Yeah, I wouldn't put them even remotely close to the same level as Beefheart. I'm really not in love with AC by any means, to be honest, but I can understand the appeal and enjoy a good deal of their work more than I used to.

What kinda stuff is Our Brother the Native?

Oh, they're folky stuff, kinda on the same boat as AC's early stuff. I was just randomly dropping names.

I really like the album. I'm not obsessed with it or anything. Good stuff.

Anyway---;;;pretentious moment:

I started listening to them 4 years ago, and I had no idea they'd be as big as they are now. It is kind of sad because there are so many more fans who don't know anything about their older albums even though I know that that should not bug me. But it does. However, that annoyance is neutralized by the fact that I get to hear way more about them, and that I can actually talk to other people about them without weirding anyone out.

On a similar note, my friend (who likes hard core and like..screamo) said to me today: "Alex, have you ever heard of Deerhoof? They're this weird band with a female asian singer with the highest voice." I was just like "yeah...I've listened to them for like...4 years. I have almost all their albums."

Hahaha, so strange how that happens.

It's not pretentious, you're just being honest. But.. Yeah, I've been listening to Deerhoof and AC both for the past 6 or so years now. It's interesting, because I wonder what bands we're listening to now will be that highly regarded in 6 years from now. My favorite success story is definitely Polysics, who I started listening to around the same time (early 2003) when you couldn't find their music anywhere and I found one guy on soulseek named poly who had ALL their albums and that was all he had. After all these years, because of their popularity, they are able to tour and play all over the U.S. and stuff, and I finally saw them live last year, which was great. So, I say, that's great if bands become more popular, because it's more likely I can see them live!!!!

yeah i love the backlash to bands when they hit the mega-popular echelon. its funny.

The backlash is usually only there because bands usually get worse and change their sound in order to get popular. "Sell out", in other words. AC haven't sold out to my ears, though they certainly aren't as interesting as they used to be. They still make somewhat difficult music, I think, compared to most mainstream music. That deserves kudos.

true, but in the case for most of those bands, they were always intending to "sell out". or, it just seems very intentional.

the thing with AC is they were always heading in this direction... they seem to want to explore every type of album... they've done acoustic, droney, synthy, psych, poppy, blippy, noisey, and this is their 'party' album, or their 'hip-hop' album... it was bound to be their most popular... i knew it back in june 07 when i heard the Brother Sport boot for the first time and my room-mate who didn't like them at all was flipping out at the vocals/bass/caribbean-feel to it

Right. AC haven't lost their integrity, in my eyes, even if their sound isn't as appealing to me as something like "Sung Tongs" (which, admittingly, was the start of their mass popularity, at least critically; "Feels" was their breakthrough album, though I don't really like it...). Though a lot of people may point to the good production as a way of them selling out, it still doesn't sound that good -- not that there's anything wrong WITH sounding good! Backlash against a band is usually silly to begin with, with people falling over themselves to find anything to nitpick about. My thing is, AC still write unique and interesting songs with good melodies. I find that respectable, even when I don't always find their music pleasing to my ears. They're a lot more forward-thinking than most bands, to be completely honest, and perhaps the MOST forward-thinking band to actually be popular amongst a wide variety of people that are into a lot of different genres. They're a good band.

Popular culture does affect the music of bands that sell out, but it's a symbiotic relationship. In order to offer a band money, the business has to trust their uniqueness. They aren't looking for greedy musicians to transform into Green Day, but they expect a little give and take. Some bands are meant to keep out of the limelight for experimentation purposes or for underground music listeners, but there are even more people out there in the "pop world" waiting for a band like AC to impress them.

I have a real problem when too many bands set their feet in the sand and refuse to sell out for "ethical reasons." If all of these talented bands are just their own personal wankfest, "This is what I want to do, and I don't care what anyone says," then they can't expect to make a difference. Occassionally a band refuses to budge and makes a difference, and that has its place, but most progress is made through compromise. A little change never hurt anyone more than they deserved.

but how many people are REALLY listening to Animal Collective?

I am trying to find sales figures for strawberry jello.

the only sales figures I can find are from November 2007, which at that time strawberry jam had sold 24 thousand copies, 900 in that week.
http://indiehq.com/2007/11/15/indepe...hart-11-15-07/


no one should be getting upset at AC for being popular

what progress? this is MUSIC we are talking about. rock music nonetheless. None of it is groundbreaking, really, not even the most freaky shit for it is all deeply overshadowed by the thousands of years of music previous. what difference are you expecting bands to make? it is entertainment

oh i haven't listened to this album yet...

*downloads*

i just read this figure not too long ago... i don't remember where its from, but i remember SJ had sold about 55000 copies

I would cream if I sold 55 thousand copies of anything!

However, that is not popular.

AC, liike sonic youth in the early 80's, is a band that more people have heard OF than actually listened to.

55 thou is a good sales amount for a very indie release though

I go by last.fm personally (which probably represents only 25% of the actual listeners and isn't scientific in the least but is a good representation of how popular a band is):

14,100,812 plays (356,778 listeners)

Sonic Youth's... 18,410,336 plays (638,221 listeners)

Do the (weird) math.

I live in a small ass town and every single one of my friends, with a few exceptions, knows who Animal Collective is (not because of me). People I know in Florida with tastes that don't often stray the least bit outside of popular culture... know who Animal Collective is. One town over, there is a college town which apparently is having an Animal Collective listening party tonight. I gurantee almost that whole town knows who Animal Collective is. In this age of last.fm, youtube, myspace, college and satellite radio, and good old fashioned magazine coverage.... LOTS of people know who Animal Collective is (are?). Just saying.

AC is more of a live band anyway... but I predict MPP will sell way more than 55k. like way more.

just as an fyi, if a secret show, password-required by ticketmaster sells out in 24 hours, does that count as "popular"?

their tickets for the January tour are selling easily at 5-6 times face value

ahah, you should live in france dudes
there, no one i know has ever heard of animal collective and their gig in paris in ten days still ain't sold out :D

Right on. They're huge.

wow, i know part of it is because the album is knew, but look at their charts for the last 7 days... My Girls breaking the 5k barrier
http://www.last.fm/music/Animal+Coll...subtype=tracks


and comparatively, SY
http://www.last.fm/music/Sonic+Youth...subtype=tracks

and radiohead
http://www.last.fm/music/Radiohead/+...subtype=tracks

Yeah, in a lot of "internet circles", people were saying MPP's leak was bigger than In Rainbows. Again, no scientific evidence involved in this, just people talking on the internet.