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Dispatches from the Highlands
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best of Animal leaders Avey Tare and Panda Bear, while embracing the occasional Brian Wilson inuence, along with moments of early 70s Grateful Dead, Syd Barrett-era Floyd, and even a certain aquatic animal, all of which results in the most cohesive e ort from the band in a dozen years. Spoon Lucifer on the Sofa
Album Notes from Erickson “The Soundtrack to your Chill”
Animal Collective Time Ski s I will always re- member a one John Cooper for (at least) three things:
Since I last wrote about Spoon back in 2017, the esteem in which I hold the Austin,
1) e way that Brit could strike a foot- ball. Seriously, that mofo could kick. 2) e "Tamla Motown" shirt he gave me (which I think came from his brother) that I still own and wear to this day 3) "My Girls" During my former life as a TEFL teacher, one evening in 2009 I found myself sitting in a high rise apartment in Xi'an, China, and while the legendary Rob "Potato" Ansell lurked about, Mr. Cooper and I were sharing musical preferences with each other. During the exchange, Animal Collective's recently re- leased Merriweather Post Pavilion was given the spotlight. "My Girls" caught my attention, but the rest of the album was captivating enough to maintain my intrigue. I've been waiting for an e ort from the band to match it since. Whether under the collective (no pun intended) name or via solo o shoots, the members of Animal Collective have contin- ued to pump out music since that LP. Most of it has done little for me. e announcement of each subsequent release has been the pair- ing of piqued interest followed by disappoint- ment. Rinse and repeat. Until Time Ski s . I am more surprised than anyone to be writing about the eleventh, (or seventh, kind of) release from the Baltimoreans, given that the output following Merriweather has largely le little worth re-listening to. Unfortunate, yes, but it also makes Time Ski s that much more of a treat. is latest will most certainly not be for everyone, but it incorporates the
TX group has only increased. While their output over the last ve years has consisted of compilation albums, it was a night in 2018 at the Täubchenthal in Leipzig, Germany, that made me appreciate a beloved band anew. Despite arriving late and with copious amounts of vodka coursing through me, and, yes, the latter just might have contributed to the former, I could not get over how pristine the band sounded. Whether it was the quality of their equipment, an incredible soundman, the acoustics of the room, or all of the above, the clarity of the performance that evening still rings through to me. Other than a solo- acoustic-in-a-tiny-club kind of show, I'm not sure I've ever heard an artist sound so clean and precise live. I mention all of this because as I gave their new Lucifer On the Sofa a spin for the rst time, I was instantly transported back to that night in Saxony. e band's tenth album is straight up Spoon, and their most straight forward approach to a record in well over a decade. e energy crackles throughout, that crisp sound spar- kling under immaculate production. Some of the songs might take a few listens to fully sink in; the last few tracks do lose a little steam, but the dynamism of the endeavor is palpable. It's a band locked in, uninching in their ap- proach, doing what they do best. Lucifer On the Sofa is Spoon in all its upright glory.
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