Review Summary: Illogical, intriguing and texturally rich, whilst maintaining independent principles.
Before I ruin the objectivity of this review wholly, let me preface this by saying that yes I indeed do personally know Benjamin Fitchett, the 18-year old wunderkind behind Panda Rosa, and auteur of "Neochina", his most recent offering. This however is almost an irrelevant point, as the music Ben composes under the Panda Rosa alias is otherworldly in nature and extraterrestrial in scope.
Before any listens, it's already clear we're entering into a very bizarre internal sphere. All the artwork the Panda Rosa project utilises is abstract in nature, depicting watercolour flows, and bizarre streams of colour and light. This one is no different - a cityscape in freeze frame, through a window - but it's perhaps best perceived as listening through the windows of one's own mind. Then the music starts.
Opener "Is It Safe To Lie Down?" is a stunning fanfare to begin the record - it's a real trip. A very... Sweet Trip. With no apologies taken for that pun, following track 'Mouth', laced with a mournful, almost Pharaoh Sanders-esque saxophone courtesy of Aaron Denny, puts you in a real Tri-Angle records frame of mind - incidental sounds, distant vocals and other environmental cues parallel the work that label had utilised with acts such as The Haxan Cloak, How To Dress Well and Holy Other. But perhaps the most intriguing aspect Ben adds is a streak of liquid, funky jazz running through everything - perhaps it's the flavour of the saxophone inherently as an instrument, but I can't help but feel a Morcheeba or even trip-hop feel, like Tricky or Portishead underwater with Elizabeth Fraser, gazing at the vista of sea life and oceanic paraphernalia. Elementally, it's a water record.
It is difficult to categorise this record in terms of 'genre' - it's too funky to be indie rock, and not in the TV On The Radio sense of 'funky' either, but too lucid and loose to be straight up electronic - even though there's an Underworld feel on some of the more bumping tracks. If I had to make any distinct links to this and prior music, it belongs in that same, hazy, beautifully uncategorisable world as Azeda Booth's landmark In Flesh Tones (a record meant for transit if there ever was one), Deerhunter's glossy electro-acoustic Halycon Digest (especially in terms of vocal work), and of course, Sweet Trip (think the intense programming of 'Sola Sistim' 'Your Heart Can't Save Me Now', buoyed by that lovely long reverb).
If I do think this record is lacking anything it's pure pop songs, things you could latch on to in an instant and be caught by. It definitely rewards listening of a more immersive nature than the kind you'd expect from your typical indie rock record, so grab some headphones, lie down in a dark room, and settle in to the bizarre architecture that is Neochina.
Listen below:
[L]https://pandarosa.bandcamp.com/album/neochina[L]
