Comments on: Blinded By The Hype? Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

By: starry

starry — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:47:26 +0000

This album hasn’t impressed me, I don’t think you are living up to your promise to cut through the hype. Actually nearly all of the hyped albums don’t impress me much, I tend to find them bland. The real invention OR melody tends to be hidden away underneath all the chart stuff or all they hyped stuff.

By: jaredw

jaredw — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:46:40 +0000

Umm, the album hit number 11 on the billboard charts. This shit isn’t just some insular hipster album.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:54:37 +0000

Most who are huge Animal Collective fans are caught up in being unique. Animal Collective fans generally have cast aside whatever previous tastes in music they had as “inauthentic”, and now avoid playing “mainstream” music that they may have treasured in the past. If the MPP is so damn near perfection, then why isn’t it an international radioplay phenomena? Perhaps it is just so good that it only appeals to elite ears who have cast aside previous expectations of music, but this is no different from the arguments that groups have used for their underground music since the beginning of the concept of underground.

Hipsters are so caught up with the idea that the internet is a place where they are free from the old media tastemakers. They don’t realize that they are being fed what music to like just as much as any previous generation, it is being pitchforked into their mouths scoop by scoop, review by review. Animal Collective fans will deny they are hipsters and music elitists, but try telling the average Animal Collective fan that your favorite band is Green Day, and see their reaction.

Green Day makes inauthentic music, because many people relate to it. Or maybe it is because they are actively trying to relate to something. I dislike Green Day, but they have a direction to their music, clear beliefs and emotions, and lyrics that may be cliche or disagreeable, but at least demand some sort of interpretation. AC will never make me cry, or think about society in new terms, or be angry at something. AC is a jam band with hype so large that people can’t even see that most of their appeal is because of their hype.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:45:16 +0000

MPP is a bold album, but that’s about it for me. It sounds like a mix of bad techno, bad rock, and pop melodies written by throwing darts at a stave. AC have achieved many things with their experimentalism, but I don’t think the music is sonically interesting enough to warrant all the glory they’ve been covered with. That horrible tech bass noise that they use on EVERY SONG, my god.
But hey, it obviously made a lot of people happy, so whatever.

By: andrade

andrade — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:33:48 +0000

great review. MPP is as close to perfection as any album can get. yes, my girls is fantastic but so is every other track on the album. brothersport, bluish, taste, and also frightened are the big standouts for me. MPP was a perfect choice for blinded by the hype.

i think it’d be really interesting if you guys tackled vampire weekend’s self-titled debut next. it generated so much buzz from just about every music blog out there and its one of those critically acclaimed albums that have a lot of people questioning whether they live up to the hype. i personally think they definitely do but i’d love to hear the blogs take on it

By: brian

brian — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:54:01 +0000

taaaaaaaaste 10/10

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:56:46 +0000

Eh, I’m really not a fan.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:07:28 +0000

best album of 09, i don’t care what else comes out. and you’re right, when the drums break down the door on “in the flowers”…so happy. and as far as i’m concerned, my girls was the song of the summer if you like to dance around and feel awesome because you know there are still people making brilliant music in this world. p.s. check out “what would i want sky” if you haven’t heard that yet (first ever official grateful dead sample).

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:15:31 +0000

Best album of this decade, you should have revised up to a ten.

By: Stu

Stu — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:42:52 +0000

Amazing album, I came upon it new to AC and the more I listen to MPP the more I think its my favourite album so far this year. Amazing stuff and every track is epic

By: Luke

Luke — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:04:41 +0000

I love this album and i think it definitely deserves a 90 or higher… but i never understood why people think My Girls is so amazing…
Its a good song, yeah… but not THAT good…
maybe im just missing something :/

By: moyetes

moyetes — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:52:34 +0000

Totalmente de acuerdo! este disco es grande… hizo historia y, en lo personal, he visto como Animal Collective llegó a los oídos de gente que está alejada de toda la corriente “indie” y se sintió atraída. En México, la canción “my girls” tiene poco tiempo sonando en la radio y se ha llevado muchas palmas.
Hubo mucho hype alrededor de este disco, pero fue bien merecido por que MPP es de los mejores discos de la década, sin duda alguna.

By: August 7th - Review Of The Week | Indiescreet

August 7th - Review Of The Week | Indiescreet — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:25:59 +0000

[...] Pretty Much Amazing gave a respective review of Animal Collectives latest album in a feature aptly t… [...]

By: john m

john m — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:17:24 +0000

its the most accessible Animal Collective album yet, but that isn’t really a bad thing is it?

By: Caleb

Caleb — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 05:15:55 +0000

“Taste” is my favorite song so far this year… i don’t now why but i like it even more than My Girls, Brother Sport, and Summertime Clothes… though those are really cool too…

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:45:16 +0000

Truth… this album is above and beyond the hype. I’m surprised you didn’t rate it better this time. I wouldn’t have questioned the decision.