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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Nine albums into their career, and Animal Collective have finally struck gold. Not that they struggled to turn up riches before: on the contrary, their career has been pretty fruitful. But Merriweather Post Pavilion finds the group--here represented by three of their four members, Avey Tare, Panda Bear, and Geologist--ditching the gloopy guitars of Strawberry Jam, enlisting a new collaborator (Ben Allen, a US hip-hop engineer who worked on Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”, who supplies pleasingly thick crests of bass) and embracing a new, sunny dancefloor bounce that owes little to chemical abandon and everything to the warm rush of a natural high. A good share of songwriting duties are handled by Panda Bear, meaning portions of this record--including its two highlights, “Brother Sport” and “My Girls”--recall the Beach Boys-esque vocal harmonies and bubbling electronics of his remarkable 2007 solo album Person Pitch, albeit with a slightly more upbeat spring in its step. Other stand-out moments come with the bubbling, lovestruck “Summertime Clothes” and “In The Flowers”, drifting Pink Floyd whimsy that explodes into a romping, streamer-waving carnival mid-way through. But Merriweather is a treat throughout, essential to fanboys and newcomers alike. –– Louis Pattison
Review
Animal Collective's ninth album (no slackerdom for these Baltimore post-hippies!) has been so hotly anticipated that there's a danger of assessing their unclassifiable noise as nothing short of the second coming. Luckily the combination of Beach Boys harmonies, post-minimal dynamics and psychedelic free fall which has won them such a cult reputation breaks free here and takes full flight. Merriweather Post Pavilion is, you suspect, an album that you will return to for years to come.
It's an ecstatic sound that springs from going beyond conventional methodology. In the same way that, say, Brian Eno's Here Come The Warm Jets sounded like a rock album recorded by someone who had never heard rock (or even had an idea how what instruments to use) - Animal Collective deal in a love of sound for sound's sake. Beyond a basic grasp of the nuts and bolts of modern music they see no reason not to indulge in the kind of smorgasbord that still manages the neat trick of avoiding contrivance. Summertime Clothes begins with fuzz guitar loops and children's cries before descending into electro arpeggios. Elsewhere synth's chatter like Philip Glass on mushrooms, school bells ring, tribal drums mutter and over it all the joyous voice of Avey Tare (David Portner) - a sort of post-modern Jon Anderson, if you will - declaims obliquely. For instance, Taste seems to be a Buddhist meditation on the illusory nature of ego ("Am I really all the things that are outside of me?"): but don't quote me on that.
While the album's title references the Collective's formative years listening to the Grateful Dead in the Frank Gehry-designed auditorium in Maryland, the sound is less jam band than cut and paste collage. There's a distinctly more careful approach to the vocals here than on previous albums. Harmonies are sweeter, the repetition and processing are more subtle.
In terms of the band's development it's a giant step forward. In the same way that The Flaming Lips psychedelia was transmuted on Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Merriweather Post Pavilion should easily see this square-pegness finally slipping into the round hole of wider appeal. In other words: a very palpable hit. --Chris Jones
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Even beginning to define the genre of this album is intensely difficult. The Pet Sounds influnece is here for all to see but this is not a surfer pop album - far from it, MPP lies somewhere between electro, indie, pop and dancefloor. This is the first time I have heard an electronic album sound so organic and warm, it feels like it could have been born in a forest, next to a babbling brook. The moods are ecstatic and mournful, it is a fantastic piece of work to listen to in the dark, and it might take you six listens to get into it - but even better. Once you unlock this treasure trove of an album you will not be dissapointed.
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Animal Collective are a band who can go into your kitchen and, armed with a collection of glass bowls, saucepans and the contents of your cutlery draw, could produce a masterpiece... or conversely sound like a bunch of kids mucking about in the kitchen. This is because they completely understand the basic beauty and evocative nature of sound, but sometimes get lost between the original idea and the final product.
I can put up with the near misses if they continue to come up with those astonishing moments when, out of a seemingly chaotic mess, everything resolves with a single note or chord change.
This obviously puts a lot of people off, and tries their patience. 12 minutes of "Visiting friends" is not for everyone, but I completely understand and love that track. All 12 minutes of it.
However with the first few tracks of Strawberry Jam I thought they were getting stale and were repeating themselves. I thought Panda Bear had outgrown them with Person Pitch and the end was nigh. But then with "For Reverand Green" and "Fireworks" all was right with the world.
MPP picks up from those tracks, weaves in the splendid ideas from Person Pitch and on we go. MPP isn't a perfect album. "Also Frightened" is dreary and is best skipped and "Lion in a coma" (a play on words) doesn't quite work for me. But the majority of it is so sumptuous, warm, and life affirming that it would be bonkers to give it less than 5 stars.
If you're new to Animal Collective then this is the album to start with. "Daily Routine" gives you an idea of their earlier work. The way the extended voice is harmonised with those shining bell sounds towards the end of the track is classic AC and may invite you to buy "Feels" and "Sung Tongs".
If you're already a fan you've already got this.
I can put up with the near misses if they continue to come up with those astonishing moments when, out of a seemingly chaotic mess, everything resolves with a single note or chord change.
This obviously puts a lot of people off, and tries their patience. 12 minutes of "Visiting friends" is not for everyone, but I completely understand and love that track. All 12 minutes of it.
However with the first few tracks of Strawberry Jam I thought they were getting stale and were repeating themselves. I thought Panda Bear had outgrown them with Person Pitch and the end was nigh. But then with "For Reverand Green" and "Fireworks" all was right with the world.
MPP picks up from those tracks, weaves in the splendid ideas from Person Pitch and on we go. MPP isn't a perfect album. "Also Frightened" is dreary and is best skipped and "Lion in a coma" (a play on words) doesn't quite work for me. But the majority of it is so sumptuous, warm, and life affirming that it would be bonkers to give it less than 5 stars.
If you're new to Animal Collective then this is the album to start with. "Daily Routine" gives you an idea of their earlier work. The way the extended voice is harmonised with those shining bell sounds towards the end of the track is classic AC and may invite you to buy "Feels" and "Sung Tongs".
If you're already a fan you've already got this.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I've followed AC for some time and, wow, they've finally made it. "Strawberry Jam" was good, but this is great. If you like catchy hooks with an "edge" then this is for you. These songs improve with repeated listening. You need good hi-fi to be able to get the subtleties, but when you do it takes you out of this world. There's a sort of ecstatic quality about this music, a quality that it's hard to quantify.
A few reviewers have bemoaned the fact that they're not "cool" enough for this music. if you don't like it, then that's fine - just say so! This album's quality doesn't depend on whether or not AC are cool - it just depends on whether or not the tracks are great. THEY ARE!!! The last two tracks provide a great climax to a great album. Do yourself a favour and buy this. Put your headphones on, pour yourself a beer and enjoy!
A few reviewers have bemoaned the fact that they're not "cool" enough for this music. if you don't like it, then that's fine - just say so! This album's quality doesn't depend on whether or not AC are cool - it just depends on whether or not the tracks are great. THEY ARE!!! The last two tracks provide a great climax to a great album. Do yourself a favour and buy this. Put your headphones on, pour yourself a beer and enjoy!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
I've Finally Worked Out How To Listen To This Record!
I've owned this album for a couple of years now and although I've quite enjoyed it on occasions, I've also struggled with it a bit. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. W. J. Griffiths
oh look, its 1968 (again)
Maybe its me but I dont get this at all... this band and album have been hyped to the max as the "next big thing" so like everybody else I guess I bought it to see what the fuss... Read more
Published 8 months ago by A. J. Rogers
emperor's new clothes ?
After reading umpteen good reviews I gave this a try - several plays in fact but I can't get into this at all. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Russell Finch
An album to admire, but not to love.
I've kind of summed this record up in my review title. It is a superb exploration of sounds and delves deep into a myriad of fantastic influences from the Beach Boys, through... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. M. L. Hawes
Well it isn't bad I guess
This album is not bad but I don't see what the fuss is about. It is hardly cutting edge. It basically sounds like the Beatles. We got past this stage years ago. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Anonymous
Joyous Waves of Sound
It's a been a pretty good year for my discovering new, to me, albums, Animal Collective's Merryweather Post Pavilion being a happy unearthing. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Roger from Wrexham
Take a gamble...
Having never heard of Animal Collective until i read a very positive review by a critic whose opinion i trust, i decided to take a gamble.
At first i didn't like it. Read more
At first i didn't like it. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Paul
Long time later
What, 18 months passed since I first heard this?
Deeper in love with it each time.
It's a proper record - unfolds and grows and has not dimmed - only burned... Read more
Deeper in love with it each time.
It's a proper record - unfolds and grows and has not dimmed - only burned... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Kees Popinga
I don't get it
This is one of those albums that I really wanted to love. Granted the first 3 or 4 plays it seemed somewhat random and bizarre, but I persevered. Read more
Published on 4 May 2010 by Wibblah
Everything you'd like to hear from AC
If you are completely new to AC, then I recommend you try and listen to some sample tracks before reading reviews or purchasing CDs, since this extraordinary music is, I find,... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2010 by Madchester
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