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June 22, 2005
A Porcelain Layer Cake
Animal Collective - We Bid You Goodnight (Live)
Covered by the Grateful Dead and by the Incredible String Band, 'We Bid You Goodnight' is a Bahamian funeral song (for the lowering of the casket) made popular by Joseph Spence and the Pindar Family's recording (the song actually goes back further though, first recorded in 1935)- and given the bands that covered the song before them, it's no wonder Animal Collective gave it a whirl.
There's always been something about the way that Avey Tare sings his lyrics that I just couldn't quite put my finger on- but I think it has something to do with the way he bends his words; Stephen Malkmus has a similar way of singing, but he snaps his words sharply, they're all in hard 90 degree angles. Avey Tare sort of gently curves his lyrics (I always think of steam-driven wood-bending as a good image for this), and as a result, they feel more lived-in and comfortable. Anyway- Avey changes some of the lines in the song (and why not?), and of the best is when he follows up "won't you lay your head now upon your savior's breast?" with this: "I love you/but the AC loves you best". For some reason it's incredibly endearing when people namecheck their own bands in a song (Thom Yorke did something similar in an old, old version of 'Lift').
'We Bid You Goodnight' is taken from a live video from an April 2004 show at the Old Market in Brighton (UK), which Fat Cat has up on their website for your viewing pleasure, along with another video taken from an earlier performance (which is just Panda Bear and Avey Tare doing stuff from Sung Tongs- unsurprisingly amazing) on their media page. The Old Market video not only features Deakin and Avey Tare in some sweet face-paint and Panda Bear in an intense pink-white wig, but you can also see the band transition from 'We Bid You Goodnight' into one of their best new songs, 'Big Big Beat' (this is the one that has the Stevie Wonder 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' interpolation).
Animal Collective have just updated their website, Paw Tracks, to include some very nice artwork from Avey Tare's sister, Abby Portner, and increased navigational coherency, thanks to Rob Catsupplate and his graphics skills. You can buy Animal Collective releases here, and don't forget about the monster 25% Insound-newbie sale.
Posted by Kevin at June 22, 2005 09:49 AM
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