May 09, 2016
Fans of Animal Collective have been having an excellent year. The band released their tenth album, Painting With in February and have been touring behind it extensively. Fourth member Deakin released his long awaited album (or EP, we just don't know!), and the boys announced their own curated music festival in Big Sur, California, which they will be headlining in September.
Now the band has released (via their Bandcamp) two full length live albums. Earlier today, they took to Facebook to announce that they will be releasing two live albums, with all proceeds going to an organization fighting North Carolina's anti-LGBT laws:
Last night, Animal Collective performed at The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC. For those who were at the show, you may have seen a table set up for Progress North Carolina Action, who we were introduced to by North Carolina Needs You (http://ncneedsyou.com). They (http://progressnc.org) are an organization "dedicated to being a voice for forward-thinking North Carolinians who want to protect the balanced approach to government”. Recently, North Carolina passed a law, known as HB2, that dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use and attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. We felt that canceling our show, like many others have done in protest of this law, would be a disappointment to our fans and decided to go on with the performance. That being said, we don't condone or agree with any type of bigotry or discrimination.
This year, we’ve been recording and mixing some of our live shows. In an effort to raise awareness and help those fighting for equality, we are making two of our favorite recent shows available for download in a “pay what you want” model. To listen to/download shows from March 9, 2016 at Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, CA or April 13, 2016 at O2 Ritz Manchester in Manchester, UK please visit https://anmlcollectve.bandcamp.com/ and donate what you’d like to contribute to Progress NC. All proceeds from these downloads will go to that organization. Thanks!
Animal Collective joins the ranks of many artists making protest of North Carolina's recently passed "bathroom laws." Luckily, especially for fans in Asheville, the band chose not to cancel their performance. Regardless of where you stand politically, its pretty cool to have high-quality, from the board recordings of this excellent live band's recent shows available for almost free.
Not convinced to pick up these live albums? Read our review of their stellar live show here.
Image: Animal Collective / Facebook