One Chill Panda

When Gold Panda’s down-tempo electronica seeps into your ears, it can resurrect the feelings of being a small child sitting in the backseat during a road trip where your only possessions are a pair of headphones and the window-framed view of the world as it passes by in a whirl. The British producer, also known as Derwin, has distinguished himself from the hyper-amped electronic dance music crowd by producing mellow yet stimulating sample-based grooves — entrancing without the trance.

Gold Panda’s remixes of Bloc Party and Telepathe tracks date back to 2007 and his debut album, Lucky Shiner, was released in 2010. His mixture of solely sampling recalls that of DJ Shadow but with a softer elegance like that of Jimmy Tamborello from Dntel and The Postal Service. Lucky Shiner’s lead single is the irresistibly catchy “You,” whose repetitive jingle of the word “you” backed with a bobbing hip-hop beat made it a quick fan favorite.

His latest record, Half of Where You Live, released in June, was heavily inspired by Gold Panda’s tour of the world in support of his first album. The track “Brazil” came to formation after a night in São Paulo. “I remember looking out over the city, which looked like a modern Asian city with a mixture of neon and unkempt buildings,” Gold Panda recently told pop culture website The Quietus. “When I was making ‘Brazil,’ I was adding more and more samples and it got a bit crazy and I felt it like I had sound-tracked my experience of being excited about getting to the centre of São Paulo.”

Already on a world tour in support of his album about being on a world tour, Gold Panda’s slow-burning technological jams will soothe and impress. Who knows, maybe Eugene will make the next round of his tour-inspired music. He can call it The Other Half of Where You Live.

Gold Panda plays with Slow Magic and Voices of Black 9 pm Wednesday, Sept. 25, at WOW Hall; $12 adv., $14 door.

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

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None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

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Thank you for standing with us!