Thoughts from around the League

Panda Bear set to Release Tomboy

It's been a year of murmurs and anticipation surrounding Panda Bear's newest album Tomboy. Panda Bear, seen as a driving member of the famously lauded and successful Animal Collective, has finally set a release date of April 12. Although most of his tracks have been leaked and sucked up by millions of the Internet savvy, the records full impact will still make ripples throughout the music industry. 

For many within the Indie circuit, Panda Bear has become what Elvis was for new rock and roll, what Madonna was for pop, or what Andy Warhol did for all things contemporary. Merited or not, his music has decidedly remained unique through its progressiveness and highly imitated by hoards of aspiring young musicians and established front runners alike. 

Panda Bear, also known as Noah Lennox, has been running the circuit for this album and touring Europe for the past year. I had the opportunity to see him debut this album last year in Lisbon, Portugal, but it is clear now that this album was far more conceptual for him at the time. He has made his tracks more cohesive and grounded, as displayed by his track "Last Night at the Jetty", which he played recently for NPR when they featured him on their show "All Things Considered". The word buzz hardly captures what most listeners think of Tomboy.  Like him or not, this album will influence a new generation of musicians. 

LCD Soundsystem Plays Final Show on April 2

The party's finally over. After nearly a decade of harnessing speaker-blowing sounds for audiences that wanted to blow their speakers, LCD Soundsystem will call it quits and play their last show at a sold out Madison Garden. While the venue is somewhat the antithesis of how the band got there, it is representative of their impact on the musical realm. The band hasn't escaped the radar of prestigious publications such as The New York Times, who cites the bands ultimate beginnings as perpetuated by their ability to: "[They'd] host good parties, invite good people, play good music — spinning artistically impeccable bands like ESG and the Fall and Can — and guarantee themselves a good time." Fans have identified with this thesis of a lifestyle from the band's beginnings: music should blow your speakers; music should provide the same release that parties do – and if you're not having fun, you're simply doing it wrong.

And now, with their final show, they are simply trying to host one last party. So, cheers, it's been a fun ride.

Wiz Khalifa's Rolling Paper's Drops

This Tuesday, March 29, Wiz Khalifa released his latest album Rolling Papers, which quickly gained notoriety through air time and was met with positive but not exceptional praise. The BBC Online said: "Apart from some of the tedious subject matter – being stoned, drinking etc – it's the sort of rap that deserves mainstream attention as it's musically thoughtful and endearing beyond the dancefloor." Look for next week's issue of The Clock for my take on the album.