No one likes a gushy reviewer. People want evenhanded critiques that take a band’s flaws as well as their strengths into account. Reviews that seem overly positive wreak of bias and/or ignorance, smack of unchecked fandom, and can diminish the credibility of the reviewer. But, like it or not, this is going to be one [...]
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Review: The Avett Brothers; May 10, 2009 at The Belly Up Tavern; Solana Beach
High Fiving Hipsters or: San Diego Loves the Avett Brothers
The last time I was at the Belly Up I high fived a hipster. The results were fascinating and hilarious; I came out after the show to see my “victim” sitting on a ledge outside being consoled by his girlfriend. “It was a good show though, right baby?” she said with a hopeful and worried [...]
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Download: The Magnetic Fields - July 1, 2001
The Magnetic FieldsJuly 1, 2001Soundboard (FM)README01 Intro02 A Pretty Girl is Like…03 I Don’t Believe In The Sun04 All My Little Words05 A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off06 Reno, Dakota07 Come Back From San Francisco08 Let’s Pretend We’re Bunny Rabbits09 Asleep And Dreaming10 The Book Of Love11 I Don’t Want To Get Over You12 [...]
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Breaking: Pitchfork to Give Wilco’s New Album a 5.8
Yesterday, we received a disturbing email from a Pitchfork Media staffer, detailing how senior management re-shaped his review of Wilco (The Album), which is set to be released on June 30, 2009.The distressed staffer writes, ”With high profile releases like this one, management will tell writers what an album’s rating will be. You have to write your review around the predetermined [...]
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Single Screen Signs Maren Parusel
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Artist:Maren Parusel
San Diego’s Single Screen Records has just added German export Maren Parusel to its rapidly growing roster. The former front-woman of Wild Weekend—which started as a The Zeros cover band but whose local prestige eventually grew to rival that of its muse—and the also-defunct Squiddo, Parusel has decided to fly solo. Her debut 7-inch is [...]
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Grand Ole Party Tour with Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Since taking the city by storm with their debut release, 2007’s Humanimals, San Diego dance-funk band Grand Ole Party has kept plenty busy. They’ve played back-to-back sold out shows at the Casbah, thrilling audiences with their syncopated sass. Lead singer Kristin Gundred started her own label, Zoo Music, and signed bands like Crocodiles and Dum [...]
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The Powerchords - Dummy
Sure, almost a year has passed since The Powerchords released their infectious full-length album, …Think I’m Gonna, but it’s never too late to make a music video, especially when that video contains vibrant colors, wacky effects, and zany Japanese subtitles. The power-pop quartet have been mysteriously absent from the live scene for a while, which [...]
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Dead Weather Predicted for July 14
Your friendly neighborhood weathermen at Owl&Bear are predicting some strangeness in the air this summer. According to our satellites and advanced meteorological technology, July 14th will be partly cloudy with a slight chance of rain and a very high chance of deadness. The cause of the humidity and morbidity appears to be the impending release [...]
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Medeski Martin and Wood Unveil Their Creepy Side
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The music of Medeski Martin and Wood isn’t exactly known for its scariness. Sure, the jazz trio play their instruments so well it can be frightening, but they’re not exactly the band you would hire to score your horror movie.After watching the video for “Amber Gris”, the first single off MMW’s newly released album Radiolarians [...]
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Jason Lytle - I Am Lost (And the Moment Cannot Last)
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Here’s the hot-off-the-press video for “I Am Lost (And the Moment Cannot Last)” by Jason Lytle. Directed by The General Assembly, the downtrodden clip is the first single off of the former Grandaddy frontman’s new solo album, Yours Truly, The Commuter.Though the album doesn’t drop until May 19th, you can hear it right now, thanks [...]
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Download: Elvis Perkins in Dearland - March 30, 2009
Elvis Perkins in DearlandMarch 30, 2009Soundboard (FM)README01 Intro02 Stay Zombie03 Shampoo04 Hey!05 Emile’s Vietnam in the sky06 All the night without love07 1.2.3. Goodbye08 I’ll be arriving09 Stop drop rock’n roll10 While you were sleeping11 How’s forever been baby12 Doomsday13 LonelyvilleLinkPotentially Related ContentThe Owl and Bear Podcast vol. 117 (1)How to Hug Your Independent Re
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Cloud Cult Playing Casbah May 14th
In case you haven’t noticed yet, we at Owl&Bear really love Cloud Cult. Their most recent effort, Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes) earned a much-deserved spot on our Best of 2008 list, and still hasn’t lost any of its resonance, despite the endless rotations we’ve subjected it to. So, it is with no small [...]
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No Longer Lumbering, Tortoise to Tour, Release Record (MP3s)
Hot on the heels of re-releasing a bunch of classic albums on vinyl, Chicago post-rockers Tortoise will extrude Beacons of Ancestorship, their sixth full-length album and first new music in five years, on June 23rd. I’ve been listening to my vinyl copies  of TNT and Standards pretty much non-stop since I got them, but now I’m ready [...]
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The Owl and Bear Podcast vol. 117
My words blow like bags down alleys. My words buy modest homes.Subscribe to the podcast by adding this link to your RSS readeror in iTunes (Advanced menu > Subscribe to Podcast):http://feeds2.feedburner.com/owlbearpodcastMy Words (Live) - Jeff TweedyCocaine Blues - Nick DrakeLife is Hard - Bob DylanBorn On A Train (Live) - The Arcade FireMarie - Steve [...]
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Fire is Under-Appreciated (Links)
Obama Returns of Science to Endangered Species Act Interior Secretary Ken Salazar rescinded eleventh-hour Bush administration changes to Endangered Species Act regulations that allowed federal agencies to decide for themselves if their own projects—such as roads and dams—would threaten imperiled species. Fish and Wildlife Salamander Study Could Limit L.A. Sprawl If the Tehachapi slender salama
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The Angry Man, the Droll, the Perv
Ronald Reagan: A Vengeful, Score-Settling, Hard Left Ideologue? How severely has our political spectrum shifted in the last two decades? The Banality of Bush White House Evil Torture was a tool in the campaign to exploit 9/11 so that fearful Americans would support a war that had nothing to do with Al Qaeda. Orwell on [...]
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Download: Andrew Bird - March 20, 2009 (FLACs)
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Andrew BirdMarch 20, 2009Soundboard (FM)README01 Fits And The Dizzy Spells02 Effigy03 Talking04 Oh No05 Talking06 Natural Disaster07 Talking08 A Non-Animal09 Talking10 Imitosis11 OutroLinkPotentially Related ContentHigh Fiving Hipsters or: San Diego Loves the Avett Brothers (0)Download: Andrew Bird - February 16, 2009 (Airdate) (0)Download: Andrew Bird - January 27, 2009 (0)Owl and Bear’s Top 2.
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Download: Gomez - March 31, 2009 (FLACs)
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GomezMarch 31, 2009Soundboard (FM)README01 Intro02 Airstream Driver (Red Red Meat adaptation)03 Interview04 Lost Track05 Interview06 We Haven’t Turned Around07 Interview08 Win Park Slope09 InterviewLinkPotentially Related ContentBunny Gets 8.9 (MP3) (0)Sub Pop Records Sampler (MP3s) (0)SubPop to Release Red Red Meat Deluxe Edition (0)August 1, 2008 Link Roundup (0)Review: Red Red Meat; July 10,.
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An Open Letter to Douglas Wolk and Pitchfork, RE: Bob Dylan’s ‘Together Through Life’
Dear Douglas,Your review of Together Through Life is really bad. You dismiss the album as derivative, yet your review reads more like an amateurish “pastiche” (in your case, of bad Pitchfork reviews) than Dylan’s work ever will, even considering his efforts to compile music of the past and be a “one-man preservation society.”“He might have [...]
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An Open Letter to Douglas Wolk and Pitchfork, RE: Bob Dylan’s ‘Together Through Life’
Dear Douglas,Your review of Together Through Life is really bad. You dismiss the album as derivative, yet your review reads more like an amateurish “pastiche” (in your case, of bad Pitchfork reviews) than Dylan’s work ever will, even considering his efforts to compile music of the past and be a “one-man preservation society.”“He might have [...]
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