When The Point Of Horizon Is Hiding From You

Animal Collective “What Would I Want? Sky (Live 2013)”

It was a good idea for Animal Collective to release an official document of their 2013 tour, if just to show off what a good live band they had become at that point in time. This was the first time in their career where they really figured out how to blend live and pre-recorded/electronic elements seamlessly into their performances, and how to present their best-known songs in a way that was satisfyingly faithful to the original recordings without entirely sacrificing the semi-improvisational elements that had been key to their live shows up to this point. I think this came out of a new professionalism that came in the wake of the success of Merriweather Post Pavilion, but also just an increasing confidence in their technical skills and a desire to show off the more disciplined structures of their more recent songwriting. You really get the best of all that in this version of “What Would I Want? Sky,” as it follows the same pattern as the studio version from dramatic ambience to tightly composed pop song, but there’s a wild energy to the performance that brings out the life in both sections.

Buy it from Domino.