Three Imaginary Girls - Animal Collective

Filmmaker Danny Perez & Animal Collective collaborate on ODDSAC

Imaginary Shrie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:53:58 +0000

Avant-indie rockers Animal Collective seem to elicit either a "YAY" or "nay" response from people. You either love 'em or hate 'em. I happen to fall in the head-over-heels category, and was super interested to hear of their collaboration with filmmaker Danny Perez on a feature film entitled ODDSAC.

Perez is no stranger to weirdo musicians, having worked with the likes of Black Dice and Panda Bear. The film stars the members of Animal Collective, and features an original score by the band and visual projects and art from Perez. ODDSAC is a supposed visual album, with all the songs original and exclusive to this film release. It walks the line between music, digital art and really explores the relationship between sound and visual images during the course of an album.

Screenings are scheduled for several US cities, including Seattle, and will feature members of the band and Danny Perez available for questions. The film will be officially released on June 29th, but don't wait until then to get a peek at this groundbreaking project! It's sure to be strange, intensely beautiful and certainly not for everyone.

More information and pictures can be found at www.oddsac.com.

Screenings:

March 17th Chicago IL, USA -- Music Box Theatre $15 7pm, 9pm

March 20th Minneapolis MN, USA -- The Cedar $15 7pm, 9pm

March 22nd Los Angeles CA, USA -- ArcLight Cinerama Dome $15 7pm. 9pm

March 25th San Fransisco CA, USA -- Sundance Kabuki Cinemas $15 6:30pm, 8:30pm

March 29th Portland OR, USA -- Cinema 21 $15 7pm, 9pm

March 30th Seattle WA, USA -- The Egyptian Theatre $15 7pm, 9pm

Shrie's favorite albums of 2009, NOT in a "Top Ten" list

Imaginary Shrie — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:13:40 +0000

I have come to really dislike putting together "Best Of" lists or year-ending spreadsheets of music that everyone has already heard. This time I'm gonna do it differently...Shrie -style! These are just a few albums/songs/artists that tickled my fancy and got some good stereo-play at our house. Some are indie critic darlings (and disliked by many), some are sure-fire ins and some won't be at the top ofanyone's lists this year. It's a mish-mash of sonic goodness, extrapolated on by your friendly local music writer (and sometimes critic).

In alphabetical, not ranking, order. The "Top Ten" theme is too restrictive for my wily mind to grasp.

Sasquatch 2009 Wrap-Up: Day 1

Imaginary Shrie — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:17:26 +0000

23 May 2009

Sasquatch_2009.jpg

Sasquatch was a doozy. I wrote a lil bit o' news about a few bands I saw each day via my check-in's for days 1, 2 and 3. There were people having sex during the Decemberists right out in front of {supreme being} and everyone, and I met a TON of Canadians "eh". I saw a kid wearing a fleece pajama jumpsuit all three days (shower? yeck) and my toes have never been as dirty as they were after three days of music and camping. Verdict: sunburned, dehydrated, jolly good time.

The itsy bitsy press trailer was anything but cush, so I kept my ass out and about amongst the common-folk gorging themselves on the sweet sweet sounds of Sasquatch. Here is what I heard:

SATURDAY

The Doves sound is produced. They aren't garage rock or ramshackled indie... they're anthemic and full. Swooping in and out of lyrics and instrumentation and their sound was abso-freaking-lutely perfect for the Gorge Ampitheatre. Beautiful, produced and consistent, the Doves soared (tee hee). A swift walk up that damned hill and over to the Wookie stage set me up for Passion Pit, who I've become slightly obsessed with over the coming weeks. Having garnered much attention as of late, Passion Pit commissioned a fairly large crowd for their set. All the half-clothedgirlies were screaming their heads off, and being in the back I couldn't tell why until I inspected a bit further. Michael Angelakos, the head honcho/lead singer, is one hell of a charismatic individual. Swishing his curly, not unlike Wayne Coyne , hair from side to side and swaggering his tight hipster-jean across the stage and back again was causing a fever to break out amongst the ladies (and a few men, admittedly). Angelakos' high notes and range seemed a bit stunted, like he was holding back in order to hit the notes, but his strutting ways and their quirk-pop sound invigorated the crowd.

King Khan & the Shrines are a spectacle. Adorned in a feather headdress, wooden staff, gold cape, and itty bitty satin shorts King Khan strutted onstage, hands held high to the heavens. One part George Clinton, one part southern soul preacher, and one BIG part balls-out freak, King Khan knows how to put on a show and have a blast. They ran through their songs like a train and antics onstage got a little wacky when one of the band members droppedpantaloons and shoved his junk from front to back, leaving it that way for the entirety of the song. This band will take you in their uterus, jumble you up crazy-style and rebirth you fresh and anew!

Completing the one-two punch of awesomeness, I experienced Animal Collective next. AC are one of my favorite bands of the last few years, of which I've hailed their greatness before. I was expecting nothing short of awe-inspiring and I got it. Visually, they were simple: guy on guitar, two guys whopping on keyboards/synths and the stunning Gorge backdrop behind. They sounded rougher, less honed live, but that didn't take away one iota of amazement. I witnessed several people initially appalled at AC's ambient ways turn a kinder light towards them later on in the set. This in itself was a treat. Preened jocks nodding their heads hard to baby sounds and hazy echoes, as expertly emitted by AC... unbelievable.

I'm admittedly not much of a fan of the Decemberists or the Yeah Yeah Yeah's, but saw them for my readers' sake mostly (my friends also wanted to see them). Aside from the couple sexin' it up on stage right during the Decemberists, the highlight of the show for me was when of their female members came up and belted out a few tunes. And man, did she belt. A personal opinion, but they'd be much more interesting if she was at the vocal helm more often. Slightly raucous with devastatingly beautiful vocals but slightly lackluster energy-wise, the Decemberists seemed to really pull an adoring audience.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs always struck me as being about show and fist-pumping energy more than musical complexity or engaging songwriting, and my experience seeing them live affirmed that. The crowd went absolutely bananas for them, and with Karen O. decked out in neon green tights and an electric-colored poncho, I can see why she'd draw a lot of attention. The vocals were almost incomprehensible from where I was sitting, but I commend them on their energy. They have the live performance thing down, and their fans count on that consistency.

Sasquatch was a doozy. I wrote a lil bit o' news about a few bands I saw each day via my check-in's for days 1, 2 and 3. There were people having sex during the Decemberists right out in front of {supreme being} and everyone, and I met a TON of Canadians "eh". I saw a kid wearing a fleece pajama jumpsuit all three days (shower? yeck) and my toes have never been as dirty as they were after three days of music and camping. Verdict: sunburned, dehydrated, jolly good time. The itsy bitsy press trailer was anything but cush, so I kept my ass out and about amongst the common-folk gorging themselves on the sweet sweet sounds of Sasquatch. Here is what I heard:

Big bad Sasquatch 2009 preview

Imaginary Shrie — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:25:56 +0000

Sasquatch 2009 is a mere two days away. Go see bands all three days, cheer your head off, drink some beer and/or smoke a joint. Get dirty campin' toes and sweat through your forehead bandanna (or brave kilt-lifting style winds like in 2007). Come back harried and skip out on work Tuesday. Recount every last moment, with positive embellishments, to anyone fool enough not to attend. Buy the tshirt and flaunt the shit out of it.

Here is your big bad SASQUATCH 2009 PREVIEW.

Merriweather Post Pavilion

Imaginary Shrie — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:59:29 +0000

9.2

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MW0J2O/?tag=wwwthreeimagi-20

animalcollective.jpg

Here Comes the Indian was a brash onslaught of noise to me, when I first heard it. I didn't put much stock into it, and I certainly didn't expect Animal Collective to evolve into the avant-indie media darlings that Merriweather Post Pavilion thrust onto them. As the lulling folk of Campfire Songs and the pastoral and melodic Sung Tongs exposed me to their more refined sounds, my own musical taste started to evolve into a more cerebral and experimental arena. I started to warm up to the "weirdness" of Animal Collective and how they meshed sound with vocals and other ambient textures.

By the time '07s Strawberry Jam made waves on the Billboard charts I was a solid promoter and fan of their work. So, as Merriweather Post Pavilion has saturated every critic's future best of lists so early in the year, and as hip kid indie rockers tout this band as the tour de influence in their sound, I've quietly become completely obsessed with the album.

Most of the album consists of David "Avey Tare" Portner and Noah "Panda Bear" Lennox trading vocal duties, meshing them into one lush instrument. The harmonies could stand alone, without the music, washing in and out but never turning soft. I would say that most modern pop bands owe at least a smidgen of credit to harmony-laden pioneers, the Beach Boys, but Animal Collective achieves the zen balance of Brian Wilson and co. more precisely than most. They take child-like melodies, the sweet sweet inflection of summer a la Mercury Rev and twist it into something more cinematic and layered. The complexity of sound on this album almost creates a visual representation in your head of what your ears are absorbing, much like a movie and it's completely fitting soundtrack.

The album highlight in my opinion, "My Girls", enters with tickling xylophone-like background sounds and then gently launches into a playful high-stepping chorus reminiscent of old breezy jazz tunes. Easing effortlessly into "Also Frightened", the basic sound is the same... a shimmering wall of sound topped with an irresistible Beatles-esque vocal pairing. "Summertime Clothes" is a hodge podge of sound, at once joyous and submerged in echoey hand claps and thumping bass. Once again, the vocal style just blows me away. The repetitive chanting and plopping back beats, aided by a bouncy tempo, just scream hit single. Could this be their first major crossover explosion? In turn, "Bluish", meandering and liquidious, contains the most addictive lyric on the album for me; "I'm getting lost in your curls". I hear it revolving in my head from sunup to sundown, and all the space in between.

Though this album sounds like it's the sonic chronicle of an otherworldly affair, it finds Animal Collective at their most approachable. As they double back on the vocals, it almost gets more basic than their previous efforts... more child-like and forward moving. Their songs exist as more than just simple songs. They've broken the structure of the pop song and replaced it with a formula more suited to their craft. The overlapping vocal harmonies and circular flow of their songs, and the songs within the album, hint at a much more in-depth approach to soundsmithing than we're used to experiencing.

At times elated and joyous, and other times ghostly and longing, Merriweather Post Pavilion is the most accessible, most polished and arguably the most impeccably cohesive work of Animal Collective's career to date.

At times elated and joyous, and other times ghostly and longing, Merriweather Post Pavilion is the most accessible, most polished and arguably the most impeccably cohesive work of Animal Collective's career to date.

Come listen to the new Animal Collective album with me tomorrow night

Jflores — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:42:54 +0000

Merriweather Post Pavillion Listening Party!

New releases from Easy Street Records

Jflores — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 18:23:09 +0000

Featuring new releases from Fleet Foxes, Shearwater, Aimee Mann, Animal Collective, and more.

Kanye vs. 50 Cent: It's a KO for Kanye

Erik Gonzalez — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 21:26:53 +0000

Well, I'm a little behind schedule with my Billboard Album Chart update thanks to spending the last 3 days looking at auriferous gravels in the Sierran foothills.