Take Pills :: Panda Bear

20080206: I re-read my blog today and was horrified to see the vast number of typos and weird sentences. These have now been corrected, my word.

Hi readers! I apologize for skipping out last week, life presented too many balls and I dropped one. That one ball happened to be this blog. Sorry friends.

This week I am featuring "Take Pills" by Panda Bear. Panda Bear is the alias for Noah Lennox, one member of the band Animal Collective. His album Person Pitch made major indie headlines last year; either you totally buy into his sound or you think he is ripping off Brian Wilson's sound WAY too much and that makes you crabby or you just don't like the general concept. I just got the album a couple weeks ago after coming across one of the tracks. Since then, I have been listening to the entire album obsessively, because that's how I roll. It is jangly and sparkly, psychedelically poppy, and experimental. I think it is full of momentum, despite the repetitive sample looping and dubbing. This album makes me feel good.

Simple as that. I put it on in the car, while I'm at work, while I'm working on projects at home, while I'm in the bath, while I have people over, whenever really. And I'm really excited to listen to it come springtime. Because it feels like spring. But it also works in winter. It may very well be trans-seasonal, and that is rare and beautiful.

Why "Take Pills" if I love the whole album so much? I think is a solid and approachable representation of the album. Some tracks are long - over 12 minutes - and other are short little gems, like this one. More importantly, I like the lyric/music relationship. When I listen to the music, I feel great. It starts quiet, pensive. Half way through, the tempo picks up and he delivers a poppy, repetitive little melody. The lyrics say we should take things one day at a time, that we're stronger than pills, and we don't need to take them to feel good. Listening, I wonder if part of the secret to becoming stronger is absorbing deep breaths and good music.

So, if you like "Take Pills", check out the rest of the album; you might dig it. I think "Bros" is probably my favorite, but it is hard for me to choose. And I love "Good Girl/Carrots". Okay. I like them all for different reasons. Check it.

"Take Pills" lyrics:
surely there is
no substitute
for company
my mom's ripping
off her hands
one flake at a time
all her children left the house
and left her all alone
but just like she'd tell me
things get better
just wait
and you'll see

take one day at a time
everything else you can leave behind
only one thing at a time
anything more really hurts your mind
i don't want for us to
take pills
anymore
not that it's bad
i don't want for us to take pills
because we're stronger
and we don't need them

Here's "Bros", because I love it too much and need to share it! This is a 5-ish minute edit of the 12-minute song, so it is just a little taste. Sit back, relax, breathe, and cuddle aurally with Panda Bear.