Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender: Panda Bear is the nickname/project of psychedelic folk artist Noah Lennox. Lennox has spent more than two decades as a member of critical darling indie folk outfit Animal Collective, but has also been a magnet for acclaim as a solo artist. The peak of that came on his 2007 album Person Pitch , which I and many others consider to be a masterpiece. His last solo album dropped back in 2019 but he's stayed very busy since then with multiple Animal Collective records dropping and a collaborative album with Sonic Boom in 2022. Now he's returning to solo work with Sinister Grift , a surprisingly vulnerable record that sees Noah dealing with the aftermath of his divorce. And it's absolutely stunning.  Sinister Grift led off with the single "Defense" which was pretty notable for being a collaboration with the biggest critical darling of 2024, Cindy Lee. I did enjoy the track, but I didn't realize just how much I liked its catchy lucid psychedelia un...

Animal Collective is a Baltimore-based music project that contains any combination of Panda Bear, Avey Tare, Deakin, and Geologist. Last year, the four returned to all work on a project together for the first time in over a decade with Time Skiffs . The album was met with praise from fans and critics alike and followed up just a year later with the groups 12th studio album. Review by Lav:  I've been a big fan of Animal Collective for a long time despite the fact that during my early development as a music fan they were arguably at their worst. That didn't include solo material where Panda Bear and Deakin in particular dropped music I liked a lot. But as a group the hangover from their 2009 masterpiece Merriweather Post Pavilion  lasted a LONG time. That's why I was so pleasantly surprised to love their new album last year and with all four back in the saddle for yet another release I went into this one pretty hyped too.  A big reason for that is the singles. The album wa...

Animal Collective is a Baltimore band consisting of interchanging members Panda Bear, Avey Tare, Deakin and Geologist. The group was primarily a psychedelic folk project in their early years but shifted into something more psych pop sounding, which resulted in the most acclaimed album of their career and one of the most acclaimed indie records of the entire 2000's, Merriweather Post Pavilion  in 2009. They released just two albums in the 2010's not counting numerous solo records, side projects, EPs and visual work, but neither record attracted anywhere near the level of acclaim the band is accustomed to. It's also their first album in 10 years to feature contributions from all 4 members. Review By Lav: I enjoy Animal Collective I'm not afraid to say that. One of probably the first 10 reviews I ever wrote for this blog was their Painting With  album in 2016 which I thought was okay at the time but I'm less favorable towards in retrospect. Even though I haven't be...

Animal Collective is a Baltimore based indie band consisting of on and off members Panda Bear , Avey Tare , Deakin and Geologist. After more than 20 years of releasing music the band has developed a major following of incredibly devoted fans and despite releasing some live collections and solo projects Bridge To Quiet  is the groups first new studio material since 2018's Tangerine Reef . Review By Lavender: I've loved Animal Collective group and solo albums old as well as new for as long as I can remember. From the insane folkisms and relentless creativity of their early work like Spirit They're Gone, Spirit They've Vanished  to the bands critically acclaimed masterpiece Merriweather Post Pavilion , the group is never short on creativity. While the 2010's weren't the best decade yet for the bands material plenty of  great solo records emerged, particularly Panda Bear's trio of good records and Deakin's lone solo record Sleep Cycle . After reading on the...

Avey Tare is a Maryland based experimental musician who has long been a member of Animal Collective, and has contributed to some of the most groundbreaking music of this century . Despite the fact that that the last two Animal Collective studio records haven't been critical successes Avey has been busy with a number of live performances, installations and even his own studio records. Review By Lavender: Keeping up with all the music from the various members of Animal Collective can be exhausting, just this year we've gotten full studio records from both Avey Tare and Panda Bear, a live Animal Collective record to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their record Merriweather Post Pavilion , another bootleg AnCo live album was sold and briefly made its way onto streaming services before being taken down, Panda Bear released a number of remixes from his most recent record as well as finally dropping a live EP onto streaming that was originally distributed as a tour only relea...