Well a few weeks new. This set has the familiar sounds with emphasis on melody, making it easy on the ears, especially after a listen or two. Dreamy/detached/abstract. Written before, after, and during Merriweather Post Pavilion. The usual chant of Portner and Lennox (Panda Bear), along with industrial synth, percussion, repetition, and Grateful Dead sampling and flutes in the mesh of it all. The chance based oblique of Animal Collective. Give a listen, take a sip.

Graze – Animal Collective

Bleed – Animal Collective

On A Highway – Animal Collective

Another wonderful product of Columbia, South Carolina.

Introducing: Phillip Oskar Augustine

Phillip Oskar Augustine or Tyler Wallace (real name) creates a nice combination of dreamy, surf, pop and folk. Each track swims into a different aural link for me.

His track Internal Combustion of his concept album Unknown Patterns carries a heavy presence of the Panda Bear style where as Arrival at the Purple Stone carries the classical stylings of a Grizzly Bear track. Anyway, I hate over analysis of new bands to current bands so I will stop.

Here is one of my personal favourites and one he has made a free download on his blog:

Phillip Oskar Augustine – Internal Combustion

download

Guess who played the rhythm synth on this track….

……10 points! [washed out]

An obligatory Animal Collective selection given the fact that somebody spilled whiteout all over Harrisonburg this morning. This is one of AC’s more organic sounding songs; it’s pretty nifty what you can do with acoustic guitar, a few drums, and 4-part harmony via tribal moaning. Eskimo seduction music.

-jakeyp

“Butterflies and rainbows, unicorns and grapes, odd sounds, and your beautiful face”

All these things influence Phil Jones aka Dog Bite to make the wonderfully and slightly eerie sampled/looped surf pop songs.

Currently and artist with RackandRuinRecords It would almost be too easy to compare him to Panda Bear because the structure of his tracks songs run in a sort of parallel; alternating vocal melodies over 2-bar loops but the vibe is very different. His wavering haunting vocal lines remind me more of Wavves.

If Panda Bear produced Wavves it may sound similar to Dog Bite. But then to throw it all on it’s head take a listen to his track “the owls”, it sounds nothing like anything of my above mentioned blabberings.

Dog Bite – Indian Houses

download

Dog Bite – Brand New

download

Here is a link to his back-catalogue

Brand New is a great track and I hope he continues with that style.

First NME, now eMusic. The Strokes are really getting the vote for the Album of the Decade. eMusic gave “Is This It” number one out of 100. I can see haters everywhere, cringing. This is turning into a trend.

The eMusic top ten is:

1. Is This It by The Strokes

2. Separation Sunday by The Hold Steady

3. The Sunset Tree by The Mountain Goats

4. Arular by M.I.A. (XL)

5. Untrue by Burial

6. Supreme Clientele by Ghostface Killah

7. Person Pitch by Panda Bear

8. Girls Can Tell by Spoon

9. Turn On The Bright Lights by Interpol

10. Funeral by Arcade Fire

A smart inclusion here is Spoon.

To view the rest of the heralded albums, go to www.emusic.com

Atlas Sound's Logos is No. 19 on 20 Watts' Best of 2009 list

PREVIEW: VISIT Atlas Sound’s MySpace

TOP TRACK: “Walkabout”

Atlas Sound’s Logos is a brilliant album, made even more satisfying by the fact that we almost didn’t get to hear it upon completion.

After the unfinished album was unintentionally leaked onto the Internet last August, Bradford Cox threatened to throw out the whole thing. Thank the music gods he didn’t. Logos was released in October of this year.

Logos truly has something for everyone. With cheerful 60s tune “Walkabout” featuring Noah Lennox, a.k.a Panda Bear from Animal Collective, the romantically upbeat yet almost depressing “Shelia” and the serene, doo-wop sounding “My Halo” the album provides for a variety in a musically cohesive way.

The album starts slow with the soothing “The Light That Failed” filled with calming guitar and bells. The intensity slowly builds until “Walkabout” then falls again until “Shelia,” ending on a high note with “Logos.” The title track is a celebratory and percussion-heavy ending to a magnificent album.

With a more confident, yet less experimental sound than Cox’s previous album Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel, it is clear that Cox’s songwriting talents continue to change and progress as Cox perfects his art.

–Kelsey Bennett

Tyondai Braxton: What's better, his name or his hair?

2007 was the first year that I didn’t waste a moment and started growing my Top 10 Albums list on an RFT file on my Desktop on the morning of January 1st (Okay, fine… in the spirit of full disclosure, I actually started it on the evening of January 4th and it began as a .Doc file until I realized that Microsoft Word sucks and RTF files via TextEdit are more universal and more fun, but point taken).

By the end of the year, I had listened to more albums than the first 7 years of the decade combined and was pleased as punch to narrow down the results. Here’s what I came up with at the time:

1. Battles – Mirrored
2. Radiohead – In Rainbows
3. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
4. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
5. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
6. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
7. The National – Boxer
8. M.I.A – Kala
9. Okkervil River – The Stage Names
10. Shout Out Louds – Our Ill Wills

Recently blogged on UWT a remix of The Notwist track Boneless by Panda Bear.
Now Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear remixed Boneless as a b-side for the upcoming Notwist single “Come In”.

The Notwist – Boneless (Grizzly Bear Remix)

]]> http://hotbiscuits.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/boneless/ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:41:35 +0000 miraclegro http://hotbiscuits.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/boneless/

I don’t think I’ve even heard a remix by Grizzly Bear before, but their take on “Boneless” basically sounds the way I’d expect and hope for it to sound. I have to say I’m partial to Panda Bear when it comes to “Boneless” remixes, but this one is definitely worth checking out.

The Notwist – Boneless (Grizzly Bear Remix)
The Notwist – Boneless (Panda Bear Remix)

miracleGro

Finally, the wait is almost over.

After a monster tour with Animal Collective it has become apparent that Noah Lennox is ready to release a rapid fire of songs on his next Panda Bear record.
It seems, as it always is with the members of Animal Collective, it is time for change. He has decided to ditch the samplers and long interwoven tracks sprawling several meditative beautiful minutes and, according to Noah, “do like 45s , with singles of two songs like an a-side and a b-side which are both pretty short.”
From the sounds of things it will be a very different structure with an entirely new instrumentation line-up and structural working.

Below is a cover by Panda Bear of The Notwist song Boneless.
I hope his new record sounds like this!

Panda Bear – Boneless(NoTwist)

]]> http://huy3.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/black-fridaysaturday/ Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:21:05 +0000 Huy Tran http://huy3.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/black-fridaysaturday/

I had a great Black Friday today. I usually get up at an unholy hour to go shopping at the Camarillo Premium Outlets with my parents, but due to the recessive economy our tradition has been curbed. Instead, I slept in until 11 and spent the day in Long Beach with my friends Tricia and Jessica.

Update (11/28 11:55 AM):

I had to cut that entry short because I went out. It’s Saturday night now and I’m lying in bed. Today was a good day:

• Woke up at 11
• Cleaned my room
• Did the laundry
• 
  Bought Panda Bear’s Person Pitch used for seven bones at Fingerprints!
• Went to my uncle’s house for a belated Thanksgiving party
• Played ping pong
• Watched Stanford beat Notre Dame
• Watched Lakers beat GSW

R: Ya se nos notó en nuestro último discos4girls que andamos algo obsesionados con Bear in Heaven, así que estaba cantado que nuestra última  radiofónica en el No són hores de esta semana (en Onda Cero) tiraría hacia ellos como la cabra tira pal monte. Pues eso: nos sacamos de la manga un mini-informe sobre psicodelia pop que empieza con Animal Collective + Panda Bear, sigue con Grizzly Bear y acaba con Bear in Heaven (y ahora que los escribo todos seguidos me pregunto… ¿qué tiene esta gente con los osos?). Sea como sea, y como siempre, tenemos nuestras noticias habituales (seguimos con las obsesiones music4girls: Primavera Sound, Bis, Robert Pattinson…) y una agenda que descorcha el 9 Aniversario de la sala Razzmatazz (con Naive New Beaters a la cabeza) y sigue con un concierto que promete ser un rompe corazones en toda regla: The Antlers.

Details have emerged of Pantha Du Prince’s latest album, Black Noise, which shsll be released through Rough Trade on February 8th 2010. This announcement comes as a bit of a shock, as Pantha Du Prince’s Hendrik Weber is known for making Techno and House records which don’t sit comfortably with the rest of Rough Trade’s roster. Despite a handful of tracks that include vocals, however, apparently there is no drastic change in sound.

One high profile vocalist that will appear on the record is Animal Collective’s Panda Bear, who has long been a fan of Pantha Du Prince who remixed AC track Peacebone back in 2007. Another collaboration sees Tyler Pope of LCD Soundsystem and !!! playing bass on the track, The Splendour. It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out, as Weber’s last record, This Bliss, was one of my favorites of the last few years. Check out the Pantha Du Prince remix of Animal Collective’s Peacebone (below) and watch this space for more details on Black Noise.

Animal Collective – Peacebone (Pantha du Prince Remix)

The wildlife guard many secrets, secrets that would astound anyone that happens  to spy on their most intimate secrets, and camels are willing to die as long as theirs does not come to light.
At the dawn of life, both  Dromedary and Bactrian camel wore on their back a single hump, and fiercely guarded, because  in the driest of deserts,  the hump ensures they could survive long without food or water.
One day, Nature gathered all the camels at a point in the cold steppes of Asia and said:
“I need to urgently update the Evolution Plans for Wild  Fauna and this requires stakeholders to participate in an experiment: you must  traverse the drylands of the world and see in what place can best adapt”.
The dromedary  could not stand the cold so he  had planned to settle in the North African coast that summer, the idea of becoming a subject of study was not very funny, but nobody tells  not to Nature, so he accepted. The lama and the alpaca, not without reason had become known for being clueless, and they were too busy chewing their food, so do not put attention to the Nature’s words. The Bactrian camel, always so responsible, squared his feet loudly before replying:
- Will be an honor and pleasure to serve your ladyship!
Nature was all fluffed. What a gentleman could be the Bactrian camel! She gave the  camelids  the roadmap wishing them good luck and left.
Just she had disappeared, the dromedary  screamed as high as  the sky:
- Traverse the deserts, such a nonsense. Of course, it happens when usual bootlicking say  she’s right  in everything!
The lama and the alpaca, which had other concerns, did not understand the dromedary’s anger, so they continued their lunch. The Bactrian camel, sad and offended,  not speak to him.
Reluctantly, the dromedary took the path followed closely by the Bactrian camel. The lama and the alpaca, which had not finished eating, swallowed the last hurried bites and ran after them when they realized they were running alone and had forgotten the way home.
They walked, walked and walked, crossing the deserts of the world. One day, they met a Desert Rat who, with their young, were dying of thirst.
- Help us, please, we die of hunger and thirst!
The dromedary, still angry, turned a deaf ear. The Lama and the Alpaca came far behind and did not hear anything, the Bactrian camel, tired and thirsty, he stopped and said:
“Climb on my back and I will take you to the nearest well”.
The Rat and their pups  mounted on its back. When they reached the spring water they  drank till their bellies were round, and when the others  would leave, decided to live there. The Rat gave them  very grateful goodbye and when away from the dunes, the Bactrian camel could see his figure and his mice still waving his front paws.
Camelids continued their journey and somewhere in the Andean highlands, lost sight of the Alpaca and the lama, who refused to step over because they were so tired. Although they were ignorant, they had crossed over half the world and came closer to their homelands. The dromedary was starting to feel familiar smells and was anxious to leave the hard mission. The Bactrian Camel, however, knew he must return home, between the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya, as he had promised to Nature.
Walking through the deserts of North Africa, the dromedary felt in the distance the sea salt scent, and losing his mind, started to jog and then run to the coast. The Bactrian camel shook his head sadly before resuming the route. Now he had been left completely alone.
But then, the Nature appeared suddenly, stopping the run of the dromedary.
- Where are you going in such haste without finishing your homework? – the Nature snapped.
The dromedary lowered his head in shame and remained unanswered for so long that  the Bactrian camel arrived by their side.
“How is your ladyship, what a pleasure to see you,” he greeted.
I don’t need to tell that Nature was fancy and happy. She  had almost forgotten his anger, until she remembered the issue that brought her out there:
“The lama and the alpaca have found their destination in the Andes and apparently, you also envision your own, she said, but not all of you have met the same way, so, you dromedary, you will be living in the Arabian desert with difficulty and join your energies on the hump. You instead-she was addressing the Bactrian camel now-, receive greetings from the Desert Rat, she and  her  pups are very thankful to you.  You  can return to Bactria, from now on you’ll have   double reserve of energies.
So saying, she disappeared. After a while the Camel looked up and discovered with astonishment that the Bactrian camel, instead of one, now had two humps. Dying of envy, he resumed his way to the oasis of the coast and when asked why, unlike his cousin, has a single hump, gritting his teeth, lowered his head and stay in  silent embarrassment.

Animal Collective consistently do more interesting and important things than arguably anyone in music today. Each of their releases has stood starkly on their own, yet when they are their entire catalog is considered, each album is undoubtedly an Animal Collective release. The once four, and now three current members of Animal Collective have reached a kind of sonic and aesthetic equilibrium that most bands only dream of and never obtain.

Fall Be Kind EP (out digitally now and physically December 8th on Domino) is the band’s first release of new material since January’s brilliant, Merriweather Post Pavilion. Fall… approaches the half-hour mark with a total of five tracks, some new, some leftover from Merriweather, and some constructed even before Merriweather. Regardless of when they were written, they all feel as though they were constructed in the same time frame by a band who was in their groove.

The album’s first track, Graze, is a great tune and an outstanding first song. The first word’s of the EP, half sung, half spoken by Avey Tare almost pleadingly, “let me begin, feels good cause it’s early, please open my eyes, let light in.” Over a light, airy melody of pianos and strings, the song meanders, as if to mimic a gradual awakening. When the song slows down around the three minute mark, rapid cymbal taps emerge seemingly out of nowhere, followed by a series of stomps and then, and unbelievably sincere pan-flute solo. It was a moment where I had to click back to my itunes to make sure something had not somehow become bungled. Sure enough, after a few seconds, a joyous and distorted drum loop kicked in, and Animal Collective began to chant, “Why do you have to go?”

The second track titled, What Would I Want? Sky, has become increasingly famous during the past year because it is the first song to ever use a licensed Grateful Dead sample (taken from the song, Unbroken Chain). Animal Collective manage to use the sample in such a way that it sounds completely natural. The song is almost seven minutes long and begins with a three minute segment filled with complex drum loops and sparse resonant vocal samples. As the Grateful Dead sample is first heard the song shift dramatically but it doesn’t feel forced. It seems to culminate in the only way it can. Avey Tare’s vocals swirl melodically around the repeated sample and simple drum loop while Panda Bear harmonizes and repeats in the background. It is definitely one of Animal Collective’s strongest tracks.

The third track, Bleeding, serves as a dark and ambient interlude that connects the first and second halves of the EP. The second half is darker and more mysterious. Track four finds Avey Tare introspectively musing about the pains of life on the road. Though this song carries a theme heard often in popular music,  Avey finds a way to discuss and filter his ideas so that they don’t feel contrived or cliche.

The final song is a Panda Bear track that sounds like it could have been taken straight from 2007’s loop heavy solo effort, Person Pitch. The track, titled, I Think I Can, is long and dark. The vocals filter through a background of syncopated percussion and synth loops as Panda Bear sincerely tries to work things out. Its a journey of a song you’ll find yourself taking over and over again in an attempt to fully understand it.

Fall Be Kind is a very strong release. It’s credibility is increased by the fact that it is the second strong musical effort from this band, this calender year. The musicianship is top notch as the band concocts an array of musical structures ranging from the maddeningly complex to the incredibly simple. Lyrically, Animal Collective prove once more that they may be the only people around who can write about adulthood. If you’ve ever enjoyed Animal Collective before there is something in this release for you, do yourself a favor and check it out as soon as you can.

4.5/5

Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox aka Panda Bear spoke to Pedestrian.tv about his third solo album, Animal Collective’s new movie, and living in Portugal.

Although Lennox did not reveal extensive details about the upcoming record, he described the sound and instrumentation as a departure from his critically-acclaimed second solo album Person Pitch:

The rhythms are really basic and kind of raw and simple and are electronic. It’s not live instrumentation, I’ve been playing guitar but I feed it through the same thing that the sequences are on. It’s a very electronic sound and very voice heavy. A simple arrangement of drums, the guitar and singing. Really there are only two or three elements to every song. It’s pretty raw sounding for better for worse.

The record is currently set for a 2010 release. Check out the full interview here.

I take one Monday off from blogging, and in the last 48 hours we’ve had two new pieces of Animal Collective information hit the nets.

The first and most exciting order of business is an interview Panda Bear did with pedestrian.tv recently where he talks about his new solo effort. There is a little detail here and there about what he is planning, but nothing concrete. All the interview really gets across is that it will be different from 2007’s Person Pitch. This is kind of disappointing because Person Pitch was so good but at the same time that is what makes Panda Bear and Animal Collective so good, they refuse to repeat. Whatever Panda Bear is planning, it sounds amazing. There is  no speculated release date as of yet and the album is still in production as of now. Here is an excerpt that focus’ on the new album:

“PED TV - What do you see as the main difference between what you’re writing now and Person Pitch?

PB: The tone is a lot darker and it sounds sort of dramatic or romantic to me. But I’m in still in the thick of the thing so it’s really tough to be objective at this point. So I have no idea, but hopefully people like it. I hope its good.

PED TV: How’s that sounding? I know that you’ve mentioned being tired of the sample based stuff and the need to change your song writing process and sound by incorporating different instruments…

PB: Yeah, it’s going pretty good. It’s been a long process. I’ve thought about it for a long time while we were doing the Merriweather stuff, so I had a long gestation process in my mind but only really started cracking on it in September. It’s kind of scary doing something totally different, like I’ve been working in a sampler zone for five or six years now. It definitely feels like a new zone, its scary but also exciting as well.

PED TV: I guess it’s liberating because you’re forced to approach it differently, what sort of sounds and instruments are you exploring?

PB: The rhythms are really basic and kind of raw and simple and are electronic. It’s not live instrumentation, I’ve been playing guitar but I feed it through the same thing that the sequences are on. It’s a very electronic sound and very voice heavy. A simple arrangement of drums, the guitar and singing. Really there are only two or three elements to every song. It’s pretty raw sounding for better for worse.”

Panda Bear goes on to discuss the next Animal Collective record, and how living in Portugal is. All in all it’s a great interview and to read it in its entirety click here: Interview

*****

The second piece of info is that Pitchfork has given one of the tracks from Animal Collective’s upcoming ep, Fall Be Kind, a best new track nod and a 10 out of 10. The track graced with such a rating is, What Would I Want? Sky. This track is already quite famous because it is the first time a Grateful Dead sample has been legally used. The song is flat out amazing, and if you haven’t heard it do yourself a favor and point your browser to pitchfork to listen to the studio track, or click here: What Would I Want? Sky

If you dig the track, head to I Guess I’m Floating to download the version Animal Collective recorded in Janurary 2009 at the BBC. There is also an excellent version of Lion In A Coma, I’d recommend snagging both. To listen to/download these tracks, head here: I Guess I’m Floating

The San Miguel Primavera Sound Festival will come to Parc Del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain next May 27-29, and the lineup so far is quite impressive.

This Spanish festival collaborates closely with All Tomorrow’s Parties who curates one of the four big stages. ATP takes place one week earlier and attracts approximately 60,000 visitors. In addition, smaller daytime performances take place for free in parks across Barcelona. 

As previously reported, Pavement and Pixies will be headlining the 10th anniversary of San Miguel Primavera Sound Festival. And now, a whole slew of bands have just been added to the bill. According to the festival’s website, fans can look forward to catching:

-THE ANTLERS
-BIS
-THE BLOODY BEETROOTS
-CAMARÓN, LA LEYENDA DEL TIEMPO, 30 AÑOS DESPUÉS (with Duquende and Chicuelo, among others)
-DELOREAN
-DUM DUM GIRLS
-THE FALL
-GANGLIANS
-HERE WE GO MAGIC
-HOPE SANDOVAL & THE WARM INVENTIONS
-JOKER featuring NOMAD
-THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
-PANDA BEAR
-WILCO
-WILD BEASTS
-THE XX

Wilco, The XX, and Panda Bear – OH MY! And to think this is only the start of the festival’s all-star indie lineup.

R: Todavía no hemos disfrutado el Primavera Club y ya tenemos aquí la primera gran tanda de confirmaciones para el Primavera Sound 2010 (que se celebrará del 27 al 29 de mayo del año que viene). Por respeto al hecho de que nuestros lectores puede que no sean tan frikis como nosotros, hemos puesto de foto de este post a la que, sin duda, es la confirmación bombazo: Panda Bear. Está claro que Merryweather Post Pavilion estará en las listas de discos de lo mejor de este año, pero el hecho de que el debut de Panda Bear fuera de nuestros preferidos el año pasado y que, por desgracia, todavía no hayamos podido catarlo en directo justifica plenamente la expectación. Ahora, si nos preguntáis sinceramente a quién nos gustaría poner en la foto de aquí al lado nos veremos obligados a responder que a… ¡Bis! Sí señor. Y es que los escoceses autores del mítico Eurodisco se van a reunir para que podamos bailotear semejante temón bajo las estrellas primaverales. Una vez pagado el peaje friki, sigamos con el resto de confirmaciones (a las que no les falta chicha): a los ya anunciados Pavement y Pixies hay que sumar nombres como Wilco (que a nosotros nos interesan bien poco, pero que son un vende entradas seguro y es inteligente tenerlos en cualquier cartel), La Leyenda del Tiempo (homenaje al disco de Camarón), The xx (que, si siguen afinando el formato de trío, pueden protagonizar uno de los momentos del festival), The Fall (Mark E. Smith vale la compra de cualquier entrada), The New Pornographers (que siempre le animan a uno la noche), Hope Sandoval (con nuevo disco bajo el brazo que tendremos que sopesar antes de saber por dónde pueden ir los tiros de su actuación), Wild Beasts (si todavía no te has rendido a su magnífico Two dancers, su actuación será la oportunidad definitiva), The Antlers (emo-prog que en unas semanitas aconsejamos degustar en su gira por salas pequeñas), Joker (¡dubstep!), Delorean, Dum Dum, The Bloody Beetroots, Here we go magic y Ganglians. Pero vamos, que si incluso después de leer tres veces esta lista sigues (como nosotros) en shock por lo de Bis, te aconsejamos que le des al play del video que sigue a este texto y vayas preparando el grito de guerra para el Primavera Sound 2010: ¡Euroooooodiiiiscooooooo!

Hay… más madera

Sin apenas tener tiempo para digerir las confirmaciones de Pavement y Pixies, hoy ha salido la tercera tanda de grupos que tocarán en el décimo-paradiso-aniversario del Primavera Sound.

Y ante el miedo a que sólo cayeran nombres de relleno; grupazos: Wilco y los influyentes The Fall (sextos y 15º en la famosa encuesta) encabezan otra enorme tanda de confirmaciones en la que también destacamos los siguientes:

The xx el único hype justificado con calidad,  Delorean que están rebentando las pistas de medio mundo y que por fin se les recompensa, la re-confirmación de Panda Bear (¿vendrá acompañado del resto de Animales?), The New Pornographers que vienen a dar el concierto de Powerpop del año o  la electrónica chicharrera-garrafonera de Bloody Beetrots.

Y, obviamente, una larga lista de nombres desconocidos por la mayoría, pero que tras las primeras escuchas dejan ver cosas muy interesantes:

La leyenda del tiempo 30 años después (un espectáculo sobre el emblemático disco de Camarón de aquí te espero), Dum Dum Girls-a lo Vivian Girls-, The Crystal Antlers, la reunión de Bis-Eurodiscodisco-, Joker, Wild Beasts, Hope Sandoval y Here We Go Magic (estos últimos, junto con los Antlers, los que mejor pintan de momento).

En fín, que estamos a Noviembre, ya tengo el abono guardado bajo llave y no hago más que dar botes de alegría y contar los días para que llegue Mayo. Un Otro 10 para Gabi Ruiz y compañía.

Por FMassip

It is time. After much delay, mainly to dwell on the enormity of the material — I’m serious — I am reviewing Tonstartssbandht’s Dick Nights, and their ain’t nothin’ my procrastinatin’-ass subconscious can do about it (T-startss-bndt approved the album for download HERE, so check it out, PLEASE GOD).

Tonstartssbandht are already responsible for one of my absolute favorites of 2009, An When, so to say I approached Dick Nights with less than fully erect expectations would be a gross understatement. Now that I’ve heard it a few times, I can say with confidence their latest is at LEAST as good as their last turn, if not better.

If I were to put my finger square on the pulse of Dick Nights, it would land on — and caress lovingly — “Tahiti Nui.” It’s not only the song I’ve been trying to write for the last year (me and a lot of other people, me thinks), but the nexus of the efforts of several indie bands over the past 5-10 years (stay with me here).

“Tahiti Nui” brings to mind:

• My beloved “Winters Love,” in all its splendor (Animal Collective, I presume?);
• “Tane Mahuta” by Ruby Suns; 
• Geggy Tah, period;
• a Hawaiian vacation I’ve yet to take;
• several snippets from Our Brother The Native;
• fuckin’;
• more fuckin’ …

Whether it’s ukulele or a mandolin leading the charge is neither here nor there; if “Tahiti Nui” (it’s the name of an airline, and Tahiti Nui Mahalo means “Tahiti the great,” if you were wondering) doesn’t hit up some big-time sites in the coming weeks you truly know P4k has failed you once and for all.

Delivering a deep, resplendent, feeling cut like “Tahiti Nui” is one thing; to follow it up with a sunny orange slice of vocal bliss like “Konig” is just, well, crazy-wack-funky. And that’s GOOD. These melodies are so chewy and tasty I wanna dump them in my mouth like a whole fuggin’ BAG of Haribos and suck out the juice.

And look — here I’m all hott ‘n’ sweaty and I haven’t even gotten halfway down the shaft. Dick Nights is full of the Beach Boys-inspired, vocals-first, tropical music so many write about but so few actually nail (Ganglians, maybe Wondermints; that’s IT), and there’s so much more to it than that …

“Subtropic Gleme Rock” segues into white pillow-clouds of echo-raped vocals and tears of static … “High Roller” rocks the high frets on its bass like a goddamn hurricane while a chant circulates like fake $20 bills … “Seriously” blends Panda Bear purr and Aa plug-’n'-chug for about 2 minutes too long (the one song that overstays its welcome) … “Yo J.J.Hess” is a Wilson-brothers drone that once again conjures perfectly the new beach-bum sound … 

“Mimi Vari” adds more multi-tracked vocals and closes things out with style. AWWW HELL, I went and reviewed the whole album! Listen to it for yourself; I push a lot of mind- (not to mention pig-) fucking music on this site but Dick Nights is for the People.

If it weren’t for their band name these guys would probably be huge already. Shit who am I kidding? The mainstream isn’t ready …

I know I’ve been really laying Animal Collective thick as of late; but bare with me. Their Fall Be Kind EP just leaked and I am break-dancing in my goddamn Laz-E-Boy at some of the new tracks they’ve dropped . Seriously. Fucking Merriweather Post Pavilion already wrapped up album of year within the first few weeks of January and now Animal Collective is closing out the year with a cute little reminder of how hard they just choose to get down. Gotta appreciate that kind of fan service.

This song is a fucking sunset-down, bottles-up slow jam. For the first couple mintutes, your not quite sure what the fuck Animal Collective wants of you. Should I be brooding under the weight under my own self doubt? Don’t worry about it humble listener! After a few mintutes of drum breaks, Panda Bear decides to cut the bullshit when he drops a sample of his own damn vocals repeating “what would I want? sky”. What the fuck does that even mean you ask? If you have to ask, you aren’t slow-moshing intensly enough.

Seriously, I can’t even finish typing this description efficiently because I’m doing it with one hand; as I listen to this song, one hand inexplicably is in the sky raging out, horns up; I can’t even control this shit its become part of my damn muscle memory.

-jakeyp (buzzed)

Fall Be Kind EP

I slept in wayyyyyy too late today. But! What almost makes it worth it, is that Animal Collective have kicked a new track from their upcoming release, Fall Be Kind, our way. The track is called Graze, and you can hear it, by “watching” the video below.

Remember, Fall Be Kind EP is set to digitally drop November 23rd, that’s next Monday, so you don’t have to check your calenders. The physical release wont hit stores until December 8th. I must admit, I would love to review the album when it digitally drops, but I’m not sure. I might hold out until I can break the tunes in on vinyl…we’ll see.

Graze!

Did I mention I’m going to be reviewing the new Animal Collective EP, Fall Be Kind, for Tiny Mix Tapes? It’ll be my first AC review for any mag, any site … if you’ve known me over the years you know full-well how crazy this is, as A. Collective are likely my favorite band.

“Graze” is another triumph for Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin and Geologist. It opens a lot

Fingerpaints! Picture pages! Bill Cosby?

 like “In the Flowers,” what with a vocal solo backed by a string-drenched sound-collage haze, but there is no EXPLOSION to be found here.

Rather, “Graze” segues into an adorable mini-suite of pan flute straight from Medieval Times (the funspot, not the era in time), backed by click-clack drumming AC is famous for (esp. on Feels). Best of all, the melody sung over top is another classic, addictive Animal Collective melody that fits nicely alongside the catchy refrains of “Derek,” “Brother Sport” and “My Girls.”

Can Animal Collective do any wrong? This Investigator, in answer to this question, says No.