All The Things That Are Outside Of Me

Animal Collective @ Prospect Park Bandshell 7/12/2011

“Change” / “Stop Thinking” / Did You See the Words? / “Long Time Ago” / “Take This Weight” / “Knock You Down” / Brother Sport / “Mercury” / “Your Choice” / “Frights” / We Tigers / Summertime Clothes // “I’d Rather” / “Little Kid” / Taste

Animal Collective “Taste”

I knew that Animal Collective had been playing new material in their recent shows but had avoided actually listening to any of it because I knew a lot would get lost in shitty fan-shot YouTube clips, so I held out to either watch the music performed in person or hear the finished studio recordings. I’m glad I did. I quite enjoyed being surprised by these new compositions over the course of the show — certainly much more so than I expected.

A few notes on the new material:

1) The band set up is basically: Deakin on guitar and sometimes percussion, plus he sings lead on “Change.” Geologist doing his regular Geologist things with electronic instruments that are not visible from the audience. Panda Bear on drums with a bit of keyboards and vocals. Avey Tare on keyboards, guitars and lead vocals. (Panda only sang lead on three of fifteen songs in this set: “Take This Weight,” “Brother Sport” and “I’d Rather.”) Though there was a lot of guitar being played, it very seldom sounded anything like a guitar.

2) Given that Avey has gone back to being the dominant vocal presence in the band and there are no harmony parts on the new tunes, it would be tempting to say that this batch of songs very Avey-centric. But it’s not exactly true. Panda’s percussion is crucial. Whereas Merriweather Post Pavilion was all about melody and harmony, this new record seems to be more about rhythm and groove. It sounds as though they are filtering elements of funk and R&B through their very distinct aesthetic. I am dying to hear how this stuff comes out in the studio — specifically “Long Time Ago” and “I’d Rather,” which struck me as rather incredible pop songs straight away.

3) Deakin’s song was pretty good! Who knew?

4) Panda’s “Take This Weight” was, at least tonight and for me, the dud of the bunch. Too droning, too Tomboy-ish. Doesn’t really fit in with what they’re doing on the other songs.

Nearly two years ago I saw Animal Collective play at the same venue, and it was one of the most memorable concert experiences of my life for a handful of reasons. Mainly, the audience was wonderful. Joyful, energetic, totally passionate. This crowd was very much the opposite. No matter where I went in this audience, I was surrounded by chattering jerks who seemed to have almost zero interest in the performance. Well, aside from “Brother Sport” and “Summertime Clothes,” that is — the hits got people going. I totally understand wanting to hear your favorite songs at shows, but I don’t get just talking through the entire set and generally showing no respect to the band or the people who really wanted to pay attention to the songs. As much as the audience from two years ago reaffirmed my faith in young music fans, this crowd just made me feel bitter and irritable.

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