Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner

A trio of EPs in 2009 (You, Miyamae and the excellent Before) - not to mention the remarkable ‘Quitter’s Raga’ 7" - as well as remixes for the notable likes of Telepathe, Bloc Party and HEALTH marked out thirty year-old Londoner Derwin Panda (not his real surname, which he’s keeping to himself) as a serious talent, and as a result this debut album comes complete with the obligatory ‘much-anticipated’ tag. One of the reservations expressed by many has been whether his bright, hyperactive extended-play compositions would suit the full-length format, but any worries in this regard will have been allayed by the producer’s assurances of a narrative arc that both runs through and anchors Lucky Shiner.
 
Upon first listen, it’s useful to keep in mind Derwin’s comments in an interview earlier this year with Dots & Dashes, during which he spoke of his travelling experiences in Japan: “Tokyo is full of people, but it is very easy to feel lonely there. When I was in Japan I wanted to hear music without vocals that could soundtrack how I felt when I walked around in the rain, looking up at tower blocks and the roofs of Japanese houses”. You can certainly pick up on the travel and solitude themes when listening to Lucky Shiner, but if there’s a melancholic feel to the LP, then it’s mostly expressed as a subtle undercurrent rather than an overriding theme: this is joyful, flowing electronic music that engages both the brain and the feet. Gold Panda’s ability to twist and manipulate samples into such organic, textured and emotive shapes was always going to invite inevitable comparisons to Four Tet, but on this evidence he’s arguably a more playful spirit than his fellow Londoner.
 
The first few tracks on Lucky Shiner waste no time in reeling you in. ‘You’’s delightfully wonky sample-based rhythms are followed by the outstanding ‘Vanilla Minus’, which pulses along steadily before soaring string-like synths arrive at the two-minute mark and take things up a notch. ‘Parents’ provides a breather with its mellow, wistful acoustic guitar and background ambience, and this is swiftly followed by the warmly hypnotic one-two of ‘Same Dream China’ and ‘Snow & Taxis’. These opening tracks are deceptively catchy - appearing at first to have a childlike simplicity to them - but closer listening reveals a wealth of attention to detail on the producer’s part. Indeed, one of Lucky Shiner's main strengths is that it manages to pull off the not-inconsiderable trick of being easily and instantly accessible while still revealing hidden depths with repeated listens.
 
Some of the more slow-burning tracks featured in the second half see the producer mix things up slightly: ‘Before We Talked’ owes much to the British post-dubstep/future garage scene, with its skipping drum patterns and nocturnal glitches, while the enveloping 8-bit-tinged electro of ‘After We Talked’ calls to mind kindred spirit Darkstar. ‘You Pt. II’ brings things full-circle, providing a more subdued, atmospheric counterpoint to its namesake opening track. It’s a fitting end to a record that’s up there with releases from Caribou and the aforementioned Mr. Hebden as one of the finest electronic albums of the year.