Panda Bear- Person Pitch

Mordechai, there is thing, called "dance music", have you heard of it?

I love this album. Am a bit surprised that Pitchfork's albums of the year have been my albums of the year (this year equal favourite with Studio) two years running. Have I become more pitchforky since I started writing for them perhaps.

maybe pitchfork has become more tim f.

I can't understand what he's saying, it sounds like there are animal noises in the background, and the song is fairly precipitous musically. I feel like I'm hearing the same beat over and over in short 2 second intervals. And it keeps getting layered (swishing noises, what sounds like machine beeps, in the background I think I can hear some kind of sci-fi spaceship noise, and what sounds like the wash cycle on a washing machine).

if these are things you dislike in music, you and i have very, very different taste

max how do you feel about skye sweetnam?

DLD91287 (2 hours ago) 0
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Well..I am happy there is an artist out there that actually speaks the truth about people!
Skyesoldier00 (57 minutes ago) 0
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Yes, Skye truly is an inspiration in a world full of money grubbing self centered fools!

Not to bang on - actually, fuck it, to bang on and on and on and on and on - I'd like this an awful lot more if it wasn't so flat and one dimensional sounding, physically; I like the ideas, I like the melodies, I like the sonic juxtapositions and the actual 'tunes'. I don't like the fact that I can't climb inside it, that it feels like a plank of wood or pane of glass or sheet of steel. I can't put it on and feel it flow around me in three dimensions. Hence, ambient. Which I feel is a shame, because there's a lot of pop in this record, I just can't touch it.

i know some soldiers in here
where they at?
where they at?

Mordechai, there is thing, called "dance music", have you heard of it?

Are you fucking kidding me?

It's just that your description of "Good Girl" makes it sound like a great dance track.

Except for the part where it's awful. I don't found dance track vocals incomprehensible, the don't find them layered to the point where I get a headache, and I don't find the rhythm impossible to keep track of. In fact, I find dance tracks all the opposite of that.

the = then

Unless, of course, by dance you mean something entirely different than dance music. I consider dance music something you can dance to.

to shove aside the pitchfork year end list and the inevitable debates that will occur here in regards to it, at least Panda Bear had the only End of the Year Guestlist that was worth looking at. like 36 lists of pure, unadelterated almost masturbatorily 'pitchfork' lists, 3 that were good, and then his, which included both Pantha du Prince AND the Enjoi video!

Also, I don't even know who Skye is. I know she did a song with Tim Armstrong from Rancid. And I like Rancid. And I liked the song. But I've never heard anything else by her. So let's not mischaracterize my taste in music by saying that people I liked one song she participated in, OBVIOUSLY that explains why I don't like Panda Bear.

Goddamit. I don't know how the word "people" got in that paragraph. I should just go back to sleep.

ilx mindhive clusterfuck consensus: Person Pitch=#1 punching bag of 2007

or hivemind, if you will

It's probably my favorite cover art of the year, in any case.

Oh yeah.

Ok. Here's the deal. I've got open ears and I actually want to like this album. Whoever can get me to like this album (by pointing stuff out, by explaining things, by telling me to pay attention to a particular thing) wins. I will listen to anything recommended. If you want to give me a music history lesson, because that is what it takes to appreciate this album, go right ahead.

Hmm, I think if you can't see immediately what's great about 'Bros' then there's no real point in persisting.

dude if you've listened to it 12 times and you don't like, why continue trying? it doesn't matter if it makes every damn critics' top 5, if you don't like, you don't like it!

there's a lot of highly acclaimed albums this year that i have basically no interest in trying to like, and i'm fine with that.

there's lots of "it"s missing from my first couple sentences.

xposts

but see, you don't like it! every time somebody tries this you valiantly listen and report back with the same bleak prognosis (which again is to your credit, although it kinda looks like banging your head against a wall at this point). It's OK to not get it or like it! I hate most of the top records this year, including some you probably really like. do you listen to stuff like Zoviet France? because I think throwing out all the "indie" pre-conceptions and treating this record like pure sound really is your best bet.

also, nobody can understand the words in "Good Girl". they are backwards and the lyrics are not important to the experience of the song.

i.e. what Baaderonix said.

I guess my problem is, I've never heard an album I didn't understand as little as this one. Even albums I've disliked (and I railed pretty hard against Joanna Newsom last year) I still got what was there. I still saw what people saw there, and then rejected it. This I can't even see what's there. People compare it to the Beach Boys, but I love the Beach Boys.

I like this live download thing more than Person Pitch. More beats!

-- mizzell, Wednesday, June 6, 2007 9:37 PM (6 months ago) Bookmark Link

I stick by this and think that maybe the people who aren't pleased with the production of PP whould check it out.

should check it out

This I can't even see what's there.

who on earth are you friends with?? like, who do you spend your time with that youve actually never met anyone who likes music like this?

sorry i hate to add to the pile-on but like... panda bear is not "out there" at all by any means. there are a lot of pretty basic things at work here that people tend to really like. if you actually cant even "see what's there" it makes me feel like you grew up in a bubble.

i walked around listening to this while stoned a lot this year

Yeah. Whatever. I just did a search for Panda Bear on my college facebook network and not one result came up. So I did a search on a friend's college facebook network, and not one result came up. Neither of our colleges are enormous, so that's one factor, but these aren't tiny 40 person universities either. Out of around 6,000 people (assuming 50% of people create facebook pages and list their music), NO ONE likes Panda Bear. So I'd say it's pretty "out there."

dude, get a hobby.

sorry i hate to add to the pile-on but like... panda bear is not "out there" at all by any means. there are a lot of pretty basic things at work here that people tend to really like. if you actually cant even "see what's there" it makes me feel like you grew up in a bubble.

12-minute hazey georgian-chant Beach Boys sound collagesaren't "out there" AT ALL?

"out there" in the sense that its so weird and ugly and strange that its impossible to even find someone who likes it let alone enjoy it yourself

2. iron and wine fans probably wouldnt enjoy person pitch.

really? seems totally softywofty to me. i don't mean that as a dis.

i dont know what to say to you about your facebook stats mordy but if you actually think that anywhere near 50% of people are neurotic enough to keep their music section obsessively up-to-date (if they use it at all) than youre crazy

and actually i dont really get what your argument is? i mean, clearly, a lot of people like this, right? so why does it matter that no one you know on facebook has it in their profile?

You said I must live in a bubble since Panda Bear isn't "out there" at all and tons of people like it. I said that no one at my college has it listed as favorite music (whatever that means) so I suspect you've got a skewed view of its popularity.

no, i said you live in a bubble since apparently you dont know anyone for whom things like repetitive beats, atmospheric sounds and weirdly-tracked vocals would be appealing.

... Ok. Fuck this.

mordechai seriously, i dont give a shit that you dont like this; we all like different music, its fine, but when you say things like "i get why people listen to joanna newsom but i dont get why people like this at all" its either enormously dishonest or terrifically ignorant

iron and wine fans probably wouldnt enjoy person pitch.

FWIW, I like Iron & Wine (a lot) and I like Person Pitch (albeit less than Iron & Wine). I don't see why they're mutually exclusive.

I've given up on this record and you all should too

This album shrunk on me really fast. It sounded really great at first but didn't have much to offer me on repeated listens.

iron and wine fans probably wouldnt enjoy person pitch.

i dont know why i said this. they are both twee ass white people pussy bullshit music.

Mordechai Shinefield goes to Yeshiva University right?

He does.

i walked around listening to this while stoned a lot this year

Earlier this year when I was walking around listening to this while stoned a lot, this was my favorite record of the year, too. Then again, I think one night I fooled myself into thinking the Wannadies "You and Me Song" was one of the greatest pop singles of all time, while terribly overboard stoned. This album still rules.

As far as the Mordechai vs max debate goes, I think you're both right and wrong a little.

Mordechai, like others have said, if you don't like it after 12 listens, just shelve it for a while. It's not a big deal, really, and later you may come around to it. That's what happened with me this year and XTC. I made a failed concerted effort to get into them, forgot about it for a while, and then one day I heard "Complicated Game" in a friend's car and it clicked all of a sudden.

Max, I get behind most of what you're saying, but realize that beyond ILM and music blog world, there are tons of people who have no idea who Animal Collective are, let alone Panda Bear. It's cool he's even giving it a chance, that's more than what most people would do with music that is wholly unfamiliar sounding.

Panda Bear 1,176,982 plays scrobbled on Last.fm (mostly in the past year)
Amy Winehouse 7,719,474 plays scrobbled on Last.fm
The Beatles 71,356,933 plays scrobbled on Last.fm

I'd say that's pretty popular!