Tons has been said about Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, so its hard for me to say something that hasn't been already. I suppose, when you set aside the record itself, this album is far larger than the sound Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), and Geologist (Brian Weitz) created. This album marks the emergence of a creative powerhouse. From the cover/packaging to the actual music itself, nothing is bland and nothing is expected. Most writers always solute the blank page. The idea that the power within any creater is the ability to make something out of nothing. When listening to music (especially the basic variety) you can usually come to the conclusion of how one achieved the sound. Try doing that with any song on Merriweather Post Pavilion. I can remember upon first listen wondering how the fuck a band could conceptualize such an intricate sound. Animal Collective, like everyone else, started with a blank page and through whatever process made intricate electronic music palatable to the masses.
"My Girls" descends from the universal unknow to a shimmering array of vocal harmony and wet percussion that expresses an apologetic need for simplicity, "there isn't much that I feel I need/a solid soul and the blood I bleed/But with a little girl, and by my spouse/I only want a proper house." SImplicity in ethos, but, never in its musical expression, MPP contains songs that need multiple lessons. I remember giving my brother, college age, the CD already knowing that this disc best plays to the ears of those that aren't still hearing "Poker Face" on a weekly basis (my brother doesn't subriscribe to the GaGa but its party music and hears it nonetheless) I thumbnailed a few tracks for him, noting my infatuation with "Brother Sport" and that it is a "song that grows on you." A month later when we met up at Coachella, I asked him what he thought of MPP. He liked it...nothing special,but, he liked it. Perhaps he didn't get it. I asked about "Brother Sport." He claimed it was the song he liked the least. This couldn't be true. "Brother Sport," in a panicked spurt of description, is fire, it is revolutionary, it is my favorite. He needed another listen. I countered with simply playing it on the way to the festival. I can't remember his exact words, but, I do remember him realizing what made the song so special. Its magic lying within the prolonged build up of electronic twinkle to then drop off into resonate vocals and light tribal percussion. This traditional song structure plays like that of a great realization and is the most potent way to arouse emotion. Perhaps my brother didn't understand it to this degree, but, he absolutely felt the wonder.
Merriweather Post Pavilion is full of these moments. So it is no surprise, that Animal Collective orchestrated an album that was talked about, mulled over, understood, and misunderstood. Amidst the pumping bass, Beach-Boy-like vocal harmony, and electronic sampling, Animal Collective calmly says, "all you need is your mind and a few simple tools to be something special."
To the blank page.
Animal Collective:: Brother Sport
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