Collected Animals

spoogn wrote:

The best panda bear album is Tomboiled, not even a studio album

..what is Tomboiled

https://soundcloud.com/kauled-per/tomboiled

Contrarian take incoming but I think R&D is the worst song on TS and one of the band's most boring and safe songs ever. I quite liked Down Down Down Down but I never really listen to R&D anymore.

yeah there's a hard-to-explain huge difference between 2019 downdowndown and time skiffs R&D. i think it just comes down to how spacious and languid it originally was, which may have not even really been by design idk. i also have quibbles about the guitar tones they went with on the studio version but of course i do lmao (bit too dry and plunky needs more ethereality). i still think it's good but yeah i don't return to it much

my searing take on skiffs rankings is that Strung With Everything is very nearly the worst song on it. i can't not hear it as a middle of the road avey solo track that just happened to get the royal treatment. all the start-stopping with awkward drum fills in the second half is supposed to be impressive i guess but it's just messy and keeps the song from ever picking up any actual steam, probably the most "we made this over zoom/gmail" stretch of music on the record. just feels like they were trying to force a classic and i don't buy it at all

R&D and Strung are my two favorite songs on TS...

just feels like they were trying to force a classic and i don't buy it at all

Narrative like this is only something that fans, music media, and label people think about -- not the band (well not this band). I remember a quote where they told Domino to just choose whatever songs as singles because they liked them all just about the same and didn't feel like any were more or less representative of the album or something like that. They wrote a song that they have fun playing

I agree a little bit about the start stop -- especially live in the very final section it creates kind of an emptiness/uneasiness that does hurt the momentum. I actually think it's because they play it too fast? I'm probably wrong about that but the silence feels more right on record. Amazing track anyway they just haven't nailed it live.

Agreed strung is my least favourite on skiffs. Blew my mind at the time cause I had no idea what to expect, but the chorus/refrain is definitely clunky. I love the verses though, I think they're brilliant, but by the end of the song they're heavily outweighed by the latter half of the track

Royal is a low-tier, plodding soft rock tune that has no place in AC's discography. I can literally hear the middle age creeping up on me as I listen to it. If they're in their dad-rock phase, R&D is about as dad-rock as it gets. It should have stayed a Deakin solo piece

Just trying to counterbalance SWE slander

Stories and Games wrote:

just feels like they were trying to force a classic and i don't buy it at all

Narrative like this is only something that fans, music media, and label people think about -- not the band (well not this band). I remember a quote where they told Domino to just choose whatever songs as singles because they liked them all just about the same and didn't feel like any were more or less representative of the album or something like that. They wrote a song that they have fun playing

I agree a little bit about the start stop -- especially live in the very final section it creates kind of an emptiness/uneasiness that does hurt the momentum. I actually think it's because they play it too fast? I'm probably wrong about that but the silence feels more right on record. Amazing track anyway they just haven't nailed it live.

i think that's probably mostly true but it is noticeable to me that they played it at literally every show on the time skiffs tour, which isn't true of any other song i don't think (except for maybe chores lol). i'm probably a little overly harsh on it bc when it came out a bunch of fans were saying stuff like "this is the next purple bottle" and i was like excuse me it's what now

also interestingly have heard most people saying that it sounds even better live than in studio. i agree that they're playing it way too fast, but also i suspect that that's because they have to. there's a really weird upbeat/downbeat illusion happening on the studio version, i find it's near impossible to actually hear it the way the band is ostensibly hearing it (part of why i think it's the most blatantly remotely constructed moment on the record). they might not have the luxury as live musicians to take their time with the normal tempo while managing to all stay on beat properly during that bit

Jam wrote:

Stories and Games wrote:

just feels like they were trying to force a classic and i don't buy it at all

Narrative like this is only something that fans, music media, and label people think about -- not the band (well not this band). I remember a quote where they told Domino to just choose whatever songs as singles because they liked them all just about the same and didn't feel like any were more or less representative of the album or something like that. They wrote a song that they have fun playing

I agree a little bit about the start stop -- especially live in the very final section it creates kind of an emptiness/uneasiness that does hurt the momentum. I actually think it's because they play it too fast? I'm probably wrong about that but the silence feels more right on record. Amazing track anyway they just haven't nailed it live.

i think that's probably mostly true but it is noticeable to me that they played it at literally every show on the time skiffs tour, which isn't true of any other song i don't think (except for maybe chores lol). i'm probably a little overly harsh on it bc when it came out a bunch of fans were saying stuff like "this is the next purple bottle" and i was like excuse me it's what now

also interestingly have heard most people saying that it sounds even better live than in studio. i agree that they're playing it way too fast, but also i suspect that that's because they have to. there's a really weird upbeat/downbeat illusion happening on the studio version, i find it's near impossible to actually hear it the way the band is ostensibly hearing it (part of why i think it's the most blatantly remotely constructed moment on the record). they might not have the luxury as live musicians to take their time with the normal tempo while managing to all stay on beat properly during that bit

Only thing is they didn't play it every time during the Skiffs tour right? Sometimes they did Stride instead. But they definitely did RnD more than stride


ah heha wrong song

post is about strung not RnD hehe

Royal is a low-tier, plodding soft rock tune that has no place in AC's discography. I can literally hear the middle age creeping up on me as I listen to it. If they're in their dad-rock phase, R&D is about as dad-rock as it gets. It should have stayed a Deakin solo piece

Just trying to counterbalance SWE slander

I kinda see this but I also very much embrace Dad rock AC.

Stride is easily my favourite though. Very excited to hear how it has turned out in the studio.

post is about strung not RnD hehe

My reading comp skills this week. Soz

Haha I can see the dad rock take on R&D. But I don't mind it. Half the band are dads, so its fitting maybe. Personally, I like R&D, its a nice slow fade out song. I wish it had more elements to it, or some Geologist sound design parts to it, but I can take it for its simplicity. I think it would've suited it much more to not be the album closer. Seems like that gives it a kinda different schmaltzy "isn't the sunset beautiful" angle to it.

I think R&D would be less schmaltzy without the soft rock drums. If it had No More Running kind of instrumentation, it'd possibly go a bit deeper but it does fit the rest of Time Skiffs which I find relentlessly polite.

i really do think it would've come alive properly if not for the recording/mixing circumstances, one of those songs where you can hear how beautiful it logically *should* be but something's just not clicking. give that song soul capturer type production and it goes from schmaltzy dad rock (derogatory) to schmaltzy dad rock (complimentary)

I think R&D would be less schmaltzy without the soft rock drums. If it had No More Running kind of instrumentation, it'd possibly go a bit deeper but it does fit the rest of Time Skiffs which I find relentlessly polite.

This is a valid point. Panda has done a lot of ‘straight’ stuff this era. A lot of it is really engaging but there are definitely times when I long for him to stand up and just belt toms and shake his hair around a bit.

Why is this thread so popular right now lol

This thread reminded me of Tomboiled and hot damn it’s good fun.

this is definitely my own fault for thinking this because i never listened to any live bootlegs and was therefore running on the fumes of hundreds of hyped-up forum posts for years leading up to studio defeat's release but my first impression of defeat is that it's kinda mid and definitely doesn't need to be that long. please don't hurt me

hey it's alright now you get to go listen to the bootlegs and maybe get why we were so over the top about it lol. 2018 music box and 2019 meow wolf are both conveniently on youtube

One day y'all gonna be hurting and Royal will just be on somehow and that ending section is gonna obliterate you into the next stratosphere fuck a dad rock meme bullshit Hahaha

I do kind of resent strung with everything for being AC's margaritaville

R&D is music from the astral plane, the most transcendent song on the album. call it whatever genre you want, but this song gets deep emotionally, is absolutely a divine hand in sonic form, and feels as if you're swimming through reeds of clouds in the sky, flying without wings or an engine towards the face of the sun

A big part of what makes the Music Box Village boot sound so magical *cough* especially defeat *cough* is the sound quality (or lack thereof)

^this

i really do think it would've come alive properly if not for the recording/mixing circumstances, one of those songs where you can hear how beautiful it logically *should* be but something's just not clicking. give that song soul capturer type production and it goes from schmaltzy dad rock (derogatory) to schmaltzy dad rock (complimentary)

Also this hahaha

I do hope R&D clicks one day for me, it makes me really sad but I just wanna turn it off as soon as it comes on. Maybe I would like it more if it was earlier in the album, idk

Why is this thread so popular right now lol

Negativity bias more ppl on the board bc of new album == more negativity!

I feel like a bit of a Pollyanna because 90% of the time I've been in here defending against the negative takes.

I feel like a bit of a Pollyanna because 90% of the time I've been in here defending against the negative takes.

Same. But I stand as the AC Defener

Im hilarious because I think Music box defeat is their most overrated song and studio defeat is there most underrated

How could you possibly think studio Defeat is underrated?!

Everyone here went mental for it. Myself among them.

Moo Rah Rah Rain is one of their most underrated and neglected songs and I think it deserves more attention. It may even be my favorite track from Campfire Songs...not to take anything away from the other tracks. It just moves me so much more than anything else on the album with lines like "I've never seen the rain, my spittle cannot fly. Dad can't keep taking care of business" and the implication that this is the story of a family dying from famine during the dust bowl really just hits me hard.

Absolutely. Doggy gets all the attention but Moo is my favourite on the album too. For me it perfect fly sums up everything that is great about Campfire Songs.

Absolutely agree. This is just my interpretation, but I think I'm close with it...the entirety of Campfire Songs seems to be about life and death. maybe it's blatantly obvious but i feel it goes overlooked. every song ends with the death of something...except maybe queen in my pictures. the lyrics are impossible to decipher but i feel it's about someone existing only in pictures because they had died. While I can very closely relate to doggy like so many others, Moo Rah Rah Rain does an awesome job of expressing desolation and hopelessness. the thought of a child growing up having never seen rain hits me right in the feels

One day y'all gonna be hurting and Royal will just be on somehow and that ending section is gonna obliterate you into the next stratosphere fuck a dad rock meme bullshit Hahaha

I'm always hurting but Banshee and Defeat got me covered

This is probably a tepid take at best but Water Curses is AC's only 100% flawless release (not including singles with b sides).

This is probably a tepid take at best but Water Curses is AC's only 100% flawless release (not including singles with b sides).

I don’t agree that it’s their only 100% flawless release but I think it’s the best thing they’ve ever done

my spiciest AC opinion is that street flash is just ok, much prefer water curses and cobwebs off that one

my spiciest AC opinion is that street flash is just ok, much prefer water curses and cobwebs off that one

Scorching.

corrie wrote:

my spiciest AC opinion is that street flash is just ok, much prefer water curses and cobwebs off that one

Scorching.

I know, and tbh i have tried to really love it as much as i can given the reverence it has, but it just doesn't really go anywhere for me, it's like one loop with avey doing his vocal noodlings over it, still a great song, but i never want to put it on out of their discog, safer on the other hand... their best song ever

while i'm at it...

the two songs that i like the most from the centipede sessions are crimson and gotham, don't get me wrong i really love the album as awhole, but if all the songs had been given that dusty, desert sounding production it could have been their best album... take applesauce and amanita off the final album as well, both sub par songs which kind of bring the whole album down imo

this is the place for unpopular opinions right?

Correct in some ways, badly incorrectly in others.

Real human bean.

And a real idiot.

Same as all of us.

Correct in some ways, badly incorrectly in others.

Real human bean.

And a real idiot.

Same as all of us.

hey call me what you want, but at least i am real, a real stupid bastard