Before you read this post, you need to know two things. One, you can listen to all the songs ONE time for free on lala. And secondly, you can read a better review on Pitchfork.

Ok. So up until I heard the song, "What Would I Want? Sky" a couple of days ago, I must admit that Animal Collective weirded me out a little bit. Not that I still don't think their weird. Have you ever seen the "Peacebone" video? Well if you have, you know what I am referring to. I'm getting sidetracked. All this to say, after listening to "What Would I Want? Sky" I fell in love with Animal Collective. I proceeded to listen to Merriweather Post Pavillion and just recently purchased their "Fall Be Kind" EP, which, strangely enough, contains "What Would I Want? Sky". Getting tired of those stupid parentheses.

Anyway, in listening to this EP, I was constantly reminded of just how experimental and groundbreaking Animal Collective are. This EP is not quite as bizarre as some of their previous efforts, but I will not say it is a departure from their normal compositions, because I don't believe they have any.

The first two songs, Graze and What Would I Want Sky contain strikingly beautiful transitions. Halfway through, the tone of the song changes around completely. Graze starts out with a kind of sparkly melody. I can just see a fairy princess floating somewhere on a bright white star. But then it takes a shocking turn toward a carnivalesque world of piping recorders and twirling acrobats. Comfort, comfort/Why do you run for it?/Why can't you keep doing/What you're supposed to do? are the lines that jumpstart this transition. Great stuff. What Would I Want? Sky contains a Grateful Dead sample, although the sample is nothing more than a few lyrics and a single note copied from the original song, Unbroken Chains. The juxtaposition of Noah Lennox and Dave Portner's voices in this track is wonderful. Not that it isn't wonderful in the following songs, but it is particularly so in this song. The complexity of the meter within this song is incredible.

Bleed is a perfect transitory track. Odd because it is the third track of a five track EP. Go figure. It's like an intermission where the curtains drop and the actors prepare for their next set. A little more mellow and psychedelic than the previous tracks, one can definitely see Pink Floyd and particularly Syd Barrett influences. Not a whole lot happens in this track, Noah and Dave drift in and out of the song with no apparent hurry.

On A Highway and I Think I Can make me feel like a crew member on a landing rocket ship. On A Highway starts out with soothing oceanic sounds, fading into an echoing guitar chord and decidedly darker lyrics. On a highway/hypnotized by sun strokes/passing by some dead bones /flowers for the dead grow. Tambourine, simple guitar and drum beats dominate this song, which could be correctly mistaken for some kind of lament. The background vocals are dirge-like although not quite so grating on one's ears. I Think I Can has a sort of African pop feel to it, clapping hands, chanting voices, etc. This flows into and combines with varying piano notes and synth pulses, which last for five of the seven minutes. The last two minutes have an echoing synth and Vampire Weekend-esque vocals, with Noah singing "I think I can I think I can I think I...(try to stay in tune with what's happening).

All in all, this is a wonderful EP and gives me hope for the next Animal Collective album. It is easily worth the $4.49 Amazon will charge you.