[dio]

^and mentioning a euro... the sun sets in the west after all...

but also, 'i think i can' was about him not knowing how to write ac songs after brothersport, flight is about him flying away from ac

[ogerrob]

Best part of this band? The element of surprise. You never fucking know what you're gonna get. This EP delivers that in spades. You don't like it? That's by design. That's how this band has always operated. They know they are gonna lose a group of listeners with every release. Listeners who just wanted more of the last thing. Its all about the element of exploration and discovery for them. Uncharted territory. Its not worth putting out unless its something they have never done. Appreciate this.

[clearwaters]

Panda bear

ALSO: don't ask for someone to pm you a link, just message someone, so as not to clog the board


Also, if no one gets back to you after PM ing them, take matters into your own hands and go download SoulseekQT.

[pvp]

I PM'd some people but without a reply yet... Can I get a link as well, please?

[Ethmin]

I've pretty much had one of the melodies from this record stuck in my head since the first listen. Right now just can't stop jamming on Sunset, in my mind.

[speen]

sanity check- is this the tracklist on the record?
side a: flight, nod to the folks
side b: part of the math, shepard tone, sunset

I'm only asking because I've read a few reviews of the EP and each one seems to list the songs differently. Just read one that said part of the math is on side a, and another said that shepard tone opens side b

[destiny]

part of the math is the second song on side a and shepard tone opens up side b

[Andrew_VB]

speen wrote:

sanity check- is this the tracklist on the record?
side a: flight, nod to the folks
side b: part of the math, shepard tone, sunset

I'm only asking because I've read a few reviews of the EP and each one seems to list the songs differently. Just read one that said part of the math is on side a, and another said that shepard tone opens side b

the record is:

side a: flight, part of the math
side b: shepard tone, nod to the folks, sunset

[Stanshant]

knives wrote:

Totally, discussion is great, insightful critical analysis...music hits people in all sorts of different ways and it's good to talk about it

Just don't be that guy who complains the same complaint for literally 3 years, sucking all the oxygen out of the discussion for everyone else who is feeling positive.

It's not the voicing of negative opinion that sucks, it's the self-righteous attitude that's wearing....
Cos that sucks

Amen. Couldn't agree more.

[tdegenaro]

woah this boy is bass heavy - just finally booting it up

so so so so good.

help me vinyl friends, it IS 33rpms right? I mean I know it isn't 45 & I'm being goofy, but its a 33, right?

[Ethmin]

yes.

[Stanshant]

The vocals in Nod to the Folks are 45 but the backing track is 33.

[tdegenaro]

man side A is so so so good.

[warhorse miraged]

This shit is hitting the spot ! I love this minimal dirty sound without all the extra frills . The melodies are so strong too. Each ac release since mpp has had some little part that irked me but this sounds pretty perfect to my ears.

[tdegenaro]

Side B is good, I can't wait to really internalize this thing - lots of Depth, I think.

[FAF]

the melody of sunset is one of the best things i've ever heard

[dio]

sunset is kind of my favorite thing ever. that and Nod just really do it for me... he goes so damn hard with bass on this record. like the way he told someone his new songs were mostly him singing over bass and drums and its like ya, he doesnt need any extra synths or chords or whatnot... its perfect how it is. 'minimal' gets overused to hell for music, but every single part on this album stands out cuz of the way extra little sound-design and noisy filters arent really present, its basically bare essentials + dope intro/outros that set up flow.

i remember boom talking about how he often kind of freestyle the bass parts on tomboy or pbvsgr songs in a sportsmen-like way, but im pretty sure he's being very precise with the way the bass is here

[cody]

the change of melody in the Nod to the Folks chorus is the biggest case of demoitis for me since Come To Your Senses

[Enn Eye]

Panda's bass chops have gotten so good. Hey has a great melodic feel, and they obvs carry these songs. The opening of Flight could almost drop into Golden Gal. The bass playing has changed Panda's songwriting, probably the direction of AC too

[ogerrob]

Anyone try searching for the youtube video id's on the back of the sleeve? I think its a list of samples or something. Looks like it should link to a playlist, but since the font used on the sleeve is all caps, and youtube video id's are case-sensitive, they don't work as urls.

I put a couple of the video id's into the youtube search bar and got results:

648UkmmTG5w


dy4nyw0ygpm
?

jmwbyl6f11c
(?)

jv7k8cva26i
(?)

diyac7gb-0a


ealen9wctpa


Here's an image of the sleeve if you guys wanna crack this code shit:

[Gool Aid]

is panda bear singing w food in his mouth on nod to the folks

[jetski]

First time listening to the actual record and it sounds fucking amazing

Pretty blown away by this EP. I love the way it's so raw and minimalist but still feels so Panda Bear. Like the first 30 seconds of Sunset when it's just hihats and like a filter modulating, I love that shit

Also just now I was thinking Sunset almost reminds me of Surfers Hymn, both have super fast rhythms with slower melodies over the top

[csw]

I think the only thing that could make Sunset a bit better is if the tempo was slowed down a few bpm. It's a really chilled out tune but the speed of the percussion & singing takes away from that a lil bit.

[jetski]

Not fast enough tbh

[clearwaters]

Each song's highlights for me:

1) Love the whimpering, ghosty OOOOOooohs on "Flight," it's hard to tell panda's voice from those floppy keys.

2) the horn blasts before the "where was I" transition, and the melodica or whatever it is during the "open your eyes" part, but honestly am not too much of a fan of the repeating phrase, though it reminds me a bit of the ending of Wide Eyed

3) Dat train sound at the beginning fading into the drum tap. At first it recalls the skateboard sounds of Comfy in Nautica. Also... FINGERS EVERYONE

4) This the standout for me, I love all of it, from the melting synths and dripping piano to the funky as fruit beat and beautiful, swirly/chunky panda harmonies. This song gangster as fuck, has crazy timing and an amazing chorus. Thank you Mr Noah.

5)the little vocal pop after "I found a euro on the ground". The beat is beautifully frantic and dances elegantly with the huge bass. The tempo change and weird fluttery keys are amazing. The super weird chord synth horn blast after "lay it on the lawn" is super cool too.


Any theories on meanings of these lyrics? It's a little hard for me to understand what Panda is trying to say, his lyrics seem to use quick-shifting metaphors and lots of use of the words "they" and "It" and "thing" without context as to what he's referring to. Maybe they are meant to be super open and with no direct meaning, but it almost feels to me that maybe I just can't wrap my head around the shit he's trying to describe, but there is deep meaning. I dunno.

[dio]

rob im gonna check those vids later, thanks

harmonica on sunset into downpitched lower harmony 'it's a big show, even when it's painted on' is a big mood rn, is more emotional than lion king 2 was the first time i rented that. maybe even empire strikes back

[dio]

i just gotta say, for people who have the earliest rip... there is a much better one out there now, so like maybe try and find that. big difference. you can pm me even and ill get to you when i can.

[ingenue]

BOUY

... Both of...
... Best of...

[Stanshant]

Gool Aid wrote:

is panda bear singing w food in his mouth on nod to the folks

Probably the funniest post of the year so far. I love whatever he's doing. If music be the food of love, let's eat.

[Tropic]

Flight intro is just like that Jon Hopkins Immunity intro

[Texas Trill]

clearwaters wrote:

Any theories on meanings of these lyrics? It's a little hard for me to understand what Panda is trying to say, his lyrics seem to use quick-shifting metaphors and lots of use of the words "they" and "It" and "thing" without context as to what he's referring to. Maybe they are meant to be super open and with no direct meaning, but it almost feels to me that maybe I just can't wrap my head around the shit he's trying to describe, but there is deep meaning. I dunno.

Flight is about Black Lives Matter
Part of the Math is about Oculus Rift
Shepard Tone is about punching Nazis
Nod to the Folks is about Stem Cell Research
Sunset is about Brexit

[clearwaters]

Not even a small chuckle, TT

[joby]

wow, been listening all night. this is really good. the low key wizardry thats going on with the self harmonizing is really on point and has a lot of depth. revealing a lot over time and with careful listens while keeping really punchy and deceptively straightforward. nice job mr. noah.

[Texas Trill]

clearwaters wrote:

Not even a small chuckle, TT

Haha fair enough.

I actually think Flight is about Noah and AC and the fans. The band and the fans = the Good Crew. The last couple of verses relate to Noah's lack of audience interaction at AC shows. He never speaks directly to the crowd anymore, but maybe that's because he can't find the right words. He wishes the fans and the rest of the band best fortunes, but doesn't say goodbye because he'll see them again.

Part of the Math could be about the Unified Field Theory. How everything is related under one big field. One big equation. The Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Abacus is Noah talking about the ever changing cycle of Life. He's an animal now, but when he dies he'll turn into a mineral, which then gives nutrients to plants (vegetables) and so his life force is passed on. Its like an equation and its all part of the same math.

Not too sure how to parse Shepard tone. Kinda see it as dealing with certain intense emotions or having taboo thoughts, but not acting on them verbally. Building it up but never releasing it.

Nod to the Folks is also tricky. Could it be about trying to be independent from everyone else in the world, but acknowledging those that we have ties to (family and friends)?

Sunset seems to be the easiest to dissect. It's the idea that life seems to be stuck on an uncontrollable projection. All the problems in the world seem like they could be changed if we tried to do good, but that's not reality. Life is a mess, it will eventually end and that can't be changed, but the experience of things ending is still beautiful, like a sunset.

[Leogan]

I must be the only one who thinks these lyrics have absolutely nothing to do with Animal Collective. Noah has 2 kids and an entire life outside of his work. "Flight" is probably about a pocket experience (maybe traveling or visiting) Noah had with some solid peeps that he didn't want to end, and "Sunset" is almost definitely about him wondering why the hell he moved to Lisbon (I know he's spoken about it being a hasty and regrettable decision) and wanting to leave but being "tied to this thing".

[Texas Trill]

The main reason I think Flight is about AC is that he said he wrote these songs on tour with the band. But I also can see it being about his family just as much

[Tropic]

Texas Trill wrote:

Part of the Math could be about the Unified Field Theory. How everything is related under one big field. One big equation. The Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Abacus is Noah talking about the ever changing cycle of Life. He's an animal now, but when he dies he'll turn into a mineral, which then gives nutrients to plants (vegetables) and so his life force is passed on. Its like an equation and its all part of the same math.

This is great

[ogerrob]

i feel like all the songs are helping him deal with the complicated emotions that come about when you get older and realize we are all gonna die. the lyrics have a lot of allusions to time passing, only having one chance, things not being the same, being a vessel, asking what it is to be human.

flight seems like its meant to be a feel good tune to blast with your crew though. maybe in the car while driving around at night.

part of the math seems like its about trump and any other figure that is trying to make everything about them to get power. he wishes they would realize we are all gonna die anyways so what does it matter? they are no different from a bum on the street. we are all just part of the same equation of the universe.

Shepard tone? who knows. its pretty abstract. maybe its better to focus on the music for this one. the train coming and going, the sound of the whistle creating the bouncy melody. "I'm a rip in a fantasy. So are you" again with this idea of death being the great equalizer.

nod to the folks is pretty abstract too. to me the chorus seems to be about parents keeping you close to the idea of death. your parents are typically the first real time u have to deal with death. "keeping us close up to the gods." "trying to be free from the yoke. trying to be free from your parents, growing up.

sunset to me has a feeling of being guilty for the state of the world. like we are all to blame. could be about media, trying to break away and seeing how things really are? who knows.

overall the lyrics of the songs further explore themes that have been present in all his solo material since person pitch. death, parents, friends, separation, self-doubt, people who don't understand everything isn't about them.

[lhtd]

Leogan wrote:

I must be the only one who thinks these lyrics have absolutely nothing to do with Animal Collective. Noah has 2 kids and an entire life outside of his work.

Thank you.

It’d be boringly meta for Noah to constantly write solo songs about the songs he writes with other people. AC fandom seems to color literary analysis as a prophetic yet othorodox tool that untangles the threads of AC’s fate while ignoring the poetic and archetypal associations imbued in their writings. The way AC writes music is rich in image; read their lyrics the same.

[Sputnik Monroe]

I posted this in the lyrics section, but since peeps be talking of the lyrics here I thought I'd copy it into here. Here is my take on the lyrics.

Panda Bears lyrics have all seemed like cryptic alchemical formulas to me. He is consistently taking something lowly like trash, then alluding to something more precious. I've seen it in numerous past songs, but it is also all over this EP. Part of the math for example:

You're an effigy
And a wrapper in a plastic bag
We're all dieties
Washed up in a sewage freebird

Where was I

A flowered shrine
A cussing bum
A crystal shine
In a pool of scum
A dream so real
That your vision's gone

An animal
A mineral
A vegetable
An abacus

Part of the Sophia myth of the gnostics, is that you have to look for her in the dung heap. That the divine is constantly right before your eyes in the unlikeliest places as the trash and waste. This was a huge theme in the ideas of the alchemist, turning shit into gold. Like the scene from holy mountain where the guy turns his own shit into gold. Also the animal, mineral vegetable part is on this old alchemical illustration I came across in a book I have,

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pqwP11L0Cgo/ ... %2529.jpeg

Nod to the folks touches on these ideas as well:

Nod to the folks
Keeping us close
Up to the gods
Evens and odds
Refining ore
Anyone's joke
Wriggling to be
Free from the yoke

Here we have mention of parents (parental conditioning), mention of gods, refining ore (turning shit to gold), and then struggling to break from the the yoke (struggling to break outside of parental conditionings or just wordy conditionings all together or human condition).

Hid from the light
In a garbage can

Another reference to finding divinity within the trash. There are also more references in this song.

Take a chance
And try to
Break away

Another reference of trying to break free in sunset. Also the lyrics to lying in the grass really allude to these ideas. Here are some lyrics I pulled from lying in the grass:

There’s a way through fogs as long as there’s a light to discover (it)

It’s a gut that fears all things unknown
and a link within the brain you know

Not a shame to say the instincts there
but a virtue to deny the bait

Know the cause and move to gauze and deftly
tratar o sangue (clean up the blood)

In the law there’s room to move
as there’s a need to uncover it

As a choker sucks, let’s sift through the muck and lift this dingy veil
same old tale

Get mixed in this crippling fixture
Try and approach the hidden mixtures
Get mixed in this crippling fixture
Try and approach the hidden picture it

For a misplaced stash, let’s search through the trash and right this ignorant lurch
wicked urge

Like a twisted stick, let’s dig through the sick and find a level space

Lots of ideas about moving past the minds instincts or conditionings, also finding light through fog and illusion/ hidden picture/ hidden mixtures, digging through the trash/ sick. These are all blatant alchemical ideas. Also I remember Noah talking about PBMGR and the grim reaper as the concept of an agent of change, transmutation and not literal death. The whole concept of that album plays out like that, going through life struggles, going through a mental break down, and being reborn into clarity through tragedy. Also take pills can be seen through this same lens. It's a song about him realizing he doesn't need to be on anti-depressants anymore, that he is stronger without them, he's stronger if he faces his mind, and learns how to transmute the pain himself.

I guess what I'm trying to say with all of this, is that his lyrics are often very cryptic and can often seem random or nonsensical, or allude to so many different things. However, with some understanding of alchemical or mythological symbolism, the lyrics start to make sense and take on meaning. I remember also reading that Noah majored in religion, which leads me to believe that, though he may not be dogmatically religious, the symbolism of myth and religion mean something very personal to him. Anyway, would love to discuss this more!