Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

this thing is going for a mint on ebay, I listened to a flac and don't see what the big deal is, nothing like Merriweather Post Pavillion, it's just noise stuff anyone could do. I just recently got into these guys but haven't heard much of their early stuff, hope it's not like that live album.

 

Yeah, it was expensive and very very limited new ($100, though it is a gorgeous set at least), but I can't fathom paying the kind of money that thing is going for.

The early stuff is DEFINITELY not like MPP. I still like much of it, but I think if you like MPP and that's your first exposure to the band, I wouldn't recommend going any farther back than, say, Sung Tongs lest you be REALLY confused and disappointed (and even that may be one album too far).

FTR, I still think their best album front to back is Feels.

 

As I listen to the new Ruby Suns lp Fight Softly for the second time I wondered if they had been mentioned much on here, so I searched and found that I had referenced them in this thread regarding similarities between their Sea Lion lp and side 4 of MPP.

Well, check out Fight Softly for even more resemblance to MPP. Treated vocals and synths abound but still with that sunshine on acid feel. A little bit of the Antlers and M83 sounds as well. A definite change up from the previous lp.

http://www.myspace.com/therubysuns

 

I was trying to refile the CD collection this weekend and found this album at the bottom of a pile of random CDs, and I put it on and really, really got it for the first time. Maybe it helped that I was drifting in and out of sleep as I listened to it, which is the closest I get to an altered state these days.

 

Perhaps someone here can help me, but I cannot, for the life of me, understand all of the hype that Animal Collective have gotten. I've listened to this album several times but I don't think it's amazing or revolutionary, it's just... bland and boring.

It's not that it's too 'experimental', it's just the opposite. The album is nothing but a few synth loops, some tribal drumming and Panda Bear trying to sing like Brian Wilson.

I guess I'm supposed to like it because Pitchfork says so.

I'd say that this article sums up my thoughts pretty well.

 

If you find Animal Collective bland and boring, I'd hate to hear your thoughts on Perry Como.

I'm not even familiar with their past work, except for Panda's PERSON PITCH, but I like MPP because there's just so much melodicism juxtaposed with the electronics. I find it a fascinating listen still. Maybe I'm just more easily pleased than others.

 

I don't think they're doing anything revolutionary - Merriweather Post Pavillion is the answer to the musical question, "What if Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins had produced Smiley Smile?", but I can think of far worse musical questions to ask.

 

I'm not hard to please... I like just about everything.

I just hate how overly hyped the album and band have been. Is Merriweather Post Pavilion a "milestone for modern music" (as one friend put it)? Absolutely not.

 

I think they're innovative. Not to the point of being life-changing, though. The hype means nothing to me. I've learned to try and ignore things like that. If I didn't enjoy the album, all the hype in the world wouldn't make a difference.

 

That's a funny and all to true review. (The reviews and hype are over the top, imo.) Although, he seems to be more upset about their fans and the music press than he is about the album. I am in no way a huge fan of the album but it's not as bad as No Age or Grizzly Bear, either.

He states "Understanding them requires a non-musical approach, an emphasis on craft over the end product, with repeat listens a concrete requirement. You put in your homework and you get something out of it. No homework, no benefit."

Unlike the reviewer/blogger I like music that takes a while for me to wrap my head around. Not all the time, I like a good 3 minute, or even better a shorter, pop song or rocker, also.

 

Congratulations, you've just summarized my feelings about Radiohead in general, and Kid A in particular. But I'll give Radiohead credit for keeping on going, and, in In Rainbows, making an album that comes close to justifying all of the hype. In my opinion, Animal Collective/Panda Bear have made two worthy records in Merriweather Post Pavillion and Person Pitch. Are they the "future of music," as Pitchfork would have us believe? If you've already got Smiley Smile, Bitches Brew, Treasure, and Loveless in your record collection, probably not. But kids today have just as much right as we did to feel that their favorite band is pushing new sonic boundaries, blah, blah, blah, as we did when we were kids.

Grizzly Bear are the indie darlings of the day whom I just do not get. In fact, I would level at Grizzly Bear all of the criticisms that Angry Blogger Dude leveled at Animal Collective.

 

I like what Radiohead did up to Kid A. Everything since has been 'meh'.

The problem is that I am one of those kids of today!

I'll agree about Grizzly Bear and Vampire Weekend as well. No Age are alright, but still too hyped by the Pitchfork Hive Mind.

 

I didn't read the article, only what you posted here but I enjoy music that requires me to do my homework, listen several times to 'get it', etc. I also enjoy music that is instantly accessible and easy to digest.

I've loved Animal Collective for the last six years or so. 'The Purple Bottle' from Feels is still probably one of my favorite tracks of all time. The emotion/desperation/intensity it conveys still gives me chills and moves me every time. Even so, I thought the hype/gushing reviews of praise across the board for MPP was embarrassing. Though if the indie press needs a darling I guess I'd rather it be them then say Times New Viking or No Age, but that's just my opinion.

 

I didn't read any hype (not until people started complaining about the hype), so I can't help you there. It's an enjoyable record. If you don't like it, you don't like it.

 

What hype? Hardly anybody has heard of Animal Collective (certainly here in the UK) and they are not what you'd call a mainstream household name band anywhere. Personally I love them, but if you don't then no problem. Each to their own. I couldn't give a fig for hype , I just use my ears and like to be challenged musically (their "Tung Songs" album for example). Repeated plays will reveal the magic of "Merriweather" but OIMHO

 

Maybe they're overhyped, maybe not... who cares about hype, really?
There's a lot of truth in that article though. Indeed, it seems some critics are trying to sell Animal Collective as mega-accessible-universal pop when really they're more of an avant-garde band sortof.
However, I'll say the same thing I said to anybody who didn't like, or 'get', MMP: play the last song first. It's the hidden gem on the album.

 

I just recently discovered Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear a couple years ago and that was because I purchased Panda Bears " Person Pitch" which was by far one of my favorite recordings of the last decade. I thought AC,GB,and PB helped bring back a sense of both inventiveness and creativity that's been sorely missing in rock music. Hype or not, I'm drinking the Kool Aid

 

Right. I never even knew about AC until my local shop started playing cuts from MPP. It hooked me right away. But I was going to say kind of what you said... hype is irrelevant in determining what you like. Pet Sounds is one of my favorite albums but in the past 20 years it has been over-hyped IMO.

Also agree with whoever said that AC should not be credited with anything super innovative. They've definitely combined some interesting sounds and apparently have diverse tastes in music - I like thier Residents references, something you don't see a lot in bands these days.

 

I like AC enough to have sent two messages to their label (Domino Records) concerning my opinion that their heavily layered music would sound great in surround form. I was partly motivated to do this because of the fact several of their newest videos, on the Domino site and Youtube, are available in 720P hi-def form, so maybe they might interested in multichannel music too!

 

Count me in the group of people for who this band hasn't clicked yet. I've certainly tried (I own the last 3 albums and the Water Curses EP). There's something about their song structures that I can't quite put my finger on that makes their music somewhat impenetrable for me. That said, I will continue to listen to them and see if it ever does get me emotionally invested as it obviously has some here. If it never does, oh well, more power to those it does.

I have quite enjoyed the song What Would I Want? Sky off of the new EP that I don't have so maybe that's the one to get the ball rolling.

 

Currently listening to this album in full for the first time. Don't know how I feel overall but "Bluish" is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in years.

 

I just had to post this...