Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Messy, abrasive, static-fuzzed Animal Collective

I've been struggling with the new Animal Collective, not exactly loving it but not able to dismiss it entirely either...my review's up today at Dusted.

Animal Collective
Centipede Hz
Domino

Animal Collective’s 10th album, Centipede Hz falls about as far from 2009’s Merriweather Post Pavilion as possible, replacing that beloved record’s clean, weightless anthemry with messy, abrasive, static-fuzzed sonics. It is shot through with radio references, both in the voices that filter through cuts like “Moonjock” and “Monkey Riches” and in the between-the-stations indefiniteness that veils even the most emphatic tracks. Recorded more or less live, with Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist and Deakin all taking part (Deakin sat out Merriweather Post Pavilion), the album has a ceaseless busy-ness. “Today’s Supernatural,” the single, is nearly impenetrable, a frantic, antic fugue-state of video game and carnival sounds that coalesces only in the call to “let-let-let-let-let-let go.” And yet, at its best, in the closing “Amanita,” for instance, Centipede Hz conjures absolute joy.

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You can stream the whole album (if you haven't already) here.

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