Black Dice @ Prospect Park (7.12.2011)

Black Dice opened for Animal Collective at Prospect Park with their new set of jams. They played practically the same set of songs that we previously recorded at Secret Project Robot. Since then, Black Dice expanded on the songs and filled them out, making them even more overpowering than they were. The wall of sound the band creates is, in my opinion, astounding. The songs fluctuate between being abrasive attacks on your ears and distorted chunks of pop music.

Animal Collective @ Prospect Park (7.12.2011)

We've been lucky enough to catch Animal Collective three times prior to this performance, our favorite of the three being at Prospect Park in August of 2009.  The atmosphere and incredible stage design by Abby Portner at the bandshell two summers ago certainly contributed to our love for the show, as well as our excitement when we heard that the band would be returning to the park this year.  Animal Collective, being our favorite band for many years now, has never disappointed us with any of their music (live or studio) and this time was no exception.

Panda Bear @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg (7.3.2010)

Panda Bear played this past Sunday at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The show felt like a bit of a victory lap (in a good way!) for Panda's recent release, Tomboy. He played, for the first time, the tracks in the same order as they appeared on the album. On top of that, he also collaborated with Sonic Boom/Pete Kember of Spaceman 3 (the producer of the album) for the show. Pete added samples and sounds to give the songs the complete feel they had on the album. Danny Perez was also on stage, adding his perfectly fitting projections to the music. He also had two projectors shining light out onto the crowd, completing the surreal environment. The effect was to make you feel lost in the music, especially during the more droney sections between songs

Update

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to write a quick post to update everyone on our plans for Two Sails.  We plan on redoing some of our older recordings including Black Dice and Born Ruffians to make them sound as good as possible.  When Evan and I started this blog last year we only used Garageband and possessed little knowledge of the technical side of making a live recording sound good.  A year later, we have become proficient with Logic and what a difference that makes in the final sound of our recordings!

We also have a recording of Deakin (of Animal Collective) at the New Museum from December 2010. We posted the Garageband Eq'd version of the recording on the old Collected Animals board but will work on compiling an official post for that recording (redone with Logic) in the near future.

James Blake @ The Bowery Ballroom (5.11.2011)

Britain's James Blake released his self-titled debut album this year and it was well received in the U.S. upon its emergence.  Resulting from this high acclaim, Blake extended his live shows and made his live American debut in March of 2011 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn.  Tickets sold out incredibly fast and unfortunately, Evan and I got shut out of the show.  Tickets for the event were selling for over $100 each on Ebay and StubHub which was completely out of our budget.  Luckily enough, he announced another set of U.S. dates for the spring/early summer, two of which were to occur in New York.  We attended his performance on May 11th at the Bowery Ballroom.

Gang Gang Dance @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg (5.4.2011)

Gang Gang Dance has always been a blast to see live.  We caught them at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in January of 2009 and then again opening for Grizzly Bear at Governor's Island in August 2010 (check out the recording!).  They released their new album Eye Contact this month which leaked a few weeks prior to its release date and was sold a week before its official release at this show.  The mood for the evening was set almost immediately upon arriving outside of the Music Hall of Williamsburg.  Paper lined the street with the phrase "It's Everything Time," a spoken line from the beginning of "Glass Jar," the opening track to Gang Gang Dance's new album Eye Contact.  The sheets of paper also formed a giant GGD on a wall across from the venue.  By the time we arrived at the venue, one of the papers in the second "G" was missing so I'm using a photo taken by Collected Animals member Carradio.

The Books @ Zankel Hall - Carnegie Hall - NYC (11.13.2010)

The Books released their latest album The Way Out in the summer of 2010, their first release since 2005's Lost and Safe.  I always found The Books to be a rather enticing band; their synthesis of traditional instruments with audio samples makes for a unique and atmospheric musical experience within every track. Cellist Paul de Jong and singer/guitarist Nick Zammuto, along with Gene Back, a multi-instrumentalist added for their live performances, collectively created an environment that was pleasing to the eyes and ears.