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10:
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timeless/perfect
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9 to 9.9:
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significant past 10 years
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8 to 8.9:
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significant past 5 years
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7 to 7.9:
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memorable
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6 to 6.9:
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standard playlife
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5 to 5.9:
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good for now
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4 to 4.9:
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will get a few playthroughs
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3 to 3.9:
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won't intentionally listen to this
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2 to 2.9:
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strongly avoid it
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1 to 1.9:
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no reason to ever listen to this
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0.1 to 0.9:
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rage-inducing
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0:
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no merit whatsoever.
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 Animal Collective
"Prospect Hummer" (CDEP)
released in 2005
Label: Fat Cat
http://www.paw-tracks.com
Those young Animal Collective lads sure are cute and clever. Ain't they just, though? Yes, in friggin' fact, they are. Talented, too. So talented that, among so much more, they can seemingly stretch a single, brilliant-yet-concise idea into a strewn mass of its underlying pomp and principle. Who could reasonably resist the chance to send possibly the year's most gorgeously drifting pop song into a droning whirlwind of acoustic clatter? Not Animal Collective, and you know it.
So, this idea requires proper segue from the din one might as well presume is the rest of any standard life. Enter, into the Animal Collective's current vocal/acoustic fixation, forsaken folkie Vashti Bunyan, whose soft, secretively haunting voice is brought to a whole new sector of obscurity by this scheme. It is she who leads with with the suggestive tension of keeping just above a whisper, before the boys bring their understated barrage of calm noise like the slow break of cresting waves in perfect undulation. And lacking every need to complete cognition, the stage has been set for what could easily be the most adorable thing you will hear this year - what could be assumed the entire basis for Prospect Hummer.*
To eschew needless plot twists, all of this would be in reference to the title track: a tale of incomprehensible motive, revolving around the relationship between cat and caretaker, never ceasing to amaze in its innocent notions. Animal Collective pull out all applicable stops on this one: off-kilter harmonies accentuate the overall allure, quickly shifting into careful accord; polyrhythmic structure forms an indiscernibly intriguing base; a chorus of only "whoas" provides ethereal escape, and is strangely catchy to boot. It's absolute and fleeting chaos brought to an immediately compelling medium by every slight facet allowed to take temporary focus. It's instantly accessible verse made thoroughly impressive by effortless and unobtrusive complication. Without a doubt this will be among the more memorable tracks of 2005.
It is followed, however, by what could be interpreted as a castoff from Sung Tongs; a lesser developed "Visiting Friends" essentially used as droning filler between "Prospect Hummer" and the fitting closer to this four-track EP. The brief "I Remember Learning How to Dive" lets Vashti's recollective lyrics maintain the foreground with effectively minimal support. And though nothing on this EP nears the potency of the title track, everything appearing as auxiliary feels necessary, like a selective survey of everything that made this collaboration work without a hint of forced compromise. All in all (and at the serious risk of downplaying the contribution of Vashti Bunyan) this is yet another impressive accomplishment by the Animal Collective.
-30-
*Lord only knows what the fuck that second paragraph means.
Review written on 2005/08/24 by Brian Holm
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