[Losercore]

Untying the Knot reminds me so much of Constant Winter by High Places, but more tribal. Also, is that the same sample from derek in the background?

[sky crawler]

Hellomark wrote:

The outro to This Side of Paradise is one of the most "magical" ac related moments in a while, almost reminds of feels era stuff in a way.

Yes. Absolutely.

Also Faces in the Crowd is incredible

I knew he wouldn't let us down, but gotdamn. This is something else

[float on sputnik]

album art is amazing for this ep
the color scheme reminds me so much of one of my favorite ween albums:

Spoiler: show

[rohcti]

So let me get this straight: he's saying "Time for a new one" for the last line of Untying the Knot? Still sounds like "down below" to me, but maybe that's intentional.

[fernforested]

it's like "TIME FOR A neeeeeeeewww- ooneee" if that makes sense

[fernforested]

instead of "DOWN BE-LOW wooowowowow"

[foxtrot]

ok, i am seriously about to leave my wife and ask faces in the crowd to marry me.

[jeremy]

not feeling this one... what's wrong with me

[jetski]

Scooter wrote:

God, I love this so damn much. It just seems like Panda is doing exactly what he wants to do. Like he has the idea in his head and he just has the talent and tools in front of him to just replicate it exactly how he imagines. It sounds so fresh and new too while being very poppy, ubeat, catchy at the same time.

I feel the exact same way. It's like he's piecing together these really unique-sounding pop songs out of a million different instruments and noises, and when the whole thing comes together it's a new sound but it's still undeniably Panda Bear.
His new Pitchfork interview also touches on this:
"'When I listen to Tomboy now, it sounds very somber and serious in tone,' Lennox says reflectively. 'This new record has more of a sense of humor. It’s not wacky, but it’s the sound of me having fun.'"

[Sakamoto]

jeremy wrote:

not feeling this one... what's wrong with me

nothing's wrong with you, I am not feeling this one, too.
I hope the 3 non-album songs are b-sides that didn't make the cut for the album. I can't even point out what is missing for me. These songs weren't played during any live set, right? Every song he played in his sets I really enjoyed much more than these three songs.

[Stanshant]

No, every song on the EP was played live at some point.

[delorean]

i was scared of being the first one to admit not liking this. "mr. noah" (the song) is a quiet grower and little by little im beginning to kind of dig it...but yeah, the other songs sound very alien somehow and not in a good way.
i remember hearing "slow motion" for the first time...amazing, blew me apart.
i remember that before the single freebirded, a small clip of "alsatian" showed up somewhere and i was genuinely shocked at how beautiful it sounded.
"jetty"...again, was in love after the first listen.
AC wise my first impressions have always not indicated much (didnt enjoy chz that much on first listens, now still one of my favorites) so im hoping that this release is a grower.

[jetski]

Stanshant wrote:

No, every song on the EP was played live at some point.

Yep. His setlist varied from last year to this year and also from show to show. Sakamoto, I guess he just didn't happen to play any of the EP songs at the show you went to.

Just had a thought: Untying the Knot would be sweet in a movie trailer

[jetski]

delorean wrote:

so im hoping that this release is a grower.

Yeah, I experience that a lot with AC releases too. Plus, those of us who listened to the boots and went to the shows this year have already had time to grow with it, so it makes sense that we like it.

[countblackula]

I made this animation while I listened to Mr. Noah for the 6th time.

[tender]

Count-Sooo tight you should send that to him!

[jetski]

Uh, that should be the EP artwork. That is awesome and really fits the music too.

[tender]

^yesss

[moop]

I love this ep so much. Each song sounds like it's own little world. I LOVED Tomboy but the songs all sounded a little samey to me after a while. i wasn't ever a big fan of mr. Noah or paradise but I think they are amazing now. mr Noah just gets me so pumped in the beginning.

[Frumpkin]

that's too cool countblackula

[dio]

tomboy is perfect. this is perfect. new stuff makes old stuff even better than it was before to me somehow, sometimes because it comes more contextualized/conceptualized or something, so i think ive liked tomboy more than i ever have recently

but this ep is fantastic. feels heavy and light at the same time in the best way possible. sounds aquatic in a similar way to wwiws and surfer hymn, but kind of airy/earthy too. seems heavy in a spiritual way. the songs definitely have their own sound-worlds that are like various pokemon element types.

[dio]

makes me feel like im sonic running through emerald hill and other levels going really fast, admiring the ocean. maybe reaper will feel like super sonic

[rohcti]

It's taken a while to admit it to myself, but I'm a bit disappointed by this EP. It's good, but not mindblowing. I only heard Untying the Knot before this, and while it's one of my favorite songs he's ever done, it's about what I expected from the boots. The production for everything except Mr Noah is ridiculous though, that has far exceeded my expectations. And Faces in the Crowd is pretty crazy. But little of it really sounds revolutionary or unexpected. If you look at AC's records, each one is like its own universe. This really sounds like almost anyone could have done it. All of that said, I didn't really like Tomboy and just thought Person Pitch was alright, so perhaps my opinion of Noah's solo stuff shouldn't be trusted

However, I think everything else I've heard is way better than this stuff. Crosswords (Garage) will blow us all away I'm sure.

also, thanks fernforested, I thought that was how he was saying it but he hardly says "one" at all so it confused me

[dance avey dance]

roark wrote:

I only heard Untying the Knot before this, and while it's one of my favorite songs he's ever done, it's about what I expected from the boots.

Really? You heard the super simple live versions of Robert Frost and expected the studio version that we got with layer upon layer of vocal loops?

[rohcti]

with all of that said, I admit I have been listening to this on repeat like crazy. It's still definitely FUN... a lot more fun than Tomboy for sure

[rohcti]

dance avey dance wrote:

roark wrote:

I only heard Untying the Knot before this, and while it's one of my favorite songs he's ever done, it's about what I expected from the boots.

Really? You heard the super simple live versions of Robert Frost and expected the studio version that we got with layer upon layer of vocal loops?

ok, let me clarify... I just meant that it didn't propel it into A++ territory for me. It was certainly unexpected, but it didn't improve it all that much in my opinion. I like both versions almost equally

in other words, I expected to like it about as much as I do

[robgnarr]

my absolute favorite part of this ep is when he says "look into the mirror, look into the mirror, it's a game, you like it or you don't"

absolutely magical

[clayton]

Okay, today I went for a walk with decent headphones, and really enjoyed This Side of Paradise. I noticed the underlying bass synth and it made the whole song. Really tied it all together.

[Leogan]

Am I the only one who's consistently disappointed by and/or frustrated with Sonic Boom's mixing abilities?

I love the atmosphere of this EP, but almost everything is mixed to the front, making it sound overcrowded.

[jeremy]

Sakamoto wrote:

jeremy wrote:

not feeling this one... what's wrong with me

nothing's wrong with you, I am not feeling this one, too.
I hope the 3 non-album songs are b-sides that didn't make the cut for the album. I can't even point out what is missing for me. These songs weren't played during any live set, right? Every song he played in his sets I really enjoyed much more than these three songs.

i can't either. everyone who has asked 'why' i've just said "i can't really put my finger on it. something is missing though."

i do like mr. noah. the intro and outro of the whole ep are probably my favorite parts.\


i can't quote the guy above me because i don't feel like backing out and shit but I agree with you too Leogan.

[ballparkmanatee]

I wish the vocals were a little more quiet sometimes, and maybe its just my headphones but I feel like the harp/sitar/whatever sample throughout Untying the Knot is a little hard to hear. But thats just me nitpicking, personally I really like the mixing on the EP.

[Takyon]

Leogan wrote:

Am I the only one who's consistently disappointed by and/or frustrated with Sonic Boom's mixing abilities?

I love the atmosphere of this EP, but almost everything is mixed to the front, making it sound overcrowded.

I definitely agree that this is the case with "Faces In the Crowd", which has a super pleasant and breezy vocal-melody that's shrouded in some very compressed-sounding instrumentals. It comes across as monotonous and grating.

But the other songs are mixed rather well, IMO.

[Fan]

I wonder what a full orchestra vers of untying the knot would sound like? probably pretty awesome.

[jeremy]

Fan wrote:

I wonder what a full orchestra vers of untying the knot would sound like? probably pretty awesome.

well i'm a percussionist. CA Orchestrates Mr Noah coming soon???????

[B-Hound]

i'm diggin every song on Mr Noah - but just like Tomboy, needs more bass

sonic hates bass

its there, but its so low in the mix that it has no impact

[Fovrodi]

Saving Mr. Boom the trouble of writing this again

Sonic boom wrote:

....funny how people rag or praise the supposed mixer/producer/engineer
....usually erroneously ......
... Tho it would be wrong to think that people are unaffected
by mean or cruel comments ...
Pk

[rohcti]

I think the bass is perfect.

[rohcti]

Damn, the ATP versions are so fucked up and that's what I love about them. I hadn't heard them before so I guess it's extra special for me. Ms. Pacman sounds like it's about to break apart at any second, only the melody is the glue that makes it stick. There's so much stuff going on. It's powerful. And on This Side of Paradise, the vocals blend so well with that sax (?) sample... but it still has that messed up quality to it that shows the song without all that polish. I would recommend everyone to listen to it. It's kind of like a "what if?" scenario. It's sweet that we're probably getting high quality versions of this after the album's released!

Just thinking it may give some people better perspective on the EP like it did for me. It helps me appreciate it a bit more. Or maybe it's just me deluding myself eh whatever

edit: by Ms. Pacman I mean what is known as Faces in the Crowd, Til I Die, etc...

[Stanshant]

As with Tomboy, there's a lot of textural stuff in the low mids so the bass is more sparse punctuation but I think it's effective. I love the grooves on every track, sounds spot on to me.

[jetski]

I'm not complaining about the mixing. With any AC or Panda Bear record, there are so many unorthodox sounds used that I often don't really know what's considered a "good" mix for their songs, so I try not to think about the mixing and just enjoy the music.

God knows I would not be able to mix this EP any better myself. Personally I think they did a fantastic job with the mixing, because I can't stop listening to it.