Sung Tongs

Animal Collective

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 1, 2004)
• Original Release Date: June 1, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fat Cat
• ASIN: B0001J3VII
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,883 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant BRILLIANT B R I L L I A N T !, October 30, 2005

By	Emlyn Addison (Providence, RI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Wow!

Well, no, this will NOT be everyone's cup of tea. However, if you like Aphex Twin's musical reductionism, Squarepusher's disjointedness, Radiohead's stream-of-conciousness poetry, and Matmos's then-remembered melodic fragmentation, you will ADORE this album. Sets up a sort of harmonic mantra.

It is often disjointed and makes me think of poorly remembered memories of songs I thought I knew. It's sometimes mayhem, yet quite tranquil at the same time.

A little bit like Mum... on cocaine... with a guitar.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mythical and Unconventional , August 14, 2004

By	Wm. Mars (Lancaster, PA United States) - See all my reviews

I have delighted in the Animal Collective's prior creations, but "Sung Tongs" is a inverted masterpiece of avant-pop spirituality and sensibility. The collective creates music that assists folks like myself in coping with the daily stress of being an inescapable hybrid of animal, spirit, and "machine". I've had this album for a few months now, and many of the more irregular tracks are among my favorites, but I must agree with and reiterate the majority of reviewers on this: Leaf House (track 1) is a exceptional song and a glowing example of this album's innate spirituality. One thing I do not accept is that many people describe the Collective's music as "drugged out" and "trippy." I saw the Animal Collective preform live in Philadelphia; they are so much more than your average acid-rock stoners and should not be described so carelessly. If you enjoy post-modern assimilations and music that tests your comprehension to the point of accepting the sheer joy of abstraction, give this album a spin.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Freak Folk Is Beautiful, March 23, 2006

By	David Potash (Warwick, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

How to describe this album? First, I think i should describe the term freak folk. Freak folk is a genre that is recently gaining more notice and acceptance. Freak folk takes the found sounds and experimentalism of noise rock, the delicious, quirky weirdness of psychadellia, and the hypnotic, soothing strumming of folk/folk-rock.

Hypnotic and soothing is also a great way to describe this album. the band uses a great variety of odd sounds here, in much the same way Pink Floyd did throughout their illustrious career. This band should call to mind some of the psychadellic pioneers of the 60s,and also some of the folkier things that came out of the late 60s. And mixed in with the Floydian psychadellia, the 60s folk flourishes, we have unabashed experimentalist side of it all.

When one takes all these things into account, one thinks, "Jesus that has to be a mess!" And in some cases it is decidedly so. But it's a glorious, carefully constructed, ingeniously put together mess; brilliance in short. And out of all the above tangents and sides to this music, none of them ever go over the top. They keep it all contained.

If you are a fan of noise, folk, psychadellia, or anything of the like, this will most definitely keep you entertained for a while. Just keep in mind the term freak does apply here. So be ready for more than a little weirdness, but enjoy all the same.