It’s easy to get left behind when it comes to new music. In the last three months I’ve not bought or listened to a single new album and I feel almost completely detached from the world of pop.
So it’s time to play catchup. Over the next days and weeks I’ll be giving my first impressions of this year’s new releases and new artists, thanks to the wonders of Spotify. (If you don’t know what that is then you must be even more out of it than me. Check it out. Your life will change for the better.)
Merriweather Post Pavilion: trippiest cover ever
Who: Animal Collective: Baltimore-based group beloved by indie snobs. Only one of them is an animal – Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox) – but their record label is called Paw Tracks.
What: Merriweather Post Pavilion: the band’s eighth album released since their formation in 2000. According to Panda Bear himself, it’s their best yet. Named after an outdoor concert venue in their home state of Maryland.
When: 6 Jan 2009 (this shows how out of the loop I am)
Critical reaction: Just one week into 2009 it looked like the critics had found their record of the year. With near universal acclaim (89%), Merriweather is the top ranking album on Metacritic so far this year. Pitchfork gave it 9.6 – their highest rating since Arcade Fire’s Funeral back in 2004.
First impressions: I’ve struggled with Animal Collective in the past. I often found their last two albums, Feels and Strawberry Jam, dense and unfriendly even if they were obviously brimming with neatly ordered ideas. Now I think I should have given them more time.
Merriweather Post Pavilion is not only the band’s most accessible album to date; it’s also the most joyful record you’re likely to hear this year, this decade, whatever. The songs here will make you tingle with delight and you’ll have to restrain yourself to stop from joining in with the pounding drums and chorus of “oooh” on the shimmering single ‘My Girls’.
The term ‘baroque pop’ gets thrown around a lot, but when the harpsichord-esque sound of ‘Daily Routine’ kicks in, you know this is a band that make their art out of the intricate. Their keyboard riffs could sometimes be taken from a rave track and their layered, echoing harmonies are pure Beach Boys. There’s even what sounds like a didgeridoo in there.
And yet the reason Merriweather breaks through where its predecessors have stalled is its simplicity. The arresting melodies are strong enough to be heightened, not hidden, by all those beautiful production tricks. I’ll always have time for something that creates this much bliss.
Best tracks: My Girls, Bluish
Animal Collective: they'll hypnotise you with just a wave of their hands
