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Centipede Hz, Animal Collective's ninth, is, at least by name, an apt metaphor for the band's gift at piecing together myriad sounds into odd yet seamless creatures. The quartet drives in hyper-mode, miles away from the lush pop of Merriweather Post Pavilion: Synths bubble like active mud pools as rickety beats, organs, guitars and sneering, distorted yelps (mostly from Avey Tare) run in feverish circles ("Monkey Riches"). "Today's Supernatural" rides a decaying global-punk carousel, "New Town Burnout" is Radiohead translated by Martians and "Amanita" is named after toxic mushrooms. Eat up.

There's not much left to say about the biggest-selling album ever. If you were alive during the 1980s, you remember the Thriller juggernaut, and if you weren't ... you probably still know these songs by heart. Some prefer the disco of 1979's Off the Wall, but this arguably has a better range, from the kittenish electro-funk of "P.Y.T." to the quiet storm lullaby "Human Nature." (The only bum note is the cutesy Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine.") Producers Rod Temperton and Quincy Jones polished these songs to a gleaming pop sheen that lingers in the world's memory nearly three decades later.