The album was recorded live in three days. Avey Tare played his guitar through an Ibanezdelay rack and Boss pitch shifter/delay pedal to create a doubled, fuller sound, since he was the only one playing guitar at the time. The group also took turns processing sounds through various effects, such as a Roland SH-2 synthesizer and a vocoder. Avey and Panda Bear later recorded the vocals at Avey's house onto MiniDisc, then added in electronic sounds along with piano loops that Avey had made. Mixing of the album lasted between three and four days. In the run-up to the recording sessions, the members experienced a challenging time. After difficulties on tour and within the band, member Brian Weitz had decided to leave the band for one year to attend graduate school in Arizona. According to him, the recording was "the absolute heart of that darkness ... That’s why the album’s so hectic and chaotic. It was trying to shove all this weird energy into one recording." "Hey Light" was latter re-worked for live performances as a mashup with "Doggy" from Campfire Songs for live performances in 2007. Furthermore, "Slippi" made a brief return to live shows in 2009, followed by "Native Belle" in late 2019.
Reception
Reviewing Here Comes the Indian for Stylus Magazine, Ed Howard afforded the album favorable comparisons to Boredoms' Super æ and Vision Creation Newsun. The Rolling Stone Album Guide described the album as more "claustrophobic" than earlier releases by Animal Collective. Uncuts reviewer compared the band to the Residents, "whose absurdist humour the AC also shares".
2020 reissue
On July 2, 2020, following a reissue of the band's discography on Bandcamp, the group announced that the album's title would be changed to Ark, explaining that "having the word 'Indian' in record title sends the wrong message by objectifying the American Indian people." As the band has "drawn countless inspiration from Indigenous peoplein America and around the world", they will also be donating a portion of the royalties from the album to Seeding Sovereignty, an indigenous rights and environmental justice charity.
