Animal Collective are now something of a talismanic force among both their peers and the bands their working methods have influenced. Listening to Merriweather Post Pavilion you'll hear echoes of everything they've recorded to date, especially the mesmeric and melodic repetition of Panda Bear's last solo opus Person Pitch. The whoops and hollers that have previously held together the sublime, chaotic urgency of their earlier work, now signal the calm sense of euphoria and wonder that ripples through this wide eyed record. As if, by stopping for a moment, the band have caught up with themselves, looked around, smiled, and cut seriously loose. less