Are you anticipating Panda Bear's 2010 album Tomboy?

Single out in July, album date TBD

"The rhythms are really basic and kind of raw and simple and are electronic. It's not live instrumentation, I've been playing guitar but I feed it through the same thing that the sequences are on. It's a very electronic sound and very voice heavy. A simple arrangement of drums, the guitar and singing. Really there are only two or three elements to every song. It's pretty raw sounding for better for (sic) worse. The tone is a lot darker and it sounds sort of dramatic or romantic to me.”

yeah, i'm curious (tho panda bear/animal collective are hardly my favorite act).

He set the bar too high with Person Pitch and frankly speaking, his past solo efforts weren't that good. But yes, I'm anticipating madly. Not too excited about the artwork:

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd120/hipsterrunoff/photographs/hro/8bff00af.jpg

Oh yeah, this. I am anticipating. But what's with the artwork? A diver being attacked by a giant squid? Superman getting electrocuted?

Anticipating the album: yes.

Anticipating the hype cycle, blog leaks, online frenzy, rave reviews, end-of-year list domination: fucking hell no.

Artwork is mediocre at best, specially when compared to the gorgeous set of collages for Person Pitch and its singles.

i predict songs about NOSTALGIA and YOUTH

more songs about Roche Bros, please

the newer stuff (after person pitch) i heard live was gr8 so yes

^^^^^^^^^^^

Anticipating the hype cycle, blog leaks, online frenzy, rave reviews, end-of-year list domination: fucking hell no.

"chillwave pioneer"

Never understood the hype around Person Pitch (and yes I like AC), but I'm still anticipating.

all the hype-related stuff does becoming tiring after a while, but I'd rather have people be that excited about music rather than not

ya otm, i never got people complaining about hype as if there's something harmful or it's anything but people just being giddy. like ilxor would you rather they were really nonchalant about it "oh hey the panda bear album came out yesterday wonder if its any good," this the followup to an album that was top 10 on their decade list you realize

i just don't understand why you get so many people saying "i hate AC but Person Pitch is amazing". To me, they're not really all that different, and I found Person Pitch to be quite frankly a bit of a drag.

if you stop reading pitchfork and indie blogs you will not even notice the hype.

and i'd imagine you read indie blogs because you want that hype, right? or do some people think stereogum has good writing..?

dog latin: it has a lot to do with the fact that avey tare is often a painfully embarassing and bad singer, he goes for cringey childish tantrum style vocals way too often and just general doesn't sound cool. "my girls" was maybe next level corniness but generally panda bear's vocals are bold in their simplicity, avey tare on strawberry jam is just smh after smh.

also "person pitch" is much less of a mess, for people who don't like big messes

like ilxor would you rather they were really nonchalant about it "oh hey the panda bear album came out yesterday wonder if its any good," this the followup to an album that was top 10 on their decade list you realize

I'd rather they fall in between the two extremes.

agreed w samosa, i have almost no time for new AC stuff, but i really enjoyed person pitch, and i wkiw TOMBOY

I'm looking forward to it. Virtually all of the Animal Collective/Avey Tare/etc. things have been very interesting, 'Person Pitch' included.

Do you feel that way about Pullhair Rubeye?

"Animal Collective" is a horrible name for a music group

xp apparently if you download the re-reversed version it's just normal anco psych folk

Pullhair Rubeye... Wasn't that the thing with Kria Brekken...? I'm not sure about that one.

Yes it was. I quite liked it.

samosa - that's the explanation I've heard, and yeah, I prefer Panda's vocals (it's why I prefer Young Prayer to Person Pitch). PP sounds like a dreadful mess to me. For all the lauded "dance influence" on that record, I find the beats repetitive yet sloppy and ungroovy. Not even trance-like, just "gah this sounds annoying". It's all the boring bits of AC stretched out to 10 minutes per track. Comparing it to Strawberry Jam - they are both ugly records but I think SJ is kind of trying to sound ugly while I'm just not sure what Person Pitch was trying to do. It's just not a cohesive record to my ears, but maybe a lot of this comes from the fact that it's a hotchpotch singles compilation that's somehow reached classic status.

still think Strawberry Jam & Feels are the best AnCo records

of the ones i've listened to enough to have an opinion on, which are Spirit, ST, Feels, SJ, & MPP

have a heart have a heart

"Search For Delicious" is probably one of my favorite ambient tracks ever.

xpost

got my A machines on the table, got my C machines in the drawer

the only explanation is that we have very different brains because i can't fucking stand young prayer and hate its guts

i was actually thinking that while typing it out, "hrm, well pp is a mess in its own way too." i guess i just like that mess better, or it has more unified vision in its messiness. sometimes anco sounds like four dudes making an overwhelming amount of sound, like i want to block out one dude's synth/sampler skronk to actually hear another dude. i love how person pitch is so organic, and even though there's a big throb of sound going at once there's always a focal point, and the flagellum is sort of this warm homogenous blob that blends together. anco add way more heterogeneous noise to their trancey synth pop.

why do you hate Panda's dad

i don't think they'll ever top sung tongs for me. it's the last of their albums before they settled on a particular sound and could be described as by far the best of the freakfolk records that came out in the mid-00s - that and prospect hummer ep are the most unified and satisfying for me, and arguably the least messy too.

but yeah, back to what you were saying samosa, i think sometimes anco shot themselves in the foot with strawberry jam as it's a very pointy album with lots of weird noises that purposefully don't sit well with each other (I'm thinking of tracks like #1 here), yet they released it at a time when they were getting a lot of media attention. so i guess i see why there's been a big backlash with animal collective since that album came out. they only just reeled it in on MPP.

There are parts of Person Pitch that really remind me of Song Cycle by Van Dyke Parks - in a good way, of course. I wonder if it was an influence at the time (surely it was?).

so i guess i see why there's been a big backlash with animal collective since that album came out. they only just reeled it in on MPP.

I'm not sure the people backlashing against SJ and the people not backlashing against MPP are the same crowd.

"Search For Delicious" is probably one of my favorite ambient tracks ever.

^^this

the one i like best is the understated soft-house track "poneytail".

i'm a bit ambivalent in my anco fanboyism, i love "feels" and "person pitch," pretty much like "merriweather post pavilion" and am a bit repulsed by "sung tongs" and very repulsed by "strawberry jam." but even the shit i don't like, i really admire their imagination and ambition. like that panda bear quote about wanting to make an album that sounds like a strawberry jam container you get served on an airplane--it's amazing to me how successfully they pulled it off. i guess i'm part of the backlash against it, but i can still admire it in that regard.

an album that sounds like a strawberry jam container you get served on an airplane

What the fuck does this even mean?

In an inexplicable way, it makes total sense to me.

I like the album art because it looks like it says TOMBOT

No.... it says Tomboy pretty clearly.

OK, maybe more like TOMBO.

some chillwave band named tomboy is gonna be pissed

This guy? http://www.myspace.com/tomasbarfod

Oh he won't mind.

The dutch aren't people. Hence lack of capitalization.

No.... it says Tomboy pretty clearly.

yeah but my brain is so used to seeing TOMBO followed by a T, and the Y is faded

i'll fire off an email to Noah and see if he can change it

WHAT DAS CRAZY U KNOW NOAH LENNUK?

that is not the cover!

it's the cover of the single right?

maybe. but it's not the album cover.

I don't see anything particularly wrong with the cover. It's not great, but I have a hard time saying its ugly either.

And, after looking at it for about a minute, I'm going to guess that it is......... Lucifer being banished from heaven?

So that's the artwork for the first single? Please tell me it ain't this one, I thought it was a teaser of sorts:

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd120/hipsterrunoff/photographs/03107da0.png

And it's not that the artwork is ugly... the problem is it's not even worthy of discussion.

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/4200/tomboyh.jpg

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/6273/tombot.jpg

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/5853/tomboy.jpg

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9296/tomboy2.jpg

SEARCH FOR NUTRITIOUS

Has anyone heard any snippets of the new stuff online anywhere? Person Pitch was awesome but it wouldn't surprise me if this album sounds totally different.

only from live bootlegs, like this one: http://www.bansheebeat.com/ac/Panda%20Bear%20-%20De%20Kreun,%20Kortrijk%20-%2017.01.2010/

"Has anyone heard any snippets of the new stuff online anywhere? Person Pitch was awesome but it wouldn't surprise me if this album sounds totally different."

i heard live recordings. from what i figured it will sound more or less the same as person pitch, only slower and sadder:more like I'm Not and Ponytail (than Comfy or Good Girl)

i'd like to hear a better recorded version of this but i guess its older and probably ditched at this point
http://gvsbchris.com/Untitled%20New%20Song.mp3

there is a version of that song on MPP

OPEN UP YOUR OPEN UP YOUR

there is a version of that song on MPP

― mizzell, Thursday, May 20, 2010 10:37 AM

?

guy's eyes ditches the zombies sample but has the same lyrics

oh weird. i guess i never got that far into the album cuz i h8 it. the zombies sample is the best part

http://www.factmag.com/2010/06/08/panda-bear-embarks-on-tomboy-7-series-release-planned-for-kompakt/

"Lennox recorded the album at home in Lisbon, Portugal. Talking about the LP, he tells Mojo, "It doesn't come from anywhere except myself, but I'm feeling massive amounts of pressure to deliver something really good. That's just something I'll deal with until this one is over, and probably even beyond that."

so it's probably won't be good as PP..

so what are people thoughts about the new stuff:

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7FS2TKFdbc

on one listen i'm liking the b-side better...

something a little sad about 'these are available on seven inches only, no mp3s until later'; i mean, for some reason i'd failed to process they'd be online instantly

well, they're on soundcloud....

Tomboy was underwhelming on first listen. The b-side is a total dog.

he should put more echo on it

more donk

ok i really like tomboy and can;t wait to hear it in context w the rest of the album

This is afaik his first time mixing his own stuff.

i'm so used to being intoxicated by samples that it's all sort of boring in comparison

those 2 tracks are growers and much better than i thought at first.

"Pitchfork: Do you think Panda Bear's Person Pitch follow-up, Tomboy, is going to come out this year?

AT: I can't say. I have no idea"

i thought it was supposed to be out in september?!

maybe he can't say and he has no idea cuz it's not his album

maybe the music press is more in touch with whats up with panda than he is

like, maybe they dont talk all the time when theyre not on tour and aveys not as plugged into the indie music world information machine as some of us are

maybe, but the question came from the interviewer, regardless of Avey Tare - i assumed there was a release date.
but it seems he didnt even finish recording yet.

\(O_O)/

Something I haven't been 100% clear on- are both songs from each of the 7"s going to be on the album, or are they b-sides?

am i still banned?

yay!

^ sb'ed

Listen To Vinyl Rips of Panda Bear’s You Can Count On Me & Alsatian Darn:

http://www.weallwantsomeone.org/2010/10/12/listen-to-vinyl-rips-of-panda-bears-you-can-count-on-me-alsatian-darn/

pretty awesome

This is pretty great, B-sides on these are consistently the better track.

it has a lot to do with the fact that avey tare is often a painfully embarassing and bad singer, he goes for cringey childish tantrum style vocals way too often and just general doesn't sound cool. "my girls" was maybe next level corniness but generally panda bear's vocals are bold in their simplicity, avey tare on strawberry jam is just smh after smh.

― what a horribly formed "groke" (samosa gibreel), Wednesday, May 19, 2010 1:10 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark

so glad I am not alone in this sentiment

is this a new 7" single? xp

Alsatian Darn has really grown on me.
album not coming out this year, obv

i accidentally put 'you can count on me' on at the wrong speed and it sounded like sting meets the lion king. then at the right speed it still sounded like that. still digging it, though.

2 more tracks were just ripped to the net... how many is this album going to have? seems like they've got the entire list online already

^link?

panda bear isn't sting, he's graham nash

(also, the idea of releasing every single song in succession before album comes out seems like the new way of using "singles" to promote indie albums, no? sometimes I think that they know when to release an album because one of the pre-released tunes sticks-- if none do, they just keep releasing new songs)

last nite @ the jetty:
http://www.nogenremusic.com/?p=2134

surfer's hymn
http://hypem.com/track/1261993/Panda+Bear-Surfer%27s+Hymn

not very impressed with either... Alsatian Darn was really a killer track for me, but Slow Motion/you can't count on me + those 2 are all pretty meh.

I always get this Lion King / Disney meets christmas vibe from everything this guy does.

lol. It's definitely pre-school friendly... I was super hyped when he began talking about the new dark direction for his next album, and now that I've heard it, it's just like - u joking? Did he regret saying that or something, or is this album really his attempt to release inner demons?

Then again, most anything would look like an embrace of the dark side when the conclusion to the last album was this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRBlZr1Th_U

uh, Oliver Platt weighs in

What was 2010's cultural highlight for you?
Panda Bear’s “Slow Motion" [B-side to July's 7" single "Tomboy"]. I’m a huge Animal Collective fan, and frankly, if Animal Collective had released something this year, it would be my pick. [2009 EP] Fall Be Kind was one of the highlights of last year. They locate so much soul in electronic music. But I do think that Panda Bear — Noah Lennox is his real name — is a freaking musical genius. He sounds like Brian Wilson and he’s got this natural gift for harmony. I love Animal Collective, but to me his stuff goes quicker to that place at the back of your neck, where your brain stem starts to buzz. I don’t want to sound too druggy here, but it does have that effect. Also, Avey Tare released a solo album this year [Down There] and there was some really amazing stuff on that.
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/12/oliver_platt_on_his_favorite_i.html

Lennox:

I'm moving back to the States for a while so the rest of Animal Collective and I can be in the same place to write songs together and make something we're excited about. "Tomboy," my new album, is really, really close to a final mix; I spent the last three years or so on it. It's taken me forever. I feel like I did the tour for it already: Animal Collective and myself are in the habit of touring the stuff live before its release.

My family and I are going from Lisbon to Baltimore for three months. I'm going to be living in my mom's house, which is insane. I hope the turmoil isn't too much for my kids. I would be lying if I said I wasn't anxious or nervous, but it's the kind of challenge that makes things interesting. I'd love to do something physical like exercising once a week, but I don't feel I have the time. When I look back on my life, I used to think I didn't have enough time for things. But now I really don't have time. It's just the way things are.

(link)

Short version:

I'm moving back to the States for a while so the rest of Animal Collective and I can be in the same place to write songs together and make something we're excited about. "Tomboy," my new album, is really, really close to a final mix[...]

I've already mentioned this, but so many tracks have been leaked that I almost feel as if I've heard the entire album already.

I'd love to do something physical like exercising once a week, but I don't feel I have the time.

no wonder so many ilxors identify w/ panda, amirite?

he sounds like a simple soul but i liked his first two albums so am mildly anticipating this fuiud

new single "Last Night At The Jetty" is the best of the 3 so far imo

Kinda excited for Noah to rejoin AC with his newfound "barebones" aesthetic. Could make for a pretty exciting album if AC went the stripped-down, punk route.

Have to disagree w/ sleeve tho, I could seriously see "Alsatian Darn" getting some sort of airplay beyond college radio. Ok, not really. But it's ridiculously catchy in the vaguest way.

I haven't been conciously listening to any of the singles... the songs I've heard somehow failed to grip me even though I think person pitch is one of the best albums of the past decade.

Young Prayer didn't register with me either. Both albums sound good, they just don't seem to have the replay value for me.

Should I try harder to like them?

Often wonder what Lisbon is like to live in.

apparently not so great since he's going back to his mom's house as a grown adult

rmde

"Panda Bear is the project of Animal Collective member Noah Lennox. Tomboy, his long-awaited fourth album as Panda Bear, and follow-up to Person Pitch, is now complete and will be released on his own label, Paw Tracks on April 19, 2011.

Over the past six months or so, Panda Bear has released a series of vinyl singles on different labels, including Domino, Paw Tracks, and Fat Cat, with the final single forthcoming on Kompakt. The Tomboy album will be a compilation of these songs, along with new ones that have not been released. Additionally, all the songs have been added to and newly mixed with help from Sonic Boom to give the album a wonderfully rich and warm sound. stay tuned for more details."

ooh Sonic Boom!

i was anticipating it, but tomboy really didn't do it for me...and i loved person pitch.

so needless to say, im not anticipating it all that much anymore.

Everyone I know who's a fan of tha man loves how the new album's sounding. The transition isn't entirely difficult as it still retains that infrastructure of Person Pitch - the bass, Lennox's voice - and discards the layers of sampling, which were nice and amusing but ultimately not why somebody chose to listen to a song ("this is the song with the SICK zombie moans, right?")

http://pitchfork.com/news/41220-panda-bear-finally-announces-itomboyi-release/

Save the date: Animal Collective member Panda Bear has announced the completion of his long-gestating new album Tomboy. And now you can know when to expect it, too: April 19, via his own Paw Tracks labe

l

weird stuff going on. sonic boom put out a press release on the mgmt forum with the tracklist, which talks a lot more about him than panda, then panda's management tweeted this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/Dietrick/Screenshot2011-01-21at14012AM.png

WHOA that's not a very nice way to talk about the guy who produced yr album

i was under the impression sonic had cleaned up, btw?

hmm, looks like he deleted it soon ater

SONIC BOOM .
PANDA BEAR . COLLABORATE ON NEW PANDA BEAR LP.

PANDA BEAR the sublime and transcendental side-project of ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
member NOAH LENNOX releases TOMBOY – the intensely awaited new LP. on April
19th 2011

The worldwide release on the bands own PAW TRACKS imprint of the 50
minute eleven song album will feature totally new mixes , arrangements &
sleevenotes by SPACEMEN 3 & SPECTRUM founder SONIC BOOM .

As well as his extensive career as a musician and performer, SONIC has been
involved in numerous projects since the 1980 . Having most recently produced
and mixed records for MGMT ( Congratulations) Dean & Britta (Andy Warhol’s
13 Most Beautiful) Cheval Sombre, Moon Duo , the Red Crayola & 13th Floor
Elevators as well as his longtime work with such luminaries as Delia
Derbyshire ,Stereolab ,Silver Apples ,Kevin Shields & numerous others.

SONIC BOOM aka PETER KEMBER contacted Noah in 2008 after hearing the highly
acclaimed PERSON PITCH and then seeing his first band name-checked on the
sleeve . At this time he expressed a strong desire to collaborate , which
finally culminated in PANDA BEAR and SONIC working together to put together
this l.p. of new mixes .

Entirely different to the previously released limited edition 7″ single
series , this record is a culmination of 3 years work y Noah Lennox aka
Panda , and includes some entirely new material. Handed over to Sonic for
mixing , the two collaborated meanwhile between New York ,Rugby & Lisbon -
Sending mixes and files whirring thru the ether .

As well as mixing , Specially recorded new parts by SONIC BOOM are
featured on the disc , With all extra recording and mixing work being done
at MGMT’s New York BLANKER UNSINN studios .

TOMBOY is the fourth PANDA BEAR long player and will be released on
multiple formats including a special hi-fidelity DMM vinyl version on colour
vinyl , Compact Disc , and a limited edition BOX SET of 12” singles .

TOMBOY Tracklisting :

YOU CAN COUNT ON ME
TOMBOY
SLOW MOTION
SURFERS HYMN
LAST NIGHT AT THE JETTY
DRONE

ALSATIAN DARN
SCHEHEREZADE
FRIENDSHIP BRACELET
AFTERBURNER
BENFICA

The album was recorded in Lisbon , Portugal by Panda Bear . Mixed in New
York at Blanker Unsinn by Sonic Boom. Mix Engineered by Sonic Boom & Nick
Kramer . Extra recording by Sonic boom . Mastering by Sonic Boom & Joe
Lambert .

loooooool that is like 80% sonic focused

"GUESS WHO MADE THE NEXT PANDA BEAR RECORD, SONIC BOOM DID, MOTHAFUCKAS!!!!!!! (btw noah lennox helped too)"

http://i.imgur.com/PECzU.jpg

http://www.paw-tracks.com/Tomboy900.jpg

pushed up to April 12, too

It's even less interesting than the angel one, but guess I'll just have to deal.

http://pitchfork.com/news/41542-listen-panda-bear-last-night-at-the-jetty/

digging this a lot, much better than the 7" version.

yeah, sonic boom did a nice job buffing it up, excited for the album.

I really like this, unexpectedly. love the progression, the melody. however, isn't it kind of ridiculous now to deny the brian wilson influence on this guy? I don't recall many interviews where he's talked about BW, but this song, the falsetto stuff; it's kind of blatant, isn't it?

maybe cuz that comparison was done to death re: person pitch?

Didn't pay attention to the singles last year, but that new song on pitchfork sounds good!

I really liked that song live and hadn't heard the previous version. The other tracks I'd heard didn't excited me at all but this is good indeed.

however, isn't it kind of ridiculous now to deny the brian wilson influence on this guy? I don't recall many interviews where he's talked about BW, but this song, the falsetto stuff; it's kind of blatant, isn't it?

― Dominique, Saturday, February 12, 2011 12:28 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

not sure who is denying it? pretty much everything written about panda or ac since sung tongs has mentioned brian wilson. beach boys is on the list of influences in the person pitch booklet.

yeah that was a drunk post. i think what i meant was this tune sounds like bw in a way that does service to the comparison. beyond the vocal similarity, the song itself was very bw to me, and not in a cynical "whaddya know, that sounds like bw" way

Hot track...

This guy always does a good job of switching up what is happening musically, but the vocal arrangements are always the same and in this case seem to have very little to do with the music. However, the guy can sing, which is nice.

lucky enough to be hearing a promo stream of this, and so far it's sounding like the best AC release since Prospect Hummer - no jokes!

It's good but I disagree. It's not nearly as good as Strawberry Jam or the Fall Be Kind 12".

Can you drop a hint as to where to be listening to this promo stream?

I've been really digging all the samples, but like I've said somewhere or another, SO MUCH has been leaked/released that I feel like I've listened to all of the album but 3 tracks already.

All of the album tracks that have previously appeared on the singles have been completely re-worked on remixed for the full-length.

It's good but I disagree. It's not nearly as good as Strawberry Jam or the Fall Be Kind 12".

― Badmotorfinger Debate Club (MFB)

Isn't Strawberry Jam one of their lowest ranked albums by their fans?

yeah, but i think their fans largely judge albums solely on the sonic rendering of the drum sound

I thought their fans ranked them by how well it soundtracked their bong hits.

gosh, is no demographic free from this ruthless lampooning?

Can you drop a hint as to where to be listening to this promo stream?

If I did that, the PR company would send Avey Tare round to bang a drum and screech at me every time I try and sleep.

I've been really digging all the samples, but like I've said somewhere or another, SO MUCH has been leaked/released that I feel like I've listened to all of the album but 3 tracks already.

― Congratulations, you've just won a Nintendo iPod. (kelpolaris), Saturday, 5 March 2011 18:27 (2 days ago)

This happened to me with Person Pitch (which I thought was kinda rub tbh). Much prefer Tomboy. Definitely got a Brian Wilson flavour, but also plenty of techno styles. There's a bit where it sounds like there's a whole football pitch singing along with him at one point. Unfortunately the stream worked once and won't play again. Grrr..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPzNq03e7e8

=

http://roguemag.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/beach-boys-ybab.jpg?w=280&h=285

ybab em ssik

vid gets a lil film student's definition of "THIS IS ART" but holy christ do I love that song

yeah, so somehow or another these guys are reviewing the album already (or quite more possibly, the 4 tracks uploaded to youtube)

http://www.theskinny.co.uk/article/101886-panda-bear-tomboy

or the single listening they had at one of those listening parties mentioned upthread. either way, i'm
http://preparednesspro.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/skeptical.jpg

there have been promos or things for critics, right?

pretty cool interview on npr
http://www.npr.org/2011/03/29/134949521/guest-dj-panda-bear

Should we update the thread title for accuracy at this point? Or are we waiting for 2012?

there have been promos or things for critics, right?

i think only "select" critics - i know sim0n reyn0lds got one (posted a pic on his blog iirc) but mine's not being mailed til a week before release date, arriving 2-3 days before street date. & yes i am a "new" critic & all but just sayin

get your head out from those mags and websites that try to shape your style

goddamnit markers stfu <3

<3

TS: Panda Bear vs. Mudvayne

http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/cas/2296136832.html

^ gotta be an ILXor

New York... whiney, is that u?

Alex in NYC

david shapiro

streaming on NPR now: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/03/134987319/first-listen-panda-bear-tomboy

no bettie serveert cover, i guess : /

i'm loving this. the whole album has just infinite hooks.

but yeah, vastly prefer - despite all previous (assumed) bitching - the original artwork posted way upthread.

this is the t-shirt you get if you order a Tomboy LP on Record Store Day
http://www.undertheradarmag.com/uploads/article_images/925.jpg

(hey me again hey me again)

rly dunno what to say about sonic boom's production tho, now that i've given the whole album a listen. whereas before it seemed like lennox was going for a contrast to PP via minimalism, it all seems to have come right back in full force here. "tomboy" now has synthesizers, slow motion now features what sounds like a kid playing with a spring-coiled door-stopper, and generally there's a feeling of melody being buried beneath samples and some sort of misty lo-fi filter. which really wasn't a fault with PP, so i'm not really complaining here. and it's especially, tastefully, done on "last night at the jetty" in which i ADORE the ghostly moanings coating lennox's fever-chantings of "i know/i know/i know". otherwise, admittedly, it's a bit distracting which makes me question whether i've spoilt myself beforehand by familiarizing myself with the leaked songs months and months back.

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/03/134987319/first-listen-panda-bear-tomboy
I hope all the weird sounds in Slow Motion are just to stop people stealing this copy. I see kelpolaris thought it was a bitoff too

where do you write ilxor

all over this fucking message board

hope you get over your teething, it's not easy when you feel sick!

this is literally me

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/You_can_count_on_me.jpg

Fucking the back of ilxor's head?

someone is sending ilxor promos for posting on ilx?

woah lol

I love how via NPR app I can stream this to my iPhone for free for like the next week

NPR streams are becoming a hueg deal.

streaming npr on your iphone should make up for the fact that you can't hold a phone call

no chris 0tt, but I guarantee you pfork will have a full album streaming player in an attempt to take that corner back w/in the next 9 months

http://i53.tinypic.com/28lcr43.gif

Haven't heard it yet but the reviews I've read so far aren't encouraging - and both of them written by Person Pitch fans as far as I can tell.

I'm waiting for my review to be published, but it is VERY positive and I wasn't a PP fan at all.

afterburner is awesome

no chris 0tt, but I guarantee you pfork will have a full album streaming player in an attempt to take that corner back w/in the next 9 months

― bird absolutely seen asses (Whiney G. Weingarten), Monday, April 4, 2011 2:32 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

well i mean they basically had this a while ago--i assume they have been trying to get another one since because it's dumb how many of their reviews don't even have a link to one song from the album in question.

zpost Last Night At The Jetty is my favourite ('Kiss Me Baby' with the songsheet turned upside down), followed by Benfica (football chantwave), the title track (hovercraft techno), Scheherezade (a ballad for Grendel's mother). Afterburner's great as well. It's pretty much everyhting I want from post-Feels AC.

where do you write ilxor

well aside from all over this fucking message board (i lol'd btw), i write a couple reviews a week for brainwashed.com -- this week, my thoughts about Craft Spells and J Rocc -- not a professional writer by any means, but i'm enjoying the chance to more formally spill my thoughts on what i'm playing these days.

btw, played the Panda Bear album last night and i'm with dog latin: i wasn't a huge fan of Person Pitch (s'okay, i guess) but this one's really grabbing me by the throat, so far it sounds fantastic!

dog latin, where do you write, btw?

i'm not a pro writer either, ilxor - just a dabbler for now.
recently decided all this time discussing music on boards ought to be put to better use, so this year i'm trying to start doing more.
Of course the day job (sales for a national newspaper that is, according to ILX 'worse than it used to be') gets in the way of productivity. I used to do a bit of stuff for Stylus when it was going (ages ago). A big gap followed and in 2008 started doing about five short album reviews a month for Clash magazine (UK LOLindie publication). Now I've just started doing some things for The Quietus.

ah nice! stylus is all-time, love that place, r.i.p.

RIP ;_;

Anyway, whatever, finally listening to this NPR stream.

I'll be interested to hear what you think of this one Sick Mouthy - You weren't too mad on Merriweather Post Pavilion iirc, but I don't remember if you like any other AC releases (or Person Pitch for that matter).

Listening to Tomboy is like, I dunno, I feel like I've been making excuses for AC throughout Strawberry Jam and MPP while still realising that those records are both a bit mediocre (save a few brilliant tracks on each). Other than the Fall Be Kind EP, I don't think they've done that much I've truly LOVED since Prospect Hummer. Tomboy is definitely the album I've been waiting for and has reminded me of why I fell in love with their style in the first place, which kind of makes me worried that I might secretly only like Noah's material.

whoa not sure about this buzzy synth so high in the mix on TOMBOY (the song)

I came to love MPP but it took a while (and a new set of speakers). I like parts of Person Pitch an awful lot. I dislike Strawberry Jam pretty much, really like most of Fall Be Kind, likewise Sung Tongs and Feels. Only know most other stuff vaguely.

So far I'm enjoying this quite a lot, but I'm gagging to get it off the stream-into-headphones and onto CD-via-speakers.

Yeah, I'll be buying this when it comes out properly. I only got a preview stream.

I have unconditional love for AC's acoustic/folk records - Prospect Hummer, Sung Tongs and Campfire Songs. Fall Be Kind is amazing. Everythign else is second/third league and the more I think about it the less I like MPP. At least Strawberry Jam had Fireworks on it.

Feels forever

I always forget about Feels for some reason. I also really like the Panda Bear Young Prayer album.

PP has grown on me (even when I liked it from the get-go)... but it's especially entertaining listening to Good Girl/Carrots in the car (provided you have a decent sound-system) and just letting all his environment-atics completely wash over you. at the risk of sounding like a dubstep-bro, there's a couple bassy parts in that song (like in the transition from the jungle vibe to more melodic beach boys-ish stuff) that i rewind endlessly just to feel the car shake.

still think "ponytail" is a lame song and album finisher, as is comfy in nautica (the Akira sample was the single-most entertaining thing about it)

Ponytail's my favourite thing on PP - makes me think of some of the more chilled stuff on the Kompakt Total comps. I must be listening to that record all wrong.

ponytail is great, comfy in nautica not so much. i'm not also one of my faves.

I guess the lyrics put me off... they were silly and too literal w/ his vocal style (innocence).

i cant listen to surfer's hymn without thinking someone's dumbass ringtone is going off in the office

I've listened to Benefica 6x in a row now. Never thought I'd have a category for this, but it really is the Most Uplifting Song of 2011. Love how it meanders, depriving you of any real melody until the melody actually kicks in and your appreciation of it just goes ten-fold.

listening to some of this.

it totally sucks just like other panda bear and animal collective.

what a dumb genre of nu-crap that these groups define.

never thought of it like that

you don't want to hear how I described "afterburner" in a slsk chatroom

lets just say that it involved oompa loompas taking rhythmic craps

evocative

captainlorax your top albums of the last decade included a record by deadboy and the elephantmen, you are not qualified to criticize panda bear, sorry

much too floral for lorax

WHAT IS THIS PUSSY SHIT

captain florax

it is pretty samey-sounding though. Very little variation in tempos.

pretty snoozy. missing the relatively dirty/cheap sound of the last one, this one is too "mature"

last one was too dirty/cheap imo

this is fantastic

sounds great to me.

hope Sonic made/makes a ton of cash with this

Very disappointed by this, and it's mostly due to the production. I love PK to bits, but this production... I just don't see what he went for. The sound he clothes the core ideas of PB in are disturbing to the most elemental and sublime idea of PB's music, the harmony, the flow. They not only do not go together well, they seem like seperate entities that were thrown together on a record by chance. Awful.

i'm enjoying this way more than i thought i would

hope Sonic made/makes a ton of cash with this

yeah just what a junkie needs, $$ to reaccelerate old habits

The sound he clothes the core ideas of PB in are disturbing to the most elemental and sublime idea of PB's music, the harmony, the flow.

Er, reverb is as evident on PP as it is here. I'm double-confused if you actually think he has too many samples going on.

No, I'm not talking about the reverb, that's obviously a key element. Rather I mean there's more of a 'metallic'/synthy sound in the washes/backdrop that seems to serve no purpose, doesn't push the music any further or higher. Quite the contrary, it suck's the soul out of it for me, it's an obstacle between me and what I perceive the core of PB to be.

(wish I could give examples linked to songtitles but I've only heard the album-in-one-go on NPR)

haven't heard the album, but I will say that even on the tracks I've heard and liked, the compression was kind of haphazardly used. for example, the drums on "last night at the jetty" are really thin because the attacks on them are way too short. The handclaps ring really long, and sound good, but I have a feeling, they just applied a (hopefully not preset) compression to everything, and lived w/the results. imo Panda Bear doesn't need any help sounding thin -- he needs someone to make his songs fuller (like his harmony vocals). #headstuckinrecodingmoderesponse

this might have something to do with it:

How did your Korg gear fit into the making of Merriweather Post Pavilion? What do you plan to use live on the upcoming tour?

The other guys used the KAOSS Pads on the record, for sure. I hadn’t gotten the M3 until after the recording of that release was over, but I’m planning to use the M3 nearly exclusively to make my new songs. I really like how with the M3 and other devices, Korg seems to be looking forward, and I'd like to be that way creatively if I can.

from http://www.korg.com/Artist.aspx?artist=636

hey yall making my new songs on this from now on, peace. http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PnjZqVqsg2I/0.jpg

That is accurate, in fact.

Last Night At The Jetty is my favourite ('Kiss Me Baby' with the songsheet turned upside down)

could you precise what you mean ? sounds interesting but I don't understand !

I really don't understand how anyone would like Animal Collective or past PB records and not like this too. Then again, I am not a huge fanatic and have only listened to Person Pitch a few times, aside from hearing it a little at clubs. I really enjoy his stuff alot but I dont really put it on all the time, so it all kind of blends into a nice aesthetic sound that i know im getting whenever i put on an AC/PB record. Production quality on Tomboy is really pretty outstanding, and its alot of fun to listen to!

However, atm im more interested in hearing what other weird shit the Flaming Lips come up with for this week...

what kind of club plays Person Pitch???

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/174798_6984217977_6654704_n.jpg

I definitely heard a few of the singles at the Drunken Unicorn and the Star Bar. Yeah, indie rock clubs.

Jorda, that's my local indie club!

n!

I really don't understand how anyone would like Animal Collective or past PB records and not like this too.

Um, the new one is in a completely different style to Person Pitch. PP was built on one and two-bar samples, looped. The samples did all the heavy lifting, texture-wise. They also provided a very simple harmonic backdrop (Bros is pretty much one chord from start to finish) that was very easy to sing nice lines over (think modal jazz vs bebop).

Now compare that to say, Tomboy the song. It's basically chord chord chord chord chord. He sounds like he has no experience engineering good guitar and synth sounds, and the pile of chords make it hard to make a natural sounding melody that works on top of them. It's interesting he mentioned Nirvana in the Pitchfork interview, because they were very good at this (Lithium etc have insane chords, but they make them work). Basically I think he's not playing to his strengths any more.

ilxor, what exactly didn't you like about Deadboy and The Elephantmen?

Lorax: Ask ilxor

http://www.spin.com/reviews/panda-bear-tom-boy-paw-tracks

Spin gave it an 8/10, ditto for The Guardian

I know it's a critical taboo, but kinda hoping some review steps up and gives it a direct comparison to PP. would be p fun to read for hidden bias

Last Night At The Jetty is my favourite ('Kiss Me Baby' with the songsheet turned upside down)

could you precise what you mean ? sounds interesting but I don't understand !

― AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 7 April 2011 14:41 (2 days ago)

Listen to the two tacks back-to-back. I'm sure there's a harmonic reference in there.

I really love Surfer's Hymn. Is he singing 'stapled to my wave, to my wave', as in he's actually been locked to his surfboard with a staple-gun?

excuse me but what

8.5: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15299-tomboy/

thanks for the link markers

np

Sonically this album is like watching a 3D film with polarising glasses over regular spectacles.

kind of surprised no one cares about this record tbh!

"no one"?

you debase yourself a bit by going to a forum to talk about a band/guy girls typically fawn over

i mean i love the guy but the same girls i know who're super into panda bear and such are the same ones who really consider mumford & sons to be ~the voice of their generation~

or: indie cred

ugh, now i'm playing the sexism card. i should state i and my colleegz are in our early 20's. (i guess i still haven't redeemed myself)

Nope, digging deeper.

some people have no ~panda cred~

Who are these girls who like panda bear? (outsides the Internet and a couple of trendy urban indie clubs, that is)

My wife is one.

Anyway, my opinion on Tomboy - http://sickmouthy.com/2011/04/11/panda-bear-tomboy/

I'm old, I don't know any girls who are into Panda Bear or AC

That is a great review of Tomboy, Nick. I'm having some lol issues with this record, but your review gives me hope that I'll see through the clutter and appreciate it for what it is. Thanks again.

ah yeah, i regret making such a generalist statement. but nobody has picked up that AC is near a rite of initiation for the college crowd? remember how many times was "my girls" played on your local college radio? all those fans p much translate to the most accessible and (relative, but here goes:) best looking member of the group. iono about you guys but every girl i know even mildly into indie-rock has anticipated this album like the 2nd coming or something.

I live in North Hertfordshire and work in a sales office in Kings Cross, so I can only understand this vicariously. Basically I don't know anyone IRL who has more than a peripheral awareness of Animal Collective, let alone this album coming out. I'm starting to understand why so many people of a certain generation and geography have a problem with them though.

Had to reread - problem with AC or problem w/ those unaware of AC? The former is admittedly more imaginable, but I can also see reason for the latter: I mean the band was given an Album of the Year award, for MPP, by Entertainment Weekly. Which is, iirc, in the top 5 selling magazines in the nation.

If I like this record and sorta like MPP where is the next place to go?

i really like ac's feels and strawberry jam and panda bear's person pitch

if you like this then obv panda's last album -- also straw jam has some choice panda cuts

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

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

^yes

Calstars get Person Pitch for sure, then just move backwards through AC's catalogue until you hit an album you hate.

Yeah that was a nice piece Nick, I wish I could *like* it, wish you were on Tumblr.

Calstars, go for Person Pitch, Feels, and the Fall Be Kind EP. I don't like Srrawberry Jam much.

Yeah that was a nice piece Nick, I wish I could *like* it, wish you were on Tumblr.

You def can add an fb button on wordpress nick.

Calstars, my favourite ac releases other than the ones you mention are sung tongs and the prospect hummer ep, although they're very different in style.

Kelpolaris, what I meant was that ac just aren't as ubiquitous in my world as a 30yo englisher as they might be if I were a 20yo us college student. Tbh I knew they were bigger in the US than over here, but I didn't realise they were as overexposed as you make out. Here they're still fairly obscure outside alt music / underground circles. Then again I don't even come from a very hip part of the UK so maybe in our colleges it's the same. I doubt it somehow.

MPP was also album of the year in Mojo *and* Uncut magazines in the UK, and they've sold out every single show they've ever played here - they're not fairly obscure! I think in many ways they're bigger in the UK than in the US.

They're not Kings Of Leon though. MPP was the most obscure AOTY in those kind of publications probably since Spiritualized in 1997.

Yeah, Mojo Schmojo to be honest. UK college-age people are far more likely to be into Magnetic Man or Get Cape Wear Cape Fly or KoL or Katy Perry or any number of acts above AC. They might be getting plaudits and achieve a certain cache among urbanite hipsters, but they're no phenomenon over here.

Get Cape Wear Cape Fly?! It's all Crystal Tips & Alistair round here, or whatever they're called. Crystal Wolves. Crystal Parade. Crystal Panda. Something.

Shhh... You'll wake Whiney...

GCWCF might well be an anomaly in my area as their drummer comes from Hitchin.

remember how many times was "my girls" played on your local college radio?

jesus christ I'm old

Hehehe, this reminds me of ages ago when a Canadian poster (was her name Cecile?) berrated a bunch of Ilxors about our lack of ragga knowledge, saying "'Just go to your local dancehall specialist and listen to what they're playing!" and I was all "my what now?"

My local Animal Collective enthusiast is actually my direct line manager.

I live in a nice world.

this record is decent enough, pleasant.

Bought the LP today... ridiculously good deal.Just $14, $2 more than the CD, and you get both the record and a card to redeem the mp3 files. Plus it surprised me by including a live set as well.

Came on clear vinyl, which is pretty neat but makes this bizarre cracking noise (like the needle-on-dust sound, if it exploded on contact)... it's wiggin me out.

A bit fanboyish, but has anyone bought the CD version yet? PP rather impressed me w/ how much work went into the packaging
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljmb6ura5w1qifoodo1_500.jpg
which no, isn't worthy of being a collector's item but when the last dozen CD's I bought before contained nothing but a single sheet for artwork and a black backing behind the CD it was a nice relief to see there was actual care being put into presentation.

Tomboy on CD just looks like a standard digipak @ the record store, or a small-scale version of the vinyl (which has no lyrical inserts or anything. I don't have PP on vinyl, tho, so wouldn't know how to compare it)

So are you saying the crackling sound is there all the time? Like the pressing is bad? Always heard colored vinyl could be a problem sound-wise, not sure if that is true.

It was only on Side A, but I'm still trying to diagnose what's up. The thing that makes me wonder whether it's dust tho is that there's no hiss or the usual sounds one associates with dust... it's more like KAK KAK KAK once every 7 seconds or so.

i think you have a tucan in your room somewhere

I've never bought a poorly pressed record... is that what it usually sounds like? xpost

lol'd irl @ Jordan

I've never bought a poorly pressed record... is that what it usually sounds like? xpost

lol'd irl @ Jordan

Well, I'm not sure technically, but sometimes new records can be crackly, which they really shouldn't be, and I've bought some 7"s where the sound was pinched and kind of warbly b/c the pressing wasn't done right. Every few seconds like that would seem to indicate some kind of scratch, but seems like it shouldn't last through a whole side.

Tomboy on CD is packaged the same as MPP and In Rainbows, and has the download card too.

Sounds like a scratch on your vinyl to me too; this is why I prefer CD.

Surfers Hymn 7" is a v. nice pressing thanks to Kompakt i guess.

Still not sold on this weird sound happening in the LP version of Slow Motion. I don't see why it's needed, other than to make it sound worse. Makes me kinda not want to listen tbh.

^Sound totally, totally ruins it. The product is top-notch elsewhere so I'm surprised this is allowed to have such dominance on the song. It is and sounds like an obnoxious fly you just want to get outta the way.

Just noticed these tiny little inscriptions on my vinyl... side A says "can i call you a car?" whereas side b says "i'm a notorious coat wearer". i want to think that maybe these are things his son has said (considering the gate-fold "fatherly" imagery and the "for fern" on the sleeve-note) but i'm not exactly sure he's even old yet enough to talk...? let alone use the word "notorious".

so this is a good lp but it's pretty much exactly what I was expecting. i'm kind of surprised to see that nobody's mentioned here comes the indian or danse manatee as those are totally their best albums, along w/ campfire songs. person pitch was brilliant but i though that young prayer far surpassed it, just such a beautiful tribute to his father. re person pitch on vinyl: it had an insert that was all the pages from the cd booklet on one doublesided sheet. had the whole list of everyone he sampled.

it's not a list of samples, it's artists he considers influences.

i thought it was a mix of both? he talked about sampling some sounds off the radio without knowing where they came from, so I wasn't entirely clear about it.

he may have sampled some of the artists on the list, but it wasn't put together to be a list of artists sampled.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_rUNAr4XL1h4/Sv76Ui2EFuI/AAAAAAAAAFw/YYHZshB11Wo/large_boring-highway-sign.jpg

My old roommate just made this

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

My review of this is up on the Quietus now for those interested

i'm sure you expected this criticism, but your review contradicts itself rather awkwardly. there seems to be some disdain from appreciating this record *too much* as it gives fault for you to be taken seriously in the future. mostly, i just find it weird that you find so many merits in the album, take the time to enthuse over these merits, but precede it all cautiously with a "but just so you know, i didn't like it".

Err - isn't it preceded by criticism of Person Pitch, not of this album?

i've reread it and i think you're right - this is my bad and a post i shouldn't have made with such knee-jerk reactionism. reviews typically introduce themselves w/ a historical context which i don't ever really give my utmost attention to - so I DIDNT skim, but i was thrown off when the review transitions with a "i didn't care for this much" and much that preceded this line i forgot about.

i guess this is where my qualm lies - i find this unnecessary information. it should be up to the listener as to whether they consider a sonically regressive album still inherently good... but the fault more lies with me, and makes me glad quietus doesn't subscribe to the point-system of grading. otherwise that essential ambiguity of quality, seen here, would be amiss.

i guess, long story short, is that "I didn't care much for this album" served as sort of a red-flag and a line that could've been edited out to great effect. it gives the rest of a review an ominous "but" after every appraisal, a sort of "this part of the song is cathartic [but it does nothing new for me].... these melodies are absorbing [but it does nothing new for me]". the whole removal of "me" is, i realize, an essential part of criticism. but sometimes it doesn't do much for reader-write trust.

haha, fair dos. i think there was a sentence or two that had been edited between the transition from me talking about Person Pitch and Tomboy. Also I wrote it about 3 weeks ago before the album came out etc..

You're right that it's good they don't have a points system.

yeah i just read back, and there's an edit of a sentence in there that makes it clearer I'm saying I didn't like Person Pitch. Too bad.

so no one cares about this anymore ?
listening to "afterburner" right now : somehow I find a 80s miami vice feeling to it (which for me is great, btw !).
I listen to the album quite often and really like some tracks ("count on me", "jetty", "alsatian", "benfica") but don't LOVE it as a whole as much as I did MPP (my favourite AC related release so far).
hard to say if I prefer it to PP. they're so different (although very alike in some ways !).
I think I prefer the "classic" construction of the songs in tomboy to the long samples/jams of PP but there are less radiating/spiritual/endless summer moments in the former.
I like how "count on me" makes me think of sakamoto. and "benfica" of moz's "we'll let you know" !