[dansemanatee]

glenbeige wrote:

But I do love that synth, and it can't just be me...is anyone else hearing 1st section of Defeat?

Was also thinking this. Feel like eucalyptus has little moments that foreshadow the skiffs/iin sound. This is kinda unrelated but have you guys noticed painting with kids on holiday being the origin of the time skiffs/iin sound? I don't know what the instrument is but if you listen to the pw version of kids you can definitely hear it

[nothingmastered]

Jungle Heat - Exquisite. I love Pandas fragile vocals in Campfire Songs

Call Home (Buy Grapes) - Kind of a popcorn fart from Avey, but I listened to it a few times and found myself tappin my foot and enjoying the groove by the end. Some fun sounds to be had, I don't hate it

Forest Gospel - Mind blowing stuff. Panda steals the show. The atonal guitar chords sound so wrong and broken. This leaves me in awe.

Coral Realization - Cool to hear this out of context. Foreboding as fuck, suitably apocalyptic. The idea of coral realizing its doom is fucking heavy

DR aw one for J - I'm all in for any droney swamp fog songs Avey wants to write. Was interesting how the vocals and washes of noise worked together to give the track shape. The jaw harp really sets the mood

[roopn]

Dusty wrote:

Afterburner: akira sample kicks ass. Love the beat and driving energy to it

What's this?

nothingmastered wrote:

Call Home (Buy Grapes) - Kind of a popcorn fart from Avey, but

Man I really don't get it hahaha
I love call home always have!

[nothingmastered]

That sounds more derogatory than I meant, it def grew on me

[foxtrot]

Describing a song as a popcorn fart sounds pretty rad ngl

[Stan]

Five from roopn:

Jungle Heat - One I've heard before no more than a couple of times. Crack Box is a relative gap in my listening history, which is probably a bit odd considering how much I love the eras it covers. I think it was the general poor quality compared to so many fan bootlegs I'd heard and adored up to that point. I will make amends and I'm looking forward to checking it out more thoroughly. This is great, it's a bit of a 3am stoned strumalong, pretty formless beyond the repeated guitar motifs but the vocals are moving and quite haunting. Definitely flickers of not only Campfire but also Young Prayer, which I've been really enjoying again recently. I understand why it's an offcut but it's another great example that they were really plugged into something special around that time. They were channeling gold.

Call Home (Buy Grapes) - I'm surprised that this has been so unpopular, I'd always considered it a bit of a minor, under the radar, fanzone favourite, like Crumbling Land. Listening back now, it's not as good or creatively out there as Crumbling Land, but it's a good example of Dave's quirky little sketch kind of songwriting. I'm a fan of the Down There snappy phased drums. Good little crunchy plod. I really really like the 'chorus', definitely got that more of the early AC gnarly energy, it makes me gurn and frown a bit like that Christian Bale gif but imagine a dirtier facial expression. I think this was one of the earlier examples of the tinny vocal thing that he would overdo in years to come across CHz, Slasher and lots of subsequent solo stuff. I remember really digging this effect at the time, this was probably my favourite off the Keep cassette and still is. Now, I hear it as a kind of songwriting precursor to Eucalyptus and some of 7s, but I prefer it here because it's shorter, punchier and gunkier. His later stuff in this style I find either a bit sickly or meandering. Yeah, I like this a lot.

Forest Gospel - When I lived in Wuhan, I was in a brand new apartment block just outside the CBD. The building seemed pretty empty aside from a few offices during the daytime. There are lots of ghost buildings in China because construction is a great way to artificially stimulate the economy and the government just absorbs the hit. Point is, I felt like I was Home Alone and lived like all forty stories were mine after office hours. I bought a drumkit off some French student at Wuhan University and bundled it all into the back of a taxi and spent most of the evening and night figuring out how to put it all together without instructions as someone who'd never played drums before or seen a kit up close in real life. After about six hours and twelve bottles of local formaldehyde beer, Gepetto finally built his very own drumkit son. That night, I daren't touch it and I slept with one eye open admiring my beautiful pigskin child, bursting with pride and excitement at battering him very soon. Unfortunately, I had a social engagement the following evening but I couldn't stand it for too long. After showing my face, I went home and started to gently tap away, getting a feel for the placement and the mechanical dexterity I would need and which was profoundly lacking. I opened up an online video tutorial which I found difficult and boring. At that point, I decided to fuck off the stool and the half notes and I just started thumping out a rhythm on the toms and stomping on the kick pedal. I think it was very influenced by Atlas by Battles, a swinging plod. As I grew in confidence over the coming days, I started playing harder and louder, inspired by the manic bursts of catharsis from Forest Gospel, adding the hats and cymbals to my lumpen violence. I was ecstatic, hammering away at all hours, safe in the knowledge that I wasn't bothering anybody in a deserted building and beyond that, my paternal impiety would have been drowned out by traffic. I never felt such joy at playing music, wanton catharsis, often naked, usually chanting wordlessly or just yelling, always with a massive grin on my face. Six months later, the dream was over and it was time to leave. I gave the drumkit to my friend and he somehow crammed all the sprockets and skins into the taxi as I had done before my life was only joy. Goodbye, Pinocchio, I didn't know then that you would be my only son. Soz for the lifelong trauma. As I slumped into my chair to reflect wistfully on the lonely silhouette of dust, there was a knock at the door. A Chinese man said politely, 'please stop, please stop'. I'm not sure why I did what I did next but it just seemed like an improbable opportunity for mischief, I did it on instinct. "What do you mean?" I said, and I gestured towards the empty space. He was speechless and looked confused. I quickly realised how upset he was and felt puzzled by my own actions. "Kai wan xiao," I said, (I'm only joking). "I'm sorry. The drums have gone. I'm very sorry. Where do you live?" He just pointed down. The floor below. "I'm so sorry, no more drums." He looked relieved but tired. "How long have you lived here?" I said. "Six months." We were both crushed. Is there really a finite amount of joy in this universe? Had I expended too many years worth in such a brief blissful orgiastic fervour of violence? In many ways this incident precipitated a turning point in my life. The next day, I sent some flowers and baijiu to him and his pregnant wife and I left the apartment for the last time. Animal Collective would never release an S-Rank album again. It may be monomaniacal God complex but I feel at least massively responsible. And yet, would I change one solitary second with my son? I really could not say.

Coral Realization - Nice drones, not a great deal of substance to it. I have tried with TR but it's like their earlier abstract stuff minus invention and emotive power.

DR aw one for J - Dave's solo take on the above, the acoustic guitar and buried lullaby make it more engaging to me but not by very much. This is what I think about when I think about Eucalyptus.

[foxtrot]

Bloody loved reading that Stan.

Totally relate to that youthful, almost carnal experience of creating music in a fit of cathartic, impudent violence.

[roopn]

Wow, thank you for that story. You have a really emotionally lucid way with words.

[Stan]

Thank you, lads. Sending lots of love to you both.

[Dusty]

roopn wrote:

Dusty wrote:

Afterburner: akira sample kicks ass. Love the beat and driving energy to it

What's this?

nothingmastered wrote:

Call Home (Buy Grapes) - Kind of a popcorn fart from Avey, but

Man I really don't get it hahaha
I love call home always have!

I’m pretty sure he sampled the song Kaneda from the akira soundtrack for this song, the woodwind sounding synths at the end also sound like they’re from The Coffee Cola Song by Francis Bebey

[foxtrot]

WEEK 3 DRAW:

drumroll.......

Entries 13 and 26!

13. organic cat
Recycling, Selection Of A Place (Rio Negro Version), Someday I’ll Grow to Be as Tall as the Giant, Michael Remember, Baleen Sample

26. Stan
I See You Pan, Infant Dressing Table, Two Corvettes, Visiting Friends, Urban Creme


No idea what Michael Remember is so looking forward to that. Also keen to really pay attention to Urban Creme. Stan's first 4 picks are all AC classics - looking forward to basking in their slow glory. organic cat has a nice diverse range - some favs (Selection Rio), some I like but am looking forward to getting to know in a new/deeper way (Recycling, Someday...).

[madameghostly]

iirc Michael, Remember is a jam they did during the PW sessions and then released on a limited 12", which is something i'm disappointed they don't do more often

also i can already tell this is gonna be the longest compilation thus far by a long shot, which is kinda exciting in a way

[time5sumranch]

dansemanatee wrote:

glenbeige wrote:

But I do love that synth, and it can't just be me...is anyone else hearing 1st section of Defeat?

Was also thinking this. Feel like eucalyptus has little moments that foreshadow the skiffs/iin sound. This is kinda unrelated but have you guys noticed painting with kids on holiday being the origin of the time skiffs/iin sound? I don't know what the instrument is but if you listen to the pw version of kids you can definitely hear it

defeats first part sounds like selection of a place eucalyptus version a lot to me

missed week two oops , it’s hard when I can’t just throw together a playlist on a DSP, but the deep cuts are fun; almost had forgotten the preakness has 3 versions!

[dansemanatee]

Ooooh these are both stacked can’t wait to listen to these later

[foxtrot]

madameghostly wrote:

iirc Michael, Remember is a jam they did during the PW sessions and then released on a limited 12", which is something i'm disappointed they don't do more often

also i can already tell this is gonna be the longest compilation thus far by a long shot, which is kinda exciting in a way

Holy shit, just looked and its 23 minutes long! I cannot believe there is a 23 minute AC song I've never heard. PW era was a time when I wasn't around much (busy with family) - I've probably missed other hidden AC gems too. Cannot wait to dig into this.

EDIT: pretty excited so doing this one straight off the bat...

Michael Remember:

Mind immediately blown by the fact that I had no idea this existed until now. A total blind spot in my AC knowledge. The first time in this 5 song activity that I’m hearing something I’ve never heard before. Super pumped.

Enjoying the sparse, bubbling atmosphere over the first few minutes. Reminds me of a lot of their other loose electronic curiosities (been doing occasion stuff like this since early 2000s really). Reminds me a lot Black Dice once the beat emerges. Repetitive and hypnotic yet those synths keep freaking out and squiggling all over the place. The high melody that comes in around 6 and a bit mins is super cool. Like a tiny bionic chipmunk in Japan delivering a sermon that no one can hear at a forgotten Shinto temple. That melody really gives the track some structure and momentum. I feel like the track loses a bit of steam in the middle. They’re improvising so I get that. Sometimes you’re just trying to find your way to the next ‘moment’ - like the shift in the beat around 14 minutes. Things take a new direction then. More agitated and urgent. Insects swarming. The threat passes and gives way to this kinda cute robot voice and simple 4/4 house beat. Cool stuff. Last stretch is basically just a slightly unorthodox microhouse track.

This isn’t something I’ll come back to often but I can see it getting a listen every couple of years. Awesome just to come across entirely new from them so thank you for that organic cat! (will check out Danny’s Jam while I’m here - it opens with the Natural Selection sound - noice!)

[wilandhugs]

I'm gonna revisit week 2 and do week 3 soon... bit of a week from hell. Excited for such a big listen this weekend.

[organic cat]

I feel bad not getting to listen to the first two weeks. hoping to drop my thoughts on them soon!

madameghostly wrote:

iirc Michael, Remember is a jam they did during the PW sessions and then released on a limited 12", which is something i'm disappointed they don't do more often

also i can already tell this is gonna be the longest compilation thus far by a long shot, which is kinda exciting in a way

It's a bonus track off the Japanese release of the PW CD as well.

[foxtrot]

have only had time to do one track so far but it was a 23 minute long track!

[Stan]

Mine are all too long as well, made sense at the time but not easy to set aside fifty minutes or so.

[Fovrodi]

Every intention to get a listen in on both these, just got bumped to the back burner with Reset in Dub dropping

[rohcti]

Tracks from organic cat

Recycling - this song is a jam but I feel like it loses a bit of its personality because by the end of the album, you're so worn out with hocketing, samey-sounds, etc. By itself, it's a pretty decent song. I like what they were going for with the ending and the "slicker tools" line. The intro is sick as hell, one of my favorites. But it's still a C-tier kinda song, a lot of potential like a lot of Noah's songs around this time, it just doesn't really get to "that place." Too Kids-Bop to usually make a real impact on me. I've heard this song countless times but here we are

Selection Of A Place (Rio Negro Version) - Really nice version of the song. Think I prefer Eucalyptus for the lush-ness, but this one has a more improvised, earthy kind of feeling to it that is really satisfying. Great nature sounds, frogs and such, and some mildly frightening samples that add a unique air to this recording. Just a great song all around

Someday I’ll Grow to Be as Tall as the Giant - I admit, I am not really too familiar with the tracklist on Spirit. It's just kinda one of those things where I'll play the whole thing if I feel like listening to anything off of it. This song is pleasant, I like the piano and drumming. But idk, it just doesn't particularly stick out to me other than as a sort of intro into the madness of Alvin Row.

Michael Remember - eh... I remember when this came out and listening to it at the time. Even then, in the throes of PW hype, it didn't really interest me. It sounds like them jamming and trying to feel out how to do their live shows. Which i guess it kinda is. I like the ending 6 minutes or so, reminds me sorta of Swallow at the Hollow. Otherwise, I gotta admit it's kinda drab, background noise

Baleen Sample - I don't think I've heard this one outside of the context of the EP, so it was nice to hone in on it. Lays pretty firmly within that Sung Tongs/PH sound. I need to listen to PH all the way through again soon because I do like this one more after hearing it again. Think I overlooked it a bit since it's sandwiched between two monster songs. Really nice and mysterious, helps connect it a bit with the era

[rohcti]

Tracks from Stan

I See You Pan - the first 2-3 minutes are a real flop-ur-sausage-on the-table moment. Absolutely terrifying, staticky sounds with something that sounds like wood being dragged across the floor. Sharp zaps of electricity everywhere. This song feels like it's barely holding on for life like some kind of Frankenstein-esque creature. Despite all the madness going on in the background, it's a strangely comforting song. The "stop looking at me" line reminds me a bit of Thom Yorke lol. Some cool percussive mouth sounds from the lads and chest hitting (?) from Noah. It feels like this song shouldn't work, yet it does

Infant Dressing Table - this song is scary, right? But magical. The intro reminds me a lot of Pan's intro but is mercifully less overbearing than that song. The guitars on this song give it some levity. Not too much of a fan of the wah-wah in general but I think it works fine on this song. It's a pretty transportative piece. The ending is fantastic. I'm sure others will have more interesting things to say. Ark is amazing

Two Corvettes - don't scorch me, I don't really care for it. It's fine. Feels a bit like they're just dicking around, just kinda the feeling i get. The ending is quite nice, though. Maybe it's not the right time for me to appreciate this song. Haven't spent too much time with Campfire Songs in general because I find songs like this a bit boring

Visiting Friends - one of the greatest AC songs. I'm not going to go into details at this juncture. I just love it so much. Reminds me a lot of Infant Dressing Table at the beginning. Such a nice trance. I think I've listened to the 2018 version more than the album one at this point but they're both excellent. The voice sample (?) in the background it's one of the most evocative sounds in AC history. The way it becomes more and more percussive halfway through the song... Just so good. Like The Softest Voice from last week, this just feels like a perfect song. So entrancing

Urban Creme - I didn't remember track names, but I was guessing it was this one from Oddsac. This one grows on me with each watch of Oddsac. It's probably my favorite non-pop song off of that album. Love the visuals. I think they did a great job telling a story with what at first appears to be static and some repetitive sounds. Are those bird samples or some kinda fucked up synth? And a quiet, vocoded voice before the arpeggiating synth first comes in? Not sure, but it's crazy. Not gonna get too in-depth, but yeah. It's excellent

[rohcti]

I'm feeling pretty shook listening to all of these tonight. Great picks! Some pretty challenging listens that forced me a bit out of my AC bubble

[foxtrot]

Great write ups dude. You went out there!

[rohcti]

Thanks man. I tried. Sometimes it comes out like word diarrhea lol. I couldn't sleep last night, so I decided to put on some AC and write up my thoughts.
I feel like a bad fan because of how little I listen to some of this stuff which is why this weekly thing is fun

[Night Park]

organic cat picks

Recycling
Easily my most-played track on Painting With and imo the most effective use of hocketing on the album. A catchy and bittersweet Panda melody – I especially love when he goes up an octave at the 1:46 mark and wish that happened more than once. Also love that groovy little bassline. I once mixed out of Kanye’s “Waves” into this song lmao (listen here at the 9:42 mark)

Selection Of A Place (Rio Negro Version)
A curious, wandering song made eerie by Geologist’s dissonant tones. Love Dave’s wordless, hummed melody at 5:33, before the song descends into madness. And I like that weird frog/plate sound that serves as a clave rhythm (around the 1:30 mark)

Someday I’ll Grow to Be as Tall as the Giant
Great tune, quintessential Spirit. Love the tremolo vocal effect (Bradford Cox was taking notes), the twinkly N64 lead synth, the graceful brushed drums. Noticing the piano more on repeated listens.

Michael Remember
Directionless noodling to my ears, but nice of them to share some BTS sounds! My wife looked up alarmed when I played this track – “what is that sound??”

Baleen Sample
Love that recurring sound of what sounds like some kind of dolphin or the howling wind – it’s like a chillier, more forlorn Visiting Friends. Are those steel drums that come in halfway through?


Stan picks

I See You Pan
AC has an uncanny knack for marrying tender, achingly beautiful melodies with sheets of noise. Many of Stan’s picks have this quality (Loch Raven also comes to mind). The less-is-more approach works for me here because that slow attack synth line is so timeless and sweet.

Infant Dressing Table
My favorite track on HCTI – an expert study in the use of delay. The wordless vocals pulsing in time with the bass, while a thicket of noise swirls overheard. So lovely to get lost in this one. The ending is so effective too, as all the layers are suddenly stripped away and we’re left with those strange, primal voices

Two Corvettes
A pretty but lesser track on Campfire Songs. The first half is solemn and spacious in that Young Prayer way. Don’t love the frantic strumming of the second half.

Visiting Friends
For me Sung Tongs is a late fall/winter album and this song is an afternoon drive through the woods, tangled naked branches blurring with blue sky. The warped vocals are perfectly buried in the mix, while the close-recorded strums are so tactile you can feel them on your skin. Sublime

Urban Creme
Dark and aquatic. Draws me in with its quiet, submerged sounds and building arepeggio.

[dansemanatee]

organic cat: I listened to these last night and I started writing my response and then I ended up being too tired to write anything so I went to sleep and listened to them again this morning on the couch with my dog and it was really nice.

Recycling: When I first started getting into anco I liked this song considerably more than the rest of Painting With, and I've seen that sentiment shared by a lot of people. Though I love pw thoroughly now, this might be the only ac album where I feel like some songs are considerably better than others. Recycling still stands out to me, at this point my favorite on pw is just a toss up between this, burglars and on delay, but for all intensive purposes we'll call Recycling my favorite. It's got that bittersweet end-of-the road kinda feeling that I get from Sunset. I guess since it's a lot more toned down from the rest of the album it almost feels a bit more earnest. Painting with is short and kinda just hits you with all these short and wild songs back to back and then gives you a moment to slow down and reflect at the end, at least for me. Many a half stoned and contemplative walk home at night to this song at one point in my life. I think growing to appreciate painting with in the years since I first listened to it made me kinda forget how much this song meant to me. It's got those classic encouraging ass Panda Bear lyrics and it just moves very nicely.

Selection of a Place (Rio Negro Version): I don't even know where to start with this one. I've always preferred this over the Eucalyptus version, I think the samples they used on motw fit that song very well and I love how stripped back the whole thing is. It feels like this huge moment of reflection within the context of ac, the guitar reminds me a bit of jungle heat, the shiny sounds at the end remind me of in the flowers, and most notably the riff kinda sounds like opis pt1. It feels so much like what an anco song 17 years into anco would, I don't really know how else to put it. It makes me want to cry but it also makes me feel happy to be alive.

Someday: I love the way this song almost gallops. It really adds to the pacing of the album but it still holds up really well on its own. I love the piano and synth melodies so much. Probably gonna be coming back to this one a lot this week.

Michael Remember: I had only listened to this once before this and I wasn't sure if you were just adding it for the sake of having a long ass song or if its cause its overlooked but either way I had really I had a lot of fun listening to it. Fuck whoever uploaded this to youtube, i got a fucking dominos ad in the middle of this. Really cool song though. I love the ending section especially.

Baleen Sample: Another classic. The whale sounds are so cute. I love the steel drums, they always make me think of black bottles by thaiboy digital lol. The way the guitar changes at the end of the song is such a satisfying ending.

I wrote all that up earlier in the week and I meant to finish my thoughts on Stan's tracks way before now but I lost track of the time and I wanted to really sink into these

I See You Pan: This one is so haunting... I love the crinkly ass noise that starts the song. It's the perfect foundation for those mournful ass keys and that refrain. I love the way this one ends, the background noise fades out and is replaced by those percussive noises and the little "ah-ah-ah-" vocals. Something I noticed with these listens is that in the end I'm pretty sure you can hear someone pick up that fucked up sounding guitar from forest gospel.

Infant Dressing Table: I've actually listened to this one four times within the week. The other night I listened to Ark for my birthday then I listened to table again after that and then twice more for this activity. My favorite on Ark always changes and I feel like every song shines so much more within the full flow of the album but this one is definitely my favorite atm. I love how softly it starts, that repeated guitar and the little high frequencies that get louder as the song goes on. There's so many things going on in the mix of the whole album, really, but this one and two sails feel like they give you the most to uncover and whatnot. The whole of Ark feels incredibly transcendent and I think the moment where this feels the most true is on infant when those "Aaaahhhhs" at the end come in. I don't really know how else to describe it but when those vocals come in they feel like they're washing over me. Ark is just such a special album and feels so definitive in its own right and I think for that it will always end up being overlooked in one way or another. Infant dressing table in particular feels like such an accomplishment.

Two Corvettes: It's tough to pick between this one and de soto for my favorite campfire song. The first time I listened to it for this activity it really took me somewhere special, the second time around it took me there too but it also got me thinking about how other than doggy, this song is like half of the length of the rest of the songs on the album and it's just as successful at taking you where it takes you, if not more. The main riff is so fucking heartbreaking!!! The crash section is also just perfect, it's so emotional and strangely enough they really did pull off recreating the idea of a car crash with just acoustic guitars and vocals. I love Dave's melody in this part, I honestly wish you could hear it a bit better over the rest of the mix. I have no clue what lyric he's actually singing in this part but it's got that rising melody.

Visiting Friends: I'm sure everyone else on here feels this way too but I think outside of CA and like, the big cult following of AC, this one just gets tossed off as the 12 minute song with the same chord over and over again but man, in my mind this song might as well be five minutes. It feels like a completely different song by the end. I love the little vocal refrain at the end. I think this one is the perfect example of how ac's more repetitive songs are so good at starting you off in one place and taking you somewhere completely different by the end of it, even if there is a melody or a progression that stays pretty static the whole time. Not to say that there aren't other ac albums with a variety of track lengths but I think sung tongs is the perfect example of the idea of doing more with less. Because everything revolves around either guitar or vocals on the album, it gives them a bit more freedom to have short, punchy songs like WCWAR and Sweet Road and long meandering songs like visiting friends and softest voice and still feel like they all do an equal job of taking you someplace special while still feeling like a cohesive album.

Urban Creme: I've been up for like two and a half hours only but for some reason I think I'm already crashing from the hash brown and coffee from this morning, for whatever reason I feel like somebody drained all the blood from my body so these responses are getting gradually a bit less concise, which sucks cause part of the reason it took me so long to responf in the first place was cause I wanted to have something thorough and thought-provoking about each one but whatever. I get why they didn't want people to separate the music from the film with oddsac, this song fits so fucking well with its respective scene that I would definitely feel like something was missing if I listened to it on its own. Feels like if #1 didn't end up turning into a pop song and just kept spiraling into hell. Think this one acts as the perfect closer to this set of songs, another example of a total sonic journey. I wish I had more to say about this one but honestly it's just a fucking great song that really speaks for itself.

[Fovrodi]

organic cat

Recycling- Always got Blueberry Boat (Fiery Furnaces) vibes from this one. Fun and playful song for sure. Soft spot in my heart for this era especially bc the live shows were fucking killer, but the concept (vox alternating, alien equipment, short songs only) feels like more stunt than creative endeavor.
Selection Of A Place (Rio Negro Version)- Realizing this version and the Eucalyptus version merged in my head more than I thought. Bittersweet
Someday I’ll Grow to Be as Tall as the Giant- Spirit songs make me a little sad so I'm glad it's a short one
Michael Remember- I consider myself an AC diehard but felt the length on this one even though the end is p groovy
Baleen Sample- I remember when I first heard about Animal Collective in high school (pre-Feels) the earliest stuff that clicked for me was the Prospect Hummer material. This song is very burned in my brain as a song that would come up on Pandora

[nothingmastered]

Recycling - This one's always been a favorite from PW. It has a nice melody at its core that I think works outside of the production concepts of PW. The warped synth throughout to song is probably my favorite synth sound on the album.

Selection Of A Place (Rio Negro Version) - Very beautiful track, my preferred version of the two. It's cacophonous but makes Dave's performance of the song feel more naked and vulnerable in comparison. It all comes together in a powerful way on the "suddenly I wake up" part.

Someday I’ll Grow to Be as Tall as the Giant- This is a cool, effective interlude that makes me think of that sequence in Never Ending Story where he's flying through the clouds on that dragon. Or like falling through a portal into Alvin, which begins like a crash landing.

Michael Remember- Had a great time getting lost in this on a walk the other day. I came across some windchimes that harmonized with it beautifully. Very Danse Manatee. If the trio gets back together for more electronic stuff I hope they do more improv based tracks

Baleen Sample- Forgot how pretty this was. The layering of the guitars is magnificent. My partner said this made her think of driving on an empty road through a heavy rainfall where you can barely see anything, which I think is spot on.

Really great mix overall, lovely experience

[Fovrodi]

Stan

I See You Pan- A haunting sweet little melody. AC minimalism at its finest

Infant Dressing Table- Took me a long time to notice there are some lyrics in this, segues nicely from Pan. I did a cover of this on a cheap keyboard in high school, most likely lost to the ages but I don't think I did it much justice anyway

Two Corvettes- Is it fair to consider this a proto Daffy Duck? I used to fall asleep to Campfire songs and this is the song that would usually put me and my s/o to sleep.

Visiting Friends- Rusty Santos saying Sung Tongs was like MBV with acoustic guitars, makes most sense here.

Urban Creme- Do I notice percussion in this? Maybe contact mic'd tom or something?

Wish I could commit more to these write-ups but you guys are better than me at that

[foxtrot]

Been fantastic to read through all the recent additions. Finally got around to this week’s myself. Great picks. I throughly enjoyed picking apart these songs.

organic cat:

Recycling:
Always enjoyed but never stood out as a PW favourite so keen to give it some close attention today. The opening sounds like classic discordant noisey AC electronic loop stuff but it quickly takes shape into something much more PW with the vocals. The hocketing works well hear because it feels like a Panda song with Avey just punctuating with backing vocals. Love the little ‘mmmm’ backing vocal bits. The bridging section in the middle of the song has cool disorienting psychedelic feeling. Then we get the verse again. Kinda slight song. Likeable but nothing that really blows me away.

Selection Of A Place (Rio Negro Version):
I think it’s my favourite version. All the field recordings and Geo noises suit the song so well. I am a massive MoTW fan though. I love the way Avey takes his time with the tube. The guitar is so tender and gentle and his voice feels so rich with gravity of the moment. The falsetto ‘suddenly I wake up’ is just gorgeous and the languid ‘place to stay’ section has even more impact with the whole Amazon theme. Geo builds an entire world at the end. The beauty and violence of the forest at night. Then Avey quietly hums us back to a state of calm before things fade away. Bloody love this track.

Someday I’ll Grow to Be as Tall as the Giant:
Agree with many that this has always felt more like an interlude. Great one though. Particularly love the Reichian piano and the bells in the ‘chorus’ section. Lots of fun stereo panning with the vocals. A simple piece but really bright and beautiful. It has the Spirit fairytale feel but without the underlying creepiness and longing that most of the album has.

Michael Remember:
Shared above

Baleen Sample:
Glad that so many seem to love this track. People keep banging on about the whole Sung Tongs as acoustic MBV thing - well this is my pick for the track that captures that feeling best. The layers of acoustic guitars feel very Shoegaze/Dream pop to me. Love the splashing sounds. Just enough reverb to give the whole thing a really wet and expansive feel. Like great shoegaze, various notes and moments of harmony emerge the more you listen. The melody that comes in halfway through has an almost East Asian feel that I dig.



Stan:

I See You Pan:
The Stan picks are very Stan. Love that he’s gone for a neat mix of 2 early electric primal kinda tracks, 2 acoustic tracks and one random noise piece. Anyway, this one is obviously a classic. That scratching, itching noise just moving in like an approaching tornado. Threatening and malicious. Then the vocals and main synth melody comes in and it doesn’t feel like destruction at all. It’s mourning. It’s the moment after the kill rather than the moment before. The ‘tsk tsk tsk’ vocal bit and the whole back half of the track is exactly what I love about early AC. It’s intense, visceral, spontaneous, odd, pure, transfixing and primal.

Infant Dressing Table:
As much as I enjoy Hollinndagain, Ark turns everything great about early AC up to full capacity. I love every moment of it. This track is a soaring and glorious centrepiece. The closest they’ve ever gotten to post rock. The textures here are so evocative. The wah wah vocals are so bizarre yet communicate so much feeling. Something deep and spiritual but not soothing. Harsh realities bouncing across our consciousness. The constantly stuttering table tennis match, creepy night animal noises and slowly building guitars all adding to the surging, awesome power of this monolith. That climactic moment when the guitars rise up and the big ‘ahhhhh’ backing vocals come in is one of my favourite moments on the album.

Two Corvettes:
This is well placed on the album. Panda singing the verse after two Avey led tracks. I love the whole thing really. So much emotion in this song. Absolutely love the Spanish style guitars in the verses. The chorus is heart melting. The ‘car crash’ section manages to be genuinely traumatic and tragic while somehow not compromising the flow of Campfire Songs as a whole.

Visiting Friends:
Much said about this one. It’s a bloody journey man! Agree with most of the ideas shared. The guitars are wonderful, all the little vocals bits and random other sounds keep it engaging throughout. The main vocal melody is actually really strong once you’ve spent some time and gotten hold of it. And that melody that goes ‘up up up upup, dowwwn dowwwwnn’ (you know the one) that appears in the last couple of minutes is catchy AF. My 6 year old heard it one day and just sang that 7 note melody over and over again for about 72hours. Particularly love the ‘peeuw’/‘rehhrr’ vocal bits that pop up every now and then. Classic playful weirdo AC vocals. Heads get it. The rest seem to think it’s filler. Absolutely essential and incredibly beautiful.

Urban Creme:
Curious to hear why you picked this one Stan. First time I have ever listened to this outside the context of ODDSAC. Curious to see how it stands on its own and what I can maybe glean from it that I never have before. Enjoy the insect/animal noises at the start. Tension building electronics give a sense of this barren landscape and the animal noises the sense that it still has these furtive little signs of life. The repeating ascending synth melody fleetingly appears for the first time. Maybe some kind of vaporous spirit that inhabits this alien landscape. When it returns it comes with more dirt and grime attached. Listening without watching or placing it in the broader ODDSAC narrative/context makes me realise how much it has in common with a lot of their early experiments. Maybe why you went for it Stan? Whispered vocal snippets creeping around behind the muck are great. Dig the building intensity and noticing the slow shift/build more than usual. Cool to pick it out of its home and make it bare itself. I enjoyed.  

[Stan]

foxtrot wrote:

Urban Creme:
Curious to hear why you picked this one Stan. 

I think you nailed it, to be honest. It's probably the best example of not early AC doing early AC, in my opinion. I think it's a lesser piece than everything else I picked but there's an emotive quality there which I don't get from their later attempts at more abstract music. For one, as a couple of people have said, there's more of a delicate mix of noise and melodic elements. It also has a bit more flow/narrative to it, starts off sounding like primordial soup for a long time and then when the rolling arpeggios come in, it's like suddenly LIFE and structures and patterns forming and there seems to be something distinctly human to it, those flickering wordless voices and I feel some emotional connection to the noises then it all collapses and humanity is absent again. Kind of a trite simplistic projection but it makes me feel about evolution.

[Avey Tane]

26. Stan

Spoiler: show

I See You Pan- Sounds like a lullaby for this baby


Infant Dressing Table- Sounds like a lullaby for this baby


Two Corvettes- Sounds like a lullaby for this baby


Visiting Friends- Sounds like a lullaby for this baby


Urban Creme- Sounds like a lullaby for this baby

[dansemanatee]

Avey Tane wrote:

26. Stan

Spoiler: show

I See You Pan- Sounds like a lullaby for this baby


Infant Dressing Table- Sounds like a lullaby for this baby


Two Corvettes- Sounds like a lullaby for this baby


Visiting Friends- Sounds like a lullaby for this baby


Urban Creme- Sounds like a lullaby for this baby

This is it right here

[dansemanatee]

Stan wrote:

foxtrot wrote:

Urban Creme:
Curious to hear why you picked this one Stan. 

I think you nailed it, to be honest. It's probably the best example of not early AC doing early AC, in my opinion. I think it's a lesser piece than everything else I picked but there's an emotive quality there which I don't get from their later attempts at more abstract music. For one, as a couple of people have said, there's more of a delicate mix of noise and melodic elements. It also has a bit more flow/narrative to it, starts off sounding like primordial soup for a long time and then when the rolling arpeggios come in, it's like suddenly LIFE and structures and patterns forming and there seems to be something distinctly human to it, those flickering wordless voices and I feel some emotional connection to the noises then it all collapses and humanity is absent again. Kind of a trite simplistic projection but it makes me feel about evolution.

Never thought about it like that before but that makes so much sense. Paired with the visuals it does kinda feel like a creation story almost. The arpeggios are almost like dna strands and genetic code developing for the first time (I’m assuming this is what you’re saying or something like this) Man this has been such a fun activity cause I get to find new meanings in these songs that have always meant so much to me.

[muark]

Far out, been loving the picks and discussions lately. General business and a bit of the late winter blues have kept me from doing write ups so apologies for not keeping up. Gonna cherry-pick my fave choons from these past couple weeks and comment on em soon so I at least have something to gush about. Keen to see what gets picked on Friday

[time5sumranch]

Recycling - One of my favorites on painting with, love how avey is basically just stumbling behind panda vocally. Had a really profound and visceral thought the first time I heard this song of how at one point I will die and never hear another lick of music. I know the song doesn’t explicitly speak to this, but I still think about that all the time about how one day i’ll disappear and amazing music will continue and i’m just happy to be here for the era of AC.

Selection Rio - Forgot about this, but it came before the Eucalyptus version! Really refreshing to hear the stripped down but prefer the Avey version I think. I will say the vocal performance on this version is top notch and so raw

Someday i’ll grow - nice instrumental-esque song from this era. Usually consume the album in one sitting so I don’t know names well on this one but this has always been a passage i’ve liked. will be coming back to this one

michael - yeah I loved this when it dropped but pretty meandery and meaningless now until the end. it would be awesome to see the band do a reset type of thing of taking some of the initial drafts of this era and rebuilding them into completely different drawn out modular tunes

baleen - borrowed this EP from my library and was really into this and dirty projectors at this time. haven’t revisited in like 6 years so this was a lovely thing. so many hidden gems on the EPs

for all of stan’s selections - these are all the songs that remind me of Gas where they just really layer and loop with some key changes in instrumentation or key and really make these immersive tracks. this for me is what they have been missing since urban crème (or #1 on SJ for those considering oddsac as a multi year project). these drawn out minimal/low-mixed vocals numbers world build so well

[nothingmastered]

I See You Pan - I feel like in their 2001 years they really honed in on subverting listener expectations with their music. Like with this one it's striking striking how the intense crackle and static leads me to expect some kind of crescendo or burst of intensity, but instead delivers these creeping, furtive synth notes that emerge from the chaos. The KCRW recording in general is just perfect, those three songs couldn't have been better

Infant Dressing Table - This is one of the most emotional cuts in their whole discography for me. Keep going...keep going. At a a time when the future of the band was uncertain, that mantra feels extra poignant. It makes me think of dinosaurs and ancient creatures, some Deep Time shit, with humans eventually awakening to the cosmos with the groaning cresendo. Keep going...

Two Corvettes - I am fond of this one and glad it got put up here. It's kind of melodramatic in a way that stands out from the other acoustic stuff to me. Panda's verses are heart achingly pretty though hard to make out, with that "spanish" guitar line.

Visiting Friends - Amazing trip that never gets old. Even when I try to notice when the rhythm comes in, I never do. Makes me think of a boring overcast day in suburbia, wandering around with chums and feeling cozy

Urban Creme - Haven't heard this in a minute and yeah this totally could be something they messed with back in 2001/2002. Just making a synth drone a note and building a world with it. Has that signature weird texture that turns out to be Avey's heavily FX'd vocals on closer scrutiny. Was glad to focus on this one because I didn't have much recollection of it

Real journey of a mix, right up my alley. It's hard to put early AC into words

[rohcti]

Nice hearing everyone's thoughts. The track that stood out to me most this week was Baleen Sample, haven't really heard that one much at all, think it passed over my head previously

[madameghostly]

damn, this week went by fast! i'll just do organic cat's songs for now and come back when i have more to say about stan's songs

RECYCLING: this is a track i don't think about a lot. it's an alright way to end painting with, but make no mistake, it is very much a painting with track. i don't really have much else to say about it

SELECTION OF A PLACE (RIO NEGRO VERSION): i don't think i'm ready to say whether or not this is better than the eucalyptus version (and why pit two bad bitches against each other?), but i will say i'm glad this version exists. shout out to the ending where it sounds like avey is being swallowed alive by geo's tape loops but he's like totally chill about it

SOMEDAY I'LL GROW TO BE AS TALL AS THE GIANT: for some reason, this was the standout track to me on my first several listens (i think 17-year-old me was too turned off by the first minute or so of alvin row to see it for the masterpiece it is) and while that may not still be the case, i still think it's really good. the hypnotic synths, avey's tremolo vocals almost blending in, panda's tight drumming, this is definitely my favorite of the spirit interludes and, in my opinion, even holds its own with some of the non-interlude tracks

MICHAEL, REMEMBER: primordial soup. this track is just really groovy primordial soup. the way it slowly evolves over 23 minutes is fun, and all the weird little noises scratch my brain in just the right way. i only wish they would do jams like this more often

BALEEN SAMPLE: this one's great. big the softest voice/visiting friends vibes, plus the titular sample is a really nice addition. not much else to say about it, just a great ambient acoustic wall of sound