''Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper'' is the fifth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American recording artist
Panda Bear
The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes ...
(aka Noah Lennox). Coproduced by
Sonic Boom
A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to t ...
of
Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 were an English neo-psychedelia space rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of " ...
, it was released on January 9, 2015, by the
Domino Recording Company
Domino Recording Company or simply Domino is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called Dom ...
. ''Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper'' was preceded by the digital release of an
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. , ''
Mr Noah
''Mr Noah'' is the first extended play, EP by American recording artist Panda Bear (musician), Panda Bear, released in 2014. The title track was later featured on the 2015 full-length album ''Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper'', while the other thr ...
'', and two singles, "Mr Noah" and "Boys Latin". It was followed by the extended play ''
Crosswords
A crossword is a word puzzle that usually takes the form of a square or a rectangular grid of white- and black-shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words or phrases, by solving clues which lead to the answ ...
''.
Background and development
Having recorded his bleaker previous album ''
Tomboy
A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...
'' (2011) in a basement, Lennox wanted to go into the opposite direction on ''Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper'', aiming for a more "lively" and "busy" sound. He began working on the album while working on
Animal Collective
Animal Collective is an American experimental pop band formed in Baltimore, Maryland. Its members consist of Avey Tare (David Portner), Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), Geologist (Brian Weitz), and Deakin (Josh Dibb). The band's work is characterized ...
's ''
Centipede Hz
''Centipede Hz'' is the ninth studio album by American experimental pop group Animal Collective, released on September 4, 2012 on Domino Recording Company, Domino Records. The album marks the return of band member Deakin (musician), Deakin, who s ...
'' (2012) in Texas.
Sonic Boom
A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to t ...
, who mixed and mastered Panda Bear's previous album ''Tomboy'', co-produced the album. The two spent two weeks in November 2013 refining demo recordings Panda Bear had made at home and spent five weeks, beginning in January 2014, finishing the album. Sonic Boom mixed the album on the
Balearic island
The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
of
Menorca
Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...
. About the album title, Lennox said "It's about presenting something that we don't have an easy time dealing with in a costume that's just a little bit more clown-y."
It was also inspired by the titles of 1970s
dub collaboration albums such as ''Augustus Pablo Meets Lee Perry and the Wailers Band'' and ''
King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown
''King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown'' is a dub studio album by Augustus Pablo and King Tubby, released in 1976. It features Carlton Barrett on drums, Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Barrett on bass guitar, and Earl "Chinna" Smith on guitar. Pablo ...
''.
Composition
In conversation with ''
The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quiet ...
'', Lennox called the LP "my
hip-hop album" due to its extensive use of sampled
breakbeat
Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...
s, many of them commonly used. Lennox cited
Dust Brothers
The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike ( Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work on ...
,
Q-Tip,
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,[Q-Tip](_blank)
,
Pete Rock
Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...
,
DJ Premier
Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo ...
,
9th Wonder
Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a J Dilla
J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...
as influences.
The lyrical themes of the album center around personal growth, although Lennox wanted to discuss issues on a larger scale because he wanted to avoid "self-obsession or narcissism".
The opening track, "Sequential Circuits", is a piece of
neo-psychedelia
Neo-psychedelia is a diverse genre of psychedelic music that draws inspiration from the sounds of 1960s psychedelia, either updating or copying the approaches from that era. Originating in the 1970s, it has occasionally seen mainstream pop su ...
that was described as "swirling" and "pure as a babbling brook".
"Tropic of Cancer" contains a harp sample from the ''
Nutcracker
A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster and crab shells.
A decorative version portrays a person w ...
''
suite and its lyrics concern the death of Panda Bear's father. His vocal harmonies on the song were compared to those of
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
.
Release and promotion
In March 2014, Lennox announced a North American tour for May during which he would be performing tracks from the new album. From July through September, he toured Europe and North America. On January 11, 2015, Lennox played a
Boiler Room set at
MoMA PS1
MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...
.
Three days later, he performed "Boys Latin" on ''
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...
''. Lennox toured his show throughout Europe in March 2015. He performed at the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...
on April 12 and 19 and gave seven more North American performances across April and early May. Lennox performed at festivals for the rest of May and mid-June, including Shaky Knees Festival in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Lightning in a Bottle Festival in
Bradley, California
Bradley is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County, California, on the Salinas River south-southeast of San Ardo and north of Paso Robles. Bradley sits at an elevation of . The population was 69 at the ...
,
Primavera Sound Festival
Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espan ...
in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
and
Pitchfork Music Festival
The Pitchfork Music Festival is an annual summer music festival organized by ''Pitchfork Media'' and held in Union Park in Chicago, Illinois. Starting in 2011, the festival announced a branch staged in Paris at Grande halle de la Villette. The fe ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
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, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
.
Lennox released a mixtape called ''PB vs. GR'' on September 11, 2014. On October 23, Lennox released the EP ''Mr Noah'' and made ''Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper'' available for pre-order. That day also saw the release of the album's first single, "Mr Noah", and a music video directed by AB/CD/CD. A teaser video for the album, directed by Danny Perez, was released on October 29. The second single, "Boys Latin", was released on December 15, and was accompanied by a music video directed by
Isaiah Saxon
Isaiah Saxon (born 1983)Mike Sager"These Are the Directors of the Future,"'' Esquire'', November 19, 2009. is an American film and music video director. He co-founded the animation studio Encyclopedia Pictura, and the online community DIY.org.
E ...
and Sean Hellfritsch. The music video had its premiere on
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim
Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
. A "Boys Latin" remix by
Andy Stott
Andy Stott is a British electronic musician and producer, living in Manchester.
Biography
His debut album was ''Merciless'' in 2006, and was followed by ''Unknown Exception'' (2008) and ''Luxury Problems'' in 2012.
''Passed Me By'' (2011) mar ...
was released on March 2, 2015. A music video for the track "Tropic of Cancer" was directed by fellow Animal Collective member
Dave Portner and released on April 8.
On January 4, 2015, Lennox began his global radio campaign to premiere nine new tracks from the album. Various radio stations from around the world each premiered different tracks. Two days later, he launched an interactive website including music by him and Sonic Boom, videos by Danny Perez, as well as graphics by Marco Papiro, Patakk, and Hugo Oliveira. A short documentary detailing the creation, ''Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper'', directed by
Sam Fleischner
Sam Fleischner is an American filmmaker based in New York. Fleischner is the son of the artist Richard Fleischner.
Career
Fleischner graduated from Wesleyan University in 2006 with a degree in film studies. Starting with short films in 2005, he c ...
, was released on January 29.
Critical reception
''Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper'' was praised by contemporary music critics. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 82, based on 34 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Writing for ''
Consequence
Consequence may refer to:
* Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment''
* In operant conditioning, a result of some behavior
* Consequentialism, a theory in philosophy in which the morality of an act is determi ...
'', Adam Kivel lauded the "multivalent" production of the album but criticized Panda Bear's choice not to deviate from his signature sound.
Matthew Ritchie of ''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'' commended the "pure breadth of his beat-making, his ear for expansive and deeply resonating melodies and his lyrics, which urge you to not go so gently into that good night."
''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' wrote that "''Grim Reaper'' achieves just the right balance of skull-splitting drone and head-noddin’ drive. In contrast to the unpredictably amorphous song structures that defined previous Panda Bear records, many of the songs on Grim Reaper lock into a looped beat and rarely waver course."
In a mixed review, Chris Mincher of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' stated that the album "isn't too interested in taking on big challenges. Rather, Lennox distills the results of his
electro-
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...
experiments into simpler elements that pair well with (relatively) straightforward melodies and throwback
hip-hop techniques", concluding that the album "doesn’t push boundaries so much as it delineates the contours of Lennox’s comfort zone."
Accolades
Track listing
Sample credits
* "Crosswords" contains a sample of "
Ashley's Roachclip
"Ashley's Roachclip" is an instrumental by funk group the Soul Searchers from the 1974 album '' Salt of the Earth'' on Sussex Records. A portion of the track from 3:30 to 3:50 contains a widely recognized drum break that has been sampled countless ...
", performed by
The Soul Searchers
Charles Louis Brown (August 22, 1936 – May 16, 2012) was an American guitarist, bandleader and singer known as " The Godfather of Go-Go". Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area in the mid-197 ...
.
* "Tropic of Cancer" contains samples of "Fragments of the ballet "
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...
" Pas de Deux".
* "Lonely Wanderer" contains a sample of "
Arabesque No. 1" in
E major
E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...
, composed by
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
, and performed by
François-Joël Thiollier.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper''.
* Noah Lennox –
JoMoX Xbase 999,
Yamaha TX81Z
The Yamaha TX81Z is a rack version of Yamaha DX11 and rack-mounted ( keyboard-less) frequency modulation music synthesizer, which was released in 1987. Unlike previous FM synthesizers of the era, the TX81Z was the first to offer a range of osci ...
,
Moog Voyager,
Elektron DPS-1, vocals, piano, effects, percussion, production, art direction
* Rob Carmichael – layout
* Simon Davey –
mastering
* Joaquim Monte –
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
* Hugo Oliveira – interior illustration
* Marco Papiro – cover illustrations
* Seen – art direction, layout
* Pedro Silve – assistant engineering
* Sonic Boom –
EMS Synthi AKS
The EMS Synthi A and the EMS Synthi AKS, is a portable modular analog synthesiser made by EMS of England. The Synthi A model debuted in May 1971, and then Sythni AKS model appeared in March 1972 a with a built-in keyboard and sequencer. The EMS ...
,
Fenix II Modular, Moog Voyager,
vocoder
A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation.
The vocoder was ...
, effects, production, mixing, art direction
Charts
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2015 albums
Domino Recording Company albums
Panda Bear (musician) albums