Animal Collective, "Fall Be Kind" EP review

Apparently Animal Collective wasn't quite finished with 2009. After releasing one of my favorite albums of the year in Merriweather Post Pavilion in January, they recently put out a five-song EP -- Fall Be Kind. It is available now digitally, and will be released on CD and vinyl December 14.

As a whole, the EP is fairly average, with a couple impressive standouts. The first song, "Graze," starts off kind of slow, but then ends up with a circus-type feel. I like this song -- its repeating "Why do you have to go?" ending is catchy.

AC strikes gold with the second song on the EP. "What Would I Want? Sky" also has kind of a multiple-personality song structure. It begins ominously, with chanting and a building undertone. Nothing new from the band here. But then the song changes directions completely, playing off a Grateful Dead sample (the first time a Grateful Dead song has been legally sampled). "What Would I Want? Sky" is infectious. I've probably listened to it 30 times in the past week since I downloaded it. Might be my favorite song of the year.

The rest of the EP is OK. Some slower, meandering stuff, but nothing that is unlistenable -- which you can get from AC sometimes. So I'd say the EP is worth a listen -- if nothing else for "What Would I Want? Sky".

2009 Albums

Well it's New Years Eve today, that means we can look forward to upcoming albums in 2009. Are you guys looking out for any specific albums?

Some highlights for me are the following...

Animal Collective
Andrew Bird
Chris Cornell
Built To Spill
Doves
M. Ward
Wilco
Stone Temple Pilots
The Postal Service

I'm particularly excited for Built to Spill and Doves latest. I think they are both going to gain a much larger audience this year. I won't hold my breath on The Postal Service album, but it will interesting how they follow up with 2003's Give Up.