2009 ALBUM REVIEWS; Merriweather Post Pavilion

So for a break in the 2008 reviews here's a HOT one, fresh off the presses ; 

Merriweather Post Pavillion (Animal Collective) 

So for over a year now I've been listening to the NPR podcast of the last Animal Collective show in DC  (at the 930 club), which I happened to catch with some other WVAU-ers. This was the only place I could find to listen to a great many of the songs they played, all of which happen to be on Merriweather Post Pavilion. The most glorious moment of the concert (and for that moment, of any concert I have ever been to) was the first song, which is the first song on the album "In The Flowers". There is about a slow bird-like introduction which in and of itself is pretty, but about 2 minutes in there is an eruption into a more intense layer of the song, and I can distinctly remember the entire crowd going insane at this moment. I'm not ashamed to say that listening to this moment again and again via podcast actually brought tears to my eyes. So, needless to say, I was hoping for a similar reaction on the record. But instead, the lyrics are changed, the transition less like the rapture (and by this I mean the end of the world not the band), and overall I was unimpressed. The next song, "My Girls", however, is a different story. They managed to capture the same energy as the 930 concert and this song is steadily climbing up my most played list on itunes. The rest of the songs they played at this concert, which consists of about half of the album, are all great. But unlike "Strawberry Jam" (the group's last album which is liked by everyone on earth and in the surrounding planets also), I really can't get into the rest of the songs. This album seems to be a reverting back to their older sound which is much more tribal and less catchy or inventive than "Strawberry Jam" is. Instead of being an album I can listen to straight through over and over again, this one has a couple blockbusters and the rest seems to be filler. Compared to other albums, Merriweather gets 6 out of 5 stars, but compared to its own creaters and their previous works, it only really merits 3.