Now that the anticipation surrounding Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion has been satisfied, and the critics have responded, its time to take a deep breath, relax, and find out as much as possible about it so that you can be hipper than your friends. A good place to start is this interview with producer Ben H. Allen, who was behind the boards for the recording. Among the interesting tidbits that you can casually drop into conversation: the band didn't have any computers or cell phones for the entirety of the recording, and the only people allowed in the studio were the band, the producer, and his assistant. [LHB]