After briefly skimming through the tracks of Animal Collective's new release Hollinndagain, I wondered how I would ever be able to listen to the entire album without losing my mind from sheer boredom. A cursory browse revealed one long, tedious, semi-musical rant of an ADD-afflicted band that had somehow bribed a record company to release Hollinndagain. Once I finally sat down with an open mind and some patience, however, I discovered the experimental Hollinndagain to be much more than I had initially decided.

For me, experimental music is generally too esoteric and dull to be actually appreciated in any capacity outside of the essentially academic/intellectual. And yet, somehow, even with this experimental album's "slow" start and consistent abandon of sturdy melodies, a few alluring key elements make Hollinndagain a surprisingly captivating album.

The strongest and most provocative component of Hollinndagain is its use of new technology and electronica to re-examine basic and archaic styles of music, where rhythm and improvised tones compose each song's core. Animal Collective utilizes the advances of electronica music to produce contemporary and often strange sounds in an antiquated context that reproduces music reminiscent of ancient tribal music. As a result, this album is immediately appropriate for select audiences as well as anybody who enjoys music. Its experimental character naturally excludes many audiences, but at the same time, its fundamental and visceral musical core can also resonate with any music listener given some time and patience.

In my mind, Hollinndagain is by no means the album of the year, or month for that matter. It is, however, an interesting album that can be background/atmospheric music or active-listening music, as well as one that can even raise the interest of conventional Beatles fans.