’09 will be a great year of music if Animal Collective has anything to say about it! There is something that absolutely fascinates me about the evolution of a band/artist. To watch them transform and still remain true to themselves. Animal Collective has made this look/sound nearly effortless, intriguing, and beautiful. Keep rollin’ fellas!

Rating: 9.6
Since their inception, Animal Collective have wandered the territorial edges of music, scoping out where boundaries had been erected and looking beyond them. They’ve punctuated perfectly likeable indie rock songs with bleating vocalizations. They’ve seeded pretty instrumentals with irritating noise. They’ve juxtaposed West African rhythms and melodies cribbed from British folk. They’ve stayed on a single chord for 10 minutes. But Merriweather feels like a joyous meeting in a well-earned, middle place– the result of all their explorations pieced together to create something accessible and complete.

Although it will be tagged as Animal Collective’s “pop” album, Merriweather Post Pavilion remains drenched in their idiosyncratic sound, a record that no one else could have made. The album is named for a Maryland venue that last year played host to Santana, Sheryl Crow, and John Mayer, but its songs won’t be heard on the radio, and besides, Animal Collective’s M.O. requires them to exist outside of rigid formats. Nonetheless, they’ve found a natural way to integrate the sing-along melodies, sticky hooks, and driving percussion that have long been hallmarks of celebratory popular music.

Quoted from Pitchfork