Album review

Animal Collective

Fall Be Kind ep

added: 8 Dec 2009 // release date: 14 Dec 2009 // label: Domino
reviewer: Owen Gillham

A year on from their critically acclaimed, career-defining album Merriweather Post Pavillion, Animal Collective return with a five track, 27 minute ep. A year well spent? Perhaps.

From what I remember of Merriweather Post Pavillion, I for one, couldn’t quite see what the fuss was all about. It was an okay, somewhat out of focus album (which I realise is kind of the point of Animal Collective, but nonetheless...). Although Fall Be Kind retains the electronic leanings of the album and eschews the more down-home acoustic ramblings of their earlier work, in its condensed ep form it easily outperforms its predecessor.

The thing that always fascinated me about Animal Collective in their early days was their knack for sounding something like Syd Barrett taking off the Beach Boys circa Smile and succeeding in beating them at their own game. Fall Be Kind rekindles that magical recipe – it’s simply glorious and above all else, seems a far more considered affair. Take the protracted, synthesized, pseudo-orchestral introduction to ‘Graze’ or the astounding, fascinating repetition of ‘What Would I Want? Sky’ (featuring, one for the anoraks, the first ever licensed Grateful Dead sample) – it’s primal, instinctive music, but this time with direction and purpose.

Released physically (although preceded by a digital release) on 14th December in the UK, this will make the perfect stocking-filler for any aging hippy who needs to be reminded how to grow old disgracefully or, come to think of it, anyone looking for a Caribou-Mercury Rev hybrid – if there were a perfect middle ground, this would be it.

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