Stream Grizzly Bear - Shields and Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet On Sky

I've been up early, working my way through the new album by Grizzly Bear, Shields, and have now moved onto Dinosaur Jr. (pictured) - I Bet On Sky. All thanks to NPR Music. Links:

Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet On Sky
Grizzly Bear - Shields

Grizzly Bear w/ Perfume Genius - (Nottingham) Albert Hall Conference Centre (29th August 2012)

The 2 Bears (Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen). Couldn't get the rest in shot, heaven knows I tried.

Perfume Genius

Not too dissimilar to the set they performed at Latitude last month (and because I detailed that here I'm not going to elaborate much). Thankfully I was surrounded by less irriating company this time around. Surprisingly, the main difference between this Mike Hadreas and the one performing to double the amount of people in the i Arena was this one seemed to lack further confidence. Not a huge problem, as is the nature of Perfume Genius, and as far as support slots go, I don't think I could have asked for a better one.

Grizzly Bear
Ed Droste decided to turn the seated show into a standing one. One of the main issues of this was that it became tough to see (and photograph) entirely what was happening on stage. The Albert Hall Conference Centre isn't a typical music venue, and there's no barrier between the crowded audience and the under-three-feet stage. This was probably my only major negative of the show. The setlist ranged across Grizzly Bear's current three studio albums, but some of the night's brightest moments came from the scarcely-performed new material, to feature on the upcoming album Shields. No less than six new tracks were played: "Sleeping Ute" and "Yet Again" were already familiar, but they were rivalled by "Speak In Rounds", "A Simple Answer", "gun-shy" and "Half Gate". Between them signifies a prediction that Shields may turn out to be Grizzly Bear's rock album, and all four members infused these songs with a new passion. Some top-class banter solidified the evening, on the account of it being Chris Taylor's birthday, and they can be forgiven for shortening their encore to go out to celebrate.

I managed to nab myself a setlist, which is how I knew what the new songs were. The penultimate track is called "Half Gate":

Single of the Week: Grizzly Bear - "Yet Again"

There's enough hype out there to tell you that for many Shields is one of the most anticipated records left to come out this year. Even without promotional singles this would be the case, but "Sleeping Ute" and "Yet Again" prove that Grizzly Bear can craft material deserving of such early praise. The former hinted at a weightier, brasher direction for the notoriously sleepy-sounding quartet. "Yet Again" builds on that blueprint and continues to use the band's usual instrumentation to rock out. It's the loudest song Grizzly Bear have put together, but Ed Droste's usual soft vocals keep the balance between the familiar and the obscure tied down. The final minute of the track is taken up by an unexpected freakout of noise, giving further creedence to the idea of Daniel Rossen as the new indie generation's guitar god. Grizzly Bear are drawing attention with their new songs, regardless of whether their previous albums' greatness made that attention inevitable in the first place.

Grizzly Bear - "Yet Again"

The new Grizzly Bear single, "Yet Again" just debuted on BBC Radio 1. It will feature on new album Shields (artwork above). Here it is in case you missed it (you are forgiven):



Track all the info up to the release of Shields on the Upcoming Releases page.

Grizzly Bear announce new album, and share new track

Time to dig out those copies of Veckatimest and Yellow House again. Grizzly Bear's as-of-yet untitled new record is coming out on 18th September via. Warp. Their new track, "Sleeping Ute" is below, as is the album's tracklist:



1. "Sleeping Ute"
2. "Speak in Rounds"
3. "Adelma"
4. "Yet Again"
5. "The Hunt"
6. "A Simple Answer"
7. "What's Wrong"
8. "gun-shy"
9. "Half Gate"
10. "Sun in Your Eyes"

Single of the Week: Daniel Rossen - "Saint Nothing"

In March Daniel Rossen will release his debut solo EP Silent Hour / Golden Mile for Warp Records, which will surely be an appetising taster for the next full length album from his main band Grizzly Bear, the recording of which is reported to be underway.The first track to be released from the new EP is "Saint Nothing", a dark and meticulous piano ballad which combines the unique songwriting approach of Grizzly Bear's most recent records with the lo-fi recording style and adventurous soundscaping of Rossen's previous project, Department of Eagles. These elements give the track a quiet and intimate if unsettling feel: the horn-assisted undertones and Rossen's easily identifiable pale voice only coerce the listener deeper into its strange haven. A nice change of pace, and hopefully the whole EP and Grizzly Bear album bring more of the same in 2012.

Daniel Rossen - "Saint Nothing"


Similar tracks:
Bon Iver - "Holocene"
Radiohead - "Give Up the Ghost"
Oneohtrix Point Never - "Replica"