By: Gareth Watkin
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Baltimore’s psychedelic experimental band Animal Collective offer their first release since their 2012 studio album Centipede Hz, with the release of a vinyl-only live album Live at 9:30. The live album comprises a selection of tracks from their live show, mostlyof tracks from the bands’ last album, though also including a few numbers from the popular 2009 album Merriweather Post Pavilion, and the 2005 album effort of Feels. Live at 9:30 is somewhat of a typical Animal Collective record, with it being a mostly chaotic and confusing bombardment of sounds and noises, all of which comes together in the oddest form of coherency.
Live at 9:30 may be another quintessential Animal Collective experience, though it is one that manages to capture the wonderfully bizarre yet engrossing world of their live shows. Thought the album mostly sees the band exploring tracks from Centipede Hz, somehow they manage to draw out even more absurd and crazy notions that weren’t present on the album version. Throughout all the chaos is Animal Collective showing off what makes their music so utterly engrossing and wonderful. It’s difficult not to get pulled into the charming ‘Did You See The Words’ or be amazed by how ‘Pulleys’ gets turned into a 15-minute freak-out.
Like most Animal Collective releases, there is a strong element of inaccessibility, making much of the album a rather difficult listen. Whilst Centipede Hz challenged fans who came through on the hype of the somewhat more accessible Merriweather Post Pavilion, we see Animal Collective further challenging those notions, through their morphing of Centipede Hz tracks into more difficult, more inaccessible and more bizarre musical odysseys. At times, Live at 9:30 gets almost overbearingly difficult to listen too, though it does showcase the bands’ phenomenal live style which is certainly pleasing to those who like a challenge from time to time.
Live at 9:30 might not be the most easiest and comfortable of listening experiences, though it is one that should certainly please fans of the band since their earliest years, and perhaps please those who are willing and accepting of the more unpredictable and more-or-less insane musical style of the band. There’s some phenomenal moments being presented by the band on this live album, giving the whole album experience a somewhat charming feel, as it is wonderful to see the band capturing their live essence in such a strong and wonderful light.
