Collected Animals

What the title says. This can be live, in the studio and your preference can be chalked up to anything from harmonies to production techniques to the performance itself.

Here are my favs...

Panda:

- Derek. I don't know why, but this has always been a favorite. Love Panda's inflection and the multi tracking is buttery smooth. Just a great showing all around.

- Flesh Canoe. This feels unfair because its Avey's song and Panda just comes in during the last three seconds, but that totally random belt at the end is everything I love about the guy. He had a lot of good moments like this during this era (Did you see the words, Banshee Beat, People).

- Bros Live at "Upset The Rhythm", 2005. Maybe the only high quality video of his solo work around this time, but great performance.

- Good Girl/Carrots. Too many good parts to mention.

- I think I can. Stacked harmony heaven.

- I remember learning how to dive (live at Other music). I didn't expect to have so many live cuts, but yeah this was a beautiful recording and I kind of wish we had a studio recording of this version. Also loved Panda's backing vocals on Prospect Hummer. He's barely in the mix, but he sounds so soft and sweet here.

Avey:

- Covered In Frogs (Pitchfork Sung Tongs anniversary recording). I appreciate Avey's performance on this .I feel like he really dug deep and just went for it. Also lovely interplay between the two of them...this is what made Sung Tongs special in general. Special shout out to Leaf House and Winters Love in that regard as well.

- Fireworks. Of course.

- Grass/Purple bottle/Banshee Beat. It's hard to choose one of these off of Feels, so I feel they all have to go here. Pure kinetic energy and man does he have some range. His little baby gurgles at the end of BB in particular feel inspired.

- Safer. Again just so much passion comes through this guy's voice and Safer is a good showcase of what he does.

- Laughing Hieroglyphic. I think Down There in general a really underrated album, and Avey's vocals kill on this.

- What Would I Want? Sky? Great vocal interplay between the two of them, though Avey's lead is what makes this one of the all time greats in their discography.

a few that came to mind

Avey

"Peacebone" - all the screaming at the bridge (and especially when paired with the music video)
"Foetus No-Man" live version - "are you o-KAY KAY KAY" and "ree ree ree ree ree ree ree"
"I'm Your Eagle Kisser" - basically every part of the vocal delivery

Avey has too many great moments I wish he still did the scream-singing style on the newer stuff

Panda Bear

"Drone" - love how he turns his voice into one of the droning instruments on the track
"Young Prayer 4" - probably the epitome of that pure emotional wordless singing Panda did in the early days

Deakin

"Country Report" - "can you really engaaaaaage if you're not suuuuure"
"Just Am" - love how limber the delivery and flow is in general, and especially the "Dad I can't see I've lost my voice I need direction" part

All

"Honeycomb" - I've always loved the part where all the voices swell together to sing the last "life, life" line together. makes the whole song special for me
"Too Soon" - probably mostly Avey but can't really tell exactly who's making all the vocal sounds on this one. part of what makes Ark so great is all the unique processing of the vocals

Recycling I think is a great example of both Panda and Avery’s more reserved, emotional side. Deakin’s ability to become a complete chameleon on Strung with Everything and Walker is pretty incredible. My favorite solo Panda performance has got to be Nod to the Folks, for Avey it’s basically all of Down There

Mercury Man for Avey's delivery of "It must be some where, can't find it nowhere. Love. Is it me? I keep calling feels like there's no one there."

fucking heartbreaking, you can really feel the emotion in his voice.

great idea for a thread, and excellent picks so far all round.

"Foetus No-Man" live version - "are you o-KAY KAY KAY" and "ree ree ree ree ree ree ree"

big fan of this one. pullhair rubeye era is full of hidden moments like this that will strike you down like lightning.

reverend green is maybe too obvious to even point out but yeah that one is just a total behemoth

turn into something i think is also a great studio vocal in terms of being cleanly performed but capturing the raw energy a live performance would have

my fav live vocal is probably glastonbury fireworks. avey's on fire the whole time, and idk it's possible his ad-libs during the instrumental section are totally rote and rehearsed but you wouldn't know from listening to it it's just pure electricity

Mercury Man is a good one, gotta shout out Neurons live too.

Oh and Sweet Road PW version (Moogfest, etc) comes to mind. Noah and Dave losing their minds at the end is just so cathartic

oh god yeah panda on that sweet road is heavenly

oh oh daily routine paris 2016! unreal noah performance

pretty much any of avey's screams from a 2007 brother sport

i love how avey sings the chorus on our little chapter.

Avey was born to sing For Reverend Green

Panda "I know i know i know" part on "last night at the Jetty"

transcendental


"Guys Eyes" -- Avey / Panda singing over each other

benfica (when he goes high)
PJ. I can't think of another song where he sings like this
all of Campfire Songs. they killed it, their voices blend perfectly with the overall sonic vibe and feel effortless

Selection Of A Place - Rio Negro Version

Today's supernatural

Strung w everything

Noah's parts in taste

Screens this last tour

Avey:
2006-03-19
Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA, USA
1. Flesh Canoe

Panda Bear: Daily Routine

Deakin: Royal and Desire

Geologist: Hey Light

Little Fang. Avey's voice is very delicate and reassuring there, and Angel's high harmony gives me the tingles

Avey's version of La Rapet from that Folk Medicine live stream is definitely a top tier vocal performance. I always get chills just from the first couple notes. "Does my rugged face CUT SCARS LIKE DAGGERS..." hearing him just belt that melody out is incredible, a total gut punch. Surely in the minority here but sometimes I feel like that's my favorite version of that song.

Avey's version of La Rapet from that Folk Medicine live stream is definitely a top tier vocal performance. I always get chills just from the first couple notes. "Does my rugged face CUT SCARS LIKE DAGGERS..." hearing him just belt that melody out is incredible, a total gut punch. Surely in the minority here but sometimes I feel like that's my favorite version of that song.

second this hard. that version of turn into something is great too

I always love a good Avey scream, or a falsetto. I love the part in La Rapet when he harmonises with that twinkling synth (Isabelle part). Spirit is full of great Avey moments in general.
A perhaps underrated example is also Today’s Supernatural. I feel like Avey really gives it his all on there and I love the way the song builds and his voice gets louder and harsher by the end.

Panda to me shines the most with harmonies. I absolutely love that final “OHH OHHHHHH” at the end of Flesh Canoe, or basically the entirety of Also Frightened. If we count solo work also I can never get the final segment of Good Girl/Carrots out of my head. His falsetto with that playful cadence is just pure bliss, like something straight of a dream.

And as for Deakin, he won me over with Wide Eyed and further showed his vocal emotional range on Sleep Cycle and my favourite bit on that project is the way his voice builds on Just Am. Deakin is just pouring his heart out and sounds so vulnerable, I don’t know how he does it so well.