2009's First Masterpiece: Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion

It took me a few years to finally get the Animal Collective. For years I read critics praise them for their loud random noise and sometimes complete lack of song structure. Considering that they combine abstract noise and Brian Wilson harmonies (and that they hail from Baltimore), they always seem like a band I should love, but it never happened until now.

Feels and Strawberry Jam were albums I liked but never loved - sometimes they let the experiments in droning noise completely overtake the song, which made both of these records choppy at best. Both of these albums were trumped by Panda Bear's 2007 solo masterpiece Person Pitch, a grower if I've ever heard one. If only he could bring the personal heartfelt beauty of that record back to his band and let the vocal emotion overtake the need for sound destruction, the Animal Collective could probably make an amazing record.

Well, that's actually what happened. Merriweather Post Pavilion, named after an outdoor amphitheater in Columbia, Maryland, is the sound of a band coming together and actually exceeding their high potential. The layered electronics from Strawberry Jam meet the cathedral-like vocals from Person Pitch to create and energy that doesn't let up for 55 minutes.

Let's start at the end - "Brother Sport", which closes the record, is a summation of everything that goes right the entire record. The harmony tells us to "open up your throat" (who knows if that refers to singing or a sex act) as swirling electronics and tribal drums come beating in. The energy builds through an instrumental middle until call-and-response vocals finish the song. It's not that they are doing anything new this time, it's that they learned to do everything in just the right amount. Whereas they would have crammed in more sounds or made it longer on previous records, the restraint used here makes this a pop song that you'll remember a week later.

"No More Runnin" is their best ever ballad - if the vocals were clearer, this could be a closer for Brian Wilson's Smile. A soft piano underpins a vocal harmony - never have they made a song this simple, conventional, and perfect.

"My Girls" will no doubt be another fan favorite - the fluttering keyboards build into two vocalists singing an offset round with offbeat tribal percussion. The chorus changes key to deliver another sweet harmony - along with the Fleet Foxes, these are some of the greatest vocalists in modern music.

There is so much to say here that I only got to cover three songs. Three weeks into January, I already know this is one of the best albums 2009 has to offer. Trust me, you need this album.