Panda Bear - “Buoy”
Member of Animal Collective puts out bugged out acoustic jams with tons of interesting electronic flourishes. This is singer-song writer music on acid and floating in space. Martian coffee house jams, but of a very high quality. Very enjoyable, and sort of feels like it embodies a strong part of KZSU’s identity in the sense that there’s indie rock elements along with really weird electronic stuff mixed together.

RIYL:
FCCs:
Favorites: 2, 3, 6, 7, 9

1. Dolphin - 3:42 - prominent drop of water as percussive/spatial element; thick bass tones coming in periodically and guitar rhythm rounding it all out. Vocals about love, loss, anxiety, crowds and other topics, all sung in interesting surreal way. Panned vocals and other nice recording touches.
2. Cranked - 3:20 - bugged out laser sounds and acoustic guitar - all together and it somehow works. Very cool. Echoed out vocals.
3. Token - 3:37 - more guitar, spaced out drums, cool samples, and layered vocals. The guitar holds it all together in a mellow way. Space is used in a great way on this track. Dope breakdown halfway through with nice synth action to accompany the shakers and guitar.
4. I Know I Don’t Know - 2:51 - echo on the acoustic guitar, whistling melodies, cool tones panned all over the place. Not chaotic though, it sounds chill somehow. The guitar strumming and kick drums pick up at certain points in really nice driving manner.
5. Master - 4:04 - More cool rhythmic electronic stuff and echoed acoustic guitar sounds. Vocals are playful and have interesting range - some high notes hit. Not my favorite jam on here but still good quality stuff.
6. Buoys - 2:35 - Starts off with sounds of steam and vocals cutting through the mist. Guitar provides rhythm as on the other tracks; some sick bass tones come in and back up the guitar in nice way; adds a lot of coherence to the spacey textures that Panda provides. Some nice vocal effects - pitched down, echoed, etc.
7. Inner Monologue - 4:37 - this one has a darker vibe and gets even trippier than the others on some parts; the harmonizing is dope and the guitar has a gloomier vibe than before, but in an almost upbeat way.
8. Crescendo - 3:10 - dope dripping sounds that get echo treatment and nice kick drum; more of the same cool ingredients that panda has used throughout.
9. Home Free - 3:07 - really sick closer. More of the same stuff.