Ramblin man & Jessica!

With "Spanish Flea" !!!

Another chapter in the strangely subversive ALUMINUM GROUP story. Brothers FRANK & JOHN NAVIN have pretty much kept the same crew that created the amazing "Pelo" album (TORTOISE members JOHN MCENTIRE, JOHNNY HERNDON, JEFF PARKER & DOUG MCCOMBS; CHICAGO UNDERGROUND member ROB MAZUREK), along with the core group of LIZ CONANT and JOHN RIDENOUR. However, this time they've added REBECCA GATES into the mix, to create a sublime electro/lounge/pop platter that would fit well into a COEN BROTHERS film, or say a RAYMOND CHANDLER novel. Strange? You bet, but it's so sugary sweet, you can't deny it's temptations.

VENTURA HIGHWAY <<<<<<--------------------------- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |||||||||||||||

Two blown-out and watery tracks from Animal Collective foreshadowing their new 2012 album via Domino.

Put it on the books, Animal Collective's ninth full length is ready for consumption, and prepared to make the beginning of your musical year great! With their usual chaotic, vocal eccentricities and meditative, musical complications "Merriweather Post Pavilion" seems to have come to an agreement between the two polar angles that Animal Collective have explored. At times their vocals entangle with one another into infinity, and at other moments there is a peaceful drone to enjoy. Avey Tare and Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear) find this happy medium and give fans a new perspective on what their collaboration can sound like.

After NOAH LENNOX's deviation into a rather successful solo endeavour (PANDA BEAR), fans of ANIMAL COLLECTIVE may be curious what to expect from 2007's "Strawberry Jam." The collective (sorry!) effort here, is a blend of both AVEY TARE's cacophonous vocal style and the PANDA BEAR approach with heavy sampling and loops. This album will not dissapoint fans of this brand of layering and sound-bending atmospheric tunes. Unique stretching of the vocal pitch, and large spreads of sonic synthesized sound come complete with aspirations to sound like SYD BARRETT's "Madcap Laughs" or the oft referenced "Pet Sounds" by the BEACH BOYS. One really can not go wrong with influences like that, in addition to the knowledge of their contemporary techniques. This is a mind bender of an album. This studio savvy duo have done it again!

2009 ends not with a whimper, but a bang: five new tracks from this brilliant act who absolutely refuse to stand still creatively. Combining their maddeningly catchy melodies with an infectious joy, plus bubbly synths and post-psych swirly production, Animal Collective have yet again created a collection of tunes that will live in your head, hard drive and stereo for many many months! Not even samples of The Grateful Dead or Zamfir can ruin these tunes! RECOMMENDED AS HIGHLY AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE!!!