[Flowers]

What do you guys prefer doing? Or do you do a mix of both?

[popeye]

dpends on an album by album basis. i loved all the sj jams live and the album took me a while to warm up to. for chz i avoided bootlegs and watching vids and stuff and i got lucky because, being a conceptual album, i got to take it all in at once without any reconciliation to anything changed in the studio.

[dance avey dance]

Always bootlegs. I definitely understand the thrill of being surprised by the final product on an album but the idea of hearing the songs develop over time is more exciting to me

[popeye]

well duh, you the bootleg queeeeen!

[hatredcopter]

Bootlegs and then cut yourself off so you miss em and so the album sounds fressssssh

[rampface]

Yep. If a boot exists, then I can't help myself. But I do TRY not to over do it...key word there is "try"

[Akaio]

Regardless of how many times I listen to boots, the studio versions usually feel pretty fresh and new.
It's like meeting an old friend with a new haircut; it's noticeable enough to really count

[Dead in Light]

w8 for the album, always.

Spoiler: show

for like a second, amiright?

[Poto Cai Cai]

People that avoid the bootlegs - do you also avoid seeing them play live?

[El Camino]

Bootlegs because it's cool seeing the songs progress and i don't know how anyone could hold off for a year or so for an AC-related project.

[valar602]

Sometimes I wish I could hold off on the bootlegs. Whenever I listen to Monkey Riches I just dream of what it could have been like sometimes, instead of really enjoying it.

[El Camino]

I was definitely a little disappointed with the way monkey riches turned out, 2011 live version was better imo.

[New Zealand]

Not sure how to answer this. I've been hearing pre-album bootlegs since 2006 but I'm going to try to wait for their next album without listening to bootlegs. Same with Slasher Flicks and Panda Bear's next album.

[tomboy]

I don't like to think the studio version is the 'real' version, they always seem to change shit up live before and after anyway. I don't mind, just enjoy it

[StrangeClams]

why wait...is it "thrilling" or something? if the artist has new music online somewhere, i'm going to listen to it

[ballparkmanatee]

It can give you false expectations if the band ends up changing things in the studio drastically enough. It took me a really long time to get used to the changed "Why am I still looking for a golden age?" part in Monkey Riches, for example.
I try to avoid bootlegs, but with a band like Animal Collective the temptation is usually too strong. Usually I just tease myself with it a bit and never listen to it again, but I have to admit I went all out for the Centipede Hz bootlegs. I was megahyped.

[terrestrialjane]

Yeah boots for shure. An album can get repetitive over time, as for live, I just prefer them. The energy, the vibes from the crowd, especially older shows, just makes you wish you were there.

[IkoOvo]

Poto Cai Cai wrote:

People that avoid the bootlegs - do you also avoid seeing them play live?

Nah man.
For me, there's a difference between hearing a non-professional live recording, and experiencing the performance firsthand.

[IkoOvo]

I'm not gonna listen to any bootlegs of Panda's stuff.
I already have the slasher flick's boot, but I'm gonna wait for Panda's album to come out.

[New Zealand]

I figure I can overplay a bootleg before an album release but I can't overplay seeing them live

[jfw7]

i listen to the sounds i like. i never enjoyed any of the chz boots or the album so i don't listen to either. i like tomboy better on the record i think so i haven't been especially motivated to listen to the boots. the good mpp shows are an entirely different experience than the album so i listen to both. &c., &c.

[jovian]

Sometimes hearing the boots too much makes the changes made on record distracting. or you get too attached to the way they did it live, but generally i get over that pretty fast and will not feel the need to revisit the boots much, if at all, after hearing the studio version. Though there is a certain charm that was lost on the early MPP boots (like '07-early '08), so I like to listen to that midi festival boot once in a while, great summer music. Sung Tongs boots are also choice, just about on par with the album for me. I'm glad I sought those out, someone with a strict anti-boot outlook would be missing out big time.

[IkoOvo]

I listen to boots after the album comes out normally.
I won't go out of my way to avoid boots, but I don't normally download any before an album is released.

[StrangeClams]

i listened to the panda bear bootleg a few times and found it uninteresting, i think i'll wait until the album
however i've been rocking slasher flicks a lot, shit is awesome

[keith!]

i've usually listened to bootlegs before the album but i'm trying to go in pure this time

and
its
killing me

[IkoOvo]

I haven't really listened to the slasher flicks that much, even though I have the boot.

['Bros' Owl]

didn't listen to much of the CHZ bootlegs so the album was mostly a nice surprise.. mostly..

Panda Bear's new stuff is irresistible and Slasher Flicks is pretty badass too so i'll follow them along

[terrestrialjane]

I like to watch the songs evolve over time. Like merriweather songs in '07 and undeveloped it still sounded, yet wonderful, and then each year, it'll sound different. It's a nice experience, kind of like watching a child grow up. And CH songs in '11, it's cool stuff

[real slippi]

i've "spoiled" myself with the boots for each release they've done since SJ and it doesn't really affect my enjoyment of the studio versions one bit. Tomboy might be the one exception but the box set got me super psyched

[GeckoSushi]

Poto Cai Cai wrote:

People that avoid the bootlegs - do you also avoid seeing them play live?

No, but I do avoid hearing them live. Mainly just throw on one of their records in the earbuds and pretend they're playing it.

[StrangeClams]

that seems like such a loserish thing to do, then i remember i do that occasionally

[DannyBrown]

I was just talking about this with a member of this board the other day. I understand wanting to listen to the boot because zomg new anco songs, but I would rather hear the album first. I don't like the fidelity and quality of most boots that I hear and I feel like I have to make an effort to really get an idea of what the song is like. I like to listen to the finished, polished, and perfected studio version first and then listen to the boots so I can see how the song has evolved and listen to them right next to each other for optimum comparishon. I also have this phobia of listening to the boot first and then listening to the album later and feeling like it's not new to me. And to answer that question about being anti-live simply because you don't like to listen to boots first, fuck no, I love it live. I'd rather listen live than studio or boot any day. The level of immersion simply doesn't compare. Feeling like the sounds are surrounding you almost like you're apart of it is simply magical.

[New Zealand]

DannyBrown wrote:

I also have this phobia of listening to the boot first and then listening to the album later and feeling like it's not new to me.

this is it for me

[El Camino]

I only listened to two songs from the CHZ boots (today's supernatural and monkey riches) so i think from now on i'll always listen to the boots because i definitely prefer some of the centipede songs live and it'd be really cool to see how songs change over time.

[Flowers]

Hashmane wrote:

DannyBrown wrote:

I also have this phobia of listening to the boot first and then listening to the album later and feeling like it's not new to me.

this is it for me

Yes yes yes! You're totally right, that's made me realise why I made this poll.. I realise I don't want to listen to it and it not be surprising or as mindblowing.

[Hobbes]

Good things come to those who wait!