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MH-260 Her Space Holiday - XOXO, Panda And The New Kid Revival  Putting some space between himself and the computer that has provided the basis for so much of his recent work, Marc Bianchi has taken the last two years to focus on what got him into music in the first place, writing connective songs and working out the layers of sound he hears in his head. The results are a new persona, XOXO, Panda, and the reinforcement of the feelings of personal and artistic freedom that drive his music. Loose and carefree arrangements of guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, shakers, glockenspiel, and drums lay the foundation for vocal storytelling sing-a-longs. XOXO, Panda And The New Kid Revival is a brilliant calling card for Her Space Holiday’s newly awakened alter-ego, and a watershed moment in his growth as a songwriter and performer. |
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| Reviews Summary |
| Guitar pop songs that are as charming as they are simple - Rolling Stone / The fact that he can switch up styles so frequently and make solid records says something special about Bianchi - Pop Matters / His melodies have that wonderful undefinable quality that makes you want to hear them over and over again... Killer indie pop cuts - Babysue |
| A short time after the release of two rather experimental EPs (Let's Get Quiet, Vols. 1 & 2), bedroom knob twiddler Marc Bianchi returned with a decidedly less clinical Her Space Holiday outing, 2008's XOXO, Panda and the New Kid Revival. Here we find the man taking a turn from the insular, pastoral, electronic-based template of some 15-plus prior releases to a more organic, immediate, and rough-around-the-edges approach. The synth-pads, dreamy string atmospherics, and meticulous sonic perfectionism that normally mark a Her Space Holiday outing have been largely replaced with semi-in-tune guitars, loose percussion, shaky banjo and visceral vocal takes. Without the polish on, Bianchi actually does pretty well -- serving this upbeat (both musically and emotionally) collection with a more freewheeling hand and less neurotic attention to detail. The result makes for a fun experience in the headphones -- no doubt helped by the sense of fun conveyed by the performers through the recording process itself. It sounds like they enjoyed themselves. It sounds spontaneous, and it sounds (save for Bianchi's one-trick vocal range) not much like what you'd expect a late-stage Her Space Holiday album to sound like. Marc Bianchi has, at least for now, chucked his dour Stephin Merritt leanings and adopted a more Nick Lowe-like free-spirited confidence (check "The Heartbreak Moment" for a good example of this) and the whole thing sounds, if not exactly cathartic, at least liberating. - All Music |
1XLP/Not Yet Released