Album Rating: 3.5

album is a tour de rape

Album Rating: 5.0

One of the best albums made in a long time.

Album Rating: 3.5

Collection of stupid noises. Pretentious garbage indie **** rock. Most overrated thing since pogs.

Collection of stupid noises. Pretentious garbage indie **** rock. Most overrated thing since pogs.

Collection of stupid noises. Pretentious garbage indie **** rock. Most overrated thing since pogs.

Collection of stupid noises. Pretentious garbage indie **** rock. Most overrated thing since pogs.

Collection of stupid noises. Pretentious garbage indie **** rock. Most overrated thing since pogs.

Album Rating: 4.0

Summertime Clothes reaches a ridiculous level of catchyness

Album Rating: 4.5

seems to become the kind of universally acclaimed album that 2008 didn't have.

Album Rating: 5.0

2008 sucked. This is way better than anything in 2008.



[quote=DFelon204409]Their sense of eclecticism is just BS exoticism like Vampire Weekend or Paul Simon.[/quote]



A little ironic considering your love of Thrice no?

Album Rating: 5.0

I mean this might as well be my favorite album of this year already

Album Rating: 3.5

This has been sitting in my itunes for about a week but I haven't given it a proper listen yet. Just bits and pieces. Sounds alright, clearly something I need to give proper time and attention to.



Review's good, if a little far-fetched in places, but the way you describe it, it seems this wouldn't be for me, despite the universal praise it's getting.

Album Rating: 5.0

[quote=Dfelon204470465546456]I'm with you that "Lion in a Coma" is the best song on this album though I wouldn't say of all time for them. This album really irks me for a few crucial reasons. The basslines are too repetitive. They have their buzzy, synthesized bass sounds repeat the same single-note snare-drum syncing patterns throughout the entire album. Their sense of eclecticism is just BS exoticism like Vampire Weekend or Paul Simon. "Lion in a Coma" as good as it is just tosses around didgeridoo sounds as if to spice up the song but ends up sounding contrived and ridiculous. The vocals on "Brother Sport," meant to invoke African chant, suffer for the same reasons. Lastly, the album is way too homogeneous. On previous albums they did a good job of alternating stripped down arrangements with dense ones, creating nice contrasts. I think Animal Collective's most important characteristic on any song is their texture. Whereas their textures were all over the place on Sung Tongs, everything here is washed out in the same way. There's too much reverby synthesizer, too much buzzy bass line, and the vocals are pretty uniform throughout the album. The only ways this album really snares me are in the chord progressions and vocal melodies, which own on songs like "Lion in a Coma." However when those are the only positives, this album could have just as easily been a singer-songwriter, stripped down acoustic guitar and vocals effort, and would probably be better off as a result, if not an "Animal Collective album."[/quote]

first, let it be noted you said 'lastly' and then continued on for like 6 sentences.



Okay, anyway, this album is hardly homogeneous. I don't need to cite specific examples to explain that the songs are not the same, it's blatantly obvious.



Something I need to bring up is I have never seen you post about Animal Collective, specifically Sung Tongs, the album you apparently and suddenly love to compare when talking about Animal Collective. I say this because you love to bring down a hyped and popular record in anyway possible, even if it means exploiting your own ignorance. Like your insightful comment, Animal Collective's most important characteristic on any song is their texture. So Nick, how does it compare to Feels and Strawberry Jam since you are so knowledgeable about Animal Collective's most important characteristic?



Next time, try listening to more than their second oldest full-length before saying a word, otherwise don't try and say what Animal Collective are 'about' and how this isn't on par with 'an Animal Collective album'



and again: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/2888500826_cbd670c7ea_o.jpgThis Message Edited On 01.06.09

this albums really growing on me. at first i exclusively listened to the first half of it, but i'm surprised i missed some of the good stuff towards the end, though really it was just on account of stopping to repeat 'summertime clothes' over and over. hopefully gonna up my rating sometime.

Album Rating: 5.0

I've got to agree with IsItLuck. It seems to me Nick listened to this really wanting to dislike it, so scraped together some really off base complaints to justify his initial assumption.

Album Rating: 5.0

I didn't like their other albums either.

Album Rating: 1.5

Way to not actually read what I said. Saying an album sounds homogeneous doesn't mean all the songs are the same. This is not a Taking Back Sunday albums where every song is essentially the same. What I complained about was their formulaic approach to production, which despite a lot of variety on the songwriting level casts a uniformity to their sound, which is in direct contrast to the way Strawberry Jam and Sung Tongs operated. I haven't heard Feels so I can't compare to that but from what I've noticed AC has been leading towards this pureed blend of sounds as opposed to the diversity found from song to song on previous albums. That's why I thought Strawberry Jam was so boring. The weird extrema of their sound was reined in as if pointing towards some central sound. What made AC fun was their unexpectedness and freshness. They sounded like a weirder version of The Books, which was a strength. Now they sound like indie pop as produced by Sal Villanueva. Also, if texture isn't the most characteristic or important thing AC has worked with over their career, what is? Since you're such an expert and all.

first staff battle of 2009! popcorn everyone?

Album Rating: 4.5

a bottle of beer works as well

maybe it's been posted before, but there's a complete album stream here:

http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/luisterpaal/41197789

Theres really no point in putting up my review now, unless its wanted.

Album Rating: 5.0

Saying an album sounds homogeneous doesn't mean all the songs are the same.

Also, if texture isn't the most characteristic or important thing AC has worked with over their career, what is? Since you're such an expert and all.

what the hell, I'll post it up since its already written.

Album Rating: 1.5

Well the only album I haven't heard in full is Feels, which I just streamed a significant amount of, so ya, I think I have decent grip on what they're working with. So do you agree with me that texture is the most important part, or what? Let's get on with talking about the music instead of getting all caught up in the mechanics of arguing.



Lewis, I was saying Strawberry Jam is an album that is still eclectic enough to avoid the pure homogeneity of MPP, but I could hear them restricting some of the diversity and contrast that made Sung Tongs enjoyable. It was still a weird ass surprising album, but the extrema were clipped. Neatly trimmed, making the listening experience somewhat more unified. Sorry if that was unclear. Think of it like Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue. It's a transition between the obvious use of metal in Choirs of the Eye to the absence of metal in Blue Lambency Downward. Strawberry Jam was a transitional album in that respect. I could hear them hint at some real homogeneity in Strawberry Jam's diminished textural and song to song variety.

Album Rating: 1.5

And I do agree that the homogeneity makes MPP more immediately listenable, though that's the exact opposite of why I ever listened to them in the first place.