Hooves on the Turf » grizzly bear

New Grizzly Bear video way better than the last one

sarahana — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:51:26 +0000

That last Patrick Daughters video, though I usually like him, with incessant weird eye movements and random firework activities inside Grizzly Bear’s heads was totally underwhelming. Here’s a new one for “While You Wait for the Others”, and it’s directed by Sean Pecknold (brother to Robin of Fleet Foxes), whose choice of colors, texture and imagery I dig!

And if you haven’t heard Michael McDonald’s “cover” of the song, do so now. It’s better than the original in many ways.

Download “While You Wait for the Others” by Michael McDonald and Grizzly Bear

Audio: Grizzly Bear and Final Fantasy with Brooklyn Philharmonic at BAM

sarahana — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:34:17 +0000

As I was watching Grizzly Bear play with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, I couldn’t help noticing how much of their music is really defined by restrain–their passages aren’t passages of growth, and there isn’t an overflow of any sort, which I guess is comparable to the economy of poems: all of the little bits are born fresh and sacrificed young, before anything is allowed to grow old, ever, by the time the song is over. The band mentioned that having an orchestra allowed them to play songs that they normally wouldn’t play, and while the orchestra sounded pristine, I don’t think there was a whole lot it could add to Grizzly Bear’s music anyway; it was more of a unique experience created for the sake of indulgence and pampering the senses, which allowed some people rare opportunities, such as to my neighbor who found himself annoyed when the audience greeted the beginnings of familiar songs with wild applause–it seemed that he felt you just don’t do that when there’s an orchestra involved, or if you’re at a venue like BAM.

On the other hand, the Brooklyn Philharmonic brought much more to Owen Pallett’s Final Fantasy, whose music has plenty of hidden doors for new plays and new twists. “Horse Feathers”, from the Plays to Please EP, was one song that especially came to full life. Owen, who usually weaves a whole world out of his violin loops, only played a little bit of piano in addition to singing, and announced himself to be a control freak for whom this sort of show was an exercise in trust. He found his moment for playfulness in some pieces of duct tape though: he placed two somewhere inside of his upright piano, and later ripped one at a time in sync with the music.

New York Times said:

Usually, though, Mr. Pallett practices an art of accretion, looping his own violin and keyboard parts to create chamber-pop arrangements in real time. Without that hint of sorcery, his performance felt almost ordinary. And because he isn’t a forceful or particularly magnetic singer, he sometimes sounded overwhelmed by the pomp.

…with which I agree, except I think his songs have too much of a life of their own to ever feel anything close to ordinary. But I’m sure Owen opting to sit behind the piano and sing without his violin sorcery is always slightly disappointing.

Helping both bands were Nico Muhly on the piano and Aaron Dessner of The National, and playing with Grizzly Bear was also Aaron’s twin and fellow National-er, Bryce Dessner. Spotted in the audience: Zach Condon of Beirut, Sebastian Krueger of Inlets, and I think I saw Farzad Houshiarnejad of Drink Up Buttercup.

I have some audio recordings from the show, and posted here are “Easier”, with which Grizzly Bear opened their set, and two new songs from Final Fantasy, which I really liked and which Owen Pallett said no one else had heard before. The recording quality isn’t exactly great, but I suppose it’s pretty decent if you didn’t make it to show and are curious about the orchestral marriage. I’ll post more songs in the coming days.

Download “Easier” by Grizzly Bear + the Brooklyn Philharmonic

Download two new songs by Final Fantasy + the Brooklyn Philarmonic

Grizzly Bear played Town Hall (w/ Feist)

sarahana — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 15:59:27 +0000

[imeem http://media.imeem.com/m/Rwwb94o-3W/aus=false/]

Brooklyn’s own Grizzly Bear are on tour with Feist, and they played a sparkling set at Town Hall on Monday night. It was awesome to see a band play every note and sing every melody as intended. This performance really showed that the roles they’ve found for each member, with all four singing at various times, is a reflection of their organic coming-together. They fit right into each other. I was seated in front of drummer Christopher Bear, whose every nuanced movement produced great, refined sounds. Bassist Chris Taylor was often on his knees to play the flute, but I especially enjoyed it when he stood up to sing in a high voice.

More after the jump.

Town Hall
June 11, 2007

Grizzly Bear does French

sarahana — Wed, 16 May 2007 20:00:12 +0000

From who else but La Blogotheque:

[youtube RtCpiJIkrno]

I believe this is the result of the lyrics contest. There’re also the take-away shows from last year, and the band will be supporting the Decemberists at this year’s Summerstage on July 16.