[stash]

i hear all kinds of crazy lyrics like "dont let that lipstick do what that lipstick does" "dont want to know where did your lipstick go".. maybe im projecting but its not my fault

[glenn]

EP sound great!

Youtubed this gyeah-track you were talking since I hadn't heard it. Sounds like he sampled Oasis - Fucking in the bushes, no?

[Tropic]

Have no idea But that is the song I would always get it confused with in my head so maybe

[Stanshant]

I honestly can't understand how he can go from the rawness of the ATP rehearsal, in both vocal delivery and cacophonous array of sounds to these mellow final versions. I honestly just don't get it really. I'm not trying to be a bastard, I just don't see how his original vision of the songs becomes in virtually every case a slowed down simplified version of the original idea.

I don't expect anything different because that was largely the tone set by the LP, which I did really enjoy, but yeah, I don't get how the original noisy, messy tracks with yearning vocals become this mellow. Jabba sounds improved, frankly. I'm sorry if that sounds rude but it went from being this ecstatic banger to a pleasant head nodder.

If I could ask the Animal Collective lads one question, it would be why they soften and simplify the live stuff in the studio. It's been the case ever since forever, I know, as far back as Sung Tongs and perhaps even Danse but I find it puzzling.

[Dallou]

Jabberwocky is making me so happy, love this era so much ! We got 3 differents releases !!!

[roopn]

Stan I luv ya, but if it's been the case sing Danse Manatee then why were you xpekting any different?

[Dallou]

Aha Cosplay is so amazing and funny

[Hellomark]

Stanshant wrote:

I don't expect anything different because that was largely the tone set by the LP, which I did really enjoy, but yeah, I don't get how the original noisy, messy tracks with yearning vocals become this mellow. Jabba sounds improved, frankly. I'm sorry if that sounds rude but it went from being this ecstatic banger to a pleasant head nodder.

Yeah this pretty much sums up how I feel about that track. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the studio cut, and definitely think it has certain strengths unique from the live version, but I can't help but miss that raw energy above all. This is the only track on the EP I feel this way about though. No Mans Land was definitely toned down, but I think the result may have been for the better.

[roopn]

No mans land is looking to be my favourite on the ep at the moment

[Stanshant]

I don't expect anything different and I know I'm very fortunate to have the ATP rehearsal recording so I have both versions in great quality, that's really cool and not to be taken for granted. I wasn't trying to moan, despite appearances, more that I realised if I had one question to ask, that would be it. I'm not suggesting this is the case at all but it's almost as if they want to have a more accessible recording while keeping the live shows more raw and energetic.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

[AnEmptyBliss]

This Panda Bear era just keeps on giving. What a splendid EP.

[Stanshant]

That said, Preakness absolutely soars.

[hazel wet lap]

this ep is simply amazing, the best thing i've heard this year

[Dallou]

This era is like a Tv Show, multiple seasons, long run, we wait for the next one each time.

[amber]

Love u fam
Gonna put the whole greaper era on repeat at work today

[clearwaters]

New Preakness is the jam, and totally changes the feel and meaning of the song, but I really miss the double skipping piano downwards arpegio after "see your thoughts become my thoughts". I might just have to mix all the versions together myself

[clearwaters]

also: marijuana makes my day

[amber]

Lol love it

[dervish]

on the rehearsal recordings popadum was probably my least favorite of the batch, but holy shit, this EP version is absolutely mesmerizing! very nicely done. for me, i dont think there is any question that every single song benefitted in some way from the originals. although, i like the original This Side of Paradise better.

I do have one question though. one of my favorite things about the ATP recording and live recordings is how well they flow, like an old 90s mix tape. Obviously there was a conscious decision to separate the tracks out and have them stand on their own. songs like crosswords, jabberwocky, come to your senses, etc, all losing their intros. obviously every attention to detail has been paid, so i am just curious as to why the separation?

(this question is coming from a place of curiosity, not complaining)

[memememe]

Was just looking back at the photo SB posted of the songs last fall and just realized it lists Gyeah, Faces in the crowd and Ms Pacman. Maybe just a weird oversight? Also it's for a total of 20 songs.

[SamuelAaron]

Really diggin No mans land and Cosplay! Also hoping Gyeah isn't done for, I always thought Jabberwocky worked really good as the ending of Gyeah.

[davidm]

this crosswords mix is incredible...

[jetski]

dervish wrote:

I do have one question though. one of my favorite things about the ATP recording and live recordings is how well they flow, like an old 90s mix tape. Obviously there was a conscious decision to separate the tracks out and have them stand on their own. songs like crosswords, jabberwocky, come to your senses, etc, all losing their intros. obviously every attention to detail has been paid, so i am just curious as to why the separation?

(this question is coming from a place of curiosity, not complaining)

I think that when Panda started playing Person Pitch material live, he sort of transferred over the technique of AC's live sets, which was to play totally seamless sets with extended transitions between songs. It also could have been kinda out of necessity. The Person Pitch songs are pretty much just loops, so the easiest way to "end" a song is just to fade out. and I think that tradition has just continued in his live sets since then

so in that way I think the transitions/intros were always just kind of a live thing. Also when he recorded the songs, he didn't know the track order yet, so he couldn't record the transitions. obviously he could've gone back and edited them in, but I also think he wanted the tracks to stand more on their own like you said. or maybe he was just tired of the way AC transitioned songs on MPP and C Hz and wanted to change it up, idk

[nevermind]

the preakness!!!! some reason i can just imagine some really dodgy club in china blasting this non stop and everyone just blissed out of their minds possibly from counterfeit drugs but still enjoying themselves nonetheless!

[preacherben]

the outro to cosplay is so life affirming.. perfect closer for the era

[amber]

Scooter wrote:

The "ooohs"in Cosplay. Oh man.

Was actually just singing those as I read this post heh
So good

[MarfaJazz]

Subject to change if G-Yeah ever surfaces, but I took a go at re-sequencing the album and I'm really happy with the results. I tried to stick with the old school methodology of there being two distinct sides of the album that mirror one another, with Side A being No Mans Land through Untying the Knot and side B being Mr. Noah through Cosplay. I'll also note that I appended the Apocalypse Now sample/THX drone to the end of Selfish Gene, with Cosplay serving as somewhat of an epilogue.


1. No Man’s Land
2. Mr. Noah
3. Boys Latin
4. Come to Your Senses
5. Tropic of Cancer
6. Untying the Knot
7. Crosswords (EP version)
8. BBCM
9. Shadow of the colossus
10. Lonely Wanderer
11. Selfish Gene
12. Cosplay

[cody]

there are no weak points on this EP for me. this preakness version might be my favorite reaper-era song even though it was written before tomboy's release.

and there's still more to come! thank you Mr. bear and Mr. boom

[vilent_sibrate]

Stanshant wrote:

I honestly can't understand how he can go from the rawness of the ATP rehearsal, in both vocal delivery and cacophonous array of sounds to these mellow final versions. I honestly just don't get it really. I'm not trying to be a bastard, I just don't see how his original vision of the songs becomes in virtually every case a slowed down simplified version of the original idea.

I don't expect anything different because that was largely the tone set by the LP, which I did really enjoy, but yeah, I don't get how the original noisy, messy tracks with yearning vocals become this mellow. Jabba sounds improved, frankly. I'm sorry if that sounds rude but it went from being this ecstatic banger to a pleasant head nodder.

If I could ask the Animal Collective lads one question, it would be why they soften and simplify the live stuff in the studio. It's been the case ever since forever, I know, as far back as Sung Tongs and perhaps even Danse but I find it puzzling.

I remember when strawberry jam came out and people on the boards were confused by the change in vocal delivery on peacebone. I think they feel the intensity needs to be toned down when the vox are up front in the mix.

Pandas vox on the GR tour were so expressive. I hear hints of it on the ep but not the lp.

[dervish]

^ that's a good point about being expressive or more emotive in the live setting. that doesnt always translate. look at alsatian darn for example. the tomboy studio version is absolutely perfect. but that live version from the more recent 7/17/15 show is a different beast. his vocal delivery on that is off the charts but i doubt that would translate in studio.

[northernchild]

I really enjoy this ep (maybe more than mr noah), but I do agree with Stan. If I were to guess, what we love about panda's raw sound (and ac, generally) might be something that he feels slightly shy about putting out there. I think Pete has referenced this before when referring to how hidden the vocals are in the demo stuff we got. I mean even some people on here took issue with the vocals on toc, so you can't exactly blame him if he does feel that way. I think it's somewhat disappointing when what you really want doesn't necessarily come out of the process, but in the end I think panda (and ac) is more than accommodating by allowing us to have quality demo tracks and monitor recordings as well.

[rohcti]

northernchild wrote:

I really enjoy this ep (maybe more than mr noah), but I do agree with Stan. If I were to guess, what we love about panda's raw sound (and ac, generally) might be something that he feels slightly shy about putting out there. I think Pete has referenced this before when referring to how hidden the vocals are in the demo stuff we got. I mean even some people on here took issue with the vocals on toc, so you can't exactly blame him if he does feel that way. I think it's somewhat disappointing when what you really want doesn't necessarily come out of the process, but in the end I think panda (and ac) is more than accommodating by allowing us to have quality demo tracks and monitor recordings as well.

Agreed. Part of it may have to do with perfectionism, maybe shyness. I just look at the studio stuff as a different version completely from the live stuff. It's like a glossed over version of the same emotions. The live vocals are usually a little more subtle and more emotive.

That's my main issue with AC lately: the vocals are way over produced and too upfront. A lot of instrumental stuff, particularly with PBVSGR, gets ignored because it's hard to pay attention to much else other than vocals. They put a lot of detail into this stuff but sometimes it gets squandered. That's why I'm hoping they continue the trend of releasing high quality live recordings, because they reach heights on those they've never reached with studio versions (first that comes to mind is Selfish Gene Warsaw boot)

This EP is a good balance. I enjoy all of the songs greatly. It came out way better than expected.

[JoelT]

northernchild wrote:

I really enjoy this ep (maybe more than mr noah), but I do agree with Stan. If I were to guess, what we love about panda's raw sound (and ac, generally) might be something that he feels slightly shy about putting out there. I think Pete has referenced this before when referring to how hidden the vocals are in the demo stuff we got. I mean even some people on here took issue with the vocals on toc, so you can't exactly blame him if he does feel that way. I think it's somewhat disappointing when what you really want doesn't necessarily come out of the process, but in the end I think panda (and ac) is more than accommodating by allowing us to have quality demo tracks and monitor recordings as well.

Well put

[sound science]

Man, listening to the EP now and I love how we have official versions of The Preakness from two separate eras - each sounding very uniquely like a product of that era (for obv reasons). It's almost surreal, since AC never releases studio versions of their reworks, but I love that Panda was willing to here.

Side note: really loving the new Crosswords mix, I'd always wished the album version had those synth arpeggio bits higher in the mix!

[Andrew_VB]

this review of the ep is ridiculous: http://www.spin.com/2015/08/review-pand ... swords-ep/

Sure, it’s fun hearing the more productive stoner version of “Cosplay,” but the other songs — such as “The Preakness,” bouncing on The Yellow Submarine’s carnivalesque keys and Lennox’s extended, emotive tones — hold limited appeal for anyone but the fans who’ve already heard them. As for the truly new ones, “Jabberwocky” limply falls between his solo output and Merriweather Post Pavilion’s most accessible tracks; “No Mans Land,” at least, is a hopped-up mishmash of hoots and yelps, chugging rhythms, and the distant sounds of a wooden block. Perhaps that song will find its way onto yet another EP, one with hopefully a bit more purpose.

[preacherben]

damn that spin reviewer had something to prove lol

[faded arrow]

lol another brian wilson reference too

[CokePotCrack]

Panda is still the guy, but I'm really not huge into the stuff he released lately (mr noah, pbvsgr, crosswords.) It just doesn't give me that same old feeling. It's cool, and panda's got a dope voice, but it all sounds pretty normal, like not as unique as a lot of panda/ac. I honestly feel like he's treading water a bit. I do love to hear the panda singing about marijuana tho haha.

[kbakz]

CokePotCrack wrote:

Panda is still the guy, but I'm really not huge into the stuff he released lately (mr noah, pbvsgr, crosswords.) It just doesn't give me that same old feeling. It's cool, and panda's got a dope voice, but it all sounds pretty normal, like not as unique as a lot of panda/ac. I honestly feel like he's treading water a bit. I do love to hear the panda singing about marijuana tho haha.

yeah i agree. something about his new stuff doesn't excite me in the same way that his older music did. his singing has been on point but the songs themselves aren't as memorable as the songs on tomboy or person pitch (in my opinion). i'm confident that this new animal collective record will blow me away though

[Enn Eye]

Loving this SO Much
No Man's Land is so banging it should have opened the Greaper, 'cept it's actually too happy