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Album Reviews
Album Review: Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 12 January 2009
Animal Collective consistently display an openness to influences that ensures each new album is both interesting and innovative, despite this being their ninth. Lately the band have been broadcasting their acolyte status in respect to ambient techno, and this has helped add a new dimension to their ever shifting amalgam of sound. That said, you can still recognise the slow reverb-heavy ebb of seventh album ‘Feels’ or (my favourite) the haunted forest folk of ‘Here Comes The Indian’, even the psych-pop of ‘Spirit They Vanished’; and of course the immediate precursors to this album, EP ‘Water Curses’ and last album ‘Strawberry Jam’ (and possibly Panda Bear’s solo effort ‘Person Pitch’). I believe that in hindsight ‘Water Curses’ and ‘Strawberry Jam’ will be seen as the praxis that led to ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’. This album is much stronger, yet still of their ilk. It convulses into an effects laden euphoria with Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Geologist once again showing that they are unparalleled at the moment. I sometimes wonder if the world was more like the future we were promised in some 1980s movies (like ‘Blade Runner’ meets ‘Bill And Ted’) whether more music would be like this. Natural/unnatural sounds coming from heavily processed vocals and sequencers. Opening track ‘In The Flowers’ is an idiomatic ‘MPP’ track, baroque folk with ecstasy wonder climaxes. It’s followed by ‘My Girls’, that could hit dancefloors with its flickering synths and heavy beat. It’s stunning. Fuck. Each song is full of subtle changes especially noticeable at high volumes – it’s amazingly dense – but at heart listenable and radiant music. ‘Summertime Clothes’ does start like ‘Spirit In The Sky’ though, which is confusing, nevertheless it is an obvious single, as is ‘Bluish’ and ‘Lion In A Coma’. All vociferous music fans should be buoyed by this milestone album. It’s easily the best album I have ever reviewed. PG
