Panda Bear – Last Night at the Jetty

“Last Night at the Jetty” is the third single released by Noah Lennox (known by the stage name Panda Bear) and yet another reason to look forward to his massively anticipated fourth LP Tomboy. Something to take note of is how the coveted, sample heavy Animal Collective/Panda Bear sound continues to be less relevant. Here, Lennox makes further use of synths and guitar, in turn creating an album that sounds live and organic.

This song's greatest success, however, is the improved production. Tomboy's first two singles “Tomboy” and “You Can Count On Me” were criticized for sounding quiet and uncharacteristically sparse. “Last Night at the Jetty” comes across as a dramatic shift in the right direction; with a new producer mixing the album, everything just sounds fuller and more refined.

You can say this about the synths and the samples, but the vocals are easily the most notable. Lennox has never sounded better, and at the two minute vocal crescendo, the repetition of “I know” along the building percussion and swirling samples transcend this song into an unpredicted level of aural bliss.

4.5/5

Avey Tare - Down There

Click here to watch the music video for "Lucky 1"
Click here to listen to "Cemeteries"
Click here to listen to "Heads Hammock"

Despite being a year without a new Animal Collective album, we've had our fair share of Animal Collective releases. From the trippy, visual eye-fuck of ODDSAC to the largely anticipated LPs from Panda Bear and Avey Tare, Animal Collective fans are surely being treated in 2010.

For an Animal Collective related record, however, Down There is surprisingly empty. The structure is laid back, nothing more than a man and is sampler.There's something oddly hypnotic about Avey Tare's voice and the drug laced samples that subtly contribute to it; and while it may directly contrast the Animal Collective most fans are certainly used to, I can't help but love the atmosphere it creates.

Yes, this album definitely swims; not in a lush, blue ocean though, but in a dark, murky swamp. The bass drum sustains and the background crawls with watery effects. The album's cover art of the crocodile is entirely appropriate here; Down There is truly an ode to the crocodile and the gloomy, indistinct life it lives.

Song of the Day 8/9/10

Animal Collective - Screens / Mr. Fingers
ACSAC by user482219


From Animal Collective's visual film ODDSAC, it appears that they're back to their mind blowing experimental past. "Screens" sounds like a track from Sung Tongs, while "Mr. Fingers" is a total clusterfuck of samples. This will definitely please the hardcore fans, but nonetheless, we're all still waiting on the August 10 DVD release (pre-order here).

Song of the Day 7/21/2010

Animal Collective - Baleen Sample (2006)



After releasing the magnificent psych-folk release Sung Tongs, Animal Collective had some songs left over. The follow up EP, entitled Prospect Hummer, was as lush and memorizing as what had been previously released. "Baleen Sample" is just beautiful, driven by hundreds of guitar samples flowing in and out. It's an endless fountain of youth and psychedelia, and when the song finally ends, it's just as easy to pick right back up again.