Up and Down

It's safe to count Animal Collective amongst those bands that have at least a disc release every year. Let's not mention their side-projects. Apparently these people are too creative for their own good. So I guess no one actually got surprised when Avey Tare announced he will release a solo album. Actually the thought that it was about bloody time might have crossed many people's minds. Some say his favourite animal, the crocodile, played a big role in Down There. Fair enough, if we think at the artwork, and also weird. Not that weirdness would be something unusual in Avey's world.

The first single Lucky 1 made even more people bite their nails and wait impatiently for this album. The obsessively repetitive sounds in the background and the dreamy vocals were not something one could forget that easily. It was wonderfully disturbing. So of course one would expect for the record to follow the same path. And in a way, it really does.

The release as a whole is dark, claustrophobic and absurdly insane. You can almost imagine Avey with a know-it-all smile on his face, whispering softly "Hi, I came to play with your heads, do you mind?". And indeed, Laughing Hieroglyphic, the first track, starts with some words that are impossible to understand and continues with an obsessive and simplistic beat, dubbed by Avey's mesmerizing voice. It's perhaps one of the best opening tracks we've listened to in a while. And the awesomeness continues with 3 Umbrellas, an enigmatic, chaotic and complex piece, vocally as well as instrumentally, the kind of song that requires numerous plays to be understoond properly.

Ghost of Books' electronic beat will hammer your head and haunt you for days and most likely you'll end stalking your friends, trying to explain to them how that beat reinvented the meaning of "awesome". Cemeteries can be called the more relaxed moment of the album. Its instrumental and vocals make you believe you don't actually listen to it, but rather you dream of it. Then Heather in the Hospital carries you so far away from your time and space, that at the end you are simply unable to explain why you liked this track so much.

It's true, at certain points (most notable in Oliver Twist), Avey's craziness becomes way too much for one to handle, and the sound switches from insane to insanely boring, making you repeatedly wonder what's next. But despite this, Down There's a really nice release, and if you want to feel the effects of some illegal drugs without actually try them, then I guess this is the best choice you could make.