Let’s be real with each other… Even the most dedicated Animal Collective followers can’t hide that the critical tide had turned drastically poisonous across the ’10s after seemingly being unable to follow up a wave of acclaim. Their run of albums and EPs from 2004’s Sung Tongs through to 2009’s era-defining Merriweather Post Pavilion (and let’s not forget the outstanding companion EP Fall Be Kind released later the same year) proved to be legendary.
The Baltimore based neo-psych darlings could practically do no wrong in the eyes of indie-alternative bloggers, journalists and music obsessives. 2012’s follow up to Merriweather saw the quartet pushing into noisier and more dense sonic chaos, finding the spiritual successor to their true masterpiece, 2007’s Strawberry Jam.
Even though Centipede Hz is an incredible album – one that desperately needs reappraising – it seemingly wasn’t what fans and critics wanted after the blissful, melodic psych-pop gems that defined its predecessor. 2016’s Painting With pushed back into the opposite direction; their most outright sunshine pop sounding record seemed to be too lacking in their striking experimental flourishes.
To give you an idea of how harshly the critical perception turned, The Quietus’ Lee Arizuno described Painting With as “absolute dogshit from start to finish”. Unscathed, AnCo entered a prolific phase afterwards, exploring much less accessible sounds with a series of trippy experimental droney works and a couple of film scores.
As a dedicated fan myself since the release of Strawberry Jam, I’ve certainly not heard any dogshit in their discography – even during the past decade’s “rough patch”. Animal Collective have always been prolific and have always changed up their sound and methodology.
From the freak-folk of Sung Tongs, the largely synth and electronic leaning Merriweather, and then finding instruments again on Centipede Hz (with Panda Bear doubling up as drummer and vocalist), Animal Collective’s constant reinvention of their sound and bold desire to experiment has always been one of their most exciting assets – even if it doesn’t always land.
If any long standing band has deserved the tides to turn back in their favour, it’s Animal Collective, and fortunately this 13th full length (depending on how you count them) is the album to do it with…
Last week, we launched the first mixtape of IRC’s Best Songs of 2011 to a relatively strong response from regular readers and visitors. The first volume includes more than 30 top songs originally released in January of this year. They were chosen from dozens upon dozens of tracks emailed directly or that we found surfing a variety of music sites and blogs.
During the planning for this series, we wanted to do things differently than all of the other music sites and blogs. So, there will be a total of 12 Best Songs mixtape editions – one for each month of 2011, appearing chronologically from January to December. We asked a few other trusted advisers, and they all liked the concept.
If you felt like 2011 just flew right by, or simply fancy reliving it all over again organically, this series is a great way to experience the best indie rock songs of 2011 as they were released month to month. We’ve looked and this is the only ‘best of 2011’ playlist series that we know of that published chronologically.
More importantly, all of the songs for the Best Songs of 2011 playlist series were chosen by listeners and visitors based on the tracks that literally millions of people worldwide streamed and downloaded the most on IRC. So far, the first edition, highlighting the most popular songs of January 2011, has received tens of thousands of visits since it was published last week
[zbplayer]
Whether it was songs like “Umder Cover of Darkness” by The Strokes, or “Bloom” by Radiohead, two hot tracks, “holing Out” and “Rubber” from one of the best new bands of 2011, Yuck. Plus, IRC exclusive release of Opus Orange’s new single, “Crystal Clear,” was one of the four number one songs of February 2011.
The No. 1 Songs of February 2011 – Reader’s Choice
The shortest month of the year was jam-packed with hot tracks that are still among the best songs of the year, eight months later. IRC regular and new visitors also approved of lead tracks off new albums by The Dodos, Panda Bear, Beach Fossils, Fleet Foxes, Generationals, Cut Copy, Holy Ghost, Real Estate, Datarock, Scattered Trees, Akron/Family, The Go! Team, Times New Viking, In These Woods, Class Actress and more.
In case you missed it, you might want to start first with Volume One, published last week, with the focus of songs released in January 2011. From all of the eventual 12 volumes, we will use the same concept to reveal the IRC Reader’s Choice for the Top 50 Songs of 2011.
* This single was originally released in late 2010, but the album, one of the best of 2011, was released on Jan. 11, 2011. Therefore, this track should have been ideally featured in Volume One of Best Songs of 2011.
For decades, it has been common practice for new singles to be released weeks, even months, before the album itself to help promote album sales. In the heyday of vinyl, advanced LPs and 45’s were sent by record labels to deejays at thousands of radio stations across the country and the world.
Nowadays, it is common for singles to be released as MP3 links, files and scripted embeds that can be streamed, and sometimes downloaded, from the web. While much has been lost in sound quality during the transition from master tapes to vinyl and especially to the common MP3 format, singles are more significant than ever before because more music consumers cherry-pick singles and buy fewer albums in the age of digital formats, iTunes and MP3 players.
New 2011 songs are coming at us from all directions, and we’ve been filtering them out so that we can bring you only the best (well, our favorite new tracks is more accurate). Anyways, here are some awesome fresh tracks from Fleet Foxes, Beach Fossils, The Kills, Real Estate, Toro Y Moi, Holy Ghost, and others. The next Fresh Tracks mix that we’re going to publish on Saturday includes new material from R.E.M., Toro Y Moi, White Lies, Lovett, and The Luyas, to name a few.
From the first few seconds of the new single, “Helplessness Blues”, from indie folk icons, Fleet Foxes, all of the immense love and high praise we’ve always had for the band came rushing back with true enthusiasm and adoration. This is the first new single from Fleet Foxes since 2009, and it’s safe to assume that it will be on the next LP. In fact, the album (or just song?) cover art shown above is from the band, so it’s safe to assume that is the new album’s cover art and title, Helplessness Blues. Still trying to confirm this. Although we usually do not publish SoundCloud embeds (they often cause pages to slow down), when they’re all we can get our hands on from an anticipated release, then we’ll definitely include them in posts – but as a general rule we stick to MP3s because they work with the neat little Yahoo Media player, and via RSS and podcasts.
“Helplessness Blues” – Fleet Foxes from TBA – released date: TBA
P.S. – If you missed any of the Best New Releases from January, they’re still available for you to stream or download, including January 26th new releases – featuring, The Radio Dept., Woodsman, Cloud Nothings, Iron & Wine, Gang of Four, Deerhoof, Destroyer, The Veils, Grouplove.
Beach Fossils Follow-up Hit Debut with New EP
After publishing one of the best debut albums of 2010, and perhaps one of the best of the century (so far), Brooklyn‘s lo-fi popsters, Beach Fossils, have just released a new singles from their new EP, What a Pleasure, slated to drop February 22nd. We have two of the songs here.
“Calyer” – Beach Fossils from What A Pleasure – out Feb. 22nd
The Strokes Prepping First LP in Years
One of our favorite rock bands of all time, The Strokes, have set March 22nd as the release date for Angles. Here is a clip of the song “Under Cover of Darkness” (demo). While it is only a clip, any clip from a new Strokes’ tune is gratefully received.
In a couple of months, the legendary New York garage rock band will headline at Coachella to a sold out in hours mass of humanity. If that appearance is anything like The Strokes amazing performance last summer in San Francisco‘s Golden Gate Park during Outside Lands festival, then loyal fans and newbies are in for a truly remarkable experience. Angles will be the band’s first album since 2006’s First Impressions Of Earth.
Over the years, The Dodos have been high on our lists for their experimental pop songs that are not easily forgotten. After two wildly popular idnie albums – Visiter (2008) and Time To Die (2009) – it was great news when we got this new track from The Dodos over the weekend. The track, ironically titled, “Black Night,” starts with a heavy romp of a bass drum, almost like Iron Man stomping down a street.
Seconds into the song, the acoustic guitars build up a nice, hazy melody, followed with splashes of hoots, reverb-heavy harmonies, and buzzy synth injections. If this song is indicative of the rest of the album, we’re officially begging the band and their label to release an album stream ASAP. “Black Night” is the first single from their upcoming third LP, No Color.
“Black Night” – The Dodos fromNo Color (Bonus Version) – out March 15th
The Kills’ New EP Doesn’t Sound Like TWS
On April 5th, bluesy garage rock duo The Kills will drop their new album, Blood Pressures, on Domino Records. Although the two members that make up The Kills, American Alison Mosshart and British guitarist Jim Hince (“Hotel”). The first single from Blood Pressures, “Satellite”, will be officially released on March 28th.
Notice that we didn’t compare The Kills to The White Stripes – apparently, the former detest the media’s persistent comparisons with The White Stripes. But isn’t there good reason to? Afterall, they’re a male and female garage rock duo who have even recorded in the same studio as the Stripes. Most rockers would love being compared to TWS.
One-third Animal Collective, and 100% Panda Bear, aka, Noah Lennox, and his record company, Paw Tracks, have moved up the release date for the long awaited Tomboy to April 12th. Looking forward to it. As for the album cover, we hope it’s not going to be the one example above that is being passed around as the official cover. There’s got to be a better album cover than that, just like there’s got to be a better sounding band to play the Super Bowl than Black Eyed Peas.
“Slow Motion” – Panda Bear from Tomboy – April 12th
Here’s the full track listing:
Track list:
01 You Can Count on Me
02 Tomboy
03 “Slow Motion”
04 Surfer’s Hymn
05 Last Night at The Jetty
06 Drone
07 Alsatian Darn
08 Scheherezade
09 Friendship Bracelet
10 Afterburner
11 Benfica
Times New Viking’s Anticipated New LP Out in April
It was no surprise to us when Matador Records – one of the best alt rock labels ever – signed Times New Viking to their impressive roster. The band were legitimized for eternity when they toured with Pavement, and Guided By Voices, the latter of which is still on-going. TNV’s newest single, “No Room to Live,” is being sold as a limited 7-inch record at shows on their current tour. Here’s a demo of the track.
“No Room to Live” – Times New Viking from Dancer Equired – out April 26th
Real Estate Drops a Demo We Can Dig
During the last quarter of 2009, and the first half of 2010, the New Jersey indie band Real Estate were buzzing with plenty of blogger love and media praise. But the band seemed to fade into the background in the latter half of 2010, mostly because there were just so many other great acts emerging. Nevertheless, we are happy to have a new and likable track from the band ahead of their upcoming EP.
“Blue Lebaron” – Real Estate – date TBA
Holy Ghost Prep Debut LP for April
Holy Ghost are not yet as popular as we think they deserve to be. But we’re confident 2011 is going to be their year. The track, “Do It Again,” demonstrates why the duo are building a loud buzz on indie blogs and music sites. For their self-titled debut, due out April 12th, Holy Ghost scored guest vocals from Luke Jenner (Rapture), Chris Glover (Penguin Prison), and Michael McDonald; the Michael McDonald of The Doobie Brothers.
“Do It Again” – Holy Ghost from Holy Ghost
Cold Cave’s New Single Signals Industrial Rock Heyday
Wesley Eisold, better known in the indie world as Cold Cave, has a blistering, epic new single that’s throttling on high aggression mixed with electro pop backing. The song, “The Great Pan Is Dead” may remind some indie heads of Eisold’s involvement with Give Up the Ghost, and it echoes the 1980’s industrial rock heyday. Based on this blazing, melodic track, Cold Cave’s new album, Cherish The Light Years, could be one of the best LPs of 2011.
“The Great Pan Is Dead” – Cold Cave from Cherish The Light Years – out April 5th
