Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavillion

To me, Animal Collective (AC) are more of a religion or lifestyle choice than a band or ‘loose collective’ as they are so often referred to, and it is for this reason that I had incredibly high hopes for their newest release Merriweather Post Pavillion (MPP). The album continues AC’s constant growth, expansion and change, building on the electronic tones of Water Curses and tracks from Strawberry Jam like #1 and Peacebone. Electronic synthesizer loops abound in nearly every track on the album giving some of the songs an almost dance-track-esque sound, such as Brothersport and My Girls. AC’s signature hauntingly beautiful vocal harmonies are still there of course, and still just as prominent as in many of their other releases. However, despite this new release retaining AC’s most notable properties, it is far from predictable and with it being the most highly anticipated album they have ever put out, coupled with the mainstream exposure they received along with it, this album definitely marks a turning point in AC’s career as a music making entity. The leading track of the album “My Girls” is an absolutely brilliant electronic ride through AC’s attitude to life, with lyrics like “With a little girl, and by my spouse// I only want a proper house” and “I don't mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status// I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls”. Add to this a foot stomping beat and catchy electro loop and you have one of the highlights of this brilliant album.


(WATCH IN HD, YOU WONT REGRET IT)

Other tracks that stand out to me include “Daily Routine” and the magnificent closing track “Brothersport”. One track on the album however, “Lion in a Coma”, has been getting a lot of criticism from both hardcore AC fans and everyone else on the internet. At first I agreed with them, the strange twanging, almost Didgeridoo-esque intro and a couple of dodgy lyrics automatically putting me off the track. However, after a few more listens it has definitely grown on me. I’m not saying it’s a one of the best tracks on the album, but it certainly isn’t as bad as many people are making out.

Merriweather Post Pavillion is an absolute joy to listen to and has in fact, I think, overtaken Strawberry Jam in my hierarchy of my favourite AC albums. Not only that, but it is also packaged within my second favourite CD cover art of all time, the first being the cover of Water Curses. Having been hailed as “The Album of 2009” all the way back in September of last year, long before it had been released, MPP had a lot to live up to to prove itself worthy of the title, and I for one think that AC have risen to the challenge spectacularly, producing one of the best albums of their career.

In short, a must-buy for anybody that considers themselves a music fan.

Punk, Paramore and Piglets.

Here it is! My first post on my new blog. I decided to finish the last one as it became a chore to update and i didn't really like what it had become. Hopefully this one will be better and maybe more than three people might actually read it! :o

To begin with I'd like to talk about Paramore. Since I first saw a girl wearing a Paramore T-shirt I simply dismissed them as a whiny emo band who's only reason for popularity was the singer's hair. This had still been my opinion until I recently 'acquired' a copy of their album Riot, and i must say i was impressed. Overall it is a very solid, rounded album with some really quite good songs on. The musicianship is nothing particularly remarkable. The guitars, drums, bass, are all fairly bog standard, the real selling point of Paramore is Hayley Williams, the vocalist. Her voice does its job perfectly in and out of the studio, especially on tracks like We Are Broken and the acoustic version of Pressure that comes with the limited edition of the album. My favourite track on the album has got to be Born For This, followed closely by Crushcrushcrush. Paramore are definitely destined for greatness and will not be forgotten as quickly as bands such as, say, Panic! At The Disco (remember them eh?), especially with the recent influx of fans gained from their appearance on the soundtrack of recent box office smash Twilight with their song Decode. To be perfectly honest, I don't think it to be one of their best songs and I am amazed that it has racked up over 30 million plays on their myspace player. I am aware of an album that they made before Riot! and they also recently released a CD/DVD combo called The Final Riot! (kinda stupid name i know) and although i haven't had the chance to listen/watch either of these yet, i will be keeping an eye out.

Paramore at myspace
Official website

Now, onto some rather more non-commercial music. Nodzzz, a 3 piece band from San Fransisco that i can only describe as fun-punk (funk?), released a 12" back in November which i have finally managed to get my hand on. Nodzzz are a band i have been aware of for a good 6 months or so, and the four tracks on their myspace I have been listening to during that time have certainly been listened to death. Their 12" is 10 tracks and 15 minutes of simple riffs, catchy hooks and pure fun. Although some of the songs can be quite grating if you listen to them too many times in a row, on a whole this is a brilliant 'album'/EP/LP/whatever which shows that the spirit of punk is truly alive and kicking.

Nodzzz at myspace
Nodzzz at Blogger


Punk is a word that i think is too often thrown around in the music scene nowadays. It seems to me that music journalists and even musicians themselves label every band with an electric guitar and tight jeans a 'punk' band. But, I do believe that the punk label most definitely applies to this next band.

The Thermals are a 3 piece band from Portland, Oregon and are fast becoming my new favourite band. About a week ago I downloaded their discography (Play.com were out of stock, ill be buying them as soon as they have some more) and i have scarcely listened to anything else since then. Their first album 'More Parts Per Million' is probably my favourite. 13 tracks, each less than three minutes long, of raw, lo-fi goodness. My favourite tracks on this album include An Endless Supply and No More Culture Icons. Their latest album; The Body The Blood The Machine, is equally brilliant, yet much less lo-fi. In an interview with Current Fix, the band stated that this album is about "a US governed by fascist Christians", and this theme certainly shows through in the lyrics of the album. On the whole an awesome album by an awesome band, definitely one to look out for in the future, especially with a new album coming out this April on Kill Rock Stars.

The Thermals at myspace
Official Website

Next time i will be reviewing Animal Collective's new release Merriweather Post Pavillion and hopefully Matt & Kim's new album Grand if i can get my hands on it.
Oh and in case you were wondering, there's nothing about Piglets in this blog. I just needed another word that starts with P to fit in the post title :)