Animal Collective

Animal Collective

Animal Collective is a New York City-based group of experimental musicians from Baltimore, Maryland. Animal Collective consists of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Deakin (Josh Dibb), and Geologist (Brian Weitz). Records released under the name Animal Collective may include contributions from any or all of these members, but the lineup is not uniform. The band members met in school and started recording together in various forms of collaboration from a young age. Although the band is often classified as psych folk or noise rock, it is hard to define the Animal Collective sound as they often experiment with diverse styles and ideas. The group also runs the record label Paw Tracks on which they have released their own material as well as material by artists such as Ariel Pink, Terrestrial Tones, and The Peppermints.

History

Animal Collective in 2007

Animal Collective grew out of the roots of childhood friendships in Baltimore County. Panda Bear and Deakin met in the second grade and became good friends. Panda went away to Pennsylvania for high school, while Deakin attended The Park School of Baltimore where Avey Tare and recent Philadelphia transplant Geologist went. Avey, Geologist and Deakin were in an indie rock band called Automine with other schoolmates. Deakin introduced Panda to Avey and Geologist. The four of them played music in different variations and often solo, swapping homemade recordings and sharing ideas.

Panda and Deakin both went off to college in the Boston area (Boston University and Brandeis University), while Avey and Geologist attended schools in New York City (NYU and Columbia University). Panda and Deakin assembled Panda's eponymous debut album Panda Bear during this time from the multitude of recordings Panda had made in the previous years and established their own label, Soccer Star Records, to release it.

Avey was also working on a record, which would eventually become Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished. Avey asked Panda to play drums on the record, which was released under the name Avey Tare and Panda Bear. Soccer Star morphed into the Animal label, with the intention of putting out music that came from the four musicians.

Panda and Deakin both left school and moved to New York in 2000, around the time of Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished. The group's music became much more collaborative in nature, and Avey and Panda began playing clubs around New York. Geologist soon came on board and began performing with the group.

Much of the live material from this time would eventually end up on Danse Manatee, on the Catsup Plate label. Danse Manatee was released in 2001 under the name of Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Geologist. This process of preparing material in the live setting and then recording and often retiring songs would become a hallmark of Animal Collective. The group's first tour, with friends Black Dice, was captured on the 2002 album Hollinndagain. The live album was released by St. Ives, a boutique label run by Secretly Canadian which releases limited edition vinyl only records. Limited to 300 copies, each of which featured a one-of-a-kind handmade cover, Hollinndagain is among the rarest of Animal Collective artifacts. Hollinndagain was re-released, both on CD and vinyl, on October 31, 2006 through the Paw Tracks label.

At this point, Deakin began to perform with the group. The next album to be released was Campfire Songs, again working with Catsup Plate in 2003. The Campfire Songs concept and some of the material dated back to the earliest Avey Tare and Panda Bear shows in New York. Recorded live in 2001 on a screened-in porch in Monkton, Maryland, the record is one take of five songs played straight through. Attempting to make a record as warm and inviting as a campfire, the band recorded their performance straight to minidisc, with one recorder outside to grab the ambient sound of the environment. Field recordings of the surrounding area were also added. In 2002, Animal Collective also attained notoriety for their appearance on Arto Lindsay's album Invoke (Righteous Babe Records).

Worrying that Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Deakin and Geologist would be too long-winded a moniker, and with record companies advising that a unifying name would be necessary for the marketplace, the group decided to adopt a catch-all name. Using their old label of Animal as inspiration they picked "Animal Collective". This formation was to be different from a straightforward band, giving the musicians the freedom to work in combinations of two to four, as dictated by the project at hand or their mood. Their first entry under this name was Here Comes the Indian, which was released in 2003 by their newly formed record label, Paw Tracks. Paw Tracks was formed with Todd Hyman from Carpark records. Animal Collective makes decisions on what Paw Tracks would release, while Hyman runs the day-to-day operations. The group was happy to find someone like Hyman, who had experience running a label and was dedicated to the group's music; the Animal label was more or less abandoned upon the formation of Paw Tracks. Here Comes the Indian was the first record to feature all four of Animal Collective and its dense textures and energetic performances widened the exposure of the group significantly.

The two releases in 2003 attracted much attention and the group began a relationship with one of their new admirers, the Fat Cat Records label. The first Fat Cat release from the Collective was a double disc package of Spirit and Danse Manatee, which were previously only available or well-known in and around New York.

Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Sample box end After the dense soundscapes of Here Comes the Indian, Avey and Panda decided to concentrate on more stripped-down material. Each of them began composing material and they performed as a duo usually with just acoustic guitars, a single drum, some effects and their voices. The duo toured the world for the better part of a year with this new material, opening for múm and Four Tet among others, before retreating to Lamar, Colorado to record the material with Rusty Santos, a New York musician and friend. The result was Sung Tongs, released on Fat Cat Records in 2004. Sung Tongs received a great deal of critical acclaim for its strong harmonies, exotic textures, hummable melodies and free-wheeling nature.

The group was introduced to Vashti Bunyan in Scotland by Kieran Hebden (AKA Four Tet), who had recently played in Bunyan's band. Being fans of the cult folk singer's 1970 album Just Another Diamond Day, they started a friendship and asked her to collaborate on some recordings. With the group's encouragement, Bunyan sang lead vocals on three songs left over from the Sung Tongs era, released on the Prospect Hummer EP in early 2005. The release led to a Fat Cat Records signing for Vashti Bunyan, who finally wrote, recorded and released a second album, ending a thirty year hiatus.

In October 2005, Animal Collective released their highly anticipated seventh album. Feels was met with acclaim from fans and critics both. Again the work of all four members of the collective, Feels was recorded in Seattle with Scott Colburn, known for his work with the Sun City Girls. Following the release of Feels, Animal Collective mounted their most extensive tour yet, which lasted into the Fall of 2006 and saw them visit Australia and New Zealand for the first time in addition to many European festivals and North American dates.

During their 2005 and 2006 tours, Animal Collective debuted several new songs, then only known by their working titles: "Reverend Green", "Fireworks" (formerly "Allman Vibe"), "Chores", "#1", "Safer", "Peace Bone", "Cuckoo" and "Street Flash." Most of these appear on their 2007 album Strawberry Jam, some under a slightly altered title.

A vinyl-only live box set, purported to contain three LPs worth of unreleased material, is planned for 2007 on Catsup Plate. Here is what Avey Tare said about it on the Collected Animals message board:

ohhh you don't want it to be a surprise...

it needs to be mastered but then its all good to go. We will hopefully be doing this is the next couple of weeks..

it will be

one early show/danse era side
one acoustic side
one hcti side
one solo/duo side
one side that contains the full pumpkin trilogy
one sung tongs side

it will be releaseed sometime next year but no release date has been set for that yet. hope thats enough info

dave

March 20, 2007 saw the release of Panda Bear's solo album, Person Pitch. A series of EPs and singles led up to that release, beginning with "I'm Not" b/w "Comfy in Nautica" on United Acoustic Recordings (UUAR), "Bro's", a 12" on Fat Cat, and, most recently, Carrots, a split with Excepter on Paw Tracks (all of these appeared on the album).

In the late fall of 2006, Animal Collective released the People EP in Australia on their Austalian label Spunk Records. It contains three studio songs "People", "Tiwkid", and "My Favorite Colors", as well as a live version of "People". The EP has leaked onto many peer-to-peer filesharing sites, and is available as an import. Fat Cat Records released the EP worldwide in early 2007.

In January 2007, Domino Recording Company announced that they would be releasing the new, then still unnamed, Animal Collective album. On July 4, 2007 Strawberry Jam was leaked online. The album was released in the U.S. on September 11, 2007. The album received immediate praise, due in part to a strong focus on vocals. Songs such as "For Reverend Green" serve as a showcase for the dynamic vocal range of Avey Tare. Further, the album closer 'Derek' is reminiscent of the sound developed on Panda Bear's Person Pitch.

On October 5, 2007, the band, in its full four-man line up (opposed to its three-man lineup performances this year) made their national television debut on Late Night with Conan O'Brien performing the song "#1".

The band toured extensively throughout 2007 doing several American and European tours. They have been playing without Deakin because he decided to take the year off. They have been playing brand new post-Strawberry Jam songs such as "House", "Taste", "Brother Sport", "Grace", "Frightened", "Dancer", "Bearhug", "Nomorerunnin", "Daily Routine" and "Song For Ariel"

Members

Avey Tare (David Portner): Avey comes from taking the D off of Davey, and Tare is because he was tearing the name apart. It is not a play on the word avatar. His wife is Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir, a former member of the Icelandic band múm.

Panda Bear (Noah Lennox): The first 4 track tape he recorded as a child was decorated with a drawing of a panda bear. In 2004, Lennox relocated to Lisbon, Portugal, where Portner goes after touring to work on new material.

Geologist (Brian Weitz): Somebody had incorrectly thought he had studied geology in college, while in reality it was biology. The name stuck. During live shows he wears a headlamp in order to see his mixing equipment. To the audience he resembles a geologist.

Deakin (Josh Dibb): He used to send long letters to Avey Tare in a style evocative of romance literature of the 19th century and signed one Conrad Deacon.

Discography

Albums

• Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished (2000) - Animal
• Danse Manatee (2001) - Catsup Plate
• Hollinndagain (2002) - St. Ives
• Campfire Songs (March, 2003) - Catsup Plate
• Here Comes the Indian (June 17, 2003) - Paw Tracks
• Sung Tongs (May 3, 2004) - Fat Cat Records
• Feels (October 18, 2005) - Fat Cat Records
• Strawberry Jam (September 11, 2007) - Domino US #72, UK indie #13

EPs

• Prospect Hummer (May 24, 2005) - Fat Cat Records
• People (October 23, 2006) - Fat Cat Records
• Street Flash (2008)

Singles

• "Who Could Win a Rabbit" (July 19, 2004) - Fat Cat Records
• "Grass" (September 26, 2005) - Fat Cat Records
• "The Purple Bottle" (July 4, 2006) - White Label
• "Peacebone" (August 21, 2007) - Domino
• "Fireworks" (November 5, 2007) - Domino

Splits

• Wastered (2004) - Paw Tracks

Solo and related

Panda Bear:

• Panda Bear (1998, Soccer Star)
• Young Prayer (2004, Paw Tracks)
• "I'm Not/Comfy in Nautica" (single) (2005, UUAR)
• "Bro's" (single) (2006, Fat Cat Records)
• "Carrots" (single) (2007, Paw Tracks) (split 12" with Excepter)
• Person Pitch (2007, Paw Tracks)
• "Take Pills" (single) (2007, Paw Tracks)

Terrestrial Tones (Avey Tare and Eric Copeland of Black Dice):

• Blasted (2005, Psych-o-Path records)
• Oboroed/Circus Lives (2005, UUAR)
• Dead Drunk (2006, Paw Tracks)

Jane (Panda Bear and Scott Mou):

• Paradise (2002, Self-released)
• COcOnuts (2002, Psych-o-Path records)
• Berserker (2005, Paw Tracks)

Avey Tare:

• Crumbling Land (2003, Fat Cat Records) (split 12" with David Grubbs)

Avey Tare & Kría Brekkan:

• Pullhair Rubeye (2007, Paw Tracks)

External links

• Animal Collective Official Site
• Semi-official MySpace.com
• Lyrical Collective - Animal Collective Lyrics Wiki
• Paw Tracks
• Collected Animals - Forum
• Exclaim! Magazine September 2007 - Animal Collective Cover Story
• Interview on Má Fama radio sessions
• Video-interview on revu.nl