Lucky 1

Today feel like the lucky one

The last track on Down There:

A sound and point-of-view associated now with only one band

Pitchfork have a good write up of Strawberry Jam, which includes the following excellent bit on 'For Reverend Green' and Avey Tare's voice:

The story of this record for me, though, is the strength of Avey Tare's voice, and how his singing anchors these songs, invigorates the band's idiosyncratic melodies, and offers a clear portal into Animal Collective's utopian dreamworld.

Avey Tare's tone has never been as aching and pure as Panda Bear's, but his is the more versatile instrument. Wild intervallic leaps-- jumping up and down full octaves, or going from a full-throated howl to a piercing shriek-- have long been his trademark, and it's something that bugs a lot of people. That makes sense: His vocal style is peculiar, and could easily strike some as affected. But the way he negotiates a song like the fourth track here, "For Reverend Green", shows just how well he can adapt his singing to fit the needs of the song.

Over a repeating guitar delay that sounds a little like the Smiths' "How Soon Is Now?" and an organ seemingly pulled from the midway of a county fair, Avey follows the contours of "For Revered Green"'s sing-song melody but never seems bound by it. He explodes with a scream every line or two for emphasis-- not to highlight a word, but to convey the idea of feelings spilling over the edges of the song's expansive container. It's a sound and point-of-view associated now with only one band. A backing of "whoo-oo-oo" vocals working in counterpart to the main melody only reinforce how distinctive Animal Collective's sound has become. Here, more than on any record yet, they own that sound completely. 

Reasons Tjalling should like ... Avey Tare

I recently shared 'For Reverend Green' with Tjalling.

He loved it: "[F]reaking great, most positive response yet to something to do with animals or pandas or the like".

So, he likes Avey Tare. Close enough.

(Top YouTube comment: Dick = Hard)

Live at the Electric Ballroom - Opening (You Can Count on Me)

As with Tomboy, Panda Bear opened with 'You Can Count on Me'. However, unlike Tomboy, it sounded like this:

I definitely prefer this to the album version. As I mentioned yesterday, with Sonic Boom in tow, Panda was able to focus on his guitar and vocals. And how! What a start - that voice, the hazy guitar. Worth the price of admission alone.

Oh, and thank you FDFlashDeck for the footage; 'Deck' has uploaded a whole bunch of good footage, which I will continue to share here.

Panda Bear & Sonic Boom

Last week, I got to see Panda Bear play at the Electric Ballroom in Camden. He was not alone!

Boom left, Panda right.

He was joined by Sonic Boom, who helped produce Tomboy. Mr. Boom was a very welcome addition. Pitchfork's review of Panda Bear's (solo) show at last year's Primavera is telling:

Whenever I see a guy starting his set like Panda Bear did tonight, stepping out with a guitar around his neck and making his way to a bank of electronic gear and a single microphone, ready to do a show all by himself, I think: This dude has too much to do up there. Performing and singing are difficult enough without essentially mixing live sound in between guitar strums. Which is to say Panda Bear seemed like he missed the rest of the Collective a little bit during this solo show.

Even when performing with Avey Tare and Geologist, Panda is usually the least animated member, content to work his electronics and sing the sort of heavenly, reverb-drenched vocal lines that are now so often imitated. But tonight, without the visuals that usually accompany his solo performances (trouble with the projection set-up), his low-key stage presence made his set, heavy on unfamiliar new material, a tougher sell.

With Mr. Boom in tow, twiddling and mixing, Noah was free to focus on his (guitar and) vocals - thanks Sonic Boom.

The set just was Tomboy; the encore, Person Pitch. There's some good footage of both on YouTube, and over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to post it here, complete with analysis/gibber, taking you through this lovely gig.