TODAY WE LOVE

Listen On Spotify

Today's playlist

Click that iPod play button


FUNKED UP

2117¬Montreal's foremost exponenents of Prince-inspired dirty funk are back with their new album. Critics so far are impressed, Rave Magazine seeing the album as an affirmation of the band's unique style.¬False¬

Middle of the Trail

2101¬Rootsy folkster Ray Lamontagne continues his career as a Radio 2 botherer with his new album. Critics see it as competent but hardly revolutionary, scores coming it at around 6 or 7.¬False¬

Towering achievement?

2098¬There's a very rare 10/10 from The Skinny for the rapper, pianist and producer's album, released to accompany a feature film also written and produced by the maverick Canadian. Such enthusiasm is not shared by the BBC or music OMH, who regard it as interesting but only partially successful.¬True¬
Campfire Songs

Animal Collective

Campfire Songs

Reissue of the band's 2003 album, recorded on a porch in one take - and available digitally for the first time

Critics average rating

6.4

Label
Paw Tracks
Release date
18/01/2010
  1. 8.0 |  music OMH

    A most beguiling, dream-like and ultimately just-out-of-reach release
    Read Review

  2. 7.2 |  Pitchfork

    Beyond its canonical interest, Campfire Songs has its own charms. Though rigorously composed, it feels deceptively spontaneous. The atmosphere is both inviting and severe, and startlingly vivid
    Read Review

  3. 7.0 |  Pop Matters

    An album that invites the listener to sit as close as possible and to join the circle. The album gets more uniquely intimate with each listen
    Read Review

  4. 6.0 |  Q

    Print edition only

  5. 6.0 |  Uncut

    Print edition only

  6. 6.0 |  Mojo

    Print edition only

  7. 6.0 |  The Independent

    ...there's a gentle, pastoral feel to the performances, and a whimsical slant to the songs, which recalls both the hippy-era Beach Boys and the Incredible String Band
    Read Review

  8. 6.0 |  Drowned In Sound

    To the casual listener, Campfire Songs may be hindered by its unwillingness to reveal any particular form or structure. It is perhaps though this apparent sense of chaos that offers the album’s greatest strength
    Read Review

  9. 6.0 |  Rolling Stone

    The five tracks on this 42-minute LP were conceived not as bonfire singalongs but as music that might mystically emanate from the crackling blaze itself
    Read Review

  10. 6.0 |  The Quietus

    ...you’ve always had to take the highs with the lows with this lot... Campfire Songs is a nevertheless a nifty piece of work
    Read Review

Roll over video for more options

Track preview & download

Animal Collective: Campfire Songs

  • Download full album for just £7.99
  • 1. Queen in My Pictures £0.79
  • 2. Doggy £0.79
  • 3. Two Corvettes £0.79
  • 4. Moo Rah Rah Rain N/A
  • 5. De Soto De Son N/A
  • Service provided by 7Digital

Prolific

2120¬These Virginian sludge-rockers find themselves releasing their fifth album in two years, a huge feat by anyone's standards. Critics are unsure whether any degree of quality can be sustained at that rate however, with Tiny Mix Tapes stating that in fleshing out their sound, they have drawn "too much attention to musical aspects [they] never had going for them".¬True¬

Duppy Love

2109¬Critics are falling over themselves to heap praise on this album of dub remixes of classic Roots Manuva tracks. It has managed a very decent showing on our chart, especially given that it is essentially a remix album. It has impressed so much that Culture Deluxe has proclaimed it as "possibly the most perfect reggae album released in the last 30 years". ¬True¬

Back On Top?

2114¬The Manic Street Preachers have had something of a critical rebirth with their last two albums, and that trend looks set to continue with their latest offering. The Line of Best Fit call it a "wonderful album", while The Fly reckon they "are in the form of their life". With only a few reviews in so far, it seems we could have a contender for the higher echelons of our chart.¬True¬

Pain and pleasure

2105¬Can the third of the three Mancunian electro-ish bands which featured in the BBC's Sound of 2010 list emulate the success of their counterparts, Delphic and Everything Everything? The jury's still out so far. NME is a big fan of the duo's 80s-inspired synthpop anthems, but The Guardian is far from convinced, and others find the album stylish but unremarkable. ¬True¬

Compilations & Reissues

They're not in the main chart as they skew things

  1. 8.5

    The Teardrop Explode Kilimanjaro: Deluxe Edition

  2. 8.5

    R.E.M. Fables Of The Reconstruction

  3. See full list