“Lucky 1” by Avey Tare

This song came from one of my favorite albums of the year, Down There by Amimal Collective member Avey Tare. Over the past five years I’ve become a diehard Animal Collective fan. I feel like I now know what devotees of Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa have been experiencing these past decades when they gush about their favorite artists only to me met with stares or grimaces.

The band members have moved their sound in an ever-slightly more pop-oriented direction, which is one reason Merriweather Post Pavilion was such a hit in 2009 (the other reasons being that it’s just a brilliant record). This group of musicians is endlessly talented and innovative, together or solo, as Avey Tare proves on “Lucky 1” where he conjures a psychedelic funkiness without using any percussion.