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10:41 · 1,729 words of transcript · watch on YouTube
- The scale of the catalogue is the reason chronological listening fails as an entry point: eleven studio albums, nine EPs, three live records, a visual album and several solo releases.
▶ 00:00:21
- Merriweather Post Pavilion is the recommended way in, frequently compared to the indie era's Sgt. Pepper or Pet Sounds, with the caveat that it is one of their most accessible records rather than one of their most experimental.
▶ 00:00:37
- They refused to repeat it, turning down licensing offers after the breakthrough and going back to the oddities, which is where a lot of new listeners stop.
▶ 00:01:45
- The central claim is about a five-year run from 2004 to 2009: four distinct albums, a significant EP, and a solo record credited with influencing vaporwave.
▶ 00:02:06
- The four met at high school over a shared interest in experimental music, aiming at a child's imagination in sound, built from anything that would make noise.
▶ 00:03:05
- The lyrics have always been plainly human, so the difficulty people have is entirely with the sound, which is why the records reward repeated listening.
▶ 00:03:22
- Strawberry Jam started from a theme, as their albums usually do, with the colour of the spread one member was eating as the reference for how the record should sound.
▶ 00:04:46
- Person Pitch was made almost entirely with a digital sampler because the guitar Panda Bear shipped to Portugal was held at customs.
▶ 00:05:58
- Feels gets its warmth from a mistake: they wrote on a friend's piano that had drifted out of tune, then tuned their own studio piano and every other instrument to match it.
▶ 00:06:41
- Sung Tongs was the first album since the debut made by only two members, kept minimal with acoustic guitars, live percussion and voices.
▶ 00:07:46