Posts Tagged: merriweather post pavilion

2008 / 4 stars / electric president / reviews — No Comments
24
Apr 09

Sleep Well (2008) by Electric President

Sleep Well by Electric President

Electric President
Sleep Well
2008, Morr Music
electronic, indie pop
4

While this album was my introduction to the band Electric President, Sleep Well is their sophomore effort and quite an impressive one at that. It’s always odd describing an album or a group as ‘indie pop’ since ‘pop’ is really just a shortened version of ‘popular,’ but Electric President is like the Moonbabies in that they can only be classified as the indie version of pop. Stylistically, the album features influences that range from the Beach Boys to the more modern versions of pop. Lyrically, the album is an emo-shoegaze dream with weird alien references and metaphors that seem to come from no where. In fact, I’d say that the album overall sounds like a lullaby to a apace alien, which makes Electric President even more enigmatic and alienating (I can has puns) than they are purported to be. A strange work, but pleasing and interesting at the same time.

“It’s Like A Heartbeat, Only It Isn’t,” “Monsters,” “We Will Walk Through Walls.”
myspace, last.fm
The Moonbabies’s War on Sound, Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion

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2009 / 4 stars / animal collective / reviews — No Comments
7
Apr 09

Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009) by Animal Collective

Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective

Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion
2009, Domino Records
experimental, psychedelic rock
4

I’ve mentioned before that I gave this album a listen because Pitchfork and practically every music critic under the sun adored it. When I first listened to it, it sounded like a bunch of frat boys got drunk one night and decided to make some sort of noise that they believed to be music. I was prepared to go to my grave believing that, but the lyrics tell an entirely different story.

For all their ‘frat boy’ sound, Animal Collective has written songs that are surprisingly mature and almost cutesy in their honesty. The bare ‘I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls’ from their single “My Girls” is a prime example, but that honesty just continues throughout the album. Knowing that some thought went into this album gave me a whole new perspective on it, and I’ve come to realize it takes some skill to sound so disoriented and collected at the same time. I wouldn’t recommend listening to this on repeat without being under the influence of an illegal (or legal) substance, but it’s definitely a welcome novelty in today’s music world.

“My Girls,” “Bluish,” “Lion in a Coma.”
myspace, last.fm
Portishead’s Third, The Dodo’s Visiter

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