CENTIPEDE Hz is the tenth full length Animal Collective album following the widely celebrated Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009) and also the first since Strawberry Jam (2007) to feature all four original band members: Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist and Deakin.
As the album’s opening bars of drum crashes and radio interference on ‘Moonjock’ immediately make clear, having returned as a four piece, Animal Collective have made their most widescreen and fully realized music to date.
And the reviews worldwide have been glowing:
“In reconnecting with the guileless, tribal chaos of their roots, Animal Collective have made another delirious and ecstatic step forward” - MOJO 4 Stars
“The real champions of Centipede Hz are the melodies… the songs are extremely catchy” – Triple J Mag 9/10
“Vital, gritty, raw and live… Centipede Hz feels like another step forward” – NME 8/10
“Something this inventive should be heard by everyone’ – Rolling Stone 4 Stars
“The four song opening streak… might be the strongest of any album ever” - The Wire
“As edifying and catchy as anything Animal Collective have ever made”- Clash
“It’s intoxicating listening that demands repeated attention” - Q 4 Stars
“Confident and elaborate… possessed of a strange beauty” - Uncut
Here’s the hyperactive video for Centipede Hz‘s first single Today’s Supernatural:
Animal Collective are: Avey Tare (David Portner); Panda Bear (Noah Lennox); Geologist (Brian Weitz) and Deakin (Joshua Dibb).
Regrouping as a four piece with original member Deakin once more in the band, Animal Collective reconvened in their native Baltimore in January-March 2011 to write material for Centipede Hz with a further session later in the year. Rather than swapping ideas over the internet and file-sharing Animal Collective were, for the first time in many years, exchanging ideas in the same room by playing live instruments.
Part of the inspiration for Centipede Hz included the band’s memories of growing up listening to station announcements and commercials on the radio and imagining the after life of radio signals from the past, forgotten transmissions that are now lost in space and broadcasting music from other planets for other life forms.
This is reflected in the sound of Centipede Hz, which features the white noise of radio interference and buried frequencies overlaid with the band’s peerless melodic sensibilities and compositional methods.
The result is a panoramic set of songs that shimmer with the confidence and wonder of Animal Collective’s unique inner logic and the luminous warmth of their sound world.
To celebrate the release of ‘Centipede Hz’ we’ve got this super awesome prize pack to giveaway courtesy of Domino/EMI and our good selves:
- ‘Centipede HZ’ album on double vinyl
- A double pass to see Animal Collective live at the Big Day Out in your nearest capital city
- Back catalogue items including ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’ and ‘Strawberry Jam’ CD albums plus ‘Fireworks’ and ‘Brothersport/Bleeding (Live)’ single vinyl
- Signed and blockmounted limited edition Animal Collective Australian tour poster (2009) designed by Greedy Hen
