[strawberrymeat]

ImpendingPeacefish wrote:

I think to a certain amount, all AC albums have some recurring sounds/vibes throughout the entire album. Strawberry Jam and maybe Sung Tongs in my opinion are the only 2 animal collective albums in which the songs didn't feel similar. Also, I don't see that as a bad thing, it gives each album a consistent feel which differentiates it form other Animal Collective albums.

hmm i've never thought about this. but sung tongs? i feel like there's a lot of consistency there (with maybe a couple that stick out a bit)

[tulis]

im glad it's grown on so many people! i remember the reaction to it being positive but lukewarm compared to their previous work when it came out, but man, i jammed to this hard. havent listened to it since probably february though... but it was one of my favorites of their records when it came out. should probably spin it again.

applesauce is one of their most interesting songs, compositionally and sonically.

[El Camino]

Agreed, Applesauce is my favourite on the album, and has been pretty much since it came out.

[rampface]

I wish you could hear Avey's piano playing louder in the mix. He's great!

[IkoOvo]

the piano was way more prominent live
it was awesome

[michael]

I feel like the album is let down by Today's Supernatural being so good and coming out first as the single/being second in the tracklist. I feel like it is everything the band said they were trying to achieve with Centipede Hz; it's full of energy, made-up of a bunch of different little segments, Avey's vocal performance is incredible and has a live intensity, and whatever else. Maybe Applesauce is the only other track that I think is really impressive. The energy completely dissipates after Today's Supernatural though, Josh and Noah are pretty much lifeless and songs like Monkey Riches don't resonate in comparison. I don't want to be 'that guy' but the bootlegs were way more exciting. A lot of my favourite parts were lost or watered-down, which was just disappointing personally, because I feel it could have been better than what it ended up being.

[archie]

spirit has a recurring sound
if you don't think feels does what even is a recurring sound (delayed tremelo'd guitars, clicks and drowned out pianos while avey thinks of all the things he needs it to be)

[El Camino]

Can't really name an AC album without a recurring theme/sound though, that's just how they make their albums.

[Tico]

i think of it more as song structure. danse, hcti, sj and feels have extremely varied song structure

[terrestrialjane]

Of course man. They're sound is becoming more tight and less loose, which is fine by us, they're just heading in a different direction.

[paralleoneirdwell]

I was trying to remember the date of the first radio broadcast!
It's getting so close to a one year anniversary : )
(july 29th!!)

[keith!]

listened to this today and man amanita is such a jam

i really do wish Rosie Oh and Crimson coulda closed the deal though put amanita somewhere else i dunno. rosie oh + crimson wouldve been like the best ac closing combo ever

[rampface]

I don't know...I felt that way in the first couple months after CHz's release but lately the tracklist has been hitting the spot. This is such a weird record in the best way. My current favorite AC album at the moment.

[yoyoyoyoy]

Has anyone posted this yet? I'm just lazy and didn't look around...

cool to see that Laurie Anderson is a fan, though

http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/la ... collective

[Cussing Bum]

yoyoyoyoy wrote:

Has anyone posted this yet? I'm just lazy and didn't look around...

cool to see that Laurie Anderson is a fan, though

http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/la ... collective

Excellent.

[rampface]

Wow great review! I love that she went backwards through the tracklist. Now I must listen to the record in that way...

[ballparkmanatee]

That was a pretty awesome review, I agree with her on Centipede Hz. Its such a weird album for me though. Sometimes I listen to it and I think its the best thing they've ever done, and sometimes its just plain unlistenable for me. My relationship with Animal Collective has been pretty strange in general lately though, been going through a Danse Manatee phase and haven't really been interested in listening to their other albums.
Anyways, I gave this album a fresh spin after not listening to it for a while and noticed even more hidden melodies than I originally thought. Its so fucking dense though, I love it but its almost like they went so far with the alien concept that the music they made was impossible to record properly with human technology.

[Cussing Bum]

rampface wrote:

Wow great review! I love that she went backwards through the tracklist. Now I must listen to the record in that way...

Oh that's why she said Mercury Man was third.

[GeckoSushi]

Hm. Am I alone in thinking Centipede is really not that difficult or dense? It's busy and sprawling at times yes, but random and chaotic it is most certainly not. Like The Residents or Vas Deferens Organization you certainly can't grasp everything that's going on in the first listen, but just like those bands there is most certainly a method to the madness. I just think out of everything AC has done most people complain about CHZ being a difficult record, but I mean seriously something like Native Belle or Too Soon is way more cryptic and dense than anything on this record imo. Don't mean to pick on you Ballparkmanatee.

[IkoOvo]

Yeah I don't think it's that hectic.
Just because it was less accessible than MPP doesn't mean it wasn't accessible.
I personally think that it's pretty accessible

[Stanshant]

It can be fatiguing in its density, like it's physically difficult to listen to where something like Infant Dressing Table, which is far more structurally challenging is beautifully paced and has room to breathe. Even a simple ditty like Rosie Oh is full of background chatter vying for your attention.

Again, Ben Allen puts his fat fucking foot in it.

[ballparkmanatee]

I personally don't think its necessarily difficult or hard to get into, though I have seen other people make statements like that. But I'd argue that its possibly more dense than anything else they've done, though its hard to tell since most of their albums in general are pretty layered. But some songs on here like Todays Supernatural and Monkey Riches I feel like I can pick out about 3-5 different melodic ideas going on at the same time at certain points, along with the frantic drumming and even more layers of Geo's added sounds. Plus the songs on CHZ are fast-paced in general and have lots of different parts which might be disorienting for some people.
I might need to go back and listen through their albums again (like I said, haven't been listening to much Animal Collective lately besides Danse) but I don't remember them having quite as many different parts going on at the same time like CHZ does. Though they did have an insane amount of subtleties, many of which I'm sure I haven't discovered yet.

[IkoOvo]

Stanshant wrote:

Again, Ben Allen puts his fat fucking foot in it.

what do you mean by this?

[Lord Quas]

I'd love for some multi-tracks for CHz. This album and MPP especially.

[Stanshant]

IkoOvo wrote:

Stanshant wrote:

Again, Ben Allen puts his fat fucking foot in it.

what do you mean by this?

It's partly a joke, a reference to the typical Ben Allen III discussion on this forum, whereby I would firmly plant my feet on one side. It's also a sincere description of what I feel is a failing of their two last albums, notably a lack of confidence to let the source material breathe. Either that, or their ears have just gone. It's not even a loudness wars thing, it's that almost every single moment of every song has some unnecessary elements crammed into the mix which makes it all feel very flat. For two incredibly energetic albums, both MPP and CHz emotionally plateau in the first song and more or less ride that vibe til the end. Compare that to any of their other albums which have peaks and troughs, moments of calm, tension and release. Much of that has nothing to do with the songwriting at all, it's a question of production and variety between songs. MPP and CHz all sounds similar, from a sonic perspective. The same intensity throughout.

BEN ALLEN FAULT

[IkoOvo]

Aaahh, I see.

I bet that AC are pleased with the albums though, or they probably wouldn't have put them out.
And they came back to Ben Allen after MPP, so they most likely liked the results of working with him.

[El Camino]

Even though Ben Allen's production hasn't bothered me as much as Stanshall and i still love the albums, i hope they don't bring him back for the next one for a return to their less glossed over production. It'd be really nice if they started producing their own stuff again.

[IkoOvo]

I just hope whatever they do next is totally different

[Tico]

El Camino wrote:

It'd be really nice if they started producing their own stuff again.

[bullseye]

Tic wrote:

El Camino wrote:

It'd be really nice if they started producing their own stuff again.

deakin should take care of that. the production on down there is beautiful. panda can take a break and smoke some joints, the tomboy single mixes are a little disappointing.

[Stanshant]

IkoOvo wrote:

I bet that AC are pleased with the albums though, or they probably wouldn't have put them out.
And they came back to Ben Allen after MPP, so they most likely liked the results of working with him.

Totally agree and I also acknowledge the arrogance of my opinions on these albums (which I do love, MPP especially).

I no longer have the 'what coulda been...' frustration - in fact, I was never that keen on the CHz material on the boots - and I really enjoy the albums for what they are. I just do find them fatiguing and put that down to the production. As a collection of songs, well, I've never been as excited, hopeful or ecstatic when listening to any music as with the MPP boots.

[GeckoSushi]

I honestly would've loved to see what Scott Colburn would've done with Hz. I think his production on Feels and Strawberry Jam was fantastic!

[rampface]

Nicolas Vernhes would have been the perfect choice for CHz

[Miss Amanda Jones]

Love this album, but Deak should stick to guitar (Wide Eyed is my least favorite AC song ever) No offense Deak I think u r beautiful just the way you are

[Dead in Light]

michael wrote:

I feel like the album is let down by Today's Supernatural being so good and coming out first as the single/being second in the tracklist. I feel like it is everything the band said they were trying to achieve with Centipede Hz; it's full of energy, made-up of a bunch of different little segments, Avey's vocal performance is incredible and has a live intensity, and whatever else. Maybe Applesauce is the only other track that I think is really impressive. The energy completely dissipates after Today's Supernatural though, Josh and Noah are pretty much lifeless and songs like Monkey Riches don't resonate in comparison. I don't want to be 'that guy' but the bootlegs were way more exciting. A lot of my favourite parts were lost or watered-down, which was just disappointing personally, because I feel it could have been better than what it ended up being.

woah, todays supernatural is like my least fav track.. lol

it was the first song that got stuck in my head from the boots, but idk.. moonjock seriously still blows me away and wide eyed was my favorite boot. one things for sure, this record rules

[IkoOvo]

Dead in Light wrote:

moonjock seriously still blows me away

Yeah, one of the best!
I love the lyrics so much!

[Dead in Light]

Stanshant wrote:

IkoOvo wrote:

I bet that AC are pleased with the albums though, or they probably wouldn't have put them out.
And they came back to Ben Allen after MPP, so they most likely liked the results of working with him.

Totally agree and I also acknowledge the arrogance of my opinions on these albums (which I do love, MPP especially).

I no longer have the 'what coulda been...' frustration - in fact, I was never that keen on the CHz material on the boots - and I really enjoy the albums for what they are. I just do find them fatiguing and put that down to the production. As a collection of songs, well, I've never been as excited, hopeful or ecstatic when listening to any music as with the MPP boots.

do you think its fair to note that it was noah's return to drums? and these songs from avey are, frankly, emotionally charged?? it may not be your preferred style, but im wondering if you think this sort of density is a 'bad' thing

the record is very dense, but considering the interview or something from way back in danse times where they say theyre trying to create those sweet jams that they lost.. i think theyre finally actualizing that, which may also be why aveys so energetic lately.. idk just blowin smoke, who knows what those things sounded like

[Dead in Light]

can we all at least agree that amanita is a much stronger closer than bro sprot?

[Miss Amanda Jones]

Dead in Light wrote:

can we all at least agree that amanita is a much stronger closer than bro sprot?

no brosport is a much better song than amanita. it is just a lot more memorable

i actually think Pulleys would be a pretty sweet closer. a lot of people dislike the song but i find it really powerful. I don't know what feeling amanita is trying to convey in contrast

[Mr Fingers]

I like both. But Amanita is such a better closer.
I have a friend whose copy of MPP was missing Brother Sport, and instead ended with No More Running. He said that he preferred it so much more without BS than with it. Not that he didn't like it, it's one of his favourite songs, it's just that he didn't think it was a good closer.
I tend to agree with him, I love the song, but it's not as good as Amanita in terms of closing an album.