New releases: Andrew Bird, Animal Collective, Umphrey's McGee and more

Animal Collective - "Merriweather Post Pavilion" - While the vinyl version of this, the ninth studio album by the critically-acclaimed experimental Baltimore band, was released earlier this month, the CD version comes out today. The album has received highly positive reviews from critics and fans alike.

Robert Pollard - "The Crawling Distance" - The new solo album by the former Guided by Voices front man.

Antony and the Johnsons - "The Crying Light" - The third album by this New York City chamber pop act featuring English-Irish singer-songwriter Antony Hegarty.

Releases by Chicago artists:

Andrew Bird - "Noble Beast" - The acclaimed local singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist releases his his fourth solo studio album today. The album is available in a standard edition, a deluxe two-CD edition and a double LP.

The Living Blue - "Walk Talk Rhythm Roam" - The follow-up to 2005's excellent "Fire, Blood, Water" by this Champaign/Chicago garage rock band. Since their last record, the band has split with their label (Minty Fresh), deciding to release this long-awaited new collection of songs independently via digital music retailers such as Amazon MP3 and iTunes.

Umphrey's McGee - "Mantis" - The new album by progressive rock/jam band Umphrey's McGee is a first for the band in that it consists of all new material that the band has yet to play live - typically, the band has worked out arrangements live before putting songs to CD.