Soooooooooo, Animal Collective are back. Check out the typically zany ‘Honeycomb’ and ‘Gotham’ HERE
Meanwhile, Passion Pit, the guys who made the brilliant ‘Manners’ in 2009, have also released their comeback single. You can listen to ‘Take a Walk’ HERE. Whilst your at it, remind yourself how brilliant both bands are capable of being by listening to ‘Little Secrets’ and ‘My Girls’ below.
Below is a list of my 50 favourite albums of 2009. The top ten is a mixture of interesting new bands, surprising returns and assured comebacks. It was a very good (maybe not classic) year for albums…
50. Warm Heart of Africa – The Very Best
49. Between My Head and The Sky – Yoko Ono
48. Rewild – Amazing Baby
47. Ocean Sunbirds – Universal Studios Florida
46. Oh My God Charlie Darwin – The Low Anthem
45. LP – Discovery
44. Songs of Shame – Woods
43. Invaders must Die – The Prodigy
42. Journal For Plague Lovers – Manic Street Preachers
41. Kings and Queens – Jamie T
40. True Romance – Golden Silvers
39. To Loose My life – White Lies
38. Sigh No More – Mumford and Sons
37. Embryonic – The Flaming Lips
36. Roadsinger – Yusuf
35. Tounge n Cheek – Dizzee Rascal
34. Veckatimest – Grizzly Bear
33. West Pauper Lunatic Asylum – Kasabian
32. Christmas In The Heart/ Together Through Life – Bob Dylan
31. Everything is New – Jack Penate
30. Wavvves – Wavves
29. Man on The Moon – Kid Cudi
28. Two Suns – Bat for Lashes
27. 21st Century Breakdown – Green Day
26. Gorilla Manor – Local Natives
25. Psychic Chasms – Neon Indian
24. Mind Chaos – Hockey
23. The Ressistance – Muse
22. Two Dancers – Wild Beasts
21. Backspacer – Pearl Jam
20. Wall of Arms – The Maccabees
19. Manners – Passion Pit
18. Life of Leisure – Washed Out
17. Bitte Orca – Dirty Projectors
16. It’s Blitz – Yeay Yeah Yeahs
15. Walking on a Dream – Empire of The Sun
14. Wolfganag Armadaus – Phoenix
13. The Crying Light – Anthony and The Johnsons
12. Phrazes for The Young – Julian Casablancas
11. Only Revolutions – Biffy Clyro
10. The Virgins – The Virgins
9. Tonight – Franz Ferdinand
8. Summertime – The Drums
7. My Maudlin Carear – Camera Obscura
6. First Days of Spring – Noah and The Whale
5. Album – Girls
4. Primary Colours – The Horrors
3. Meriweather Post Pavilion – Animal Collective
2. The XX – The XX
1. Humbug – Arctic Monkeys
Below is a list of my top 50 favourite singles, a better list than I thought it would be, turns out 2009 was a good year for singles. I particuarly liked the lo-fi pop coming out of America (Girls, Wavves, Surfer Blood etc). Links to videos are provided for the top 20 and stay tuned for top 50 albums of the year coming soon…
50. Uprising – Muse
49. So Bored – Wavves
48. The Fixer – Pearl Jam
47. Omen – The Prodigy
46. We Are The People – Empire Of The Sun
45. Zero – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
44. Stillness is the move – Dirty Projectors
43. Velvet – The Big Pink
42. Hooting and Howling – Wild Beasts
41. Bulletproof – La Roux
40. In For The Kill – La Roux
39. The Captain – Biffy Clyro
38. While You Wait For The Others – Grizzly Bear
37. Cousins – Vampire Weekend
36. That Golden Rule – Biffy Clyro
35. Fire – Kasabian
34. Crystallised – The XX
33. 21st Century Breakdown – Green Day
32. Orange Shirt – Discovery
31. One Week of Danger – The Virgins
30. 11th Dimension – Julian Casablancas
29. Empire State of Mind – Jay Z
28. Feel It All Around – Washed Out
27. No You Girls – Franz Ferdinand
26. Warriors Dance – The Prodigy
25. The Fear – Lilly Allen
24. Dominos – The Big Pink
23. Walking on a dream – Empire Of The Sun
22. Love You Better – The Maccabees
21. Pokerface – Lady Gaga
19. Crying Lightning – Arctic Monkeys
18. Brightside – The Soft Pack
16. Sticks and Stones – Jamie T
13. My Girls – Animal Collective
12. Never Forget You – The Noisettes
11. Sun Was High and So Was I – Best Coast
9. Swim to reach The End – Surfer Blood
4. Lets go Surfing – The Drums
Animal Collective are one of the most opinion dividing bands I can think of. There are loads of people who just love them, particularly bloggers and readers of Pitchfork Media it seems, and an equal number who loathe them. Their critical reputation has been not been matched by any other band this decade, except maybe The Strokes circa ‘Is This It’, Arctic Monkeys circa ‘Whatever People Say I am’, or Arcade Fire Circa ‘Funeral’. But unlike those bands with Animal Collective there seems to be a near equal amount of people who refuse to be drawn into the hype. Their sound is so out there and unique that there is no middle ground, you either love it or you don’t.
Which is why ‘Fall Be Kind’ feels a bit strange; I don’t have any particular leaning one way or the other. ‘Merriweather Post Pavillion’ was a (flawed) masterpiece and easily their most enjoyable album. It wasn’t free from filler but songs like ‘My Girls’ and ‘Bluish’ were instant classics that sounded like nothing else before. ‘Fall Be Kind’ is the follow-up ep and it takes Autumn as it’s inspiration and theme.
Where as ‘Merriweather’ was summery and bright, ‘Fall Be Kind’ is instantly darker and less tuneful. It’s also less focused on the vocals and more on the unusual sound patterns. Change is a given with Animal Collective and here it isn’t as radical as say the transition from ‘Sung Tongs’ to Feels’ but it is noticable. The front two tracks are the only ones to hold a candle to Meriweather, ‘Graze’ being the most likeable and melodic song on here and ‘What Would I Want? Sky’ making great use of a Grateful dead sample. Past here things get a bit more mediocre by the band’s standards and truth be told the songs feel like Merriwhether leftovers. In fairness most other bands would kill for AC’s leftovers but this doesn’t feel like the great stand alone ep we were promised. They say they wanted it to sound like Autumn but it certainly didn’t feel like it to me. Yes the songs are darker than say ‘In The Flowers’ but in my mind that doesn’t equate with ‘fall’.
Animal Collective have always worked outside the box, and ‘Fall Be Kind’ is the next step on their bold journey into the unknown. They are still experimenting and still pushing boundaries and even if the results here are not as strong as they may have been this is still a great record, and worth the cost for the first two tracks alone.
7.5/10
