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.
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Download “Klara” | This was my first time seeing Olof Arnalds as a frontwoman–all previous performances being that of Mum, when she stood in one corner or the other, trading guitar for violin, violin for melodica, melodica for bells, and basically immersing herself in the beautiful clutter that used to be Mum (I still love them, but now they’re a different sort of clumsy). So I was pleasantly surprised that as a frontwoman Olof Arnalds is quite chatty, and those of us who found the expression “tuning this is a bitch” in her soft-spoken, thick Icelandic accent charmingly hilarious must just be forgiven (I’m sure it’ll be less funny the second time anyway, so don’t fret). She started with what sounded like would be the intro track of her new album, and I suppose it was gutsy of her to not only speak over it, explaining what instruments would be implemented in the recording, how this would come in and that, but also kicking the whole thing off with a request to sing along, adding, “Now this is where it gets louder, so you have to be louder too”.
All pictures, and story continued, after the jump.
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