5. Animal Collective Centipede Hz
The Album At the time of writing, this is the latest offering from these Baltimore freaks. It's a complex and heady rush of electrified technicolour psychedelica that appears initially inpenetrable. But for me, it just gets better and better with every listen. Spend some time with Centipede Hz and you'll find it to be full of some of the most infectious, joyous and accessible songs ever written by Animal Collective.
The Cover Imagine if, in the late eighties, a bunch of techno artists had recorded a tribute to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Without question, this is exactly what the cover would have looked like. It's flamboyant and excessive, but for such a forward-thinking band, it looked disappointingly dated from day one. I've no problem with pastiche and maximalism. But even with the shiny sheen of the CD edition, this just looks dull, cheap and nasty.