My loyal following,
Yes, all 12 of you.
I haven't updated in like 3 weeks because I've been super busy, and had some family issues to tend to, but fear not! I'm back and I've got a bad ass band to fill you in on:
Let's start off with Animal Collective. Their newest single, "My Girls" has been getting some serious airtime on SiriusXMU and you can actually see the video here which also happens to be the band's official site... With nothing on it other than the video... Very like the guys of Animal Collective to have a website like that. They were the subject of the feature article from the Spring 2009 edition of Filter Magazine, in which the band was described as a very laid back, it's all about the music kind of band. After reading the article the audience got a sense that the band is very shy, almost reclusive in how the approach the mass media.
photo courtesy of Animalcollective.org
These guys are just four (not necessarily all four at the same time on any given song) friends who love their work. They work to perfect their albums, and would never slap something together quickly to please their record label. The thing that struck me the most while reading about them was that they didn't have too hard of a time expressing their personalities to the journalist from Filter, but once they were instructed to get in front of the camera for their photo shoot, they froze up and had a hard time knowing how to act in front of a camera. I think the perfect way to describe the guys of Animal Collective comes from the song, "My Girls," where they remind us that, "... I don't need to seem like I care about material things (like a social status). I just need four walls and adobe slats for My Girls..."
I hadn't heard about their music until they came out with a single from their 7th Album Strawberry Jam back in 2007,
Album Cover Art Courtesy Of no-alternative.net
entitled "Fireworks" which I really enjoyed, and then I promptly forgot to go back and buy more Animal Collective music, until about 3 months ago when I heard "My Girls" off their 2008 auditory masterpiece, Merriweather Post Pavilion,
Album Cover Art courtesy of Pitchfork.com
at which time, I thought to myself, "Wow. These guys are pretty freaking awesome."
Their music is definitely a true blend of all sorts of musical collaborations. Freak Folk, Noise Pop, Indie, Electronic, and Jam Band have been used to describe Animal Collective. If you asked any Animal Collective fan if they could label the band any one genre, they'd probably tell you they couldn't do them justice in just one genre. However, if I had to make up a genre for the band I think I would give it the title Electro-Folk. Their true-to-the-heart, intelligent, poetic lyrics remind me of something out of a The Weepies tune, while the backdrop sounds like something Friendly Fires would create after spending a Thoreau-esque weekend in the woods with just their synths. If you haven't heard Animal Collective yet, get ready for a simply phenomenal auditory experience.
Animal Collective is perfect for fans of: Radiohead, Royksopp, The Album Leaf, etc.
