Animal Collective Play Rare Pavement Bootlegs in NTS Radio Mix: Listen

For the past few years, Animal Collective’s Geologist (aka Brian Weitz) has hosted a monthly show on NTS Radio called The O’Brien System. The freeform radio show features an eclectic assortment of experimental music about which Weitz is excited, and, for the latest episode, he teamed up with his bandmate Avey Tare (aka Dave Portner) to revisit their love for one particular band: Pavement.

Weitz, Portner, and their bandmates notably formed Animal Collective as high school students in Baltimore, and, during the same period, they apparently bonded over a shared interest in cassette bootlegs of Pavement live shows. As Animal Collective shared on Instagram, “What do 15-year-old Dead fans do after hearing ‘Fight This Generation’ live in 1994? They start collecting Pavement tapes!” They continued:

It’s been really cool having Pavement on the road again and catching shows with the friends & loved ones we saw them with the first time around. They were such a big part of our youth and factor heavily in AC’s existence. And they’re sounding great! While we’re riding the current wave along with many of you, Dave suggested a Pavement mix for NTS and we thought it’d be fun to dig up our old live tapes for some cool moments. Soon I was emailing my station manager asking for an extra hr for a show of nothing BUT live material! I’m sure most or all of this is already out there—while double checking dates I stumbled across a youtube channel with lots of shows all cleaned up and sounding good (Acid Casualties). Ultimately stuck with our own stash though. Years spent in our cars must’ve added some vibes. Anyway, hope you dig. Swipe for tracklist. A lot of fun stuff in here. Early “Range Life” (maybe first?), “Secret Knowledge,” juiced up “Newark Wilder,” first “Kennel District” ever, a face melting “Gold Soundz,” a Pavement/Stereolab jam, and the “Fight This Generation” that blew our minds at the 1994 HFStival. Still does. Thanks to NTS for the prime time slot, thanks to Pavement for the track id on ex jam, thanks to Drop Of Sun for the last min mastering, and thanks to all the tapers and traders from the AOL dial-up days.