Animal Collective is one of the few bands that make me proud to say I’m a Marylander. They may live in New York City now, but we all know they’re originally from Baltimore. And the name of their latest album, ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’? That just so happens to be the venue where I saw my first gig.

And here is their latest video for the opening track from ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’, ‘In the Flowers’. Amusement park rides, crowded New Yawk streets, trippy kids’ drawings, and modern dancers all figure prominently in this promo that goes well with the swirly sounds of the song. Intrigued? Have a watch and see for yourself.

Green Man is an annual music festival which takes place in Glanusk Park, Wales. Spanning across three days (Friday August 21st – Sunday 23rd August), it’s perhaps one of the greatest independent festivals going, and this 2009 looks set to be the best Green Man yet. Taking in everything from indie, to folk, to psych, the top three headliners this year are Animal Collective (Friday), Jarvis Cocker (Saturday) and Wilco (Sunday).

Joining this awesome trio across the weekend include the likes of Bon Ivor, British Sea Power, Errors, Noah and the Whale, Emmy the Great and Stornoway. Plus, on top of all the music, this green-friendly (as you may have guessed) festival will be offering up an exciting selection of art, literature, comedy, film and theatre fun for all the family. To learn more, head over to the festival’s website now.

Things are a bit crazy here at TGTF at the moment – for some reason this week our hits have gone through the roof (so hello if you’re new around these parts!), and we’ve been a tiny bit swamped with emails, so apologies if we’re slow to get back to you / write shiny new posts!

Now, onto the good stuff.

You’ve probably heard that the Isle of Wight festival’s announced its Friday lineup of big bands, with The Prodigy headlining, Basement Jaxx, Pendulum and the Ting Tings all playing the first day of the festival.

Crazy Germans Whitest Boy Alive (pictured top) have a new album, “Rules”, out on 30th March and have given us a preview of it (below). Think a slower Hot Chip, or a more German Royksopp, with some funky late night beats, quite chilled out but at the same time quite groovy… have a listen:

MP3: Whitest Boy Alive – Island

Now for a quick step back in time – Paul Carrack (yeah, the name range a bell for me too…), one time member of Roxy Music, Squeeze, Mike and The Mechanics (ooh, so that’s where we know him from) has a new album out, one of the 60 (yes, sixty!) that he’s featured on. Taken from ‘I Know That Name’, enjoy a free album track as a download below, or go out and buy current single, ‘I Don’t Want Your Love (I Need Your Love)’.

MP3: Paul Carrack – It Ain’t Easy (To Love Someone)

Favours for Sailors (pictured top right) sound like a crazy mix of the View and the Beachboys – chaotic yet melodic. Woo. There’s a great intro piece over on Drowned in Sound here, and a free MP3 below:

MP3: Favours for Sailors – I Dreamt That I Dreamt that I loved you

I’ve been reading a lot about Animal Collective of late – their new album seems to have the pro bloggers all in a tiz, so I thought I’d see what all the fuss about. Below is a video of “My Girls”, which sounds pretty darned amazing I think.

Proud owners of possibly one of the most eagerly awaited new albums of early 2009, Animal Collective have announced details of a string of 7 dates around the UK in support of their new album.

Tickets are on sale now for all dates, priced around £13 to £16 each.

Catch them at:

Sunday 22nd March 2009 – Bristol Trinity Centre
Monday 23rd March 2009 – Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Tuesday 24th March 2009 – London The Forum
Wednesday 25th March 2009 – Leeds TJ’s Woodhouse Club
Thursday 26th March 2009 – Liverpool Static Gallery
Friday 27th March 2009 – Dublin Tripod
Saturday 28th March 2009 – Belfast Stiff Kitten

To find tickets, we suggest you try using Needtickets. Needtickets.com offers you the most comprehensive ticket service in the UK. With one click you can search every nationwide online ticket agent and as a result you can find tickets for any live music event that can be booked online. Every ticket is 100% guaranteed as Needtickets.com only offers links to official agents.