of some of the original source tapes, the sound quality may vary. A further statement will be issued once the corrected product is available. At that time, the procedure for exchanging CD's will be announced. Thank you for your patience while we resolve this situation"

 

New Order was founded by three members of Joy Division after that band's singer, Ian Curtis, committed suicide in 1980. It is perhaps best known for such tunes as "Temptation" and the 12-inch dance single "Blue Monday."

 

Rhino is considered the industry leader when it comes to reissues. The label's imaginative staff of audiophiles compile elaborate boxed sets covering all genres of music, no matter how small the niche.

 

Their releases are frequently nominated for Grammy Awards in the packaging category, including a duo this year: "Forever Changing: The Golden Age of Elektra Records: 1963-1973" and "Love is the Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets: 1965-1970."

For the record, I'd go with Low Life.