Tag Archives: animal collective

My iPod #478: Animal Collective – Guys Eyes

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A Panda Bear-penned track that had been around and heard in a much more mellow and calming form circa 2007 with the name “Song for Ariel“, “Guys Eyes” came to be the final result of the Animal Collective treatment the original track underwent and was placed as the seventh track on the group’s 2009 album Merriweather Post Pavilion.

The song sees Noah Lennox singing about his desire to please ‘[his] girl’. She isn’t there. And at the end of the song it is suggested that he has pleased himself instead of waiting for her.

In its new form the track possessed a bouncier 12/8 rhythm, weird pitch-shifted vocals that are buried in the mix, forceful stop-starting bass drums, flickering percussion and glorious counter-melodies. And those are only in the first few verses of the thing. About 1 1/2 minutes in, the song builds into this hypnotizing groove as Avey Tare and Panda Bear repeatedly sing the words ‘need her’. The walls close in all around as the tension continues to build as these two words are burrowed into your mind, until you’re snapped back into reality once returning to the melodies established in the opening verses for the closing moments.

My iPod #472: Animal Collective – Graze

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The Fall Be Kind EP was released in November 2009, months after the release of their critically acclaimed Merriweather Post Pavilion – an album which was virtually appreciated by everybody and seen as one of the best of the year. Fall Be Kind carried on the sample-heavy aesthetic that was established on the preceding album, and it begins with the ethereal and unpredictable “Graze”.

The track opens with sudden bursts of various wind instruments and a swelling bass that fades in and out amongst Avey Tare’s reverb-coated vocal, as he sings about, what sounds like, the processes inside our heads and what the environment seems to feel like as we wake up in the morning for the start of a new day. It is not soon after that a cello can be heard melodically weaving its way amidst the beautiful atmospheric sounds. Panda Bear then comes in to contribute a more sombre and philosophical tone with a verse concerning his thoughts about fame and being in a band as minor-key arpeggiated piano chords slowly come into the mix.

Afterwards, Avey comes back repeating the song’s first lyric “Let me begin”, the wind instruments fade out to give way to some upbeat rim-shots which signify a change in the song’s music. And what happens? Happy-go-lucky pan-flutes that sound like background music to a weird cartoony school for elves and dwarves take over. All you can do is laugh. Not because it sounds silly, though it may do on the first listen, but because it shouldn’t work in context with the rest of the song. But it just does. Amazingly. With booming drums and abrasive synthesizers Avey and Panda sing as one during the coda to bring the stellar opener to an awakening finish.

A great opener to the EP, the tracks sets the tone for the remaining twenty minutes though on its own it still leaves you wanting more. It’s quite hard not to expect “What Would I Want? Sky” to come in straight after that transition. That song is for another day.

My iPod #263: Animal Collective – Derek

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A very early post today. I will soon be off to visit my friend at his uni for his birthday so in order to prevent myself from having to do three entries when I come back on Sunday, here is “Derek” – the last track from Animal Collective’s 2007 album “Strawberry Jam“.

I recently listened to “Strawberry Jam”, about a week ago or so. The only other album I had listened to in full was, what is probably considered to be their best, “Merriweather Post Pavilion”. That album sounded like it was recorded in another universe, and considering ‘Best Ever Albums’ had “Jam” rated as their second best I thought I might as well give it a listen. First to see how it sounded, and to figure out whether it was as good.

I can conclude that I do like “Strawberry Jam”. I’ll have to listen to it again because it normally takes me more than one to really get into any album. But “Peacebone” and “Derek” were ones that left a mark.

“Derek” did because of its time signature changes and innocent melody further accentuated with Panda Bear’s lyric where he ‘talks’ to his child about Derek, the old dog he used to own. He realises that he didn’t take care of him that well, and is not prepared to make the same mistake again now that he was a parent. He is ready to take on this great responsibility. A sudden clap begins the triumphant ending where Panda lets his child know that he/she can always count on him when the time comes along with a rampant stomping beat a bit similar to “We Will Rock You”.

A very heartwarming way to finish an album.