But, alas, despite selling out all 4,500 copies of the first run of Pavilion almost instantly across North America, with so many of those sales happening in indie shops that don't report to Nielsen SoundScan, the scrappy sonic experimentalists just didn't make the cut.

According to next week's Billboard albums chart, Pavilion officially moved 1,500 copies, which put them just outside the big game, even in this moribund time of year when the majority of the albums in the top 200 saw double-digit sales dips. Had they been able to scare up another 1,000 official sales, they might have sneaked in above the likes of former "American Idol" Kellie Pickler, Lifehouse, OneRepublic and Framing Hanley, all of whom sold in the 2,400 realm, which was enough to sneak them onto the bottom of the charts.

Better luck next week, when Pavilion is officially released on January 20, with a good chance to score an old-fashioned chart debut thanks to the flood of already rapturous reviews it's received as one of the best albums of the year so far.

Why? The album, which won't get released on CD until January 20, dropped on January 6 in a deluxe double-LP 180-gram gatefold vinyl format accompanied by a full album download. And thanks to a series of listening parties across the country, it just might break into the albums chart next week, thanks to vinyl sales only. Yeah, that's right, vinyl sales only (and, oh man, do Web sites loooooove to write about this wacky anachronism).

In an age when downloads are routinely trouncing physical sales, the prospect of one of those old-school albums crashing the party is as quaint as, well, having a bandleader named Panda Bear (as Animal Collective does). Based on the low-hanging-fruit figures on the most recent Nielsen SoundScan tally — which represents the typical early-January dead zone in sales — Merriweather could chart in the mid-160s thanks to the immediate sellout of all 4,500 copies of the initial run.

But because so many of those albums were sold in independent stores that don't report to SoundScan, it's impossible to know until Wednesday if the official figures will put the band on the charts. At press time, an unofficial tally on SoundScan put sales at less than 200 copies. To put this feat in perspective, though, Domino Recording Company spokesperson Peter Berard said that Merriweather sold almost as many vinyl copies in one day (including preorders) as the band's September 2007 album, Strawberry Jam, has sold to date on vinyl.

For now, one of the only places you can get Merriweather is Amazon.com, but Berard said a second press run is under way and another 5,000 vinyl editions should be available within the next three to five weeks.

Stare at it long enough and you'll see a unicorn.

Not really.

But, seriously, does this artwork remind anyone else of those 3D Magic Eye posters that The Nature Company used to sell? In honor of my 14-year-old mallrat self ("Mom, I'll meet you in the LaserDisc section of Saturday Matinee!"), I just spent the last 15 minutes starting at this album cover, and here are 10 images that have emerged while my bleary eyes studied the pattern:

1. A baseball player sliding into third base
2. R2-D2, Bob Marley and Ryan Seacrest at the Last Supper
3. The letters "JFSJJY"
4. This
5. That old-timey picture of the sailor kissing the lady
6. A huge image of a ribbon that Elton John would wear on his lapel at an awards show
7. OMG, IT'S MOVING!
8. EEK, IT'S PULSATING!
9. MAKE IT STOP!!
10. Soybeans floating on a puddle of oil

Sigh. I was never good at optical illusions.

Regardless of what the artwork represents, this makes me even more stoked to hear the album. Rumor has it, the Animal boys were heavily influenced by hip-hop beats while in the studio. Does that mean a Lil Wayne/ Panda Bear collaboration is in the stars?

I want to know what you see when you take in the glory of the Merriweather Post Pavilion cover. And while you ponder the significance, check out this piece MTV News did on the boundary-pushing band right before their last album, Strawberry Jam, hit stores (and blew my mind). Gotta love those explosion graphics we used to use.