Following the release of his third album ‘Good Luck And Do Your Best’ in May and a year full of shows and surprise EP releases (June’s ‘Kingdom’ EP), electronic musician Gold Panda ends 2016 with an EP of new and collected material. Released digitally and on CD, the six-track collection is led by the elegiac, hopeful final track from his album ‘Your Good Times Are Just Beginning’, an emotional masterpiece pieced together from heart tugging piano stabs and soulful trumpets. The song is backed up with a reimagining of album highlight ‘Chiba Nights’ that is flipped into ‘Chiba Days’ , plus three remixes of music taken from his latest record by a talented and varied cast. Having previously re-worked the Panda track ‘Community’, Berlin-resident Fort Romeau once again takes the reigns with a gorgeous, nine-minute pulsing, electro-heavy recreation of the track ‘Time Eater’ complete with ghostly synth motifs that twirl around Japanese instrumentation culminating in a frenetic release. US producer John Roberts, who himself released one of the best deep house records of the year, remixes ‘Chiba Nights’, transforming it into a thumping, acid-tinged affair that mixes space and warped electronics beautifully. Finally, the contemplative ‘Song For A Dead Friend’ is taken on by Japanese musician Daisuke Tanabe, whose wide ranging musical influences of electronica, folk and jazz all come to bear on this track. Radically different to the two that run prior to it on the 12”, it’s more akin to the likes of Boards of Canada and Plaid, as it slowly ebbs to a wistful conclusion over three different musical phases. The final track on the ‘Your Good Times Are Just Beginning’ EP is a cover of ‘Time Eater’ by the Korean-based duo Sssigghborggg that also features the talents of Luna who performing the traditional Korean stringed instrument, gayageum on the track. The gorgeous, slightly eerie take on the original is rooted in post rock but has a unique beauty all to itself, as it unfurls to a dense, math-rock psychedelic jam. 

The EP is the final musical missive to be taken from this period of Gold Panda activity and is accompanied by both a limited 12” containing the three remixes featured here, as well as an art book which is a collaboration between Derwin and photographer Laura Lewis, who also provided all the art for the ‘Good Luck And Do Your Best’ album.

‘Good Luck And Do Your Best’ was released in May this year, to wide-ranging and unanimous approval from writers, critics and broadcasters alike. Since then, Gold Panda has performed across Europe, Asia and North America, appearing at a multitude of high profile events and festivals, as well as selling out his own headlines shows.