[Stan]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD31WYRIXcw&[/youtube]

A long long time before I loved Animal Collective more than anything else and a long long time before I loved Daft Punk/French House before anything else, I loved Blur more than anything else.

This is my favourite unreleased Blur song, proper funeral material, goodnight my friends and family.

The only song better than Animal Collective.

[blindmowing]

In my opinion, there is no song better than Animal Collective. But I respect your take, regardless.

[Stan]

My mistake, I meant :

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4eav7dFvc8&[/youtube]

The only song better than Animal Collective.

[Stan]

Terribly sorry, fat fingers, I meant:

[Stan]

Hehehe I had the wrong link in the clipboard, I emphatically intended to post

[coral lord]

I like their song “Woohoo”

[jfw7]

coral lord wrote:

I like their song “Sunshine in a Bag”

QFT

[ingenue]

Haha! Never heard this Blur tune thx Stan. K, if we’re doing this, only song better than AC is indeed a Damon Albarn tune from the cult classic film, Ravenous:

[Stan]

Wow, that's fantastic, never heard it before and from the comments, it looks like I'll have to watch the film, too.

Gotta be honest, I had a couple of beers last night celebrating something with my wife. Had I been clearer minded, I would have been able to recall that this ecstatic medieval whirlygig from Walerian Borowczyk's Blanche is the only song better than Animal Collective.

[Hash]

Animal Collective will always be my favourite song

[Cooper]

Aphex Twin is better than animal collective. Arthur Russell is better than panda bear. Autechre is better than them all but is not technically in the same dimension of eligible comparison

[Stan]

Nonsense

[ingenue]

Stan wrote:

Wow, that's fantastic, never heard it before and from the comments, it looks like I'll have to watch the film, too.

Do! Stupendous soundtrack, great characters, great acting, memorable script, incredible visuals. Guy Pearce, Robert Carlyle, Jeremy Davies, David Arquette. A cannibal Western. Better than it sounds. Ha. My personal favorite film of all-time.

[headroom)))]

I sometimes try to think of my top 10 bands/artists/musicians and AC is miles ahead of the #2 position. Its kinda ridiculous how much I love them.

[wilandhugs]

XTC is the only band that has AC tier songs to me

Greenman, Easter Theatre, River of Orchids, all of the Dukes of Stratosphear, plenty off of Skylarking, oranges and lemons, and nonsuch-- and the run from drums and wires to big express is amazing in a less psychedelic, more punk/power pop way. You still get some real unique and unparalleled weirdo moments on all those albums too, though.

Can't say they're the only song better than animal collective though-- I usually prefer AC overall just due to their wide breadth with the solo stuff and the live shows, but I can't name any other bands that I dedicate so much listening/dissection/analysis to. So that title would have to go to Uprising by Muse of course.

[ingenue]

Don’t you guys and gals have phases tho? There were years where I kinda checked-out on AC, then something new would rope me back in. That said, other than Paul Westerberg, they’re the only band with a fan community I participate in. (I’m the moderator at PW’s forum... any Replacements fans out there?) I love this place! I love how deep we get into the minutiae and lore of this band. Hearing Sung Tongs almost 20 years ago changed my life. But so did Kid A and The Moon and Antarctica and Spiderland and Tim and Strange Geometry and Bless the Weather and Pink Moon and The Doldrums and Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. Music is magic.

[roopn]

Cooper wrote:

Aphex Twin is better than animal collective. Arthur Russell is better than panda bear. Autechre is better than them all but is not technically in the same dimension of eligible comparison

can you recommend a good place to start with arthur russell? ty x

ingenue wrote:

Don’t you guys and gals have phases tho? There were years where I kinda checked-out on AC, then something new would rope me back in. That said, other than Paul Westerberg, they’re the only band with a fan community I participate in. (I’m the moderator at PW’s forum... any Replacements fans out there?) I love this place! I love how deep we get into the minutiae and lore of this band. Hearing Sung Tongs almost 20 years ago changed my life. But so did Kid A and The Moon and Antarctica and Spiderland and Tim and Strange Geometry and Bless the Weather and Pink Moon and The Doldrums and Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. Music is magic.

lovely post. had a few of phases over the years, the only thing that comes close to AC obsession-wise is probably king gizzard. 2014-2017 era - mind fuzz/quarters/deam balloon is their golden run, pretty much untouchable.
other major phases in my life have included daft punk, radiohead, lcd soundsystem - all of which I'm no longer that fond of which is a shame


and seconding the bolded part of your post. I've said it plenty of times but I truly cherish this forum

[roopn]

here's my recommendation for the thread: Gap Tooth by Jaala. as good or better than any given AC album. please do check it out, and I'd love to hear thoughts. I struggle to even describe this album because it hits me so deeply, and I don't want to spoil it for anyone by getting my words in the way of your ears

https://jaalaband.bandcamp.com/album/gap-tooth

[Cooper]

roopn wrote:

Cooper wrote:

Aphex Twin is better than animal collective. Arthur Russell is better than panda bear. Autechre is better than them all but is not technically in the same dimension of eligible comparison

can you recommend a good place to start with arthur russell? ty x

He has many modes that ultimately intertwine but I think it’s necessary to “start” with all of them with an open mind. For singer-songwriter I’d start with Iowa Dream (album), for electro-pop start with Calling out of context (album), for disco start with the 12” vocal version of Tell You Today, for his “final form” check out World Of Echo (album), for classical/serious check out Instrumentals. It’s impossible to choose one thing for you because his genius lies partially in the profound emotional similarity of all of his modes

Edit: I thought about it and I guess you should start with the song “wild combination”

[wilandhugs]

ingenue wrote:

Don’t you guys and gals have phases tho? There were years where I kinda checked-out on AC, then something new would rope me back in. That said, other than Paul Westerberg, they’re the only band with a fan community I participate in. (I’m the moderator at PW’s forum... any Replacements fans out there?) I love this place! I love how deep we get into the minutiae and lore of this band. Hearing Sung Tongs almost 20 years ago changed my life. But so did Kid A and The Moon and Antarctica and Spiderland and Tim and Strange Geometry and Bless the Weather and Pink Moon and The Doldrums and Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. Music is magic.

Yeah, but the whole thing is that I still listen to AC and XTC during those other phases. Funny you mention TMA, Modest Mouse is the only other band I'd consider putting in my list but I just dont think a band with an album as eh as STO can be on that ranking.
Lonesome crowded west and plenty of their B sides (broke, interstate 8, edit the sad parts, grey ice water, night on the sun), are some of my biggest influences and probably rank up there with the others I mentioned
At the end of the day though I think the two artists I mentioned just tend to have the largest span and to me have a nearly flawless output. So, there's always something to fit my different phases or moods I feel like, and the songs never run out of steam.

[roopn]

Cooper wrote:

roopn wrote:

Cooper wrote:

Aphex Twin is better than animal collective. Arthur Russell is better than panda bear. Autechre is better than them all but is not technically in the same dimension of eligible comparison

can you recommend a good place to start with arthur russell? ty x

He has many modes that ultimately intertwine but I think it’s necessary to “start” with all of them with an open mind. For singer-songwriter I’d start with Iowa Dream (album), for electro-pop start with Calling out of context (album), for disco start with the 12” vocal version of Tell You Today, for his “final form” check out World Of Echo (album), for classical/serious check out Instrumentals. It’s impossible to choose one thing for you because his genius lies partially in the profound emotional similarity of all of his modes

Edit: I thought about it and I guess you should start with the song “wild combination”

this is a very generous answer, thank you

[jfw7]

i'll say that "arm around you" was a song that floored me even after i considered myself someone who had listened to a lot of athur's music, and "a little lost" was the one that hooked me in the first place

[scrambledgreggs]

headroom))) wrote:

I sometimes try to think of my top 10 bands/artists/musicians and AC is miles ahead of the #2 position. Its kinda ridiculous how much I love them.

feel this exactly

[zebrahman]

Cooper wrote:

Aphex Twin is better than animal collective. Arthur Russell is better than panda bear. Autechre is better than them all but is not technically in the same dimension of eligible comparison

Dude you're off your rocker lol, Arthur Russell better than AC? Disagree across the board but that in particular is crazy to me haha. I actually love all three of those artists but there's no way any of them have made an album as cohesive and special as MPP and I'm not even sure that's my favorite AC album, it's just a one of a kind perfect sort of album. Even Aphex's classic albums like I Care Because You Do are somewhat inconsistent..

[Cooper]

It’s limiting to judge art by standards of consistency or perfection. Those artists I listed have higher peaks than AC for me. I don’t need to consider the songs that I don’t like

Aphex undoubtedly has songs that are more immersively spiritual than AC (Alberto, #3, xmas eve). Arthur has songs that are more endearingly personal odes to life than panda (barefoot in New York, Me For Real, instrumentals Volume 2 part 1). Autechre make way “cooler” sounding music than AC (Syptixed, Jatevee C, pendulu hv moda).

Obviously I love AC. They are indeed way more consistent than anyone. It’s always been those four bands starting with A for me though. The quadruple A’s. Every other band stands way below those four

[Hellomark]

Also if you're talking album cohesiveness, it's kind of unfair to compare Arthur with AC since pretty much every Arthur release aside from World of Echo was compiled posthumously, while I would argue that making super cohesive and satisfying albums is one of AC's greatest strengths.

[MFpotus]

jfw7 wrote:

i'll say that "arm around you" was a song that floored me even after i considered myself someone who had listened to a lot of athur's music, and "a little lost" was the one that hooked me in the first place

yes

i was getting into Arthur Russell before PBVSGR came out and Arm Around You has that steel drum sound that reminded me of Crosswords. In fact it was my favorite part of bootleg Crosswords (and why the Crosswords remix is better than the original for me). Basically I would just listen to Arm Around You over and over again to hype myself up for Crosswords.

Pretty sure it's not actually steel drums but its some kind of melodic percussive instrument. IDK anything about music

[zebrahman]

Cooper wrote:

It’s limiting to judge art by standards of consistency or perfection. Those artists I listed have higher peaks than AC for me. I don’t need to consider the songs that I don’t like

Aphex undoubtedly has songs that are more immersively spiritual than AC (Alberto, #3, xmas eve). Arthur has songs that are more endearingly personal odes to life than panda (barefoot in New York, Me For Real, instrumentals Volume 2 part 1). Autechre make way “cooler” sounding music than AC (Syptixed, Jatevee C, pendulu hv moda).

Obviously I love AC. They are indeed way more consistent than anyone. It’s always been those four bands starting with A for me though. The quadruple A’s. Every other band stands way below those four

I didn't mean it to seem like I'm basing my "argument" off of album consistency alone, I just enjoy Animal Collective's music more than any of those artists, even though I really dig their music too, but to each their own. Arthur Russell is good, not great, to me. I've loved Aphex for many years but none of his tracks or LPS would even come close to a lot of AC's releases in my top. Etc.

[zebrahman]

Cooper wrote:

It’s limiting to judge art by standards of consistency or perfection. Those artists I listed have higher peaks than AC for me. I don’t need to consider the songs that I don’t like

Aphex undoubtedly has songs that are more immersively spiritual than AC (Alberto, #3, xmas eve). Arthur has songs that are more endearingly personal odes to life than panda (barefoot in New York, Me For Real, instrumentals Volume 2 part 1). Autechre make way “cooler” sounding music than AC (Syptixed, Jatevee C, pendulu hv moda).

Obviously I love AC. They are indeed way more consistent than anyone. It’s always been those four bands starting with A for me though. The quadruple A’s. Every other band stands way below those four

Also I think to call Alberto Balsalm more immersively spiritual than stuff like Banshee Beat or Benfica is a stretch haha.

[Cooper]

Definitely comes down to taste lol. Aphex’s spirituality is like the divinity of nature, like the feeling of being really healthy and grateful, whereas AC is like secrets and dreams, folktale creatures etc.

[Fovrodi]

Broadcast had so much to offer, miss Trish Keenan. Beat AC to the message of burglars over a decade in advance

[roopn]

Hellomark wrote:

I would argue that making super cohesive and satisfying albums is one of AC's greatest strengths.

absolutely agree on this. almost every ac song belongs to a sonic world, whether it be an album or a live era etc. that's what makes it so fun and satisfying to engage with the band's discography.

cooper, loved 'wild combination' and jfw7, checking out now 'arm around you' and 'little lost'... safe to say I'm already blown away

[wilandhugs]

Fovrodi wrote:

Broadcast had so much to offer, miss Trish Keenan. Beat AC to the message of burglars over a decade in advance

Totally agree on this, and what a loss the music world has had since her passing. Before We Begin is one of the most beautiful, entrancing and exotic pieces of music ever made to me, all of Haha Sound for that matter, but the sublime pop of that song in particular is something that's so key to me in music.
Also reminds me of another artist I forgot to mention, which is Ween, but mostly from the run to The Oneness to Quebec. Pretty much golden and groundbreaking, even if Golden Country Greats isn't always my cup of tea
Oh, and Cocteau Twins. Meditative awake dream states, specifically ones that make the nature around you feel distorted in how present the music makes you, are ones that I really think over-the-too atmospheric bands like AC and CT nail to a T. HoLV gets a lot of praise, but Blue Bell Knoll is absolutely stunning to me in how cold, but inviting it is.

[Cooper]

Great to hear roopn Arthur has a very bizarre stylistic timbre that alienates him from a lot of people I think. But he is definitely my favorite songwriter, the melodies he writes are like automatic heart bombs and that’s why I compared him to panda who also writes the most efficiently emotive melodies

[Stan]

I find Arthur Russell a little hit and miss but when everything aligns, he's absolutely wonderful. A Little Lost is probably my favourite but here's another I love not mentioned already:



Beyond these more melancholic and minimal songs, he also wrote some ecstatic dancefloor workouts, with this being my favourite disco song ever. It just builds and builds with the insistent chanting and the percussion, it feels like it's going to fall apart under its own rattling energy:



The cello, keys and guitar are doing so much here, I'm still picking new things out after twenty years.

[Hellomark]

I like Arthur Russells minimal cello songs the most, songs like Soon To Be Innocent Fun, Losing My Taste For The Nightlife, Our Last Night Together are just so hauntingly beautiful to me. But there's great stuff in every style he's worked in.

[Cooper]

Soon to be innocent fun is a lifechanging song. That’s his Banshee Beat

[Fovrodi]

wilandhugs wrote:

Fovrodi wrote:

Broadcast had so much to offer, miss Trish Keenan. Beat AC to the message of burglars over a decade in advance

Totally agree on this, and what a loss the music world has had since her passing. Before We Begin is one of the most beautiful, entrancing and exotic pieces of music ever made to me, all of Haha Sound for that matter, but the sublime pop of that song in particular is something that's so key to me in music.
Also reminds me of another artist I forgot to mention, which is Ween, but mostly from the run to The Oneness to Quebec. Pretty much golden and groundbreaking, even if Golden Country Greats isn't always my cup of tea
Oh, and Cocteau Twins. Meditative awake dream states, specifically ones that make the nature around you feel distorted in how present the music makes you, are ones that I really think over-the-too atmospheric bands like AC and CT nail to a T. HoLV gets a lot of praise, but Blue Bell Knoll is absolutely stunning to me in how cold, but inviting it is.

Ween and Broadcast in the same sentence haha, but I love 'em both. Argus is one of my favorite psychedelic songs ever

[zebrahman]

Definitely comes down to taste yeah, was just genuinely surprised by your take so replied for fun lol. It's yet another good example of how two individuals' experience of the same 'thing' can differ drastically.

Cooper wrote:

Definitely comes down to taste lol. Aphex’s spirituality is like the divinity of nature, like the feeling of being really healthy and grateful, whereas AC is like secrets and dreams, folktale creatures etc.

[headroom)))]

Cooper wrote:

Aphex’s spirituality is like the divinity of nature, like the feeling of being really healthy and grateful, whereas AC is like secrets and dreams, folktale creatures etc.

Totally get your take on those. Aphex's "Stone in Focus" is one of the most spiritual pieces of music I've ever heard. And Visiting Friends is too, but in such different ways.

On the note of spirituality, I like to think about how spiritual Person Pitch is. First track based on a sample of the Melanesian Choir singing about Jesus, third track has a sample from Cat Stevens who later had a religious revival in his life, 4th track based on a sample of a Guillaume de Machaut medieval choir piece, and the album ends with a song about his desire for his soul to never stop growing. Not to mention how the album is drenched in reverb which can evoke a spatial sense of spirituality. Iono, i'm yakking. Love all y'all.