[ingenue]

tdegenaro wrote:

okay having listened to this bad boy dozens of times i'm ready to make a statement. I like Time Skiffs better than Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Me too. Sung Tongs is still my favorite, probably for nostalgic reasons, but TS is up there. The next one has the potential to top them all, I think. “Defeat” is just on another plane. It’s so moving, so deep. I can’t put it into words.

[conswaygo]

That scream Avey lets out in Dragon Slayer before the chorus is so dang good. Especially followed by the autoharp. Didn't someone say prior to release that there were steel drums that ruined it? Lol

[bobbyonename]

I actually very much feel this is their best album almost without question. Of course there is a ton of nostalgia listening to the early works through my teens and 20s, and I fucking love every piece of music they've put out... But this entire album front to back is just bliss, so good. I'm very sentimental so I know this album will also be held in an incredibly special place in my heart years from now. I love it. Fingers everyone.

[wilandhugs]

bobbyonename wrote:

I actually very much feel this is their best album almost without question. Of course there is a ton of nostalgia listening to the early works through my teens and 20s, and I fucking love every piece of music they've put out... But this entire album front to back is just bliss, so good. I'm very sentimental so I know this album will also be held in an incredibly special place in my heart years from now. I love it. Fingers everyone.

Agree with the sentiment totally. I just see this as the absolute pinnacle of their logical succession as a living discography. The maturity of the themes and songwriting, and the certain subtleties that they've garnered really is putting it over the edge for me. Saying this as someone whose fave era is ST/Feels/Early Jam.

[scrambledgreggs]

they've put out so many classics now that it's getting so difficult to stack them all up, but I'd say this is at least on par with MPP and Sung Tongs and could eventually reach the level of Feels/SJ/Ark with more time

[jerry wonder]

I mean, ST, Feels, SJ (and maybe MPP) are all masterpieces; I know we are all excited that TS is good, but I don't feel it approaches, or will approach, those perfect documents. It's okay, it doesn't also have to be a masterpiece. It's damn fine.

[blindmowing]

i don't think i'll be able to rank Skiffs against other AC albums until i've had at least 3 years of memories/experiences with it. just too hard to compare albums like Sung Tongs and Strawberry Jam which i've lived with for over a decade and treat like friends of mine, with a record i've listened to for a week.

this is definitely the honeymoon period still

[Stan]

Not convinced that maturity is necessarily an improvement or a marker of quality but this is an excellent set of songs and a beautiful, cohesive production. There's nothing particularly idiosyncratic or unique about it, which is why I prefer several other AC records, but it's extremely consistent and consistently excellent. It feels like a golden age AC record.

[Hellomark]

Their run of releases from 2000-2010 is basically untouchable for me, both due to personal sentimental reasons and that I really feel like they were the most interesting and creative band at that time to receive the level of acclaim they did. That being said, I really appreciate TS as what feels like a step in a more pleasing direction. Its a massive improvement in production over CHz, and in songwriting over PW. Does that mean it matches the way I feel about their earlier work? Well, as others have said, it's a little early to tell, these songs could definitely appreciate in beauty and meaning over the years. But at the moment, I'd have to say no not really. And that's perfectly fine.

[foxtrot]

top tier, 5 star classics that mean a lot to me: Ark, Tongs, Feels, SJ, MPP, Skiffs

incredible albums by my favourite band: Spirit, Danse, Campfire, TR, ODDSAC

solid albums that I very much enjoy listening to: Hollinnd, CHz, PW


Skiffs is already up there for me.

from my experience with past AC live eras into studio releases I already know at this point where it stands.

[Ethmin]

well said Hellomark

[hypo's]

Ethmin wrote:

well said Hellomark

[dio]

re how this stacks up in my estimations of their past discography...

the drumming is close to highs of Spirit/Danse
the songwriting reminds of SJ/MPP/CHZ stretch-tier quality
the synths are better than PW (maybe not Spirit or MPP tho)
and a few feelings takes me close to Feels/SJ highs

so yeah I mean its really good... does feel wrong to try and make a call esp when I already kind of decided I loved it based on boots and just participating in this era for the past 2+ years, so my bias still blinds me

but I do like how listenable it continues to be in week 2. I enjoy a lot of the performances on this record in a way that feels different than anything other than like... freakin Eucalyptus or Cows or sumn. As in the playing. Panda's drumming on Feels and Spirit feels similarly pleasing in that same kind of way

And the lyrics seem more interesting than usual too. As always it also is reactivating some of their other music for me and so now I need to like re-evaluate PW and other stuff. My ear feel fresh now, great effect of AC LPs

idk this ranks high, its mpp/spirit adjacent tho of course could never overtake

[blindmowing]

Hellomark wrote:

Their run of releases from 2000-2010 is basically untouchable for me, both due to personal sentimental reasons and that I really feel like they were the most interesting and creative band at that time to receive the level of acclaim they did. That being said, I really appreciate TS as what feels like a step in a more pleasing direction. Its a massive improvement in production over CHz, and in songwriting over PW. Does that mean it matches the way I feel about their earlier work? Well, as others have said, it's a little early to tell, these songs could definitely appreciate in beauty and meaning over the years. But at the moment, I'd have to say no not really. And that's perfectly fine.

you've extrapolated on where i was heading -- and i share your sentiments.

based on time/place context -- the records' appearances both within my life and the context of (indie) music in the 2000s -- i find it hard to fathom ever loving an AC album as extremely as i do those ones. those albums are so linked to discovery, growth, coming-of-age, etc. that there is that piece of nostalgia/golden memory that grows evermore cherished as the years go by, only increasing my regard of those albums to even higher levels.

but, there's no way of knowing for certain if i can develop a second wind of this kind of inspiration/connection/kindship with TS and TS2 until time has passed and i've grown with them and seen how they intertwine in my life and change with me, hence why i say i need to give this 3 years to know for certain where it stands.

for now, i regard Time Skiffs as a very good AC album -- but this is more an intellectual take than the more primal emotional experiences i have with the 2000s output, which were mostly me being doused in wonder/awe/perplexity, pounded by the waves of stupefaction ... i totally have an emotional connection to Time Skiffs, but for me it's still fresh, it feels like a new girl in my life and i can't tell if i'm just crushing hard and blinded by love.

here's to being more in love with this album in 5 years as i am right now! for now, all i can say is it's damn good.

[Stan]

Beautifully put. X

[Fovrodi]

Spent the better part of the evening in the cabin of a skiff a family friend is boat-sitting, lit only by flash lights drinking beers and sharing boat stories and making each other laugh. Got me to thinking how much I grew up on skiffs, summers boating to the next town over, weekends I didn't want to spend fishing. I take for granted how much time I spent in my youth on skiffs, how much it's shaped me. Learning math trying to figure out how much I could make in a summer doing paper routes, adding it up with pencil on a paper plate. Cold cut sandwiches and diet coke in the cooler. Close calls, choppy seas, occasionally smiling on a clear, cool morning with water spraying in your face. From high-school on you couldn't drag me on a boat if you tried. Years later I'm on a boat tour in Jamaica drinking rum and punch slap-dash made in a gallon jug, then on a beach kicking myself for not checking out the underwater observatory, then smoking weed with my girlfriend and her family getting back to our room, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is on I'm stoned and I realize Daily Routine sampled it. Years later I'm in Dublin at the end of my trip to Europe and recently learned my brother had died, a bus to the cliffs of Moher and I get in a boat on the ocean. I cross a creek as a kid in a fiberglass craft to see my mom who is staying on a friends property and they're growing carrots.

[Sputnik Monroe]

blindmowing wrote:

Hellomark wrote:

Their run of releases from 2000-2010 is basically untouchable for me, both due to personal sentimental reasons and that I really feel like they were the most interesting and creative band at that time to receive the level of acclaim they did. That being said, I really appreciate TS as what feels like a step in a more pleasing direction. Its a massive improvement in production over CHz, and in songwriting over PW. Does that mean it matches the way I feel about their earlier work? Well, as others have said, it's a little early to tell, these songs could definitely appreciate in beauty and meaning over the years. But at the moment, I'd have to say no not really. And that's perfectly fine.

you've extrapolated on where i was heading -- and i share your sentiments.

based on time/place context -- the records' appearances both within my life and the context of (indie) music in the 2000s -- i find it hard to fathom ever loving an AC album as extremely as i do those ones. those albums are so linked to discovery, growth, coming-of-age, etc. that there is that piece of nostalgia/golden memory that grows evermore cherished as the years go by, only increasing my regard of those albums to even higher levels.

but, there's no way of knowing for certain if i can develop a second wind of this kind of inspiration/connection/kindship with TS and TS2 until time has passed and i've grown with them and seen how they intertwine in my life and change with me, hence why i say i need to give this 3 years to know for certain where it stands.

for now, i regard Time Skiffs as a very good AC album -- but this is more an intellectual take than the more primal emotional experiences i have with the 2000s output, which were mostly me being doused in wonder/awe/perplexity, pounded by the waves of stupefaction ... i totally have an emotional connection to Time Skiffs, but for me it's still fresh, it feels like a new girl in my life and i can't tell if i'm just crushing hard and blinded by love.

here's to being more in love with this album in 5 years as i am right now! for now, all i can say is it's damn good.

I feel this. So much of what made their early albums great for me besides them just being great musically was the context of where they were placed in my life. I first heard sung tongs when I was 15 (32 now), and the was pivitol for me. I grew up in a strict conservative christian household, and I heard one song because of my older cousin, and just downloaded everything they had on limewire. I wasn't even that big of a music person, because I had no idea music could be like this. when I heard it, something clicked, and it opened me up into a whole new world. Feels had just came out, and I listened to each song countless times. It was like trying psychedelics for the first time — Animal Collective was quite literally (as corny as it sounds) the first drug I've ever done. From there I became obsessed with music, and it led me to wanting to make music myself and I got a guitar for christmas.

They soundtracked my whole highschool years. It was all about growth, discovery, and coming of age as you said. So that will always be part of it for me, of what made those albums so great. I still love all their albums, even Centipede and Painting — I still think those albums were so fresh and different than anything anyone else was making at that time. Time Skiffs is definitely up there for me in their albums, but it is hard to say whether I like it as much as their earlier records because of everything else that was part of those. It is hard to say the kind of effect Skiffs would have on me if I had never heard them and it came out in that time of my life. Music in general has changed and grown since then, and there is a lot more groups influenced by them, or at least are riding off the coat-tails of what they opened up musically and so what became sonically acceptable within music. I still think they are doing stuff no one else is doing, and probably always will — but it isn't as big of a jump from what they were doing in the early 2000's and what other people were doing than to what they are doing now and what other people are doing now. Plus, I've just become so accustomed to their sound that it isn't something earth shattering when I hear it — and they definitely don't need to always be that for me to love it. I've since become way more accustomed and appreciative globally of all the music going on.

It will be interesting to hear the reactions of young people where Time Skiffs is their first Animal Collective record and see where they sit with that. I think objectively, if I'm to set aside the history and nostalgia, Time Skiffs is some of the best music they've made, and I can appreciate it on that level, and I really do love this record and have already listened to it way more than anything else that's come out in a while. I think this is an intersting discussion for long time fans tho, especially those who discovered them when they were young. Thanks for bringing this perspective up, helped me articulate how I was feeling!

[roopn]

blindmowing wrote:

Spoiler: show

Hellomark wrote:

Their run of releases from 2000-2010 is basically untouchable for me, both due to personal sentimental reasons and that I really feel like they were the most interesting and creative band at that time to receive the level of acclaim they did. That being said, I really appreciate TS as what feels like a step in a more pleasing direction. Its a massive improvement in production over CHz, and in songwriting over PW. Does that mean it matches the way I feel about their earlier work? Well, as others have said, it's a little early to tell, these songs could definitely appreciate in beauty and meaning over the years. But at the moment, I'd have to say no not really. And that's perfectly fine.

you've extrapolated on where i was heading -- and i share your sentiments.

based on time/place context -- the records' appearances both within my life and the context of (indie) music in the 2000s -- i find it hard to fathom ever loving an AC album as extremely as i do those ones. those albums are so linked to discovery, growth, coming-of-age, etc. that there is that piece of nostalgia/golden memory that grows evermore cherished as the years go by, only increasing my regard of those albums to even higher levels.

but, there's no way of knowing for certain if i can develop a second wind of this kind of inspiration/connection/kindship with TS and TS2 until time has passed and i've grown with them and seen how they intertwine in my life and change with me, hence why i say i need to give this 3 years to know for certain where it stands.

for now, i regard Time Skiffs as a very good AC album -- but this is more an intellectual take than the more primal emotional experiences i have with the 2000s output, which were mostly me being doused in wonder/awe/perplexity, pounded by the waves of stupefaction ... i totally have an emotional connection to Time Skiffs, but for me it's still fresh, it feels like a new girl in my life and i can't tell if i'm just crushing hard and blinded by love.

here's to being more in love with this album in 5 years as i am right now! for now, all i can say is it's damn good.

Really fucking good post

[roopn]

I think it's clicked a little for me

I think what had been throwing me with this album is how earnestly "performed" everything sounds. By which I mean, the usual product of AC's psychedelic production is that the final product sounds alive on its own, totally removed from the body playing the instrument (voice included). But on Time Skiffs, the drums really sound like Noah holding some sticks, hitting some drums. The keyboard parts are unashamedly "keys" parts. The band members are upfront and themselves in the performance of this album. And yet, somehow they still retain the detailed, full-of-secrets mixing style they've always had

I do realise not everyone might hear it that way

[dio]

I think I know exactly what you mean^

[wilandhugs]

It is amazing to hear all these perspectives from people who are older than myself by a bit and have a stronger nostalgia towards those older albums. I do too, but I'm about to turn 22 so for me it's definitely a different set of scenarios. At least to me, this music (including hearing the boots in 19 and then in 21) has sort of been soundtracking a lot of change for me in this time, especially as I've finally started to go back to school and realize what I really want out of this world and where I really stand in it. So thank you all for sharing.

[awesome]

full deakin interview on the site that had the ~~~new record already recorded exclusive~~~

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/deakin-ani ... new-music/

here's the end of it, looking ahead to the next LP and beyond:

wrote:

Between the remote recordings and the return to playing in person, the rejuvenated atmosphere led to a surprising addition: the band wrote and recorded an entirely new album before Time Skiffs was even done. “We don’t have a set-in-stone plan for the next record, but it’s all been recorded and hopefully it will be mixed in the next few months,” Dibb reveals. “And I would assume that means that it’ll be coming out in some form, whether it’s as just the next album or an album with an EP. I’m not really sure, but I would imagine that will be coming out within a year’s time, I would hope. Maybe early next year. And so that will be another record coming out with a bunch of songs that we’re going to want to be, you know, supporting and going on the road with.”

Dibb admits that Animal Collective tend to work in “cycles” and that “part of me kind of imagines that some of that will need to start happening at some point in the next 12 to 18 months. People will either be feeling like it’s time to take a break or starting to really think about a new-new-new batch of songs, and maybe even a new way of imagining what we’re doing. I don’t really know if I can totally predict what’s going to happen.”

He continued: “I think there’ll be a balance. I think we all really want to keep doing this. There’s always been a very important element to us of not burning out on material or burning out on energy. And that’s why we oftentimes reinvent ourselves every couple of years. Then each record really feels like it’s a really new world”.

Ultimately, Animal Collective have no plans to stop that exploration that has become their modus operandi. “I know that there’s going to be a point in the future where what we’ve been doing and how we’ve been doing it will start to feel – boring is the wrong word – but yeah, it’ll just kind of feel like we’re ready to move on to something different,” he adds. “And I don’t know when that point will happen. I know it will, and it could be in a year, it could be in two. At that point, there will probably either be a whole new AC era or people will want to take a break and work on solo stuff and kind of come back around after that.”

[headroom)))]

Awesome post Sputnik Monroe, totally feel you on the psychedelic feeling of understanding Sung Tongs and the difficulty of ranking Time Skiffs from being a fan from 2005. Really connect with a lot of what you said about how unique AC's sound was back then related to their peers. I distinctly remember being all about Arcade Fire's first album, then Sung Tongs clicked, and almost all those indie guitar bands seemed super lame and uninspiring. Sung Tongs was soooooo different, beautiful and unique and that led me to really search for music from all over the place. Which I assume is natural for a 19 year old, but I think getting into AC around that time really sets you up for a life of music exploration. I listen to so much variety of music, and I think its because AC was genre-less and seemed to be taking inspiration from everywhere.

Also great posts from Hellomark and Blindmowing!

[Namesarehard]

awesome wrote:

full deakin interview on the site that had the ~~~new record already recorded exclusive~~~

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/deakin-ani ... new-music/

thanks for the link, very informative, but also God, if only journalists could get over the trope of "so here he was, guess what, wearing HUMAN CLOTHES, and communicating by SPEAKING ENGLISH with his MOUTH, how incredible and unexpected"... and it isn't even as if they had elaborate stage personas, they present themselves as t-shirt-wearing dudes

[headroom)))]

Namesarehard wrote:

awesome wrote:

full deakin interview on the site that had the ~~~new record already recorded exclusive~~~

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/deakin-ani ... new-music/

thanks for the link, very informative, but also God, if only journalists could get over the trope of "so here he was, guess what, wearing HUMAN CLOTHES, and communicating by SPEAKING ENGLISH with his MOUTH, how incredible and unexpected"... and it isn't even as if they had elaborate stage personas, they present themselves as t-shirt-wearing dudes

Aw man, that post had me rollin. 100% agree

[Fritz]

God I love how the outro to Walker is Avey guiding you into the Avey zone for Cherokee. It gets me so pumped.

[dio]

Fritz wrote:

God I love how the outro to Walker is Avey guiding you into the Avey zone for Cherokee. It gets me so pumped.

Hell ya. I love it too. Whole record is consistent, but Walker-We Go Back is such a sick and perfect stretch to me.

The opening is wildly solid too but Prester and Strung still have the slight sheen of singles about them, as incredible as they are.

[Stan]

roopn wrote:

I think it's clicked a little for me

I think what had been throwing me with this album is how earnestly "performed" everything sounds. By which I mean, the usual product of AC's psychedelic production is that the final product sounds alive on its own, totally removed from the body playing the instrument (voice included). But on Time Skiffs, the drums really sound like Noah holding some sticks, hitting some drums. The keyboard parts are unashamedly "keys" parts. The band members are upfront and themselves in the performance of this album. And yet, somehow they still retain the detailed, full-of-secrets mixing style they've always had

I do realise not everyone might hear it that way

This is a fucking brilliant post. Best forum I ever been on.

[jfw7]

bullseye wrote:

Panda wrote so many songs about masturbation at this point that I wouldn't be surprised if he'd just straight-up drop a song called wanker.

"you're gonna get a standing o" means "standing orgasm" and is about jacking off into a toilet

[jfw7]

Stan wrote:

This is a fucking brilliant post. Best forum I ever been on.

i also really appreciate the "mature animal collective fan" posting and am glad there are folks who can eloquently + sincerely put some of these facts and feelings into words. thanks everybody

[conswaygo]

Posts and discussions like these is why I've been coming back to this forum for over a decade.

I first heard Strawberry Jam when I had just moved to a new town right before beginning high school. It was a bit isolating at a critical time of adolescents. The freeform creativity and expression I discovered as I worked backwards into their discography legitimately helped me figure out who I was as a human being and embrace it. Not caring so much about how you're perceived externally and just being content with how you perceive yourself. A simple change had a domino effect. I started creating music myself and met some incredible people in this new town. AC had such a positive impact on how the rest of my youth played out.

Ever since then their music has been the soundtrack as my life unfolds. From the blissful and careful MPP summer nights, to the CHZ chaos of couch surfing and playing music with no life plan, to PW and the struggle to find balance between accepting adulthood and maintaining the youthful passion. Now with Time Skiffs my 30s are here and I've stumbled upon success and my future wife. I've never felt more content with my life. Each album is such a time capsule in my brain of experiences and emotions with so many releases in-between that accent moments.

That is why this band means so much to me and I'll keep returning to celebrate that with all of you.

It's hard for me to compare Skiffs to anything else they've done. Just as it's hard to compare myself to who I was at the moments in time in prior releases. Vastly different but roots the same.

[awesome]

podcast interview with noah and josh: https://www.thefader.com/2022/02/11/lis ... -interview

[opposite field]

Pretty cool interview. The CHZ gear breakdown at the beginning was amazing, I would kill for that kind of info from each era.

[awesome]

just finished it and lol they are asked about NFTs toward the end

[Fovrodi]

The first time I heard of an NFT was seeing Noah liked a story about a band releasing their album as an NFT (Not mumford and sons, sex is on fire band or whatever the hell that song is)

[hunkswithguns]

roopn wrote:

I think it's clicked a little for me

I think what had been throwing me with this album is how earnestly "performed" everything sounds. By which I mean, the usual product of AC's psychedelic production is that the final product sounds alive on its own, totally removed from the body playing the instrument (voice included). But on Time Skiffs, the drums really sound like Noah holding some sticks, hitting some drums. The keyboard parts are unashamedly "keys" parts. The band members are upfront and themselves in the performance of this album. And yet, somehow they still retain the detailed, full-of-secrets mixing style they've always had

I do realise not everyone might hear it that way

Excellent post. This articulates something I've been hearing and processing but couldn't put words to.

[foxtrot]

Amazing posts all over the shop here. Love the depth and insight and feeling in the way you all articulate your thoughts about AC. Love reading this stuff. I guess my take was pretty much summed up in my ‘choose love’ post a couple of pages back.

[coral lord]

jfw7 wrote:

bullseye wrote:

Panda wrote so many songs about masturbation at this point that I wouldn't be surprised if he'd just straight-up drop a song called wanker.

"you're gonna get a standing o" means "standing orgasm" and is about jacking off into a toilet

lmao

[blindmowing]

awesome wrote:

podcast interview with noah and josh: https://www.thefader.com/2022/02/11/lis ... -interview

damn, he's easily the most educated/well-researched interviewer i've heard from an AC interview. excellent thoughts and questions asked

cool to hear Deakin's keys on "Car Keys" are Indonesian inspired

lots of interesting bits that Deakin shared

[hypo's]

luv u guys