Monday 27 June 2011

Comfy in Nautica Samples

Ah, YouTube. How I love thee. From a YouTube comment:
The sample he uses for Comfy in Nautica is found in the song Jisas Holem ya Holem Hand Blom from The Thin Red Line soundtrack... it's the last note of the verse looped countinuously, as well as the claps... Unfortunately, I discovered this by trying to do the same thing :( it was weird, because it wasn't like i made the connection before hand or anything, I just really enjoyed the song in the movie and thought it sounded sample-able... but alas, it was already being used in my favorite song..
Thanks flibberjar.

When you're done with amateur hour:

Friday 24 June 2011

Bros (live)

Bros live in London (2005).

 
 Probably my favourite live clip of Panda Bear.

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Talent Borrows, Genius Steals.

The following is a video of (some of) the samples used in Person Pitch:


I have already shared this: On this site; On Facebook; In person.

I am glad to do this. I would hate to fetishise novelty. Re-discovery can be just as rewarding as discovery.

Right, enough of my attempt to ward off fetishising the novel. What exactly have I re-discovered here? The same thing as last time - how Panda Bear makes every one of these tunes his own. To steal(!) a line from Oscar Wilde: "Talent borrows, genius steals".

Yoink!

Monday 20 June 2011

Slow Motion (and Robert Breer)

After a rainy, grey, but enjoyable English weekend, I thought I'd post Panda Bear's (relatively) new single. 

 

Can you feel the cavernous reveberant echoes? After the video, there is also a short interview. 

On a semi-related note, I've just (re)visited the excellent Robert Breer exhibition at the Baltic. The following animation serves as a nice visual accompaniment to 'Slow Motion':

Friday 17 June 2011

YouTube's Top Comments

I mentioned yesterday that I love YouTube's 'Top Comments' feature. Here's what YouTube has to say about Panda Bear:

THIS SOUNDS JUST LIKE BRIAN WILSON TRAPPED IN THE FOREST TEMPLE IN OCARINA OF TIME
This is exactly what it sounds like. Hence the caps, I guess. 

I explained person pitch to a friend as sounding like what would happen if the beach boys scored the lion king. Accurate I think.
Another Brian Wilson comparison. Damn accurate though.

im high as shit...lol this musics tight
54 thumbs up. <3 the internet.

Red Roses and a Sky of Blue (Tornadoes song that Panda Bear samples for Bros):
can someone tell me how the FUCK you pick out a two second interval in an old ass song and make a mind blowing 13 minute song out of it?
I'd like to, but I'd probably end up just blathering on about warmth.

p.s. Not Panda Bear, but one of my favourite things on YouTube:


Top Commment: 
This would be the best video game ever! Fleet Foxes travels through enchanted forests escaping the grasps of evil tone deaf woodland creatures by hitting the perfect harmonies to turn them into new band mates!

Thursday 16 June 2011

Anna

'Anna', by the Swedish band Taken by Trees.

Panda Bear performs the harmonies. He starts softly (at around the two minute mark), then slowly 'Anna's' his way to the fore.

 

Top YouTube comment (I love that feature): 
yo panda you know how to harmonize a bitch
As nice as this song is however, there is another (much) better 'Anna'.


YouTube's top comment:
"Anna"....."girl before you go now" ........give me back all my shit

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Tuesday 14 June 2011

Lisbon (again)

Earlier on, I mentioned that music critics often make note of how Panda Bear lives in Lisbon. There seems to be something to his sound that invokes the colours and warmth of such a city.

A piece from NPR notes another feature of Lisbon that seems to feature in his ouevre:
Tomboy also sports another trademark of Lennox's catalog: a cavernous sound heavy with reverberant echoes, much like those that occur naturally in the churches of Lisbon. Lennox says he's always been attracted to those big, hollow tones.
"These stone buildings that have really high ceilings ... it's always been a type of sound I've been drawn to," he says. "I kind of slap it on everything, unfortunately. Music just sounds really good to me in that kind of space."
Me too.
Tomboy.

Monday 13 June 2011

Carrots (with Mitch Hedberg)

From Person Pitch,


I (like to) think the first line is a reference to Mitch Hedberg.
I was walking down the street with my friend and he said, "I hear music", as if there is any other way you can take it in. You're not special, that's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it but it did not work.
I was walking by a dry cleaner at 3 a.m., and it said "Sorry, we're closed." You don't have to be sorry. It's 3 a.m., and you're a dry cleaner. It would be ridiculous for me to expect you to be open. I'm not gonna walk by at ten a.m. and say, "Hey, I walked by at three, you guys were closed. Someone owes me an apology. This jacket would be halfway done!"

More Mitch:

 

Oh yeah, Panda Bear. Er,
Listen in between your notes,
There's something been going on while you were busy taking notes,
And look in between your moments,
There's something good happening,
It's good to sometimes slow it down.

Sunday 12 June 2011

Interview (4 questions and candy).

Joe: So what do you think of Panda Bear?

Tjalling: Panda bear makes my ears bleed candy coloured blood.

Joe: What do you make of this blog?
 
Tjalling: This blog is definitely not working the way it is intended to. It is however making me laugh at its absurdity and my fondness for Joe only grows.

Joe: Is Joe insane?

Tjalling: Yes.

Joe: Are you warming (!) to Panda Bear?

Tjalling: No. Cold.

Hmmm ... so I've managed to increase his "fondness" for me. If fondness was my intention, I would have created a photo-blog of myself in various fondness-inducing poses(watch this space!).

I do wonder though if TJ is (perhaps unconsciously)warming to Panda Bear. His ears bleed "candy coloured blood".

Surely these aren't bad colours.
Gummy (Panda?) Bears.
Feel the warmth!

Saturday 11 June 2011

Skateboards

Now, I'm no skater. But, Tjalling is.

Joe: Fightin' dirty!




 http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/templeton-elliott/2011/04/25/alien-workshop-x-panda-bear/

If you're after a tune, I'm going to cheat and (re-)recommend 'Comfy in Nautica'

Why the repeat? 1) It might well be my favourite Panda Bear tune. 2) The accompanying video is of skateboarding.

Thursday 9 June 2011

Enough with the Samples!

"All right Joe, I accept that Panda Bear has some skill as a sampler, and that's fine, but I prefer music where it's just 4 guys in masks wailing, strumming and drumming".

Well ...




And the studio version:






Wednesday 8 June 2011

Reason 10 (Boneless)

10 reasons already!

Well, they're not really reasons, rather 10 miscellaneous - but often related - posts on Panda Bear. From now on, they'll be named accordingly.

Anyway, something nice for #10:

Boneless 


 

Panda Bear's cover of The Notwist


Again, the original is a good tune. But oh, how he Panda Bears it.

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Reason 9 (Last Night at the Jetty)


'Last Night at the Jetty'


I find this the stand out track from Tomboy (2011). It all comes together for me with the "I know" refrain.

I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know ... I don't want to describe something that I'm not. I don't want to hide the hopes that I have. I want to enjoy what's meant to enjoy. Not try to find slights and slurs to employ

Monday 6 June 2011

Reason 8 (2009's Sweetest Moment of Musical Bromance)

Enough with the warmth!

Let's have a song. I feel like something poppy today. As such, I've opted for Atlas Sound's 'Walkabout', featuring none other than our very own Panda Bear.


Enjoy
"2009's sweetest moment of musical bromance" (Pitchfork); it's hard not to. 


Sunday 5 June 2011

Reason 7 (Warmth)


Palatable warmth continued:

As mentioned in the last two posts, I find that one of the ways in which Panda Bear (especially in Person Pitch) makes samples/tunes his own involves infusing them with warmth.

The following is a brief YouTube clip that shows the various samples that he uses in Person Pitch:




The music he samples is by itself great, but you can really feel the difference when you hear his versions.

Take 'Bros' for example (1:00 into the clip). He takes a great lick from The Tornadoes' 'Red Roses and a Sky of Blue', and whirls all sorts of noise and effects around it for the first 7 or so minutes of the song. This creates an atmosphere of warmth that renders the lick (if you'll allow me), 'Red Roses [, an Orange Haze, Gold Sun] and a Sky of Blue'.

Saturday 4 June 2011

Reason 6 (Lisbon)

Yesterday, I used the (somewhat cringe inducing) phrase "palatable warmth" to describe how Panda Bear makes Bach's tune his own.

Instead of shying away from this (again, fairly cringe-worthy) metaphor, I plan to dig deeper!

Warmth. Person Pitch was recorded in Lisbon, and (as reviewers have pointed out) the album evokes the reds, golds, and oranges of such a city.


To be continued ...

Friday 3 June 2011

Reason 5 (Track 3)


Today, we step away from Person Pitch to look at (the untitled) 'Track 3' from Young Prayer:


A beautiful short instrumental piece. It's definitely reminiscent of Bach's 1076 Canon Triple Ex.




But, as always, Panda Bear makes it his own, adding (amongst other things) a palatable warmth to the tune.

Thursday 2 June 2011

Reason 4 (Bros)


Now that we've had a (lovely) facial interlude, it's time to return to Person Pitch.

Track 3, Bros:


I like Pitchfork's write up:


Freed from the strategic abrasions of Animal Collective, the solo Panda Bear quickly succumbs to pure loveliness. The epic "Bros" drifts through several movements, all vying to outdo the last with voluptuous prettiness. From sighing multi-tracked vocals to jewel-box loops to caramelized guitar riffs, each layer adds hypnotic depth to a song whose gorgeousness seems dangerously excessive from the start, a sugar-rush that might end in psychosis. Doubled-over with luscious detail, the swelling arrangement shimmers like the air above the pavement on a hot day, its hazy swirl achieving a completeness not likely to be recaptured by next year's inevitable throngs of imitators. --Tim Finney