Okay, so while talking on (what else?) Twitter, somehow Amber and I got on the subject of Animal Collective. More specifically that she doesn't like them. And then during an RFC staff e-mail session, more Animal Collective un-enthusiasts came out of the woodwork to voice their skepticism about MY FAVORITE BAND OF THE ENTIRE LAST DECADE. Now it's my job to show them all the considerable error of their ways. I apologize to all of the readers who do not happen to be living in crazyland with these thugs, but some things just are not okay.
Ways to Get Into Heaven
A Radio Free Chicago Mix
Animal Collective - Prospect Hummer
From a collaborative EP with Vashti Bunyan. Feel like there's a perception held by people only
familiar with newer AC that all they can do is stand around and turn knobs. Nahhhhh
also underrated: Animal Collective's lyrical ability.
Soooo happyyyyyyy
SOOOOO HAPPYYYYYYY
Animal Collective - Street Flash
One of my favorite AC slow jams. Even their EPs are filled with really excellent material. The screams during the middle portion get me so much.
It's one thing to jump across genres. It's another to create them at will, inhabit them for a while, and then toss them aside like it's nothing. This song is so majestic and stirring. The angelsssssss
Animal Collective - Someday I'll Grow To Be As Tall As The Giant
An interstitial from the same record as "La Rapet," Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished. I really love the title, and it's just nice.
Animal Collective - On A Highway
From their most recent release, the Fall Be Kind EP. The production on it is really sweet and the lyrics are surprisingly direct. It's probably their darkest song. FBK is my favorite of their EPs, the whole thing is so incredible.
Animal Collective - The Purple Bottle
The first Animal Collective song I ever heard. Still my favorite. Never have heard a song come close to its ecstasy.
Animal Collective - Visiting Friends
Something to just lay around with headphones on to. The wobbling vocals slipping in and out of the mix are so cool, and help separate it from their similar Campfire Songs-era strum-a-thons. It really has a feel of its own. Inscrutable.
I've jumped and stomped around to this with my best friends so often. It's probably stereotypical that I'll view this song as a representative of a defining moment in my life, but that's even more exciting to me. It's well-deserving as an anthem.
Animal Collective - Daily Routine
I think usually I would have put "Leaf House" here. It's the opener to my favorite album of theirs (Sung Tongs), and one of their signature tunes. But for some reason, I'm just feeling "Daily Routine." I don't even like Merriweather Post Pavillion, the album this is from, like that. It gives me a headache. But the throb of Daily Routine is just right. And I remember being high and listening to the goooorgeous ending with my friend Pat on my headphones when the album first leaked. It was like past midnight, we were sitting in a playground near where he lived and we were just quiet and wide-eyed. It was so LAME.
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