stay on my side tonight

At the turn of 2010, Pantha Du Prince released Black Noise, a stunningly sprawling record of processed  collages and haunting turns of sound that's still unraveling itself to me every time I tug at its many, many threads. This is to say: it's a daunting, intense album, but it isn't without its access points. Album highlight and single "Stick To My Side" is one such entry, with vocals from Panda Bear sufficiently swirling in the mix but discernable enough to be melancholy...and, yeah, a little uplifting. That's how Pandas do.

The video for "Stick To My Side" is the same-it's that final shot (I won't spoil it) that hits the heart and marrow of Black Noise-an album made from stretches of aloneness that make the not-alone that much more beautiful.

This remix from Walls (who will be releasing an album later in 2010 that will hopefully sound JUST LIKE THIS REMIX) comes on like a wave, but then chooses to bubble underneath and take the song's base components with it. Panda Bear's drowned, the song's percussive drive is drowned, but in the end it's the haze that remains. I fucking love this, but with a different part of my heart than I love the original.

Pantha Du Prince: Stick To My Side (Walls Version)

The entirety of Black Noise is a journey I'm still taking...which is to say, how do I feel about the whole album? Dunno. Haven't reached the bottom yet.