New Grizzly Bear - "Sleeping Ute" Has Balls

Newly released track, "Sleeping Ute" from Grizzly Bear has balls. It also has a P4K Best New Track stamp to boast. This track has some of the usual quietly-falsetto swoops and swells, but also has a dark, beat-up guitar riff and keyboard line. There is no denying that this tune rocks pretty fucking hard. Should be an interesting album. Looking forward to it.

Artist to Watch: Gamble House

[mp3] Gamble House: "Central Park"

Early this morning, before coffee, we listened to "Central Park" by the LA group Gamble House as recommend by Some Velvet Blog, who called their self-titled debut "one of the best debut albums of the year so far." Coupled with the sounds coming out of the speakers, we got a rare pre-caffeine bolt of adrenaline.

Gamble House purvey a gauzy and delicate brand of orchestral folk that lands somewhere between Midlake and Grizzly Bear, and sounds like walking through the woods in upstate New York during an afternoon snow storm. The instrumentation is rich and careful at times, and ultimately buoyed by the stellar vocal performances of singer and lead member Ben Becker.

We've only taken our first listens to the album today, so it's hard to give you the full scope of the project. Yet, from what we have heard to date, it's clear that Gamble House have a fully conceived and realized vision that deserves immediate attention. Yes, they are likely to garner many comparisons to Yellow House era Grizzly Bear. But coming from bloggers that are admittedly so-so on the old 'Bear, we can say that the melodies and song structures on this record are in many ways superior to multiple Grizzly Bear compositions. While Grizzly Bear rely on instrumental flourishes and pomp, Gamble House are content to fill those spaces with choruses, hooks, and actual substance. Well done.

All comparisons aside, we're extremely glad to have Gamble House on our radar, and look forward to what they have coming in the year ahead. You can buy Gamble House's debut HERE.

Twin Shadow

[mp3] Twin Shadow: "Yellow Balloon"

[mp3] Twin Shadow: "Castles in the Snow"

We've covered Twin Sister, Twin Tigers, and yes, now - Twin Shadow. We're not doing this to be cheeky here. All three bands are good! Twin Shadow is really just a dude: George Lewis Jr. After a few years spent consuming a ton of Bowie and German electro tracks while playing in multiple bands, Lewis has returned to the states to record for Chris Taylor's label Terrible Records. Sounds good to us. We don't have a ton to go on here except for the promise of the two excellent tracks above, which Twin Shadow will release as a 7" in March, to be followed up by an EP on Terrible sometime later. The songs are very European, catchy, and slick as hell. Mr. Taylor certainly has an ear for these electro-pop darlings, but give the guy credit, he's picked some good ones for us this year. Twin Shadow play Cameo in Williamsburg: 2/13 and 3/13 with a show at the Tribeca Grand on February 27.

Stunning Fan-Made Videos: Grizzly Bear, Decemberists, Laura Veirs, Wild Beasts

Grizzly Bear -- "Two Weeks"

Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew on Vimeo.

You're lucky we're nice -- these are our Top 4, from Paste's recent list of the 10 best fan-made music videos of 2009. Stunning is an interesting word to begin with, but let's just say, the above video for Grizzly Bear's "Two Weeks" defines its modern definition. That said, I won't try to throw a bunch of misplaced adjectives at this video, because it is something to be enjoyed purely -- it is a time for you to "think your own thoughts" about it. My first reaction was -- Gabe Askew (maker of the video) must be a new hire in the Wes Anderson camp, and if not, needs to be - like now. Yes, it is a great song, but in a rare twist of fate, this video only makes it better.

For the rest of our favorites (Decemberists, Laura Veirs, Wild Beasts) from Paste's list, see after the jump.

The Decemberists -- "The Rake's Song"



Laura Veirs -- "Phantom Mountain"



Wild Beasts - "All the King's Men"

Tour Dates, New Video and Bjork: Micachu & The Shapes

(New Video for "Turn Me Well" above.) After dropping their debut release, Jewellery, Micachu & The Shapes exploded on to the scene playing All Points West, SXSW, the Siren Music Festival and scratching that inch on the back of some eager bloggers. Their highly artistic, instrumental-led rock-pop draws you in with hook melodies, then immediately rescinds with jaunty vocal lines and mismatched rhythms. The combination is a sensory overload of the best kind. Micachu & The Shapes are set to embark on a massive tour with Apple-made-famous band Chairlift. One specific date of note, Le Poisson Rouge on Oct. 3 as part of the Wordless Music Series. In addition, good old Bjork recently had this to say of Micachu: "I saw her in London, in June, a year ago and I was really excited about her. I thought it was that sort of 'do it yourself' approach, with all these little guitars and her attitude was really fresh… think it's really, really fun. (She)is a bit of a prankster really, isn't she?" Bjork then included their music on her recent record-spinning-session for NPR's Playlist. Nice praise for these UK'ers.

See full tour dates after the jump.

Micachu & The Shapes Fall Tour Dates
* w Chairlift

Sep 22 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sep 24 UW Madison Memorial Terrace Madison, Wisconsin*
Sep 25 Schuba’s Chicago, Illinois* (2 shows) *
Sep 26 Midpoint Music Festival Cincinnati, Ohio*
Sep 28 This Ain’t Hollywood Hamilton, Ontario
Sep 29 El Mocambo Toronto, Ontario
Oct 1 Pop Montreal Montreal
Oct 2 Littlefield Brooklyn, New York
Oct 3 Wordless Music Series New York, New York
Oct 7 Nation of Shopkeepers Leeds, Northeast
Oct 8 The Deaf Institute Manchester, Northwest
Oct 9 Captain’s Rest Glasgow, Scotland
Oct 10 Sneaky Pete’s Edinburgh, Scotland
Oct 12 Audio Brighton, South
Oct 13 Norwich Arts Centre Norwich, East
Oct 14 Fiddlers Bristol, Southwest
Oct 15 The Scala London, London and South East
Oct 16 Airwaves Rekyavik
Oct 18 Paradiso Amsterdam
Oct 19 Hafenklang Hamburg
Oct 20 Roxy/NoD Prague
Oct 21 Elevate Festival Graz, Steiermark
Oct 22 La Casa 139 Milan, Milano
Oct 23 Circolo degli Artisti Rome, Roma
Oct 24 Covo Bologna, Bologna
Oct 25 Club Zukunft Zurich, Zurich
Oct 28 Le Grand Mix Tourconing
Oct 29 Ubu Club Rennes
Oct 30 Rockmotives Vendome
Oct 31 Novosonic Fest Dijon
Nov 1 Maroquinerie Paris
Nov 18 Razzmatazz Barcelona, Barcelona
Nov 19 Moby Dick Madrid, Madrid
Nov 20 Plano B Porto, Porto
Nov 21 ZDB Lisbon, Lisboa

Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill

[MP3] Daniel Rossen - "Waterfall"

[MP3] Frida Hyvönen - "Jesus Was a Crossmaker" 

Judee Sill released two acclaimed albums on Dave Geffens' Asylum Records in the mid-to-late '70s -- one self title, the other titled, Heart Food. Her music has since been heralded and cherished by modern musicans who found it fitting to come together to record a tribute record, Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill dropping Sept. 22 on American Dust. Featured artists include Ron Sexsmith, Beth Orton, Daniel Rossen and Frida Hyvönen (Grizzly Bear), Marissa Nadler, Princeton and more.

Full featured artists and tracklist after the jump.


Various Artists
Crayon Angel: A Tribute to the Music of Judee Sill
(American Dust)
Street date: Sept. 22, 2009
01 Ron Sexsmith: "Crayon Angel"
02 Beth Orton: "Reach for the Sky"
03 Daniel Rossen: "Waterfall"
04 Frida Hyvönen: "Jesus Was a Cross Maker"
05 Shalants: "Lopin Along Thru the Cosmos"
06 Final Fantasy: "The Donor"
07 Nicolai Dunger: "Soldier of the Heart"
08 Trembling Blue Stars: "Lady-O"
09 Colossal Yes: "The Phoenix"
10 Marissa Nadler & Black Hole Infinity: "The Kiss"
11 Princeton: "Down Where the Valleys Are Low"
12 The Bye Bye Blackbirds: "There's a Rugged Road"
13 Meg Baird: "When the Bridegroom Comes"
14 Bill Callahan: "For a Rainbow"
15 P.G. Six: "Til Dreams Come True"

McCarren Pool Party Thing on Waterfront Now

The beloved Sunday music festivals once held in Greenpoint/Williamsburg's one-time community pool, McCarren pool, are back! The concert series will still be hosted by Jelly NYC but transported to the East River State Park on the Williamsburg Waterfront. They keep the "pool" label even though the event will be devoid of any actual pools. Sorry. The time for drinking away Sunday hangovers amid indie-rock jams, sunshine and all while scoping walking American Apparel ads is upon us once again. Rock and or Roll. Give it up for Jelly though, they have managed to pack the bill with some of indie rocks biggest names, Grizzly Bear, Deerhunter, Girl Talk, No Age, Beach House, Dirty Projectors - I mean, these could be more of a gong show than that MGMT disaster last summer. Click the image for a larger view or after the jump for the full line up.

First line up -- July 12: 
Mission of Burma, 
Fucked Up, 
Ponytail
, Jemina Pearl

Check the full schedule after the jump...

July 12: 
Mission of Burma, 
Fucked Up, 
Ponytail
, Jemina Pearl

July 19: 
Dirty Projectors
, Magnolia Electric Co., White Denim

July 26: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Black Lips
, HEALTH, 
Grupo Fantasmo

August 2: Deerhunter, No Age, Dan Deacon

 (Round Robin show)

August 9: 
Simian Mobile Disco (DJ set)
, Fiery Furnaces
, Dark Meat, 
The Netherlands

August 16: Del the Funky Homosapien, 
Gravy Train!!!
, DD/MM/YYYY, Kenan Bell



August 23: 
Girl Talk
, Max Tundra
, Wiz Khalifa

August 30: Grizzly Bear
, Beach House

NYT Hits the Nail on Grizzly Bear's Head

Photo: Chad Batka for The New York Times

[mp3] Grizzly Bear: "Cheerleader"

UPDATE: Thanks to a commenter who directed us to Nico Muhly's site where the frequent GB collaborator is moderating a pretty heated discussion on the merits of the NYT review.

It was Saturday night at Hi-Fi -- a day after the Grizzly Bear show at NY's Town Hall. We met a fellow cavort who also attended the show Friday. We asked what he thought. He, oh so predictably, blurted "it was the most amazing show" to which we replied, "actually, it wasn't." When pressed, he quickly amended his statement, concurring with our arguments as to the show's many flaws. Our theory is that, when pressed, about 5% of the audience actually wholeheartedly enjoyed the Grizzly Bear show, despite the effusive standing ovation and weekend of sold-out New York shows. We are the target demographic for Grizzly Bear: fans willing to go the distance for great music. After Friday, we won't be going the distance when it comes to traveling to any more Grizzly Bear shows. Read more of our take on Friday's show, and Ben Ratliff's spot-on review of the show in the New York Times after the jump.

There is no denying the talent of these musicians. They are all amazing vocalists and Ed Droste and Dan Rossen are pretty A-list songwriters as well. There were moments of beauty and excitement Friday night. [Correction] "Lullabye" was particularly lovely. Yet, the tension would build, and never fully release or resolve itself. Even the amazing "Two Weeks" hit fell flat. Most of the show was really boring, and heavily sleepy. Two or three on our row were dead sound asleep through most of the show. We nodded off a few times before the string section came out. The sound was muddy, and most of the nuances that succeed on their records were lost. Besides a joke about tweeting from the stage, the entire show was as serious as a funeral, stand-offish, and as Ben Ratliff writes, extremely "cold." We could go on at length here, and after some beer on Saturday night, we did. But, we'll leave it to the pros here. Ratliff perfectly summarizes the show in his piece for the Times. Read it, and enjoy his writing, because in all honesty, you probably didn't really enjoy the Grizzly Bear show that much.

Grizzly Gets 9.0

Come on! Like you didn't see it coming. Grizzly Bear's extremely buzzed about Veckatimest, which is reaching heights of Merriweather hype, just dropped a 9.0 on P4K and a Best New Music. Sometimes, it's just too easy. The album is out today, so do with it what you will.

We enjoyed a fantastic Memorial Day off, munching pizza, buying Vaselines (the band) and drinking grenade-size ginger ales at our favorite music watering hole, Other Music; it was the Veckatimest listening party (see previous post.) We had to.

Anyway, just an FYI because this shit is all you're going to read about for awhile. Thought we would alert you.

Veckatimest Listening Party

In case you've been living in a cave for the past several weeks, you're aware that the new Grizzly Bear record Veckatimest is coming out on Tuesday via Warp. It leaked a while ago, but we're looking forward to hearing it in the quality format in which it was intended, not just some crappy web rip. Other Music is hosting a listening party on Memorial Day (Monday) from 4-6 pm with free pizza and other giveaways. Most importantly they will have limited edition versions of the LP and CD for purchase a day early. We leave you for the weekend (I think) with the video for their single and arguably best song on the record "Two Weeks" directed by Patrick Daughters. Poor guys and their exploding heads.

Here We Go Magic Tour with Grizzly Bear - New mp3

Here We Go Magic - Fangela - mp3

We've been going on long enough about Luke Temple's awesome project Here We Go Magic. Today, we just wanted to share a new mp3 "Fangela" and to post Here We Go Magic's upcoming tour dates with Grizzly Bear. A pretty nice get for Mr. Temple we'd say. They will be hitting Town Hall in New York in May, and we'll be there to let you know how it is. Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest, if you haven't heard or guessed by now, is pretty amazing. Coming on May 26 via Warp. Full tour dates for Here We Go Magic in including SXSW after the jump.

US Tour Dates
03/12 St. Louis, MO Off Broadway*
03/13 Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen*
03/14 Rock Island, IL Daytrotter Session
03/14 Rock Island, IL Daytrotter Presents @ Huckleberry's Pizza Parlor*
03/17 Dallas, TX Mountain House*
03/17 Dallas, TX – 6 PM INSTORE AT GOOD RECORDS
03/22 New Orleans, LA Marigny Theatre*
03/23 Atlanta, GA 529 Club**
03/24 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506**
03/25 Baltimore, MD Ottobar**
* w/ Callers
** w/ Titus Andronicus

SXSW Dates
3/18 WEDNESDAY
3 PM: Austinist/Gothamist party @ Mohawk
with Akron/Family, Vetiver, Young Widows

3/19 THURSDAY
1:45 PM: Gorilla vs. Bear day party @ The Peacock --- 1:45 PM slot
w/ WAVVES, White Denim, Vivian Girls, The Golden Filter, Girls, Harlem, DJ Sober
1 AM: Western Vinyl Official Showcase @ Club 115 --- 1AM slot
w/ J Tillman, Balmorhea

3/19FRIDAY
1 PM: Other Music show @ French Legation Museum
w/ Dent May, Blk Jks, Marnie Stern, WAVVES, These Are Powers, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
3 PM: Park The Van Records / Partisan Records / indie outlaw / The Knitting Factory Day Party @ Side Bar
w/ Deer Tick, The High Strung, Golden Boots, Wildbirds and Peacedrums, Themselves, The Subjects, and Generationals

US Tour With Grizzly Bear
Thu - 05.28 - New York, NY Town Hall
Fri - 05.29 - New York, NY Town Hall
Mon - 06.01 - Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Tue - 06.02 - Philadelphia, PA Trocadero Theatre
Wed - 06.03 - Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center
Thu - 06.04 - Montréal, QC Le National
Fri - 06.05 - Toronto, ON Phoenix
Sun - 06.07 - Minneapolis, MN Cedar Cultural Center
Mon - 06.08 - Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theatre
Tue - 06.09 - Bloomington, IN Buskirk - Chumley Theater
Thu - 06.11 - Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
Mon - 06.15 - Dallas, TX Granada Theater
Tue - 06.16 - Austin, TX The Parish
Fri - 06.19 - Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
Sun - 06.21 - San Francisco, CA The Fillmore

Tracklisting
Only Pieces
Fangela
Ahab
Tunnelvision
Ghost List
I Just Want To See You Underwater
Babyohbabyijustcantstanditanymore
Nat's Alien
Everything's Big




After the jump.

Lots of Music Coverage in Today's NYT

Photo by Kyle Dean Reinford for BV

This weekend held a full plate of music in NYC, and today the New York Times offers up its views on the boomer rock, indie rock, and post-boomer/indie rock that took place in the city. Also included is a non-committal, but good review of the new Neko Case record.

A great, if not cryptic review of Grizzly Bear and Final Fantasy with Nico Muhley and the Brooklyn Philharmonic at BAM by Nate Chinen. NYT Review HERE. Additional coverage at Brooklyn Vegan.

A surprisingly bad review of David Byrne at Radio City by Jon Pareles. By all first-hand accounts we heard, it was amazing. Hmm. NYT review HERE.

A not surprisingly bad review of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks revival at MSG Theater by John Caramanica. NYT Review HERE.

Neko Case & Bela Fleck album reviews by Jon Pareles and Nate Chinen HERE.

BONUS: A strange graph of the "Top Three Albums of 2009" (sans Animal Collective.) HERE.

Dark was the Night - Charity Compilation - 2/17

Even though the blogosphere has been alight for the past several weeks regarding this blockbuster compilation, enough can't be said about how all-around great it is. I'm sure there will be much debate over the "greatness" of all the artists, but you can't expect names like Wavves to sell this record. At least not yet. (No hate to Wavves here.)

We've been able to peruse about 3/4ths of it since it arrived yesterday, and what we've heard so far has been excellent. Not only does the tracklist feature a veritable who's-who of major indie rock artists of the past decade, but all of the proceeds of Dark was the Night go to the Red Hot Organization. This is the 20th Red Hot release, and the 20th anniversary of the Red Hot Organization. The organization is an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture.

Much more info and an mp3 after the jump.

Dirty Projectors and David Byrne "Knotty Pine"

The first disc of the two features darker more haunting versions of folk themed songs (some covers and originals). Highlights here include Antony's cover of Dylan's I Was Young When I Left Home, the reworked Grizzly Bear track Deep Blue Sea and the Dirty Projectors/David Byrne collaboration Knotty Pine (mp3 above).

The second disc brings forth a brighter collection of tracks, the "morning" to the first disc's "night" if you will. Personal favorites so far are the My Morning Jacket track El Caporal and the Sharon Jones cover of Shuggie Otis' Inspiration Information.

BUY this record February 17th via 4AD. Remember, charity people, don't be a torrenting asshole. Lots of great listening here. Tracks from the comp have been streaming for awhile HERE.

THIS DISC

1 Knotty Pine - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne http://www.4ad.com/audio/darkwasthenight/knottypine.mp3

2 Cello Song (Nick Drake) - The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez

3 Train Song (Vashti Bunyan recorded, written by Alasdair Clayre) - Feist Ben Gibbard

4 Brackett, WI - Bon Iver

5 Deep Blue Sea - Grizzly Bear

6 So Far Around the Bend - The National (arrangement by Nico Muhly)

7 Tightrope - Yeasayer

8 Feeling Good (popularized by Nina Simone) - My Brightest Diamond

9 Dark Was the Night (Blind Willie Johnson) - Kronos Quartet

10 I Was Young When I Left Home (Bob Dylan) - Antony Bryce Dessner

11 Big Red Machine - Justin Vernon Aaron Dessner

12 Sleepless - The Decemberists

13 Stolen Houses (Die) - Iron and Wine

14 Service Bell - Grizzly Bear Feist

15 You Are The Blood - Sufjan Stevens



THAT DISC

1 Well-Alright - Spoon

2 Lenin - Arcade Fire

3 Mimizan - Beirut

4 El Caporal - My Morning Jacket

5 Inspiration Information (Shuggie Otis) - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

6 With A Girl Like You (The Troggs) - Dave Sitek

7 Blood Pt 2 (based on original song "You are the Blood" by the Castanets) - Buck 65
Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)

8 Hey, Snow White (Destroyer) - The New Pornographers

9 Gentle Hour (Snapper) - Yo La Tengo

10 Another Saturday (traditional song) - Stuart Murdoch

11 Happiness - Riceboy Sleeps

12 Amazing Grace (traditional song) - Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues

13 The Giant Of Illinois (Handsome Family) - Andrew Bird

14 Lua - Conor Oberst Gillian Welch

15 When the Road Runs Out - Blonde Redhead Devastations

16 Love vs. Porn - Kevin Drew

Rio en Medio - New Album + MP3

Rio En Medio - "Fall Up" - mp3
Rio en Medio, billed as the protege of Devendra Banhart and CocoRosie, returns with her sophomore release Frontier coming out in October on Manimal Vinyl. Admittedly, we haven't heard of her before today, but this track is an intriguing look at an artist who can call the aforementioned artists as well as Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor (who is everywhere these days) and Tim Fite, friends.

Surely to be prematurely slapped with the "freak-folk" label, Rio en Medio deserves better than that. She is able to meld her folk-style-baritone-ukulele with darker electronic beats and sounds while successfully capturing ancient feels within the context of modern music. Rio en Medio, whose real name is Danielle Stech-Homsy, wrote this record in the the wintry climes of her rural New Mexican home -- going it alone Bon Iver style. Her vocal imagery is rooted in the poetry and literature she studied, while her music lays in a bed of dark synthesizers with her ukulele high in the mix. Certainly one to keep your eye out for this fall.

MGMT - "Electric Feel" Video

So we went to a LSD-induced Lord of the Rings gathering with MGMT in the woods and a dance party broke out. Who knew the moon had a molten center of psychedelic liquid? There must be something said for the musical talent of the seemingly Chuck E. Cheese-like house band of animatronics tucked back in the trees - how do they keep such a steady beat? A grizzly bear on lead vocals, a tuxedoed gorilla pianist, some sort of three-toed sloth on bass and a dog drummer? What an eclectic mix. In this fantasy forest, animal horns double as microphones, 40s are Technicolor and motorcycles can fly. The moon is fragile though folks, so if you crash your motorcycle into it, it WILL EXPLODE. Thanks for this gem MGMT - send me an invite to the next Rave in the woods.


After the jump.