words//brian weitz

When Shaun asked me to make a playlist, I thought a lot of what I’m listening to these days wouldn’t make a good mix when put together, so I wasn’t going to do it. But then when we were in Boston showing our movie, we went to Weirdo Records (sweet store) with some new friends and I asked one of them if she had ever heard Thinking Fellers. Only one song on a mix she said. I’ve always thought they’re one of the more underrated bands from the 90′s, and one of bigger influences on some of us in Animal Collective that no one really catches. I’ve been thinking about them recently because we often get asked at the ODDSAC screenings why the movie is so dark and unsettling. People who don’t ever get those feelings from our music seem a bit taken aback by it. It’s a long answer, but one part of my response is that, at the risk of becoming a Mighty Boosh joke, some of us think dark and unsettling things are kind of playful and fun. It isn’t necessarily reflective of violent urges or a negative outlook on the world or anything like that (though Danny might say different). That was one of the reasons I responded to Thinking Fellers in the 90′s – there was a dark side to their music but it was always presented with some humor and playfulness.

I met Shaun that same night in Boston and told him I’d get back to him about the mix after I thought about it some more. I decided if I made one it would include a Thinking Fellers song or two, but then I got psyched on the idea to make a mix of just them. The best part of being asked to do these kinds of things is being able to share new music with people the way the bands we looked up to did for us. Though it would be a little bit before I listened to them, the first time I heard of Can and Sun City Girls was in a Pavement interview. In fact I think I heard of Thinking Fellers that way too. We’ve tried to mention Thinking Fellers in interviews over the years and encourage people to check them out, and this is just another effort on that front. I listened to their jams for hours while putting this together and had a lot of fun. Hope it makes you psyched too.

take care,

Brian

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 For You

1. The Streets Vibrated With Traffic and Power Tools – from Lovelyville
2. A Gentleman’s Lament – from Mother Of All Saints
3. Narlus Spectre – from Wormed By Leonard
4. Hurricane – from Admonishing The Bishops EP
5. The Kids Are In The Mud – from The Kids Are In The Mud/Broken Bones 7″
6. Hundreds Of Years – from Strangers From The Universe
7. Big Hands – from Lovelyville
8. A Lamb’s Lullaby – from I Hope It Lands
9. Hive – from Mother Of All Saints
10. Heavy Head – from The Funeral Pudding EP
11. 2x4s – from Lovelyville
12. Guillotine – from Strangers From The Universe
13. Wine In The Litter (Mr. Hageman) – from Twin Smooth Snouts (Brian Hageman solo album)
14. Hummingbird In A Cube Of Ice – from Mother Of All Saints
15. February – from Strangers From The Universe
16. Triple X – from I Hope It Lands
17. Hell Rules – from Wormed By Leonard
18. Father – from Admonishing The Bishops EP
19. Cup Of Dreams – from Strangers From The Universe
20. Noble Experiment – from Strangers From The Universe

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Brian is a musician that goes by “Geologist” in the band Animal Collective. He is also a devout Flyers fan and all-around rad guy. If you’d like to see/hear more from AC, please check out their website and MySpace page.