Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
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Free Music Notes for Merriweather Post Pavilion
Free Music Review: One More Animal Collective Classic
Hit: 5 Stars
This Album is the continuance of an amazing career for all members of AC. Top 3 of 2010...
Free Music Review: Accesible Animal Collective?
Hit: 4 Stars
The hype has been deafening to say the least. As soon as this album leaked, there were bloggers and reviewers literally falling all over themselves to praise this album. They were already declaring the race for best album of 2009 over 20 days in to the new year and some even went so far as to declare Merriweather Post Pavilion the best album of the decade. One thing is clear, if 2008 lacked a clearly defined critical darling, 2009 already has one with this album.
MPP is sort of a refinement of the direction Animal Collective took with Strawberry Jam. Strawberry Jam may have been their first major stab at pop songwriting, and it felt like a conscious break from their previous work. Instead of working with studio trickery and writing songs based on what kind of warped madness and manipulation they could throw in, Strawberry Jam's songwriting felt sturdy, like they could stand on their own with just an acoustic guitar. MPP has this sturdy songwriting as well for the most part, and most of the rougher parts have been sanded off as well. There's no crazy howling like on Reverend Green or Peacebone this time out. MPP is smooth, dreamy, and downright pleasant. It might be their most accessible album.
MPP makes use of drum loops, samples, and electronics for most of its sound backdrops. It's not electro-pop exactly, but it uses these elements to make a hazy and dreamy atmosphere for most of the songs. It fits in with Radiohead's Kid A and Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as albums that make creative use out of electronics while not being full blown electronica albums.
Sonically, it's most indebted to Panda Bear's solo album Person Pitch, particularly on songs like Guys Eyes and My Girls, where there's a lot of repetition and texture. As usual, the vocals are filled with reverb, and have layered harmonies. I'll drop the obligatory Beach Boys reference, because Noah Lennox sounds quite a bit like Brian Wilson. It also seems that Lennox is taking a more prominent position in the band. That may account for MPP's less abrasive qualities.
For me, most Animal Collective albums have been a bit scattershot. I usually like three or four tunes one each album, and the rest I can without. MPP falls a bit in to the same pattern. My Girls is an amazing song, and maybe my favorite Animal Collective song. It captures their optimistic, even childish side very well. He just wants to take care of his girls. Summertime Clothes is the catchiest song on the album. It's got a very memorable and very bright sounding chorus. The closer Brothersport is another obvious highlight, as is Lion in a Coma.
This time around the songs that aren't highlights are better overall. Daily Routine, No More Runnin, and Guys Eyes are all good songs in their own right, but they don't get as much play as the four mentioned above.
MPP is the most immediate and the most enjoyable Animal Collective album. There are fewer rough edges, fewer weird and warped moments, and it's a very cohesive album overall. Animal Collective, though widely loved in some circles, was kind of on the indie rock periphery. A lot of people didn't get them or outright disliked them. MPP is their shot at becoming widely accepted. It wouldn't surprise me if this album actually charted in the Top 30 on the Billboard Charts.
Free Music Review: Wild
Hit: 4 Stars
Animal Collective has made a name for themselves with a sound that basically reflects their name. Their albums are chaotic events, with each musician announcing their lyrics and thrashing at their instruments as if they were playing slightly different versions of the same song. I was impressed by their goals, but in past albums I felt like it usually devolved into the musical equivalent of a riot, energetic, complex, but sometimes atonal and unformed.
Sung Tongs and Feels both had songs that I loved and played over and over ("The Purple Bottle," "Did You See the Words?" and "leaf House" were my top three) but both records felt like they were bundles of bizarre jokes, only a handful of which I got. Because of their tongue-in-cheek cacophony, I was never totally sold.
This album, I'd been told over and over, was one of the best of 2009, and although I'd taken a pass on Strawberry Jam, I decided to see what all those "Best Of" lists had been talking about with MPP. What I discovered was that they were right; although Animal Collective hasn't discarded the playful energy of their sound, they have traded in their baffling weirdness for a more meaningful and touching eccentricity.
The album plays out like one long romp through playgrounds and down rainy city alleys. From the opening track -- "In the Flowers," a blustery praise piece that starts with a slow burn -- it's clear that they've learned how to use just a little restraint to show twice as much heart. Although a few of the songs border on cheesy digi-pop ("Summertime Clothes," "Bluish," and "My Girls"), their complex and infectious effervesence makes them stand out all the more.
As in past albums, they make a lot of use of repetition, but just as you think they're going to stress the limits of the listener's patience, they wickedly alter the pace and pall of each song, keeping themselves and listeners on their tones. It's very much an interactive album.
It's still weird, and likely to confuse and turn off many people. But their warmer and more heart-felt sound is certain to draw more curious ears than their past offerings did. As lovely as it is loony, MPP finally shows the world what Animal Collective can do when they focus less on the animal and more on the collective.
Free Music Review: solid effort
Hit: 4 Stars
i'm going to try and remain unbiased in my review as animal collective is one of my favorite bands. i have heard 6 of their albums including this one (Feels, Sung Tongs, Here Comes the Indian, Campfire Songs, Strawberry Jam, MPP) which gives me a nice backdrop to review their latest.
after hearing the album in it's entirety once, without reservation that it's a fine effort from start to finish. For the most part the songs keep you engaged, with standout tracks that include:
"In the flowers"
-starts off a bit slow but around halfway bursts into a nice jam
4/5
"My girls"
-with it's thumping bassline, beautiful chorus, and mesmerizing close, (whooooooh!, i don't mean/to seem like i care about, material things/like a social stance/i just want, 4 walls and adobe slats/for my girls)
5/5
"Daily Routine"
-retains the eccentric nature of the band in an organized manner. Consider it organized confusion.
4.5/5
"Guys Eyes"
-wow, just when you think they've meandered out into old territory, (which they do, but only for a minute), they come back to earth around 2:33, what a contrast in sound. Reminds me of some beatles and brian wilson.4.5/5
"Taste"
-My personal favorite. the droning bassline and hypnotic drumbeat really suck you into their world ("Am i really all the things that are outside of me?")
5/5
"No More Runnin" - beautiful atmospheric vibe, containing some grizzly bear like pianos 5/5
"Brothersport" - a bright, childlike innocent sounding ditty, with "ooh's" reminiscent of the "no's" on pink floyds "dogs" 4.5/5
after a second listen while writing this, it's already starting to grow on me .. a lot. though i would have to say i think it's missing something. the eccentricity is there, its just not out in full force, which is one of the qualities about the band that i really liked in the past. i guess what i'm trying to say is that i miss songs like "Panic" and "Native Belle" that evoked a certain type of feeling and isolation.
Decent Tracks:
"Frightened", "Summertime Clothes", "Bluish", "Lion in a Coma"
Free Music Review: Fantastic (...and disappointing)
Hit: 4 Stars
On its own, Merriweather Post Pavilion is a top-notch collection of hazy yet rousing pop chants. There are many highlights--including Brothersport, My Girls, Bluish, Summertime Clothes and No More Runnin'-- and only one real weak spot (the awkward Lion in a Coma). Additionally, the warm, bass-heavy production is a welcome contrast to the poorly-mixed Strawberry Jam LP. Overall, this a perfectly enjoyable listening experience, and likely to be one of the better releases of 2009.
...And yet, as someone who's been in love with this band for quite some time, and has cherished their every album and EP from 2001 on, this release serves as solid proof that our once-radical urban shamans have grown a bit too comfortable with their lives, and with themselves as a musical unit to make truly forward-thinking music anymore. The sound of Sung Tongs has little precedent, with about five other acts (Holy Modal Rounders, Mercury Rev, etc) used to illustrate its "spirit" more than its actual music. Merriweather, on the other hand, can be compared not only to past pop luminaries like Brian Wilson and Paul Simon, and not only to countless indie acts who borrow from such giants, but also to the group's own past work (the album sounds like Panda Bear's Person Pitch with bass and a beat), showing that they're looking backward instead of surging ahead of the rest of the music world.
The pop structure and mixing of Strawberry Jam was the first indicator to me that AC wants to streamline their sound. To be fair though, SJ has a lot more variety of vocals and moods than this one. Merriweather's really pleasant and fun, but it's all very homogenous, with only one real breather from its relentless sugar high.
I'd actually say that Strawberry Jam and MWPP are about equal. They both have frustrating flaws, and they both have a lot to enjoy. Perhaps the only thing that makes this one worse is that it seems like a pattern is emerging with AC in general, and points to future work that is just plain dull.
Here's hoping I'm wrong!