After releasing "Will Calls," an unreleased demo from the forthcoming reissues of Grizzly Bear's 2012 album Shields, the New York band debuted another unreleased cut from the album.
"Listen and Wait" is patently powerful and sweeping, with Daniel Rossen taking the vocal lead. All together it makes one wonder why in the Hell this wasn't on the original version, but it seems the band has a lot of stones left unturned from those studio sessions.
Among regular mixtape outlets, Solé Bicycle Co., a Venice, California bicycle company, may be a little lesser known. However, since starting in 2009, the company has been pretty courteous with their Solé Fixtape's.
This month's tape, the seventh in the series, is brought to us from Goldroom. Featured on the 17-track mix, which is free to download below, is the spirited Lindstrøm remix of Grizzly Bear's "Gun-Shy," and some of the newest from Toro y Moi's recent Anything In Return LP. Check the full tracklist after the bump.
The first official video from the latest Grizzly Bear album Shields has been released. "Yet Again," the album's standout single, features an ice skater falling through the cracks (metaphors?) and tracking her way back to where it all started.
Check the video out below and grab Shields today via Warp.
The next in line of the gamut of highly-anticipated 2012 releases is Grizzly Bear's as-of-yet untitled follow up to 2010's standout Veckatimest. And for the first time, we can actually hear something from it. "Sleeping Ute," a Daniel Rossen-led track, is the first off the album (tracklist below), which is set for release September 18, via Warp.
Grizzly Bear (TBA) Tracklist
1.) Sleeping Ute 2.) Speak In Rounds 3.) Adelma 4.) Yet Again 5.) The Hunt 6.) Simple Answer 7.) What's Wrong? 8.) Gun Shy 9.) Half Gate 10.) Sun In Your Eyes
Yesterday marked the release of Daniel Rossen's first official solo work outside of Grizzly Bear and Department of Eagles, and, well, it's as extraordinary as any Grizzly Bear side-piece should be. Listen to the entire Silent Hour/Golden Mile EP below and grab the album via Warp Records.
While Grizzy Bear may be prepping for a new album later this year, members of the band have been doing a lot in the mean time. Ed Droste was recently married, Chris Taylor released his first studio album as CANT last fall, and now Daniel Rossen is set to release his own solo studio effort. We heard Rossen's first song "Saint Nothing," off the upcoming Silent Hour/Golden Mile EP a few weeks back, but "Silent Song" is more assuredly worth your time. Listen below.
That's CANT without the apostrophe. Get a listen to Chris Taylor's (better known from Grizzly Bear) "Believe" from Cant's debut album Dreams Come True, via Some Velvet Blog.
Greetings. Now that the Northeast, particularly New Jersey, is covered up in a invariable snowstorm, keeping most of us housed up indoors, this seems more than the perfect time to unleash Bears and Bullets annual list of the Top 25 Songs of the Year. Last yearGrizzly Bear's "Two Weeks" ended up toping our list in a year that seemed sweltered by indie music's perennial power houses, like Phoenix and Animal Collective. So this year may be a bit more refreshing, considering 2010's somewhat unpredictable month by month catalog of new music.
As with last year, lets clear up the two rules that qualify music for the list: first, the song must have been released during the calendar year. Second, songs heard prior to 2010, such as Yeasayer's "Ambling Alp" are disqualified because it had been out for a much longer period of time, even though it was released on the band's album Odd Blood, released earlier this year.
So, lets begin.
#25: Stranded - The Walkmen The first listen to Lisbon yielded "Stranded," an achingly sad and mature bar tome brimmed with some of the most harrowing and enchanting horns heard from the Walkmen in years. Lead-singer Hamilton Leithauser's now well-known voice, once detached and coarse from 2004's "The Rat," seems calmed and skimmed, but still powerful enough to make plaster wilt in "Stranded." The band's work, and specifically Leithauser, always seemed to overflow with stern honesty, but here, as the band continues to grow, it begins to sound too beautiful to capture. Almost.
#24: Round and Round - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti I may still be somewhat amazed at Pitchfork's decision to place "Round and Round" at number one on their songs of the year list, but that doesn't take much away from it. It's a deceivingly well-crafted five minutes staunchly brewed with a buzzing rhythm, sparse sound clashes splashing in the backdrop with Ariel's constantly changing approach. The chorus, where the ghostly tone goes by the wayside, is huge and clamoring, preceded at the end with a high-pitched "sentimental/everything is my fault," is where "Round and Round" stands tallest, before blending backward to its creative axis. Na Na Na Na.
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round
#23: Post Acid - Wavves At some point, Wavves must have gotten tired churning out buzzy, lo-fi, messy songs about Mickey Mouse and pot when they made "Post Acid," a quick, almost clean bursting pop-punk protocol with an eschewing chorus that deserves shrill yelling. It's painlessly fun, but not as drab and callously single-minded as most of Nathan Williams' work. In another word, you can enjoy it without trying.
#22: Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra) - The Vaccines When we first heard the Vaccines back in October, "Wreckin' Bar" immediately jumped out (and was good enough to make the Our Newest Obsession series). It's a short, endlessly joyous minute and a half surf rock jangle that keeps spinning on constant repeat, much like "Post Acid," but with more of shiny punch. It always happens since I've begun making these year-end lists; that a song like "Wreckin' Bar," with only a little recognition to its name and even less word of mouth claws its way in, and deservedly so.
#21: Vultures - The Pass The list's first official dance track (or easily danceable track) came up a few months ago after the Pass entered their video for "Vultures" into a blogger contest. While the video, with all of its indie blogging references (again, we go unnoticed. Sigh), is pretty enjoyable, the song should truly stand out. It's an infectious dance rock track in a year where the subtle sub genre went largely unnoticed. Oddly enough, when you're listening, it ends up feeling "like the first time," no matter what it was for. The better songs, in the end, usually have that effect.
The Pass - Vultures
Stay tuned, we'll return tomorrow for songs #20 - 16.
That heavily-anticipated time of year has finally drifted within the week. Next Tuesday, August 3, I'll make my annual departure to Chicago for Lollapalooza. If you don't know that by now, well, now you do. And as with the coming days, I'll give out my list of my ten most anticipated acts of the festival.
Now keep in mind, because of schedule restrictions and conflicts, that seeing literally every act I wish would be utterly impossible. So, there will, unfortunately, be some omissions in this list; including: The Black Keys, Grizzly Bear, and others.
So to start my list, we'll highlight two artists that made my first official top ten list, Gogol Bordello and Yeasayer.
#10: Gogol Bordello
Eugene Hutz and Co. are somewhat frequent here (considering how much I adored them in 2008), so me seeing them as much as I can always ends up being a must. The group, an eclectic mix of European, Asian and American gypsy punks (the only title that works) are well-known for their electric live shows and rampant fan base.
Fresh off the release of their fifth studio album, Trans-Continental Hustle, Gogol Bordello will be performing at 3:45 on the Parkways stage, on Saturday, August 7.
Gogol Bordello - Immigraniada (Live on Jools Holland)
#9: Yeasayer
Another act I first saw at Lolla 2008, Yeasayer have gained a little more recognition in the past few years, especially after the release of their Odd Blood last February. Over those years, the group's sound has evolved from slow, psychedelic jams from their All Hour Symbolsalbum in 2007, to a more flexible electro-pop.
The group will be performing at 4:00 on the Budweiser stage, Sunday, August 8.
We'll continue our top 25 countdown with songs #10 through #1.
#10: Stillness is the Move - Dirty Projectors
As much as people fawned over Merriweather Post Pavilion, Dirty Projector's Bitte Orca rivaled it many ways. Some would even suggest that Orca surpasses MPP in brilliance with its sheer ingenuity and creative flourish, thanks in part to "Stillness is the Move." Often pop music is regarded is simplistic and rudimentary because of lack of originality and mass consumerism. With "Stillness," however, the rhythms, hooks, and harmonies of Amber, Angel and Haley is as uncommon and inventive as anything else we heard this year. Nearly impossible to replicate, although Solange Knowles did a good rendition.
Dirty Projectors - Stillness is the Move
#9: What Would I Want? Sky - Animal Collective
After over three minutes of distorted samples and crashes, Animal Collective's "What Would I Want? Sky," begins to glisten in a clash of brilliant vocal sequences, with a sample of the Grateful Dead's "Unbroken Chain" gently grazing in the background. Few and far between do Animal Collective's songs sound so gloriously uplifting and enriching, with Avey Tare asking, "Is everything alright? You feeling lonely? You feeling homely? You're not the only." The direct contrast between the first and the second half are what make Animal Collective such a polarizing and ingenious group -- with mess is beauty, in the brightest places.
#8: You're a Target - No Age
"You're a Target" accomplished something somewhat rare for No Age; they compiled a rousing, loud and boisterous noise-rock song with a collective harmony and memorable bridge. The song, part of the band's four-track Losing Feeling EP, wouldn't so much as fit with their 2008 album Nouns, because it sounds too mature, too frank and welcoming. "You're a Target," sounds, however, more embracing because the visceral fuzz and melody actual comes clean, unrushed, and still categorically immense.
How any artist retooled Hall & Oates coined "Maneater," to not only an extent of not only relevance but revitalization is beyond me. In Neko Case's "People Got a Lotta Nerve," the red-haired singer-songwriter boasts her man eater lifestyle not to the party-styled anthem idea of commanding and conquering the opposite sex, but ravaging them until their nothing. And yet, it's insatiably sweet coming from Case's exquisite alt-country voice -- both terrifyingly honest and beautifully broadcast.
Neko Case - People Got a Lotta Nerve
#6: Ambling Alp - Yeasayer
Before first listen to "Ambling Alp," Yeasayer could be deemed more psychedelic than pop. Their 2007 album All Hour Cymbals, aside from the wonderful "2080," sounded like a mirage in the Sonora desert -- long, labored, loose and fluid. "Ambling Alp," albeit very new (released only a few weeks ago), is a terrific step for the Brooklyn band. Pop is often curiously standard and continuous, always looking to achieve what's already been heard. Yet, every so often an artist with enough gall and ambition can make those strides toward a higher level. Radiohead did it, Animal Collective did it, and with "Ambling Alp," Yeasayer is doing it.
Yeasayer - Ambling Alp
#5: Lisztomania - Phoenix
With most of 2009 rumbling over Merriweather Post Pavilion and Bitte Orca, Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix reveled in their indie shadows and helped the band make their first leap into popular culture. "Lisztomania," creates a mass-appeal without asserting itself. Its bright melodies and cheery and leaping chorus, makes Phoenix sound lighter and more alluring than ever before, and it's not even the best song of the album.
Phoenix - Lisztomania
#4: Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The border between dance and rock music is hard to define. Often times those in music business will attempt to trespass on that border, and, more or less, failure is certain. What the Yeah Yeah Yeahs achieved with "Heads Will Roll," not only crosses that border, but takes it down. Karen O shrieks and shrills on a "chrome" dance floor, imploring that everyone should "dance, dance, dance till your dead," while Nick churns a haunting synth lead, almost sounding like noir with poise. The finishing product, glistening in a metallic stream, is heavier than it appears; it rips and tears through the dance-floor with a midnight castle element -- glowing in the dark and shining under the lights.
"My Girls" rushes into the ear with a earthy stream, followed by the emerging electro beat, humming quietly in the back. The song yearns for simplicity, imploring that Panda Bear doesn't "care for fancy things," but that gloriously simplicity is already there. "My Girls," sounds like sped-up evolution. The sounds careen and swirl around the listener, with tiny percussions, vocal samples and bass punches popping out of the back like small cracks on the Earth's surface. It leads and ends in the same fashion, slowly swelling, rising, climaxing, and falling back down to Earth. But before it falls, "My Girls" goes somewhere Animal Collective, until now, haven't found before -- a place lost between sounds and meaning, combining for something unbelievable.
Animal Collective - My Girls
#2: 1901 - Phoenix
"1901" is Phoenix's advertisement for the rest of the world -- it's the culmination of the bands work for the majority of the decade; smart, invigorating, inviting pop music that can make someone smile for days. The song's fuzzy interlude and landscaping synths make Thomas Mars sound cleaner and cooler than ever, bringing the band in the commercial spot light that has been years in the making.
Phoenix - 1901
#1: Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear
"Two Weeks," is Grizzly Bear's triumph on Veckatimest. It's stark, luring, brilliant and incredibly intelligent. Every key note hit by Ed Droste and the rest of the band, honing in on their trademark harmonies, sounds crisper and better than ever. The alarming exceptionalism of "Two Weeks" makes one wonder how much further the band can progress after Veckatimest and 2006's Yellow House. Indeed, if "Two Weeks" can prove anything other than indelible craftsmanship, it's that Grizzly Bear seem to progress at each and every try. How much better can they get?
Apologies for the lack of posts for the past several days. Let's just put that all behind us and just say I was missing, when in fact I was just doing too much outside of this.
Grizzly Bear premiered the second video from this year's oft-blogged album Veckatimest for "Ready, Able." The video, directed by Allison Schulnik, features the eternally creepy art-forms of stop-motion animation and clay-mation. And yet, somehow, those creepy things are displayed in an even creepier than normal fashion, with clay blended together to garbage-tinged mess.
Grizzly Bear - Ready, Able
San Francisco garage band The Mantles have premiered their first video for their single "Don't Lie," from the band's self-titled debut LP (via Slumberland). The video mostly uses "Don't Lie" as a score for the 1973 film Paper Moon, starring Ryan and Tatum O'Neal set in Kansas during the Great Depression. The revelance of the time period to "Don't Lie" is a mystery, but whatever.
Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series is unmistakably the most popular fad (hopefully) coming out of teenage female (or for that matter all female) culture these days. The books and movies are harrowingly stupid and vapid, which some how makes complete sense to why teenagers are obsessing over it. We all know this and we all know I'm not one to ever write about Twilight, but the soundtrack for the upcoming sequel New Moonis, well, good.
The film features original works ranging from Grizzly Bear to Thom Yorke to Muse, confusing me and other music fans dearly. While it is exciting to hear new music from the likes of Yorke, only hearing through means of terribly constructing and culturally flattening films like New Moon seems like the worst way. Still, for those who value the music for what it is and not what it is attached to, ignoring new work from these artists may be worse than actually seeing the film. Maybe.
The Summit Entertainment produced New Moon is set for release November 20 with the soundtrack scheduled for release next Tuesday, October 20. And if you're wondering if the music will catch on with the kids. Yes, it will. Sigh.
Grizzly Bear, continuing their reign of late night talk shows, appeared on Letterman last week (after having their previous performance pushed back) with another Veckatimest beauty, "Ready, Able", backed by the ACME String Quartet. As expected the sound is remarkable and breathtaking, but anything less of Grizzly Bear at this point would be obscene.
The band recently added a slew of new concert dates, including a visit to Philadelphia's Electric Factory October 7 with Baltimore's Beach House.
Grizzly Bear (ft. ACME String Quartet) - Ready, Able (Live on Letterman)
Here's the crop of solid late night talk show performances that you may have missed from Friday, including Grizzly Bear lighting up the Fallon stage with "Cheerleader," and visually ill Phoenix lead singer Thomas Mars performing "Lisztomania" on Kimmel.
Grizzly Bear's immensely anticipated third studio album Veckatimest was finally released last Tuesday amidst a swirl of, lets say, well-received reactions. Although much of the album was leaked or heard from months prior to the actual release date, the sheer volume of coverage catapulted them to one of alternative music's most appreciated and rising artists.
The band, performing a sold-out show tonight at NYC's Town Hall with Here We Go Magic, performed song's from the new album at Spinner's The Interface. Watch the full interview and performance here.
Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear's newest album (out this Tuesday), has been getting plent of indie-buzz for roughly half a year now following last year's first listen to the amazing "While You Wait for the Others"and last year's July performance on Letterman. Keeping figures in mind, it's hard not to get too excited for the album's release.
None too soon, the band has released the album's first official video for their single "Two Weeks." The Patrick Daughters directed video features all of the members slow and bug-eyed for an ultimate eruption. The song's still the selling point.
Last week Grizzly Bear served up a surprisingly lack-luster performance of their single "Two Weeks" on Later... With Jools Holland, making it the first less than spectacular performance by Grizzly Bear than most of us have ever seen.
Redeaming themselves, the group performed Veckatimest's landmark track "While You Wait for the Others" with a much more favorable end-product. Dan Rossen, helming the vocals, takes over for Ed Droste as he sets the harmonies with the rest of the group. Veckatimest is comes out May 26.
Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others (Live on Later... With Jools Holland)
, released earlier this year.
yielded "Stranded," an achingly sad and mature bar tome brimmed with some of the most harrowing and enchanting horns heard from the Walkmen in years. Lead-singer Hamilton Leithauser's now well-known voice, once detached and coarse from 2004's "The Rat," seems calmed and skimmed, but still powerful enough to make plaster wilt in "Stranded." The band's work, and specifically Leithauser, always seemed to overflow with stern honesty, but here, as the band continues to grow, it begins to sound too beautiful to capture. Almost.
, Gogol Bordello will be performing at 3:45 on the Parkways stage, on Saturday, August 7.
album in 2007, to a more flexible electro-pop.
We'll continue our top 25 countdown with songs #10 through #1.
Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series is unmistakably the most popular fad (hopefully) coming out of teenage female (or for that matter all female) culture these days. The books and movies are harrowingly stupid and vapid, which some how makes complete sense to why teenagers are obsessing over it. We all know this and we all know I'm not one to ever write about Twilight, but the soundtrack for the upcoming sequel New Moon is, well, good.
Grizzly Bear's immensely anticipated third studio album Veckatimest was finally released last Tuesday amidst a swirl of, lets say, well-received reactions. Although much of the album was leaked or heard from months prior to the actual release date, the sheer volume of coverage catapulted them to one of alternative music's most appreciated and rising artists.
