i find the early stuff is just not well put together. noise is great, but i demand a level of composition in the chaos that isn't there. i've been over this so many times that i've stopped expecting most people to be able to tell the difference between a composition being written about a piano falling down the stairs and a literal recording of a piano falling down the stairs - because i know that it's impossible without a background in actually writing in the style. you'll hear jazz profs talk about how you can't get jazz unless you understand the theory. i want to reject the academic basis of that - you can feel good jazz without really understanding it - but there's a kernel of truth in it. how do you expect a casual listener to tell the difference between an improvisation in a developed tone row and just a bunch of random notes? you really can't.
the point i'm getting at is that i don't hear any kind of thematic development in their early work, it's a lot of randomness and kind of aimless improv. as somebody coming from a real punk ethic, i'm going to reject a lot of it for the same reason that i'm going to reject elp. it's more the pretension of art than the actualization of it.
they hit a good middle point around feels, though, when they started getting a little poppier. the synthesis they came up with for that short while was legitimately novel and legitimately interesting.
then? well, later animal collective is really honestly more or less what u2 should have been doing in the period.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfpIAu7Fymg
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deathtokoalas
you say that like i haven't...
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deathtokoalas
it happens - and animal collective are one of those bands that people connect to experiences and consequently overrate the value of the actual music relative to those experiences.
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deathtokoalas
i'll give you tame impala. absolute retro, but they're good at it, and unique enough to make it worthwhile. innerspeaker is a legit classic. primus.....would be better instrumental. good musicians, though. i'll leave it at that. porcupine tree, i don't get the appeal to at all....
The Void's Screen
I'd honestly argue that their first album is actually their most compositionally complicated one, I also think it's their most beautiful record.
deathtokoalas
ffs. if you're merely going to uphold the myth, just don't post a response. i'm not giving air time to it. it's in enough places (*cough* pitchfork *cough*).
the point is that their early work isn't difficult, isn't complicated and isn't the kind of thing that requires multiple listens to "understand". there's nothing to understand. they were just simply some clueless kids fucking around in their basement. they had no idea what they were doing. well, the piano guy had some idea, but the rest of them really didn't. what's important about that observation is that it's obvious and that it results in a wave of pretentious garbage that any douchebag could barf out.
i've had friends into this kind of stuff and have tried to make music with them and it's just painful. they really think all you need to do is set up a loop pedal and play some random notes and you've produced a work of brilliant art. worse, people listen to it and agree with them. it's depressing.
now, if they had something to say it wouldn't be as much of an annoyance. i'm a big punk rock fan. i don't argue that you need a phd in music theory to make something interesting. a couple of chords and a bad attitude can keep my attention, if it's rooted to some kind of worthwhile messaging.
but, that's not what this band was about. you can't apply the diy ethics of punk rock to avant garde music and think you can create something that is seriously worthwhile. you can maybe convince some kids to buy it, but in the end the illusion is inevitably going to be exposed. and this band was really simply pure pretension.
i'm not going to blame them for having fun. and, i wouldn't be opposed to hanging out in a basement while somebody fucks around with some electronics for an hour. but it's just disappointing and irritating that so many people fell for it on this other level of supposed artistic brilliance. because it's not...
cutso92
There you are ! I was looking for your comment. I find myself agreeing fully with you, just today i got to Animal Collective, i'm a fan of Youth Lagoon latest album Wondrouse Bughouse, so i'm trying to find similar music/artist, and if you could help me i'd be really grateful.
deathtokoalas
i've only heard bits and pieces of youth lagoon and wasn't really excited by it. however, it's rather obvious that wayne coyne is a dominant influence. you might want to try late 90s flaming lips. flaming lips are important, so it's kind of a bottleneck.
i'm not going to be of much more help on this question, as it's outside of my area of interest.
cutso92
Well, Clouds Taste Metallic is a nice album though, so you got that right.
Youth Lagoon first album (The Year Of Hibernation) it gets kinda boring for me atleast, but his second album (Wondrous Bughouse) in the other hand i liked it quite a bit, so i was kinda looking for similars.
