Merriweather Post Pavilion (album)
Occupation
- Avey Tare
- Panda Bear
- Geologist
- Deakin
Merriweather Post Pavilion is the eighth studio album by American experimental band Animal Collective. It was released in January 2009 on Domino Records.
The album is named after the concert hall, Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia (Maryland). With nearly 55 minutes in length, the album is the longest album by the band since their debut album Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished. The plan to appear in the actual Merriweather Post Pavilion after the album's release, had to be abandoned.
Merriweather Post Pavilion is true of the press as one of the best albums of 2009.
Background
After the band in January 2007 Strawberry Jam recorded, the guitarist decided Deakin ( Josh Dibb ) for a break from the band due to unspecified reasons known private. Thus, the band wrote a few new songs which could be played without guitar. The band took advantage of - inspired by Panda Bear's first solo album Person Pitch - Sampler as the main instruments. The group presented nine of these songs for the first time in May 2007 and toured with them in 2008. Most of these songs were eventually then also represented on the album.
Genesis
To record the eighth studio album, Animal Collective asked the help of Ben H. Allen as co- producer. In an interview with the Baltimore City Paper Allen stated that the band had chosen him " because of my work with Gnarls Barkley " and they wanted to have " my simple expertise ". According to band member Brian Weitz ( Geologist ), the band was indeed initially was attracted to it, but was impressed by Allen's wide-ranging musical tastes: " He seemed to be someone who knew technically easy as you so developed suburban hip-hop, but he was also open to other styles. knowing that he was involved in a lot of Bad Boy Records stuff from the 90s, was pretty impressive for us. " The band swaps with Allen a few conference calls via Skype in January 2008 and started the recordings in " Sweet Tea Recording Studio " in Oxford ( Mississippi) on 1 February 2008.
Privacy was the highest bid for the group and a significant factor to choose the " Sweet Tea " studio during the recording. Allen: " Throughout the month on which we worked on the album were just me, my assistant and the band as No phones or computers ... it's a small town, we were in the south, no one knew who they were.. It was nonstop work. " The studio also offered other advantages. Dave Portner ( Avey Tare ) felt that Sweet Tea was the " most atmospheric studio " in which he had ever been: " It feels, as do would music in a living room, which just happens to have a Neve 8038 console in the room. " In addition, Weltz said that the large mixing space of the studio for the sample- heavy album was ideal: "We wanted to make the most of the tracking in the same room as the sound engineer. " At Merriweather Post Pavilion, the band wanted to capture a live sound on the album, as on Strawberry Jam. Nevertheless, the recording techniques for the two albums were very different, so Noah Lennox (Panda Bear ): "We have the two [ albums ] made with totally different approaches. " On Strawberry Jam, they worked with a group atmospheres and took everything simultaneously, at Merriweather ... they trackten " virtually every sound individually on a separate track so that we could control every sound when mixing completely ."
Artwork
" The picture of the cover on this page is not even begin large enough. Addiction it out to you online, as large as possible, and stares at it very carefully! See how the scope of your vision shifts and waves throws so hard you tried to focus the mosaic pattern - almost alive, so it is impossible to retrieve the image in your head "
The optical illusion on the cover is based on the work of the Japanese psychologist Akiyoshi Kitaoka.
The download coupon card of the album contained the first vinyl edition of the album, an explanation of the album title:
" Merriweather Post Pavilion is an open- air concert space on a place called Symphony Woods in Columbia, Maryland. It was designed in the 1960s by Frank Gehry and they had there since 1967 concerts to this day. We went there often to concerts when we were growing up and have formative memories of times we spent on the grass areas. For most of the time in which we have played together in Animal Collective and previous years, we have tried to make music that would make a terrific outdoor listening experience. Both as a name as well as location Merriweather Post Pavilion represents this for us. "
Reception
The initial response of the press was very positive. Despite the publication in January, many critics praised as one of the best albums of 2009. The Slant Magazine gave the album five out of five stars. Wrote Stephen TROUSSE Uncut that the album as one of " American landmark albums of the previous century " was to be considered. Andrzej Lukowski wrote Drowned in Sound: " Is Merriweather Post Pavilion the flawless album, it should be all in all I'd say it's pretty damn close? ". Negative reviews were rare, but as Michael Patrick Brady wrote of the Boston Phoenix that the album's " playfulness and spontaneity miss that tape so many listeners to this group ." He gave the album 2.5 out of 4 stars.
End of 2009, the album Merriweather Post Pavilion by both Pitchfork Media and Tiny Mix Tapes of was named the best album of the year.