I was here! at this show! up in WA in like 97!

GRIZZLY BEAR live @ FILLMORE report

For Father's Day Hans, Matt, and I were given tickets by our wives to go see Grizzly Bear at the Fillmore Monday night. Here is my report in easy-to-read bullet points.

A. Loved the stage set-up. All four members set up linearly across the stage (drummer included), which accentuated the notion that all four members are equal contributors, while further mythologizing them as Beatle-esque or, dare I say, Spice Girl-esque "characters".

B. My favorite Bear is Ed. He's dreamy.

C. This was the last date on their tour, so it had a very triumphal, and comfortable feel.

D. To the couple who was dancing/swaying/grinding behind me, who were constantly rubbing up against my beautocks I have two words: NO TOUCHY!
1. Above most things in life I cherish and protect my personal space.
2. No matter how weird I might be with my space issues, touching a man in his right beautock (left beautock if he's, you know..... left-handed) in a crowded place, even by accident, is a BIG NO NO. It usually sends the message someone's trying to get his wallet. Either way, raise up off me.

E. I was unsure how they would keep a consistent sound throughout their set, due to the difference between their last 2 records, and due to the ups and downs of the lo-fi-ness of "Yellow House". However the way that they reworked all their songs into a huge, huge sound left no downtime and kept me thoroughly entertained and wanting more.

F. I didn't get the memo that V-neck tee shirts and Banana Republic madras were back in style for men. Penny loafers, too. No one told me.

G. The encore was short, simple, and a special treat. They came out and huddled together on stage with only one acoustic guitar and pointed a single mic toward the group and did an acoustic song with 4-part harmonies running throughout.

H. Though I do not partake, I love the smell of pot. If there was a type on incense that smelled like pot, I would burn it non-stop at my house. If they bottled it in cologne form, I would slap it on my neck daily.

I. Best show I've seen in a while.

My new-found love for Grizzly Bear

Like most bands I fall head-over-heals for, at first I disregard their initial hype, write them off as johnny-come-latelies, just something the hipsters have fallen for. Then, after about a year, someone I really respect talks about them enough that I check them out. Same is true for Grizzly Bear.

Veckatimest- I think what strikes me most about this record a is the treatments and arrangements both to the song structure (songwriting) and the production. Incredible detail has been put into creating an intensity without from-the-gut guitar angst. Instead, you get this swirling of sound and somewhere in there you find an urgency. A lot of the group's dynamic comes form the interplay between its trading-off two singers.

iTunes alert: download "Two Weeks" and you won't be sorry (except Sissy, it's on your Euro Mix 5).

Yellow House- was their breakthrough much-hyped release. I wrote it off as dissonant noise. But after getting into Veckatimest, I went back and checked out Yellow House and I'm growing to like it.

On a realistic note, I'm just not sure why these guys have become the IT KIDS of the last couple years. Not sure why MIDLAKE isn't on top in this way. As much as I have come to be a huge Gizzly Bear fan, when I want quirky abstract chamber pop, I'm gonna reach for some Midlake. Just a little RIYL.

Father's Day Bonus! Jill and a couple of my friends' wives who are also Grizzly Bear fans (my friends, not their wives) got the 3 of us tickets to see them (Grizzly Bear, not our wives) at the Fillmore tomorrow night! Will report back.

New SON VOLT album out July 7 -OR- Imagine Girlish Giggles Here

The new Son Volt record called, "American Central Dust" comes out a month from today. Readers of this blog know that my inner child will be climbing the walls of my skull until then.

Grizzly Bear "2 Weeks"

For Jill- just missing you while you're on the east coast

We had this version of Jeff Mangum's rendition played at our wedding. Hans and Leif played it at the ceremony and we danced to the version you hear here at our reception.

Catching Up

OK. So in lean times I haven't been buying so many albums. But here are a few I bought this spring. Trying to catch up on some reviews here. So here are some short ones.

Bon Iver- "For Emma Forever Ago" This made a lot of critics' #1 on a lot of critics' top 10 lists for 08. I gave in and got it and liked it. 2 or 3 songs are great. Not sure it deserved all that hype. Sounds like acoustic TV On The Radio. And was done by a single guy sitting in front of his laptop. I'm more interested in what he does for his next record and I'm hoping he has an outside producer. (note: The brown artwork above is the original issue. The other is a far cry and is what's in stores now.)


Neko Case- "Middle Cyclone" I usually buy Neko Case records for her voice, not her song writing. And when I heard the first two track off this record, I thought she was up to her old mediocre tricks (I don't like repeating words just to fill up sullables and I dont like redundant rhymes like "eater" and "eat'ya" as in the line: "I'm a man man man man man man eater. So don't be surprised 'prised 'prised when I eat'ya!"). But as the album goes on, the song writing gets better and it's apparent she's leaped into another catagory. The Harry Nilsson cover played by a "piano orchestra", along with the songs "Prison Girls" and "The Pharoahs" (which might be her best work) might've been better suited for the beginning of the record, in place of that annoying Man Eater song. Here's a video of the making of the record.


Raffi- "Singable Songs Collection" This is a tripple disc reissue that includes the albums, "Singable Songs for the Very Young", "More Singable Songs", and "Corner Grocery Store". These are Raffi's three earliest consecutive works starting in 1976. Not only is this reissue historical and archival in a way, they contain well crafted short songs that are not dredged in Americana , as childrens' songs often are, and they stay credible without pandering to an adult audience. The main thing to notice here, on each of these three records, is that Raffi is varying between three vocal production styles: thick doubled vocals ("Popcorn"), harmonies with another male vocalist, or Raffi's voice with a small choir of children. Raffi clevery bounces back and forth between these three vocal styles and also varies the instrumentation behind it to hold evene the youngest listener's attention. The only drawbacks are the seasonal songs- seems weird to listen to songs about Santa, draedels, and zombies in May. Here's a short video of Raffi in concert where you can just feel the charisma created by humility rather than bravado.


Also, this is a gerontological Raffi playing for some college students who probably learned Raffi songs as small children. He immediately gets them to sing along.