Collected Animals

Hi all!

I spoke at length with one of the founders of the Music Box Village today (here on out referred as MBV) and have a lot to report. There are a lot of details and I will try my best to lay it out in a logical progression but I may be a bit all over the place so please forgive me.

The long and short of it that the Music Box Village crew and I are committed to doing our best to fund/produce the editing of the footage and mixing/mastering the audio of the Music Box Village performances into an official release of some form!

Disclaimer right off the bat, we are still in preliminary talks about it so don’t get too hyped yet (although MBV is confident that we can make this happen), but I want to get all of y’all up to speed because you will play an important role in funding this thing.

The details:

THE SHOW: Last month Animal Collective performed “site-specific music” two nights in a row in New Orleans. 70 minutes of new jams. What I didn’t realize until I spoke with MBV is that ALL performances at this venue are site-specific. The musicians that played with them were local artists and a lot of the instruments are actually physically attached to the structures on the stage. So very site-specific indeed.

THE RECORDING: MBV says each night they had about 5 people on stage with high quality video cameras and a few go-pros thrown in the mix too. They said the audio is high quality as well: 32 channels which can be mixed & mastered into near studio-quality audio. I think MBV said that they have past videos that we can check out for reference on a vimeo account called New Orleans Airlift? Haven’t checked those out yet.

THE JAMS: MBV said that Animal Collective would like to recording these jams eventually, but that the arrangements would be quite different in the studio due to fact that they won’t have the local musicians and the MBV instruments.

THE FUNDING: MBV thinks we can get this thing edited/mixed/mastered for about $5,000. We think we can make this happen via Kickstarter. Depending on how much of that the fans are able to pull together, I am willing to put up a significant portion of this. We haven't talked numbers for a potential physical release yet, have to ask the band if they are chill with that first/if they would like to be involved.

THE RELEASE: At best, we would like to do an official physical release that is sanctioned by the band. At least, we want to get the completed video/audio out there for all to enjoy. The guy I spoke with at MBV is friends with the band and will be in contact with them about this after he talks with his people at MBV.

THE TIMELINE: MBV says they have a big project that they are in the midst of right now but that we could get this kickstarter going by early summer-ish. As for the editing, etc we haven’t gotten that deep into talks yet.

THE NOTEBOOK: MBV said Avey was pretty upset about the guy who stole his notebook with his lyrics/notes about the performance, but they are working on getting it back and are optimistic that they will get it back for him.

That’s all I can remember off the top of my head. I am speaking with him again in about a week, at which time I will post an update. Please remember that we are still in preliminary talks/early stages of this thing, so the details might evolve as we go along. We still need to talk to the band and secure funding, etc

Any feedback about anything we haven’t considered is welcome! I'll do my best to be a good liaison between the fan base and the MBV crew. You guys think we can get the dough together????

Also can someone post this to the subreddit? thanks!

-dud/sean

awesome. i’ll definitely help out. thanks for doing this dud!

This is awesome, thanks for your efforts and I will definitely contribute however much I can. Really eager to get this show in top audio quality, especially if they plan on recording it differently in the studio.
Also, that's incredibly lame about Avey's notebook, that person should be ashamed of themselves and give it back asap - stunts like that give us fans a bad name and will make the band less eager to do cool stuff for us in the future.

Wow sweet. Nice work. I had been thinking that, that these songs would eventually get recorded but without the orchestral arrangements. Great news. And ya holy shit that notebook guy. He had the gall to say Avey wouldn't have minded and said he was gonna approach him in the future and tell him he took it as if it was no big thing. Proper dunce

It’s awesome that you’re doing this Dud. Ditto to above def be putting dollars towards the cause when we get there!

This is really good news. I still haven't listened to any recordings of this but based on what ppl are saying it sounds like it was a really special show, and I'm psyched that there is now a feasible plan to get an official recording out into the world, even if it takes a while to put together. Thanks so much for doing this dud!!

I don't know much about kickstarting stuff, but I feel like if/when there is a kickstarter for this, then if we/MBV can successfully get the word out, get it seen on pitchfork or whatever, then I feel confident that the AC fanbase could put together $5K. Maybe that's overly optimistic? Idk but I'll start saving up extra cash now and in the meantime I'll gladly patiently wait for a way to throw my money at this project

the material is seriously incredible, very special stuff. just to give you a taste there is a 15 minute track that rivals banshee beat and alvin row in there, no exaggeration. i could go into more detail, write a solid blurb about the music itself, for anyone who doesn't want to listen yet but is curious what the stuff is like

also a notable thing is that MBV told me that they are just about to use kickstarter for another project of theirs, so they'll have experience with the site, so that's a good deal, i imagine they'll deal with that aspect of it at that point, not me

This is great news but am a little concerned with how this is legally possible without an OK from AC? I understand it'd be nonprofit, but still... it is their music and all...

crossposted to /r/indieheads to get some more exposure, godspeed

we will be in contact with AC to get the okay. but from my understanding, i got the impression MBV already got the okay to upload the finished product to the internet if it was uploaded for free. If the kickstarter is just funding the labor for editing it then i don't think that it's a big issue, as no one is profiting from the product. no question MBV would certainly need AC's permission if they were going to profit from this/turn this into an official physical release that they would turn around and sell. we definitely will not do a thing before getting AC's permission, but as the person I spoke to said he is a friend of the band and organized the whole event, got permission to film, etcc, so he seemed very optimistic

the only impediment i can think of is that AC decides they don't want this stuff out there until they record it in the studio, but considering their open policy about crappy fan recordings of yet to be released album material, i can't imagine they would mind fans listening to a much higher quality version of something that is already out there in low quality

if we can just get this stuff edited and out there i'd be satisfied enough by that, maybe if AC likes the finished product they'll take it the extra mile and make it a physical release

THE JAMS: MBV said that Animal Collective plans on recording these jams eventually, but that the arrangements will be quite different in the studio due to fact that they won’t have the local musicians and the MBV instruments.

This is very promising, and HUGE kudos for getting the ball rolling dude, this performance and recordings/songs have really REALLY got to be released in some form... this really is top tier material. But out of all of that this quote caught my eye a lot... some redditor i thought said Geo didnt think they were gonna record these in-studio but hey, if MBV told u this, than that's awesome, who knows if its completely accurate, but that'd be rad. Still, even if this performance was part of what will be the next AC album, i still would really love a DVD of this.... so down to put some money into it if that helps


also, that is so insane and kinda sad/shitty to hear from the venue that avey was mad about the notebook. fuck that dude like god damn what a fucking psycho dick. send it to him somehow if yr reading this u prick, u can be redeemed, plz do it.

but anyway, ya this is awesome

yeah it was a whirlwind of a conversation but from what i remember the way he said it made it sound like they were preliminary ideas, more along the lines of "we would like to record this stuff at some point, it would be a lot different in the studio" not anything close to like "we have a concrete plan to go into the studio at x time to record this material." Looking back at what i wrote for that, probably should have used the word "would" instead of "will" there. e: went back and edited it

Would def donate, great job dude getting this ball rolling

excited about this, really good initiative so far

Fantastic work and news and I would happily be donating fifty bucks, no worries. If there were tier rewards like two hundred to have a wrestle or something with the guys, I'd cough it up if my wife gave the OK.

This is all good news!

def donating !!

Im in. Youre the dude dud !

Fantastic work and news and I would happily be donating fifty bucks, no worries. If there were tier rewards like two hundred to have a wrestle or something with the guys, I'd cough it up if my wife gave the OK.

http://collectedanimals.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=5282

^^ Stan, something equivalent to your idea seems to basically be happening!! And, the actual concert itself is beyond everything that could have seemed possible!

This part from later in the thread really puts in perspective what is happening now!

I'd say if we're actually going to try to do something like this we should at least wait until there's mention of a new studio album. According to the latest interviews, a new AC album isnt in the works yet. It'd be silly to ask for a show now

whoaaaa sick

Sick. I would def donate money for this. Thanks for inquiring and figuring this stuff out dud!

Tbh I don’t have any desire for this to become a physcial release unless the band had an input in designing the artwork. I’d prefer MBV to just provide a link where we could stream a high quality video, as well as the option for donors to download the video and audio separately. Producing a physical copy would just add to the timeline of us being able to see it

yeah it was a whirlwind of a conversation but from what i remember the way he said it made it sound like they were preliminary ideas, more along the lines of "we would like to record this stuff at some point, it would be a lot different in the studio" not anything close to like "we have a concrete plan to go into the studio at x time to record this material." Looking back at what i wrote for that, probably should have used the word "would" instead of "will" there. e: went back and edited it

word, I figured it was something like that, but either way its still cool to hear that maybe those songs have a life beyond just those 2 shows and whatever this live recording release push could lead to. but ya that alone will be the best thing to have, an official document of the shows.

but ya i also kind of want this mode of the band to be a hint of whats to come with their next album cycle/tour but knowing them there's no way to guess. they def all 3 (and the 3 local musicians they played with) used the truly site-specific instruments for a handful of parts, mostly a couple transitions in the first half, especially before Spider Bit My Lady, and ya the cello/sax/violin/accordian was unique too i guess, they should take those ladies on tour honestly... and an upright piano. but the majority of what the boys played were their own instruments, and avey and deak both on the upright at points, besides a couple big spacey jams where they all walked off stage to get to the weird mini-gazebo-instrument-hut-things fyi in case anyone hasnt seen any vids/pics of it..


but ya again, this is is sweet. will be cool if you are able to coordinate with the band and the venue at the same time to synch something up

Sick. I would def donate money for this. Thanks for inquiring and figuring this stuff out dud!

Tbh I don’t have any desire for this to become a physcial release unless the band had an input in designing the artwork. I’d prefer MBV to just provide a link where we could stream a high quality video, as well as the option for donors to download the video and audio separately. Producing a physical copy would just add to the timeline of us being able to see it

yeah to be honest, my personal goal is just to get the funding for the footage and audio to be processed into a finished product that they could upload free to their vimeo channel. a physical release would just be the icing on the cake, would be even cooler but totally a bonus in my eyes. i just want people to be able to see it and hear it in HQ. didn't even think about an official release until MVB said something like "i could talk to the band about offering a limited pressing as a goal on the kickstarter" and i was just like UM YES GREAT lol totally blindsided. one step at a time for sure, maybe the way itll pan out is we fund the editing and the band sees the product and is like "whoa this looks/sounds great, good work, let's make it into a live album" like live at 9:30 club

anyway thanks for all the support guys! appreciate it. will keep you all updated when i have more to tell you

hot damn, def will donate

would donate. keep it up dud

This is such a great development, will be donating for sure. Also just to add another voice to the choir, fuck that notebook guy. He is the official villain of CA.

this is dope, i would contribute anything i can

p.s. notebook guy you suck eggs bro

p.p.s. wait he's actually reappeared on the /indieheads subreddit. this guy is fucking unbelievable...

Notebook dude on reddit is bordering on sociopath, yikes.

Anyway, count me in!! Would love to donate to get this out!

Woah

would someone do me the great honor of directing me to the highest quality boot?

Cool dude. This makes me proud of being an AC fan. The fanbase is just awesome.

would someone do me the great honor of directing me to the highest quality boot?

100% would wait until this is out. Only thing out there is a YouTube? From a phone?

waiting could well end up being a good idea if a ball is already rolling on this, but this one from the first night really isn't all that bad. like i think its pretty 'fine' and none of the songs are badly diminished in this recording to my ears, tho i did see both nights live so maybe my memory fills in where fidelity lacks... also some of the installation instruments were scattered about and there with this human-sized bell made of fabric and other acoustic-based things, that im guessing are mic'd well, but depending on where u were sitting i think it could sound pretty different....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pWXQf65ZhM

and this one from Saturday is about as good, like some songs sound better due to quality than the first link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z5Io2D6fl4

but ya thats all we got, and other youtubes of varying quality. maybe there is a better one out there that isnt even these, but i think the first one is the one someone converted into mp3s? anyway ya, this is why we need this kickstarter/a dvd/to encourage the band in any way possible.

Very neat.

so is there a link to the kickstarter ?

“Please remember that we are still in preliminary talks/early stages of this thing, so the details might evolve as we go along. We still need to talk to the band and secure funding, etc”

No jokes about Kickstarter and deakin yet? Wow

so is there a link to the kickstarter ?

We're still in the early planning stages, so no kickstarter yet. Also, MBV is currently working on another big project, so they can't start this kickstarter right now. They hope to start this one around early summer-ish

This is just what dud posted but the details could change in the future, so hopefully we have a kickstarter by sometime this summer but no guarantees yet

yeah sorry I just saw "Official Kickstater" as it's on line

Deezy Season Approaching