Panda Bear – Tomboy

                    Ah yes, the moment we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived. Tomboy dropped today. What did the critics think? Usually questions such as that one are tossed aside as people claim “Hey, just enjoy the music”. Due to Panda Bear’s heavy critical darling status, it is basically impossible to judge it without considering his previous success with Animal Collective and on his own album “Person Pitch”.  I was curious as to how critics would react to his new, considerably less sprawling soundscapes or ‘songs’ as they are popularly known.  

                Panda Bear teased us with this album for roughly the past nine months. Countless cities were visited, with him allegedly tweaking the songs over and over again. EPs got released during this period to build up interest and anticipation. Though he said a lot of these songs were worked over again and again before becoming the album versions, I don’t personally hear a lot of difference between these versions and the EP versions. As I listen to it, it reminds me of the slight disappointment I felt when Real Estate released their album which was a collection of EPs rather than an album in the proper sense of the term. Familiarity with the EPs will dull one’s senses to the full impact of the album. If you’re reading this anyway, you’ve probably listened to these songs in EP form already. 

                TheNeedleDrops panned this album, giving in a ‘light 5’. Pitchfork gave it an ‘8.5’ below Panda Bear’s magnum opus “Person Pitch”, though most didn’t expect him to really beat the ‘9.4’ unless the album versions were extremely massive re-working. Most of these songs aren’t, excluding some additional reverb and sound effects. A few songs even sound weaker in their fully polished form than they did on the EPs. “Alsatian Darn” possibly my favorite song off of all the EPs, sounds weaker with this mix, as the song doesn’t hit as strongly as it did before now that excess sonic junk has been added. 

                What makes this a harder thing to love is the more ambient direction of a lot of the songs. “Person Pitch” had ornate structures, epic lengths, and multiple hypnotic sections. “Tomboy” feels awkward in comparison. On one hand, the lengths suggest a greater pop sense. Yet the songs are too spaced out to be considered accessible. By keeping the lengths short, Panda Bear avoids diving deep into sound like he did for “Person Pitch”. In many ways, the album appears to be a compromise between experimental and accessible, without being close enough to either side to be fully satisfying. Nothing is striking on this; the experimentation comes across more as leftover ideas than anything fully fleshed out.

               

                Expectations ran extremely high for this release. Unlike Avey Tare, who most people didn’t bother paying attention to, Panda Bear had something of a reputation as having the most active musical life outside of Animal Collective. No doubt this release will be held up not only to Panda Bear’s previous expectations, but Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion”. Such comparisons, while somewhat unreasonable, are unavoidable. Since they are otherwise so close-lipped about what they do, people need to read into each release they have as guidance for what may come next.

                I don’t know what is next for Panda Bear. This album had raised hopes for a great deal of people. Even while it is a good album, it is not a great album. Unfortunately people will interpret ‘good’ in this instance with the term ‘not great’ rather than accepting it as a fairly decent addition to Panda Bear’s discography. Panda Bear didn’t help things with constantly resetting the release date and killing off a great deal of buzz and goodwill of various music reviewers. Personally, I’d say listen to it yourself and form your own opinion. Reviews of this are too scatter-shot to summarize, but just don’t expect another Person Pitch.

Will “Kung Fu Panda 2: Kaboom of Doom” help to raise Panda Bear confidence?

Panda Bears have had a hard year. First, their most prominent Bear Noah Lennox failed to release his new album “Tomboy”. This hits this socially conscious and painfully hip (some might say alt) population of Panda Bears particularly hard. After they had converted him into becoming a full-fledged Panda (an act that they usually reserve for the most dedicated zoologists) he spat upon them. Only those EPs have prevented him from being torn apart for their amusement.

The recession hit the Panda population pretty hard as well. Never the most sexually active animal, they remain the only non-human animal for whom porn has been created, in an attempt to bring up their numbers. Seeing other Pandas having fun doesn’t increase confidence. I mean, most Pandas still live with their parents, having just graduated from a reputable State University. Working odd jobs, they contribute a little to the family finances, but they barely have enough to support themselves, let alone a boyfriend/girlfriend. So that Panda porn only reminds Pandas how much greener the grass is on the other side. China has tried to help, allowing Pandas more leeway in the one child policy, in an effort to stem their declining numbers. But it is hopeless as even environmentalists look for increasingly more adorable animals like Polar Bears, sheep, and former Simpson writers.

What are the Panda Bears to do in light of this receding interest? That’s what the Kung Fu Panda movies are for. Seeing a Panda master the art of Kung Fu, an art which most Panda are woefully ignorant of, they gain pride in their species. Obviously, since these are Panda Bears, a few minor changes are needed to make the movie more palpable for Panda audiences.

Jack Black is strangely enough considered an annoying jerk that has no actual talent in the Panda world. Here in the human world, they are beloved by tastemakers like Regis and Kelly. Instead, like the previous movie, Jack Black’s lines are redubbed using James Franco’s voice, a character that is truly appreciated in the Panda community. I mean, that guy was in Freaks and Geeks, how could you not like him? Also, in the Panda version, the pop culture references change. Instead, there are way more Animal Collective jokes, which work on multiple levels for Pandas.  More James K. Polk jokes are also included, since that former US president enjoys a strong cult following among the bamboo eaters.

Maybe it will be this movie that truly helps to teach Pandas about their rich heritage. Their contribution to Chinese culture is second to none. Seeing that Panda effectively defeat his enemies might convince Pandas that perhaps now is a good time to raise a family, despite the obvious hardships that such a decision entails. Perhaps their children might master the art of Kung Fu, an art which Pandas have yet to fully comprehend. We can only hope.

Panda Bear’s New EP “You can count on me”

Before I had been worried about Panda Bear’s still upcoming album “Tomboy” but this EP has reassured me. The previous EPs made me worry that perhaps he had sort of lost his edge, since I enjoyed but did not truly love them. A few things made me change my mind.

One of those things was the concert he had on Governor’s Island, which truly was a great time to be had. During that concert he actually played a few songs I hadn’t been familiar with through either leaks or live bootlegs. Both of those favorites appear on this painfully brief EP.

“You can count on me” sounds like a drunken, happy campfire chant. The bizarre rhythm and hand claps only confirm this. A guitar which actually resembles a guitar makes this a particularly enjoyable track.

But the real winner is “Alsatian Dam”. I remember for the concert they had the visuals set to sort of roller coaster which fits the direction of the music pretty well. This is a really sweet, touching song. Part of me hopes that on the album this song gets stretched out for another 8 minutes or so. Pop music never sounded so good. 

I’m actually pretty happy that as these EPs get closer to the undisclosed release date, they are improving in quality. Maybe he’s just working on them through audience reaction, so we’ll get the best possible material once the album comes out. My only hope would be that this album actually comes out this year; I’d be very bummed out to have to wait until 2011 for it.

Hopefully we can count on him.