As far as I’m concerned, 2006’s Yellow House was a decent album, with a few songs, most notably “Knife” and “On a Neck, on a Spit”, that blew the listener away and at least put Grizzly Bear on the map. But, for me, it was a bit overrated as the album was devoid of many memorable moments and was, well, boring. A beautiful album yes, and it was certainly evident that there was something there that hinted at Grizzly Bear’s talent and potential, but as a whole, I put the album on the back burner and never really felt a need to come back to it. Enter In Ear Park, the 2008 release from Grizzly Bear’s sister band Department of Eagles. Led by Daniel Rossen and featuring 2 other Grizzly Bear members, I surprisingly felt a much greater connection with this release and considered it one of the best albums of the year, just barely missing out on my top 10. There were elements on this release that I felt could benefit Grizzly Bear, but who knew if that would ever happen, so in essence, I became a fan of Department of Eagles more so than of Grizzly Bear.
I didn’t pay any attention to Grizzly Bear news, including their Friend EP release in 2007, but knew they had a new full-length album in the works for 2009 and was sure I would at least give it a listen. My first sense of excitement surrounding the new release was hearing “Deep Blue Sea” on the Dark Was the Night compilation (also featured on the Friend EP as a Dan Rossen home recording) and noticing hints of what I hoped Grizzly Bear could become and despite the fact that “Deep Blue Sea” would not be featured on the new album, the hype for Veckatimest continued to grow. The album leaked in early 2009 to horrible quality, but continued to generate buzz. So here we are, three years after Yellow House and with a fantastic side project release in between, Veckatimest finally has its day, and alas, the foundation laid by Yellow House has been built upon to create an epic release, easily Grizzly Bear’s masterpiece, that is sure to go down as one of the year’s best and the album that takes Grizzly Bear to a new level.
After a week long debate with myself on whether or not I wanted to make the Saturday night trek down to Atlanta to catch the TV on the Radio and Grizzly Bear show at The Tabernacle, I finally caved in on Thursday and bought my ticket. I didn’t want to look back on this opportunity and regret passing it up, and when all was said and done, I was very happy with my choice. The day started out a little rough as about 30 minutes outside of Greenville, they guys I was with realized their gigantic, bright red, Live Nation provided tickets were still sitting on the kitchen counter. Luckily, since we left early enough hoping to enjoy some dinner and drinks before the show, we had plenty of time to turn around and go pick up the tickets, albeit that cut our pre-concert festivities short. About 4 hours after we originally left Greenville we finally made it to dinner at a fine “delightfully tacky” eating establishment close to The Tabernacle when the next bit of rough news came through that Dirty Projectors was no longer opening the show. This was a bummer, as Bitte Orca had just been released to rave reviews and talks of the fine show they put on had us all excited…oh well. There was no time to harp on the bad news though, as we were about to enjoy a fantastic show from a couple Brooklyn acts and two of the best bands going today. (No pics from the show though…sorry.)
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear took the stage around 8:20 and started off with “Southern Point”, their fantastic opener on Veckatimest (album review coming soon!). This was honestly one of the highlights of the set for me as the song is instantly recognizable and really got me even more pumped about the upcoming set than I already was. The rest of the show featured a good mix of some of the highlights from Yellow House as well as all the fan favorites from Veckatimest. I was standing on the floor level to the right facing the stage and didn’t have a great view of the whole band but was able to see everything if I shifted my head a little to the left every now and then to see by the noggin of some fella and his girlfriend who got there about halfway through the set only to stand right in front of me and promptly ask me if they had already played “Knife”. Yep, they sure did…better luck next time. Meanwhile, the piano was just starting up for “Two Weeks”, so I told them at least you didn’t miss what’s maybe their best song. My best unobstructed view was of drummer Christopher Bear and I enjoyed watching him throughout the set as often times drums are the most underappreciated part of a band. So it was nice to see what he brought to the table and I went away impressed with his playing. I would loved to have heard more from Grizzly Bear as by the time “While You Wait for the Others” closed it out, I wasn’t really ready for them to be done, but they were just the opener so considering that, it was an amazing hour long (or so?) experience. A venue like The Tabernacle compliments their music perfectly being a band built quiet harmonies and not nearly as loud as what was about to follow.
TV on the Radio
Things started to get a good bit more crowded on the floor level in preparation for the TV on the Radio set and we actually ended up losing our spots and had to move back about 15 feet, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. I was impressed at the amount of people at this show. The last (and first) show I went to at The Tabernacle was to see The Hold Steady and Drive By Truckers last fall, but that crowd was nothing compared to this which is actually kind of cool considering TVotR and Grizzly Bear are a couple northern acts and the show in the fall was headlined by true Alabama bred southerners Drive by Truckers. Good for you Atlanta! As TVotR took the stage, the first thing I noticed was the awesomeness of Kyp Malone’s beard. That thing is crazy and looks even more amazing seeing it person. I felt that the sound was a bit off for pretty much all of the set as TV on the Radio has to be a pretty tough band to get everything sounding perfect with the amount of stuff they have going on (just ask SNL). The vocals were muffled a bit, and the guitars just weren’t that crisp, but the energy and stage presence they brought to the set, highlighted by Tunde Adebimpe’s hand gestures and bouncing around the stage, was easily enough to overlook the slightly less than desired sound quality. And who knows, it may have just sounded like that from where I was standing. The band really hit it’s stride about 3 songs in during “Halfway Home” which is one of the many standouts from Dear Science,. But the absolute highlight of the entire night, for either band, was the best song TVotR has done (and will probably ever do) in “Wolf Like Me”. It was clearly the crowd favorite and what many had come to hear. And the band knew it too, as they gave their best performance of the set. Maybe the only thing that can rival that was the 2nd song of the encore, “A Method” which featured some members of Grizzly Bear. When all was said and done, the resounding feeling I was left with from the set was something every concert should do and that’s give you a feeling that life is good. Damn good. And while we may not quite yet be in the “Golden Age” TV on the Radio sings of, for a few hours one Saturday night in Atlanta, it sure as hell felt like it.
How about a song from each band? Well, here ya go. No, these are not live versions.
I saw this reported all over the internet today, but The Yellow Stereo was where I first caught wind of Fanfarlo making their fantastic debut album Reservoir plus four bonus tracks available for only a buck on their website until July 4th (it’s also a much better quality than you’ll get on itunes, where it’s also pretty cheap at $6)! Fanfarlo is a London based band that I first heard on the All Songs Considered podcast a few weeks back featuring lesser known bands that listeners suggested for the show. I consider the band kind of a mix between Beirut, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and maybe even a little Arcade Fire. The Beirut comparisons jump out at me right away in “The Walls Are Coming Down” which at first could be mistaken for Beirut’s “Elephant Gun”. But find out for yourself for only $1 by skipping over to their site…you won’t be disappointed.
[“The Walls Are Coming Down” – Reservoir] – Download the album here for just $1 until July 4th!
Lots of new albums I’ve come across in the last few weeks, so I figured I’d just lump them all together here in a post mainly because I don’t really have time to do a review for each of them. I will, however, save the Grizzly Bear and Phoenix releases for full reviews…maybe.
It’s Frightening is the sophomore release from the Brooklyn sextet and was produced by Spoon’s Britt Daniel so it is of course very Spoon-like. These guys drew Spoon comparisons ever since their debut, Fort Nightly, but bringing Daniel on only enhances those comparisons and considing Spoon is one of my favorites, I’m totally okay with it. It’s a very percussion and piano driven album with some great tunes and some throwaways.
Another Brooklyn based band, this one a electronic indie pop female trio with a name referencing a line from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. Still Night, Still Light is their follow up to 2007’s The Bird of Music. I haven’t given it too many listens so far, but I’m pretty sure it’s a grower. It’s not as twee as you would expect from an all female electro-pop group, and that’s a very good thing.
[“Another Likely Story” – Still Night, Still Light]
Jeremy Enigk – OK Bear
Maybe only Jeff Mangum can say he has the indie rock super god status of Jeremy Enigk, but whereas Mangum has drifted into reclusiveness to create more of a cult following, Enigk is still out there releasing solo albums since his Sunny Day Real Estate days. However, I can’t help but think Enigk’s legacy would have prospered even more if he had followed Mangum’s path because Enigk has basically become a less edgy modern adult rock artist and OK Bear only helps solidify that. There are rumors of a SDRE reunion…let’s hope that happens sooner rather than later.
[“Life’s Too Short” – OK Bear]
The Love Language – The Love Language
I was introduced to this group by Paste Magazine‘s May music sampler and was impressed enough to do some research and I liked what I heard so I decided to get the album. Now, the song on the sampler isn’t on this album, but the 9 songs that are make The Love Language’s eponymous debut full-length a very nice addition to my 2009 album collection. There are hints of Arcade Fire in the songs, but of course not nearly as epic.
I first heard of these guys on NPR’s SXSW preview show when they were mentioning bands with funny names. They came up a couple more times but the music was never really mentioned, but when I started to hear Los Campesinos! comparisons, I jumped on this album right away. The Glasgow, Scottland sextet certainly has the energy of Los Campesinos! but some of the songs are a little more hardcore sounding than what I prefer. But the songs that don’t feature the screaming are indeed the indie pop tunes I would expect from the group.
This was my first Akron/Family experience that I came across by going to their website. And well, that pretty much sold me on the album. Akron/Family is a experimental indie rock group with folk influences and Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free is their fourth album. I’m not that impressed with the rest of the album, but there are some keepers, especially “River” which is one of my favorite songs of the year so far.
[“River” – Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free]
Great Lake Swimmers – Lost Channels
For some reason, I held off on getting this 4th album from Great Lake Swimmers, but once I got Lost Channels, I was very pleased. It’s just basic indie folk rock songs that serve as a very easy listen…nothing more, nothing less.
I’ve been criticized (I won’t name names) for having music tastes that are often devoid of any feel good, singing with the windows rolled down, rockin’, happy tunes, but rather focuses on being different from the norm and usually less rockin’ or poppy than what most would consider instantly gratifying tunes…aka “weird”. This is, of course, a criticism I vehimately deny. I will admit, however, that when it comes to picking my best albums, they are usually albums that do not fit into the mainstream or pop music crowd. This isn’t to say that I don’t like some bands like that, it’s just that I do not consider those albums to be the best albums of whatever year. This is one reason why I always differentiate my year end list by calling it the best albums of the year, rather than my favorite…because those are two different things, however, I will say, oftentimes they are one and the same.
You can think of it in terms of movies. For example, a couple years ago a movie like Transformers was an insanely entertaining and very fun movie to watch and was probably one of my favorite movie going experiences of the year. However, that movie has no business even being uttered in the same sentence as The Academy Awards (unless it’s for a technical category), and this is something that can be said for most Summer blockbusters (Transformers 2 this Summer!!!) and thus I rarely consider to be the best movies of the year however enjoyable they may be. Music is the same way. There are many catchy, fun to listen to albums, but ultimately they lack substance and really are just cheap thrills…and that is something I don’t find much artistic value in. However, every now and then an album comes along that merges both sides of this spectrum. Manners is one of those albums.
Back what seems like ages ago, I made mention of the brilliant album Hospice by The Antlers as one of, if not my favorite albums of the year so far. What I didn’t mention is that Hospice was self-released by The Antlers which may have something to do with what little press it has been getting outside of the blog world. Well, news has surfaced that Frenchkiss Records has picked up Hospice and plans to remaster the album before re-releasing it in August. I expect a similar reaction to the release that surrounded Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago when it was re-released on Jagjaguwar last year (without the whole controversy of releasing an album in two different years that screwed around with soooooo many “Best of” lists). So, a nice little week for Frenchkiss, which as I recently noted has an album being released tomorrow that could also be one of the year’s best. Anyway, this is very cool news for The Antlers, and very well deserved. So here’s another track from Hospice as well as the two that I featured back in my original post.
The last song is often one of the most important tracks on an album. It’s the last thing the listener hears and should serve as closure to the album while leaving the listener wanting more, but not to the point where it feels like the album is ending to soon. It’s a tricky mix to get right. There are plenty of closing tracks that are good songs but do not have that vibe of being a perfect closer. Some of my favorite songs are last songs because they just have that special something. Here are a few of those.
Yeah, so I know this isn’t a music album, but I can’t go on with out mentioning the latest comedy album from my favorite comedian, Jim Gaffigan. King Baby is classic Gaffigan with bits about sleep, laziness, and of course food. Its so refreshing to find a comedian who can be absolutely hilarious while remaining clean and without having to revert to low-brow comedy. It’s hard to really say if there’s a classic bit here such as his famous “Hot Pockets” material, but if there is it’s probably his 5 minute bits “Bacon” or “Catsup”, but his “Bowling”, “Camping”, and “Bed” material is fantastic as well. But man I just love hearing new stuff from the guy, and there’s plenty here that I’ll be quoting from here on out, so go ahead and get this album so you’ll know what I’m talking about when I drop a Gaffigan joke.
It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve come upon an album that is sure to be one of the year’s best (I’m holding off on the Camera Obscura and St. Vincent releases for now until they hit eMusic), but that’s about to change with the upcoming release of Passion Pit’s debut full-length album Manners, set to drop on May 19th. The electronic pop group released their Chunk of Change EP last year that was well received and built the hype for these guys a bit. The first single, “The Reeling” is already streaming on their myspace page, but today Pitchfork featured another one of the tracks on the upcoming album and I just got even more excited for the album’s release.
[“Moth’s Wings” – Passion Pit :: Manners] – to be released on May 19th via Frenchkiss Records
I know I’m getting this up a little late, but it’s still Mother’s Day so it still counts. In honor of Mother’s Day, after a quick little search of “Mother”, “Mom”, or “Mama” these are a few of the tunes that show up in my itunes library. I didn’t go back and listen to any of them to see if they are actually appropriate songs for Mother’s Day, but whatever…enjoy!
[“You Get That From Your Mother” – Audio Learning Center :: Cope Park]
[“Mama, Won’t You Keep Them Castles In the Air Burning?” – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah :: Some Loud Thunder]
[“My Mother Was A Chinese Trapeze Artist” – The Decemberists :: 5 Songs EP]
[“Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!” – Sufjan Stevens :: Illinois]
Posted by Hawkins 
A Round of Sound 