Animal Collective

have you heard these guys?



Question:
"Do you consider what Animal Collective does to be more in the art or the pop tradition?

(Deaken's answer):
We are in the tradition of realizing that any music or any art form, ideally, is not art for the sake of art, but rather a personal journey toward discovering something. We've treated it like that for a long time. Art definitely has a place in it, because art has a place in our lives, and pop definitely has a place in it, because we all listen to a lot of pop music and we think it sounds really good. Those two elements and many more end up in the mix of what we do. We would probably all give slightly different answers to the question, but in general we feel that what we do is very personal. There are a ton of traditions that we are inspired by, and we listen to a ton of music. We are usually inspired by how someone came to be in the place where they made their music. Syd Barrett, the artists on the Kompakt label like Dettinger, reggae music, whatever we are listening to - we are inspired by the process that they went through to get there, and why they were doing what they were doing, and what they were influenced by in being there. We are living in our time now, and we're trying to do something that, to us, represents what our world is like. That's one of the reasons why each Animal Collective album is really different. There are unifying factors, but each of the stages represents us coming together for a period of time and saying 'what's happening to us right now?' and 'what do we feel like?' and 'what's our world like?' and 'what's our environment like?' and 'how do I feel personally?, how are we getting along?, what have I been listening to?, what do I look at?' and 'what do I spend my evenings doing?' and how does that entire thing come together and produce itself into a song that we decide to make. That's the process of every song, every album, every performance."

see, the thing is, i don't really know what to say. i'm inspired by so many aspects of what they do, it's hard to pick out what parts to praise. it seems so... ethereal, a true record of the event of people coming together to play music in a rooms, bringing parts of their lives and feelings that create an incredible depth.

i'm in love.


another quote:

"Can you tell us a bit about how you recorded Campfire Songs?

Panda Bear: It was out at Dave’s [Avey Tare's] cousin’s place, out in rural Maryland. Out in the countryside. They have a little screened–in porch and we all sat in there, and we had, like, two mini disc players recording inside, and we put one outside so you could get the whole sphere of what was going on as we played. And we played it straight through.

All the way through–no stops?

Avey Tare: Yeah, it took us a while to get the right take.

How long is the album?

All: 41 minutes or something."

"carry that ball, break that chain" pt. 1

the premise:

make a concept album about steinbeck's "the grapes of wrath,"
in 12 hours.
oh yeah.

the product:
eight "songs" joined together into one 24-minute track,
with the songwriting responsibilities split evenly between michael and i.
we had set out to make the weirdest, craziest thing we'd ever done, yet ended up writing some of the folkiest songs we've ever tried. how to remedy this?

instruments used:
we decided to bring out the theme of technology vs. earth addressed repeatedly in the novel, which is also a huge form of tension in our own music.
when a band listens to everything from doc watson to matmos, there's bound to be some acoustic vs. noise tension. i played acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, vocals and drums; michael played acoustic, electric and slide guitars, mandolin, and vocals. at about midnight (10 hours in), we pulled out electric guitars and all the effects we owned, and recorded about 20 minutes of "experimental noise," as we like to call it, which we then layered under the first two tracks.

the songs:
we decided to go in chronological order according to plot and location shifts. so, where to actually start?
so many themes & characters to choose from, where to start?

why, the horny teenager, of course.
in the novel, al joad is the 16-year-old who sleeps with girls and is obsessed with cars (what's changed in the almost 70 years since?)
his sexual endeavors serve as an apt metaphor for the farming community, thus spawning the opening lyrics of the album (basically me on my knees screaming and slamming on the drum machine while michael played guitar noise)
"i spread my seed..." sung about 50 times. it then slows down into a single tap and the lyrics "fix the car, fix 'er up."

this leads into the personification of the land itself as it raped by "cold steel machines" in michael's song "bare bones." a basic track with vocals, acoustic guitar, slide guitar and noise. in the beginning, it is discordant (purposely done in the chord selection), but leads into a passionate cry of warning to the people, though there is nothing they can do at this point.

the third song is a "macrocosmic" song, covering the general mood of the migrants as they travel westward. this is a minute-long me singing over a drum machine run through a phase-shifter...i know everyone cares.

fourth song: another michael composition follows (after a brief 'bridge' of a track, just us playing a few soft chords to bring the mood back down); this one's called "in on me," and it's about the character of grandpa and how he is connected to the land--he is naked and hollow without oklahoma.

to be continued...

"carry that ball, break that chain" pt. 2

fifth: a song called "grand life". one i wrote about the character of noah, who, upon arriving in california, decides to stay and live on a river instead of continuing to work in the fruit trees. two acoustic guitars and michael doing slide in between verses. also, the line that i'm quite proud of: "he turned to me, said 'eventually every man makes it to his promised land'". the most traditionally folk of all the songs.

it ends on a slowly-plucked chord, and abruptly the next song starts with two guitars and then stops after one measure. then an electric-fuzz guitar comes in with a constant kick drum punch on the beat. this one's called 'three cries'--about how history shows what happens to a group of people oppressed and poor and hungry, and who don't own any land. the most rockin' tune.

last 'official' song is michael's "carry that ball, break that chain" for which the album is named. just him and acoustic guitar and me playing banjo, with a good ol' workers' chorus: "carry that ball, break that chain, make that effort if you want that change". the catchiest damn thing we have.

lastly, we weren't sure if had captured the overall significance of the text, so we wrote a song with banjo and mandolin called "the overall significance of the text". the lyrics are as follows:

john steinbeck was a really great guy
he wrote lots of books in his lifetime

he wasn't liked in california
but he was just trying to warn ya

he liked plato's alegor-i
he won the nobel peace prize

his book's called "the grapes of wrath"
it's a blast from the past
his book's called "the grapes of wrath"
it's gonna kick your...butt

john steinbeck
john steinbeck

it's a great read if you have time
and you're not assigned twenty chapters every single night.


i'm so proud of this thing; can you tell?

The Complexity that is Pearl Jam (with no claim to any answers)

The problem is this: Pearl Jam cannot simply be written off as a grunge band who has survived too long.

There was this band, Mother Love Bone, whose lead singer Andy Wood died a few days before the release of their first album (I once talked to a waiter in Seattle who claims to have known him—but then again, what wannabe rocker in Seattle over the age of 35 doesn’t claim to have known at least one of the members of either Pearl Jam or Nirvana?). Through some connection or another, some vocal-less demos of the band ended up in the hands of surfer dude Eddie Vedder.
After he got back from catching some rad waves, he tracked grunts of several different notes and sent the tapes back with that correspondence—like Aphrodite birthed from a shell created by ocean water meeting the blood of her father’s testes, Pearl Jam was founded.

Now, don’t be misled by my jesting—Pearl Jam freakin’ rocks. I own every studio album (plus a few of their hundred live albums) from 1991’s “Ten” (songs from which can be heard at least five times a day in any city in the U.S.), to the self-titled album, released 2006. My father introduced me to them (as with most of my good music), and I was singing along to the album “No Code” at six years old (I would have to argue for “No Code” as their best, with “Yield” coming in a close second).

Some people, critics, would gladly debate my assertion in the opening sentence. They call “No Code” and “Binaural” too experimental and that the band should stick to what made them famous. Their newest album has been extremely well received because of the semi-return to “ten” style—but at least this one has better vocals and much better lyrics.

Just for kicks, let’s take a look at 2001’s rarities and B-sides compilation “Lost Dogs.” Thirty songs that, for some reason or another, didn’t make it onto any studio album. Why is this? Producers claim the songs just didn’t fit the flow, fit with the rest of the respective albums for which they were recorded. I don’t buy this. These songs are weirder, often times recorded spur of the moment (Eddie Vedder is a master at improvising lyrics, incorporating entire 60’s rock song lyrics into the course of a P.J. song at concerts). capable of grabbing the attention of bubble-gum-chewing 13-year-olds? probably not.

so, let's leave it at this: Pearl Jam has looked around them and found inspiration, creating songs for the last 15 years. why stop now? they're innovative, talented, active protesters of things they disagree with; what more could you want in a rock band?

"...should this even be a song?" #2

you know, i'm ok with this visions thing. in fact, it adds to his intrigue. hell, i'd believe whatever he told me. yeah, he's Christian, and so are his family/band members. Daniel writes that he is merely the middle man, a seer of visions of songs and messages from God. the same claim goes for his excellent folk artwork some of which adorns his albums, some of which is available to order...

the first time I heard the Danielson Famile was viewing the Danielson Famile movie at a film festival. someone told me Sufjan Stevens was in it--i'd heard one sufjan song. but this-- what the hell was this? Daniel Smith was intense, screaming lyrics about love and hope and faith and spiritual trials to sometimes crowded, sometimes receptive bar-goes. i didnt leave the movie singing his praises, but something stuck with me, possibly the sincerity. months later, I've purchased all phases of Daniel Smith's genius (Danielson Famile to Tri-Danielson to Brother Danielson--solo--to Danielson with the album "ships", which collects all the people he's worked with into one celebratory, collaborative yet still Danielson piece), and yes I am singing his praises. No, i don't completely agree with everything he's saying (a common sentiment among non-christian fans) but i can relate--to certain trails, struggles, etc.

what else can i say? I'm smitten. and I'm glad someone still believes we can all love each other.

interview.

"...should this even be a song?" #1

first, there is the mandatory history lesson every pretentious audiophile will give when introducing people of... lesser taste to new indie music.

here's Daniel Smith. he goes to art school. Before he graduates in the early nineties he does his senior thesis. this involves collecting his brothers and sisters, ranging in age from 10 to 23 or so,to all play instruments in Daniel's musical compositions. this evolved from church services, or meeting their family held together in their house, all playing different instruments. his thesis was called "a prayer for every hour", which had, appropriately, 24 songs. after they were picked up by Tooth and Nail Records, it was released as the first c.d.

Daniel's voice is like nothing you've heard, as is his music. with the ability to hit whispery-high notes, then drop back down to something "normal," though not always in tune. the music has been described as "carnival-esqe", but this is only because of the call and response from his single voice to his siblings' repeated chants, combined with the triangles and bells and stops and starts. Oh yeah, they also appear on stage in nurse uniforms, symbolizing the healing power of God's love) but that's not nearly as cool as his "solo" tour in 2004 where he wore a massive tree suit while playing acoustic guitar). So, maybe a little carnival in there somewhere. what people really should jump to first, is his trail blazing indie-folk-punk combination that allowed now-popular bands (modest mouse and sound-alikes) to exist...

"...and we could be connected just like this." pt. 1

in the last three weeks, i have attended three concerts,
each different and satisfying in it's own right.

february 8: donna the buffalo
(from whose song the name of this blog entry is taken)
what's that band called again?
electric-folk/country/appalachian-rock-zydeco-jam-band from Ithaca.
known for their live shows, touring for the last 15 years almost non-stop.
also the first band i had heard of who chartered a cruise with their fans ("it's pretty much just like this, but everything's rocking back and forth a little," jeb says).
devoted fans. joint songwriters tara nevins (vocals, acoustic guitar, fiddle, washboard), and jeb puryear (vocals, electric guitar), have two distinct styles that mesh into song creations that make you want to dance; intelligent, heart-felt lyrics with a zydeco-rock groove. anyway, the concert...

thursday night, we're the youngest people in the venue because it's 18 & up without some sort of guardian. for the first part, we're standing down on the floor and i'm trying not be embarrassed by my father, who's taking pictures with an impossibly blinding flash, and everyone around me is talking about the headache they're getting, and when someone's going to make him stop. but then, the thing happened that i was waiting for, that i knew would come, having been to DTB concerts before--the inevitable point in the show where you forget that there is anything outside this room, when you are no longer conscious of your body, it's just the music. sure, devoted jam band fans (donna groupies are affectionately called "the herd") aren't the nicest smelling people, but there's always this hippie sort of vibe going around, people are just letting the music move them, dancing, and apologizing when they bump you, which is quite often. as far as i'm concerned, the connection between the audience and the performers is the most important thing. and it's strange that i would be saying this, as every band member played with their eyes closed almost the entire time. their connection to the audience happened through the music--especially the first encore, in which just jeb and tara came back on stage and played a stripped, intensely emotional jam of jeb's song "me & depression"--no exaggeration, one of the most beautiful things i've ever experienced. i left completely satisfied, clear-headed, and with an awesome t-shirt.