Animal Collective
Under the banner of Animal Collective, David Portner, Noah Lennox, Josh Dibb and Brian Weitz become Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin and Geologist respectively. Their melodies become expansive sonic journeys full of both joy and terror, and with the dawn of that sound, you can count your musical fantasies as pretty much fulfilled.
The four met at school in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States of America, where they would play music in different bands, often solo, often just as a duo, always swapping recordings and sharing ideas. This open feel to the band has continued in to 2007 – ‘collective’ is the operative word here, as often an Animal Collective record could feature just two of the members of the band, or all four, or three. The line up isn’t rigid, and neither is the music.
The first full length to feature two members of Animal Collective working together was ‘Spirit They’ve Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished’, recorded by Avey Tare and Panda Bear and credited to just the two of them. When playing the record live, Geologist would often join in too, but it wasn’t until 2001 and the release of ‘Danse Manatee’ that a record would be released featuring the G man as a credited member.
During a 2002 tour with their good friends Black Dice, the trio would record the live album ‘Hollindagain’ and add a fourth member, Deakin, to their ever mutating line up. The newly beefed up quartet’s first release was called ‘Campfire Songs’, a five song long live album of all new material recorded in one take, and released on Catsup Plate in 2003.
The name of the quartet at this point was – you guessed it, have yourself a biscuit – Avey Tar, Panda Bear, Deakin and Geologist. Fearing, almost certainly correctly, that it was a bit of a cumbersome title, they renamed themselves Animal Collective (‘animal’ to reflect the primal nature of the sound, ‘collective’ to reflect the ever changing nature of the line up) in late 2003 as they simultaneously started their own label, Paw Tracks. They picked the bands that the label would release, but left day to day running in the hands of capable friends. They released their first LP under the name of Animal Collective, ‘Here Comes the Indian’, on Paw Tracks also in 2003.
Soon a relationship began with the Fat Cat label, who re-released the hard to get hold of ‘Spirit…’ and ‘Danse Manatee’ records before getting a full length of their own, ‘Sung Tongs’ in 2004. They would also release a collaborative effort with the band and Vashti Bunyan, the ‘Prospect Hummer’ EP, a year later, after the band had been introduced to the reclusive folk legend by Keiran Hebden (aka Four Tet) in Scotland earlier in the year.
Late 2005 saw the release of the band’s breakthrough album ‘Feels’, and the commencement of their biggest tour to date. A jump to Domino Records took place in 2007, and it is they who release the single ‘Peacebone’ this week, ahead of the sublime ‘Strawberry Jam’ album in September.
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE ON MYSPACE: Four songs, some live, and more tour dates than you can shake a stick at, should stick shaking be your pastime of choice.
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE ON FATCAT: A great biog, and details of all the bands Fat Cat releases.
PAW TRACKS: The band’s own label has a roster which offers a fascinating insight in to their musical tastes, and methods of tackling the industruy.
ANIMAL COLLECTIVE ON DOMINO: Newly signed to Domino, expect this page on the band to blossom as the association continues.
PEACEBONE: The first single from ‘Strawberry Jam’ fully deserves the 5/5 rating it receives here.
LIVE WITH BATTLES – JULY ‘06: About seven different members of the Rockfeedback team were in attendance at this mesmerising show, that’s how important we think this band are.
FIREWORKS:
GRASS:
WINTER’S LOVE (ACOUSTIC):