Animal Collective - Live At 9:30 (Album Review)

 

Animal Collective - Live At 9:30

(2015)


My copy: 2015 numbered box set by Domino.


Live At 9:30 chronicles a full Animal Collective set performed in 2013 in Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club. The best of the officially released live Anco material, Live At 9:30 is (mostly) a spectacular collection for diehard fans. 

The bad news for old fans is that Live At 9:30 is made up largely of tracks from the Centipede Hz era with a few older tunes sprinkled in. The good news is that the Centipede Hz tracks actually shine brighter in a live setting thanks to more breathable mixing and new elements. “Amanita” adds new vocal samples and ambient noises and is otherwise elevated from its studio version thanks to Avey Tare’s infectious live vocals and a mix that doesn’t strangle the instrumentals. Animal Collective are known for adding new sections to live takes of songs, and new psychedelic transitions are orchestrated here to keep the flow of the set moving with walls of synth churning into the beginning of “Did You See The Words” from Feels. 

Sweeter, more melodic instrumentation is added to “Did You See The Words” so as to offset the lack of heavy layering that can otherwise be heard in the studio version. “Honeycomb” is just as catchy and fun as the recorded take, here swelling to an intense emotional crescendo before sneakily fading into fan favorite “My Girls” which features an extended intro with beautiful vocal improvisations from Panda Bear. 

“Moonjock” is kept mostly the same and is neither here nor there. Glitchy samples and ominous howling comprise a new intro to “New Town Burnout” which is perhaps the best track from Centipede Hz: here it is lovingly reconstructed with Panda Bear’s no-nonsense vocal delivery that provides a wonderful contrast to Tare’s elated chirping. “I Think I Can” and “What Would I Want? Sky” both appear from the Fall Be Kind EP and are given extensions so that fans can fully bathe in the layered synth structures that make up each song.

The low point of the night is easily the woefully stretched chore that is “Pulleys” which was already one of the worst pieces from Centipede Hz. Usually new jam sessions are welcome in Anco live sets but “Pulleys” inelegantly devolves into trivial vocal bullshitting that does not suit the song and feels awkwardly grafted into the performance before the band painstakingly returns to the main melody once again. 

Fortunately, the third and final disc in this set is some of the best live recordings of Animal Collective to date. “Peacebone” is played straight but dialed up to 11 with the samples themselves feeling more aggressive alongside crashing cymbals. It’s impossible to resist the urge to dance during “Monkey Riches” which is vastly improved live.

The true masterpiece of Live At 9:30 is the rendition of “Brother Sport” which starts out as an improvised mix of neo-psych and afrobeat influences, with vocal riffing that is actually fun and exciting. By the time you reach the main verses of “Brother Sport” the band reinvents the Merriweather Post Pavilion closer into a much denser series of drowned shrieks and pops. Closing the set is “The Purple Bottle” which has a different intro live than on the recording. “The Purple Bottle” is turned hectic and more frantic with Avey unleashing murderous screams in the final refrains that could re-energize a corpse.

If you’re hankering to own one of the few live Animal Collective releases, Live At 9:30 is definitely the road to go. Anyone new to the band may be scared away by the jam sessions and lengthy runtime, but this is exclusively aimed at hardcore fans anyway. 

Limited to a run of 2000 numbered copies, this is a bit rare now at around 75 USD on discogs currently (but that’s sure as hell cheaper than the Crack Box which collects early live shows and rarities).      

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