#8: Feels

Animal Collective: Feels
An acquaintance of mine is aware of the existence of Animal Collective, their unique sound, and their current revered status as folkie cult favorites of those "in the know." To which he posed this question: "At what time, when I want to listen to music, would I want to listen to Animal Collective?"

On the one hand it's a fair question. As much as I liked Sung Tongs, last year's critically acclaimed album by the foursome, it's not driving music, it's not party music, it's not around-the-house music. It requires a bit of focus on the part of the listener. Not a lot, but enough to hear the depth of what they are doing, which is making the most original pop-folk music to emerge in a long, long, time (ever?).

So, to answer his question, you initially just have to make a little time for Animal Collective. Then you digest them fully. Feels is the easiest animal to consume yet, with the first two tracks "Did You See The Words" and "Grass" extremely sweet. The whole album sits in your stomach like Sushi Ota, San Diego, CA. Highly recommended.