Sung Tongsis the fifth studio album by Americanexperimental popbandAnimal Collective,released on May 3, 2004 byFatCat Records.The album, newly exploringfreak folk,[1]received high critical reception upon its release and was featured in best-of lists at the end of 2004 and the decade of the 2000s. Only two of the band's four members play on the album,Avey Tare(David Portner) andPanda Bear(Noah Lennox), a first sinceSpirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished(2000), which was originally credited to the duo and only later retroactively classified as part of the band's discography.
| Sung Tongs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio albumby | ||||
| Released | May 3, 2004 | |||
| Recorded | September 7–28, 2003 | |||
| Studio | Hades (Lamar, Colorado) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 52:50 | |||
| Label | FatCat | |||
| Producer | Animal Collective | |||
| Animal Collectivechronology | ||||
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| SinglesfromSung Tongs | ||||
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Background
editPortner and Lennox both moved into a house in rural Colorado for the recording sessions forSung Tongs,with Portner saying that much of it involved "Lots of singing and messing around with doing vocals in all parts of a room."[4]He disclosed on the Collected Animals messageboard in 2006 that:
we recorded it on the same tascam 48 (half inch 8 track) that I recordedSpiriton and the drums guitars and early electronics forDanse Manatee.That is we recorded the acoustic guitars and the vocals on 8 tracks. Then we mixed it down onRusty'slaptop and recorded many vocal and percussion over dubs. He's been using that for years. We mixed it from that onto....something..(i cant remember) at Noah's mom's place inBaltimore.It was very cold so we had to wear jackets the whole time. We added in all those samples and electronics there. We mixed for awhile so its sweet you like the mi xing. Oh and we used AKGs and an old ribbon mic to record with. Though we had a pzm and some sm57s that we might have used as well. I remember using the pzm to record me slamming the door of the house which is what that distorted rhythm track in kids on holiday is. The person talking at the beginning ofWho Could Win a Rabbitis someone in a deli in my neighborhood.[5]
The track "Visiting Friends" was influenced by Germanminimal technolabelKompakt’sPop Ambientcompilations andWolfgang Voigt'sambientprojectGas,with the intention of being "like a wall of hums [...], but with acoustic guitars."[6]
Reception and legacy
edit| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 83/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| Alternative Press | 4/5[9] |
| The Boston Phoenix | [10] |
| Mojo | [11] |
| Now | 4/5[12] |
| Pitchfork | 8.9/10[13] |
| PopMatters | 8/10[14] |
| Rolling Stone | [15] |
| Stylus Magazine | A−[16] |
| Uncut | [17] |
Sung Tongshas received positive reviews. On the review aggregate siteMetacritic,the album has a score of 83 out of 100, indicating "Universal acclaim".[7]
Sung Tongshas sold 27,000 copies in US according to Nielsen Soundscan.[18]
The album was performed live in its entirety by the duo forPitchfork's 21st birthday on December 2, 2017. It was followed by a tour in 2018.[19]
The album has appeared on the following best-of lists:
Track listing
editAll music is composed by Animal Collective
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Leaf House" | 2:42 |
| 2. | "Who Could Win a Rabbit" | 2:18 |
| 3. | "The Softest Voice" | 6:46 |
| 4. | "Winters Love" | 4:55 |
| 5. | "Kids on Holiday" | 5:47 |
| 6. | "Sweet Road" | 1:15 |
| 7. | "Visiting Friends" | 12:36 |
| 8. | "College" | 0:53 |
| 9. | "We Tigers" | 2:43 |
| 10. | "Mouth Wooed Her" | 4:24 |
| 11. | "Good Lovin Outside" | 4:26 |
| 12. | "Whaddit I Done" | 4:05 |
| Total length: | 52:50 | |
Personnel
edit- Avey Tare
- Panda Bear
- Rusty Santos–engineering
- Abby Portner–cover art
- Rob Carmichael – design and layout
References
edit- ^abBemis, Alec Hanley (2004-12-12)."Freak Folk's Very Own Pied Piper".The New York Times.
- ^Hegarty, Paul; Martin Halliwell (2021).Beyond and Before, Updated and Expanded Edition Progressive Rock Across Time and Genre.Bloomsbury. p. 315.
- ^Pitchfork Staff (October 2, 2009)."The 200 Best Albums of the 2000s".Pitchfork.RetrievedApril 29,2023.
... [its] touches might have extended hands (paws?) outward to the best avant-pop of the previous generation...
- ^Collected AnimalsArchived2011-07-20 at theWayback MachinePost by Dave Portner under his user name "wheeter", April 13, 2006
- ^"Collected Animals message board".Archived fromthe originalon 2007-10-29.
- ^MOTHER NATURE'S SONS: Animal Collective and Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffitiby Simon Reynolds, The Wire, 2005
- ^ab"Reviews for Sung Tongs by Animal Collective".Metacritic.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
- ^Bush, John."Sung Tongs – Animal Collective".AllMusic.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
- ^"Animal Collective: Sung Tongs".Alternative Press(193): 122. August 2004.
- ^Bell, Megan (February 4–10, 2005)."Animal Collective: Sung Tongs (Fat Cat)".The Boston Phoenix.Archived fromthe originalon November 29, 2016.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
- ^"Animal Collective: Sung Tongs".Mojo(126): 105. May 2004.
- ^Young, Dylan (May 20, 2004)."Animal Collective".Now.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
- ^Leone, Dominique(May 2, 2004)."Animal Collective: Sung Tongs".Pitchfork.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
- ^Henderson, Lee (May 5, 2004)."Animal Collective: Sung Tongs".PopMatters.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
- ^Sarig, Roni (August 19, 2004)."Sung Tongs".Rolling Stone.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
- ^Howard, Ed (June 1, 2004)."Animal Collective – Sung Tongs – Review".Stylus Magazine.Archived fromthe originalon March 30, 2014.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
- ^"Animal Collective – Sung Tongs".Uncut(85): 85. June 2004. Archived fromthe originalon September 10, 2005.RetrievedDecember 29,2015.
- ^"Billboard".2007-06-30.
- ^"Announcing Pitchfork's 21st Live Concert".Pitchfork.16 October 2017.
- ^Pitchforkstaff.The Top 100 Albums of 2000-04.Pitchfork.7 February 2005. Retrieved 22 June 2011
- ^Pitchforkstaff.Top 50 Albums of 2004.Pitchfork.31 December 2004. Retrieved 22 June 2011
- ^Pitchforkstaff.The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 50-21Pitchfork.1 October 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2011
- ^Tiny Mix Tapes Staff.Favorite 100 Albums of 2000-2009: 20-01.Tiny Mix Tapes.February 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2011