Sunday, March 25, 2007

Panda Bear - Person Pitch

Pop elements are what I enjoy most in music, and, is primarily what I seek out. Bright soundscapes composed of jangly guitars, infectious vocals, and a manifold of complementary instrumentation are, to me, the peak of musicality. Having said that, pop often serves as a wonderful supplement to seemingly contrasting musical styles. The Jesus and Mary Chain, for example, drenched noise with underlying pop sensualities. My point is, these bright sounds can be, more often than not, completely utilized in conjunction with borrowed sounds.

Panda Bear, also known as Noah Lennox from Animal Collective, is the creative force behind Person Pitch, his third album. Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of AC. Not that they’re bad, but I’ve never listened to them extensively. As such, I had no idea what to expect from this album. I was genuinely hoping that it wasn’t some self-indulgent noise escapade that would make my ears bleed, like another band, which I won’t bother naming for fear of their fans leaving my blog! Thankfully, my fears were put to rest. ‘Comfy in Nautica’ is a nice intro to the record, featuring restrained vocals on Lennox’s part, and monotonic chants from the background. The album is an extremely relaxed experience, save for a few tense moments.

The album has roots in a variety of sources. Most obvious of the lot is a happy-go-lucky 50s/60s pop attitude you’d hear from a jukebox, along with (/including) the Beach Boys. Person Pitch sounds like a modern interpretation of Paul Simon’s Graceland, which is a huge compliment as that’s one of the greatest albums in the history of this galaxy. Except instead of Simon’s richly defined voice, we’re met with the busy and droned-out voice of Lennox. It’s very image-heavy and constantly moving, with noises from his surroundings (cars, skateboards, owls) playing a large role in the formation of the album. Halfway through ‘Take Pills’ comes another example of this atmospheric influence, as the sound is submerged into water. The song also sounds like it’s been directly taken out of the Beach Boys catalogue and infused with very spacey and consuming surroundings. ‘Bros’ is the true gem of the album, a 12 minute and 30 second long epic. It’s perfectly timed, incredibly balanced, and melodically brilliant. “I’m not trying to forget you, I’d just like to be alone,” exclaims Lennox, perhaps providing further insight into the busyness and isolation of the record. ‘I’m Not’ and ‘Good Girl’ offer a break from the brightness, instead making way for 9 minutes of layered noises – meandering voices swaying to and fro - a sort of intermission between two halves of pop. Following this short break comes the familiarity of Lennox’s falsetto and multi-instrumentation, which continues through to the album’s conclusion.

It sounds redundant, forgive me, but Person Pitch truly shines with its pop sensibilities. Perhaps it lacks variation, but when it sounds this beautiful why bother entertaining the idea of multiplicity? I’m running out of adjectives and superlatives in which to describe it. It’s just… great. This will no doubt end up as one of the year’s best albums; it’s too good to be overlooked.

Edit: I'm in NYC for the weekend, I return after 4 days without the internetz and they get a 9.4 on p4k?!

MP3: Panda Bear - Comfy in Nautica
MP3: Panda Bear - Take Pills
MP3: Panda Bear - Bros

See Also:
Person Pitch at Metacritic

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

'Take Pills' sounds less like a Beach Boys album and more so like a direct sampling of Scott Walker's Always Coming Back to You

Unknown said...

your photo for this article is of Avey tare, not panda bear.

there are lots of press photos around for noah lennox. check his myspace.

good article. thanks

Dan said...

Crap, I had a feeling that I mixed them up. Thanks for the heads up.

combattery84 said...

Laptop Battery
ACER Laptop Battery APPLE Laptop Battery
DELL Laptop BatteryHP Laptop Battery
LG Laptop Battery LENOVO Laptop Battery
IBM Laptop Battery SONY Laptop Battery
TOSHIBA Laptop Battery
CANON Camcorder Battery
JVC Camcorder Battery
HITACHI Camcorder Battery
PANASONIC Camcorder Battery
SAMSUNG Camcorder Battery
SHARP Camcorder Battery
SONY Camcorder Battery
TOSHIBA Camcorder Battery
HITACHI Camera Battery
JVC Camera Battery
EPSON Camera Battery
NIKON Camera Battery

Anonymous said...

One of the best selling toys of 2010, Pillow Pets has become a phenomenon that has taken hold of the country. Around Christmas time last year Pillow Pets were sold out in many stores, leading to a general shortage and causing sellers to inflate their prices to up to $200 to make a fast buck out of the massive demand.

site said...

Quite effective info, lots of thanks for the article.

Unknown said...

Apple MacBook A1181 Battery
Apple MacBook A1185 Battery
dell latitude e6510 battery
HP Pavilion DV4 Laptop Battery
Dell inspiron 6400 Battery
Dell inspiron e1505 Battery F