It appears that Animal Collective are set to manifest their oft-described kinship with the Grateful Dead. According to accounts spurred by a reported tweet from the band’s management, the group has cleared the rights to use a sample of ‘Unbroken Chain’ in its song ‘What Would I Want Sky.’ This is said to be the first sanctioned sample from the Dead (although it would seem that Jay Lane’s Band of Brotherz have already done so). A new Animal Collective EP looks to be in the works for later this year where the song may well appear.

[Addendum: In addition to Band of Brotherz, we are reminded that the Bruce Hornsby song ‘Sunflower Cat (Some Dour Cat) (Down With That)’ from his 1998 release Spirit Trail, samples the Grateful Dead’s ‘China Cat Sunflower’].