Animal Collective

RECENT POSTS

November 5, 2012 | 9:45 AM | By

From Across The Pond: Photos and video of The Walkmen and more from Pitchfork Music Festival Paris

Our contributing writer / photographer Rachel Barrish is studying in Rome this fall, and this past weekend took the opportunity to head north for the Pitchfork Music Festival Paris. From Rachel:

I was in attendance on Friday evening with featured performances from Tallest Man on Earth, The Walkmen, Wild Nothing, Animal Collective, and more. The festival took place at the Grand Hall de Vilette, a large auditorium fit with two stages on either end. The room was filled with people excited and eager to catch their next favorite act.

Check out her photos in the gallery above, and watch a video of Tallest Man on Earth playing “Revelation Blues” below.

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Photos + Videos, Concert Reviews, Animal Collective, Pitchfork, Pitchfork Music Festival Paris, The Tallest Man On Earth, The Walkmen, Wild Nothing
October 5, 2012 | 4:41 PM | By

Getting weird at The Mann Center with Animal Collective (photos, review, setlist, video)

Appropriately, the stage was wrapped in teeth. Incisors hanging from the rafters, canines and premolars at the foot, forming a light-up, abstract, multicolored jaw. If you sat and thought about it long enough from the crowd, you might get in a distressing internal debate: are we on the outside of this giant mouth looking in, or vice versa? But that’s the thing about experimental rock trailblazers Animal Collective – they want you to be confused. They’ve made a career out of pulling the rug out from under their crowd.

Early shows in loft spaces and arty basements were notoriously uproarious, intense, unrestrained – playing a show at Haverford College circa 2005, keyboard player Geologist swung from piping along the ceiling, shimmying out over the crowd. As their freak-psych sound grew in appeal, the band took a right turn and made the ultra-catchy and accessible Merriweather Post Pavilion, released in 2009. On that tour, the band stood stoic and Kraftwerk-style behind four synthesizers, not showing much of the unbridled energy we saw early on. So, um, are they a pop band now? Nope – their first release on the heels of Merriweather was the minbending, alienating film-and-music collaboration ODDSAC, followed by the current Centipede Hz, an album that – while not overly weird – shows little of the catchiness of its predecessor. Which brings us to The Mann Center on Wednesday. What kind of Animal Collective would the thin-but-devoted crowd of maybe 3,000 be treated to? As it happened, it was the best of both worlds – a band with instruments and the energy of the early days, playing songs with a poppy and broadly-appealing spin. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Photos + Videos, Concert Reviews, Events, Animal Collective, The Mann Center for the Performing Arts
October 3, 2012 | 9:41 AM | By

Tonight’s Concert Picks: Neil Halstead at World Cafe Live, Animal Collective at The Mann Center, Nick Waterhouse at Johnny Brenda’s, Polica at Union Transfer, Ben Harper at The Merriam Theater

British singer-songwriter Neil Halstead will be at World Cafe Live tonight.  A founding member of indie-folk group Mojave 3 and shoegazers Slowdive, Halstead has spent the last ten years building a solo career and released his latest record, Palindrome Hunches, in September.   Also playing tonight are Jim Hanft with Samantha Yonack.  Tickets are $15 at the World Cafe Live website; doors open at 6:00 p.m. with music beginning at 7:30 p.m. Watch Neil perform “Tied to You” off of Palindrome Hunches below.

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Artists, Concert Previews, Events, News, Scene, Animal Collective, Ben Harper, Johnny Brenda's, Merriam Theater, Neil Halstead, Nick Waterhouse, Polica, The Mann Center, Union Transfer, World Cafe Live
December 1, 2011 | 10:30 AM | By

Tonight: Avey Tare and Eric Copeland at Johnny Brenda’s

avey tareAvey Tare’s first solo album, Down There, is anything but accessible. As Animal Collective’s founding member, Avey Tare (aka David Portner) stays true to his primary band’s experimental style. This style allows Down There to be built completely upon flitting, mechanical sounds and disconnected musical arrangements. But Portner takes it even further; much of the album is just downright extraterrestrial. Countless unidentified, robotic sounds coupled with Portner’s lurking vocals create a spooky realm that delves deeper than any Animal Collective album ever has. Tare said of the solo project, “(The record) primarily comes from being bummed out—which, I felt like in the past two years, I’ve had a darker time.” Avey Tare performs with Eric Copeland at 9 p.m. at Johnny Brenda’s; tickets to the 21+ show are SOLD OUT. —Caitlyn Grabenstein

FILED UNDER: Concert Previews, Events, Animal Collective, Avey Tare, Johnny Brenda's