Panda Bear @ Webster Hall 10.1.2011

Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox of Animal Collective) performed at Webster Hall last night to a packed house and while his layered electronic sound paired with echoed, harmonic vocals often brings to mind The Beach Boy's Brian Wilson, as a performer the effect was much more akin to Pink Floyd especially with the visuals projected on stage which were created along with director Danny Perez.

It was one of the rare shows which was more of an experience than a performance with its repetitive, trance rhythms and hallucinogenic images and I'd argue that the best place to enjoy it might've been toward the back of the house as opposed to the front. Overall, the hour-long set felt more like a acid, indie, hipster, new-age church than a rock show as the young NYU audience soaked in the sound sprinkled with a few older music aficionados such as former Talking Heads simger and artist David Byrne. The show closed with a short encore which included the crowd favorites such as "Comfy in Nativa" and "Bros" followed by a funky visual of repeated, distorted faces as the sound lingered and the stage fell dark.

Music Review: Animal Collective- Fall Be Kind

As the decade without a name comes to a close, a look back reveals a strange amalgam of musical developments, but without question one of the most exciting bands to surface was Animal Collective. The Baltimore natives put out an amazing album this year but may have even raised the stakes with their new 5 track EP, Fall Be Kind, which pushes the sonic envelope a bit further, offering new developments and, if possible, a more complex sound.

The intro track “Graze” begins with a theatrical note and has a feeling reminiscent of a late 70’s progressive rock concept album ala Pink Floyd or Yes. It’s followed up with “What Would I Want? Sky” which samples the Grateful Dead’s “Unbroken Chain” from Mars Hotel (the first ever licensed use of a Dead sample). The song changes pace a bit with the addition of strong percussion and a spacey, tribal feel, which develops into a brilliant movement that approaches a more traditional rock song format with an almost hip-hop quality.

This track alone makes the album worth picking up but it’s followed with an ambient layered interim entitled “Bleed” and “On a Highway” which continues the tribal, echo chamber feel but with a more pronounced 1980’s pop/rock edge. The EP closes with a Frankensteinian track entitled “I Think I Can” which blends together a drive to the beach in 1986 with deep space “wall of sound” production and a dash of medieval troubadours to create something inherently Animal Collective in every way.

For: Short & Sweet NYC