Animal Collective

dont do that. its just a bunch of filthy hipsters.

edit - actually this place is kind of that too.. lol

I like them but I can't be arsed to elaborate.

my friends in reality seem to enjoy animal collective, although i don't really like them at all or understand the appeal. i don't listen to indie or hipster music and am not involved in that scene or am an 'alt'.

this is the most important thing ever written about animal collective, and has helped me understand why people are insane about them:

Animal Collective is a Band Created By/For/On the Internet

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I think the main gimmick behind these bands is convincing yourself that their ‘product’ stands for something more than most music. They are pretty much a lifestyle brand for every sort of alternative ideal possible: social change, innovative instruments + recording techniques, reflections on humanity, usage of performance + visual art during the live show, environmental awareness, anti-War, embracing technology, innovative/meme-able music videos, having opinions on politics, and stuff like that which makes the band interesting/easy to write about.

 

I’d say bands on this level exist as sort of a ‘non-profit lifestyle brand’ and have a progressive simpleton fan base that can’t really ’see’ what’s going on. The bands are probably all way more ‘deliberate’ than we give them credit for, but also kind of excessively ‘grassroots/organic’ in an annoying way. U kinda just want them 2 embrace their mainstreamness and focus on being mediocre. The people who ‘genuinely’ like these bands are not worth taking seriously because they didn’t really know how to use the internet to find their ‘favourite band.’ Instead, they picked the artist on what they perceive to be ‘the extreme left’ in the lineup of mainstream artists. In essense, they want to identify with generic alternative ideals that they think a band is supposed to represent. So while the artists themselves may be ‘truly expressing themselves’, it is hard for an internet-centric bro who ‘has the whole internet at his fingertips’ to take these artists seriously when we have found a whole new world that makes Bjork/Radiohead seem like a concept/band for simpletons (kinda like The Matrix).

thats retarded.... why do yall obsess so much about things that have nothing to do with music..

when good bands get associated with trends why do you need to let that destroy your opinion of the art. you need to teach yourself to judge music for what it is and not for some weird social shit surrounding it. theres no gimmick. its simple, AC is a great fuckin band.

+1

  On 11/24/2009 at 10:58 AM, MAXIMUS MISCHIEF said:

thats retarded.... why do yall obsess so much about things that have nothing to do with music..

 

when good bands get associated with trends why do you need to let that destroy your opinion of the art. you need to teach yourself to judge music for what it is and not for some weird social shit surrounding it. theres no gimmick. its simple, AC is a great fuckin band.

the social factors and images or messages surrounding bands and music can be just as or more important than the music itself. it would be great if music was 'just about' music but that's not realistic. if you enjoy the band, that's cool. everyone has different opinions. we'll have to agree to disagree

  On 11/24/2009 at 11:16 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

actually after reading this blog further I now understand that the author has autism and shouldn't be made fun of

carles is a genius

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the social factors and images or messages surrounding bands and music can be just as or more important than the music itself. it would be great if music was 'just about' music but that's not realistic.

how can something be more important than the music? you rip on ''hipsters'' and then spout this nonsense?

  On 11/24/2009 at 11:45 AM, messiaen said:

  Quote

the social factors and images or messages surrounding bands and music can be just as or more important than the music itself. it would be great if music was 'just about' music but that's not realistic.

 

 

how can something be more important than the music? you rip on ''hipsters'' and then spout this nonsense?

it's not, music actually should be the focus, even though it's unfortunate it isn't and the surrounding factors. i'm really not explaining my ideas correctly. i'm just going to back out of this conversation

  On 11/24/2009 at 1:36 AM, MAXIMUS MISCHIEF said:

Sung Tongs, Feels, Strawberry Jam, Merriweather Post Pavilion... dont pay attention to anything before then (other than spirit theyre gone) unless you like stuff like black dice.

I agree with this- definitely prefer these albums to their older stuff. Much more focused on melody. I think they are one of the more interesting things going now with the combination of electronics, pop and psychedelic...

here is the original animal collective. this is the sound they are shooting for...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkHFjm_9iew

  On 11/24/2009 at 3:07 AM, jules said:

  On 11/24/2009 at 2:54 AM, iamabe said:

 

one thing that fuels my frustration with them is how zealous animal collective fans are. at least if they weren't so hyped, I might not find it so hard to like them.

this is very true. if you want a laugh go check out the collected animals message boards. pure insanity.

And this is different from the afx and boc subforums how?

  On 11/24/2009 at 4:18 PM, Bob Dobalina said:

  On 11/24/2009 at 3:07 AM, jules said:

  On 11/24/2009 at 2:54 AM, iamabe said:

 

one thing that fuels my frustration with them is how zealous animal collective fans are. at least if they weren't so hyped, I might not find it so hard to like them.

this is very true. if you want a laugh go check out the collected animals message boards. pure insanity.

And this is different from the afx and boc subforums how?

seriously?

  On 11/24/2009 at 12:05 PM, chax said:

  On 11/24/2009 at 11:45 AM, messiaen said:

  Quote

the social factors and images or messages surrounding bands and music can be just as or more important than the music itself. it would be great if music was 'just about' music but that's not realistic.

 

 

how can something be more important than the music? you rip on ''hipsters'' and then spout this nonsense?

 

it's not, music actually should be the focus, even though it's unfortunate it isn't and the surrounding factors. i'm really not explaining my ideas correctly. i'm just going to back out of this conversation

I agree man. If animal collective made music I liked then I wouldnt be bugged by the image/the things they represent. but for me its like... animal collective just represents the tons of anonymous college kids who wear flannel and just want to be a part of something, and overhyped pschedelia is the realm for that. i mean in this case, the hype/image actually takes away from the music for me. the fact that fans can be so assured about how they love animal collective when I don't get it just pushes me further in the opposite direction. it's like, the fact that Tool fans think Lateralus is the most intelligent album ever makes it harder for me to like Tool. at that point, I know i'm just completely separate from tool fans, and that what they think is best is not what I think is best. it just reinforces how I already don't like tool. the same for animal collective.

  On 11/24/2009 at 4:18 PM, Bob Dobalina said:

  On 11/24/2009 at 3:07 AM, jules said:

  On 11/24/2009 at 2:54 AM, iamabe said:

 

one thing that fuels my frustration with them is how zealous animal collective fans are. at least if they weren't so hyped, I might not find it so hard to like them.

this is very true. if you want a laugh go check out the collected animals message boards. pure insanity.

And this is different from the afx and boc subforums how?

because our taste is right and their taste is wrong

^ i'm not kidding

i understand what you are saying but i think its easy to hate the most popular of that genre/group and lump a bunch of kids in it. thats why bands like ac, or tool, or radiohead etc will catch all the flack for making their band a lifestyle. so many people outside of the typical sterotype listen to that band. i love ac and my pants aren't painted on. i really think because its the most popular that it takes the most heat. no one would be saying that about ac in 2005 or so. same with tool around aenema.

also, to answer mr dobalina mr bob dobalina, could you imagine reading posts from 13 year old girls in the boc forum about being brought to tears from their new ep, 3 minutes after it leaked. its really awful in there and its the epitome of those flannel tight jeans wearing people that are being spoke of here.

Eh...I enjoy their music a lot . Been fan since 2004 .

guys

guys

guys!

you guys

hey

animal collective.

I got interested in Animal Collective when Person Pitch came out, but idk their music either feels like its just trying to be weird or when its more mellow it just feels pretty boring/repetitive.

they're ok, not something i'd want to listen to over and over and over and over and over and over like ae/afx though

  On 11/24/2009 at 7:16 PM, 42Orange said:

guys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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guys!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

you guys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

animal collective.

lol

  On 11/25/2009 at 1:29 AM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

I can definitely agree about stereotypical tool fans though...they're probably worse.

as are sterotypical boc fans, ae fans, phish fands, grateful dead fans, etc. i think once the band is big enough to have a sterotypical fan, its not going to be a good one.

as for their music, i recently got back into strawberry jam and can not believe how intense and awesome that record is. some of the things going on are quite mind boggling. whether their rhythms are completely random or totally calculated, it does work a lot and when it does, its amazing.

haters gonna hate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO5NT3aBvFo

some of the opinions in here are very interesting / unfortunate

ill say it again it is wrong to judge music based on what someone else thinks of it or a certain group of people who enjoy it (most of the sheep who listen to ac right now dont even really listen to it or understand what it is, they just think its kool) but yall are the same if not worse than those people if you are judging it for reasons other than its quality

also saying that AC does something because they are trying to sound "weird" is dumb. if they are guilty of it then so is aphex twin or boards of canada or autechre.

all good music is weird.

when it comes down to it, i just think animal collective sucks and can't write songs.

the fact that their fans love the songs i think are bad just makes it harder for me to imagine ever liking anything by them that i havent yet heard. dig?

it's not that i just don't like a band because its fans are stupid, but because I came to the realization that I'm not missing out by not listening to AC.

zealous boc and aphex fans dont bug me because I like boc and aphex in the first place