Stream: Thee Oh Sees - Singles Collection Volume Three

Since last August, Thee Oh Sees have been amassing even more material in its already endless catalog with the Singles Collection series. Parts one and two are available courtesy of Last.FM, and now we get the third installment, available in full below.

The ten-track collection features several off-hand singles, including the band's tracks from the two split 7" singles with Ty Segall. As well, the explosive and confidingly excellent "Devil Again" from the Adult Swim Garage Swim compilation can also be found in the collection. Check it out before the official November 26 release on John Dwyer's Castle Face imprint and get another heaping mound of evidence of why Thee Oh Sees are one of the best acts out there.

Ty Segall video - The Man Man

The first video from Ty Segall's recently released solo LP Sleeper (not to be confused with the last album he helped release; FUZZ), comes from the violent mind of LEAF. "The Man Man" follows a gun-wielding crew of monster-clad men, seemingly doing the town's dirty work.

Watch it below and grab Sleeper today on Drag City.

Kung Fu Necktie, Oct. 11 - FUZZ (Preview)

Perhaps the only thing more profound about the early career of San Francisco garage phenom Ty Segall's actual quality or work, is the sheer will he pushes for more.

As a solo artist, the 26-year-old Segall has released eight studio albums since 2008's Horn The Unicorn, along with exclusive 7" singles and cover tracks, separate EPs, work alongside acts like Mikal Cronin and White Fence, and as a member of other bands, including tonight's Kung Fu Necktie headliners FUZZ.

With any familiarity to Segall's previous work, FUZZ might not be too much of a leap - even considering Segall usually sits on the drums while longtime friends Charles Moothart and Roland Cosio sit upfront. The drowning, prodding sludge rock courses on full through the band's self-titled debut LP, which premiered just a few days back courtesy of Chicago's In The Red.

Moothart admitted in a recent interview with SPIN that the two have flirted with the idea for a while, even back in high school, but never considered actually taking it to the studio. "It's fate or something now," he says. "After the last two years going super-gnarly on music things, we thought, 'We just want to have fuckin' fun with music again.'"

Unfortunately, the wave of hype seems to have caught up, and tonight's Kung Fu Necktie show in Philadelphia, featuring CCR Headcleaner and Big No, is already sold out. For the lucky ones, get a preview of tonight's event below.

Ty Segall announces new album, 'Sleeper'

More album news? More album news.

Beloved San Francisco garage rocker Ty Segall, who seems to release an album in some various form every half year or so, announced his newest solo LP Sleeper. The Drag City release, which is set for release August 19 in the UK and August 20 in the U.S., is the first solo LP since last year's Twins release.

Check out the teaser for the LP below, which features Segall sleeping because there's a theme here.

New Ty Segall - Music For A Film 1 (Less Artists More Condos series)

Appearing as the seventh installment in the ongoing split 7" Less Artists More Condos series is Ty Segall and Chad & The Meatbodies. The former of which provided this excellent fuzz instrumental track "Music For A Film 1" - something of a departure of the garage rock revivalist. The latter track, however, is blindingly excellent and a must listen from Chad & The Meatbodies.

As part of the series, the artist featured as the A-Side of the 7" (in this case, Segall) picks the artists they would like to see featured as the B-Side. And for certain, Segall did not miss the mark with his pick.

Stream both tracks below and head to the LAMC Bandcamp to buy the tracks at any price. All the money contributed will be donated to the Ariel Panero Memorial Fund at VH1's Save The Music Foundation.

New Ty Segall video - Thank God For The Sinners

Everyone's favorite garage rocker of the moment (if he's not, he should be) Ty Segall has released a brand new video for "Thank God For The Sinners," off his most recent album Twins.

Matt Yoka directs the video, which is basically just an array of partial white nudity with a punk blues song score. Check it out below and grab Twins today via Drag City.

Ty Segall's newest venture - Fuzz

Only three days into 2013, and Ty Segall is already making noise. After releasing three LP's last year as a solo artist, with White Fence, and as the Ty Segall Band, the San Francisco native announced his newest project; Fuzz.

Segall actually sits in on the drums this time around, while Ty Segall Band guitarist Charles Moonheart plays his other half.

The duo's first single "This Time I Got a Reason"/"Fuzz's Fourth Dream" is already sold out, but you can stream both tracks for yourself below.

Ty Segall on Conan

Supremely fantastic San Francisco garage revivalist Ty Segall, who I can't mention enough here, made his national TV debut last on Conan performing "Thank God For The Sinners." Check out the performance below and grab Segall's latest album Twins now via Drag City.

New Ty Segall video - The Hill

Last month we debuted Ty Segall's "The Hill," but now you can watch Segall's directorial debut for the video, courtesy of NPR. As well, more dates have been added to his already lengthy tour alongside Thee Oh Sees, which should be available on Segall's site soon.

New Ty Segall - The Hill

Never really taking his sweet time, Ty Segall released "The Hill," a new single from his upcoming solo LP Twins. The intro is a bit left-field, with an older flower pop 60s vibe. Until Segall's distorted reverb kicks back to boast the soft vocals. Check it out below and grab Twins this October.

Albums of the Month: June 2012

Albums of the Month - June 2012

With summer officially beginning, we're more than halfway through 2012. While the year started out casually slow, the succession of months has really displayed some intensely original and invigorating material. This past month featured one of the year's most hyped releases (and it delivered!), emerging artists, and one man who shows up on Bears and Bullets fairly often. Here are my favorite three.

3.) Ty Segall Band - Slaughterhouse

Continually rising in from the San Francisco garage scene, Ty Segall's stamp on 2012 is more profound than ever. With his band's album Slaughterhouse (Insound), a blistering charm of cruising garage punk, an album collaboration with White Fence, and an upcoming tour with fellow San Fran-soon-to-be-legends Thee Oh Sees, Segall affirmed his name as the apparent torch-bearer to the late Jay Reatard. While there still seems to be a way to go before his name is put on the same pedestal as the Nashville punk pioneer, Slaughterhouse is the next step in that progression. Still unquestionably raw, especially on tracks like "The Bag I'm In," Segall put together his finest album yet.

2.) Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel ...
This year's front-runner for longest album title, the ageless (seriously, I don't think she ages) icon Fiona Apple's first album in seven years, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do (Insound) continues the confusing mad-woman allure that is Fiona. She's cleverly affectionate, playing with the ideas of need, desire, and love to the point where the definition is null. There are few who can do this, mending through unconventional rhythms and vocal renditions to the poignant stories in songs like "Werewolf" and "Anything We Want." It's those sweetly chaotic moments, with Apple dolling out melancholy verse between odd-ball sounds, that give you a moment to step into the 34-year-old genius' mind. And maybe it doesn't make sense to you, but there's a serene satisfaction knowing it does to her.

1.) The Tallest Man On Earth - There's No Leaving Now
If you're familiar with Bears and Bullets, then you're aware of my outward affection of Kristian Mattson, The Tallest Man On Earth. On his third album, and first since 2010's The Wild Hunt, Mattson has found his unavoidable niche. The jarring, unequivocally saddening and uplifting style of modern folk music is usually nothing more than acoustics and an occasional piano, but his romantic verses are what keep pushing the limits of his artistic flexibility. Songs like the title track and "Little Brother" are impossibly emotional, evoking scenes that very, very few others are even capable of. But maybe I'm biased. 

New Thee Oh Sees - Lupine Dominus

The newest from San Francisco workaholics Thee Oh Sees comes from the band's upcoming album Putrifiers II, which is due for release September 14. Check out "Lupine Dominus" below, along with the band's upcoming super-tour with Ty Segall, with tour dates listed here.

New Ty Segall - Swag

Fully-proving that the term "swag" isn't exactly dead yet, Ty Segall just released his "Swag" single through the San Francisco-centric In A Cloud II, a vinyl-only compilation highlighting artists from the area. Check it out below and order the album via Secret Seven, which will be out July 17.

Ty Segall and White Fence - I Am Not a Game

About a week ago, this Ty Segall and White Fence collaboration in Room 205 hit Youtube, after the duo's single "I Am Not a Game" hit. Now the two have another live performance, in the same place, of the aforementioned "I Am Not a Game." Watch the single below and grab their album Hair April 24.

Thursday Bears: Last adds to Pitchfork Music Festival

As usual with Pitchfork Music Festival, a large amount of late-adds have been etched onto the July 13-15 billing. Included with the previously mentioned big names of Vampire Weekend, Feist, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Hot Chip are a solid class of additions, which are:

Wild Flag, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Beach House, Real Estate, Dirty Projectors, Atlas Sound, Big K.R.I.T., Nicolas Jaar, Cults, Chavez, Oneohtrix Point Never, Youth Lagoon, King Krule, Dirty Beaches, Lotus Plaza, Lower Dens, Milk Music, The Psychic Paramount, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Outer Minds, and A Lull.

Familiar with Bears and Bullets and summer music festivals? Well, if you aren't, whatever acts play Pitchfork Music Festival cannot play Lollapalooza. That being said, while there are a few very solid acts I'd like to be able to see (Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Atlas Sound, among others), the lineup doesn't take too much away from what Lollapalooza could end up being - which, by the way, will be revealed at midnight, Tuesday. Stay tuned for that.

Three-day passes for Pitchfork Music Festival are sold out, but single day tickets are still available. Check which acts are playing which days here.

New Ty Segall and White Fence - I Am Not a Game

After running solo last year, Ty Segall has teamed up with White Fence for the collaborative album Hair, which is scheduled for release April 24. Check out the album's first single "I Am Not a Game" below, and stay tuned, because I'm sure I'll hype this up a lot.

Bears and Bullets Albums of the Year: Pt. I

With only two weeks remaining in 2011, it's that time of the year where all the music sites and publications dole out their annual 'Best Of' lists. Likewise, Bears and Bullets has stuck with that tradition as well, with an annual 'Top 25 Songs of the Year' list. But with the addition of the Albums of the Month feature on the site this year, I thought it wouldn't be fair to just stick with songs from here on out.

So, I present to you Bears and Bullets first ever Albums of the Year edition.

#25: The Horrors - Skying
Most people were somewhat uncomfortably introduced to The Horrors four years ago with their "Sheena is a Parasite" video; a minute and a half jumpy, barely in English audible that grew their reputation fairly well in England. And while the band's name grew within the NME crowd, fanfare was mull in the states. Skying, however, was the unsuspected breakthrough that pushed them over, full of inspiring and mature crafted songs that, Hell, most of us never saw coming. 

#24: Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place
At some point in the past few years, Julianna Barwick has come to own the genre of atmospheric music. The majority of The Magic Place, a largely wordless drift of beautiful, if not cavernous sprawls, that would do well in most movie trailers, makes the serenity of distant sounds all the more important. Aptly titled, The Magic Place seems to present itself in a world that would only disappoint the real one

#23: Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread

Ty Segall, up until Goobye Bread, has been slightly controlled noise, full of static and fuzzy bumps in the road, rarely concerned with feel or pace. But with his major label debut, the moves are tighter, and the songs don't just stream through a similar jumble. Take "The Floor," a song that wouldn't be confused with The Violent Femmes at certain points, as the clearest most of us have heard Segall. Juxtaposed against quick-minute stomps like "California Commercial," and the San Francisco-native has learned where his pace fits best - everywhere.

#22: Mastodon - The Hunter
Maybe I'm too big of a Mastodon fan. After all, The Hunter, next to the band's previous work like Crack The Skye and Blood Mountain, is regarded as one of their weaker efforts. That isn't to say that it's a poor outing or anything, just falling short of the aforementioned achievements. Fan response aside, The Hunter still provides some of the year's stand-out efforts, like "Spectrelight," a track that would fit anywhere in the Mastodon catalog. Maybe I'm just still in awe how these guys don't put anything bad out.

#21: I Break Horses - Hearts
Breaking through like M83 did in the early 2000s, I Break Hoses' Hearts is an incredibly lush, broad, and detailed album, covered in dense layers of drippy and heroic synths charging through the backdrop. It's not hard to gets a sense of unreal beauty in Hearts, only seconds into the opening track "Winter Beats," in what feels like plunging into one of those metaphorical lakes that everything seems to come together in. It's hard to describe.



We'll continue the countdown tomorrow with albums #20-#16 ...

Thursday Bears: Top 10 Albums of 2011 ... so far (Pt. I)

Well, summer is underway and 2011 is already past its midpoint. So, like most other music blogs out there, I figure I’d take a stab at what I feel are the best albums of the year so far.

10: Bon Iver - Bon Iver

9: Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

8: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong

7: The Antlers - Burst Apart

6: Ty Segall - Goodbye Bread