Pitchfork

Sigh. Here's the latest entry in an ever-growing series I like to call "wow, people on teh internetz iz dumb":

Yesterday, the Quietus ran a story with the headline "Animal Collective Call for Album Leak". They reported to have received an email from Brian "Geologist" Weitz, calling for assistance in leaking the forthcoming Animal Collective album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, in full:

"it has come to my attention that 2 full length tracks off of our upcoming album, merriweather post pavilion have surfaced online. david, noah, and I please ask that someone assist us and leak all of the remaining tracks on the album.

the album is intended to be heard as a whole, and nothing bothers us more than individual tracks leaking and ruining the the overall album experience

          -brian Geologist"

Within the story, the Quietus expressed some reservations as to whether or not the email was actually legit. Of course it wasn't. Even if Animal Collective were oh-so-desperate to leak their album, would they really need help doing it? Please.

Animal Collective's label, Domino, confirmed to us that the email was a hoax. The Quietus ran a retraction story, "Animal Collective Don't Want Album Leaked Shocker". Apparently, someone hacked into the band's email account. (This has yet to be confirmed by the band or Domino.) UPDATE: Confirmed.

Last night, Bradford Cox of Deerhunter/Atlas Sound weighed in on the situation on his blog:

Total Bullshit. Someone actually had the nerve to hack into their e-mail account and send this out. The truth is that AC do not want their album to leak and are trying very hard to avoid the drama around said album that has risen to a fever pitch.

I am not trying to involve myself in AC's business, I am just voicing my own independent opinion.

Back in the 90's when I was first starting to make 4-track tapes I had a game where I would make a fake version of an album I was anticipating. If Pavement's Brighten the Corners were coming out soon, I had to wait till release day to hear it. I would record a set of songs that I would want the Pavement album to sound like. Some of those songs ended up becoming Atlas Sound and Deerhunter songs years later.

My advice to those who are so desperate for AC's album to leak is to pick up instruments and make your own version of what you would want it to sound like. Respect the BANDS wishes and wait till release day. Then you can compare your new songs with theirs. Who knows. Maybe your album will be the one people are wanting to leak next year.

Way to make lemonade out of lemons, Bradford!

Perhaps the silliest part of this whole thing is the fact that Merriweather Post Pavilion is coming out in TWO-AND-A-HALF WEEKS! (As previously reported, Domino will release the album on vinyl with a digital download coupon on January 6 in North America, with the UK release date set for January 12. The North American CD release is due January 20.) You seriously couldn't wait that long, dude?

Animal Collective:

01-12 London, England - Koko
01-13 Glasgow, Scotland - Glasgow School of Arts
01-14 Manchester, England - Club Academy
01-15 Brighton, England - Concorde 2
01-16 Paris, France - Bataclan
01-17 Leuven, Belgium - Stuk Kunstencentrum
01-18 Berlin, Germany - Postbanhof
01-20 New York, NY - Grand Ballroom
01-21 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom !
01-22 Chicago, IL - Metro
01-23 Los Angeles, CA - Fonda $
01-24 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
09-12 Monticello, NY - ATP New York

! with Drawlings
$ with Ariel Pink, Lucky Dragons