Formed of Animal Collective
vocalist and guitarist Noah Lenox, AKA Panda Bear, and
Queens’ mastermind and 14K member Scott Mou, Jane
is a collaborative project that sits on the edge of
the pair’s respective work. With Animal
Collective and through his solo work, Lennox has
developed a truly unique sound built around incantatory
songs and acoustic drone structures. Mou on the other
hand, usually works within an electro-acoustic setting
to get to similar results. Left free to rampage through
the remote boundaries of a scene which has spawned the
likes of Animal Collective
and Black Dice,
the pair create in just four tracks a strange and fascinating
world, which relies very little on either of the musicians’
usual experimental playground.
The pair met a few years back in New York while working
in a record store. Brought together by an interest in
dance music of all kind, Mou and Lennox started improvising
and rehearsing, finding comfort in Mou’s own house
and studio. Yet, dance music is very seldom referenced
here as the pair focus on vast soundscapes, drones and
glitches to establish the blueprint for their music.
The album opens with the title track, which very much
evolves within Animal Collective
territory. A looped guitar strum circles around Panda
Bear’s familiar voice, the lot lost in a cloud
of vast reverbs. As the melody progresses, the fragile
nature of this song sets the tone for a rather unusual
and challenging collaboration. Yet, this first track
doesn’t actually give a relevant picture of what
this album has to offer. As Agg Report slides
in, the scope changes totally to focus on a simple melody
draped in discreet piano and electronics far more representative
of things to come. As a relentless beat sets the track
in motion, Lennox and Mou slowly develop drone-like
layers of sounds and voices and apply echoes and effects
on them to create something at times reminiscent of
the stripped down electronic-infused indie of Seefeel.
Although developing in different directions, the third
and epic (twenty-five minutes) fourth tracks bear much
resemblance to Agg Report, exploring similar
ambiences and textures. As the music slowly evolve from
drone-form to richer, more opened, soundscapes, Panda
Bear’s unmistakable voice, at times left pretty
much in its natural state, at others heavily treated,
carves incisive grooves right at the heart of each track.
Swan especially shows an interesting use of
his voice. Processed and totally integrated, it becomes
part of the sonic make-up of this record, bringing something
totally ethereal and surreal to the drones developed
by Mou. Here, the pair appear the most at ease, free
to explore fully the scope of their collaboration and
take it as far as possible.
Berserker is an unusual and challenging record,
which at time appears to hesitate between a number of
possible identities. Far from weakening its structure
or putting at risk its balance, this actually contributes
to this album sounding incredibly dense, yet totally
accessible. As composed and assured as Lennox and Mou
are here, Berserker is terribly fragile and
is touching because of that.
4.4/5 |
