Gold Panda - Half Of Where You Live

Three years after exploding onto the soundscape with ‘Lucky Shiner’ (Clash review), ursine enthusiast Gold Panda plods back into the spotlight, grasping the musical product of his travels. A melodic exploration of the cities that the electronic producer has tapped up whilst touring, we begin our voyage in the Orient. ‘Junk City II’ plinks with Japanese fervour, inspired by the films of controversial director Takashi Miike. We return eastwards later in ‘My Father in Hong Kong 1961’, a track which Derwin R. Powers has explained as an attempt to produce a caricature – a bad Westerner-made, Asian-sounding record. Prised from the East we’re thrown south to ‘Brazil’, and surrounded by hyperactive, dripping percussion – then journey further downwards to slash through the thickets of the Peruvian jungle on ‘The Most Liveable City’. According to Derwin, ‘Brazil’ reflects the sensation of seeing the disparity between the old and new economically prosperous country. “Like, I was drinking a daiquiri for $40 at the top of a skyscraper that looks like shit,” he’s explained of the track. Providing a calm base in the midst of all this travelling, ‘An English House’ is an ASMR-inducer that rests on warm pads, punctuated by delicate tinkles, energetic handclaps and feathery vocals. ‘Half of…’ contains all the crackling, happy-sad flavour of Gold Panda’s past discography, but with harsher textures than before – it’s disorientating and inquisitive, physically uprooting you from your comfort zone. An ode to the oddities of our global corners Record Label: Ghostly International Style: Electronica