| Panda Bear Person Pitch |
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 | Tracklist:
- Comfy in Nautica
- Take Pills
- Bro's
- I'm Not
- Good Girl/Carrots
- Search for Delicious
- Ponytail
| Ranking: #107 for 2007 | |
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On 46 Lists
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| Summary: Fans of Animal Collective rejoice! The collective's drummer/sound maker's new CD is a treat for the ears, combining warped Beach Boys pop with lush effects and beautiful melodies. |
Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox had a whole lot of stuff on his plate during the writing, recording and releasing of his second solo outing, Person Pitch. He got married and had a kid and packed up his life and moved to Lisbon, Portugal. It’s hard to believe anyone in that situation would have the time to create such an inspired album, but Panda manages to knock it out of the park. Everything, from the cover art to the album’s eight tracks, is as strange as it is beautiful, dreamy and visceral, powerful and comforting. When staring into said art I often have the overwhelming urge to be one of those young children. I want to be the young boy in the straw hat, the one who the Panda Bear is lovingly curled around. I want to that little girl in the red cap, the one pretending to not be infatuated with this fine animal. I want to be there, I want to be them.
But music itself is a fine substitute for physical touch (believe me, I know) and Panda’s is no exception. From the moment Comfy in Nautica begins to the notes that Ponytail fades away on, it’s apparent that you can never be lonely listening to Person Pitch. The music is happy for one, perhaps ever more upbeat than that of Panda’s previous band, Animal Collective, it’s also lush, and inviting, without being to overly produced or watered down. Imagine a baby, to young to emit fully developed words, just gurgling and babbling away and you could probably get a pretty good idea of how this record makes me feel. The album’s second single, (there have already been four released) Bro’s, is a modern pop classic, a catchy piece of music that might not be horribly out of place as a Beach Boys B-side. Or maybe it would. It’s hard to say how the average Beach Boys fan would react to Panda’s blend of Noise Rock and Psychedelic Pop. Would they be lulled into a dreamlike state of musical ecstasy? Or repulsed by the way Noah takes their favorite band’s influence and warps into something completely strange and original?
Or would they just be bored? God knows how many people today (or even back then) could stomach listening to a 12 minute pop song, no matter how well-written.
But even those who can’t, should find something equally awesome, while significantly shorter, on Person Pitch. I’m Not is the way Amazonian tribes would chant if someone tainted their water supply with LSD (3:59) and the jarring array of trip-hop beats throughout Good Girl/Carrots should keep the listener as interested as anything Nickelback can cough up. The song itself (Good Girl/Carrots) is certainly a strange one. The production on the vocals takes a step for the weirder, bathing in more effects and texture than perhaps all of Radiohead’s OK Computer. The pounding, robotic bongo loops of the first half of the song (Good Girl) give an exciting break from the gurgling baby music, but it’s when these beats morph into the groovy piano based brilliance of Carrots that the goodness really returns tenfold. The beat forces you to dance and sing along (whether or not the lyrics are audible) and when it all drops out and Panda delivers the song’s hook (It’s not a ticket/for you to picnic) a smile will form out of even the most rotten molars.
The album’s final track is a more than appropriately pretty closing note. Ponytail brings everything that was good and better about Person Pitch together in one short, sweet tune. Over an atmospheric mix of heavily reverbed guitar melodies and heavily reverbed backing vocals, Panda delivers the lines “When my soul starts growing/I am as I was meant to be/And I know I will never stop growing” in a Brian Wilson esque coo. The song could be a look back at the months that preceded Person Pitch, or hopes and dreams for the future, but either way, it makes for a nice album closer. And with I think it’s safe to say that, Person Pitch just might be album of the year (so far, at least).
-Joe
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
I want to that little girl in the red cap, the one pretending to not be infatuated with this fine animal. I want to be there, I want to be them.
midlife crisis
Digging: Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine
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A little overzealous in your approach and descriptions, but I'm sold. I love Animal Collective, and if this is anywhere near as good as Feels, I'll be sure to check it out. Still, good review. First paragraph is ace, but this could be strengthened with a more satisfactory conclusion.
| | | Album Rating: 4
a little overzealous joe!
Digging: Converge - Axe To Fall | | | Album Rating: 3 | Sound Off
a little overzealous indeed! great review this is overrated blah blah blah
| | | Album Rating: 4
I just downloaded this the other day, am listening to it for the first time right now. Very excited, halfway through first song.
Digging: The XX - xx | | |
This turned out to be really good. It might grow on me, but it's still excellent.
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sounds interesting
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Nice review. I heard one of the tracks off of this on the radio yesterday and really liked it a lot. Definitely going to buy this album, it sounds terrific.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
this is excellent. me likes
Digging: Drudkh - Microcosmos | | |
I retract all of my previous statements.
Fantastic.
| | | Album Rating: 4
This album is insane, beach boys would be proud.
Digging: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion | | | Album Rating: 4.5
I think this album is good, but it actually hurts me to listen to it. That would probably bring down the rating a bit.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
whaaaaaat
Digging: A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head | | |
I think this album is good, but it actually hurts me to listen to it.
yeah, really, what?
Digging: Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind
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oh my god what this is terrible lynch the heathen
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
album is still owning to this date.
and elim you didn't comprehend what we meant when we said 'what.' nice job.
| | | Album Rating: 1.5 | Sound Off
not very good.
it's excellent background music, though, i must admit. i can play it, and stand it, if i'm doing something that requires a lot of attention, because the music just plays to create an atmosphere.
but if i sit down and play ANY track (except Comfy in Nautica) and actually sit and listen, i can barely stand it.
Digging: Tiny Vipers - Life on Earth | | | Album Rating: 4.5
Fantastic, fucking fantastic
nice review as well.
Digging: A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Ashes Grammar | | | Album Rating: 4.5
I play this album and battles - mirrored basically every week and they never get old.
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Oh, oh, oh, ohohoh so good.
Digging: A Wilhelm Scream - A Wilhelm Scream
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