Collected Animals

preordered through domino and received mine today! love the color of the vinyl. looks like there is supposed to be some light swirl in there, but the record just looks a lil dusty in some parts to me haha

yeah it makes sense that the people who immediately pre order directly from the artist don't get a release until after it's been out for a couple of days

Seriously. Domino, I say let's treat the diehard fans by giving them their product several days after they could buy it at the local record store. Excellent idea!
Mine says 2/11 for delivery. That's the day before I go to the Boston show.
I haven't been pregaming with the freebird or boots, either, so the anticipation is killing me. Time to adjust the weekend plans, because I won't be sitting in front of my speakers for the large % of it now.
At least we've had some good interviews with Noah to fill the void.

damn, noah got himself a fancy GQ feature!

https://www.gq.com/story/meet-panda-bear-again

It's kind of rough to read/hear interviews with the same 5-10 questions/answers/ideas every time. It would be cool if someone who follows the band more closely and isn't focused on story-fying the interview would interview him. It seems like given how private and focused on the music he is, it's partly by design, but it would be cool as a fan to get something more generous interview wise...

Also, as someone who doesn't have a music streaming service or listen to mainstream pop music, am I wrong in thinking it's ridiculous to suggest that people who listen to mainstream pop music will listen to Buoys? Buoys strikes me as a much more obscure/less poppy sounding than any of the preceding ones...

My post is coming from a less negative place than it sounds haha...I am very positive about the album and Panda Bear!

just going back to the lyric commentary stuff real quick, i also think it's funny that in the past 10 years of discussion on this forum i feel like there were instances of people being like 'is ____ animal collective song/this lyric about sex?' etc and people would be quick to be like 'uh i don't think so, it's clearly something deeper/more high brow/a metaphor etc' then panda's commentary on the buoy lyrics is like "these are all sexual allusions" lol i love it

of course the exception to this would be guy eyes, i think there was always a general consensus about that lol

and Bluish of course.

Hey it's bubbbbbbbbbbbbbbblouy!

Where is he and his amazing math mind? and was that really how his CA name was spelled? so prescient!

Panda did a takeover of 9:30 club's instagram story and posted short breakdowns of the lyrics from each song on the album. Here's an album of all the images he posted https://imgur.com/gallery/GmNTMAa

I've only skimmed it but some of the explanations are just as cryptic as the actual lyrics lol. still pretty cool to read though

edit: lol

this is so sick

Also, as someone who doesn't have a music streaming service or listen to mainstream pop music, am I wrong in thinking it's ridiculous to suggest that people who listen to mainstream pop music will listen to Buoys? Buoys strikes me as a much more obscure/less poppy sounding than any of the preceding ones...

from what I remember of my brief weekend with the freebird, dolphin, and token, I agree with this assessment, but I think right before a new AnCo album drops I always have this feeling

one thing I think about all the time re: this band is how RADICAL and extremely different their sound was the first time I heard it. I'll literally never forget the first time I heard Peacebone. It was presented to me as an example of why Oberlin College, where my then-girl friend was going to school, sucks. AnCo played their on-campus venue and she channeled all her homesickness onto the boys. I kinda liked it at first rip, and when we broke up soon after I spite-listened to "Strawberry Jamz", which lead me to Person Pitch via various tweet sites.

I can picture (probably) the look on my dumb face in a recliner at the FAMILY COMPUTER (for fucks sake) in my parents' basement. Me, dumb, a junior in high school, hearing sounds made via samples for the first time etc etc etc.

I don't have that feeling anymore because I've been with this band for, well, shit, like 12 years now. I don't love them any less, but I've become desensitized to their "weird". This is not taking into account how much their sound the sounds of pop music have also changed as we've grown, but still.

I'm curious what other folks think of this, especially in regards to our dear friend noah, on the eve of his newest album. I'm also curious how this impacts the introducing of new people to anco's music.

I don't think much about whether or not their music is 'weird' or 'mainstream', but one of the ideas Noah keeps talking about in interviews is how some of the aesthetic choices on this one are intended to make it more familiar to/synced with mainstream tuned ears, so I was just kind of talking about that. The autotuning and stuff. It seems kind of a crazy thought, nobody that I know will have any idea this was released, I suspect (sadly).

Oh and on the interviews topic, everybody seems to be going with his idea that the lyrics on this record are more revealing or darker, but they seem as obscure as usual to me haha.

Buoys is pretty interesting. The AC aesthetic is pretty ride or die with the constant reinvention thing and it's a little bit of a tough one to swallow that Noah has moved on from the vibe of the earlier stuff.

My current Panda Bear album ranking would be:

Grim Reaper tied with Homies (wish we knew more about Homies, it seems so out of nowhere)
Tomboy
And then Buoys/person pitch somewhere after those.

Sounds about right but in the exact opposite order

Yep

Sounds about right but in the exact opposite order

could be wrong, but i wouldn't be surprised if greaper was fordtonic's intro to panda
feels and person pitch were my intros to AC and panda respectively & they're still my CLEAR favorites
i don't know if my brain puts them on a pedestal for nostalgia's sake....
but I know avey hates when we use the n-word

hunkswithguns wrote:

yeah it makes sense that the people who immediately pre order directly from the artist don't get a release until after it's been out for a couple of days

Seriously. Domino, I say let's treat the diehard fans by giving them their product several days after they could buy it at the local record store. Excellent idea!

you know i was thinking about this more last night and it's probably likely that domino submits shipments to USPS and then it's USPS that does all the rerouting to distribution centers and whatnot. domino is shipping them with plenty of time to get to us even if the package gets rerouted, so maybe we should be more grateful to domino :/

tl;dr i shouldn't complain, i'm getting new PB music

also worth considering that mail in a few states was stopped last week with the polar vortex so they're probably backed up. if they're still shipping from michigan then that could be the case for all of them.

I've been a pretty intense fan since 2005/2006 actually.

I feel like over time it's the production of the albums that have stood out more to me than the songs. So some of the more spare patches on Person Pitch feel a little lightweight in particular now or something. I still love the album, and the bangers like Bros and Good Girl still tear your face off, but I don't turn to the album as much anymore. I do still really love also the bonfire of the vanities and other live stuff from that era.

I feel like Grim Reaper is a pretty bad ass, maximalist, stunning album that holds up really well. The production of that one is so heavy. I think Sonic Boom was a really cool kind of filter for Noah's music, and the vibe of the grim reaper era is just so cool in my opinion.

Homies has the most mysterious quality to me of any of his albums, i love the mysteriousness that permeates the record. And I think his vocals on that one are really cool/different sounding.

I really like Buoys but maybe I just havent "gotten" it yet totally so I'm still wondering where it fits in my favorites...

...I feel like Grim Reaper is a pretty bad ass, maximalist, stunning album that holds up really well. The production of that one is so heavy. I think Sonic Boom was a really cool kind of filter for Noah's music, and the vibe of the grim reaper era is just so cool in my opinion...

i too love how maximalist that one is, sonic was def good fit and seemed like a great cheerleader in a lot of ways (not to downplay his role or importance)...i see your point of view for sure, but i think its neat you and i approach their music in such opposite ways.. i judge each release on the strength of the songs and maybe nitpick the production and ornaments after the fact...didnt mean to assume you were a newer fan, cool to hear your thoughts on that record and era

I kind of cheat when I'm distinguishing between Peeb's albums. Person Pitch was not only my point of entry into Panda, it was kind of also my entry into AnCo, so while I'm fully on with that record, it isn't my favorite. Has some of my favorite songs to be sure, my goodness. But even Panda looks at PP as something "else", turntable music he calls it in one of those interviews: less of an album and more a collection of songs. To me, that's my passcode for not being all catholic and self-loathing about not top-ranking PP, all love to folks who do.

In 2014 & 2015 Greaper was my whole shit. I was extremely online for that whole rollout, like I was logged into CA when the freebird dropped levels of online. Without telling the whole story, that was a profoundly dark run for me, so to have such a tangible reason to wake up and log onto the internet each morning will forever and always put PBVSGR in an important space, even though as the years have rolled on the gloss and excitement of that record have worn a bit. Which is to say Greap plays second fiddle only to Tomboy, which is I think the most perfect album to have been recorded by someone who is not Detroit heartthrob slash rock and roll bad boy Jack White.

Obviously, I metered responses to Bouys when it freebirded, and the tour, despite being "PANDA BEAR PLAYS BOUYS" to me was so connected to Homies that it kind of became its own thing, which is to say, as I am six hours from getting my copy of Bouys from my doorstep I am eager, excited, and both of those feelings a dozen more times.

I don't really get too hung up on ranking the records because they're (to me) all really good and they all capture such different and strikingly powerful affective responses. idk, panda bear's whole discography is fucking great. Can't wait to bring Bouys into the fold

another good interview with Panda (50 minute podcast)

https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/02/ ... anda-bear/

lots of random juicy bits, like how his first concert was either seeing Modest Mouse & Beck or G. Love & Special Sauce

Homies is my favorite panda release and sunset is my favorite Panda bear song alongside the live version of buoys and a musician and a film maker...weish he didm ore homies stuff...that desert dayus set with all the songs homies-fied (with THE skeletal you can count on me) is so lit...and homies songs live are probably the most huge in his entire discog aside from 2010 tomboy live

To this day the Tomboy show at the masonic temple in brooklyn remains the most intense sensory experience of my life. It may have been the weed, but the lights and sound destroyed me. Definitely one of my more memorable show experiences.

To this day the Tomboy show at the masonic temple in brooklyn remains the most intense sensory experience of my life. It may have been the weed, but the lights and sound destroyed me. Definitely one of my more memorable show experiences.

I got to see a Tomboy show at a music festival in Philly in 2011 and would fully agree with every element of this assessment.

fordtonic wrote:

To this day the Tomboy show at the masonic temple in brooklyn remains the most intense sensory experience of my life. It may have been the weed, but the lights and sound destroyed me. Definitely one of my more memorable show experiences.

I got to see a Tomboy show at a music festival in Philly in 2011 and would fully agree with every element of this assessment.

damn, i never saw a tomboy show but i third this assessment. this is exactly how i felt seeing him last may at brooklyn steel during the tour supporting homies. the lights, sound, heart thumping bass, and danny's visuals wrecked me. without a doubt one of the top 3 shows - and maybe experiences - i've ever had in my life.

the show I saw last year is my fav ever. The Homies song were INSANE + first hearing the Bouys song destroyed me + Drone + crosswords and Tropic. what a show, what a show ...

So I guess the 'skip' in IKIDK was not a skip after all...

this album is too damn good

DAmn this is just so so so goooood what an album im losing it
Comparing listens with that transcode, the HQ is off the planet, the bass is huge, and you feel the warmth of the mixing, the space, the vocals are just perfect -- i love the auto tune but its weird that i don't hear that much of it, like, i hear his voice so clear, the auto tune sits just behind the main vocal, is subtle and full but not overpowering.....
Love the aesthetic jumps Panda has made - the artistic ambition, the restlessness, the sense of exploration is powerful and admirable, a true artist, never resting on their laurels, always looking for that future fertile and creative ground, pushing oneself to find something new, sharing the adventure....
What a month this is!
It's these true boundary pushing aspects that draw me to Panda's work, he gives so much, he's willing to scare himself by finding a new sounds, re-defining who is, and what his music represents....
Avey's stuff is strong and mature but has't grown nearly as much over the music career timespan, he's been treading water for years really -- he's sure lucky Panda joined his band and pushed them all into the future and the limelight.... yeah go Panda you legendary visionary vocal shapeshifter, i feel this in the guts HARD man im stoned and soooo happy

LIT FROM A LIGHT WITHIN

It's out today yay
Will def listen after work

happy release day buoys and guorls

now that the album is actually out Panda finally released the REAL artwork and it looks amazing

Chill with that avey slander

Happy release day! Excited to hear the HQ versions to see if I can tell a difference. Got my vinyl yesterday!

It is bad enough my vinyl wont be here for release day, will they send out a DL code today?

I was able to click through on my initial order link and get the full album download. the one that they sent via email with dolphin single

the big ol walls of sound in the title track.... my mind is blown!
i know i've said it before but god damn if buoys isn't my new favorite song by him. lyrically, sonically, it covers everything i love about him. bouncy, fun, catchy
thank you Noah this album is fantastic and i look forward to it soundtracking my summer

DAmn this is just so so so goooood what an album im losing it
Comparing listens with that transcode, the HQ is off the planet, the bass is huge, and you feel the warmth of the mixing, the space, the vocals are just perfect -- i love the auto tune but its weird that i don't hear that much of it, like, i hear his voice so clear, the auto tune sits just behind the main vocal, is subtle and full but not overpowering.....
Love the aesthetic jumps Panda has made - the artistic ambition, the restlessness, the sense of exploration is powerful and admirable, a true artist, never resting on their laurels, always looking for that future fertile and creative ground, pushing oneself to find something new, sharing the adventure....
What a month this is!
It's these true boundary pushing aspects that draw me to Panda's work, he gives so much, he's willing to scare himself by finding a new sounds, re-defining who is, and what his music represents....
Avey's stuff is strong and mature but has't grown nearly as much over the music career timespan, he's been treading water for years really -- he's sure lucky Panda joined his band and pushed them all into the future and the limelight.... yeah go Panda you legendary visionary vocal shapeshifter, i feel this in the guts HARD man im stoned and soooo happy

so excited to hear the album in full HQ
I already loved the autotune and the sub bass but I'm sure the rip didn't do them justice

I blasted in my car on the way to work this morning and my wheels fell off and my balls fell off my damn dick

happy buoys day everyone!

just picked up the red vinyl from the record store! can't wait to blast when i get home after work.

https://imgur.com/a/4d0pO9k

this made me weirdly emotional when i read this. it's touching that he's vocally thanking us, and saying that giving us an album is "the least he can do". god i fucking love this man