Pages tagged “grizzly bear”

Today is World AIDS Day. Appropriately enough, it's also the day that the line-up was revealed for Dark Was the Night, a compilation release which will benefit AIDS/HIV awareness group, The Red Hot Organization.

During the wait for Grizzly Bear's followup to 2006 opus Yellow House, we've been somewhat assuaged by covers touch-up Friend and Department of Eagles' In Ear Park from Grizzly's Daniel Rossen (and his old NYU roommate Fred Nicolaus). But we hadn't really slaked our thirst for album details until a recent interview Grizzly Bear founder Ed Droste gave Drowned in Sound.

A beautiful swell of experimental folk

The songs of In Ear Park, the sophomore effort from Grizzly Bear's Dan Rossen and his college classmate Fred Nicolaus, are not so much heard as absorbed. After repeated listens, the densely layered and often distorted instrumentals begin to parse themselves out, the hooks of “Floating on The Lehigh” proving particularly arresting. Dedicated to Rossen's recently-deceased father, the title a nod to the Los Angeles park they used to visit together, the album is more nostalgic than mournful; on occasion, like the lighthearted and impossibly catchy "No One Does It Like You," it's downright jaunty. The artfully paced “Classical Records” is a stand-out, beginning sparse and haunting before growing into a crush of piano and percussion. Some songs are more memorable than others (“Teenagers” too closely recalls “Teen Angel,” while “Herring Bone” largely registers as background music despite some gorgeous piano playing), but the less compelling tracks still have enough melodic twists to hold interest. Harmonic and ethereal, there's something comforting in the album's sonic charge, with its folksy beauty seeping in like crisp autumn air through an open window.

The news has been hit by a slew of animal-related disturbances: mountain lions prowling the suburbs, alligators trespassing into home kitchens, and even a group of ducklings holding up traffic on the interstate. Rest assured that our Faunomusicology Society is on the case, researching the phenomenon. In the meantime, there are reports of a Grizzly Bear wreaking havoc on concert venues everywhere...

Coming out of hibernation, the group has paired up with two rock 'n' roll titans, Radiohead and the New Pornographers, for a summer tour. Grizzly Bear has also added a string of solo dates including appearances at Lollapalooza and Sled Island Music Festival which will kick off their summer migration.

Dates:

July
25 - Calgary, Alberta - Sled Island Music Festival
31 - Nashville, Tenn. @ Mercy Lounge

August
1 - Chicago, Ill. @ Lollapalooza
2 - Louisville, Ky. @ 930 Listening Room
3 - Indianapolis, Ind. @ Verizon Wireless Music Center *
4 - Cleveland, Ohio @ Blossom Music Center *
6 - Montreal, Quebec @ Parc Jean-Drapeau *
7 - Northampton, Mass. @ Calvin Theatre ^
8 - Jersey City, N.J. @ All Points West Festival
11 - Washington, D.C. @ Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
12 - Camden, N.J. @ Susquehanna Bank Center *
13 - Mansfield, Mass. @ Tweeter Center *
14 - Boston, Mass. @ Museum of Fine Arts Calderwood Courtyard
15 - Toronto, Ontario Molson Amphitheatre *

* with Radiohead
^ with the New Pornographers

Related links:
Grizzly-Bear.net
Band of the Week: Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear on Myspace

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.

As if we haven't covered Brooklynites Grizzly Bear enough in the past week or so, more news has flown in via a little bird (that we fondly call "Press Release") that the quartet will co-headline a show with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on March 1.

Although they won't play together at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Philharmonic will perform pieces chosen to mirror what has inspired Grizzly Bear, and the band will play a regular set with songs from Yellow House.

Tickets are $24-$34 and went on sale here last Saturday (Feb. 2). Not too shabby for a genre-crossing show, eh?

Related links:
Grizzly-Bear.net
Grizzly Bear on MySpace
Paste: Band of the Week - Grizzly Bear

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.

Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Fun Fact: Grizzly Bear covers “He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)” on the Friend EP, which was originally recorded by The Crystals and soon waned from radio station airwaves because of its alleged endorsement of domestic abuse.
Why It's Worth Watching: An oft-covered band, Grizzly Bear's delicate, textured songs have put it in cahoots with artists like Beirut, Final Fantasy and Dirty Projectors.
For Fans Of: Deerhunter, Animal Collective, Panda Bear

Paul Simon likes Grizzly Bear. At least that’s what drummer Christopher Bear deduces from Simon staying for the entirety of one of the band's recent New York City sets, which wrapped up with a cover of the legendary songwriter's jaunty “Graceland.” The schoolboy nervousness of meeting the legend dissolved amidst a half-hour conversation about the Beatles. “It's just funny talking to someone like that who has probably met and played and hung out with them a number of times,” says Bear, whose name is merely coincidental.

Question: What kind of bear is best? Jim as Dwight says black bear, but we've always had a penchant for Grizzly Bear.

Since Yellow House's release last year, Beirut, Born Ruffians and college a capella groups have covered the band's standout song "The Knife." Now Grizzly Bear has announced its latest project, Friend, which features 10 tracks of new, reworked and re-recorded songs, due Nov. 6.

Friend will feature covers by Band of Horses, Atlas Sound (Bradford Cox of Deerhunter) and Brazilian dance punks CSS, along with guest appearances from Zach Condon (of Beirut) and Dirty Projectors.

Grizzly Bear kicked off its fall tour yesterday in Seattle, Wash.

Friend tracklisting:
"Alligator" (Choir Version feat. Zach Condon and Dirty Projectors)
"He Hit Me" (Crystals cover)
"Little Brother" (Electric)
"Shift" (Alternate Version)
"Plans"(Terrible vs. Nonhorse: Sounds Edit)
"Granny Diner"
"Knife" (as covered by CSS)
"Plans" (as covered by Band of Horses)
"Knife" (as covered by Atlas Sound)
"Deep Blue Sea" (Daniel Rossen Home Recording)

Related links:
Grizzly-Bear.net
Grizzly Bear on MySpace
Grizzly Bear: New York - Central Park SummerStage

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.