Giant Panda "Electric Laser" (CD)

Giant Panda has returned! Giant Panda’s debut album, Fly School Reunion, dropped in 2005 and was received by unsuspecting ears that caught the raw sounds bursting forth.  With their sophomore effort however, Giant Panda has evidently “graduated”.  Electric Laser is the name of the game, and GP plays it well.  The production, foremost, is in many ways its predecessor, and yet it isn’t.  The drums still bang, with snares and kicks dominating the forefront of a large portion of the production.  However, the melodies, chops, and loops aren’t “traditionally” jazzy or funky (that’s not to say they don’t have that type of quality, so to speak).  Rather, thick, electro-fused samples are laced deep in the cuts of this record providing a much more futuristic but very present musical landscape.  A track such as “Justin Case” is a nice introduction to newcomers (just in case you didn’t know) but also an introduction to the style of the album to already established fans of Giant Panda.   The writin