Alright, goddammit.

There is an Animal Collective thread submitted damn near every day with the same sort of headlines.

I smell a PR blitz.

CtrlAltDelete: I smell a PR blitz.

which is almost as annoying as their songs. god, they are horrible times a gajillion

albo: which is almost as annoying as their songs. god, they are horrible times a gajillion

Have you ever listened to Animal Collective... on weed shrooms?!

CtrlAltDelete: Alright, goddammit.

There is an Animal Collective thread submitted damn near every day with the same sort of headlines.

I smell a PR blitz.

Stop the conspiracy, it was me on 2 occasion and it doesn't go any deeper than this: Why is this band getting so much buzz and are they worth it?

because when I read music sites looking for stuff to submit, on almost every one of these darned sites there is a daily story on them (might explain why so many are submitted to Fark)

Me? Judging by "My Girls" video, the song is aw'ight, could grow on me but im not exactly knocked out of my seat, either

they're not bad, but nothing Disco Inferno (the band, not the awful song) didn't do nearly 15 years ago. But I've only heard the most recent album.

"Turn Into Something" is a good song. The rest is mostly noise.

Was that article an analysis of the metacriticism? That was so meta that I'm not sure which plane of existance I live in. Can someone please call my mommy?

Animal Collective? I thought we were an anarcho-syndicalist commune.

As of a few weeks ago I'd never heard anything they'd put out, but I'd heard all the hype (the DJ's on Sirius wetting themselves, fanboys online). So I downloaded the latest two albums (Merriweather.., and Strawberry Jam) and decided to give them a fair shot and objectively listen to the albums multiple times.

My verdict - they're good, but not holy shiat great. They have a couple songs that are amazing, but the majority are just ok, even somewhat forgettable in that they mesh together. If those few amazing song are any indication though, they definitly have the talent to put out a ridiculous album if they limited the "noise".

Just my 2¢

I found out about them like 4 years ago... they're great when you're really, really high.

Like really, really, really high.

I haven't listened to them in like 3 years and thought they sobered up and moved on. I guess it's good on them for keeping it up.

I really would like them better if they would tone it down to just a couple of hits of LSD, rather than the whole vial.

HappyHarryHardOn: Stop the conspiracy, it was me on 2 occasion and it doesn't go any deeper than this: Why is this band getting so much buzz and are they worth it?

This was a lot more than 2 threads, dude.

HotLonelyTeenageGirl: I really would like them better if they would tone it down to just a couple of hits of LSD, rather than the whole vial.

their new album did that a bit.

one listen to the panda bear solo albums and you realize that he is the talent of the band.

If this is just fan hype, then I dub Animal Collective the musical equivalent of Ron Paul.

dimoko:

one listen to the panda bear solo albums and you realize that he is the talent of the band.

A friend gave me a copy of one of his solo albums, which I have laying around on a drive somewhere. I haven't listened to it that much, but I do agree with you here.

FYI: If you have to be on drugs in order for something to be tolerable, it sucks.

there is some 8 min song on some recent album of theirs that i listened to. the music was neat, but the singing wasn't the greatest, and the ridiculously weird and occasionally dumb lyrics put me off it. the lyricist tried too hard to be weird. and it came off sucking.

We could only hope to be as good as Moby.

/rich

I dig Animal Collective. They're not the best, but they manage to be unique and listenable at the same time, which is commendable. They're def hype-driven - their opening show, which is in MAY, sold out in a heartbeat. I'm going to a dance night nearby my apartment just because one member is DJing.

satchel13: Animal Collective? I thought we were an anarcho-syndicalist commune.

Nope, you are thinking of Chumbawamba.

Too much buzz hype. I think I will stick with this kinda wild group I've been listening to fairly nonstop the last week or so: porcupine Tree. (check out Stupid Dream, the song Even Less....wow, just wow)
http://www.swldxer.co.uk/evenless.wma
(I got into it because it features a numbers station at the end).

CtrlAltDelete: HappyHarryHardOn: Stop the conspiracy, it was me on 2 occasion and it doesn't go any deeper than this: Why is this band getting so much buzz and are they worth it?

This was a lot more than 2 threads, dude.

Well, I only did 2, myself. WHats funny though, Someone wrote something along the lines of what you wrote in the first redlit one a few days ago , and I re-read my headline and I kind of agreed. It sounded like some pr man babble

I picked up Panda Bear's Person Pitch a couple years ago after all the hype, but could never get into it. Just doesn't do it for me.

also, can someone please explain the hype around Deerhunter? Certainly not a bad band, but I turned off Microcastle midway through. it was boring. Cryptograms, while also over-hyped, did have some really good moments.

Third_Uncle_Eno: the music was neat, but the singing wasn't the greatest, and the ridiculously weird and occasionally dumb lyrics put me off it.

I've only heard one AC tune on a mix CD a friend sent, but to me, it sounds, lyrically and vocally, like some of Perry Farrell's less impressive work.

Well unlike the rest of you, I love Animal Collective. Been listening to them ever since Sung Tongs. I could see why some people don't like them but it just seems that the weirder a band gets the more I like them.

Now if you want an album that's really out there, go listen to Liars Drum's Not Dead.

FeedTheCollapse: also, can someone please explain the hype around Deerhunter? Certainly not a bad band, but I turned off Microcastle midway through. it was boring. Cryptograms, while also over-hyped, did have some really good moments.

I'm pretty much the opposite. I actually really enjoy Microcastle but was not into Cryptograms sans Strange Lights and Heatherwood.

I love animal collective, and think MPP is a great album.

/will be seeing them at Bonnaroo '09

Jeez, what's with all the hate for Animal Collective? You gotta at least give them points for originality. To all you haters out there, give them a little time. AC is a band that definitely grows on you.

Say what you will about Animal Collective, but there is no denying the awesomeness of this song (new window)

Bob Wood_National Program Director: Jeez, what's with all the hate for Animal Collective? You gotta at least give them points for originality. To all you haters out there, give them a little time. AC is a band that definitely grows on you.

I don't see as much hate as much as "eh, what's with all the hype". I don't find them all that weird. Again, I find them to be a more pop-oriented Disco inferno (ironic since Disco Inferno had an album called DI Go Pop)

Bob Wood_National Program Director:
Say what you will about Animal Collective, but there is no denying the awesomeness of this song (new window)

Wow, that's not my cup of tea. I looked them up at Discogs and they are all over Fatcat Records which is a heavy hitter in that scene. That explains the marketing push, I suppose.

That label and Kranky and a few others have a pretty devout following.

Glitchwerks: Bob Wood_National Program Director:
Say what you will about Animal Collective, but there is no denying the awesomeness of this song (new window)

Wow, that's not my cup of tea. I looked them up at Discogs and they are all over Fatcat Records which is a heavy hitter in that scene. That explains the marketing push, I suppose.

That label and Kranky and a few others have a pretty devout following.


Yeah I'm not gonna disagree with you there but some of their stuff (and their solo stuff) is on Paw Tracks which also has a pretty serious following. It turns out their new album is on Domino (Franz Ferdinand, et al.) so we'll see how this goes.

ten thousand miles that way: Well unlike the rest of you, I love Animal Collective. Been listening to them ever since Sung Tongs.

I'm in the same boat. I do think MPP overshot the accessible mark by a bit. "Strawberry Jam" was a good compromise - my wife could listen to the entire cd without saying "what the fark is this shiat?" - she did say that a few places with "Feels" (e.g. Grass - a great song btw). She has no problem with MPP, but neither to toddlers or methed out high school girls who teethed their musical tastes on American Idol.

Now if you want an album that's really out there, go listen to Liars Drum's Not Dead.

Really? Sure it was all tribal "bang bang boomey", but at no point did I feel outside of my music comfort zone.

<i>FeedTheCollapse 2009-02-04 02:09:55 PM
they're not bad, but nothing Disco Inferno (the band, not the awful song</i>

The SONG is excellent and you, sir, have no taste in music.

RE AC. Ive heard of them but never heard them until last weekend.
Local station played a song from an EP supposedly released in conjunction with the album.

I liked it but then my goal the past three years is to find music I dont have to listen to.

mfaby: The SONG is excellent and you, sir, have no taste in music.

???

I was referring to the song Disco Inferno being awful, not the AC song. There's a band called Disco Inferno that were doing the same thing as AC but nearly 15 years ago.


Glitchwerks: That label and Kranky and a few others have a pretty devout following.

I'm one of those that will check out most anything associated with Kranky. Hard to argue against a label that's been home to Low, GYBE!, Labradford, Dadamah/Dissolve/Roy Montgomery, etc.

I saw them live on their last tour, just after Strawberry Jam came out. They played one song off of SJ - the rest of the set was material that ended up on Merriweather Post Pavillion. It was so amazing I had to download a live bootleg just to listen to it again.

So yes, I've eagerly awaited MPP, and while it is a good album, the only disappointment is that the live shiat sounds so much better. If you like Animal Collective at all, be sure to catch them if they come through your town.

// This coming from someone who thinks live performance is generally overrated

A photo from when I saw Animal Collective last year. They are interesting live but this guy was a bit too into it. I would like to see some of their new material live, Merriweather is great

FeedTheCollapse: also, can someone please explain the hype around Deerhunter? Certainly not a bad band, but I turned off Microcastle midway through. it was boring. Cryptograms, while also over-hyped, did have some really good moments.

Weird, I had the complete opposite reaction to their two albums, absolutely love Microcastle and find Cryptograms good but not that great. To each his own.

sorry, "new?"

not for like, five years now.

FeedTheCollapse: I'm one of those that will check out most anything associated with Kranky. Hard to argue against a label that's been home to Low, GYBE!, Labradford, Dadamah/Dissolve/Roy Montgomery, etc.

I'm a fan of Stars of the Lid, Pan American, and Loscil myself. :)

Oh, and Tim Hecker, but he's not really "associated" with the label I think.

Panda Bear = great.
Animal Collective = yeah, not so much

Person Pitch was "Pet Sounds" for the new millenium (what the HELL does that mean? but it's true!) AC is just average, subpar junk

zabbers: Panda Bear = great.
Animal Collective = yeah, not so much

Person Pitch was "Pet Sounds" for the new millenium (what the HELL does that mean? but it's true!) AC is just average, subpar junk


See, for me, Person Pitch was the Pet Sounds scene in Walk Hard. Only less funny.

I'm not saying it's bad; I've only listened to it a couple of times, but as I get older, I find I have less patience for albums that have to grow on me. The only AC I've heard is MPP, and I do find it less work to listen to, but it's still not quite my cup of tea.

Or in other words: You kids with your difficult musicians with the complicated shoes! My music was so much better back in the day!

I don't know, everyone said the same things when Strawberry Jam came out because it was incredibly poppy compared to prior albums, but they didn't become "mainstream" then, and they aren't going to now. Not yet. And they aren't Moby, it only took Moby one album to become mainstream, the he got progressively less mainstream. Animal Collective has been moving in the opposite direction.