We’re signing off a little early today to help prep tonight’s Bitte Björka show, because when Björk asks you to set up mic stands, you go and set up mic stands duh. When we return, though, we’ll be armed with a media-rich recap of Dirty Projectors and Björk’s vocal collab. Until then we’re leaving you in the hands of Animal Collective, who gave Letterman their “Summertime Clothes” last night. (He likens the illusionary cover to wallpaper, ha.) Unlike their last late night TV appearance on Conan, Avey, Panda, and Geologist don’t go for an obscurist/alienating wild-effects-and-hazy-processing redo — but they arted it up anyway with illuminated shower-curtained stands and a troupe of cloaked weirdos writhing in back. Dave asks if Paul has anything for those “trick or treaters.” Paul does not have anything for those trick or treaters.
Uh oh, Grizzly Bear does Letterman on the 20th. Get out your greater-than symbols.
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Dancer’s in the background WTF
It’s nice to finally see hyped blog band that can kill it in the studio as well as in a live setting. My finger is pointing at you Wavves.
great song choice as well.
Figured they’d either play this or My Girls.
Great performance.
so do they just put random gear on those tables to make it look like they are doing something? because they obviously arent doing anything. also: this is awful.
Yeah pretty much. As shown quite clearly in the “My Girls” video they merely press buttons on Boss beatboxes and yelp over it and everyone acts like they’re doing something innovative.
you realize that they create and program all the sounds and samples in which you simply refer to as ‘pushing buttons’, right?
yes im well aware that they program their own shitty music. what i was getting at is they have a bunch of gear on those tables but they never really use it. its just funny. the one dude in the middle looks like he just holds one key down on the keyboard for the entire performance. maybe thats the key that makes the song play.
Hilarious. I don’t understand why people act like everything a band they like (or even love) has to be amazing. You can still be an Animal Collective fan and agree with RecordingDR.
who gives a shit? the sounds that they make are the best.
Lets get something strait…
Four Tet = good electronic music.
Thom Yorke = great electronic music.
Animal Collective = If you like them you think you’re smarter that you actually are, you give yourself too much credit for things you don’t really do anyway, your a fucking snob, you also like Dirty Projectors, and… don’t forget… fuck you.
You assume innovation has to do with technicality and stage performance as opposed to temporal/musical progression. If this premise is held to be true, then the Mars Volta is the best band in the world.
You are assuming that “innovation” means “shit music”. You must be to think Animal Collective are innovative. Or is repetitive, uninteresting electronic beats with repetitive, uninteresting vocal lines that are almost completely void of melody or phrasing or meaning laid over them really all that innovative to you?
No, there was nothing in my statement that would presume any such matter. Instead, you are building a “straw man”, or an unstated assumption that would thus make it easier to attack my argument, to gain leverage on an argument that does not exist. Your original statement had to do with stage performance and my response was directly in response to that. In response to your new subsidiary conclusion, you sound like Theodore Adorno reborn, refusing to enjoy postmodern constructs and forms in order to fit accordingly to an objective standard fixed from a subjective period for a subjective and cultural medium. In layman’s terms: lighten up.
Oh hey I took Public Speaking 101, too. In layman’s terms: wow, are you serious right now?
in layman’s terms, nice come back.
Do laymen actually speak like this?
All this coming from the guy with Soulja Boy as his picture. Hella good music bro.
Well, actually, billypilgrim — recordingdr doesn’t even mention the word “innovation.” In fact, the premise of his initial argument is that Animal Collective’s “stage performance” was crappy and uninspired. Your response was focused on the innovative quality of their music — and that has nothing to do with the performance aspect itself. After all, Recordingdr makes NO assumptions about what makes music innovative or not in his original post (and yet you claim that he does). So, you are the straw man constructor, congrats.
And also, RecordingDR sounds NOTHING LIKE THEODORE ADORNO REBORN. I mean, nothing. If you read what RecordingDR wrote and say to yourself, “wow, that sounds like Theodore Adorno reborn,” you are either: 1. making an excuse to mention Theodore Adorno 2. trying to intellectually intimidate someone by obscure, academic allusions that you assume your opponent is not familiar with. 3. are just a pretentious asshole. 4. all of the above.
I’m going with 4 here.
First off, you’re absolutely right. The point at issue was lost on me and I spoke before I thought. Kudos.
But concerning your following statements, if you read “On Popular Music”, then yes, it is quite relevant to what we’re discussing. I admit that the usage of his name can brink on appealing to a higher authority, but it is mostly used because his essays, and the thoughts of Frankfurt School in general, provides a sufficient background for the point trying to be made. The comment was specifically made to challenge the original poster’s assertion that “repetitive, uninteresting electronic beats with repetitive, uninteresting vocal lines that are almost completely void of melody or phrasing or meaning laid over them”, sounds dangerously close to what many from Frankfurt considered to be detrimental to popular music (particularly jazz). The tenets of his argument for culture industry revolves around standardization, repetition, “glamour” and “baby talk”, with the latter three being the most relevant in this discussion. Now concerning the opinion that I am a pretentious asshole, “yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man. “
I hope I never meet this guy in real life.
You use a lot of quotation marks. I respect your dedication to accuracy. You gotta “check yourself before you wreck yourself” on these here blogs.
billypilgrimisunstuck’s comment is the lamest thing I have ever read on the internet.
is that a soulja boy icon?
you fucking rule. thank you for this.
– the management
http://www.indierocksucks.com
This isn’t what their live shows are like, right? This is pretty cool fora Letterman gig, but I’d get tired of that pretty fast.
this is not what their live shows are like at all. animal collective always find a way to detract attention from themselves. if they go for this song 100% letterman loses his shit, paul asks them what drugs they’ve done, people in the audience climax and it just gets messy all around for a band who literally always have had no idea what they’re going to do next.
everybody treats this band like the second coming but this all seems pretty self-indulgent and boring, like the hyped bands at the end of every other decade
In reading between the lines, you think Animal Collective is the Guns N Roses of the 00s?
actually this is what their shows HAVE been like the past few months. i’ve seen them 3 times since january and its been pretty much the same set, them chilling behind the samplers. avey does some moving around, but panda and geo just chill behind the tables, and daves behind the keyboard a lot more. i miss him and his guitar. and deaks of course.
Merriweather Post Pavilion was my favorite album of 2009 back when it was 2008. I’ve grown tired of it since then. I hope I like it again soon…
oh i know. You are just so fucking ahead of everyone including the artists. oh you. you are just so….oh you.. i bet you listened to animal collective before here comes the indian. I bet you even fucking groped their balls while they thought about recording Sung Tongs. I bet. Oh you.
animal collective would be the live act to see if they actually played instruments more than just sometimes, i hate hearing a keyboard or bass line triggered with a button
yeah man. I mean, where the fuck is the god damn bandanna?! Where the fuck care the fucking tits?! Jesus christ, where in the hell is the god damned balding frontman that does nothing but sing?! Motherfuck! MotherFUCK!
to be fair, avey has plays a bass during normal live performances and noah and avey both have drums…
i had low expectations for the performance, but they ended up killing it! Good Job Animal Collective!
Wilco (The Camel) > AC dancers
How can anyone say they are “great performers” they moan behind tables (not even pressing anything) , singing over a backing track. Dancers make it “mildly more interesting” but really, this is the year’s “best band”?
At least grizzly bear play fucking instruments. That was garbage. Kudos to them realizing they look like idiots behind tables and hiring some “distracting dancers” I guess
Are you commenting from 1999? So I guess boards of Canada and Aphex Twin and um, a bunch of bands just press fucking buttons and don’t play “real” instruments like grizzly bear and fucking dave matthews man? It’s time for people here to grow up. It is 2009 and you don’t have to strum a fucking guitar(b/c that is REALLY hard bro) to be “playing” something. Jesus you kids are fucking boring. Great job Animal Collective.
think of it this way: electronic music is not the same as traditional “dude and friends get on a stage and play formulaic guitar/bass/drums”. it’s more about the process of sound design and layering than face melting guitar riffs. most of which can only be done with computer boxes and keyboards. it’s fucking ignorant to think a band like animal collective is doing nothing but “pushing buttons”. it’s okay to not like their sound, but to not like them because of what you see them doing (or not doing) is the same as liking a girl for her tits.
you can always tell when letterman doesnt like the musical guest
I know what you mean dude. Like, for reals though. For REALS though. Man, heheheheee for reals. God, I would be sooooo depressed if a late night talk show host who makes $30million a year had different tastes than me. I hear ya bro!
utterly great music….MPP sounds great this time of year, too
i am not sure if some people expected them to break out the guitars and drums for the MPP songs or what…
if this is indulgent, i will take it over the other junk rock crap out there…cheers
“this is garbage! Tom Petty and the Heartbrakers, now those guys could rock and roll!” -Drunk Uncles Everywhere.
Being that their focus is vocal harmony using samplers to concentrate on that doesn’t bother me…. they sound good here
well, there is one band i know that has a focus on vocal harmonies AND they play their instruments*ahem, dirty projectors* for what that’s worth..
note- i really have tried and tried to like this band but they have greatly disappointed me at every turn but i am glad someone likes them. to be fair i know some people hate dp as much as i dislike ac so there you go
again, *grunt, grunt*, it’s music! It is not a fucking wanking on my “real” instrument contest asshole. Wow you are fucking boring.
Let me preface this by saying that I love Animal Collective and MPP, but some bands are just not live bands. AC’s notorious for being a bit alienating live, perhaps even more so when they were playing more ‘traditional’ intruments. I honestly kind of like seeing them restrained by this more sample based material (kind of reminds me of the electronica shows I went to in the late 90s, sans the pacifier-sucking raver kids). That said, their live performances are always interesting, but not necessarily good. But who cares when they’re coming out with a great album every year and a half.
avey looks like he needs to take a shit
Oh man, those closing notes from Dave were brutal. Hahahaha.
yeah man, hahahah. Did you and “dave” have a cold one to discuss? Jackass. God forbid an old man have a problem with new music! ugh.
are you being serious? he just pointed out dave’s comments. that makes him a jackass?
I saw them a few months ago and was really disappointed. That was a decent live performance but I’m beginning to think that AC is one of those acts that just knocks it out of the park on records but is lacking something live. Mainly, instruments………
and you are lacking something, mainly brains. You need to stop acting as if playing “real” instruments is something special. Go to a Phish show if you want to see a bunch assholes jerk off on “real” instruments. Do yourself a favor and understand what music is and is not. So I guess David Thomas Broughton and Andrew Bird are a bunch of shitfucks b/c they use samplers? And Readiohead, well, they fucking should shut the fuck up and that album they did to start the decade was such a shitpants b/c they almost did the same thing except throw in the occasional guitar to shut your ass up.
The more “fucks” you use, the cooler you are.
Grizzly Bear is the 20th.
right after the first chorus during the talking bit avey tare says “turn that shit way up”. so fucking good.
i am seeing them monday at 930 Club, and i really hope it will not be reminiscent to this.
???
animal collective make folk music. folk music these days is performed by simply pressing a button on a machine. and the vocals: they sing without autotune. the folk music way of compensating for not having autotune are vocal effects. check out panda’s obvious use of vocal effects on letterman. unlike britney spears who is a robot (when her hard drive wears out people will be shocked by the autopsy reports), animal collective are people merely acting like robots and it’s awesome. and that is new.
Brilliant. That pretty much sums it up!
If saw this and didn’t know who the Animal Collective was, I’d think it was the Cirque Du Soleil.
And the Cirque Du Soleil sucks ass.
They should consider collecting some instruments.
I’d be interested to find out how much of their live performance is, as the condescending douche bags on this board call it, “pushing buttons.” It looked like Avey was covering the main riffs with his keyboard, Geo was supplying the collage of background noise and doing some beats with a pad, and Panda Bear was just sorta singing with a board in front of him. The result usually sounds awesome, but I just want to know what’s going on.
I think Animal Collective translates better in the headphone world. The Panda Bear album is something that I love to listen to when I jog or hike through the northwest, but when I tried watching his live dvd, I couldn’t make it through it.
Saying all that, there was no error in this performance. This is a different album with a different live approach. I thought the vocals were on point. If I’m going to pay to see them live, I would like to see the guitar/drums version of the band. Just a preference thing.
Whatever sample they added into this live version after the first chorus sounds like nails on a chalkboard.
i saw animal collective last october in zagreb. it was a tiny place, fitting about 150 people. that was the greatest animal collective show i have ever seen. i have seen them a lot. they were pretty much doing nothing but pressing buttons fantastically. i have seen them live playing instruments. but i prefer the button pushing version. highlight was brother sport. unlike in nyc, the audience was insanely great, so exhibitionistly into it. maybe it’s just that they haven’t figured out how to play large venues successfully or western/ first world countries audiences suck.
the first time i saw them was back in 2004, they were playing a lot of feels demos and sung tongs stuff, and i remember being blown away by all the energy. they were dancing, banging on drums, fucking with guitars. it was great. i don’t know. the past 3 shows i’ve seen with just samplers and button pushing, it’s been kind of lame. there just isn’t the energy there used to be when they had the guitars and live drumming in the mix.
Yeah I’d rather go tour in India with the Black Lips. Fucking first world sucks!
if dealing with your sunglasses and fat are to be the norm, than yes, the first world does suck.
Relax, technojeremy. Did you really need to go all angry panda on every single person in this thread who didn’t go “AC > music”? You literally hit every one. I’m sure Avey is going to send you your fan club lunchbox soon, so stop freaking out.
it would be more acceptable if they were all painted blue
the only thing they need to bring back is live drumming by panda bear and avey should use his guitar a bit more
You guys are all acting as if they only press the start button and nod with their heads. jeez guys… listen to the harmonies and melodies of this song!
It took awhile, but I see the Animal Collective backlash has begun. You people are funny.
It’s true! I’ve liked them for a few years, and was shocked how popular the last two albums were. I thought they’d remain in that sphere of weird music that stays to a small audience.
I thought the same thing. I’ve only started listening to them myself, but I see people are beginning to “Shins” them.
it sounds fine to me
I think the Letterman guys could have done a better job highlighting the sampling and ‘playing’ that they were doing. I’m sure it was unique for the camera men to shoot a band without traditional instruments. I feel it would have been cool and added some appreciation if we could see what they were doing most of the time. Even on a huge TV you couldn’t see what they were doing.
Geologist>Panda Bear>Dancers>Dave Letterman>Paul Schaeffer>Avey Tare. I wan’t to punch Avey in the face. I wish he could sing with a normal voice instead of altering his voice with vocal effects so much. Heavy reverb is cool, but auto tune or perfectpitch or whatever he uses is embarrasing.
what? he doesn’t use any of those effects. he didn’t even have any effects on his voice in that performance besides maybe some reverb. that’s his natural voice dude. i don’t know what the fuck you were hearing.
wow really?? what song were you listening to? his pitch sounds “perfect” and treated – definitely not his natural voice at all
The pitch sounds perfect because he sang it well. He does add delay, reverb, and he probably messes with the EQ on his mixer, but he doesn’t use auto-tune. Have you ever even heard auto-tune?
No they don’t. They’ve got a weird synthy effect trailing off but i think it’s just weird reverb.
I thought Avey sounded A LOT better than Panda Bear. Definitely a lot of reverb and a little bit of delay/echo. Absolutely no auto-tune.
“We?re not just ?pressing buttons?. There?s a few things where we press play on a backing track, we just don?t have enough hands to do it all. The way we press the buttons every night doesn?t have to be the same. They?re almost piano keys or something. If someone were to say that it wasn?t live music any more, then I would say that that person?s not someone I would agree with on a lot of things about music.”
They just performed on Letterman and now they have their own category in today’s Jeopardy.
They’re really hitting the big time.
is your display picture a dick?
norm macdonald>animal collective
truest comment ever.
GREAT SONG! Terrible performance
don’t forget they used to play instruments. No big deal that their new album is primarilly electronic music that pretty much can’t be replicated without samplers. They wrote all the tunes and programed the sounds I’m fine with them hitting buttons on stage to recreate the incredible soundscapes they did on the record. At least they can sing pretty well.
trick or treaters sums up the performance. fill up your bags kids.
oh! I really enjoyed this! and I really understand the concept of the dancers…it would be really boring for the audience just to see 3 guys standing there…
Awesome song.
I didn’t see a single panda bear on stage, what is all the fuss?
An American Kraftwerk? Good song good performance, kudos to Animal Collective. Definitely not Letterman material…
pfffft, don’t compare these hipster twats to the royal greatness that is kraftwerk.
Dammmmmn Girl; Dammmmmmmmmmmn!
I guess the dancers weren’t distraction enough from the crappy performance. Appears I wasn’t the only one who thought it was pretty weak.
it is 2009, how much music is triggered by pressing something…this was one song, as i seem to recall there full shows this year consisted of a 13 minute ‘fireworks’ and some live instrument stuff…the sound of the vocals was terrific, we get that some of you will bash regardless…they weren’t standing there, they were fricking singing and in case you haven’t noticed by listening to the album of the year…it is electronic and to judge there live shows based on this would be silly….thanks
i love animal collective. but why does every stupid tv-show-performance have to generate at least 80 comments?
look at me mom, HATIN
wow this is hilarious, everybody commenting here like they’ve only realized this is electronic music and what electronic music is. the one dude said “america’s kraftwerk” haha, amazing! The dancers were not neccesary. knob tweakers is what it is, what the hell were ya’ll expecting? they make good sounds, don’t complain, how do you think electronic music is made? Hahaha, this comment thread is the best, too much funny!!!!
“that one guy in the middle”
i have to add. i love MPP; but i have no need to see AC them live. there IS a major difference between bands that play their instruments and can recreate that on stage, have you ever played a guitar? how does your arm feel after just one song? i’m not taking anything away from this wonderful music, but as far as a live show, don’t come here defending AC, yes it is boring. just like seeing Aphex, or BOC, unless you real high on drugs, close your eyes, and trip out. it is boring
Well, to be fair, when I see them, I do plan on being really high on drugs.
i think some people go into concerts expecting a guitar-drums type set up, but that does not mean the concert experience is defined by that nor any more exciting in this day and age…a performance is the mood the artist brings to the show period, i love the way AC sing there songs and overall performance having seen them three times…my favorite live band, probably not (that would be hard to decide), but they are always interesting to watch and i have not been let down yet, and besides there albums are the best…so to trivialize electronic music like it is something that is not worth experiencing live is nonsense period.
You do realise that a sampler is a ‘real instrument’ right? As in you load it with sounds and trigger them by playing the pads/keys…or is a piano not a real instrument because all you do it press buttons/keys to make it sound?
I didn’t realise there were so many over 50s on this site!
Three dudes at a table with hoodies on. They be lookin’ like the Beastie Boys but bringin’ it like the Wheaties Boys.
What is it past his nap-time? Letterman’s cranky-ass is straight up groaning when the song finishes. They really need to stop airing his show so late, its false advertising to anyone that has an old person. You know Dave’s really all passed out at like 4pm with his bib, apple juice, and drool and a full diaper on his “help me, I’m falling and I can’t get up” safe recliner.
I’m not sure what sparked your aggression here, but I’m pretty sure it’s not past Dave’s bedtime — he pretty regularly hosts this show, in case you just tuned in.
And they shoot the show much earlier in the day…
Uh ya that was the premise of the joke, since they shoot his show around noon but don’t air it until 11:30pm, its false representation for an old person’s capabilities. Get it?
No, I don’t think it was the premise of the joke, I think you just retroactively made it that way.
Anyways….I like the song and I like the band, so what if they aren’t up there with “real” instruments it’s good music!
“it would be more acceptable if they were all painted blue” -chad
Best comment on here. Nice sound, but the sound was made before the show.
doo loo loo loo loo loo loo
ughhh smell that trash shhhh
animal collective is the martin luther king jr. of coolness.
why would anyone whos owns a mp3 or cd player want to see animal collective live? I can dress up like panda and press pre-programmed buttons for you guys too…I’ll only charge ya half the price and make you a tuna sub as well…deal?
my cats can wiggle in back of us too, in neon colored garbage bags. it’ll be awesome. then we can go punch for punch and look up porn on my computer. it’ll be a fun.
soulja boy? seriously?
didn’t this conversation about instruments and machines occur like 3 years ago when they started using samplers?
and then like 20 years before that?
So from the comments, I have finally deducted the following equation:
Animal Collective=Barber shop harmony+samplers=profit!
I seriously considered visiting a few computers so I could give this multiple thumbs up.
Man, Animal Collective backlash. I love it when culture is so predictable.
I hear someone losing alot of change. and..
Bring back Feels…
Noah, Avey, and Geologist were in DUMBO on Front Street this weekend, strolled right past our friends and hailed a cab. They looked exactly like they do in this video, just without the creepy dudes at their back.
Sample-based acts can really vary I think in terms of live performance. Depending on how involved the artist wants to be (hands a’blazing flipping hitting every pad at exactly the right time vs. “click and go” so I can really let this E kick in and not have to worry about a thing), the performer of the music can be integral or useless to the live show. Still not sure if I’m an AC fan, but I give them props for good harmonies and at least looking busy.
this is music, people. these are developed patterns and colorful sounds, this is rich and moving work. for those who complain about a lack of instruments or really (moving about) you are using your eyes way too much and being much too close minded with what you see. this is music- ignore the dancers if you don’t like their costumes or gestures-ignore the fact that they’re standing in one place at space station panels- they are not monkeys there to move about and entertain you with finger movements and wailing drum arms- close your eyes if you can’t see past their expression and just listen…and if you still can’t hear how truly honest, fresh, and inspiring these sounds and melodies are, then you should look into trading in your ears because something must be faulty.
i love what AC is doing, if twisting and pushing buttons achieves sounds like this then i’ll gladly have it.
Your comment is like music, it went in one ear and right out the other.
That’s not how hearing works.
If I want to hear music, I usually don’t spend $25 and travel an hour and a half into Boston to hear it. I can just plug headphones into my computer and press play in iTunes. Or put on a CD in my car. Or use my iPod.
If I want a live music experience, THEN I go spend $25 and travel an hour and a half into Boston. (Like I did for the of Montreal show last month.) I don’t think it’s unreasonable to want something more out of a live music experience than simply listening to good-sounding music ? especially when I know there are plenty of live shows I can go to that DO offer more than that (like the aforementioned of Montreal show).
Ok fine … it’s music. Well written and prgrammed.
BUT PLEASE DO NOT HEADBANG (3:47). That right is really reserved for those with traditional rock/metal instruments.
If they truly want to headbang, I believe they need to submit (in writing) a proposal to Ronnie James Dio Inc., In which he will respond with a license or a letter of denial.
Just trying to help.
B
Thank you.
I always pictured AC as a kind of new hippie/ burning man electronic take on the grateful dead, and I think we can all agree that the dead suck.
(and they even use guitars and drums)
The Dead as musicians could run circles around these kids. Dead shows had live improvisational composition that showed a high degree of musical ability and spontaneous band interaction. Here, we see Animal Collective singing over a pre-recorded backing track.
If you want an electronic band that comes close to the Dead, look up Sound Tribe Sector 9.
I watched this and honestly wasn’t thoroughly impressed.
So I when I went to the AC concert last night I had slightly lowered expectations……and they blew me away. It was incredible. There’s something about their live show that’s so special that I guess just doesn’t translate well into a TV show setting…
going to AC live performances > watching AC letterman performances on youtube.
I love Animal Collective’s music, and they do have a legitimately good live sound ? I’ve listened to a podcast of one of their sets from NPR’s All Songs Considered a few times and I really like it. I also don’t doubt that it takes talent to make their music and to reproduce it live.
But, that being said, now that I’ve seen a few different videos with live footage of them, I’m glad their show sold out before I was able to get tickets, because it just does not seem like it would be an enjoyable experience. If I’m going to see a band that uses primarily samplers rather than instruments live, I’d much rather it be a fun band that I can dance to.
Of course, to each his own and all that. Obviously, lots of people do enjoy seeing them live, because their Boston show sold out in about a week, but I just wanted to say that there are perfectly legitimate, respectful reasons to not like their live performances.
My next performance is going to be me yelling shit through a delay pedal with an ipod, a strobe light, and a bunch of friends wearing garbage bags.
Honestly, it’s not the band I hate, it’s their fans. (yes, that’s a Sloan quote)
Letterman is a dumb asshole who wouldn’t know art if it hit him in his two-inch dick.
Hey dudes, if you like the music, then you like the music. If you don’t, then you don’t. No-one needs to argue about whether it’s innovative or lame. Who cares if you can do the same thing? You aren’t, and it’s what some of us like to listen to, so we listen to Animal Collective. If you did it, and it interested someone, they’d probably listen to it, too. There’s no room or need for judgement in any of that.
i like dancers behind the band. they’re absurdly entertaining.
i dunno. my impression is that AC never really expected to ‘make it’. they come across as some dudes getting effed up and ‘jamming’ in the basement with there ‘instruments’. the fact that they are on letterman is just as surprising to them as the rest of us haters. i like them. i think they make some unique sounds and can be quite enjoyable. some of it does sound bad, like noise. and all of it makes yall scratch yer ass and think ‘i could do that’… blah blah blah.
a lot of this ‘they don’t make music cause they don’t use instruments’ sounds too much like your father’s complaint that rap music is just noise….
shnooooze.
It doesn’t matter if they play instruments, samplers, mouth harp, trash cans, etc. It only matters if their music and their performance is any good. Face it, this performance was lame. Kids, in 10-20 years you’ll never listen to this shit again and be embarrassed that you ever did. Don’t believe the hype.
I have a bright idea. Let’s fight about if AC is a good band?
I, for one, both love and hate them. I swing both ways.
Holy shit, there’s too many comments on this, I’m not gonna even read them all.
wouldn’t it be like *not* liking a girl for her tits? and what’s wrong with liking a girl for her tits?
in my opinion, the only band worst than animal collective is grizzly bear
wake up america, this is boring, uninspired and so forgetable
Well you’ve got some shite taste then huh?
I love Animal Collective. The music is totally mediocre, uninspired and uninteresting but the fanboys are GREAT.
So I just read every fucking comment…
Animal Collective vs. Blogs = Bob Dylan vs. Newport Folk Festival = persons who are conciously furthering the boundaries of what music is and can be vs. stubborn, closed-minded, and downright ignorant music ‘experts’ who know a good fucking song when they hear one; pricks, essentially.
Also, I haven’t listened to MPP in awhile, I hope its charm returns…
pushing musical boundaries my ass. they have done NOTHING new, you insipid prat of a fanboy. i’m not saying it’s good or bad, but most definitely, it’s NOT new.
Brian Eno: Here Come The Warm Jets
Beastie Boys: Paul’s Boutique
Philip Glass: Glassworks
David Bowie: Low
There’s just a few to get you going. Check them out. It’s been done, fanboy. And it’s been done a lot better, too.
when I hear MPP, it reminds me a lot of Loveless or Daydream Nation or a couple of the ones you refer to (Paul’s Boutique for example) in that I hear something new each time I listen to it. there are so many layers to unravel regardless of what was used to make it (electronics vs guitars or whatever). twisting sound to make exciting music is not new per se, but the way those elements are combined can be refreshing and timely and ultimately, make music sound or feel new and exciting again for a lot of people…not to mention these songs have so many hooks, it takes pop music in some grand territory for this year. it’s a gem for me for those reasons and is something i feel like i will revisit years down the line like some of the other stuff AC have done. cheers
The only issue with that comparison, of course, is that Bob Dylan could both play an instrument and write amazing songs. In the case of Animal Collective, it really feels like we are collectively attempting to fabricate something of great value where no particular value exists. Sadly, I think we have deluded ourselves into thinking something important is happening, when it really isn’t.
they made themselves sound good live, for once. i’ve always been disappointed, i always heard grainy noise! damn this is awesome. i’m jealoussss
Who the fuck are these people who argue over comments? and do so over 10 comment entries? Get a life. Comments sections should be banned.
I saw AC last night in Toronto – it was amazing! Dave played guitar for half the show and Panda played live drums on three songs – including Lion in a Coma and a 12 minute Fireworks jam. Still buzzing …
In the interest of sitting on the fence, I hate you all equally
Lennox has really outgrown Portner.
i saw AC live in Toronto as well and it was a totally great show…they sounded absolutely great. it was my fourth overall time seeing them over the past few years and it was standout performance for me. also, i hate what hype does to stupid people.
recordingDR you have soulja boy as your icon you have no room to speak. what instrument does he play, oh yea the auton tune, my bad for forgetting. Maybe next time pick a rapper who will actually be remembered for his raps not some dance that only gets him money because white people do it.
…only because their music is so boring.