At times, it was barking.
The Animal Collective unleashed an effects heavy set that was laden with reverb and psychedelic twitching. Coming immediately after The Pipettes, a bigger change would have been harder to find but such was the beauty of the weekend, no one seemed to flinch or bat an eyelid.
As well as the vocals, which seemed the stereotypical American indie nasal delivery, twittering bird sounds peppered some tracks, which worked well in the tent that had some trees near the back.
At times the loops got up to a good pace but the crowd seemed a but hesitant to dance, it was definitely a set to be appreciated and contemplated as opposed to go mad over. A lot of the echoing feedback sections had the edges of being slightly uncomfortable, particularly when jarring with some of the higher end vocals but there was so much happening it all passed quickly.
It wasn't all random noise, there were song elements on show, and they worked well, even if they were hidden behind layers of bleeps and electronic wizardry. There was virtually no respite at all, the set was one sonic overload after another and it was possibly a bit too much for the early evening festival crowd, who by the end seemed a bit indifferent or perhaps jaded. This was a shame as it was a good set, perhaps just a bit full-on.