Animal Collective to Tour U.S. in April

After gnashing teeth, rending garments, and trashing a series of opulent hotel rooms, we hear that the distinguished gentlemen of Animal Collective have finally quelled their rage at their masterpiece Sung Tongs coming in a close second to the Arcade Fire's Funeral on Pitchfork's Best Records of 2004 list. (After all, sending 15 unordered anchovy pizzas to a rival band's dressing room is awfully juvenile behavior, even for a guy named Panda Bear.) How, then, will the Collective spend its free time in the new year? Well, the better part of the Pitchfork staff will be happy to hear that the band will spend the winter recording the follow-up to Sung Tongs, about which we will be pleased to bring you info as we get it.

Second up? Touring, suckas. Yes, the Fab Four-- aka Mr. Bear, Avey Tare, Geologist, and Deaken-- are planning to invade a town near you as winter turns to spring, or, as the New Yorkers say, as winter stubbornly remains winter. Here's where:

04-15 Purchase, NY - Purchase College $
04-17 Cambridge, MA - Middle East *
04-18 New Haven, CT - BAR Night Club *
04-19 Bennington, VT - Downstairs Café *
04-21 Middletown, CT - Eclectic House *
04-22 Middlebury, VT - Coltrane
04-23 Haverford, PA - Haverford College *
04-24 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar *
04-26 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig *#
04-27 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle *
04-28 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Club *
04-30 Lexington, KY - Singletary Center for the Arts *

* with Ariel Pink
# With Wolf Eyes
$ With RjD2, Superwolf, Joanna Newsom, Lightning Bolt, Danielson Familie, and Magnolia Electric Company

Meanwhile, a solo release and Sung Tongs weren't quite enough to satisfy Panda Bear-- he's recorded another album with Scott Mou under the band name Jane, which is due out in May on Paw Tracks. In the meantime, presumably to fill up those empty months before the Animal Collective enters the studio, Panda Bear will be touring Europe in support of Young Prayer, in places very much like this:

01-12 London, England - Resonance FM
01-14 Nottingham, England - The Maze
01-15 London, England - Spitz
01-17 Exeter, England - The Angel
01-18 Brighton, England - Freebutt
01-19 Cambridge, England - Portland Arms
01-20 Bristol, England - Cube
01-21 Oxford, England - Wheatsheaf
01-25 Cologne, Germany - Subway Club
01-26 Geneva, Switzerland - L'usine
01-27 Bologna, Italy - XM24
01-28 Gent, Belgium - Frontline
01-30 Bordeaux, France - La Centrale
02-01 Vigo, Spain - Club Vademecum
02-02 Porto, Portugal - Teatro Paços de Manuel
02-03 Lisbon, Portugal - Galeria Zé dos Bois

.: Pitchfork Feature: Top 50 Albums of 2004