By: Ryan Ruff Smith
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| Animal Collective - Publicity Photo |
It’s a difficult and subjective distinction to make, the difference between music and noise. You could define music at its most basic level as the deliberate manipulation of sound as a means of expression, but there are those who would argue that there are certain elements of composition and form that need to be present as well to qualify as true music. It’s a line that a number of artists have been working hard to blur for years now, but one of the most consistently interesting of this decade has undoubtedly been Animal Collective. They’ve pushed boundaries in both directions; their earlier recordings tended to take the basic elements of pop music and deconstruct them into free-form soundscapes, while their more recent work focuses on taking elements of avant-garde noise and building them back up into bursting psychedelic pop songs. They are not exclusively an avant-garde group, but they aren’t entirely a pop group either, and this defiance of classification is one of the most exciting things about them.
Opener Eric Copeland, however, was a lot easier to place firmly in the noise camp. He is something of a big name in the noise rock scene, both for his work with his group Black Dice and his collaborations with Animal Collective member Avey Tare. Tuesday night he took the First Ave stage alone, though, armed with just a couple of samplers and a microphone. It was probably the loudest performance I have ever heard, or felt for that matter. (I’ve felt bass rumble in my chest before, and in my feet, but never in my throat.) His set seemed to be about sound as a physical force, and it was inescapable. But what started as just rumbling apocalyptic bass slowly morphed and even started to take on some discernable beats. Occasionally, a melodic synthesizer line would even surface. His vocals were highly distorted and were completely overpowered by the accompaniment. It was the sound of things breaking down and noise taking over, overpowering him, swallowing him up. It was not a pleasant experience, but it was a unique one.
After a set break during which I futilely tried to resuscitate my ear drums, Animal Collective took the stage. The group truly is a collective rather than a band and, as such, their line-up is not set in stone. Guitarist Deakin was missing Tuesday night, leaving Avey Tare, Panda Bear and Geologist to bring us the noise. Their roles in the group are also variable, and for this tour all three of them were armed with samplers. Panda Bear would occasionally turn to his drum kit and pound out some live rhythms, and Avey Tare played guitar on a few songs, but for the most part the instrumentation was produced by intent knob-twiddling. This may sound like it would make for a relatively low-energy show, but that was far from the case. The trio channeled a charged set of freakish pop that had the enthusiastic crowd bobbing their heads even as they were scratching them.
Considering that the show took place on the same day that their new album Strawberry Jam was released, I was expecting the set to focus heavily on that material, but that wasn’t really the case. Nor was it a series of highlights from their back catalog. Instead, the set was dominated by a number of even newer songs. Researching the matter after the show, I discovered that this is how they’ve always approached their live shows – as a way to test and develop new songs. As such, only their most hardcore, bootleg-seeking fans are ever able to follow along with the set list. Still, this only added to the raw energy of the performance, and one could sense that much of the material was almost as fresh to the band as it was to us. And though it seems a little premature to start hyping the next album the day after one was released, fans certainly have something to look forward to in these newer than new songs.
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| Animal Collective's Geologist - Photo by Daniel Smith |
They opened with a song that the message board regulars are referring to by the working title of “Dancer.” It was an evocative slow builder led by the idiosyncratic vocals of Avey Tare that erupted into an electronic climax that got the audience’s blood flowing. But it was the next song, Strawberry Jam’s “Peacebone,” that really got the crowd going. A happily familiar wash of bubbling synths and a pounding beat signaled its arrival, and Tare hopped playfully around the stage and delivered the infectious melody with vigor. All the while a row of vertical lighting instruments on the floor at the back of the stage “seemed to be leaking the most interesting colors” (to quote the song). During the songs climax, Tare let loose a burst of ecstatic shouts that brought the crowd’s excitement to a boil. Shouting in rock music is usually associated with anger, but this sort of shout is more celebratory – perhaps one of the reasons the collective’s music is so often referred to as “tribal.”
The set was primarily seamless, with the band stopping only a couple of times to check in with the crowd. Panda Bear (whose solo album Person Pitch has been getting a lot of attention this year as well) took the lead vocal on a new tune called “Daily Routine.” Though he also has an idiosyncratic singing style, the smoothness and quality of his voice provided a welcome contrast to the more rough and tumble delivery of Avey Tare. The group is perhaps at their most exciting when the two of them sing together, as they did on much of 2004’s Sung Tongs. One of the best tracks from that album, “Who Could Win a Rabbit,” served as the show’s next highlight, appearing in a heavy electronic reincarnation. Luckily, much of the new material also features the collaborators sharing vocal duties, most notably the calypso-tinted set closer “Brother Sport.”
The band returned after a short break for a generous encore, which included Strawberry Jam highlight “Fireworks” and ended with a raucous rendition of fan favorite “We Tigers” from Sung Tongs. The song was Animal Collective at their most raw and basic, with Panda Bear pounding the hell out of a tom while all three of them lent their voices in a hyper-powered sing-along.
My brother and I left First Avenue physically worn out and a bit disappointed that we weren’t treated to our mutual Strawberry Jam favorite “For Reverend Green.” But, our damaged ear drums aside, we really didn’t have much to complain about. By always staying one step ahead of themselves, Animal Collective avoid the stagnation of a repetitive live set and assure that each show is not just a revelation for their fans, but an essential part of their creative process.
Location Info:
First Avenue
Artist Info: Animal Collective, Eric Copeland
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