Pitching to a Person, as told by a Bear.

Imagine, if you will, a sunny day on the shores of your favorite beach. The waves rock back and forth with the same pace. The beach is remarkably empty for such a beautiful summer day. Suddenly, you hear the noise of train tracks fade into what sounds like a marching band that more or less repeats the same two notes. Even stranger, a fully clothed man pops out of the water with a skateboard in his hand. I'm sure this sounds like the oddest dream you've never had, but as it turns out, thankfully this is merely the opening shots of "Comfy in Nautica" by Panda Bear.



Panda Bear's known to his family as Noah Lennox, and might be known to some hazier guys as the vocalist of the collective known as...well, Animal Collective. The aforementioned "Comfy in Nautica," however, comes from a solo effort released in 2007 called Person Pitch. Person Pitch contains seven songs and yet runs at forty-five minutes in length. This is due to the fact that two songs ("Bros" and "Good Girl/Carrots") extend past the ten minute mark. And they might be the most adventurous forty-five minutes you will ever hear in current-era music, bar none.

Person Pitch's charm is in the sample-based style that Lennox uses to construct his songs. When you think "sample-based music," a ton of hip-hop songs comes to mind, but Lennox plays with his artform. He has no problem sticking the rhythm of train tracks or any other noisy rhythm to fade into his 60s style rhythms. Lennox also boasts a voice reminiscent of Beach Boys vocalist and tragic icon Brian Wilson, one that soothingly blends with the mix of noise and music.

Lennox's genius is the mere fact that he's making pop music his own way. If this was any other average musician, the effort would be forced and disastrous. However, an effort like say "Take Pills" succeeds in that Lennox adds a brilliant pop chorus to the mix. This partly proves that while his efforts are experimental, they always have an eye for craftsmanship. He isn't entirely adding a train track or an owl's whoo just for kicks.

Well, he might. But that's the beauty of Person Pitch, even when you suspect Lennox is messing with your head, you're totally sucked in and ready to see where the musical path goes next.