[Calvin]

album of the 2000's

I can't get over how much this album has held up

[New Zealand]

I know this is Bangs' least fav and it's definitely not my fav but it's pretty good. Reverend is a great song.

First new AC album to come out since I became a fan.

[ImpendingPeacefish]

Definitely my most consistent favorite AC album (as in my fav switches around often) and with the song Cuckoo Cuckoo I can barely make it through this album due to how emotional i'll get. That song alone makes this album a classic...of all time...in my opinion.

[William H. Macy]

greatest of the decade is a bit much, though i do think it's one of their bests

interesting that it's someone's least favorite, i'd love to hear why

[Calvin]

I think it's the farthest out there that AC ever went.

The reason I think it's the most experimental is because of how POPPY it is. NO ONE has managed to write songs like that while still pushing so many boundaries


Listening to MPP and I'm realizing this was the album I listened to when I took shrooms for the first time and oh my god I want to cry guys, life is so overwhelmingly beautiful, I'm so thankful for my stupid pathetic life, oh my god

[Vovenarg]

#1 is a great song, a "best of" track. Unsolved Mysteries is amazing.
The whole album is great.

[Curved Hair]

#1 definitely won in our 'SJ best song' thread a couple boards back

[Miss Amanda Jones]

it's not really all that experimental, it's a pop record. MPP went much farther at changing AC's sound than Jam, which is pretty similar to Feels in terms of song structures, sonically, etc.

[New Zealand]

what he's saying is that the fact that it's a pop record makes it experimental, I think... obviously you can disagree with that, and I kind of do, but that's where he's coming from.

I think the vocal production and live feel was really different from Feels which has so many vocal layers in most of the songs and so many overdubs a lot of the time. Whereas Merriweather brought back a lot of the intense vocal production and density.

Also I think Feels -> Strawberry Jam -> Merriweather had a relatively linear progression from more of a "rock band" structure to "pop group" structure or feel

[StrangeClams]

Well yeah, it went from

no samplers
to
samplers on Cuckoo, Derek, UM, #1, Chores, Safer (i count this as part of the album)
to
samplers on all tracks

[New Zealand]

in terms of live shows, you could say the progression goes even further back to Sung Tongs... acoustic -> electric -> electric/electronic -> electronic


though obviously Geo's basically on electronics whenever he's playing

[Stanshant]

From the day this was released until MPP was released was their greatest period. Every song from this era is better than anything they've done since. It's my favourite AC album. I love the dry and dusty stickiness. The guitar sounds. The vocal processing. The Geo noises. The thin and tinny cymbal splashes. The wide array of colours and textures. The energy. The way they sing it like they fucking mean it. The perfectly ordered clutter. The percussion loops. Not a single second is superfluous.

[Curved Hair]

Stanshant wrote:

From the day this was released until MPP was released was their greatest period

yeah... because they weren't playing merriweather material live for two years before [merriweather] came out...

[Stanshant]

That was my point, EINSTEIN

[jfw7]

i think they started playing mpp before the sj release right?

[Curved Hair]

wait, im confused

[Wilbur]

jfw7 wrote:

i think they started playing mpp before the sj release right?

Oh yeah
First boot we have with MPP songs is 5/14/07
Strawberry Jam release on 9/10/07

[Curved Hair]

yeah that's what I said

every song from that era, in between those albums, includes BOTH albums

[Curved Hair]

well, I need to not use sarcasm on the internet I suppose

[jfw7]

pedantic posts pavilion

[Mütterlein]

Lol no it isn't

[MFpotus]

[Tico]

Mütterlein wrote:

Lol no it isn't

is that really "lol" worthy? what albums from the 2000's do you believe are better?

[William H. Macy]

from the same year even:
pb - person pitch
deerhunter - cryptograms
battles - mirrored
world's end girlfriend - hurtbreak wonderland

maybe not all better, but there's plenty of competition out there

[Gool Aid]

animal collective is so confusing

[Gool Aid]

but yeah calvin im agreeing this is deff one of the best...

its never gotten old for me..so fluid and consistent

[Gool Aid]

and hash, i disagree with youre whole rock band to pop band thing...SJ is no more/less rock/pop than MPP

[Freak]

thanks for reminding me about SJ

haven't listened in a while

perfect for the end of summer, beginning of fall
as the days are getting shorter, but it's still sticky outside
Halloween isn't really all that far away

can't believe it came out seven years ago

it really is the best, isn't it?

[Dearest]

Tico wrote:

Mütterlein wrote:

Lol no it isn't

is that really "lol" worthy? what albums from the 2000's do you believe are better?

i mean, there is a lot....


but yea i still really dig sj. has a special place in my <3 as the first ac album i waited for to come out and didn't discover post release

[Calvin]

Stanshant wrote:

From the day this was released until MPP was released was their greatest period. Every song from this era is better than anything they've done since. It's my favourite AC album. I love the dry and dusty stickiness. The guitar sounds. The vocal processing. The Geo noises. The thin and tinny cymbal splashes. The wide array of colours and textures. The energy. The way they sing it like they fucking mean it. The perfectly ordered clutter. The percussion loops. Not a single second is superfluous.

this times 1000x

[jfw7]

yeah that's like the truest stansh. post of all time

[Stanshant]

Even a stopped clock punch you in the frigging nuts

[hear_smiles]

Stanshant wrote:

Even a stopped clock punch you in the frigging nuts

hahahaha

no really tho SJ is the defining album for my inner AC personality

there's a side of me that will always identify animal collective as the Strawberry Jam band. a playthrough of that album takes me places that no other music or experience ever had up until that point.

it is the magic album


i live the songs when they play, the lyrics take on new form and it flows out automatically adhering to my subjectivity

i was the cloud that carved the mountains, i was the mountain that made the kids scream

just a few things are related to the old times
when we didn't believe in magic and we did die

[El Camino]

I like it much more than mpp and on par with the couple of albums preceding it.

[Pan]

I agree with Bangs, it is my least favourite of theirs
to me, it lacks cohesion and water curses ep and safer are better than any of the songs on it

[valar602]

Ya I always wanted safer and cobwebs on it. But totally different feel for the track list it guess. Also love the transitions between songs. Idk Danse manatee is the farthest out they've gone, and that can be kinda poppy at times.

[New Zealand]

streetfright wrote:

and hash, i disagree with your whole rock band to pop band thing...SJ is no more/less rock/pop than MPP

that might be to do with our definitions of "rock" and "pop"

for me "rock" is "a band playing songs on mostly guitars and drums like The Beatles etc"

For Reverend Green sounds like rock through and through to me, there's not really an equivalent on Merriweather I'd say

Pan wrote:

I agree with Bangs, it is my least favourite of theirs
to me, it lacks cohesion and water curses ep and safer are better than any of the songs on it

I still need to get Bangs to listen to Water Curses, I think he really likes Safer too.

[archie]

water curses is by far the best thing theyve done in my opinion, i don't understand how it could be "b-sides", its the most cohesive and solid release

[Vovenarg]

^ it's so so good. it sums up the animal collective sound/vibe to me and the songrwriting quality is incredible.

[pioneerpreserve]

ya SJ is real cool and all but like said
WATER CURSES