Alright Surell, you can pat yourself on the back. On Friday I listened to 3 Animal Collective albums at work, and it was interesting enough that today I bought two of them (Meriweather Post Pavillion and Centipede Hz). When I listened to Strawberry Jam at work I liked it too and am about to buy it from amazon.com.

Merriweather Post Pavillion is definitely the best album. I noticed in the Wiki article about it some reviewers noted it was 'Beach Boys-esque.' In spite of the vast differences between the groups, I could actually understand their point. The first 3 song on MPP are definitely the best - and the 3rd is the best of all. Maybe this will eventually be regarded as the Pet Sounds or Sgt Pepper of the early 21st Century? Or, being as the band is more akin to a 21st Century version of Yes, maybe it's the Fragile of the early 21st Century.

That said, it's still not as good as the 60's-70's stuff. It's very interesting and complex music, but doesn't have the emotional impact the BB's or Beatles, for example, have. On the 3 albums, only 1 song (the 3rd on MPP) had any emotional impact on me.

Also, because so many of the songs are so busy and musically dense, I found myself feeling tense after a while (especially after listening to Centipede Hz). I had this urge to put on Surfer Girl to relax myself after listening to that stuff after a while.

Anyway, if I buy 3 albums of a band after listening to their music, that's a sure sign I'm impressed. You have succeeded - at least partially. ;)

Well, whad'ya know. I check out the Animal Collective forum, and guess what I find?

CLICKY

I can't help but wonder if Surell knew about that and figure'd I'd eventually hook onto AC because of my BB interest? ;)

Can't ... resist ...

This is a new-vs-old comparison where I actually think the new song holds up well to the old one!

There have been some artists/bands which have made good songs during the latest 25 years - for example: Madonna, Oasis, No Doubt, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and probably many which I am unfamiliar with (I have been largely out of touch with the new music scene since the early 1980s).

One reason that generally the quality is poorer today that (say) in the 70/80s (despite the improvement in studio techniques, etc) is that bands very rarely these days get out and gig and gig and gig and gig and gig.

Nothing shows through more than a band expert in live performance, and nothing exposes the instant superstar more than lack of this priceless thing called 'work'.

Fans today are lazy too. Content to download in ignorance rather than get out and form views on live bands for themselves.

Try it. It is so rewarding.

So you want bands that don't get out and perform live to do so. It will suck and nobody wants to see sucky live performances.

Live performances/concerts are NOT the end all be all of the music experience. I'm one of those "lazy" fans that prefer to hear quality studio sound than shitty raw sounding live performance.

Bands rarely gig their asses off these days? Really? I'm under the impression that there's tons of bands out there that get out and gig and gig and gig and gig and gig just like always. In fact I know there is.

Also gig attendances are nearly as high as they've ever been. And even if they are slightly lower that's due to economic reasons rather than laziness. And to echo what DJ said, live performance isn't the end all be all of the music experience. To me an artist's definitive statement, and something that they'll be remembered for decades down the line, is their best recorded work.

Yeah I forgot to add that there are tons of local bands that are gigging their butts off so I don't know where he gets that statement from.

Yes I do, and no it wouldn't.

You clearly don't have the vibrant music we have in the UK.

You mis-understand me. I know there are plenty of super bands out there live, I see them every week. And not all of them are Irish acoustic in pubs.