Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Muted, impressionistic second album, from Animal Collective's Noah Lennox., 10 Jan 2008
Young Prayer was the second solo-effort from Noah Lennox, one of the founding members of the critically acclaimed underground indie/folk/electronica project, Animal Collective. The album follows on nicely from the lo-fi exploration of his 1998 self-titled effort, whilst simultaneously setting the scene for the subsequent burst of vibrant full colour that would permeate the very core of his critically acclaimed third album, Person Pitch. You could also draw parallels with various Animal Collective releases, in particular Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished and Danse Manatee; both of which capture that odd combination of the pastoral and the ambient merging into night.
With this in mind, I can honestly imagine this being an album that many people won't like. A sparse and far out record that fuses elements of folk, psychedelic pop, world music and hints of ambient noise in a manner that seems entirely devoid of all sense of structure, formality and predictability. As a listening experience it's odd and disconcerting; an experimental work about death that is both cold and distant and yet, remains something that never becomes maudlin or self-pitying. It is an album with a recognisable emotional theme, and yet, one in which the lyrics are muffled by the cacophonous clamour of instruments or, instead, replaced completely by a series of abstract and incomprehensible moans, groans, grunts and sneezes. As a result, it is an album that slips unconsciously between the misery of death and the poetry of life; as oddly tuned acoustic guitars are strummed in a manner that draw forth an army of atonal notes, all marching broken-backed from the hollow, rotted reed of the instrument itself, as the guttural moans and animal yelps of Lennox express a sadness that regular words would only struggle and trip in their attempts to convey.
It's bleak and uninviting music, no question; marauding from the core of a decaying apple on the mossy cleft of a dying black forest, as elves and nymphs recoil in horror at the ominous spectre of death that stands, looming long beneath the shadowy tree-branched of a hangmen-menace, with each gargled word or riddled ripple of notes that reverberate only managing to capture the coldly distant and entirely uncomfortable feeling of D.E.A.T.H. Furthermore, the eventually shift in tone that arrives midway through the album could be seen as signifying the moment of grief turning into acceptance and the moment in which the sadness of death gives way to the beauty of life and indeed, creativity; with the tone and timbre of the voice both suggesting so much more in between. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but in truth, the black and hazy nature of the record only invites multiple interpretations, with the album reminding me of the stark minimalism of albums like the 1998 self-titled offering from former Talk Talk front man Mark Hollis, the 2002 "brackets" album by Sigur Rós, and Blemish, the 2003 solo offering from the former Japan vocalist David Sylvian.
Like those albums, Young Prayer is effectively an impressionistic piece; a blank canvas that the listener can project their own personal thought and feelings onto. This is evident from the use of untitled tracks, vague, lyric-less vocals and the overall otherworldliness of the music. This allows the listen to form their own interpretations of the songs, often focusing on the odd piece of production or instrumentation, or even a fluttering vocal line as opposed to anything in the way of hooks. It's also hard to pigeonhole the album into any kind of generic category, although obviously, as with Animal Collective, you can see the influence of various alternative or psychedelic folk acts from the late 60's and early 70's, most prominently The Incredibly String Band, who also drew very heavily on the combined influence of whimsical visions suggested by nature, with a sound that seemed rooted in world music; in particular Spanish flamenco music, Indian music and traditional Anglo-Saxon folk. Young Prayer also has the added influence of minimal, electronic, ambient noise; suggesting an alternate reality in which Eno - if you'll forgive the cliché - produced Wee Tam and The Big Huge (or something like that).
Although the influences are there, and you can group it in with certain other records that were moving in a similar direction, Young Prayer remains one of those albums that sound like nothing else; or indeed, like nothing I can really think of. Even the subsequent Person Pitch sounds as far removed from the minimal moans and acoustics of the album in question as you could possibly get; sounding warm and celebratory, whereas this is cold and dejected (as you would imagine from an album about death). Like I said at the start of the reviews, this isn't easy listening and it's certainly not an album that a lot of people will "enjoy"; but, at the same time, it's never dull, depressing or self-pitying. Instead, it's a shimmering, shining testament to the spirit of creativity, and the notion of music as a pure and transcendent statement, capable of healing all pain and righting all wrongs.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Fragile and gentle, 22 Jan 2006
Panda Bear is a member of Animal Collective, one of the finest bands around at the moment.This solo album is far more stripped down than anything by Animal Collective. It focuses on vocals and minimal instrumentation and is quite introspective in mood. Apparently the album was inspired by the death of his father and as a result the music is slightly melancholic in mood although never dreary. Panda Bear seems to use his voice as one of the instruments rather than as a means to convey a message. The instrumentation is sparse as if all unneccessary distractions have been taken away leaving the bare bones of the songs. The guitar melodies are fragile and beautiful and complement the vocals perfectly. None of the tracks have titles but i think it works best taken as a whole anyway. This style of music could become repetitive over a long running time but actually the album is quite short. It won't be to everyone's taste but Animal Collective fans should enjoy it as would anyone else with an open mind and a diverse record collection.
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7 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
I just dont get it!!!!, 2 Aug 2005
Please someone.....please tell me what the hell i'm supposed to be hearing while listening to this album!!!
if your thing is off tempo guitar strumming and some bloke making moaning noises in the same way for nine tracks then by all means purchase. Maybe this is mood music, or i just cant hear the "subtle arrangements" or whatever but steer clear!!!!
i'm starting to think i'm missing some huge irony with this album......still, its a minimalist, indulgent mess of nothingness.
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