Panda Bear- Person Pitch

torrents makes my computer cry.

I love me.

this gets it right on the head, after a bit longer listening to it. i'm not/comfy.. is great still, but those songs were way early last year on constant repeat for a few days straight. search for delicious and bros are totally fucking awesome. bros is like one constant explosion of muddy crystal if you ask me.

I'm Not/Comfy In Nautica was the single.

Bros is the 12"

and Good Girl/Carrot was on the split with Excepter?

I hope this is released on vinyl, I think I like it more than Feels (which I liked a lot). It's spacier and more abstract.

also, young prayer has...well, a lot more invention.

also, i think this wins over avey's solo stuff, but i always like the bear over the tare.

I’m not trying to say ‘Person Pitch’ is devastatingly original, rather that Panda Bear has done what so many other fail to do; take an encyclopaedic musical knowledge and translate that into genuinely great fresh compositions. This sentiment is even echoed right down to the album’s packaging which instead of giving you the usual bland liner notes/lyrics/praise be to the creator crap shows you a giant list of influences ranging from minimal techno to dub, to hip hop, to kraut-rock and beyond and you know, if you listen carefully you can hear it all. The first thing that comes up when people begin chattering about Lennox’s productions is Brian Wilson, and that’s an apt comparison at surface level, but listen a little closer and you’ll hear Kraftwerk, Autechre, John Lennon, Lee Perry, Stockhausen, Timbaland, Konono No.1, Arvo Part and so much more.

i'm surprised nobody has drawn the obvious di comparisons yet

I like this live download thing more than Person Pitch. More beats!

what live download thing? (this is my album of the year so far btw)

Paw Tracks is selling a live show from 2004 on itunes. it's got a couple of the songs from PP and two other ones. It's shorter than the album.

I had a spell of loving this...then not listening to ages. I waited to get the vinyl and finally scored it last week...it's blowing me away more than it ever did.

I suffer from sleep difficulties, I average 4ish hours per night...when I go into work at 9am with the first three tracks off Person Pitch on my headphones, I feel like I could wrestle an elephant and win.

does the vinyl sound as trebly/tinny as the cd? or is that his "aesthetic?" the Jane <i>Berserker</i> cd sounds the same way. i was thinking of buying the vinyl...

er, i mean Berserker

where can one find the vinyl?

here

oh.

i find track 3 on the "people ep" to be weirdly melancholy, even if it does sound like a chorus of deaf horses.

album of the year?

If you wish it, it is no dream.

I agree with everything Ned says on this thread.

thrilling revive.

I agree with Ned aussi.

but I can't shake the notion that in the end, it's little more than the musical equivalent of a magic-eye picture

Fandango otm here.

No. 1? Hm.

This is an ambient record. Or, that's how I treat it.

Mainly because of the sonics.

^i try to do this but then he sings. this is why "i'm not" kills every other song on the record.

this is why i'm not

OMG NUBMER ONE PITCHFORK MOKA U RA RITE BCAUSE PITCKROFK IS NEVER RONG

moka = scottpl

Aha!

I'm surprised that this would be PF's number one. I really like it but always saw it as a low-profile distraction, whereas these lists seem to usually go for the big statements.

told you.

on other things... Fact Magazine's Top 100 songs of 2007 is way better than pitchfork's:

http://www.factmagazine.co.uk/da/66290

but I can't shake the notion that in the end, it's little more than the musical equivalent of a magic-eye picture

Fandango otm here.

-- Mordechai Shinefield, Tuesday, 18 December 2007 09:41 (12 hours ago) Link

is this a criticism? cuz anything that can manage to be the musical equivalent of a magic-eye picture is, putting aside whether it is enjoyable or good or whatever, at least interesting.

think this is more interesting than a stereogram but agree that it's an ambient album and that 'i'm not' is probably the highlight but could do with some strings

xpost I don't think magic eye pictures deserve acclaim. I think they are shticky and just because you can cross your eyes to see the picture doesn't mean that that picture is a work of art. Goodie, you can decipher the Panda Bear album. But that doesn't make it any good.

i don't know, i think this album is fucking great. i hardly think it relies on any "shticky" gimmicks, rather, it's a pretty sonically adventurous album that has a ton of layers that reveal themselves pretty generously with each play. as a lot of its positive reviews have already stated (better than i can), it does a fucking excellent job of synthesizing some really great pop melodies with a lot of sonic experimentation (more than you'll find in most of this year's acclaimed indie records) and pretty brilliantly juxtaposes a ton of interesting influences - dub, psychedelia, 60s pop, ambient music, electronic music, etc. i don't want to sound like press release here and i also don't want to just say "good influences = good music", but this album is pretty fucking cool and i'm very happy it's getting all the acclaim it is.

magic eye posters look all squiggly and nondescript at first glance. it is only through concentration and crossing your eyes that something emerges.

Besides, what's so cryptic about this album? The melodies are obvious, most of the lyrics are easy to understand. It's fun to listen to.

ya i dont get what the secret picture is here. most of the songs are pretty hooky.

It's more like putting shit in your ears, waiting for it to harden, then forcefully extracting the hardened shit from your ears.

lol

I thought I loved this record, but now that Pitchfork loves it I'm not so sure...

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/61NZPNFHCFL._SS500_.jpg

http://cache.idolator.com/assets/resources/2007/03/ryan.jpg

How many people who like this have heard "Here Comes the Indian"?

That album is good and this album less so but when you say it like that it sounds all indie dick comparing.

If you want a shit gimmick/musical magic eye/whatever, Pullhair Rubeye is your man. Eeurgh.

Panda Bear is the auditory equivalent to the physical experience of putting your hand in a blender. It hurts immediately, cause it's hard to shove the top of the blender on when your hand is still attached to your arm. Then around the third track, it becomes more painful when you turn the blender on and your fingers get sliced to ribbons. By the fifth track, the gutted finger smoothie becomes pretentious.

i dont like this album much either but this guy mordechai seriously loves my chemical romance and hanna montana so like dont listen to him.

Yeah I guess if you liked those you probably wouldn't like this.

If you want a shit gimmick/musical magic eye/whatever, Pullhair Rubeye is your man. Eeurgh.

OTM - that record was fucking ridiculous, in a bad way. Panda Bear also fucking ridiculous, but in a good way. Also, since it hasn't been said - the smoothie analogy above is terrible.

^^^yes. reverend's forceful extraction of hardened shit >>>>>>>>>>> mordechai's finger smoothie

this album is like a ham sandwich

Ham sandwiches are delicious. This album is not. So no, this album is not like a ham sandwich.

"search for delicious"

I also seriously like Bob Dylan and Iron + Wine. Wtf is with the assumption that if you like one kind of music you can't like another? I hate Panda Bear on its own terms, not on some aesthetic principle that only MCR can be good.

1. everyone likes bob dylan.
2. iron and wine fans probably wouldnt enjoy person pitch.
3. everything you write on ilm would expect me to believe that this kind of record wouldnt be up your ally.

expect = lead

iron and wine fans probably wouldnt enjoy person pitch.. maybe. my girlfriend loves both though.

http://www.desktoprating.com/wallpapers/animal-wallpapers-pictures/panda-bear-wallpaper.jpg

aww

1. everyone likes bob dylan.

RONG

@chaki, also, while I have lots of questionable taste, much of that taste comes from listening to things with open ears. I've listened to Person Pitch about a dozen times now, hoping I'll suddenly "get it." It doesn't get better. Maybe I need to listen to it with someone who likes it, who is willing to deconstruct it for me as we listen. Because it just hurts my ears.

And this isn't proof of anything, but every friend of mine that I've played it for hasn't enjoyed it either. So I don't know who the audience for this album is, but it's no one I personally know. (Which is to say: Maybe if I knew people who liked this music, they'd be able to communicate their love of it to me.) But recommend a track and give me a brief explanation of why you like it, and I swear, I'll listen to it and give it a fair shake.

I don't like Bob Dylan, but I like him more than I like Panda Bear.

y'all were hating on this over on the year-end thread also. if you have really listened to it a dozen times then I salute you, that's more than I would do with a record I didn't like. FWIW, I think of it as much more of a psych/experimental thing than an indie rock album. then the long static parts make much more sense - "Good Girl" is probably my favorite just because of the way it sounds, not because of any specific structural or harmonic reasons. it's all about the explosions as I said way upthread.

I just relistened to Good Girl. I still don't get it. I can't understand what he's saying, it sounds like there are animal noises in the background, and the song is fairly precipitous musically. I feel like I'm hearing the same beat over and over in short 2 second intervals. And it keeps getting layered (swishing noises, what sounds like machine beeps, in the background I think I can hear some kind of sci-fi spaceship noise, and what sounds like the wash cycle on a washing machine). Frankly, it gives me a huge headache. It's not as bad when all that background noise falls away (around 2:30 in the song), but then it just sounds like he's singing gibberish, and you can just sense the annoying background about to burst forward.

iron and wine fans probably wouldnt enjoy person pitch.

?!?

I feel like I'm hearing the same beat over and over in short 2 second intervals. And it keeps getting layered

There may be a rather large swath of music that isn't up your alley.

Mordechai, there is thing, called "dance music", have you heard of it?

I love this album. Am a bit surprised that Pitchfork's albums of the year have been my albums of the year (this year equal favourite with Studio) two years running. Have I become more pitchforky since I started writing for them perhaps.

maybe pitchfork has become more tim f.

I can't understand what he's saying, it sounds like there are animal noises in the background, and the song is fairly precipitous musically. I feel like I'm hearing the same beat over and over in short 2 second intervals. And it keeps getting layered (swishing noises, what sounds like machine beeps, in the background I think I can hear some kind of sci-fi spaceship noise, and what sounds like the wash cycle on a washing machine).

if these are things you dislike in music, you and i have very, very different taste

max how do you feel about skye sweetnam?

DLD91287 (2 hours ago) 0
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Well..I am happy there is an artist out there that actually speaks the truth about people!
Skyesoldier00 (57 minutes ago) 0
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Yes, Skye truly is an inspiration in a world full of money grubbing self centered fools!

Not to bang on - actually, fuck it, to bang on and on and on and on and on - I'd like this an awful lot more if it wasn't so flat and one dimensional sounding, physically; I like the ideas, I like the melodies, I like the sonic juxtapositions and the actual 'tunes'. I don't like the fact that I can't climb inside it, that it feels like a plank of wood or pane of glass or sheet of steel. I can't put it on and feel it flow around me in three dimensions. Hence, ambient. Which I feel is a shame, because there's a lot of pop in this record, I just can't touch it.

i know some soldiers in here
where they at?
where they at?

Mordechai, there is thing, called "dance music", have you heard of it?

Are you fucking kidding me?

It's just that your description of "Good Girl" makes it sound like a great dance track.

Except for the part where it's awful. I don't found dance track vocals incomprehensible, the don't find them layered to the point where I get a headache, and I don't find the rhythm impossible to keep track of. In fact, I find dance tracks all the opposite of that.

the = then

Unless, of course, by dance you mean something entirely different than dance music. I consider dance music something you can dance to.

to shove aside the pitchfork year end list and the inevitable debates that will occur here in regards to it, at least Panda Bear had the only End of the Year Guestlist that was worth looking at. like 36 lists of pure, unadelterated almost masturbatorily 'pitchfork' lists, 3 that were good, and then his, which included both Pantha du Prince AND the Enjoi video!

Also, I don't even know who Skye is. I know she did a song with Tim Armstrong from Rancid. And I like Rancid. And I liked the song. But I've never heard anything else by her. So let's not mischaracterize my taste in music by saying that people I liked one song she participated in, OBVIOUSLY that explains why I don't like Panda Bear.

Goddamit. I don't know how the word "people" got in that paragraph. I should just go back to sleep.

ilx mindhive clusterfuck consensus: Person Pitch=#1 punching bag of 2007

or hivemind, if you will

It's probably my favorite cover art of the year, in any case.

Oh yeah.

Ok. Here's the deal. I've got open ears and I actually want to like this album. Whoever can get me to like this album (by pointing stuff out, by explaining things, by telling me to pay attention to a particular thing) wins. I will listen to anything recommended. If you want to give me a music history lesson, because that is what it takes to appreciate this album, go right ahead.

Hmm, I think if you can't see immediately what's great about 'Bros' then there's no real point in persisting.

dude if you've listened to it 12 times and you don't like, why continue trying? it doesn't matter if it makes every damn critics' top 5, if you don't like, you don't like it!

there's a lot of highly acclaimed albums this year that i have basically no interest in trying to like, and i'm fine with that.

there's lots of "it"s missing from my first couple sentences.

xposts

but see, you don't like it! every time somebody tries this you valiantly listen and report back with the same bleak prognosis (which again is to your credit, although it kinda looks like banging your head against a wall at this point). It's OK to not get it or like it! I hate most of the top records this year, including some you probably really like. do you listen to stuff like Zoviet France? because I think throwing out all the "indie" pre-conceptions and treating this record like pure sound really is your best bet.

also, nobody can understand the words in "Good Girl". they are backwards and the lyrics are not important to the experience of the song.

i.e. what Baaderonix said.

I guess my problem is, I've never heard an album I didn't understand as little as this one. Even albums I've disliked (and I railed pretty hard against Joanna Newsom last year) I still got what was there. I still saw what people saw there, and then rejected it. This I can't even see what's there. People compare it to the Beach Boys, but I love the Beach Boys.

I like this live download thing more than Person Pitch. More beats!

-- mizzell, Wednesday, June 6, 2007 9:37 PM (6 months ago) Bookmark Link

I stick by this and think that maybe the people who aren't pleased with the production of PP whould check it out.

should check it out

This I can't even see what's there.

who on earth are you friends with?? like, who do you spend your time with that youve actually never met anyone who likes music like this?

sorry i hate to add to the pile-on but like... panda bear is not "out there" at all by any means. there are a lot of pretty basic things at work here that people tend to really like. if you actually cant even "see what's there" it makes me feel like you grew up in a bubble.

i walked around listening to this while stoned a lot this year

Yeah. Whatever. I just did a search for Panda Bear on my college facebook network and not one result came up. So I did a search on a friend's college facebook network, and not one result came up. Neither of our colleges are enormous, so that's one factor, but these aren't tiny 40 person universities either. Out of around 6,000 people (assuming 50% of people create facebook pages and list their music), NO ONE likes Panda Bear. So I'd say it's pretty "out there."

dude, get a hobby.

sorry i hate to add to the pile-on but like... panda bear is not "out there" at all by any means. there are a lot of pretty basic things at work here that people tend to really like. if you actually cant even "see what's there" it makes me feel like you grew up in a bubble.

12-minute hazey georgian-chant Beach Boys sound collagesaren't "out there" AT ALL?

"out there" in the sense that its so weird and ugly and strange that its impossible to even find someone who likes it let alone enjoy it yourself

2. iron and wine fans probably wouldnt enjoy person pitch.

really? seems totally softywofty to me. i don't mean that as a dis.

i dont know what to say to you about your facebook stats mordy but if you actually think that anywhere near 50% of people are neurotic enough to keep their music section obsessively up-to-date (if they use it at all) than youre crazy

and actually i dont really get what your argument is? i mean, clearly, a lot of people like this, right? so why does it matter that no one you know on facebook has it in their profile?

You said I must live in a bubble since Panda Bear isn't "out there" at all and tons of people like it. I said that no one at my college has it listed as favorite music (whatever that means) so I suspect you've got a skewed view of its popularity.

no, i said you live in a bubble since apparently you dont know anyone for whom things like repetitive beats, atmospheric sounds and weirdly-tracked vocals would be appealing.

... Ok. Fuck this.

mordechai seriously, i dont give a shit that you dont like this; we all like different music, its fine, but when you say things like "i get why people listen to joanna newsom but i dont get why people like this at all" its either enormously dishonest or terrifically ignorant

iron and wine fans probably wouldnt enjoy person pitch.

FWIW, I like Iron & Wine (a lot) and I like Person Pitch (albeit less than Iron & Wine). I don't see why they're mutually exclusive.

I've given up on this record and you all should too

This album shrunk on me really fast. It sounded really great at first but didn't have much to offer me on repeated listens.

iron and wine fans probably wouldnt enjoy person pitch.

i dont know why i said this. they are both twee ass white people pussy bullshit music.

Mordechai Shinefield goes to Yeshiva University right?

He does.

i walked around listening to this while stoned a lot this year

Earlier this year when I was walking around listening to this while stoned a lot, this was my favorite record of the year, too. Then again, I think one night I fooled myself into thinking the Wannadies "You and Me Song" was one of the greatest pop singles of all time, while terribly overboard stoned. This album still rules.

As far as the Mordechai vs max debate goes, I think you're both right and wrong a little.

Mordechai, like others have said, if you don't like it after 12 listens, just shelve it for a while. It's not a big deal, really, and later you may come around to it. That's what happened with me this year and XTC. I made a failed concerted effort to get into them, forgot about it for a while, and then one day I heard "Complicated Game" in a friend's car and it clicked all of a sudden.

Max, I get behind most of what you're saying, but realize that beyond ILM and music blog world, there are tons of people who have no idea who Animal Collective are, let alone Panda Bear. It's cool he's even giving it a chance, that's more than what most people would do with music that is wholly unfamiliar sounding.

Panda Bear 1,176,982 plays scrobbled on Last.fm (mostly in the past year)
Amy Winehouse 7,719,474 plays scrobbled on Last.fm
The Beatles 71,356,933 plays scrobbled on Last.fm

I'd say that's pretty popular!

Sure, but -

I was just about to make some argument that last.fm users tended to skew toward indie music, but then I checked the stats and saw that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were #3 overall, so there goes that.

I guess Panda Bear is MASSIVE!

i finally listened to this. it's ok, about what i expected. pretty, but wispy. the pfork enthronement is funny, it's like they're trying to prove the point that sfj couldn't quite prove himself.

my argument isnt even about whether or not panda bear is popular!!! most of the people i spend time with wont have heard of them at all. im just saying, if mordechai is posting on ilm and fancies himself something of a critic, saying shit like "i dont understand why people like this at all" a couple hours after articulating 4 reasons that i like this record is either naive or dishonest!

and being like "none of my friends on facebook like this album" isnt really a rejoinder to "how on earth can you not tell what people like about this album"

trying to prove the point that sfj couldn't quite prove himself.

I was thinking this also, but Person Pitch is apparently dubby, too. A dubby Beach Boys homage.

^^it's incredibly dubby!

and being like "none of my friends on facebook like this album" isnt really a rejoinder to "how on earth can you not tell what people like about this album"

To be fair, I really don't think that was the point he was trying to address with his Facebook stats.

dubby usually implies some sort of groove

i don't have a dog in this fight really. i like this album but it didn't exactly grab me, but i don't think it was trying to. it had a lot of really interesting shit going on in it, lots of cool repetition and a sustained hazy mood. it has a cool dreamlike logic, i guess: i can imagine exactly the overall texture and color and a few snips of melody, but i can't lay out in my head which 'songs' came where or anything. it's that kind of record.

but it's still 'pop,' i mean, this isn't serialism or kevin drumm or any over the other true-blue avant shit i've picked up and made myself listen to over the years and had to really think hard: "ok, what exactly is the engine of enjoyment/interest at work here -- cos it's not hooks or beats or wit or any of the other stuff i'm used to listening for, out of habit." i still don't think i hear everything that's happening in 'out' music, but, i've got plenty of time. life is pretty long! i figure my retirement will be full of long days listening to woyzeck or whatever.

mordechai it seems like you don't have a lot of experience with that kind of record, or you're making a big show of being baffled by it. "I've never heard an album I didn't understand as little as this one" ok well, first, there's a whole universe of music that is way more incomprehensible that this! and second: maybe forget about having total understanding of it!

like i said, it has a lot of pretty obvious 'dreamlike' or 'hazy' things going on (echo, repetition, voices in the distance, all that), it's practially BEGGING to be called such. so saying "this record is SO WEIRD what the FUUUCK guys!!?!?" seems of a kind with being creeped out by metallica in 07 or something

man i never write anything very long on ilx! and i don't even care that much about panda bear! very pretty album, though, i should listen to it again.

Chatterbox.

let me reiterate:

if you actually cant even "see what's there" it makes me feel like you grew up in a bubble.

^^^^^
the "bubble" of which i am speaking is NOT a "bubble" where no one likes panda bear. no one, in the broadest sense, likes panda bear. i get that. the "bubble" is the place where you cant figure out for the life of you why people might like things like: a repetitive beat, atmospherics, weird vocals, etc (nb thats not my description of panda bear, that's mordechai's!!). when i said its not very "out there" i mean that its not so strange or bizarre that there arent (clearly) plenty of people who like it; i mean, most of the songs have a rhythm and a melody which places them in the "fairly normal" category from where im sitting.

xxpost gff otm

dubby usually implies some sort of groove

really? sure the deep bass groove is important (and there are even parts of person pitch that have that, regardless), but what sonically distinguishes dub from say, reggae (which has the same bass groove, i guess) are all the atmospherics, the echo, reverb, ambient noises, weird sense of space, etc. all these mean dub to me more than a groove.

dubby usually implies some sort of groove

-- chaki, Wednesday, December 19, 2007 1:36 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

GOOD GIRLS/CARROTS

fwiw, I dislike this album

This is a really strange record to get all baffled by. Its virtues are pretty immediate. My only complaint, really, is that it hasn't grown very well (kinda the opposite of being impenetrable).

great thread. max is right.

This album shrunk on me really fast. It sounded really great at first but didn't have much to offer me on repeated listens.

Probably because it's really sonically hollow; there's not much to go back to, nothing that reveals itself on further listens, because it's all flat. It's beautiful, but completely... surface.

But yeah, if you can't see AT ALL why other people would like this, even slightly, then you're being very... bloody minded.

People compare it to the Beach Boys, but I love the Beach Boys.

should probably just let this drop but if you can watch the Comfy in Nautica video and still say "I don't get what this has to do with the Beach Boys" then I got nothin' more for ya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25_gjUbvqNg

still love this album .... I'm with Tim F., this and Studio are the tops

I totally see the Beach Boys thing, but I passionately despise the Beach Boys, too.

rev if i didnt already know you were a bro your dislike of chic and the beach boy would probably make me hate you

wow that video rules!

Naw, I have nothing against Chic, I just don't get 'em. The Beach Boys DRIVE ME FUCKING INSANE.

I hate those kind of cherubic Glee Club white people voices, is what it is.

I love the Beach Boys, but Panda Bear didn't really do it for me the first couple times I heard the album. Should probably give it another go. I do like the Beach Boys homage "College" on Animal Collective's Sung Tongs.

the Beach Boys are white?! oh man...

I was shocked when I found out, too.

I sort of understand what people mean when thay say this album has "shrunk" on them - it totally hasn't for me, but it's exactly the sort of music that I would absolutely expect to. I've been surprised that I love it so much every time i put it on.

I find this album irritatingly irresolute and wallpaper-y.

let us not go down this road again.

I'm really not into the Beach Boys much at all. The early songs about having sex in cars with your girlfriend's sister are OK, and there's a smattering of decent tunes from later on, but most of it leaves me cold.

I don't even think it sounds like the Beach Boys at all, apart from maybe a few vague signifiers. They certainly never were *this* plodding and drowned in bullshit digi-verb production.

Some of the vocal workouts on this record remind me of a cross between The Missa Luba and the Beach Boys' "Cool, Cool Water."

"...bullshit digi-verb production."

-- Turangalila, Wednesday, January 2, 2008 6:00 AM (7 hours ago)

Fine, not bullshit digiverb. To quote my friend Nick, "it's more like wanna-be Warn Defever circa '94"

Bullshit Digi-Verb: That's What's Happening!

I've heard my share of bullshit digi-verb and sir I can tell you that that is not bullshit digi-verb.

I like this record. It's a bit of an over-simplification to say it sounds like Warn Defever circa '94-'96. Structurally, all those songs (most of which are quite awesome) are about juxtaposition. The Panda Bear tracks are more about blending and mixing allusion and influence--not to imply that this is somehow revolutionary or something because it's not.

I like the more Krauty aspects of the record. The way Bros ends with Amon Duul circa Psychedelic Underground riffage is what makes the track for me. Also, sampling Ananas Symphonie off Ralf and Florian on one track is a nice touch.

Yeah, I guess it's not really that gated, reverb sound from the 80s. It's more of a faux Brian Wilson vibe, but without any of the compositional components that made BW interesting.

You make it sound so exciting, though. Heh.

actually I was gonna say you make it sound like a record critic record

haha yes

a few months back, in a moment of less-than-perfect lucidity, I described this record to a friend of mine as the musical equivalent of one of those waterslides that's partially open and partially enclosed. I'm still not really sure what I meant by that, but every time I think about this record, the metaphor makes more and more sense to me.

I guess in the end, the strongest impression I take away from this album is one of extreme linearity... but somehow, that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. people who said there were no details to discover on repeat listens were right. for me, though, much of the appeal lies in the way that everything fits together. "Good Girl/Carrots" is a great example of what I'm talking about: 3 distinct sections, all more or less static. within the first 10 seconds of each, I remember exactly how it goes and know what to expect for the next 4 minutes or so. but somehow, I have trouble keeping the overall structure of the song in my head, and the way the different movements (ugh, sorry, I can't think of a less pretentious word) flow into each other never fails to excite me. the whole album feels like that to me, really; it's almost like listening to a really good DJ set, or an awesome radio station.

panda designs a hat
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2103/2233678058_f580958593_o.jpg

I bet this will be big with the "bape hoodies in union sq" crue

Also, sampling Ananas Symphonie off Ralf and Florian on one track is a nice touch.

where is that?

damn it guys why were you all talking about dance music up there, i finally bought this and it isn't like dance music at all!

All music is dance music, white boy.

Im starting to get into the second half more than the first, because they have this on vinyl @ work. It reminds me of orbital

every time i open this thread all i can think is DAMN GIRL WAY TO MAKE BOOBS UNSEXY.

yay Maryland. i totally live there. i'm glad Baltimore's hip now.

Yeah I saw that pattern and I felt a lil burst of civic pride.
(halfway through season four of the WIRE it could use a boost)

<em>To quote my friend Nick, "it's more like wanna-be Warn Defever circa '94"</em>

turangalila's friend otm. sounds like something he woulda done had he put together <em>king of sweet</em> around the time of <em>stars on esp</em>.

that hat is a bit much

http://sickmouthy.com/2013/02/23/panda-bear-person-pitch-2007/

a lost classic- this, 'laughed for a world filled with fantasy,' and 'boneless' are all better than p much anything on person pitch. but maybe i've just played it out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZWLQKVwCSA

I wouldn't say they're better, but they'd make a nice deluxe edition of Person Pitch if you added them in. The best one is Song For Ariel, which later became Guys Eyes on MPP. The solo version is based on a sample that sounds a lot like Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, but is actually Leave Me Be by The Zombies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIICXi18JAg

There's also this little sketch from a 2007 compilation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiFNULZEniw

For completeness, here's Laugh for a World Filled With Fantasy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7063I9L_wHw

and Boneless:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJFEBunBHRY

Song for Ariel is the one I'm sad for not making it into PP.

boneless is especially awesome for being a 'remix' of a song that contains no elements, melodies, lyrics from the original at all

sweet new hour-long interview with Noah about the making of Person Pitch. this group is reissuing the record on vinyl next month http://www.vinylmeplease.com/magazine/listen-interview-panda-bear-about-person-pitch/

panda bear's new song with sonic boom is the most brian wilson-y thing in a long career full of brian wilson-y things

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMNZuZe2OCY

new album is very much a person pitch throwback with its focus on loops, samples & extremely beach boys vocals

sometimes the repetition is a bit too much but it's pretty solid overall, certainly the best panda bear album since person pitch & easily one of the stronger animal collective-related albums in the past 12 years

Yeah it's a fantastic album. My favourite Anco thing in a decade or so.

This feels like Person Pitch 2 in a good way. Need to spend more time with it but liked a lot what I heard on first listen.

It should probably also be noted here that he sang on my favorite song of the year so far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqKjFj6YoWM

Agree with you on that one. Song of the year.

really what "doin it right" should have been

really liked the new album as well, especially the scott walker-y spanish-tinged one near the end

I'm not a big Panda Bear fan — a little usually goes a long way for me — but I do like the new one. Peter Kember is a good partner for him, I think he opens up the mix more, lets it breathe.

He is having a hell of a year. Time Skiffs, that incredible "Step by Step" track above and now this truly lovely album with Kember. Wow.

totally forgot there was a new anco album this year lol

You’re in luck, it’s amazing

I love that Braxe EP

I enjoyed the couple times I've breezed through the (seemingly very short) Noah/Sonic album! It is so so so Brian Wilson-y like even more so than before but that's OK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAKCduc2fA4

this is pleasant, seems like it's a good year for panda bear collabs

"First widely available reissue in 15 years"

https://www.turntablelab.com/products/panda-bear-person-pitch-vinyl-2lp?goal=0_8b218d7604-f4ba19c341-31345977&mc_cid=f4ba19c341&mc_eid=365684acc9

Also available on his Bandcamp
https://pandabearmusic.bandcamp.com/album/person-pitch

grabbed it today and came to the realization this album is his Olias of Sunhillow

It is! I know people compare them in terms of sound but also it's there in regards to them being sorta busman's holidays that are even better than anything they was doing with their main groups.

haha wow, good call

Overrated. Beach boys for the pitchfork generation

this thread is how i first came across ilx. lol

Still sad after all these years “song for ariel” didn’t make it into the album, more songs should have The Zombies samples

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIICXi18JAg

I know the song got repurposed for Guys Eyes but that one is nowhere as good as this one.

"Livin' in the After" is so great, can't believe it's under 3 minutes. should be the longest track on the album

I know our AnCo crew here is pretty slim these days, but the new Panda Bear is really good! Actually getting a lot of Person Pitch vibes, but this one is even smoother and more accessible.

thanks for the reminder, I really dug Reset but that and PP are the only two Panda records I have

until now. I just found Tomboy for cheap.

will check it, thx

saw them open for Toro y Moi and was really impressed with much of the newer stuff that i was unfamiliar with

It doesn't remind me of Person Pitch but I do like it more than the last one or two he did.

loving this. “ends meet” is person pitch core for sure

i listened to the new one once and it reminded me a lot of tomboy, but a bit more in focus. probably one of his stronger solo efforts alongside the album with sonic boom from a few years ago

i like the drums on this album

I initially liked Reset a lot but it had no staying power for me.

I've played Reset a billion times in recent months and can't seem to get bored of it

Performative whites more concerned with luigi’s sex tape and trying to make panda bear a thing again than anything real.

— JPEGMAFIA (@jpegmafia) March 6, 2025

Don't like it as much as Reset - but then that is my most-listened to new album of the past few years, and it was amazing live too.

after the first two songs i thought that this would be my favorite panda bear album ever. the second song, "anywhere but here," is one of the best anco-related songs i've ever heard, imo. the rest of it didn't quite live up to that high, but i did like it a lot

Interesting, I thought it actually got even better as it went on! That Cindy Lee track works so well as a closer.

Venom's In is my favorite. I think this album is right below Grim Reaper and Reset for me.

I’m a big stan for Buoys, it’s if Young Prayer got an upgrade— lots of acoustic guitar, Rusty Santos keeping things dry and exciting, little (if any) vocal stacking, accusations of being “an autotune album” are massively overstated

Cannot stop listening to this new one, feels crazy to say it but I think this is now my favorite Animal Collective related album.