Album Review

Panda Bear – Tomboy

• 17th Apr 2011

This record is truly delightful. I know a five word review would be terrible, but it is not that difficult to explain how I arrived at such a conclusion.

This artist, and Panda Bear is an artist in the true sense of the word, has by reputation a remarkable track record of making experimental music. This record Tomboy is no exception. I am not for one moment suggesting that this a collection of Christmas carols similar to the choir service of Kings College, Cambridge, but the wonderful sound of ‘Alsatian Darn’ really does have that feeling. This reflects the epic scale of the record too.

‘Afterburner’ is the most panic riven 6 minutes and fifty seconds you are ever likely to hear. The energy is equal to that of its mass, plus a little extra, just in case you did not have the get-up and go feeling. Do not think that this is just mad sound after mad sound. There are perhaps more eccentric transatlantic links as the title track sounds like it would not be out of place in the Blackpool Tower ballroom or ‘Benefica’ sounds as if it was partially recorded in the Estádio da Luz.

The pleasure of this record is also contained within the actual CD package too. Again there is innovation with how you will be opening a parcel rather than the same old CD case. Buying the CD version will also allow you to access the record in downloadable format (why?) as well as access to a Live at Grosvenor Island release.

This should be of no surprise to anyone who might have heard any of his previous releases or those by Animal Collective. Of course it is up to you to get a slice of this rare and endangered talent. Actually, with endangered is the wrong word to use, as the talent is fearsome and brilliant. So is the whole of the record greater than the sum of its parts? The simple answer, yes.