These past two years have been a weird time for Animal Collective. I’m not suggesting that the Animal Collective of the early 2000’s was normal, I mean, have you listened to their albums that were released before Sung Tongs? I’m suggesting that the band has been suspiciously quiet considering their track record. Their last release was a remix EP in 2013 of songs off of Centipede Hz.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]“Many songs have seamless transitions to other songs, forming a continuous flow across the whole album.”[/su_pullquote]What have they been doing for these past two years? Well now we have a clear-cut answer. Animal Collective announced two months ago that their new studio album had finished the recording process. While the wait for the album’s release was hard on fans, Animal Collective recently released the new live album Live at 9:30 to satiate fans everywhere.
Live at 9:30 is the third live album following Hollinndagain and Animal Crack Box. The whole set was recorded at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. on June 12, 2013 and features tracks from the band’s previous projects such as Centipede Hz., Merriweather Post Pavilion, and Fall Be Kind. The first big difference that sets apart Live at 9:30 from the other two live albums is that this album showcases live performances of the modern era of Animal Collective as opposed to the early era of Animal Collective presented in the previous two albums. The second big difference is that Live at 9:30 does not give you a ruptured eardrum when you listen to it.
[su_pullquote]“Perhaps the biggest change in Live at 9:30 is that Animal Collective played songs more spaciously during their set.”[/su_pullquote]The band plays the live renditions great, as they not only play the songs almost perfectly, but they add twists so it does not seem like the band plays directly from the source material. A bubbly bass loop was added to “Did You See the Words,” which in turn, makes the song much happier. The beginning of “My Girls” has Panda Bear vocalizing over the synthesizer arpeggiator for about a minute before the song kicks in. “New Town Burnout” starts off slowly with harmonizing vocals over experimental sounds in ambience for a few minutes until the actual song begins.
Many songs have seamless transitions to other songs, forming a continuous flow across the whole album. The high pitch synthesizer and drum triplet from the end of “Amanita” continue on and are joined by the recognizable guitar chords of “Did You See the Words.” Perhaps the most noteworthy transition happens at the final minute of “Pulleys” when Avey Tare repeats “To the sky” as the song transitions to “What Would I Want? Sky.” “Moonjock” does not transition into any other song and instead features the band talking to the crowd and giving shoutouts. It breaks up the flow of the album.
Perhaps the biggest change in Live at 9:30 is that Animal Collective played songs more spaciously during their set. The instrumentation is sparser, the vocals are more floaty, and there are not as many effects as there were on the studio recordings. This is especially true for Centipede Hz. The Achilles’ heel of Centipede Hz. was that everything felt cramped and cluttered. It hindered the overall enjoyment of the album to the point where it arguably ranks the album as the worst Animal Collective album.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]“Most of the song is an experimental, ambient soundscape that is an excellent throwback to earlier Animal Collective projects…”[/su_pullquote]I was a bit skeptical coming into Live at 9:30 because some of the songs were the same songs that I criticized harshly for being too dense. Thankfully, for the most part, they were not dense on this release. When space is added to the live renditions of Centipede Hz. tracks, the songs become more clear. It comes to the point where I prefer some of the live versions to their original counterparts on Centipede Hz.
The band has even gone so far to add ambient moments to many songs that never had a chance for one, such as “Pulleys.” The studio version of “Pulleys” was about three minutes long, but the band extended the song to a behemoth 15 minutes long, making the live rendition of “Pulleys” the longest song on the entire album. Most of the song is an experimental, ambient soundscape that is an excellent throwback to earlier Animal Collective projects such as Here Comes the Indian (“Infant Dressing Table”).
Not every song has an ambient set piece in place. “Monkey Riches” from Centipede Hz. is still the same cramped, chaotic mess it has always been, but other than that, the rest of the tracks are at least solid. I appreciate how Animal Collective was able to take the dense tracks of Centipede Hz. and added space in the live renditions. While I do prefer Hollinndagain over this album, Live at 9:30 contains a great live performance for fans to enjoy before Animal Collective releases their 10th studio album.
