Collected Animals

they said they only released a portion of the music box show because they wanted studio versions of some of the songs to come out first, which i guess technically puts sundown with cecil and peanut butter hearts on the table (though sundown with cecil probably just didn't stitch cleanly onto paper forehead for the concert vid)

If Sundown with Cecil ends up on the album I'll be very very happy

they said they only released a portion of the music box show because they wanted studio versions of some of the songs to come out first

I feel like they didn't say this specifically? Just vaguely said the others will be released. Maybe I'm just being hopeful and misremembering

I know I’m in the minority here, but I think Soul Capturer fits in beautifully with the new stuff as a rhythmic counterpoint in a batch of songs that otherwise swerve in surprising directions. I have a harder time hearing Broke and Gem (which I want as a twin single release) sitting beside the big trio of Defeat, Magicians, and genies.

I kinda like the idea of a non-album single to promote the album and Gem or mmmaybe Broke is the obvious one. Both would be kinda cool.

Gem does seem kinda markedly breezier and lighter than anything else that might be on this. But I think Broke could flow with it, as a moment of slight levity (but still an emotional kick) amidst the heavier tracks.

Maybe Gem & I non-album single with Soul Capturer b-side?? In like May or June to promote a July release. Cmon do it.

it would be unusual to only have one noah song on a proper album, if gem or broke was released as a non-album single what would that leave for the record itself?

it would be unusual to only have one noah song on a proper album, if gem or broke was released as a non-album single what would that leave for the record itself?

A new noah song!

Stories and Games wrote:

they said they only released a portion of the music box show because they wanted studio versions of some of the songs to come out first

I feel like they didn't say this specifically? Just vaguely said the others will be released. Maybe I'm just being hopeful and misremembering

pretty sure Avey did in the AMA when someone asked if the rest of MBV recording will be released

I've long clung onto the notion of Cecil being on this thing, mainly because it wasn't on the MBV release. Please for the love of all that's holy.

Cecil is great but I’d prefer if the unknown song they recorded was something completely new

the album opening with cecil would be legendary. would sort of bring the era full circle
A:
Cecil
Magicians
Gem
B:
PBH
Soul
Kings
C:
Broke
Defeat
D:
Stride
Genie

no idea if that would work with a vinyl or whatever. ideally I'd like to see them cram it all into one release somehow and salvage the true double album dream

There was an interview around when Time Skiffs came out where Deakin said he only contributed two songs to the Time Skiffs/next album sessions, which I took to mean that Peanut Butter Hearts was not considered for a studio album. I think it and Cecil were left off the MBV release to have an equal number of tracks between what was released/left unreleased

i v specifically remember deakin saying that they're holding off on releasing the full mbv show because of still unreleased studio versions of some of the songs. it makes a lot of sense that sundown with cecil would be cut in that context, not because it's definitely gonna be officially released but because in the set it functioned essentially as a prelude for downdowndowndown and transitioned into it pretty seamlessly, probably just made sense to lop off the first three songs altogether.

peanut butter hearts however was excised from the middle of an otherwise totally continuous slab of music for the concert vid, which is intriguing. i would guess that deakin might be saving it for a solo record; i've also heard someone mention that the performance(s) of pbh at music box were a bit haywire, like the samples were out of sync or something, maybe they just cut it bc they weren't happy with the performance

Knock on wood for a May announcement/September release (more time than between Person Pitch/Pullhair Rubeye and SJ, more time than between SJ and MPP).

Given last year's Feb-Aug releases, I think that makes sense. Especially if a Spirit reissue is still being considered for this year, they'll want at least a little space between the album and it

Knock on wood for a May announcement/September release (more time than between Person Pitch/Pullhair Rubeye and SJ, more time than between SJ and MPP).

ya, i'm on the same wavelength.

late may announcement, early september release

my bet is on "Genie's Open" as lead single

I think it would make sense for a Kings/Genies single seeing as they did the Tiny Desk and Sirius performances.

Dump this out on mediafire and get on with a new sound

If anyone has a problem with Stan just be glad you didn't have to listen to the kids I had to after the sung tongs show in london. Waxing UN-poetic about Feels being the last record they liked, Mellow Gold being their favorite Beck album. Asking for an autograph from Avey but had no sharpie, offered mine and they didn't even thank me, most of them are bark and no bite. Did have some schaadenfreud when they offered Avey some weed "I do smoke but no thank you"

I should say my manners are very good, I'm the king of thank you, just had enough of this dragged out Skiffery and not that keen on 7s.

Dump this out on mediafire and get on with a new sound

I get it. It sucks that we as fans and they as the band are at the mercy of things like vinyl production and release schedules. I guess I just don't really understand the band's continued use of Domino records. They're a successful mid-tier indie label so the security of having the ability (and finances) to produce music videos and special websites and stuff must feel very safe and lucrative for them. I can't help but wonder if waiting months and months and months from recording to releasing something frustrates them or not. I feel like if they were releasing things on their own we would have already had the time skiffs follow up. But maybe not!

Personally I've been avoiding listening to the new songs since I saw them in pittsburgh. I don't want to give myself demoitis. In the mean time 7s has grown a lot on me this last whole week. Wasn't really into it at first but I catch myself whistling a melody that ends up being from that album.

Domino 2008





Domino 2023



Me, every day

lolololololol

if i controlled the animal collective puppet strings, i'd have them focus on completely new material with a completely new instrument lineup, and that would be the time skiffs 2 tour. I have a hard time believing theyre interested in touring with the same setup again

also, make animal collective scary again

That sounds like perfection. I need post-industrial animal collective. It seems unlikely, but the dream is that they get back into making super dissonant and noisy stuff for a cycle.

keep deak on the piano but i want geologist on scary sound duty and avey on scream duty

Report to your positions men

It actually would bum me outa little if they toured again with mostly the same setup. I feel like if they did the same setup they could change the set away from skiffs stuff and do mostly older songs/kind of a greatest hits thing or something but that would be so boring. If its basically the same set as last year thats boring too, only way to win is to have newer music.

One of my hopes for this era is that they would do a return to music box show once all of this stuff came out and then put it to bed. Still think it would be cool and a nice way to wrap up this extended period.

I'd be really surprised if they decided to hit the road again before having new music. It would seem really out of character, especially for noah - i get the impression that he's the most restless when it comes to doing the same thing for a while, i dont see him being down to just do another time skiffs tour

my hope is that ai creates a lot of space for radical human experimentation in the arts. ac should be out front.

lol i really dont see them involving AI in any part of their process

lol i really dont see them involving AI in any part of their process

haha - not what i meant.

i mean that the "art" created by ai will hopefully make human artists more apt to create art that is clearly distinct from the mush and for audiences to be more open to radical forms of experimentation that mark the art as uniquely human (ie not-ai). if any of that is the case, a band like ac - with a long history of shape-shifting and weirdness - stands to be out front and to benefit from the new receptivity to experimental forms.

or something

what an awful, depressing thought

I could only really see the AC using neural networks if that usage was strictly within their own ideals of originality, creativity, and as much fairness as is possible under late capitalism. Applying those criteria to AI could mean using their own custom datasets (rather than the mass-scraped datasets of Stable Diffusion or GPT-3 or whatever), turning up the randomness settings to get really unpredictable and fucked up outputs, and then manually doing more stuff with the results rather than just using them as-is. Stuff like generating textures that are then cut up and collaged by hand for an album cover, or generating a few Geologist-esque sound effects to sprinkle around an ambient soundscape. But the manual way of making those things is no doubt far more satisfying for the guys, and I doubt they'll throw themselves into what is proving to be an uncertain and increasingly tech bro-y field any time soon.

tl;dr k.c.'s coming can't you hear it like the crying wind

Fuck AI good lord

AC's entire existence is based around the natural world, human connectivity, the shared spirit of collaboration, trying to find the depths of the human spirit and reach mind-meld levels of shared experience and improvisation. Communal transcendence, psychedelic experience, creative output that can only be achieved by the wonders of (divine) inspiration and unconcious/stream-of-conscious playing. They are the ultimate "respond to the spirit of the room and one another" band. The imperfections and the left-field curves is part of what makes them great. There is no formula nor is there any precedence. Unlike AI which can only compile what has been done before and re-create, what AC excels at is allowing the unlikeliness to enter into their music. To welcome surprise, mystery, chaos.

I don't really understand what andthephantom was getting at, and I think for such a sensitive topic it should have warranted much more care in its expression of intent. I think they're saying AC is the opposite of AI but should also use it to inspire them to not be like it? That's all artists approach, because artists make art, and AI does not. But anyway, AC are the antithesis of AI, and I do not think they will be reactionary and/or inspired to make something because of what we can now see what AI can do. I think they'll simply continue to do what they've always done: that is, they'll continue showing us the power and capacity of human creativity, and how nature, spirit, deeply in-tune collaboration can inspire and impact art.

Situation with AI is already bleak enough. I don't see AC ever having interest in fucking with it any way ever. Hell, the new album is no plug ins, could be pure analog. Arguably there are trends in music they've been ahead of that they immediately lose interest in once it takes hold.

Would be cool if they put HALs last dialogue through an Alvin Lucier- Sitting in a Room exercise for an O'Brien system or something

andthephantom wasn't really talking about AC's music and their process specifically using AI. They were more broadly speculating about how the advent of AI music might steer human music makers and producers to be more organic, unpredictable and collaborative in order to stand out from AI generated stuff in the decades ahead

Since AnCo epitomizes those three traits, they went on to suggest that AC could be leaders in that trend.

AI music and art is here to stay for better or worse, and I've lately been thinking about that process andthephantom posted about as a potential silver lining. AI is a verrry sensitive thing now and I certainly have some meditating to do on it, because it's about to explode exponentially, and it's probably gonna really transform our shit

Would love to eat some AI food

AI music and art is here to stay for better or worse, and I've lately been thinking about that process andthephantom posted about as a potential silver lining. AI is a verrry sensitive thing now and I certainly have some meditating to do on it, because it's about to explode exponentially, and it's probably gonna really transform our shit

Absolutely worse and I pray it’s not here to stay