For critics, January and December are relatively ignorable months. If anything high profile is released, it's almost inevitable that it will be some kind of disappointment (see: Worlds Apart and First Impressions of Earth). And for every good album released at the start of the year? If someone remembers it enough to put on their list come November/December, it's likely that it will be perceived as one of those underrated gems. The critic will say if more people had gone back ten months ago and heard it again, it'd stand up to the big hype of October.
Leave it to Animal Collective to already punch through those pre-conceived notions of how a January album should be heard. As of now, there isn't a metacritic.com score for their ninth album Merriweather Post Pavillion, but here's a few scores already published online.
- Pitchfork Media : 9.6 out of 10.0
- Spin Magazine : 4 out of 5
- Paste : 91 out of 100
- Eye Weekly : 5 out of 5
And it's not just the scores that are causing a buzz in the comment sections. Currently, Stereogum's most commented story asks the question, "Is Merriweather Post Pavillion the best album of 2009?"
Which brings me to the titular point of this entry. Settle down people. Yes, MPP is a damn good album from a damn good band. But I'd bet that as the year progresses, the enthusiasm on this album dies down. And that's a good thing. There's plenty of music set to come out this year. Who knows what hotshot debut album will be this year's Vampire/Foxes? It'd be a shame if another masterpiece was overshadowed this year because critics had already placed their chips on Animal Collective's.
I'm not saying MPP can't be the album of the year. But saying so when the year is barely a week old is a bit like saying "Palin 2012!" on November 14, 2008. For now, let's just enjoy the album (especially "My Girls") and worry about it's context in the year of music in say... November.
well said!
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