Best of 2009 Pt. V: Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective

I confess: I'm really late to the party. I didn't know about Animal Collective until I read this post from Hipster Runoff. I also didn't know about Hipster Runoff until I followed a link there from another blog. Shame on me! But I have an excuse: I'm incredibly unhip. Also, the past few years have been rather odd and complicated for me, the end result being that my knowledge of what has been going on in indie music since about 2005 is practically nil. And even before that I wasn't really too savvy (I tend to be the guy who discovers a "cool new band" way later than everyone else, although Metacritic helps me out these days).

So when I first heard Merriweather Post Pavilion in January, I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what the hell was going on. Parts of it sounded like the Beach Boys, parts of it sounded like rows of effects pedals jamming with themselves. I hadn't a clue, but I had the feeling that if I listened to it enough, it might begin to make sense to me. I was right: repeated listenings made all the odd noises and samples seem more natural and many of the vocal lines started to careen around in my head at random times during the day. Before I knew it, I was hooked, and I had to hear more. So I started collecting their earlier records, and again I was shocked. They were even weirder, with crazier vocals and more acoustic instruments instead of synths and samples. Eventually I was sitting there listening to Here Comes The Indian in my headphones, paying attention to everything I heard, and it struck me that these guys were, if not geniuses, close enough for me.

I think Animal Collective have made some of the best and most interesting music of this decade. If you've never heard anything by them, I highly recommend taking the same route I did. Start with Merriweather and work your way backwards. If you're as slow as I am, be prepared to listen a few times before the beauty of this music starts to sink in.

This review feels redundant because I know this album was hyped to death and most people have already heard it and made up their minds already. But I had to write something, even though I wanted to just write "DUH" and be done with it. Ok, now I'm really done with it.