Painting With
by Animal Collective

Unlikely to be the AnCo album to convince non-fans, and probably won't be a personal favourite for many fans either, but it contains loads of what the band had done well in the past. How much you will enjoy it, probably depends on a few things. One, what you think of that recurring vocal trick that's used on several tracks. Two, what side of the band you preferred in the past. If you like the band for the energy, melody, playfullness, there's plenty to go around here. What this album's lacking in is the experimentation, or any longer instrumental buildups and passages. Those final 30 seconds on Lying in the Grass are already a step away from the norm, while most songs keep it pretty tight. Not necessarily a bad thing, but you may find yourself thinking that there is just something missing from a lot of these tracks which don't really expand on any ideas that may be present, and even these ideas aren't necessarily anything that the band wouldn't toy with since at least Strawberry Jam. I suppose this is why Painting With was met with pretty mixed reviews - while every album of theirs had a pretty distinct sound, Painting With mostly seems to distinguish itself from others only by how its songs maintain a pretty basic structure and don't exactly explore any previously untapped territories.

But, as I said, this is still an album that's brimming with that AnCo energy and is most of all FUN. One thing they haven't forgotten is how to write a goddamn tune, and this results in some wonderful moments across the 12 tracks here. Golden Gal may be one of their finest pop songs yet, On Delay has also become another personal favourite, particularly love how it utilizes the piano. Other highlights (for me at least) include the bouncy lead single FloriDada, and the more peculiar choice for the second single, Lying in the Grass, which is one of those tracks where you'd hope they would expand their ideas a little bit, but still manages to work in its short running time - featuring a nice cameo from Colin Stetson, and is a good example of that "hocketing" vocal trick they do throughout on the album, with its 30 second instrumental release at the end being one of the rare moments like that on the album. All the better for it...

From ShadowColossi 02/22/2016 04:32 | #160473 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Here we go- The album I've been waiting months and months for. The album I've felt like I NEEDED to hear. Animal Collective has a new release- and if you look at my chart it's no question that they have almost a mystical music guru image to me. "Merriweather" was a flawless, aquatic ambient work with absolutely gorgeously crafted melodies, and small details you could find in every song. "Feels" has some of the most emotional songs I've ever heard- "Spirit They've Gone" has amazing percussion, and even better, slowly-morphing songs interrupted by vicious screaming that will give you chills. "Strawberry Jam" takes a completely synthetic sound and makes it sound primitive and impossibly human. I definately wasn't the only one disappointed about their last lp- Centipede Hz. It was busy, and thrown at you quickly. Not only that- that didn't bother me all that much- they seemed to lose their uncanny ability to portray emotion in songs, through rhythms and chord progressions that the soundscapes they made were based off of. And it's no different here- When I heard "FloriDada", I was iffy at first, but grew to love it. It has a very human quality to it- and undeniable song that only they could've wrote. When "Lying in the Grass" was released, I was disappointed. The soundscapes weren't beautiful as much as just abrasive and stuffed- I felt like I was trying to digest way too many synth tones at once, and none of them stood out as the main voice of the song- nor did they play off each other very well. Panda and Avey traded syllables, a method they use almost throughout the entire album- and it doesn't work for me. It doesn't allow either voice to portray the message they want to send. "Floridada" allowed them to by finished off the phrases before swapping leads, but in many of the tracks they're less than seconds apart, back and forth. Each voice seems pushed down, hiding behind the other and the busy soundscape on top of them. Not to say there aren't good tracks- "FloriDada", "Bagels in Kiev", and "On Delay" I enjoyed thoroughly, and are a welcome addition to the AnCo catalog. There are others that I didn't mind, but there were some I just did not care for. Overall, I feel like this record fails in the very same place Centipede Hz failed for me- they seem to have lost the ability to portray the massive amounts of emotions they portrayed in their earlier records, which is what has drawn me to this band time and time again.

Great singles, but the rest was very disappointing for me. Many songs use the same distorted bass sounds and together with the repetitive not so interesting vocals they can create some painful moments. Expected more from a band so amazing and experimental which I love so much.

From phantom1305 05/04/2016 23:26 | #165223 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I haven't listened to a lot of Animal Collective yet. I remember there was a lot of hype for this album, then it came out and... nothing. I gave it a listen and found it uninteresting. From the reviews I've seen I'm not the only one disappointed by it either.

Yes Floridada is a great track, but I just don't envision me listening to this 20 years from now (assuming I am not dead by then). There is nothing timeless here