Panda Bear – Person Pitch Review
Panda Bear is the stage name for musician Noah Lennox who is also of Animal Collective. This album was released very early in the year, March 20th in fact and while I am very late on the review, I thought I definitely have to check it out after Tiny Mix Tapes and Pitchfork named this their best album of the year.
I tried to read up on what Panda Bear would be so I would know what to expect when playing “Person Pitch” but when it’s labeled as experimental, dance, pop, dub and electronic… if you can picture what you would be listening to after listening to those categories, you have to be a genius.
When first playing it, I felt like saying “oh no…” since the first track “Comfy in Nautica” starts off with what I would call the grinding noise of machinery I just HATE. Thankfully that pace doesn’t keep up and it slows down for my listening pleasure. One note I found with Panda Bear’s style is that this music is definitely what I would call “weird’ to the extreme. There is definitely nothing like it. It’s not quite dance, some pop elements, it’s experimental yet something else. There is a uniqueness around it that makes Panda Bear stand out I guess when comparing to other electronic acts.
This album features two tracks that are greater then 12 minutes long. Knowing myself, finding the ability to listen to one 12 minute song alone I find a task upon itself. With Person Pitch however Panda Bear managed to keep me listening to the entire tracks. With his smooth voice (maybe comparable to White Williams) and keeping to a consistent beat while throwing some random screeches, beats, and indescribable noises really helped me pay attention. I think what makes “Bros” and “Good Girls/Carrots” so great with all it’s randomness intertwined, is that it feels as everything fits perfectly, no sound feels unnecessary and the songs aren’t carried by one thing specifically but all perfectly mixed together.
If there any downsides to this album, I’ll point to the two tracks I disliked the most or the “tracks I liked the least”. I just didn’t feel it on the tracks “Take Pills” and “Search for Delicious”. These tracks weren’t bad by any means but they were generally quiet. Take Pills takes too long to get started and Search For Delicious is rather forgettable and is more like background music rather then standing out. I think these tracks are just so overshadowed by the tracks surrounding it that I can’t find myself listening to tracks for a long time.
Overall, I have no problem with this album being considered top album of the year. I don’t believe it would make my top 20 just because stylistically it isn’t my thing but it would be very close had I considered it. I’ll give it a 4.75 out of 5.
Check out these tracks (may have to alter my top songs of 2007 now):
Bros by Panda Bear (29MB!)
Ponytail by Panda Bear (had to switch to this song for space concerns!)
Buy Person Pitch @ Amazon
Buy Person Pitch @ Insound (2 X LP edition)
[...] Panda Bear on the first listen. [...]