Photo courtesy of NYCTaper

Yes, Animal Collective is a casualty of music blog echo chamber – including us – and it’s getting really annoying, so I, Uncle Corey, hereby do swear to not write about Animal Collective again until they come to town in May. … After this cool little tidbit.

The band recently played a pair of shows in New York City to warm up for their upcoming tour, and an enterprising gentleman who runs a site called NYCTaper brought his recording gear and captured and posted a fantastic sounding recording of the first night. Can I add that I absolutely love bands, such as Animal Collective, that allow taping at their shows?

Pitchfork, Stereogum and a couple other music sites got wind of the recording, posted about it, and subsequently crashed the poor guy’s site. (Was it the traffic from Pitchfork, or the sheer weight of Pitchfork’s self-importance that caused the crash? You decide!) It’s still down, but I managed to grab the show while it was up and wanted to share it with our dear readers. It’s a very good recording and Animal Collective are fantastic live, as you’ll see for yourself. You can also and stream any individual song or the whole performance by clicking the play buttons next to each song.

(UPDATE: NYCTaper dropped by and reminded us that he recorded both New York City shows. You can download the Bowery Ballroom show – which he called one of his best captures ever – right here.)

Animal Collective — Live at the Grand Ballroom, NYC, Jan. 21, 2009

1. “In the Flowers”
2. “Leaf House”
3. “Blue Sky”
4. “Guys Eyes”
5. “Summertime Clothes”
6. “Daily Routine”
7. “Lion in a Coma”
8. “Lablakely Dress”
9. “Fireworks”
10. “My Girls”
11. “Brother Sport”
12. [Encore Break]
13. “Banshee Beat”
14. “Slippi”