Here Comes the Indian

Animal Collective | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 17, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Paw Tracks
• ASIN: B00009L52Q
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,462 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a staggering wild beast, October 11, 2006

By 

Stowaway (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Here Comes the Indian (Audio CD)

Dear Fan of Here Comes The Indian,

I am writing this because I have recently fully realised the beauty, majesty, and utter brilliance of Here Comes The Indian!!

I've been going through a bit of an Animal Collective phase over the last week or two and last night i was listening to Here Comes The Indian, and it all made sense! I have always put it on occasionally cause it's such a twisted sonic experience, but i never really felt like it had penetrated into something deeper...

Now, almost two years after obtaining it i have finally realised how completely peculiar, primal, and pure it is...

I remembered that you were a big fan, and for a long time wondered why you gave it so much more attention than sung tongs or any of their other stuff..

so now i understand... its just amazing that an album that sounds so deeply rooted in nature, fauna, and tribalism can also sound so unique and modern... it is a strange and vast beast that has hibernated for a long time in my mind, but has now awoken to bare its teeth and stamp its feet..

and i love it.

Stowaway

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dance, dance, October 22, 2006

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Here Comes the Indian (Audio CD)

About halfway through the first song of "Here Comes the Indian," it becomes pretty obvious just where the name comes from -- it takes on the form of a psychedelic tribal chant.

Animal Collective was only just using that name when they put out this eerie collection of experimental music, which sounds a lot like some sort of ancient ritual captured on tape. Sights, sounds and smells are all evoked by sound alone, and while it's not very accessible, it is entrancing if you're open-minded (or stoned).

It opens with "Native Belle," which begins with an almost inaudible tapping. A wavering violin joins in, along with the sound of voices murmuring so softly that they merge into a white-noise hum. Then the song begins. Stops. Begins again, as a clashing, swirling mass of eerie voices, wild rhythms and mad drumming.

After that, the band explores other kinds of experimental music -- rapid-fire drumming that ends with soft chants and handclapping, stately buzzing soundscapes bursting with odd noises, and the sound of howling, ghostly voices over a heavy wash of synth. The perfect Halloween song.

"Two Sails on a Sound" is deeply unnerving with its dark piano and nature noises, which make you feel like you're adrift on a dangerous river. It ends with a clashing tribal-rock number overlaid with distorted voices, and finally with the buzzing, shifting balladry of "Too Soon," which blossoms out into a bizarre hallucinatory sound.

Well, "Here Comes the Indian" is not a bounce-your-bottom-while-you-drive kind of album. The Animal Collective had already done other experimental albums (under different names) by the time they put this out -- except this one has a cohesive theme.

Sit back and visualize fires, dark forests, fast-flowing rivers, cave paintings, and that wintry dawn sky. Fuzz guitar and tribal drums form the basis of this music, along with thick, gauzy synth that seems to muffle the music. And they pepper it with all sorts of sounds -- quacks, dripping water, crickets, and eerie vocals that never quite form words.

With a primitive catchiness and wild energy, "Here Comes the Indian" is a pretty vibrant experimental album. Just don't expect to be able to dance to it.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic In Modern Experiment, June 25, 2005

By 

Slim Twig (Cananda) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Here Comes the Indian (Audio CD)

Just giving my stars. Just a message to all those who beleive there is are people who listen to music just "because no one else can," and that that would some how make them cool. The people who like this "unlistenable" music are not at all concerned with you. Go listen to your Billy Joel, we won't criticize you for it.