Panda Bear

noel emits

a wonderful wooden reason
Lovely isn't it. Several times nearly started a thread but was amused at how nobody here had mentioned the record.

Nice mix by the way. Wally Badarou! The Level 42 / Kraftwerk connection.
 

bun-u

Trumpet Police
Yes love the. Kinda knew he was onto something special, when I saw him at this gig at the Spitz quite a while back. Love the voice and its use and the out-of-sync mixing between joined up songs on the big composite tracks
 

Chris

fractured oscillations
Yeah, really liked this album... probably more so than anything by Animal Collective even. Really thought the Brian Wilson style vocals and California sunshine-pop sound fit nicely with the whole Animal Collective primal campfire-jam thing.

I haven't heard the new Avey Tare & Kria Brekkan one yet, but supposedly it's recorded backwards...? According to the Pitchfork review, it's actually a decent album when played re-reversed, be interested to hear a copy of that...
 

tht

akstavrh
thought about doing a thread on this when it leaked, connecting it to ariel pink but it was going to be a bit tendentious

i think i probably have played it 50 times......
 

Leo

Well-known member
i like it but the whole beach boys-on-drugs reverb-vocals is a bit of a one-trick pony move, imho. would have made for a killer ep, gets pretty samey for a whole album. for what it is, it's very well done, tho.
 

noel emits

a wonderful wooden reason
i like it but the whole beach boys-on-drugs reverb-vocals is a bit of a one-trick pony move, imho. would have made for a killer ep, gets pretty samey for a whole album. for what it is, it's very well done, tho.

I love it when albums have a singular aesthetic, even if I don't like the records that much I like the coherence of vision. Things like Computer World, Music Has The Right To Children, Loveless, See You On The Other Side, Zuckerzeit, What's Goin' On, Gris Gris... Almost like perfect little worlds onto themselves. 'Person Pitch' is really great I think but that's such a rare thing (these days, heh) that it's hard to be sure just yet.

In my sad way I wonder if he got clearance for that kraftwerk sample in 'Carrots'. I mean they don't acknowledge that album so how could they give clearance? Or would they contest it if they heard the record?
 

Leo

Well-known member
I love it when albums have a singular aesthetic, even if I don't like the records that much I like the coherence of vision. Things like Computer World, Music Has The Right To Children, Loveless, See You On The Other Side, Zuckerzeit, What's Goin' On, Gris Gris... Almost like perfect little worlds onto themselves. 'Person Pitch' is really great I think but that's such a rare thing (these days, heh) that it's hard to be sure just yet.

agreed...i just don't think this album totally cuts it on that level. think roxy music "country life" as a true example of that form; panda bear doesn't quite match up.
 

sing_minimal

Well-known member
i don't like animal collective much, and the previous panda bear album was so so..i mean it was nice for what it was, but not overly exciting in a long run. person pitch however is awesome! he came up with a quite unique thing and it sounds really lovely, warm and summerish on top of it all.
 

straight

wings cru
i think a lot of people were put off by the more twee elements of animal colectives last 2 albums but the noisy 3 before that (spirit theyve gone, danse manatee and here comes the indian, i think theyre all in print now) are some of the most powerful work to come out of the new weird movement.
also, i cant reccomend panda bears 'young prayer' enough, its a complete contrast to person pitch but i cant think of a more poignant exploration of the melancholy and anger of the death of a parent. just leave it in the drawer if youve had a heavy weekend.
 

Tweak Head

Well-known member
I just got Person Pitch, based on recommendation and then listening to a bit of it on a listening post at the new Rough Trade shop by Brick Lane (woo hoo for that, btw, and good luck to them). I think it's a great record.

I agree with noel emits who praised it for its singular aesthetic: it certainly has a very singular aesthetic. The impression that I got with it also was that it could be the sound track to a dream, or to those hynagogic moments on the cusp of sleep. Kevin Shields has said that he tried to recreate that sense in his music - and succeeded imho.

On noel emits' point on singular aesthetic and albums that create a perfect world of their own ... other albums apart from those he mentions that I think demostrate it are: Pet Sounds (Panda Bear's been listening to that a lot I think), Super Ape by Lee Perry (you could argue that all of Scratch's work demonstrates a highly singular aesthetic), Velvet Underground Live 1969, Colossal Youth.

It's a hard thing to pull off, cos if you go too far everything just sounds the same.
 

dssdnt

Member
I agree with noel emits who praised it for its singular aesthetic: it certainly has a very singular aesthetic.
It certainly does have a singular aesthetic, namely one copped warp and woof from other people (beach boys/brian wilson).

How does one listen to something so utterly and completely sonically derivative with a straight face?

File under: "Overrated Retro Pastiche For Middle-Aged Music Bloggers."
 

swears

preppy-kei
His voice does sound almost exactly like Brian Wilson, even the reverb on it is like something used on Pet Sounds.
 

Tweak Head

Well-known member
"... Middle-Aged ..."

Guilty!

File under: "Overrated Retro Pastiche ... "

You're entitled to your view, of course, but imho there's a difference between pastiche (or plagiarism) and making something new and interesting by mixing old elements/styles with something new and with an idiosyncratic sensibility. When I first heard the album I immediately thought "Pet Sounds" (an album that I love, btw) but as I listened more it was like he had decided to take Pet Sounds and other elements and subject them to his own vision. I think it works here.
 
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