As one mild day steals someone’s soul into 20 years…

Gonna use this platform to talk about one of my favorite albums lately. In 1999, two high school friends from Maryland named Noah and David took on the names of Avey Tare and Panda Bear, and recorded what would become one of the weirdest and most wonderful albums released in the 21st century. When the two later formed the band Animal Collective, this was retroactively declared the group’s first album.

A whisper to my scream, an autumn in my green…

Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished combines electronic psychedelia, dissonant noise, acoustic folk, surrealist lyrics, and utterly unique vocals into something magical. The album serves as kind of a meditation on the lostness of childhood. The cover art, taken from a book of Sara Teasdale’s poetry, serves as a great encapsulation of the spirit of the music—innocent yet eerie, faded by the ravages of time.

So put your lanterns on across the maze, so I won’t feast on folly…

This album flew largely under the radar when released. It received some great reviews, notably an 8.9 from Pitchfork, but it took several more albums for Avey, Panda, and friends to really gather an audience. Still, throughout their illustrious career, Animal Collective has never recorded another album quite like this. No one really has.

You’ll find reason to doubt always saves ’em, I am the reason that the child dies…

I love this album so much. I really hope some of you read this and take the hour to listen to it. It’s music taken to its highest creative and emotional potential, and I believe people will be discovering it forever.

Why that’s funny! My voice didn’t come back to me! I’ll try it again. Hello? Hello?! Oh my goodness! Now my singing voice is gone! My singing voice is gone! My singing voice is gone! My singing voice is gone! My singing voice is gone! My singing voice is gone! My singing voice is gone! My singing voice is…