Record Review (It's been a long time):
Panda Bear - Person Pitch

I realize I've been remiss with this blog. I promised some people I would update and sadly I just have no time, or rather no will. I wanted to get this damn thing off the ground and I have like 4 entries since its inception. Still, rather than be a vagabond correspondent, I would prefer to be a regular contributor. Hopefully this is the start of something to progress. And I will start by making up for some of the record reviews I've missed. Once again I only review albums that I deem reviewable. They have to really capture my attention which means they have to be really fucking good or really fucking bad, that it's so funny you have to listen to this shit. So with that said, yeah.

Noise music is all about deconstruction of the artform. When I think of awesome noise artist and awesome noise albums I think of men like Masami Akita, Sutclife Jugend, or Dominick Fernow whose album THE HISTORY OF AIDS still remains one of the most vicious recordings I've ever heard (I'm blasting that shit right now). Yet what seems to be forgotten is the fact that noise can come out of any outlet. Because of the fact that most of the famous noise musicians specialize in harsh or brutal noise, subtleties of the genre can get lost or generalized, which is why the Animal Collective save the genre from being written off as another primitive form of expression.

Anyone who knows me knows I like brutality, however the first time I ever heard an Animal Collective album, I wanted to drop acid and start touching things. If that's not deconstruction, I don't know what is. Their lead man, Panda Bear has had a pair of nice recordings ranging from electronic minimalism to unarranged acoustic ballads, all the while staying true to the credo that music or art in general, does not have to be wrapped up in a nice package, which is what makes what he's done with a recent album, PERSON PITCH such a delightful surprise.

Up until now, Panda Bear has done okay keeping it minimal, but he really never rocked anyone's socks off, that was until he recorded PERSON PITCH. This album is such an awesome surprise because of the fact that it is so layered and obviously structured. What results is an unabashed sense of freedom and a delighfully sweet chaos that I as well as the rest of music world can get behind.

The first track "Comfy in Nautica" plays itself out like a drug induced PET SOUNDS outtake. With a distinct similarity, Panda Bear creates a song that gives us a glimpse into what music of Brian Wilson might have sounded like if he had spent one more month in the sandbox. The next song "Take Pills" starts off as a delightful romp through nostalgia before devolving into a giddy plea for help. I know it sounds retarded and it sounds preteniously journalistic but at the risk of looking like an elitst prick, when I hear the lyric "I don't want for us to take pills anymore...we're stronger if we don't need them" I can't help but think of Brian Wilson's subtle cry for help when he says, "Help me Rhonda, get her out of my head". Both of cries for help and both are set to beautiful music. Misplaced yet perfect in their juxtaposition, once again sorry for using that word.

The next track is definitely my favorite and the opus of the album, "Bros" at over ten minutes long is the main focal point of the album and a lesser man could have mad a trippy, drug-happy, wandering, track as a song, but instead we can see the effort put into the song. It is by far the most beautiful and lingering track on the album and if this was the only thing released on the album, it would still be a success.

The second half of the album does not let up as the melodies keep on coming to the delight of the listener. "Good Girl/Carrots" is a wonderful romp through your childhood while "Search for Delicous" gives us the typical meandering style we've grown accustomed to from Panda Bear and his buddies at the Animal Collective.

"Ponytail" finishes up the album perfectly. It is only two minutes long and it is the shortest of all tracks on the album but in a way, there could be no other way to end the album. It is the most minimal song on the album, yet one of the most poignant as only Panda Bear is able to do. And while being a simple song, it still conveys the message perfectly for anyone listening to this album and that is that destructive art can somtimes come from the most layered of places.

Grade: A-