It's hard to decide what the most impressive thing about Veckatimest is: Grizzly Bear's ambition, which is seemingly boundless, or the fact that this boundless ambition never eclipses these songs. The band already made such an impressive leap from Horn of Plenty to Yellow House that an album to catch their breath would have been understandable. However, Grizzly Bear are most comfortable when they're challenging themselves, and Veckatimest delivers everything that Yellow House did and more. Just as that album blew off the dust and noise that covered Horn of Plenty's lo-fi sketches, this album's production clears away any remaining cobwebs, revealing these songs in all their intricate detail. That detail includes string quartet and choral arrangements by composer and conductor Nico Muhly on some tracks, but all of Veckatimest has a more rarefied air than any of Grizzly Bear's previous work. The band hints at the just how big the album's scope is with its first two tracks: "Southern Point"'s psychedelic folk-jazz throws listeners into its bustling acoustic guitars, piles of vocal harmonies, swishy drums, and various sparkling sounds, making it a disorienting and dazzling opening salvo. The gorgeous "Two Weeks," by contrast, is the album's most immediate moment, its "Would you always? Maybe sometimes? Make it easy? Take your time" chorus teetering elegantly between pleading and reassuring as it's buoyed by backing vocals courtesy of Beach House's Victoria LeGrand. From there, Veckatimest ranges from Yellow House-like rambles such as "Hold Still" and "Dory" -- which plays like a kissing cousin to "Little Brother" -- to elaborate, quicksilver suites like "I Live with You," which builds from the Brooklyn Youth Choir's vocals into skyward-climbing chamber pop, to "While You Wait for the Others" and "Cheerleader"'s deceptively simple pop. At the heart of all these songs are negotiations with someone close, as on "All We Ask"'s admission "I can't get out of what I'm into with you." Though the sheer heft of songs such as "Fine for Now" could easily topple the album's balance between ambition and intimacy, Grizzly Bear knows when to come in for close-focus moments like "About Face" and the final track, "Foreground" which, with its plaintive vocals and simple piano melody, is one of the band's most beautiful ballads yet. It's clear that Veckatimest was made for a lot of listening. Nearly every song feels like the musical equivalent of a big meal: there's lots to digest, and coming back for second (and thirds, and more) is necessary.
(Editor's note 1 - We know that Veckatimest was released on May 26. We also realize that's like six months ago. We don't care. It was nearly criminally negligent editorial decision-making that prevented us from commenting on this record when it was released. For that, we apologize. However, you will receive the benefit of six [...]
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Brooklyn based Grizzly Bear is made up of Daniel Rossen (songwriting/guitar), Ed Droste (songwriting/guitar), Chris Taylor (bass/woodwinds/electronics/vocals) and Christopher Bear (drums/vocals). All four members of the acid-folk/neo-psychedelic lo-fi quintet contribute vocals.Grizzly Bear connected while students at New York University. During freshman year, Daniel met Chris Taylor in the do...
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Grizzly Bearby Sarah Grant • May 29, 2009Grizzly BearVeckatimest(Warp, 2009)Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead created the prophecy of Veckatimestwhen he called Grizzly Bear his favorite band of 2008. Unsurprisingly, the album leaked in March and skinny-jeaned scallywags happily raised their skull and crossbones as they cyber-sailed to the namesake island. Veckatimest is, in fact, a real island off t.
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This was easily one of the best performances I've seen in a long time, and one that I truly thought I was going to miss. It was shocking enough that I saw Ed Droste entering the venue, but I ended up getting tickets through a friend at the last minute even though it was sold out. They played a very well distributed array of old and new songs I felt, and that was complimented by their closing ...
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Three things clued me in to the fact that Wednesday night’s Grizzly Bear show at the Berklee Performance Center was going to be different from your typical rock and roll show—the guy in front of me was wearing a suit, there were patches of gray hair sprinkled throughout the audience, and the show started on time. And a typical show it was not.First off, I can think of few better places to see
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Tonight was the second night of Grizzly Bear's return to San Francisco... It's also the end of their American Tour... (although they will be playing Pitchfork Fest and a few additional shows... lucky Brooklyn gets a FREE show in August!)... I did the poster for the shows... (which I've posted here)... It might be tough to tell... but the charms on the necklace represent the three proper albums....
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The new Grizzly Bear album is one of the most boring things I’ve heard all year. Regardless of how many times their lead singer sings “oh whoa” in “Cheerleader”, he never comes across as either sincere or even mildly interesting. All I’ve read about this album is how perfect it is, how it’s the embodiment of everything that is right about current indie-pop (sorry, guys, but that titl
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NPR's All Things Considered just aired an interview with Grizzly Bear, whose latest album Veckatimest was released last week. The band also performed at WNYC (public radio) on May 21. You can stream the interview and performance below. Stream: NPR's All Things Considered Interview with Grizzly Bear - May 31, 2009 Stream: Grizzly Bear's In-Studio Performance at [...]
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Grizzly Bearby Sarah Grant • May 29, 2009Grizzly BearVeckatimest(Warp, 2009)Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead created the prophecy of Veckatimestwhen he called Grizzly Bear his favorite band of 2008. Unsurprisingly, the album leaked in March and skinny-jeaned scallywags happily raised their skull and crossbones as they cyber-sailed to the namesake island. Veckatimest is, in fact, a real island off t.
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Related posts:Album Review: Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest Grizzly Bear Veckatimest [Warp; 2009] Links: Grizzly Bear |...Live Preview: Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (original photo via tixgirl) Here we go again! In...Grizzly Bear artist denies rumored ‘Veckatimest’ tracklisting There’s been a little chaos recently in the Grizzly...Related posts brought to you by Yet Another [...]Related posts:Al
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By pulling all four of their heads together in the conception process and tweaking the nuts and bolts of their design in the three years following Yellow House, Brooklyn's Grizzly Bear have produced their finest record to date.
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To say that the overwhelming critical praise for Grizzly Bear’s 2006 sophomore effort Yellow House was lost on me would be a gross understatement. I dislike nearly everything about the album - from the muffled singing to the punchless arrangements and beyond. I’ve had the same negative reaction to other “big” indie albums before - Joanna Newsom’s Ys and the entire Sufjan Stevens catalog
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ALBUM REVIEW: Grizzly Bear - Veckatimestwords: Jamie Milton2009 has created a curse. 2009 has stumbled. The moment one sorry soul muttered the words “album of the year??” on the 1st day of January after hearing Animal Collective’s latest album, then arose a standard, a competition for all others to aspire to. Every ‘big release’ album [...]
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Black Cab Sessions has just released a performance by Grizzly Bear. Watch it here. After gathering their instruments, the four of them disappeared into a small room to rehearse their chosen song, the brilliant 'All We Ask' taken from their latest album 'Veckatimest' (reviewed in this weeks Knowledge). Minutes later, six of us of bundled into [...]
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Nowadays, you can't really count on bands to release three outstanding albums in a row. Music tastes fluctuate so quickly and sporadically that musicians don't have time to adapt to the sudden climate-change and find themselves out of their depth.
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Laura Snapes met bassist and multi-instrumentalist Chris Taylor to talk orchestral accompaniment, essential classical composers and finding yourself caught off guard by your own music.
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Tonight was the second night of Grizzly Bear's return to San Francisco... It's also the end of their American Tour... (although they will be playing Pitchfork Fest and a few additional shows... lucky Brooklyn gets a FREE show in August!)... I did the poster for the shows... (which I've posted here)... It might be tough to tell... but the charms on the necklace represent the three proper albums....
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Have I told you lately how lovely this album has been?I hate to admit it, but even with my incredible (over-)consumption of music, it's been a long time since I've gotten the tingles listening to an album. Veckatimest is simply a joy.
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I haven't talked to you guys in a while. Honestly, there's a lot of school and radio bullshit and one of my roommates won't pay his part of the electric bill. Musically, I listened to the new Grizzly Bear. Veckatimest is what I'd like to hear from Grizzly Bear. Their previous outing, Yellow House, was known for the quietness of it and how it was kind of disappointing. Ed Droste and company are a
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We here at IGIF hadn't even begun to wait for Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest to leak to the world because, well, it's officially three months early! We were guessing mid-April at the earliest, but someone out there had to go an ruin the unveiling of one of the year's most anticipated albums with a terrible, 128kb rip. If you think you've got a better copy, it's probaby transcoded from that one. ...
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Having produced one of the albums of the year in Veckatimest, Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste talks to us about hitting the US top ten, jazz camp (yes, really), working with orchestras, Nico Muhly, the recording process of their latest album and their lyrics.How are the shows going on the tour? They’re going great. It’s a [...]
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Finally, some good quality versions of some of the tracks from "Veckatimest". The tracks are 'Cheerleader' and 'Southern Point'. The tracks were previoulsy leaked in a version of "Veckatimest" that leaked at the end of February. 'Cheerleader' features vocals by Ed Dorste...Click the link to read more
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This was easily one of the best performances I've seen in a long time, and one that I truly thought I was going to miss. It was shocking enough that I saw Ed Droste entering the venue, but I ended up getting tickets through a friend at the last minute even though it was sold out. They played a very well distributed array of old and new songs I felt, and that was complimented by their closing ...
More >
I have heard this and it's awesome. Look for it soon in the club, and also possibly on a 12" single. In other news, Patrick Daughters will be shooting the video for "Two Weeks" with the dudes next week in L.A. Check out the new Veckatimest section of the band's website for more updates.************
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I have had a chance to listen to the new Grizzly Bear album, although it was the crappy version that was leaked you could still tell just how good this album was going to be. Now, Grizzly Bear have released their first single "Cheerleader" which you can download now off of RCRDLBL. It's one of [...]
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Grizzly Bearby Sarah Grant • May 29, 2009Grizzly BearVeckatimest(Warp, 2009)Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead created the prophecy of Veckatimestwhen he called Grizzly Bear his favorite band of 2008. Unsurprisingly, the album leaked in March and skinny-jeaned scallywags happily raised their skull and crossbones as they cyber-sailed to the namesake island. Veckatimest is, in fact, a real island off t.
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After releasing the single for what is my favorite song on "Veckatimest", Grizzly Bear have now released the official video for 'While You Wait for the Others'. The video was released a wee after the single which featured a b-side of the alternate version of the song...Click the link to read more
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Ben Tousley (a.k.a. Wilkerton), a well-known graphic designer and artist who designed the artwork for Grizzly Bear's last three releases (including the sexy cubist Veckatimest cover), just uploaded via Twitter the first (unofficial) pictures of Grizzly Bear's upcoming Live on KCRW 7" that they're exclusively releasing for Record Store Day 2009.I'm not technically an economist, but I'd bet a lot...
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NPR's All Things Considered just aired an interview with Grizzly Bear, whose latest album Veckatimest was released last week. The band also performed at WNYC (public radio) on May 21. You can stream the interview and performance below. Stream: NPR's All Things Considered Interview with Grizzly Bear - May 31, 2009 Stream: Grizzly Bear's In-Studio Performance at [...]
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Grizzly Bear brought Feist on stage during a stop in Toronto over the weekend, performing their track from the Dark Was the Night comp, "Service Bell", and "Two Weeks" off GB's record of the year frontrunner Veckatimest. spotted at boxofboom Grizzly Bear + Feist -"Service Bell"-mp3PigeonsandPlanes
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Southern Point |
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| 2 Two Weeks |
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| 3 All We Ask |
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| 4 Fine for Now |
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| 5 Cheerleader |
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| 6 Dory |
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| 7 Ready, Able |
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| 8 About Face |
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| 9 Hold Still |
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| 10 While You Wait for the Others |
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| 11 I Live with You |
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| 12 Foreground |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Veckatimest")
