Check out TRANSMISSION in the selection at the Suncreen Film Festival in Florida www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com(page3)
at the Sene Film, Music, and Arts Festival in Providence, Rhode Island. www.senefilm.org
And at the Apperture film festival
Archive for the ‘Pandapub (promo, reviews etc)’ Category
Transmission video in the selection of Sene, Sunscreen and Apperture filmfestival
Monday, March 22nd, 2010Monorail review in HigherPlainMusic
Sunday, January 31st, 2010Panda Transport – “Monorail” Review
Monorail is the new 6 track EP from Panda Transport and I can confirm that it is rather fantastic. The duo fuse alternative pop electronica with random extras to create a fun.
Opening with the title track, is a groovy cloud-infused piece of dream-pop that you’d be quite happy riding to work via country lanes on your bicycle to, smiling and tipping your hat to all whom pass you. It’s just delightfully upbeat and fun. I could see it opening a Japanese Animation actually.
“Saint Revel” is the song currently gaining exposure via Grey’s Anatomy and is a little more laid back and chilled out with some fantastic vocal layering and sweet electric piano with a Sitar section! How can you lose? Panda Transport’s ability to carry off placing random instruments into a relatively standard track to make it stand completely out from the crowd is one of their key assets.
“Up The Disco” is a more a lighter-swinging track as its more subdued despite its percussive bangs and while its less immediately gratifying than the previous tracks the chorus riff will stick around in your head after a few listens.
“Freak Show” is cute. From the xylophone to warping electric noises to the mariba-esque percussion, it tippy-toes about with children’s movie overtones and then bursts into a lounge jazz piece like something from the Katamari games. I actually really like the way how the whole song shifts into a more slinky mood and it certainly stands out.
“Cicadas in Stereo” see’s Kathy step down from vocals and Ti step up for a French song full of cuteness that verges on Pikmin style music. Think Jazz gone to the circus with a gallon of icing on top. The closer is “Dark Horse” is as close to a downbeat ballad as you’re going to get. Quite minimal and vocal fronted, it works really well with solomn church bells and low hummings setting the mood and is a welcome change from the other very uptempo numbers.
Monorail is a great introduction to a duo that are prepared to take a chance by going for a different approach everytime and merging things together you wouldn’t nessacarily sit together and making it work. I expect to hear of more great things from Panda Transport in the years to come as the alt-electro-pop genre continues to gather strength and popularity.
Panda Transport Transmission on the radio playlist “Face A” of the french site CQFD
Monday, January 11th, 2010Panda Transport Transmission on the radio playlist “Face A” of the french site CQFD run by the magazine Les INROCKS. Already 37219 plays…!!!!
Thanks for your support in 2009!we start 2010 with a new review in UBLF.
Friday, January 1st, 2010
Panda Transport’s Monorail is described on their website as “[t]he songs are immediate, personal & poppy while retaining the curious experimentation & playfulness so often edited out in today’s music.” For some reason in my mind the group Flunk comes up… with some Kate Havnevik and maybe some Imogen Heap mixed in to describe their music. It ranges from sweet and tender to pop and floaty to kinda dark… no joke – it has a dark edge to it as well.
Here’s how I came in contact: I was searching through my messages on IODAPromonet and there was a direct message from their label. I immediately searched through the rest of the new messages and found them all to be the basic promo stuff I receive most of the time (that does not mean I don’t check out that selection of music…). This message from Panda Transport was personal and thoughtful and created a fan out of me before I heard their music. I became excited and checked out their tunes. This also prompted me to email someone, anyone from the group. The person I contacted was the lead vocalist from Charlottesville, VA named Kathy. I would have to place her in the kind and gracious group as well! She’s a great conversationalist and has been a dream to work with (don’t worry, I feel the same way about Autorotation).
And guess what… you’ll get to hear some of their stuff over the next couple of months.
What’s the moral of this story? A kind note can go a LOOOOOONG way! Even from this below the radar podcaster/blogger.
Monorail reviewed in Skope
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
December 16, 2009 | by Skope Staff
Kathy Compton and Thierry Holweck are bringing a diverse array of audio to the forefront. As the sole songwriters on Monorail, Compton and Holweck aka Panda Transport have created Electro-Pop grooves. The record offers acoustic & pop elements mixed with a unique display of sounds.
Monorail comes after Panda Transport’s debut release, Plush Mechanique. Their former recording was literally all done via the Internet where Kathy & Thierry initially met. As pen pals, these two artists turned E-music into an actual record with Plush Mechanique. The single off their first album titled “Transmission” was even featured on Grey’s Anatomy.
Now it’s time for something new as Compton & Holweck decide to meet in person to make a more personable/organic record. Just as on a monorail system, the train moves steadily along on a single track; here reality is put into motion on a single disc. This is the music of one’s own place, space and thoughts. Monorail is focusing on today more so rather than on the past, but ironically with a futuristic approach. The recording is experimental, but fun & poppy at the same time. An abundance of natural elements were included on this album due to the windows being open during the recording sessions. This tactic would appear to be a very OPEN and CAREFREE performance, which is exactly what Panda Transport were after.
The CD starts up with the title track as we are introduced to the lovely singing of Kathy Compton. Her vocals are pleasant to say the least with a nice ‘n’ tender melody to go along with an easy-going, light poppy feel. The next track, “Saint’s Revel”, has a Cross Continental vibe about it with American & international influences. On “Up the Disco”, an interference of sorts is detected in the background. You’ve probably heard of the famous “Wall of Sound”; well this song would signify the Back Row of Everything Else in Between! Scattered & sporadic audio snippets are heavily absorbed upon while listening to this record. Going off of audible sensations, “Freakshow” supplies an extremely different & unorthodox sound. On track five, “Cicadas in Stereo”, I simply loved the element of percussion here with a very primitive-sounding beat.
Panda Transport have come up with six songs for you to enjoy NOW and hope that you will get wrapped up in the moment. This duo’s creativity shines through bright as this Monorail pushes forward. Although on one hand, I wasn’t completely blown away by this album; on the other hand I was taken back by the sheer uniqueness of two individuals bringing their music to life. For more on Panda Transport and their new release, Monorail, SKOPE out www.pandatransport.com.
By Jimmy Rae (jrae@skopemag.com)
Monorail reviewed www.babysue.com
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Panda Transport – Monorail (CD EP, Alpinechic/Europe, Pop)
We don’t cover many EPs…and we only do so when something really impresses us. As such, you can draw your own conclusions about Monorail. Panda Transport is the duo consisting of Kathy Compton and Thierry Holweck who created the band in 2006 after hooking up with one another on the internet. This is the follow-up to the duo’s well-received debut album (Plush Mechanique). The Monorail EP features six cool, dreamy, free-flowing modern pop tracks. Panda Transport songs are direct and to-the-point…and feature some wonderfully groovy, warm keyboard sounds…as well as some rather fantastic subdued vocals. The more we spin this one…the better it sounds. Cool cuts include “Monorail,” “Saint’s Revel,” and “Dark Horse.”
Monorail reviewed Midwest Record
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
KINDERLUST
PANDA TRANSPORT/Monorail: Breezy contemporary take on sunshine pop that is a delightful dose of aural cotton candy and is just what you need in the headphones when the palette needs clearing. Nothing to sink your teeth into that won’t disappear into the ether and that’s what makes it so much fun. A proper antidote to the current times, the only gripe is that it’s only an ep. Clear the decks and let this make you smile.
Plush reviewed by Jon Peritz published in Mi2N, Top40, MusicDish.
Friday, October 9th, 2009
The melody in Panda Transport’s latest single “Transmission” seems to float on a viscous stew of synthesized sounds and rhythms. This bubbly binary brew is the perfect medium for the duo’s catchy melodic lines, silky, if familiar, harmonic rhythm, and airy vocal tones. The combination of real, that is, acoustic instruments and electronic sounds is seamless, and each sound supports the tune’s infrastructure as it builds, gurgling and popping like a thick lava flow growing slowly and gracefully.
“Transmission” is a morsel from this unlikely duo’s album, “Plush Mechanique,” an apt name for the soupy mix of traditional and computer music. The two artists, Kathy Compton and Thierry Holweck, met over the internet; she an American jazz and pop composer, he’s a Frenchman and master of the virtual music world. What would seem to be an odd mixture turns out to be a successful experiment in music-meshing and genre-bending. Panda Transport has already found commercial success in America with “Transmission” being featured on Grey’s Anatomy. Their new EP “Monorail” will be released this fall.
Review by Jon Peritz
Traduction en francais
La melodie du dernier single de Panda Transport semble flotter dans un melange épais de sons synthetiques et de rythmes.
Ce breuvage mousseux binaire est le milieu idéal pour le l’assemblage des lignes mélodiques accrocheuses, soyeuses, si familière, le rythme harmonique, et aérien des tonalités vocales. La combinaison du réel et du virtuel, d’instruments acoustiques et sons électroniques est sans faille, et chaque son prend en charge l’infrastructure du morceau qu’elle bâtit, gargouillis et éclatée comme une coulée de lave épaisse qui se développe lentement et avec grâce.
“Transmission” est un morceau de l’album de ce duo improbable, les “Plush Mechanique”, un nom approprié pour le mélange traditionnel et de l’informatique musicale. Les deux artistes, Kathy Compton et Thierry Holweck, se sont rencontrés sur Internet; elle une chanteuse américaine de jazz et compositeur pop, et un Français maître dans le monde de la musique virtuel. Ce qui semble être un mélange bizarre s’avère être une expérience réussie dans leur musique, faite de maillages et d’inflexion. Panda Transport a déjà connu le succès commercial en Amérique avec “Transmission” présent dans Grey’s Anatomy. Leur nouvel EP “Monorail” sortira cet automne.
Jon Peritz
review in sucrepop.com
Monday, July 13th, 2009
<!– @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } –> Panda Transport is composed of Thierry Holweck, made in France, and more known
in the world of music under the name of Severin24 (known in the small indie world)
and the songstress Kathy Compton, made in the USA. These two people do
electro-pop made in quality.The album Plush Mechanique is out for one year now
and if I didn’t speak about it until now, it’s because I didn’t know about it
before. Still, these two people do really grabby stuff, and that the
“demoiselle” does also really nice solo work under her own name and that I’m
waiting for the next release.
kathy has a crush
Sunday, June 28th, 2009the band PHOENIX- 4 parisian boys, monsieurs, that produce an energy and sound so effervescent and luminous, heartbreakingly beautiful music. seek them out, covet them and then download them into your temple and be with them. because i know to share and so do they.
