Collected Animals

Hellomark wrote:

I also like how in the "to my guy/til I die" section, he alternates between those two phrases, but says it an odd amount of times each bar (don't know if that's the right word/not a theory guy). So throughout the whole section it starts with to my guy and ends with til I die. Same with the "go ask why/no reply" section.

Close, he sings one line per bar but the chord changes take up 7 bars. The progression is repeated twice, and the first one starts and ends with "to my guy," then the second one starts and ends with "'til I die."

And there's a really subtle addition in the go ask why/no reply section -- synth pad? more reverb? Can't pick out what it is exactly, but you can feel the song open up there. Bringing us back to where we began, but with a new perspective.

Ah yeah, thanks for clarifying that. And as for the go as why section, I think I hear an extra shaker sample come in at that part, tho there might be more.

that bass kick on mr. noah can thump me day to day in the garage.

what?

Ah yeah, thanks for clarifying that. And as for the go as why section, I think I hear an extra shaker sample come in at that part, tho there might be more.

Yea, I believe I can hear this as well. A shaker or a percussion loop of some kind definitely kicks in at the chorus. There might be more, like you said, my ears can't quite tell.

i love the faint "look into the mirror!" in the back ground in faces in the crowd.

i love the faint "look into the mirror!" in the back ground in faces in the crowd.

my fav too!

i literally just noticed that. nice

Loving this EP for driving to and from class

Untying the knot is a grower, mr noah is a banger, faces in the crowd is overwhelming to the senses, and this side of paradise makes a great last track.

just listened to this on my nice headphones
things I love about this ep
1) that sparkly synth in this side of paradise
2) every time another layered vocal enters in untying the knot
3) that aggressive synth in mr. noah
4) dogs in mr noah
5) underlying sample in this side of paradise
6) that dreamy ending of the ep
7) when faces in the crowd kicks in
8) the way pb sings "it's you" the first time in faces in the crowd
9) every time "now" and "down" just about overlap in untying the knot

hell yeah on all those. i love how the sparkle synth and the spooky sample steal every transition on TSoP. what a great thing this is

on TSoP the almost electric sounding buzz between verses reminds me so much of the intro to this classic genesis game; right when the x-men logo bursts onto the screen. I wonder if noah pitched it down?

^that's so weird, I was looking for videos of that game the other day. I played it in my childhood and I was going on a nostalgia trip. It does sound a lot like the TSoP buzz...

Nice find!

Thoughts on the recording/engineering/mixing? Love the songs but the EP sounds flat and slightly undefined to me. Just a bit wooly. Nothing is really popping out or sounding bright, everything seems fudged in together which is a shame to me cus there's some wicked samples.. I get that this has been a bit of a feature of all Noah's solos, but I heard he was putting his vocals out in front more than his other solos, which he has done, but they still sound muddy still to me. It also sounds quite quiet, even in my headphones.

I really don't want to sound overcritical because I love the EP but the recording quality of AC has been an issue I think for a while now, even in their recent live shows I felt they were struggling a little to get things sounding right.

I officially think Centipede Hz has impeded peoples listening skills because of that whole production dilemma lol. The e.p sounds great guys come on.

It also sounds quite quiet, even in my headphones.

I have no problem with the mixing on the EP, but I have noticed this, a little bit. If I go straight from Mr Noah to FlyLo's You're Dead on Spotify then there's a noticeable increase in volume.

Easy fix, though, just turn up the volume another notch or two.

I really don't want to sound overcritical because I love the EP

well, you do sound overcritical

Wqdpt wrote:

It also sounds quite quiet, even in my headphones.

I have no problem with the mixing on the EP, but I have noticed this, a little bit. If I go straight from Mr Noah to FlyLo's You're Dead on Spotify then there's a noticeable increase in volume.

Easy fix, though, just turn up the volume another notch or two.

that's because flylo's album is brick-walled to shit. one of the worst produced albums I've ever heard.

What do people mean when they say it sounds flat? My neighbor said tomboy was very "flat" last night. He also said This Side of Paradise was "cheesy". Not sure what that means either. Then he said he loved the EP still.

Hey! My radio station got a promo copy of Mr Noah today. It's just in a regular jewel but I snapped some pics anyway. Most interesting things to note: it includes a "radio edit" of "Mr Noah"; the credits on the back are a bit more expanded than what I think we already know. I don't know if it's super legible in the picture but I can transcript if needed.

Is the radio edit shorter or something?

Hey! My radio station got a promo copy

I read this far, thought I was in the PBvsGR thread, and had a minor heart attack.

That booklet is sweet. I wonder if the radio edit of Mr Noah is the same as the music video, where they cut out the intro.

e: I'm also curious where PeteK played vocoder on this album...maybe some of the background noises in Crosswords/Garage? Shot in the dark

Yeah I just checked it's 37 seconds shorter. As far as I can tell they just cut out almost all of the intro.

Edit: yeah what Vic said

Oh just realized what's listed after "Panda Bear" and "Sonic Boom" on the back is the equipment they used (Jomox Xbase 999, Yamaha TX812, Moog Voyager; Fenix II Modular, EMS Synthi AKS Synthesizer, Moog Voyager). I don't know if any of that wasn't previously known but it'd be very cool if there was a full list on the album itself.

Yeah I just checked it's 37 seconds shorter. As far as I can tell they just cut out almost all of the intro.

Edit: yeah what Vic said

just like in the film clip i imagine

i hope everyone dl'd the wavs with their pre-order because i just did and hell yes.

Spoiler: show

Back cover

interesting font/placement on the back cover

e: I'm also curious where PeteK played vocoder on this album...maybe some of the background noises in Crosswords/Garage? Shot in the dark

Some of those noises sound pretty vocoder-y to me, yeah. I also hear something synthetic doubling the vocals in Principe Real, maybe that's it? If the credits only mention the instruments used on the EP, then I have no idea.

Love how there are little trails or "echoes" saying the first word before each line and then that cool metallic echo after certain words in This Side of Paradise.

edit: funny how I didn't like this one at first, now I think it's badass

i think i've listened about 12-13 times so far. don't wanna overdo it too much. i often find that when an ep is short, i replay it a lot when i first get it then often it kinda gets forgotten later on.

What do people mean when they say it sounds flat? My neighbor said tomboy was very "flat" last night. He also said This Side of Paradise was "cheesy". Not sure what that means either. Then he said he loved the EP still.

I mean it sounds thin, and all freqs muddled in together. There's no clear declination of highs and lows or instruments and sounds, sort of thing you get when recording some music on your phone. There's no clear separation of drums and the guitar wahs on Mr Noah, the drums sort of flat and muffled. I find the drums are muffled and hidden away on faces in the crowd too.

Bass freqs and bass in general seems completely absent in all the songs, other than this side of paradise, where there seems to be a baseline but it's really thin.

I wonder if Joe Lambert isn't mastering this release? I didn't have these opinions on Tomboy, which I thought sounded great, better than PP.

Bass freqs and bass in general seems completely absent in all the songs, other than this side of paradise, where there seems to be a baseline but it's really thin.

The sound you're referring to as the guitar wah on Mr Noah is intended to be the bass. It's in a slightly higher register than your typical bumpin' bass (I think, at least... I'd have to sit down with a keyboard to make sure), so it might sound a little thinner due to that. I like it though, it cuts nicely. Then on Faces in the Crowd, there's a bass synth that to my ear sounds like it's played in octaves, but it's pretty clearly there. It starts at around 9 seconds, a beat later than the rest of the instrumentation. And like you said, TSoP has bass, although it's a little faint.

Untying the Knot is probably the only one that doesn't have a conventional bass sound—I think it's just drums filling out the low end. And I think PK confirmed this, but I'd have to go back and check.

I respect your guys' opinions on the EP—to each his own, and you have every right to dislike the mixing. But I definitely disagree, I'm digging it and I don't think about the mixing as I'm listening. Also, I think sometimes it's easy to fall into the "grass is always greener on the other side" trap. You might wish that the EP were mixed differently, but if we had gotten the mix that you guys want, I'm sure many of us would be complaining anyway.

I'm not saying that you guys are necessarily falling into this trap, but I just know that I often do, so I like to keep it in mind. Sometimes I focus too much on what could have been, instead of trying to appreciate what is.

if we gonna talk about production. I'm not quite digging how the vocals sound on this side of paradise. the vox sounds too muddled and too low-end? it doesn't make me dislike the song one bit though. its my fave so far. the melody on that is infectious as fuck.

yea the vocals on This Side of Paradise almost sound very lo-fi or something. very different than the other tracks. although i can't speak to Mr. Noah track as Im waiting for the album to listen to that one.

Faces in the Crowd was just played on BBC R6 Tom Ravnescroft show

The Hype Begins

one of our local radio stations here in Estonia (eastern europe) just played this in full, dj is a huge fan and said he is in love with the direction Noah has taken on these tracks.
dude is also one of the most famous music critics here and "here comes the indian" is one of his all time favorite releases.

one of our local radio stations here in Estonia (eastern europe) just played this in full, dj is a huge fan and said he is in love with the direction Noah has taken on these tracks.
dude is also one of the most famous music critics here and "here comes the indian" is one of his all time favorite releases.

Whoa, that's sweet! Always good to hear that AC & solo projects have ambassadors around the globe

whyd you have to post that crap. he's embarassing..

coming back after a bit of busy time and finding out that so much has happened is quite amazing!!

i did really like Mr Noah in the couple of recordings i had heard; having this studio version, it is timeless isn't it! I like thinking of a parallel universe Lucky 1 / Mr Noah split record. or, perhaps a parallel universe concept that they could do on the next tour Pulleys ---> Lucky 1 ----> Mr Noah (both animal collective versions) ----> Pulleys ^___^

very anticipatory to hear the other EP songs too!!

did anthony just diss Down There?

i think we should form an angry mob

the kick pattern in TSOP is so sick. love how it sort of rushes the beat...kinda reminds me of dilla

hey sonic, any way you could tell us where panda got the main sample from?