Panda Bear

In the current musical climate, the lo-fi and DIY aesthetics of indie rock culture, in bedrooms and basements all over the place, are being applied not to jamming rock bands and noodling guitarists, but by home recording experimenters like Panda Bear. This Baltimore-based 20-year-old’s self-titled debut starts out as a bleeps and loops affair, merging his songwriting sensibilities with equipment of an early ‘80s, video game sound effects vintage. After tiring of that, Panda Bear explores some more acoustic space rock sounds in the middle of this lengthy CD, before returning to the effects board. Experience will provide the perspective that would take this CD from promising to great, with some editing in particular, but as it stands, it’s a pleasantly trippy sandwich with a crunchy acoustic centre.