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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 / That he can switch up styles so frequently and make solid records says something special about Bianchi - Pop Matters / Melodies have that wonderful undefinable quality that makes you want to hear them over and over... Killer indie pop cuts - Babysue |
| I am really disappointed with this album. Gone is the trademark processed laptop-pop, all the myriad sounds slightly detached but sitting together beautifully, in comes organic instrumentation, all sounding like they belong together but all somehow sounding slightly wrong - except Matt Bianchi's voice. He has, in the course of production, run his vocals through the same filters as he always has previously. Whereas this echoic delay fitted the tone of earlier albums it sounds completely wrong on this, his eighth studio album. Bianchi explains this change in sound as the introduction of a new alter-ego - the XOXO, Panda mentioned in the title. Which in turn explains the album opener "The New Kid Revival." All picked guitars and hand claps, it is a call to arms for the bedroom musicians to "borrow a microphone / And put it all down to tape" and later for the artists to do similar. The Wild West bar band keeps up its pace, bringing to mind Drive Til Morning, a similar affair (hardcore artist goes alt.country) released on Deep Elm Records in 2003. "No More Good Ideas" offers up a tale of a mutually destructive relationship to more foot-stomping, suggesting that “There are no more good ideas in me / Did I leave them with you?” "My Crooked Crown" offers a break in proceedings, bringing a naked guitar and * shock * a naked vocal! It takes the form of a letter to a "lonely girl" and tells a half written fairy tale, before being cut short by "scratching at my door" and extolling to her to “just know we miss ya /signed, xoxo, Panda”. This would make a lovely, poignant ending to the album, having allowed Bianchi suitable notice of this new incarnation and making sure we'd all remember his (new) name. But no. We stumble back into the bar for more clumsy square dancing, the vocal effects machine turned back on full, and I'm right back to longing for some old Her Space Holiday. Bianchi is still very good at telling stories in his lyrics. I just can't help imagining them with an electronic sound-scape behind them rather than the present country band. Saying that, if Bianchi is having fun with his band (made up of members from American Analog Set and Lymbyc Systym), let him. After all "It doesn't matter if we're making them money / It doesn't matter if we're making their list / All that matters is we keep on dancing / To the beat of our homemade hits”. - Muso's Guide |
