VECKATIMEST

Holy Moses! It hasn't been a very productive year at SoS, which is a shame because there have been giant earfuls of splendid new music in the last 9 1/2 months. Built to Spill's latest just came out and it's oh so very nice, but I feel compelled to play some catch-up. Not only that, but I've been writing this review in my head since it came out back in May! I honestly can't say how many times I've listened to it...

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest

Wow, where to start? (I've been kicking around this idea about doing all my reviews in a 100 words or less, but I'll save that for another disc). Does it live up to the hype? Maybe... Is it the best album of the year? Spencer already came out and anointed Merriweather Post Pavilion... Do I think Veckatimest is better? If my annual top-10 list was ranked as a function of how many times I listened to each, it could win by a healthy margin come January. It’s almost not fair to compare the two, so I won’t. My quibbles are minor. When firing on all cylinders*, it is sublime.

*it almost always does...............................................................................for reals

Though Grizzly Bear's first LP, Horn of Plenty, was technically the debut I don't really count it (it was written when the band was just Ed Droste). Yellow House unveiled the group in it's complete form- with Daniel Rossen (Department of Eagles!!), Chris Taylor and Chris Bear filling out the roster. But as a collaborative piece, their "sophomore" release was more of an amalgam- consisting of songs previously written by Droste and Rossen before their powers combined. It made for a splendidly varied sound topography, but Veckatimest is the first time they've collaboratively written and the result is pretty exciting. Yes, Droste and Rossen still have their signature tracks (see "Ready, Able" and "Dory," respectively), but this 4-headed monster isn't easily untangled.

The opening track,"Southern Point," showcases this new explosive potential with swagger and bombast. It steadily builds, shimmering and marching, then unexpectedly erupts like an electromagnetic hoard of bats from their subterranean well.....And in a snap, it's spare and intimate again- diving back into a solo acoustic denouement. It's startling and beautiful. (Plug in some good headphones and dig the stereo effect of the flutter).

"Two Weeks" is a perfect revisiting of the doo-wop aesthetic of the Crystal's "He Hit Me" cover from their Friend EP and provides some very necessary college-radio fodder. (Scroll to the end of the post to check out the song and video). The album unwinds to a needful smaller scale song by song, paring down the complexity of arrangements to "Dory" then amping back up progressively toward the lush finale, perfectly prefaced by "While you wait for the Others" (also see video down below).

The album starts as it ends: with a bang (not counting the haunting prologue- "Foreground"- I

always imagine he's singing "this is the foie gras..."). The Brooklyn Youth choir and the Acme String Quartet are used to gorgeous effect throughout, but particularly on "I live with you." It's a sprawling intergalactic effort deserving of it's own 60's B-SciFi music video (a la "Knife" from Yellow House- see right pic). Autoharp and flute welcome the strings which then melt into tidal swells of a choir-backed Rossen, (the ever-present bass clarinet lurking in the shadows), ultimately climaxing in a stratospheric collision of strings and synths.

(Ok, so this is why I want to do 100-word reviews and Haikus... I just don't feel it's enough to say that I like it).

So, in short: I love this album. Period.

Do I like it better than Department of Eagles' In Ear Park (My #1 pick for 2008)? I don't know if I do yet. Time will tell. (I'm more of a Rossen than a Droste kind of guy). I love that they experiment with sounds and genres, but occasionally the songs seem to feel a little detached. I loved the warmth and earthy feel of In Ear Park. Grizzly Bear sometimes sounds (for better or worse) like modern popular music as interpreted by extraterrestrials.

Check it out- let me know what you think.

Veckatimest Grade: 9.5/10

The Live Show:

Me and Sean saw Grizzly Bear at The Moore theater with opening band The Morning Benders last Friday. We were 8 rows back and the acoustics were quite nice. It was kind of convenient to sit down, but at times I was dancing in my seat and just wanted to jump around. For those familiar with the Friend EP version of "Little Brother" from Yellow House- it was that kind of show- all traditional arrangements for the most part (a little autoharp mixed in now and then) and the set had cool light schemes. But as awesome as it was to see them finally.... a Veckatimest live show deserves a backing choir and string quartet and some crazy projected visuals.... maybe even a painted papier mache boulder-field...... something. Yeah, it's about the music. Yeah all that other stuff would cost me more.... (or would it? i saw Sufjan on his Majesty Snowbird tour with his army of performers and elaborate stage show for the same cost like 4 years ago...) I still loved it... just imagined something a bit more grand.

Live Show Grade: 7.9/10

TWO WEEKS

While You Wait for the Others

Out of Comission

Ahoy! In a lull for the last couple of months... My schedule combined with a never-ending sinus infection has left me pretty wiped out. I have some much-needed time off now for the next couple of weeks!!! Holy crap!!!

I'm gearing up some very late album reviews (Grizzly Bear!) and some wacky 80's music videos. If you still haven't been over to Beck.com lately, you should really check it out. Nearly all of Modern Guilt Acoustic has been posted, and his Album-A-Day project has moved on to Leonard Cohen's Songs of Leonard Cohen after having posted all of the Velvet Underground project.

Enjoy the acoustic version of "Chem Trails" from Beck's Modern Guilt album!

Wow! Chalk!!

I've never seen anybody do anything that cool with chalk! It sort of reminds me of the video above, but I'm sure the chalk animation was much more challenging.

I've never been able to get into Coldplay, but their videos are often pretty clever. (guess they're compensating...) I guess Shynola did the animation. They've a bunch of stunning music videos in their portfolio and one of my all-time faves is Pyramid Song by Radiohead. (Make sure to watch it in HQ- Youtube won't let me embed it... I guess this video is based on a dream Thom Yorke had. Actually reminds me of lots of dreams I've had too...)

Thanks for the post, Sean!

Here's another fave of mine:

Amazing video Cold Play - Strawberry Swing

http://www.babelgum.com/3022304/coldplay-strawberry-swing.html
I studied animation at The Evergreen State College at two full time semesters and a summer class. So I feel like I know enough to be a animation snob. While at Evergreen and before I've never come across this approach. I've seen similar techniques on youtube and was very impressed. Props to Kate B. for finding this.

Beck o Beck o Beck o Beck!!

Record Club: Velvet Underground & Nico 'Sunday Morning' from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

For reals-like, get yourselves over to Beck's RECORD CLUB for a little more of the above goodness. To keep the creative particles smashing in his Hadron collider of a brain, he's taken to doing covers.......

of entire albums.......

in a single day............ (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

The first album- Velvet Underground and Nico. He's putting out each song one at a time with a roughshod DIY video on his site. Guest artists, actors (? Giovanni Ribisi?), plants, and animals are all fair game. I guess it started when Sonic Youth approached him about involvement on a Boxed Set they're putting together. Included will be a cassette (yes.. tape...) only version of EVOL as interpreted by Beck and friends. Oh and yeah.. you guessed it- he recorded the album in a single day. Matador released a split 7" not too long ago with his version of "Green Light" on one side and Sonic Youth's version of "Pay no Mind" on the other. Haven't heard either.....limited pressing w/ no mp3s......

.....you will pay for your sins, Matador!!!....

Anyway, who knows what album he'll do next? Maybe he'll settle down in Reno and become the Coverband Chameleon! Seriously though, as fun as this looks and sounds so far, he's really hoping to boost creativity by doing covers? I guess it's a way to stretch you in musical directions you might have shied away from. But... if they all come out just sounding like Beck songs.... We'll see where he takes it.

I don't care, I think it's cool.