Autoclamp

When the Going Gets Cold, the Cold Get Ecstatically Weird

The Animal Collective’s Merriwether Post Pavilion starts a winter music roundup from the Martin hi-fi.

What bought us to this point? Rave culture? Radiohead’s knob twiddling in the early ’00s? Brian Wilson’s solo albums? Freak-folk? The Blue Man Group? Those Dairy Queen TV commercials with the talking lips? All of the above, perhaps?

For a band that follows their muse as relentlessly as the Animal Collective does, their new album Merriweather Post Pavilion feels like one for the fans. I mean that in the best way possible. At their best, the AC is capable of trippy, ecstatic journeys that expand your mind and keep your feet moving. At their aimless worst… well, why dwell on that? Their new album is focused and amazing.

A good litmus test to decide whether the Animal Collective is for you; visit the HD version of “My Girls,” and turn up your speakers as loud as they’ll go before the neighbors complain. If it doesn’t do anything for you, you can move on to the more conventional but equally excellent indie rock choices below.

Andrew Bird – Noble Beast

Andrew Bird returns with another measured dose of stately chamber pop. He doesn’t seem to have a video out for any singles yet, but the above performance of “Anonanimal” captures his skill and appeal nicely. Note the inventive and effective use of a looper.

I’m thinking about starting a write-in campaign to see if we can get the BBC to consider hiring Andrew Bird as the first American Dr. Who.

A.C. Newman – Get Guilty

Why would the main man behind the New Pornographers need a solo project? A quick listen to his 2nd solo album Get Guilty suggests that it gives him an opportunity to let his hair down. Now, Carl Newman doesn’t have much hair, so the differences between his solo music and the New Porns’ are somewhat academic. Nonetheless, Get Guilty is a little shaggier and less devoted to a super-pop sheen, while still sporting more killer hooks than a full tackle box.

I’m also looking forward to the February release of the debut album from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

Everything I’ve heard from this band suggests that they are serious students of early ’90s shoegaze pop (Pale Saints? Yes, please!), and with any luck their album will spark a huge revival of that long-lost genre.

Okay, probably not, but at least it sounds like it could be a decent album anyway.