Panda Pops

The neck pain's subsiding, although sitting on a Tube train for 1 hour doesn't help...

The new Panda Bear CD came yesterday. A very promising start, with Beach Boy-type harmonies, although these get a bit irritating after a while. Musically, it's very interesting, and I think Good Girl/Carrots is my favourite.

I just wish some of the vocals weren't quite so ethereal and impenetrable. I think I know what he's trying to do, that is add a 'wall of sound' dimension and use the chorus as another instrument, but a bit of variation (see GG/C) would be better, IMO.

Still, it's a very good CD. Very interesting use of tape loops and ambient/environmental noise. Some bits reminded me of GYBE!'s early stuff, or even >gasp< Jean-Michel Jarre's 'Zoolook'.

The rest of the commute, which was basically the bits in the tunnel, was spent with a recent Fish album 'Field of Crows', which I found to be a lot better than most of his albums. I think 'Raingods With Zippos' and 'Vigil...' are his best stuff, although RwZ is still patchy. 'FoC' is very good.