Belated appreciation: Animal Collective

So now I'm all caught up in this whirlwind of Animal Collective, the indie band du jour who on Jan. 6 released Merriweather Post Pavilion, their ninth album. Ninth album, yeah. Where the hell have I been? I'm excited to stumble upon a band with such a prolific back catalog to explore. While I'm still absorbing and evaluating Merriweather, which is so far an elevating mix of experimental electronics that would appropriately designate band members Geologist, Avey Tare and Panda Bear as "weirdos," blended with pop harmonies that totally remind me of the Beach Boys, I'm positively, unequivocally stuck on "My Girls," the first single. It's straight up candy. Peep the video: Animal Collective will play the Fox Theater in Oakland on May 26 and the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur on May 27.

Belated appreciation: Atlas Sound

This year I received a birthday present, the best birthday present, about nine months late. Yeah, nine months. Kinda like a baby, and something I'm surely all goo goo ga ga about now. The gift: "Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel," the first album from Atlas Sound that came out February 19. Some background: Atlas Sound is the solo project of Bradford Cox, without a doubt, an extraordinary and compelling musician who leads the band Deerhunter. Dude's prolific, and reputedly updates the Deerhunter/Atlas Sound/Lotus Plaza blog with tons of goodies pretty frequently. The music: Atlas Sound is truly all over the map, with dreamy 1950s melodies adorned with layers upon layers of fuzzy shoegaze-style Martian sounds. Pretty otherworldly stuff for being bedroom music. A live version of "Recent Bedroom," 2/18/08 in Georgia: Photo courtesy of Atlas Sound MySpace.