[Zane]

Hello

I'm fairly new to AC. Been a fan for only about 3-4 months really.

I have some questions if you don't mind:

1) are there any definitive live recordings/best bootlegs?

2) whats the way to tell Panda and Avey apart?

3) I'm still to listen to Spirit/Dance - am I an idiot?

4) Is there a list of EPs/b-sides online?

5) Are they coming to the UK anytime soon and are they even any good live?

Thanks. Bit weird being all sincere on a message board.

[New Zealand]

I kind of like stuff like this.

1. People will tell you different things, I'm sure. What you need to remember is a "definitive live recording" is only going to be definitive for one era. I like the NPR recordings they did in 2007 and 2009 but others will have a better idea.

2. Just keep listening, that's all I can really say. Their solo stuff should help a lot with that. And it probably helps to just be told who's singing which parts at first before you can start figuring it out on your own.

Panda sings (some of but not necessarily all of ) lead vocals on: Bad Crumbs, Two Corvettes, Leaf House, Winters Love, Chores, Derek, My Girls, Daily Routine, Guys Eyes, Brother Sport, I Think I Can, Screens, Tantrum Barb, Rosie Oh, and New Town Burnout. Avey sings lead on all the rest except Wide Eyed.

3. No! But listen to them when you get the chance. Spirit especially has some great songs and the way they were written (just Avey on his own) is mostly more accessible than Danse (songs developed more from jamming and they were all new to writing songs together).

4. Yes.

They have four EPs Prospect Hummer, People, Water Curses and Fall Be Kind. There are also B-sides for the "Grass", "Peacebone" and "Applesauce" singles, and a non-album single "Honeycomb"/"Gotham" and a sound/song collage Transverse Temporal Gyrus. After that there's some more obscure stuff but those are the most important and readily available I think.

5. Not sure... And yes they are nearly always great live.

[strawberrymeat]

hi zane!!

[Zane]

thanks for the replies!

going to have to get to work...

[Bangs]

I haven't heard Water Curses yet but the other EPs are well worth checking out. Each one has at least one top tier AC song.

[paperback mummy]

Zane wrote:

2) whats the way to tell Panda and Avey apart?

I had this problem at first too. I thought AC had a lead singer, silly me. It's hard to tell because of the effects on their voices sometimes, but Panda is generally a better "traditional" singer, he's very Beach Boyish and wholesome. Avey is very idiosyncratic and occasionally grating, he is the wild card of the band, and his songs also tend to be less obvious. Avey's Fireworks and For Reverend Green helped the band gain popularity but they didn't really take off until Panda's My Girls, which is one of those instant classics. I used to work in a grocery store and they played it over the radio there from time to time. It's that kind of song.

wrote:

3) I'm still to listen to Spirit/Dance - am I an idiot?

Spirit has a wonderful sound but I think the songs are overlong. It's all way more accessible than anything they'd make until 2007 though, which is interesting; AC buck the usual standards of how a band evolves, they seem to be going backwards and sideways throughout their career, rarely an obvious progression. Untitled is my favorite from that one, it's the perfect length and the best example of the sound they were going for.

Danse has its moments, but it's only for the truly faithful.

[El Camino]

I think listening to Winter's Love would be good for distinguishing their voices, as they both sing different parts within it, so having them right next to each other would help quite a lot.
Spirit and Danse are both brilliant, Spirit is really progressive, catchy and easier to get into once you get used to the blasts of noise whereas Danse takes a while to appreciate and most people think it sounds horrible on first listen, but it's really cool and atmospheric once you start to understand it. It's a very strange album that doesn't sound quite like anything else.

[Tico]

Zane = best new member name

[New Zealand]

paperback mummy wrote:

Zane wrote:

2) whats the way to tell Panda and Avey apart?

I had this problem at first too. I thought AC had a lead singer, silly me.

they do, it's Avey lol

[StrangeClams]

1) are there any definitive live recordings/best bootlegs?
2002-03-??, Tonic, New York, NY, USA
2003-05-10, Gardner Arts Centre, Brighton, UK
2004-04-08, La Fondation Cartier, Paris, France
2005-04-30, Artsplace, Lexington, KY, USA
2006-07-03, Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland
2007-09-28, 9:30 Club, Washington, DC, USA
2009-05-11, 9:30 Club, Washington, DC, USA
2011-07-15, Pitchfоrk Music Festival, Chicago, IL, USA

2) whats the way to tell Panda and Avey apart?
dave sounds like an angry raccoon/spirit crocodile
noah sounds like a choir boy who's seen some shit

3) I'm still to listen to Spirit/Dance - am I an idiot?
yes.

4) Is there a list of EPs/b-sides online?
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Animal+Collective
there are loads of rare things (radio recordings, automine stuff, etc), pm Dearest and he'll hopefully send you his various rarities collections

5) Are they coming to the UK anytime soon and are they even any good live?
a) probably...they announce stuff on myanimalhome.net
b) yeah bruh, especially with the centipede material....i think it sounds better live than ben allen's sonic soup on the record

[New Zealand]

also it's cool because you get to hear different versions of the songs, either early versions of songs before they record them in the studio or reworked versions of older songs that they've included alongside newer songs

[New Zealand]

StrangeClamsSequel wrote:

dave sounds like an angry raccoon/spirit crocodile
noah sounds like a choir boy who's seen some shit

lol'd

[IkoOvo]

StrangeClamsSequel wrote:

dave sounds like an angry raccoon/spirit crocodile
noah sounds like a choir boy who's seen some shit

haha
I wouldn't call dave angry though.

[New Zealand]

that's because angry raccoons sound different from angry people

[Tico]

hahahha

[denjanenna]

the melkweg boot from 07 is a really good show as well, quite comparable to the NPR one from same year

[geraldine]

Animal Collective is legitimately the worst, overrated band of all time.
I could LITERALLY recreate Strawberry Jam by holding up a microphone to a tumble dryer full of rocks.
LITERALLY.

[GeckoSushi]

2) whats the way to tell Panda and Avey apart?

Panda looks like this:


Avey looks like this:

[elks]

geraldine wrote:

Animal Collective is legitimately the worst, overrated band of all time.
I could LITERALLY recreate Strawberry Jam by holding up a microphone to a tumble dryer full of rocks.
LITERALLY.

GERALDINE SPEAKIN TRUTHS

[Bangs]

I actually kind of agree with this Geraldine person about Strawberry Jam.

[Gravity]

best bootlegs:
there have been some good ones mentioned here but as far as essential goes, pick up the 2004 Other Music one. It's an acoustic set with like 4 songs that you can't find anywhere else. Also it's a great show.

Telling Panda and Avey apart takes some time but if you listen to a lot of Person Pitch and Down There, it makes it easier to pick up. Another good way to tell is that generally Panda has the angel voice, whereas Avey is the one who will scream and such.

[Gravity]

FUCK ME DOUBLE POST.

[denjanenna]

so solid, it had to be said twice

[Dearest]

zane don't bother, go back to atease, Radiohead is better

[coollodges]

Maybe if they'd release music once in awhile.

[Tico]

i still dont even try to tell them apart on anything danse through sung tongs

[New Zealand]

Bangs wrote:

I actually kind of agree with this Geraldine person about Strawberry Jam.

that's because you have a screwed up brain though



I would be really interested to hear a cover of Strawberry Jam by Geraldine using the method he's described though

[jfw7]

Hashmane wrote:

I would be really interested to hear a cover of Strawberry Jam by Geraldine using the method he's described though

check the last track of http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Cass ... ase/986239

or just listen to i guess

[Zane]

thanks again for the responses

think I've listened to Banshee Beat a few hundred times this past two months '_'

[New Zealand]

that video is genuinely terrifying but yeah, I've no idea how someone would make that sound like Strawberry Jam without just cutting up the audio Decomposure-style

[Zane]

Dearest wrote:

zane don't bother, go back to atease, Radiohead is better

bit vibey

[paralleoneirdwell]

welcome, zane!!

here are a few songs/art pieces from the animal collective film project ODDSAC that i would feel bad if you missed out on for any longer! they may be some of the greatest animal collective music created, but, of course, all of their work is its own mysterious and perfect exploration of music and art in ways that are mostly not possible to even describe!

[jfw7]

i sold my copy of oddsac on amazon and wrote collectedanimals.org on a note inside. did any of yall buy it from me

[New Zealand]

lolwat

[jfw7]

i just hoped that whoever bought it would be cool and join so there would finally be enough decent posters on this shitty forum to write F·R·I·E·N·D·S fanfiction about (you're phoebe btw)

[Dearest]

lol aww

[New Zealand]

hahahahaha


I'm so honoured

Spoiler: show

and so glad I'm not Ross you have no idea

[Bangs]

Hashmane wrote:

Bangs wrote:

I actually kind of agree with this Geraldine person about Strawberry Jam.

that's because you have a screwed up brain though

I like what came immediately before and after though. Its like they just forgot how to write songs for a while.

Actually Cuckoo Cuckoo is good.

[El Camino]

I don't know how you could like their other stuff and not Strawberry Jam, i think the songwriting on SJ is better than mpp.

[Zane]

thanks para

Here's another question:

where are post counts? How am I meant to know who the big players are around here?