Animal Collective - New Town Burnout (Shabazz Palaces remix)

One of the standout tracks from Animal Collective's upcoming Monkey Been To Burn Town (can't get enough of that title) remix EP comes from West coast avant-garde rapper group Shabazz Palaces. The twisted take on Centipede Hz track "New Town Burnout" comes with distant aural spacing and free-falling verses from Ishmael Butler, turning it into a deconstructed eight-minute burner.

Monkey Been To Burn Town, which also features remixes from Gang Gang Dance member Brian DeGraw, Teengirl Fantasy, and Tha Traxman, is due out in vinyl and as a digital download May 27 from Domino Records. Those who pre-order the 12" will receive the Brian DeGraw remix of "Monkey Riches" immediately.

New Dan Deacon video - Crash Jam

Before Dan Deacon starts his series of tour dates alongside Animal Collective tonight in Boston, the Baltimore native premiered the curiously frenetic new video for "Crash Jam." The America cut was spliced together by fellow Baltimore artist Ben O'Brien, you sped up P90x videos for the collided effect.

Check it below and grab America today via Domino Records.

New Animal Collective - Crimson

Not featured on the band's most recent output, Centipede Hz, Animal Collective has been performing "Crimson" at recent performances. The track, however, will be on the band's upcoming Applesauce 10", which is slated for release November 13 via Domino. Check it out below.

Animal Collective on Fallon

A few days back when Animal Collective stopped by Conan to perform Centipede Hz's first single "Today's Supernatural," the results may have not been a solid as they hoped. Last night, changing the scheme up a bit, the band performed "Rosie Oh" on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, complete with their touring decorations. And the results came out a lot smoother. See for yourself below.

New Animal Collective video - Today's Supernatural

There's a certain fear-threshold for music videos. Whether it be graphic nature, horror-inducing scope, or just plain displayed insanity, there's only so much the viewer can generally take. And while Danny Perez's new video for Animal Collective's "Today's Supernatural" isn't a violent video, the controlled insanity of a clown-garbed Avey Tare driving a dragon go-kart through the desert during a painstakingly unconventional song may scare some off.

Check it out for yourselves below and grab Centipede Hz early next month.

New Animal Collective(!) - Honeycomb, Gotham

Late last night, "Honeycomb" and "Gotham," two brand new Animal Collective tracks came almost out of nowhere, but have already found their way across the indie blog network. You can listen to both completely new, fully enriching cuts, and pre-order the group's 7". Check it out below.

Monday Bears: New Panda Bear - The Preakness

My natural inclination towards anything that has to do with bears might lead people to believe that I'm a huge Panda Bear fan. Well, I am, but the bear part is just an added bonus. With the release of Tomboy, his first solo studio venture in four years, Noah Lennox has been releasing a bevy of unreleased songs, including "The Preakness."

The song isn't actually on Tomboy, but part of Animal Collective's Keep collaboration; a charity cassette (alright, I guess) for the Socorro Island Conservation Fund, which is available here via ... shoes.

Tomboy drops Tuesday, April 12 via Paw Tracks.

Thursday Bears: New Avey Tare video - Lucky 1

Avey Tare, the voice you should recognize from most of Animal Collective's work, has the released the first video from his new Down There LP for "Lucky 1." With the help of his sister, Abby Portner, we get a complete sense of what the two see whenever they close their eyes, and what kaleidoscopes probably look like if we still cared enough to build them. Which we don't.

Avey Tare's album Down There is set for vinyl release Oct. 25.

Avey Tare - Lucky 1


Lucky 1 from Abby Portner on Vimeo.

Bears and Bullets Top Ten Albums of the Decade - Merriweather Post Pavilion

#5: Merriweather Post Pavilion - Animal Collective

Many people would regard Merriweather Post Pavilion as some kind of unprecedented sonic adventure. While that is true, Animal Collective, during the span of their career, have traversed these sonic exploits before. What they haven't done, prior to MPP, was create an accessible album that translates their other-worldly innovations on such a profound and scoping scale.

The natural theme for music in the decade was not artists compromising and difficult experimentations with their work, but bringing it to collective whole. No other artist did this progressively better than Animal Collective. Take 2004's Sun Tongs and 2005's Feels. Both immeasurably brilliant and avant-guard works are essentials in the Animal Collective library, and each were iconic stepping-stones towards 2007's Strawberry Jam. Each record preceding MPP, for all their acclaim, can't wrench a listener in on such unprecedented levels, but chronologically, it's a perfect time-table. "In the Flowers," "Summertime Clothes" and "Brother Sport" are far from casual pop precipices for the band, but here it just sounds too easy.

Five years removed from their landmark Sun Tongs (and several anarchic album before that), Animal Collective have become one of the most unlikely stars of the indie universe. If you don't think so, go back to 2004 and ask yourself the same question.

Animal Collective - My Girls



Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes



#10: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga - Spoon

#9: Dear Science - TV On The Radio
#8: Fever to Tell - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
#7: In Rainbows - Radiohead
#6: White Blood Cells - The White Stripes

Bears and Bullets Top 25 Songs of 2009 (Pt. IV: #10 - #1)

We'll continue our top 25 countdown with songs #10 through #1.

#10: Stillness is the Move - Dirty Projectors

As much as people fawned over Merriweather Post Pavilion, Dirty Projector's Bitte Orca rivaled it many ways. Some would even suggest that Orca surpasses MPP in brilliance with its sheer ingenuity and creative flourish, thanks in part to "Stillness is the Move." Often pop music is regarded is simplistic and rudimentary because of lack of originality and mass consumerism. With "Stillness," however, the rhythms, hooks, and harmonies of Amber, Angel and Haley is as uncommon and inventive as anything else we heard this year. Nearly impossible to replicate, although Solange Knowles did a good rendition.

Dirty Projectors - Stillness is the Move

#9: What Would I Want? Sky - Animal Collective

After over three minutes of distorted samples and crashes, Animal Collective's "What Would I Want? Sky," begins to glisten in a clash of brilliant vocal sequences, with a sample of the Grateful Dead's "Unbroken Chain" gently grazing in the background. Few and far between do Animal Collective's songs sound so gloriously uplifting and enriching, with Avey Tare asking, "Is everything alright? You feeling lonely? You feeling homely? You're not the only." The direct contrast between the first and the second half are what make Animal Collective such a polarizing and ingenious group -- with mess is beauty, in the brightest places.

#8: You're a Target - No Age

"You're a Target" accomplished something somewhat rare for No Age; they compiled a rousing, loud and boisterous noise-rock song with a collective harmony and memorable bridge. The song, part of the band's four-track Losing Feeling EP, wouldn't so much as fit with their 2008 album Nouns, because it sounds too mature, too frank and welcoming. "You're a Target," sounds, however, more embracing because the visceral fuzz and melody actual comes clean, unrushed, and still categorically immense.

No Age - You're a Target - MP3

#7: People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case

How any artist retooled Hall & Oates coined "Maneater," to not only an extent of not only relevance but revitalization is beyond me. In Neko Case's "People Got a Lotta Nerve," the red-haired singer-songwriter boasts her man eater lifestyle not to the party-styled anthem idea of commanding and conquering the opposite sex, but ravaging them until their nothing. And yet, it's insatiably sweet coming from Case's exquisite alt-country voice -- both terrifyingly honest and beautifully broadcast.

Neko Case - People Got a Lotta Nerve

#6: Ambling Alp - Yeasayer

Before first listen to "Ambling Alp," Yeasayer could be deemed more psychedelic than pop. Their 2007 album All Hour Cymbals, aside from the wonderful "2080," sounded like a mirage in the Sonora desert -- long, labored, loose and fluid. "Ambling Alp," albeit very new (released only a few weeks ago), is a terrific step for the Brooklyn band. Pop is often curiously standard and continuous, always looking to achieve what's already been heard. Yet, every so often an artist with enough gall and ambition can make those strides toward a higher level. Radiohead did it, Animal Collective did it, and with "Ambling Alp," Yeasayer is doing it.

Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

#5: Lisztomania - Phoenix

With most of 2009 rumbling over Merriweather Post Pavilion and Bitte Orca, Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix reveled in their indie shadows and helped the band make their first leap into popular culture. "Lisztomania," creates a mass-appeal without asserting itself. Its bright melodies and cheery and leaping chorus, makes Phoenix sound lighter and more alluring than ever before, and it's not even the best song of the album.

Phoenix - Lisztomania

#4: Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The border between dance and rock music is hard to define. Often times those in music business will attempt to trespass on that border, and, more or less, failure is certain. What the Yeah Yeah Yeahs achieved with "Heads Will Roll," not only crosses that border, but takes it down. Karen O shrieks and shrills on a "chrome" dance floor, imploring that everyone should "dance, dance, dance till your dead," while Nick churns a haunting synth lead, almost sounding like noir with poise. The finishing product, glistening in a metallic stream, is heavier than it appears; it rips and tears through the dance-floor with a midnight castle element -- glowing in the dark and shining under the lights.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll - MP3

#3: My Girls - Animal Collective

"My Girls" rushes into the ear with a earthy stream, followed by the emerging electro beat, humming quietly in the back. The song yearns for simplicity, imploring that Panda Bear doesn't "care for fancy things," but that gloriously simplicity is already there. "My Girls," sounds like sped-up evolution. The sounds careen and swirl around the listener, with tiny percussions, vocal samples and bass punches popping out of the back like small cracks on the Earth's surface. It leads and ends in the same fashion, slowly swelling, rising, climaxing, and falling back down to Earth. But before it falls, "My Girls" goes somewhere Animal Collective, until now, haven't found before -- a place lost between sounds and meaning, combining for something unbelievable.

Animal Collective - My Girls

#2: 1901 - Phoenix

"1901" is Phoenix's advertisement for the rest of the world -- it's the culmination of the bands work for the majority of the decade; smart, invigorating, inviting pop music that can make someone smile for days. The song's fuzzy interlude and landscaping synths make Thomas Mars sound cleaner and cooler than ever, bringing the band in the commercial spot light that has been years in the making.

Phoenix - 1901

#1: Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear

"Two Weeks," is Grizzly Bear's triumph on Veckatimest. It's stark, luring, brilliant and incredibly intelligent. Every key note hit by Ed Droste and the rest of the band, honing in on their trademark harmonies, sounds crisper and better than ever. The alarming exceptionalism of "Two Weeks" makes one wonder how much further the band can progress after Veckatimest and 2006's Yellow House. Indeed, if "Two Weeks" can prove anything other than indelible craftsmanship, it's that Grizzly Bear seem to progress at each and every try. How much better can they get?

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks - MP3

Merry Christmas, yall.

Bears and Bullets Top 25 Songs of 2009 (Pt. III)

We'll continue our top 25 countdown with songs #15 through #11.

#15: Lust for Life - Girls

"Lust for Life," opened Girls debut Album with a long stretch of wishes and desires, asking for really the most simple things, but end up getting less than nothing. That "brand new start" lead singer Christopher Owens sings about comes at the back end of everything, after he realizes that those wishes, realistic or not, aren't going to happen. Despite the uplifting harmonies, percussion and tambourine, the song splits between sobering and gleeful, knowing that Owens never ends up getting the "boyfriend," "pizza," or "beach house." And yet the hand-clapped led second verse with the rest of the band filling in delightful 60's California harmonies makes you almost forget how much you can screw up before anything goes right.

Girls - Lust for Life - MP3

#14: Animal - Miike Snow

There's something oddly chilling about Miike Snow's "Animal." The production of each and every beat leading into and ending the four-and-a-half minute song is so precise that the rough idea of human's basic instincts and flaws and they're downfall seems almost counter-intuitive. What is heard, however, is one of the year's more catchy and accessible indie hits.

Miike Snow - Animal

#13: Summertime Clothes - Animal Collective

The first of several Animal Collective songs on this year's list, "Summertime Clothes" is a casually inviting spin into the Baltimore band's engulfing psychedelic pop. The jumpy, blippy, starry summer night single stood in the shadows of "My Girls," during Merriweather Post Pavilion's reign over 2009, but many argue that it surpasses it in excellence. While that may be here or there, "Summertime Clothes" deserves its due recognition.

Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes

#12: Zero - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The charging anthem of It's Blitz!, "Zero" ushers in the Yeah Yeah Yeahs first and best attempt to bring electro-charged pop to the Brooklyn band's garage-driven sound. When Karen O's voice rises with the "climb, climb, climb," guitarist Nick Zinner's pulsating melody enriches, pushes, and explodes, climbing higher and higher until "Zero's" breaking point. And that "Zero," despite being who they are, sound bigger than ever.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero (Live on Letterman)

#11: Swim (To Reach the End) - Surfer Blood

"Swim"'s endless Weezer-esque comparisons are becoming a tad null. Weezer, at their mid-90's peak resembled something close to what Surfer Blood were able to churn out -- the driving hooks, insatiable fuzzy riffs, pounding drums and chanting chorus -- but that 90's band is long gone. "Swim" sounds more complete, refreshing and tauntingly infectious than anything on Raditude, while keeping a keen ear of sincerity in the mix. The song doesn't belong in the 90's, or anywhere else really - it's pop in an endless form, that sounds similar and different after each listen.

Surfer Blood - Swim (To Reach the End) - MP3

Check Back Later for Tracks #10-#1

Tuesday Bears: New Atlas Sound

I'm finding it nearly impossible to gather my meager life in order at the moment, so these posts on Bears and Bullets have become very sporadic in the last several weeks. So, as it may stand (for however long it lasts), I'll attempt to continue my regular blogging rituals.

Atlas Sound, which everyone who reads the website (or any other on my blogroll for that matter) should know is the side-project of Deerhunter singer/guitarist Bradford Cox. Cox's new album Logos, which features the intrinsic "Walkabout" featuring Animal Collective's Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) that, more than likely, everyone who's reading this has heard before.

The album itself, which was leaked last year by Cox himself, has had some significant updates, altering it almost completely from the pseudo-original version. Logos (the real, full-length one) will be available October 20 via Kranky Records.

Atlas Sound - Kid Klimax - MP3

Atlas Sound - Walkabout (ft. Panda Bear) - MP3

MP3's Courtest of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted

Lollapalooza 2009 Review (Day Two)

While day one of Lollapalooza 2009 proved to be very disappointing for the most part, day two more than made up for it

Day Two:

The weather was perfect, contrary to Friday, with a steady stream of sunlight cascading on Grant Park throughout the day. Along with the much welcomed weather, the line-up picked up the slack significantly with much anticipated acts like Animal Collective, TV on the Radio, Lykke Li, Santigold, and headliners Tool and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, among dozens of other notable acts set to round out the night.

At around 11:45 AM, roughly an hour earlier than the day before, I entered the park with a much more attentive smile on my face. The mud had all but disappeared from the park grounds while lines for concessions and bathrooms were completely absent. In those first few moments it was almost as if I had already had a better time than the day before.

My first venture took me back to the Playstation stage - where Andrew Bird finished the previous night - to check out the quirky New England four-piece Ezra Furman & The Harpoons. The group proved to be one of the best pre-noon acts of the festival as Furman enchanted the crowd in a suggested ironic raincoat as he spouted clever stories with his Gordon Gano-esque voice.

Ezra Furman & The Harpoons

As 12:15 drew near, I made my short walk to the Budweiser stage where I was asked by a grey-bearded older gentlemen for the time. In yet another lapse of deluded ignorance, I had no idea I was talking to Chicago rock poet-laureate Thax Douglas, who introduced the next act on my schedule, Delta Spirit.

The poem (from Thax's Myspace), entitled "Delta Spirit No. 3" went:

"like caramel drizzlings on the skin the brands glow dully whenever the body needs to cook a new version of itself- the fresh new body is vain of the brands which its fingers read as birthmarks tattooed by God, the brands taking a much needed vacation by riding the new body's vanity until their services are needed." -8/7/09 Schuba's.

My bewildered face was quickly erased once Matt Vasquez and the rest of the San Diego rock/blues group took the stage. Although they addressed the fact that they never played such a large crowd before, the group thoroughly impressed. Vasquez stands out as one of those rare true rock frontmen that has such a foregoing attitude that the outstanding music being played behind him almost seems to fulfill his true nature as a traveling bluesman.

Delta Spirit

The set closed with an amazing rendition of "People, Turn Around" as Chicago Cubs super-fan Ronnie Woo Woo (apparently, he's a big Delta Spirit fan) made his way through the crowd. At this time, Lollapalooza promoters sent me a text informing that rock & roll legend Buddy Guy was set to appear at the Kidzapalooza stage to perform alongside child guitar-prodigy Quinn Sullivan at 1:30.

A chance to see Guy enticed me enough to run to the stage, which seemed to be a mistake considering the heat. However, Guy didn't make the appearance on time and I was (almost) forced to listen to Sullivan, a child who's talents are more than admirable, but is still a 12 year-old kid. Needless to say, the child's songs about his guitar, how much he likes guitar, and about how he wishes it was 1973 again, tested my patience.

After an angry departure I decided to get a good spot for Minneapolis rap group Atmosphere at the Chicago 2016 stage. For those familiar with the schedule at this time I elected to pass up Animal Collective's DJ Set at Perry's and British indie-pop group Los Campesinos! on the opposite end of the park. Still, as I may regret missing Campesinos! a little, Atmosphere put on a spectacular show. Slug's rhyme's are chaotically intrinsic, full of challenging imagery and skill that would more than likely put any other MC at this year's festival (mostly Asher Roth) to shame.

Atmosphere

After Atmosphere's extra long 16 song set, I grabbed my first (and last) food of the day, a bratwurst with grilled onions, which proved to be the only good food I bought during the whole festival. I made my way to the Citi stage to catch Ipod friendly group Chairlift as my friends and I accidentally met up. They shortly departed to catch Coheed & Cambria while I waded through the spacey twee of the Brooklyn trio. The short, sweet set was clouded by enormous feedback and tiny technical disturbances that made making out anything Caroline Polachek said a bit of a struggle. Still, fans seemed to enjoy themselves enough, especially during "Bruises," one of the better songs of the day.

Chairlift

Soon after, Dean Spunt and Randy Randall of No Age made their way to the Citi stage, with Randall sitting in a chair for the entire show as the result of a dislocated shoulder from the night before. The Southern California noise-rock duo brought with them a following of musicians including Deerhunter's Bradford Cox and TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe and Dave Sitek listening on the sidelines, not to mention a group of avid fans (one so avid that he ran on stage, danced, gave Spunt a note, and dove back into the crowd nearly untouched by security). The show, despite Randall's handicap, was vibrant and loud, full of jumpy singles from the band's 2008 album Nouns and 2007's Weirdo Rippers.

No Age

Exhausted and my ears ringing, I filled my water bottles and moved to the opposite side of the park to grab a spot for TV on the Radio. The north side of the park at this time was immensely packed from people seeing Santigold at the Playstation stage and the Arctic Monkeys at the Budweiser stage. Trudging through was difficult, but my efforts were rewarded as I squeezed into a spot on the right side of the stage (same method I use every time).

As Santi's set ended (with a invigorating version of "Creator") TV on the Radio opened up with Dear Science's "Love Dog." The atmosphere surrounding the collective sound was lush with Dave Sitek's acutely organized feedback and backing rhythm section while Adebimpe and Kyp (the beard) Mylone took control of center stage. Adebimpe seemed to fall into his own, commanding stage as a modern Mick Jagger, effortlessly shifting from Dear Science and Return to Cookie Mountain, to the band's earlier work from the group's 2003 Young Liars EP. If I were to be brash I'd say in another couple years there's almost no doubt that TV on the Radio could achieve headline status.

TV on the Radio

The group closed out with a perfect "Staring at the Sun," that still remains possibly the best song of the festival. With the group sending off and Ben Harper and The Relentless 7 starting off close by the hardest decision of my weekend came; do I wait and get a great spot for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (the only headline act I anticipated) or do I venture across the park and get a little of Animal Collective's show (who, for those that regularly read my posts, will note was my most anticipated act of the festival)? I elected the former, passing up what many regarded as a good show from Animal Collective in order to save my spot.

My patience once again was justly rewarded, as I witnessed arguably the best show of the festival with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Karen O., possibly the best frontwoman in music today, graced the stage in an obscure yet fitting Native American headdress, starting the show with "Runaway" from this year's It's Blitz! LP. The show only got better as the group scattered gems from It's Blitz!, 2006's Show Your Bones, and their spectacular 2003 debut Fever to Tell.

Karen frequently addressed the band replacing the originally scheduled Beastie Boys (guitarist Nick Zinner even played a riff from "So What'cha Want" from the Beastie's 1992 album Check Your Head) and how shocked they were to be there. None the less, the show was extraordinary. The trio filled the headline spot easily as jubilation from the fans filled the air when the group performed their hits "Heads Will Roll," "Zero," and a very special "Maps" in which Karen O. cheerily forgot the words to her most famous song.

In all, day two embarrassingly surpassed day one. The music was nearly perfect along with the weather and fans, creating an unforgettable atmosphere in the park. And with my luck still prevailing that trend would continue to day three.

Best Performances: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Delta Spirit

Worst Performances: Quinn Sullivan

Highlight: "Staring at the Sun" by TV on the Radio

Lowlight: Skipping Animal Collective.

Day Three Review Tomorrow

Official Lollapalooza 2009 Countdown (Pt. V)

Continuing the countdown of my Top Ten Must-See Lollapalooza Acts we take a look at the legendary Lou Reed.

#2: Lou Reed

The fantastically fascinating Lou Reed started his historic music career with The Velvet Underground with their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico, which by now is well-established as one of the most, if not the most, important record in the history of alternative music.

Three studio albums later, The Velvet Underground disbarred with Reed turning his route to a solo career that saw such impeccable albums as 1972's Transformer and the heroin opera that was 1973's Berlin. In all, Reed is without a doubt the most seasoned and legendary music act at this year's Lollapalooza.

Reed will be performing on Sunday, August 9 (Day Three) at 6:30 on the Budweiser Stage. Suspicions still are high for a Lou Reed cameo during the Killers 8:30 show later that night at the Chicago 2016 Stage.

Lou Reed - Vicious (Live in Paris, 1974)


#1: Animal Collective

There's very little debate about whether Animal Collective have become the indie-alternative music scene's most polarizing, original, and oddest act in recent memory. The collective efforts of the group members Avey Tare, Panda Bear, and Geologist (all have real, more boring names) from one of this year's most aesthetically superior albums, Merriweather Post Pavilion, proved to be an even larger step for the band whose 2007 album Strawberry Jam was already one of the best albums of the decade.

The group will be performing on Saturday, August 8 (Day Two) two times. First, they'll be at the Perry's Tent for a DJ set from 2:30 to 3:30. Later that night they'll be at the Vitaminwater Stage putting a regular performance at 7:30.

Another added bonus, you can meet Animal Collective at 4:00 at the autograph tent, also on Day Two.

Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes

Animal Collective on Letterman

I don't really believe there's a border-line to how obstensive and obscure a musical performance can be on a late night talk show, but watching Animal Collective's performance of "Summertime Clothes" off of their Merriweather Post Pavillion LP on Letterman you can't help but get a sense that the majority of the audience is most likely lost.

Three of the band's four members graced the Late Show stage, complete with an aqua light-show and their own set of interperetive dancers, used only to confuse the studio audience members who really have no idea (and still no idea) who Animal Collective are.

Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes (Live on Letterman)