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The release of Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion has seen levels of anticipation reach fever pitch. The January release partially explains this, given the ubiquity of the likes of Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes in the countless 'Best of 2008' lists. The world is gagging for something new.
The involvement of Web Sheriff as leak-protector general created more buzz, especially as final track Brothersport was supposedly leaked by friend Ed Droste, of Grizzly Bear. Fake torrents were uploaded to ward off hungry downloaders, some including a mash-up of early house classic Your Love by Frankie Knuckles and Merriweather's My Girls to tease the fans. Deerhunter's Bradford Cox added his voice, saying that people should "pick up instruments and make your own version of what you would want it to sound like".
Anyway, all this attention heightened expectations for the Baltimore band's ninth studio album. 2007's Strawberry Jam and AC member Panda Bear's (aka Noah Lennox) Person Pitch blew all sorts of people away. The former saw the four-piece at their most confident; vocals higher in the mix with sweet melodies complemented by electronic soundscapes. The latter, received with arguably more warmth by critics, AC fans and non-fans alike, was a blissed-out Brian Wilson-inspired piece of pyschedelia.
Given the temporary absence of guitarist Deakin (Josh Dibb), Merriweather was made by the trio of Panda Bear, Avey Tare (David Portner) and Geologist (Brian Weitz). Unlike Strawberry Jam, Merriweather was mostly worked out live. Hip hop producer Ben Allen was employed to help translate the live sound onto record in Oxford, Mississippi.
The album opens with In The Flowers, which creeps out like the first snowdrops of spring before exploding into life as a Flaming Lips-esque celebratory anthem. This euphoria and open-eyed wonderment continues with My Girls. Written by Lennox, it is a simple sun-drenched mantra about his new life as a husband and father. He sings for the humble simplicities of a roof over his head and distances himself from the materialistic sides of life.
It would be easy for a record of such honesty and naivety to fall flat on its face. Guys Eyes shares a passing resemblance to (seriously) Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? But they manage to create the tune in such a way that is more akin to the tingling excitement you heard Band Aid as a kid, rather than the disenchanted, cynical eyes that so many see it through today.
Weighing in at 55 minutes, the 11 tracks are an exhilarating yet exhausting journey. But then the album ends with the most celebratory and upbeat track on the album, Brother Sport.
The band have honed their craft. There is more space and focus than before, with no song topping six minutes (save for the finalé). It is a million miles from the awkward, self-aware recordings that bemused and frustrated people eight or so years ago when the band surfaced. However, the tunes are undoubtedly Animal Collective's.
Merriweather could be described as the meeting point of Strawberry Jam and Person Pitch, picking out the best elements of both whilst sounding unlike anything yet like everything you have ever heard. It is their most accessible record, and owes as much to the world of dance as it does any other of their influences.
Oozing fun out of every pore, this record is the perfect tonic to the increasingly troubled times that 2009 brings with it and will most likely feature on many of those Best Of lists come December.
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