Jay-Z is a popular mainstream rapper who many alt sites give authentic credibility, but I’m not sure why. He enjoys to give interviews where he talks about listening to ‘far out, real ass shit’, including indie buzzbands like Grizzly Bear and the Dirty Projectors. The Dirty Projectors have a song called “Stillness is the Move”, and Jay-Z highjacked that abstract song title and used it to describe what makes Bono so awesome
Does this even make sense?
I just got done watching this bro ‘cover’ Grizzly Bear’s hit 2k9 anthem ‘Two Weeks’, and I couldn’t help but wonder if this bro has single-handedly proven that we no longer need the Grizzly Band Bears as an alternative resource of indie music.
It’s kinda weird how the musicsphere is searching for a new ‘authentic, undergroundish product’ that isn’t a huge brand like AnCo/GrizzBear/etc. People who ‘love music’ need new music to ‘get excited about.’ It seems like these ‘conceptual, chill projects’ are really ’starting to become mainstream alt rock’ or something. Think that these are apparently the next artists who we will ‘go to see at music festivals’ before ‘every1 finds out about them.’
I think that it demonstrates that a ‘new band’ can’t have too strong of a ‘personal brand’. It seems like if you start out being ’somewhat mysterious’, then ppl can write abt u when they ‘unmask’ u. It’s too easy to ‘not take a band seriously’ if you see pictures of them, and they look like dweebs/people who are ‘trying too hard.’ It seems easiest to have a chill project, that is somewhat ‘conceptual’ but also demonstrates that ur band has ‘pop sensibilities’ or something. Not sure what the ‘ceiling’ for these types of bands are. Seems like they will probably have to build their ‘live brand’ as being something that is ‘artistic.’ Most of these bands exist with ‘a few strong singles’, but seems like they will get enough ‘promotion’ [via maltstream weblogs+webzines] to be relevant in the market of people who ‘buy songs off iTunes.’
Tortoise - "Prepare Your Coffin"; Looking at the cover of the new Tortoise album Beacons of Ancestorship and then watching this video makes complete linear sense. On the album cover you have a series of lines that create shapes and in this video we are given a character who races around capturing photos of the shapes of our world. Perfect symmetry right there, and neatly fitting with the music here.
Grade: B+
Grizzly Bear played with the Brooklyn Philharmonic last night at BAM in Brooklyn. Ed Droste posted the full setlist from the show on Twitter, and according to Ed (also via twitter), they’d never played most of these songs live before, and likely won’t play them again unless they’re performing with a full orchestra. The band debuted a handful of new songs from Veckatimest, including "Reprise," "Ready, Able," and "Dory." Here’s "Deep Blue Sea" from the front row of last night’s encore, via this guy:
Yes, Grizzly Bear’s new album Veckatimest did leak the other day (much to the chagrin of Ed Droste, according to his twitter), but don’t expect to see any tunes posted here. I’m perfectly fine with waiting until May 26 when Warp finally releases the highly anticipated album. Though, the word from most everyone who has heard it has been very positive. This obviously doesn’t surprise me, I mean, have you heard those live versions? Those songs are so good. They’re definitely reaching for the stars with this one.
Anyways, here are the dates for the upcoming tour which will coincide with the release of Veckatimest. I’ve regrettably passed on every chance I’ve had to see them in person, so i’m hoping to not make the same mistake this time around.
It goes without saying that we’re beyond pleased to present the inimitable Grizzly Bear, live at Dallas’ Granada Theater, on June 15, 2009. If you’ve already heard the "best record of the ’00s," you know this show is not to be missed. We have 5 pairs of tickets to give away courtesy of the Granada; just email us at gorillavsbearcontests@gmail.com and we’ll pick the winners at random the week before the show. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon CST, and this one WILL sell out, so get on it early. In case you missed the band’s spellbinding performance the last time they rolled through town:
News and info is pouring in on this year’s summer music festivals and for us in the upper midwest there’s a lot to look forward to. Here’s an update on some of the fest happenings and a tentative schedule of where I’ll be this summer.
All signs point to this year’s Pitchfork Festival being absolutely out-of-this-world incredible. They’ve only announced a fraction of the bands that will playing and I’m already drooling from how great this will be. I definitely applaud the move to lose the ATP/Don’t Look Back thing on Friday and replace it with all-request shows from legendary artists (I’m ridiculously excited for Yo La Tengo and Built To Spill).
The fest is adding many more repeats this year but thankfully it’s some of the best bands that have played like The National, Grizzly Bear, and The Walkmen (if this keeps up this year could be seen as a P4k’s greatest hits of sorts). The fact that the weekend of July 19th is Celeste and myself’s one year wedding anniversary makes this all the more special.
Following the rather lackluster Coachella announcement last week, comes Bonnaroo’s initial lineup for 2009. At first glance, it’s quite the stellar lineup of bands, with the one glaring addition that jumped out at me being the Beastie Boys! The one time I attempted to see them live was back in 2000, when they were set to tour with Rage Against the Machine, but was canceled because Mike D broke his arm or something like that. Even now in 2009, they’re still up there (along with PJ Harvey) as a band I would still love to see.
When I tell people I’m in a band, I get a couple of textbook reactions. The most common is “Are you the singer?” and another is “Is it an all girl band?” The numerous occasions I’ve heard a guy tell...
Photos from a recent FOE gig - a friend of our friends Hold Your Horse Is - she’s gonna be big!!! Read the gig review after the jump.
Shots of North Carolina’s folk-rocking Avett Brothers’ stop in Glasgow - 22.08.11
Read the review of the gig here.
Take a look at the acts and art on offer at this year’s Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Included are the likes of Fight Like Apes, Lykke Li, Sea of Bees and Seasick Steve. Photos from our own...
Good time with Bad Guys. Photos from the May 29th gig at the Old Blue Last. Read the review by the Bad Guy himself, Stuart London after the jump.
Artrocker.com exclusive: for fans of White Lies and Crocodiles we’ve got some fresh pictures from their UK show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire earlier this month, courtesy of Alessandro...
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