Merriweather Post Pavilion leaks, buzz continues in earnest.
December 29th, 2008 by Leilani Polk in NewsAfter several false starts, virus-laden downloads and out-of-control fan anticipation taken to an email hoax level, the real Merriweather Post Pavilion has finally surfaced on the file-sharing blogs. The much-anticipated eighth studio album of wildly avant-garde rock ensemble Animal Collective leaked this past 
weekend, and fans that were foaming at the mouth to listen are now foaming at the mouth while listening, soaking it up like a bunch of hipster sponges, IM’ing their friends about its greatness, about how “catchy” it is compared to their previous efforts and how it’s already the greatest album of ‘09, and has anyone ever thought of using an optical illusion as the cover of their album? How groundbreaking! (”Holy shit, it moves!“)
The buzz surrounding this album has been as big as I’ve seen buzz get, most likely because it took so long to leak in advance of its January 20 release date on Domino.
As a fan of Animal Collective, a music writer who tries to keep track of what’s going on in the music world, and the wife of a man who happens to be an inexhaustive explorer of file-sharing music blogs, I snagged a copy and listened to it last night. There was no doubt about who created the album; it was pure Animal Collective, surreal meets out-there. I’m not sure whether or not it’s really catchy, although it is probably more accessible than other stuff I’ve heard by them (less melodic yells and screeches, more straighforward singing). Once I’ve recieved a concrete copy of the album, I’ll report back here with my review. Stay tuned.
January 5th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Finally got a good vinyl rip yesterday; I think it’s pretty stellar - best album of 2009!
I’m not the biggest fan of the early stuff; Strawberry Jam was good, but I really loved Panda Bear’s Person Pitch. It seems they’re following his lead more on this album?.?. Hopefully these guys will play Tampa or Orlando.
January 5th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Jack brought them a few years back. Hopefully he’ll bring them back, or at least make sure that Tampa’s on their radar again …
January 5th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Pitchfork gave it 9.6 out of 10. So fucking typical.