Tag Archive for "animal collective"

Sights & Sounds: Animal Collective / ‘Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished’ by Nick Iluzada

Sights & Sounds: Animal Collective / 'Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished' by Nick Iluzada

Nick Iluzada

I’m really excited to share this new Sights & Sounds series, and so happy to see people who are equally excited to create something rad. I’ve been a big Animal Collective fan for years now, and I felt like they had the right vibe to really inspire some great looking wallpapers. Our first wallpaper in the series is for Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished. Recorded back in ’99, the album is technically the work of Avey Tare and Panda Bear, the other guys hadn’t joined the group yet, and was heavily inspired by Avey Tare’s move from Baltimore to New York. It’s amazing how you can so easily hear the very foundations of their style in this album. The production, while not the greatest, is the one thing that makes it feel not quite right. Nonetheless, it’s actually a pretty amazing album, Panda Bear’s drumming in particular is something to hear at the very least.

To illustrate the album our fearless curator Andy chose Nick Iluzada, who has one of the coolest last names ever. Before this project I wasn’t familiar with Nick’s illustration work, which is a total shame. Nick has a wonderful sense for color and motion, check out his Footbawlerz series to see exactly what I mean. The variety and creativity in his sketchbooks is also something worth checking out as well.

Here’s what Nick had to say about his wallpaper:

“I created this image simply with the hope of capturing the feel of some specific tracks (most notably Chocolate Girl, Untitled, Someday I’ll Grow To Be As Tall As the Giant, and Alvin Row) with the album title as the jumping off point. While the record sways back and forth between gritty, high-pitched noise and serene textures, I felt that there was some sort of middle ground that could be worked with in terms of bringing the imagery away from it’s Baltimore (make everything neon rainbows) roots and a subdued yet coarse feel would do just the trick.”

A huge thanks to Nick for creating such a beautiful wallpaper and Andy Mangold for choosing such a talented guy. Check back next Wednesday at 10AM PST for the next wallpaper in our series, Animal Collective’s Danse Manatee.

Bobby

Text by

Bobby Solomon

July 20, 2011 - See more posts by Bobby

Sights & Sounds Presents Animal Collective

It’s been a few months since the last Sights & Sounds wallpapers, so I figured it was time for more music influenced wallpapers. This time around we’re going to visualize the music of Animal Collective, the Baltimore based weirdo-rock outfit who are always expanding their sound.

To curate this round of wallpapers, I’ve asked Baltimore designer Andy Mangold to gather the troops and create a well-rounded group of creative individuals. Andy is a phenomenal graphic designer who creates inventive logos, beautiful posters, creative branding and so much more. He’s also the founder of Friends of the Web, a team of designers building websites and mobile apps, as well as Love & Utility, which collects beautiful paraphernalia.

There are eight wallpapers total, and I promise that all of them are stunning. I was really excited by how well they all turned out. I think you’ll be excited too. The first wallpaper will be released at 10AM PST, so be sure to check it out and come back every Wednesday for more.

Bobby

Text by

Bobby Solomon

July 20, 2011 - See more posts by Bobby

Animal Collective Video for ‘My Girls’

Didn’t see this music video for Animal Collective’s My Girls until today, but it’s such a trip I had to post it. The video is like a weird Ren & Stimpy acid trip, with the guys (in green screen suits) playing in what looks like a marble soda filled with snot and bacteria. This slowly starts to change as they get pink mouths, the bacteria turns to Doritos and Cheezits, and eventually they turn into green, dripping swamp monsters.

Only Animal Collective, right?

Bobby

Text by

Bobby Solomon

February 27, 2009 - See more posts by Bobby

I Was Dreaming of Just You | A Kitsune Noir Mixtape

I Was Dreaming of Just You | A Kitsune Noir Mixtape
Click here to download

For months now I’ve been trying to come up with a really good summer mix, something that would hopefully be relevant as the summer goes on and would pick up on the vibe of summer that I so love. This mix started out as two different beings, one was a list on my iPod of songs that I thought could work, the other a list in my iTunes. Eventually they became merged into one in Garageband and then went through another 4 versions from there, until it finally felt right. I’ve been driving around listening to this mix, and I think that’s where it’s best suited for. In my mind this mix is meant to be thought of as a night out with your friends and loved ones. You start the night out strong and with no cares, but eventually the night winds down, it’s late, it’s chilly, and you’re left with memories of that night.

The songs on this mix come from all over the place really, though several of them are pretty damn new that you may have never heard them. There’s new Beck, Dr. Dog, some pretty recent Deerhunter, coupled with some old Modest Mouse, a Radiohead B-Side and much more. This mix has 14 songs and runs 46 and a half minutes long, making it one of the longest mixes I’ve ever made. For all of you in the U.S. I hope this provides for some good Independence Day tunes, and for everyone else, here’s to an awesome summer.

01 Eternity One Night Only by Cut Copy
02 Fireworks by Animal Collective
03 The Old Days by Dr. Dog
04 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da by The Beatles
05 Gamma Ray by Beck
06 Summer by Modest Mouse
07 Bowl of Oranges by Bright Eyes
08 Summertime by Goldenboy
09 All Our Weekends by French Kicks
10 Worrywort by Radiohead
11 Beach Party Tonight by Yo La Tengo
12 Dark Moves of Love by M83
13 Twilight at Carbon Lake by Deerhunter
14 Deep Water Portishead

Bobby

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Bobby Solomon

July 4, 2008 - See more posts by Bobby

Go Yabba Yabba!

Go Yabba Yabba! | A Kitsune Noir Mixtape
Click here to download

So as of lately, I’ve been having a secret love affair. Well, some people know about it. I just get embarrassed talking about it. That’s because I’ve become totally infatuated with a children’s television show.

It’s called Yo Gabba Gabba!, and it’s a show about 5 creatures living in a Thomas Campbell-esque forest, which are governed by a giant, lanky black man who wears thick glasses, and orange-red spandex called DJ Lance Rock. The whole thing sounds completely ridiculous, and it is, it’s a kid show, but it’s the people who created the show and what they’re doing with it is what excites me.

The show was created by Scott Schultz and Christian Jacobs, who set out to make something that kids and parents alike could enjoy. So for example, you have a guy on the show who teaches the kids how to make funny sounds, but teaching them about rhythm at the same time. But you, as the ultra-hip parent of that child, know that the guy making the funny sounds is actually beat-boxing, and that THAT guy is Biz Markie, probably one of the best beat-boxers in the world.
But it doesn’t end there. So far they’ve gotten Mark Mothersbaugh, The Shins, The Aquabats, Elijah Wood, and Tony Hawk all on the show to do something cool… I mean teach your kids something.

So I’ve become so inspired by the show, I’ve decided to create a mix of cool indie artists with some songs that could be considered educational, or are at least kid related.
And the image above is the cover for the mix, which was drawn by my best friend since the third grade, Garrett Vander Leun, and colored by myself. The guy on the cover is supposed to be Devendra Banhart in a crazy wizard outfit, because we all know that’s what he really is, haha!

01 Little Yellow Spider by Devendra Banhart
02 Fur Soft as Fur by Boy Least Likely To
03 Colours by Hot Chip
04 Who Could Win a Rabbit by Animal Collective
05 Chocolate Milk by MF Doom
06 Carousels by Beirut
07 Phantasies by Stephen Malkmus
08 Japan is an Island by The Spinto Band
09 Little Monsters by Charlotte Gainsbourg
10 One Two Three Four by Feist

Bobby

Text by

Bobby Solomon

September 7, 2007 - See more posts by Bobby