Distributing the layers among five players
Noah Lennox played most of the guitar, bass, keyboard and drum parts on Sinister Grift himself. Panda Bear’s new live album documents a different performing arrangement: Lennox on voice and guitar, Tim Koh on bass, Maria Reis on keyboards and percussion, Tomé Silva on drums, and Rivka Ravede on sampler. The other four also sing backing vocals. That personnel makes it possible to ask how the songs are divided among simultaneous players.[1]
Giving separately recorded layers to individual players on stage requires shared timing to carry the song. That is the useful change here: accompaniment constructed by one person becomes a division of work among five. Such an arrangement may create room for phrases to answer each other. A larger lineup does not guarantee that result, however; the familiarity gained through repeated touring may also explain the same cohesion.[1]
Earlier songs inside the new lineup
The Power Station programme extends beyond Sinister Grift. Ferry Lady and Ends Meet sit alongside Tomboy, Sequential Circuits, Inner Monologue and Take Pills. Less familiar selections such as Song For Ariel and Boneless enter the same frame. The album therefore puts songs from different periods into a common allocation of voices and instruments, extending the task beyond taking one recent work on stage. Those individual songs provide the basis for comparison within the Panda Bear catalogue.[1]
Domino’s 17-track album, announced for 11 December, was recorded after touring at New York’s Power Station. It is a studio session with producer Josh “Deakin” Dibb. The first preview, Take Pills, offers a starting point for following how an earlier song is allocated to the new personnel. A useful listening question is which instrument carries each line and where the backing voices join the lead.[1]