Collected Animals

Indeed it is. Pretty cool that the vocals/lyrics are improvised, there's an organic, flowing quality to that song that is probably a result of that. Definitely my favorite on the alhum

the only one that doesn't really resonate for me is PJ, his vocals sound like he's singing at like 2 am and he's scared to wake his parents up...other than that, all jamz....

SPOT ON with PJ!

My least favorite of the album but I also understand it's place on the album.
Roamer FTW too.

denjanenna wrote:

the only one that doesn't really resonate for me is PJ, his vocals sound like he's singing at like 2 am and he's scared to wake his parents up...other than that, all jamz....

SPOT ON with PJ!

My least favorite of the album but I also understand it's place on the album.
Roamer FTW too.

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong

PJ is a fucking GREAT song

Yeah love PJ, special one.

Also, these two composers are credited on both Lunch Out of Order parts. He must have sampled piano from one of their songs (they've done a handful of jazz songs together). Anyone know if they were credited at the time of the album release?

• BLACKBURN JOHN M
  SUESSDORF KARL

link

Live PJ is superior to album PJ

i like his spooky voice, kinda low key my favorite song on the record

PJ live is it, it's one of his hugest songs solo

sorry for the bump, but i'm curious:

did we ever find out how many puzzles were sent out? i know a few of us here got one but i don't remember if there was ever a good estimate about how many are actually out in the wild. i called domino the day after i got it and they wouldn't tell me

Intermittent rain, overcast, humid. This is hitting extra hard today.

Intermittent rain, overcast, humid. This is hitting extra hard today.

preach
was hitting this hard today, totally agree

That's funny. I just listened to this front to back for the first time in a few years today. It rules even when sunny

hey question does this album actually have half second gaps between all the songs or is my rip of it just messed up

transitions between tracks are seamless on my digital copy

okay that's a relief lol, have been passively putting up with the gaps since it released and it's only just occurred to me that i would maybe think more highly of this album if it actually flowed seamlessly. thanks for verifying that lmao

lol I think the original le ak had gaps and then someone on this forum fixed it. but yeah the official digital version definitely doesn't have them

Still the best AC release of the tens by a distance

I reckon

I listen to this every few dawns while walking around and it's so perfect.

this album hit me really hard tonight. ready to call this Avey's best...took me awhile, but i finally get why y'all were so hyped about this album. just wasn't in the right headspace back in 2017 to appreciate the several levels in which this record rules. gotta get this on vinyl.

the vinyl’s only $12 on myanimalhome https://animalcollective.merchtable.com ... s-vinyl-lp

Haven’t listened since the TS pre-release listening thingo. Have always enjoyed it though. What exactly hit you about it blindmowing?

i think you really need to buy in from the beginning, and if you do then you enter a portal into the mystic forest in which Avey is singing from. i'd never realized how fully conceived/realized this world Avey had built was, but it is as all-encompassing and enveloping as the world he'd made for Down There.

the album is not sparse, it is subtle elegance, a lush collection of voices, samples, backing instrumentation. i think it's important to let all the subtle layers overtake you instead of just focusing on acoustic + vocals. i'd made the mistake of not tapping into the deeper layers of each of these songs.

then back to a more basic level, the songs are incredible, just on a base layer the melodies, lyrics, feel are all top tier. they're some of the best Avey songs ever. i think he knocked the production out of the park, Deakin is a champ for how he recorded these tunes.

it's intimate, like meeting a spirit deep in an old growth forest and being christened a Light Child... it is the grandfather of Danse Manatee, a wiser more subdued forest child, less interested in manically running through the woods hooting and hollering, more interested in tripping on mushrooms and staring at a mossy log for an hour. this is top 5 trippiest AC, but because it's so mellow it's not immediately apparent. these songs are psychedelia at its finest.

Awesome write up!

I’ve got some time today so I’m going to give this a dedicated headphone listen and really drink it in.

Interesting that forest imagery comes up here because for me Eucalyptus always brings to mind a Californian/Mediterranean scrubland setting, with only brief forays down to the sea and further into the redwoods. It's warm and dry, but not uncomfortably so, and it makes the occasional splashes of cool water (maybe from one of those outdoors showers where you have to pull a string attatched to a wooden bucket) all the more refreshing.

Love love love this album. Thanks blindmowing

From the press release back in the day “Eucalyptus is the new studio album written and produced by Animal Collective’s Avey Tare. Conceived on Hawaiian mornings, written on a sunlit bedroom afternoon in Los Angeles, practiced in the dark early hours of the California twilight, recommended listening for dawn or dusk.”

Definitely get the feeling of lonely twilight near the ocean (but not the beach) from this record. Feels like being the first person to wake up on a vacation to me (and you’ve woken up like 3+ hrs before anyone else will be up)

"The dolphin skin shine splatters on the sky
The captain waves goodbye
She's gone wind tasting"

Just me, headphones, coffee and a serious Eucalisten for this bad boy:

Season High feels like floating through a peaceful coral reef to me. A mystical forest under the water. You’re spot on blindmowing: when you focus in there is so much going on here. So much colour and texture swirling around and enriching the experience. Love the violins that pop up once or twice. Angel’s vocals. Autoharp? Fucking gorgeous. All of it.

Love the way the toms at the start of Melody Unfair kind of announce that we’re really entering the world of the album now. The weird exhaling synths, animal like squeaks and windy noises all generate that forest feeling. Fuck there are so many delicious details to devour. Angel’s vocals are a particular highlight here. Love the way the whole song is constantly collapsing then rebuilding itself. A tide ebbing and flowing.

Ms. Secret - great sequencing. Total shift from the first two but still with the sound palette staying relatively consistent. The most conspicuous difference is that slide guitar: totally sets this one in the plains. Cacti and tumbleweeds. Like Tikwid said: Californian scrub. Love the descending synth lines in the middle break down bit and that gorgeous slide up and back into the original strumming pattern. And the little flute trill in the chorus. So good! Some of Dave’s best melodies in this one too.

Lunch 1 and 2 play an interesting role - hinting at the eclecticism of the environments that the rest of the album evokes. Love the murky chanty bit at the end of 1. Part 2 always reminds me of the song snippets and ambient textures of TTG.

Jackson 5: this is one of the tracks that really gives Eucalyptus its variety and distinctive character. This one has a great little melody and I love its peppy, vibrant bounce. It feels like encountering some chill spirits in a forest clearing.

DR aw one for J is another one that definitely fits the American scrubland vibe for me. Feels really dry.

PJ is like Sung Tongs feeling totally spooked. First track that feels like night not day. Sitting on a beach at night, freaking out about this ghostly visitation you just heard/saw in the darkness. Love how unusual Avey’s vocal performance is in this one.

In Pieces has a lullaby kind of element to it. Love all the details in this one. Lots of sounds floating around the background. Like Avey is now the ghost and he’s fidgeting with all the toys in this kid’s room while he sings them this twisted lullaby.

Can never decide which version of Selection I prefer. Pretty much whichever one I’m currently listening to. I love the way this one moves through each section. It’s quite a dynamic shift into the middle section but it’s handled so delicately. Pretty cool. What a great set of melodies. Especially the ‘not thinking about’ section. Love the textures and again the slide guitar in the last half. Also, the song feels like it moves through like 4 different environments, ending up back at the sea for Boat Race.

Another totally strange vocal performance and I love the way the synths just get really piercing and just rip through the track at frequent intervals. Like the sea on a really off day. Unsettling and alien.

Another sweet little sequencing choice with Dave’s voice breaking the mystical sea vibes and making things very human again on Roamer. Similar to Jackson 5 for me in its bouncy, distinctively ‘Eucalyptus’-ness.

Coral Lords brings things full circle and for me returns us to the ebbing and flowing shallows of the reef that we were viewing at the start of the record, complete with the obvious coral and water themes/sounds, Angel’s backing vocals and the stop start structure. I love when Dave takes his time with these sorts of tracks. The Bees like autoharp in the louder section and the horns/wind instruments enriching the atmosphere in the second half of the song. The final minute is so intense and awesome. Feels the climax of the album in some ways. The coming together of the watery serenity, open spaces and creepy spectral elements of the album.

Angel’s harmonies in Sports In July are blissful. Love the snares and bells gently falling into the song. The whole ‘wind can’t wait’ section is rad.

When You Left Me closes things on a fitting note. The slide guitar back to remind us of the vastness of our world. Coral reefs, wide open plains, people’s homes, beaches at night, etc. ‘Wanna bask in your ritual. Finding the perfect day’. Fuck yes.

Thanks for being the catalyst for me giving this a focussed listen today blindmowing. Bloody loved it!