Animal Hospital - Memory

Animal Hopsital - Memory

I'd toyed with the idea of investing time into Animal Hospital, i was aware as some may well not be that the aforementioned band are not as twee as they sound and in fact one of a million recommendations last.fm had thrown my way care of my obsession with the Fun Years and other "drone"/"soundscape" types. Some intrigue, some disappoint, as always there will be a hundred poor/ average artists to every great one whatever the genre. Animal Hospital on first impression fall very much into the latter class, mesmerizingly brilliant and refreshingly innovative. Not afraid to drag songs past the fifteen minute mark, but not needlessly as bands of the instrumental variety have a habit of doing. Each note is gently pulled into the realms of sound with care and finesse, sieved to ensure that only quality comes through and the odd bit of experimentation, chilli and chocolate, peanut butter and jam, things that shouldn't work but do and in a more than pleasant manner. Note 5 mins 39 seconds into the glorious His Belly Burst, the guitars out of place, out of tune and yet fitting in like they'd been born to be there. 2 minutes into 2nd anniversary the guitars enter again, two notches too high on the amp, yet the contrast works perfectly.

The closing track Memory swells and ebbs and flows in a way not achieved quite so elegantly since Johann Johannssonns IDM Manual album, a quite beautiful discovery.

Website
Myspace

*I haven't listened to these 3 mp3's yet, they're off his 2004 debut album, Memory is worth checking out even if these don't seem that great

Animal Hospital - 1st Anniversary
Animal Hospital - Paralava
Animal Hospital - Below The Ocean