[headroom)))]

LeadHat wrote:

I do wish eyes > disc one > betty suite stayed in tact from the mothlight show... house avey so sick I hope his next solo whenever that may be leans into that slightly.

Yes! That live Disc One had a great energy. I go back to it on youtube all the time. An Avey house album would be super dope. We hear little traces of that 4/4 kick and hi-hat here and there (Oliver Twist and Whats the Goodside). Would be awesome to hear that developed more.

[foxtrot]

Holy shit balls we've made it to the last week!

WEEK 10: Jan 28 – Feb 3
Buoys, Day with Homies, Bridge to Quiet, Crestone

So fucking pumped for TS now.

Once again, thank you to everyone for being a part of this thing. It has been incredibly awesome.

[foxtrot]

Buoys:

Spoiler: this is probably one of the most disappointing albums in their catalogue for me.

While I admire Panda's perseverance with his production choices on this album, ultimately for me the production doesn't serve the songs in the way it should. It feels like a whole range of sound is missing. We have thin, piercing highs and deep waves of sub-bass down below but very little in between. The vocal mixing is loud, sharp and right in your face. This removes some of the gentle, soothing choir boy allure of Noah's lovely singing style and melodic flair.

The production does give the album a consistent, distinctly unique feeling that separates it from Panda's other work but it still comes across to me as half finished and barren rather than the minimal, elemental feel I think he was going for.

Another issue for me is the over-reliance on very similar guitar strumming patterns. There are 3 songs here with EXACTLY the same strumming pattern/delay effect. Play the first few seconds of Cranked, I Know I Don't Know and Home Free one after another to see what I mean. The songs themselves are good enough but this repetition combined with the barren production gives the whole album the feeling of being a little thin on ideas.

On the plus side, Noah's melodic chops are still hanging on strong and he does pull out a few all-timers here. Dolphin is beautifully serene, Token combines his new aesthetic direction with the bouncy melodies and oddly looping lyrics that I love so much. Buoys also has some fantastic moments. Master, however, feels really bland. It has never done much for me. Which is very rare.

Despite AC's constant side steps and detours they always approach everything they do with a modest, genuine and heartfelt honesty that makes their music deeply appealing to all of us. That said, I think I respect Panda's need to try something different here (production wise) more than I enjoy the actual results. I can't help feeling that this album would have worked more successfully either fully stripped back to guitar and maybe some piano (Young Prayer style) or sent in a totally different direction that more deeply embraced a layered, detailed electro-acoustic aesthetic (maybe something more like what vinyl Homies is).

I do still listen to and enjoy this album occasionally. But ultimately it feels like some pretty simple Panda Bear songs that have been dressed up in some clothes that don't quite fit.




Homies:

It's rad. Especially the vinyl version. Love the warmer, scuzzier feel. It reminds me a bit of the ATP Greaper stuff that you all love so much. I STAND WITH GREAPER! Yeh, the ATP stuff is cool too though. But yeh, vinyl Homies has a similar feel for me. Its a bit busier and I think the lo-fi fuzziness works really well with the electronic beats. The digital version is fun too but the beats end up feeling a little divorced from the vocals. Vinyl Homies has all the elements working really well.

Flight and Part Of The Math are my two favourites. Only wish is that there were a couple more tracks and that the vinyl version got a full release. I'd be right up there.

[Fovrodi]

Similar to Painting With where it's at times so committed to a sonic aesthetic it's to a fault of some songs, but I do like it as a breezy spring chill record. Dolphin, I Know I Don't Know, Token, all great PB tunes, love love love them.

Admittedly I was not a part of this as much as I wanted to but I am tempted to give this a listen on decent speakers

[foxtrot]

Fovrodi wrote:

Similar to Painting With where it's at times so committed to a sonic aesthetic it's to a fault of some songs, but I do like it as a breezy spring chill record. Dolphin, I Know I Don't Know, Token, all great PB tunes, love love love them.

Admittedly I was not a part of this as much as I wanted to but I am tempted to give this a listen on decent speakers

Even more so than PW for me. I love PW for what it is. I think they executed it really well. Not so much here. Always love how committed they are to their vision though. No matter what the project is.

[dio]

foxtrot wrote:

Buoys:

While I admire Panda's perseverance with his production choices on this album, ultimately for me the production doesn't serve the songs in the way it should. It feels like a whole range of sound is missing. We have thin, piercing highs and deep waves of sub-bass down below but very little in between. The vocal mixing is loud, sharp and right in your face.

wow this is almost exactly why I love this record so much. Its pretty damn different for him in terms of approach, and if Homies is like scuzzier PP-ish/Greaperish stuff that's closer to live early Reaper than that actual record, than this is almost totally new. I love how clean it sounds, and relatively simple. Spare, and sparse, but still totally emotive and expressive and maybe even more so beCAUSE of the relative minimalism

I will say there's something about this record that just doesn't have me coming back much outside of the initial month or so when it dropped. But like I said in another thread, I think its because I just love playing Buoys, I Know I Don't Know and Master myself on guitar/piano.

When I put it on now, it sounds great on the ears, and tho I lose interest slightly during 2nd half, the production and approach is really exciting and like with Selfish Gene, I love when panda just writes these songs that feel like they mean so much to me lyrically/melodically that they just become a staple of shit I sit down and play

Master feels so full of love... I remember seeing him in Austin and thinking the chorus felt yoddle-y. It doesn't feel that way for me anymore, but I love the tenderness of the melodic ascension of the chorus. And its just such a finely crafted and written song. I love the chord progression so much and some of the lines are big for me "skip on a lake, bumps on a fliiiiiiight", "give him a poke, loving them allllll" and the whole pre chorus and chorus. I imagine it might be written about Pete just via being called master and being about this like mentor figure. Means a lot to me...

Buoys is also huge and gorgeous. I just love to hear him with that Sung Tongs tuning again and the autotune was so damn left field.... some of the synths on Token blow my damn mind.

But again, mysteriously haven't revisited a ton... might just be because I don't have a physical copy, and I might correct that soon honestly (It IS a good lite spring record).


As for Homies, Sunset was and still is so so so huge for me. Threatens to overtake Selfish Gene as my favorite panda, MAYBE my favorite song ever (vinyl version for sure, that is). There's just something about every damn part that kinda destroys me and moves me. So damn expressive. Big juicy bass, crushingly simple yet effective harmonies/melodies and that fuggin GATdamn harmonica/melodica shit "only got ourselves to blame" woweeeeee. One of his finest moments.

Also Nod to the Crowd is beautiful and Flight is fun. Part of the Math and Shepards im lukewarm on, but the whole thing is a package and I really feel like it captures that rougher edge we missed from the studio treatment of Greaper songs.

Im def gonna relisten to Crestone and Bridge this weekend to see how they feel.

[madameghostly]

Time Skiffs, just a week away! woohoo! i am so happy about this information

Bridge to Quiet: this was my "aww yeah Animal Collective are back babyyyy" moment back when it came out. of course, i've spent the last few months learning they never really left, but you know what i mean. i like the idea that this is sort of a "bridge" between Reef and Skiffs, which are, now that i think about, both vaguely water-themed... i think i've connected the dots

Rain in Cups is an amazing opener, with those gurgly synths and those godly harmonies and everything drenched in reverb like we're all huddled together for warmth in a cave while it rains cats and dogs outside, and then the rain suddenly is gone again... Piggy Knows is an absolute banger, and who can deny that hurdy-gurdy intro? the first time i heard it i was like "wait... is that... hurdy-gurdy? oh my god, what?" also that verse that may or may not be about a former U.S. president is just barely clever enough to not make me cringe, so good job guys. Sux-Bier Passage is almost pointless, and the title track is a brilliant, groovy closer to the EP with, as i've just discovered, an adorable music video

would i recommend it to an AC newcomer? probably not. would i recommend it to someone who thinks AC hasn't made a good album since 2009? well, nowadays, i'd probably link them Strung with Everything first, but after that, yeah

[coral lord]

Buoys and Homies felt like such huge departures from his previous releases. I remember pre-ordering Homies and putting it on once and saying "What the fuck is this?" to Flight and shutting it off. I sat on it for a year before coming back and listening again with fresh ears. It blew my mind. I think I was in a folksy Eucalyptus kind of state of mind when I first listened and "we got the good crew" reminded me a little too much of how "marijuana makes my day" makes me cringe. I probably made a post on here saying it was terrible. Well now I feel terrible about it! This EP is a revelation. Hard hitting bass, unorthodox song writing, lyrics that border on funny and profound, INSANELY good production. Homies has it all.
Buoys was a little too stripped down for me for the most part. I really do like half of the songs, but the half I don't feel so flat and lacking. I'm not going to say he mailed it in or anything, I think I just expected something more.

[scrambledgreggs]

BtQ is probably the best indication of what Skiffs will sound like as a whole, and I am soooo excited by that prospect. this thing is produced so well! sounds crisp but also has all the hallucinogenic murkiness of the best of AC

Rain in Cups is something they've never done before, sounding like haunted trip-hop a la Tricky or even a little Portishead

Piggy Knows is vintage, a classic, especially when the drums come in around the 4-minute mark

I actually love Sux-Bier, reminds me of Wastered. a real throwback to the ambient inklings of their early days and also the only connection I hear with Tangerine Reef. the watery choir sounds are gorgeous

and Bridge to Quiet itself is the clear connection to Painting With, I like to think this is what the PW tracks could have sounded like if they spent time touring and developing them before recording. the bouncy rhythm tracks on this share kinship with the sounds on Walker as well

so yeah, this one definitely fits the bill of a classic AC EP - connects the surrounding LPs and also offers some interesting experiments that wouldn't necessarily fit on a main album

can't believe we're in the last week before TS. thanks so much to foxtrot for setting this up to help the time fly by!

[Hellomark]

I relistened to Bridge last night, and one thing that really struck me was how much the intro to Piggy Knows seemed to foreshadow the outro to Prester. The Prester outro always gives me the impression of walking on an untouched alien planet and observing the strange weather patterns. The Piggy Knows intro definitely takes place in that same world.

[LeadHat]

I have a very soft spot for homebouys era panda! homies scratches an itch I love how blown out it is and I love how persistent the beats are. steppin in the doo-doo makes me smile every time I can't lie... pandas lyrics really strong on homies throughout. "one trip make the most of it". Nod to the folks is one of my fave panda songs period that beat hits so hard!!! digital mix is alright as a curiosity I guess, if you wanna mix it up a bit. I kinda wish he kept the really warped vocals from the 2017 desert daze boot (legendary!!!) but I complain!!! He was on fire live this era too I think those who saw would agree... both the homies & buoys material w/all the transitions ... juicy as hell saw him twice on tour. The contrast between the hard hitting beats of homies with the relatively more "chill" buoys material was very fun.

I listened to buoys a whoooole bunch all 2019 esp in the summer going on walks by the beach. nice tight 31 minute listen! i think the title track is the highlight for me, it's infectious. Great melody ! Can't wait to hear how pandas next solo album is gonna sound like in studio. maybe we'll get a surprise drop sometime this year?

BTQ I listened to again this morning ... can't believe it came out in 2020, feels like yesterday... it really does feel like skiffs precursor as y'all have said!! agree w/the prester / piggy gurdy connection,,, really glad geo picked it up, unexpected but very welcome and can't wait to hear more of it!!! very evocative tones....

[rohcti]

LeadHat wrote:

He was on fire live this era too I think those who saw would agree... both the homies & buoys material w/all the transitions ... juicy as hell saw him twice on tour. The contrast between the hard hitting beats of homies with the relatively more "chill" buoys material was very fun.

I go back to live boots of this era all the time... Having Buoys and Homies in the same set has some sonic whiplash, but it works so well with the sensory overload that he seems to go for. And yeah that Desert Daze boot is an excellent way to kick off the whole era. I'm really jealous you got to see him twice, it sounds like he's not going to return with the same setup and I will never not be upset that I didn't drive to go see these monumental shows.

[bullseye]

Homies:
Probably my favorite release from panda. Right after the first boot surfaced, I had to do a lot of traveling in Southeast Asia for my PhD (I'm not too fond of traveling), so I'm always reminded of those sweaty tropical nights, sleeping in all kinds of rather less comfortable places by the "sleep on a bed with a mystery stain" line in Nod to the Folks.
Every songs on here just rips. I prefer the digital mix and the shortened intros, aside from two really debatable production decisions: Firstly, what happened to the synth bass in Part of the Math and secondly, where is the shaker in Nod to the Folks? Everything else sounds much better in the digital mix to my ears. After churning out such a big amount of cluttered instrumentals (which I do also enjoy) for the greaper and PW era on the Octatrack, the switch to the much simpler Digitakt was exactly what his music needed at the time. Sunset is probably my favorite panda solo song, which is really saying something, given his incredible repertoire of bangers at this point.

Buoys:
This, to me, is pandas Down There. Short and sweet, nine songs in just about half an hour, all killer, no filler. I like the production and the stripped back approach to the songs, although the vocals are pushed a bit too hard in the mix at some point (Buoys, Inner Monologue) and I do wish that the outro of the live version of Master had made the cut in the studio. The stretch from Cranked to Master is a perfect 10/10 for me, as are the last two tracks. Home Free is so so heavy, especially for a track based on a simple acoustic guitar riff and some plonky percussion. He also nailed the name of the album, Crescendo being especially buoyant.

Crestone:
Not much to say about this one, except that I really like it, but haven't listened to it a whole lot since it came out. It could have done without the spoken word bits from the movie and I wouldn't mind some more soundtracks from the band in the future.

BtQ:
What a great surprise this was when it dropped out of nowhere! With Suspend the Time stuck at the end, it could almost be viewed as a neat little chilled out AC album. I appreciate that they really gave everything time to evolve with the lengthy intros and outros. The only gripe I have is that Piggy Knows overstays its welcome a little. One verse and one chorus could have easily been cut, especially with the copy pasted lyrics.
Other than that, it's the perfect little gift to ease the way through the pandemic a little bit until the arrival of Time Skiffs. Less than a week to go now and I couldn't be more hyped after going through the whole AC discography.

I haven't been this active on here in years, as I mostly lurked around for news and boots. But this thread was a really great idea, foxtrot! Again, thank you for this ride, it's been a whole lot of fun for me!

[Allatrobles]

bullseye wrote:

I haven't been this active on here in years, as I mostly lurked around for news and boots. But this thread was a really great idea, foxtrot! Again, thank you for this ride, it's been a whole lot of fun for me!

I ran the train on their whole discog right was prester Was announced and just before this thread was made. But reading this and going back the albums again throughout has been fantastic. Thanks evetyone!

[Slippi's Applesauce]

Jammed Buoys and BTQ in anticipation of the upcoming freebird. Buoys is not a great listen for me, but it has some cool tracks. I honestly enjoy Dolphin, I Know I Don’t, and the title track the most right now. Master has grown off me quite a bit.
Bridge to Quiet is still pretty sick, feels like a poppy sound collage to me. A perfect meeting of the chill/ambient stuff and PW vibes that guides us into this current era. Love it so much.
No idea when Time Skiffs will freebird, but either way I’ll definitely still be listening to A Day With the Homies on vinyl when I get back home Sunday night. Love that release too.

[foxtrot]

I know we're all distracted now but I still plan to reply to some of the awesome thoughts here.

Thanks again everyone. Fucking yes.

[roopn]

Distracted by the Skiffening but I have lots and lots of love for Buoys. Will try to get some thoughts together

[scrambledgreggs]

I was thrilled to bits by Buoys when it came out, I loved the simple melodies (reminded me of 60s and 70s folk singers like Vashti) and I think the relatively sparse production matches them really well. It was lovely to hear PB returning to acoustic guitar sounds especially after Grim Reaper, a welcome surprise

Relistening to it now after all these other albums it feels a bit more slight than I remember, it sort of breezes by. I love pretty much all the songs still but it’s maybe not as impactful as a whole as when I first heard it

[foxtrot]

A few thoughts on Crestone while I desperately try and distract myself from TS:

It is really quite beautiful. Its also interesting to hear members of AC finding a way to make their bubbling psychedelic sounds effectively merge with the more typical ideas of a 'film score'. Elements of this record sound very cinematic (read: pretty/widescreen/evocative) and others more texturally striking and attention grabbing. Opening with Dome Yard and Eye In The Sky demonstrates this pretty effectively from the get go.

I have no real idea who did what but my guess/feeling is that Josh is contributing a lot of the more organic/trad instrument sounds and Brian is adding a lot of the bolder contrasting sonics. This ebb and flow plays out really nicely. So does the incorporation of lots of piano, clean acoustic guitar, slide guitar and other organic instruments not often given centre stage on recent AC releases.

Not great with all the track names on this one the stretch from Benz’s Dream (the piano is absolutely gorgeous) through to Sand That Moves (such an evocative track – big desert beauty) is definitely a standout/favourite part of the album. The ghostly, music box feel of Sad Boy Sleeping is also amazing. Really unique track with some Deakin vocals (a rarity on this thing).

Would have preferred no film dialogue snippets (Scavengers for e.g.) so I could really create my own world for the album. Minor criticism though.

[foxtrot]

Bridge To Quiet:

AC's 'OMG Zoom catch ups are so novel now that we're in our first ever lockdown' moment! I guess it'll always remind us of this time. Totally stands on its own as an awesome EP though. Just enough new ideas and just enough reminders of their old magic.

Lots of people seem to see this as having PW vibes but for me it sounds really connected to FBK. The beats, abrupt shifts between sections, lush sonics, unhurried pace etc.

Rain In Cups is wonderful. Love how murky the beat is, how patient the whole track is. It just gently emerges and does its thing. Gorgeous Avey melody. Lots of great details. The twinkling piano during the second pre-chorus section is particularly pretty. Reminds of On A Highway at times.

Piggy Knows: used to start off sounding like some kind of ODDSAC style ambient thing - love how it feels comforting yet disconcerting at the same time. These days I can totally see the TS connection. Reminds me a lot of PJ outro. The song proper is a heap of fun. Again, gives me real MPP/FBK era feels (Grace) but with a certain gritty/earthy feel that sets it apart. That bouncy bass part and the pre-chorus (PIGGY! hhheeeeerrrrrrrrrhhhhhh) is just great. Lots of fun littel backing vocals that pop up all over the place in this one. I always imagine them in iso at home chucking all the little overdubs in.

Sux-Bier is the lull, but not necessarily in a bad way. It sets a cool, creppy atmosphere. It always evokes watching various strange, unidentifiable creatures emerge from a cave into the light for me. I really dig the completely warped Avey vocals that emerge halfway through. Reminds me of some of the stuff he did with Terrestrial Tones.

The title track is a solid bop. Again, unhurried and therefore quite a joy to just relax into. Love the texture of the stuff happening during the intro. So mucky! Then when the beat suddenly reveals itself things have such a playful momentum. I love the way it feels like the beat is a living thing that finds Avey's rhythm then jumps in. Keen to jam and join the action. Again heaps of radical backing vocals in this one. The guitar, just like the beat, suddenly jumps in. It's like people jamming around a campfire. 'I'll sing something!'. Panda's backing vocal part (try it oooonn!) is classic. Another great example of this EP's leisurely pace too. It doesn't even appear until after 6 mins into the track. Felt like the days lasted forever during that first lockdown.

[Calamity Pete]

Buoys is weird for me looking back. I think the singles are pretty great although Dolphin really needs some kind of other element added in the second verse I feel. Those are definitely the peak of the album's songwriting and production, and I think he nails his concept pretty well. However most of the other songs on there are like.. so so simple that they don't really justify such a stripped down production. The only exception is Inner Monologue, which i wish was even more stripped down (thinking of that vid of him rehearsing). I'm not super into the distortion on his vox there, or that string-sounding synth lead t(or maybe him humming?) that plays throughout it. The backup vox are good though

[madameghostly]

A Day with the Homies: wow, this is great. Panda really knocked it out of the park on this one. probably up there as one of the best EPs of the Animal Collective extended universe, though the long intros/outros (on the vinyl version anyway) give it more of a full album vibe. as for favorites, i really like Sunset, but i have to give the crown to Flight, because Noah was ballsy enough to not only put a country song on his indietronica EP, but also put the line "can't be goodbye/goodbye good crew/so i won't say goodbye/goodbye to you" in the same song as "steppin' out the doodoo"

Buoys: MOTHER OF GOD IT'S ALL TOILET SOUNDS

nah i'm kidding it's alright. i don't hate it, which was a surprise to me, considering the snippets and testimonials i'd heard beforehand. i went in expecting it to be a homogenous, overproduced mess, but what i got was a pretty solid 31 minutes of catchy tunes and good vibes, with a clearly overarching aesthetic that still allows for each song to bring its own thing to the table. my favorite might be Cranked, but shout out to Inner Monologue and the vague soft rock vibes i get from it ("ONE")

is it his best album? of course not. is it worth your time? at 31 minutes, i'd say you don't have much to lose. i give Buoys a slap on a jelly ass out of 10

Crestone: very nice ambient soundtrack for a movie that's probably good idk i didn't watch it sorry. Sand That Moves was a good choice for the "single", but Cotton Candy Sky (Dead God Theme) is just as much of a contender for best track imo. i patiently await more from Deak and Geo as a duo. or just more of the boys doing soundtracks for things i mean seriously how did it take 20 years for someone to go "i wanna get Animal Collective to score my movie" and then actually do it

---

one last thing, i just wanna say that this whole retrospective thing has been tons of fun, especially discovering all the stuff i missed out on before, and the past ten weeks have flown by because of it. i love you guys

[foxtrot]

For sure!

Thanks to you too madame. it has been really fun for a bunch of us to witness your first reactions to a bunch of these releases. a fresh perspective for sure.

Time Skiffs is now the last release on the schedule... but we already have a thread for that.

Stay rad champions!

[roopn]

for whatever reason I haven't been able to gather my thoughts on buoys. I must've listened to this album hundreds of times in the year following its release, to the point where I barely listen to it nowadays but it still feels fresh and familiar in my mind whenever I think about it. The music really became a part of me.
People above have stated that the production sounds thin or samey, which for sure I can see on a superficial level but I urge those of you who can't see past that to try again. These songs, as they are presented here, are whole. There is nothing missing, and there are plenty of secrets still revealing themselves to me even now.
I am an absolute sucker for acoustic guitar in AC's music, so that's probably what drew me into this era so readily.
The cornerstone of this album is the vocals. They are completely upfront and, instead of the chorus of reverb-drenched noahs belting out at us (which I love) we get a single, intimate, muscular, beautiful voice all the way through.
The autotune is a controversial move I suppose, but to me it doesn't detract from the vocal performance at all. It thickens up the upfront position of the vocals in the mix so it really hits you in the chest and gets inside you (see cranked: and thoooough/weeeee/meeeessed/uu-up"). The way it's executed both strengthens the already career-best melodies AND enhances the psychedelic quality of the music, akin to how the band usually uses delay (which is present here too of course. why waste a good thing?)
Finally, the vocal production would mean nothing without good lyrics. Man I love the lyrics on here. They're cryptic but so accessible, so full of meaning. You can view any of the lines from a multitude of angles to find out what the words mean to you. I love how noah talks about love and sex, which to me feels like a central theme of Buoys. Simple, heartfelt, genuine, vulnerable, funny (jelly ass). Ever felt like a song is looking you right in the eyes?