Tag: grizzly bear

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Music

Best albums for surviving winter

The coldest days of the year are upon us

The winter season brings to mind notions of isolation and desolation. Music itself acts as a cathartic medium, capable of supplementing or defining how the weather makes you feel. Frankly, the two go hand in hand. Here are some essential winter albums that spark similar feelings of solitude.

 

Tortoise – TNT (1998)

Expected to continue the post-rock faction, Tortoise delved into a new fusion of dub and electronics to turn more heads with their masterpiece third album, TNT. Enlisting guitarist Jeff Parker to expand their deft musicianship, as well as their roots to Chicago’s sprawling avant-garde scene, Tortoise returned with an effort brimming with fits of post-modern jazz, dub-informed rock and only slight nods to the German experimental genre Krautrock and electronic textures of their sophomore outing, Millions Now Living Will Never Die.

 

 

 

Beach House – Bloom (2012)

Bloom may be Beach House’s most expansive and cinematic album, but its ice-covered ambience and skeletal sheen don’t warm up much. It’s easy to imagine singer Victoria Legrand contemplating past relationships and general discontent with life while singing in her expressive baritone voice. While the endearing intimacy of the album feels much like the typical Beach House formula, with Legrand passionately crooning over vintage keyboards and drum machines, Bloom’s towering heights are enhanced by the LeGrand’s philosophical ruminations on personal anxieties.

 

Radiohead – Kid A (2000)

In the wake of OK Computer, Radiohead’s transformative statement about technological paranoia in the wake of the techno boom, it became abundantly clear among fans that the band near single-handedly paved the path toward more exploratory and artistically informed rock—paying equal attention to their obsession with future sounds.

Considering the stagnating state of rock in the last half of the 90s, it was easy to see why fans and critics unanimously put all their hopes on Radiohead’s tendency for experimentation to deliver one of the greatest rock declarations of all time. Kid A pushed the limits of its creative breadth, without pandering to lower expectations of radio-friendly rock.

Radiohead’s blueprint for Kid A arrived when the band embraced the possibilities of electronica, cool jazz and Krautrock. Rather than simply acting as a pastiche, Kid A adds collage techniques and palpitating beats to a boundlessly expressive opus.

 

Boards Of Canada – Music Has the Right to Children (1998)

Boards Of Canada’s design for chilled-out dance music is complete with electro-synth, hip-hop inspired beats and DJ scratches. Though it isn’t the most innovative, Music Has the Right to Children pushes forth the same blueprint as hip-hop producer DJ Shadow. The duo are some of the few European artists who can parallel their American counterparts, while innovating the template from the inside out.

 

Elliott Smith – Elliott Smith (1995)

Elliott Smith’s self-titled second album was his first effort under the Kill Rock Stars label and also his first major label debut. The album’s sound is skeletal in its approach. Smith’s gentle fingerpicking on an acoustic guitar is supplemented by nothing more than the occasional drum pattern and softly articulated vocal harmonies. Smith’s melodies and lyrics operate as the album’s focal point, with a greater priority aimed at substance-fueled lyrics about angst and disillusionment with life. The songs require repeated listens—not just because of Smith’s esoteric, sensitive delivery, but also because of his achingly sad melodies and angular chord arrangements.

 

 

The Microphones – The Glow, Pt. 2 (2001)

The Microphones’s psych-pop horizons reached an undeniable climax in the larger-than-life epic The Glow, Pt. 2. The album marked a significant departure from the willowy, lo-fi folk of the band’s earlier recordings into a noisy blend of penetrative distortion and gorgeously restrained vocals. The album explores a plethora of singular styles and all-inclusive moods over the course of 20 staggering songs that transition into one another as seamlessly as the strands of a spider’s web. The album’s kaleidoscope of sounds span across decades of folk music, from pastoral, playful guitar arpeggios ballads to some of the most invigorating flourishes of white noise ever put on tape.

 

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (2009)

Veckatimest is a triumph in every sense of the word. The air of sophistication that defined Grizzly Bear’s previous work heightened by even more intelligent craftsmanship. The album’s creative width is instantly realized on album cuts such as “Southern Point,” a psychedelic folk-jazz fusion that includes bursting acoustic guitars, dense vocal harmonies and sparkling sonics. The most disarming track, “Two Weeks,” is a captivating, dazzling journey and has earned a spot in the zeitgeist as one of the best indie rock songs of the 2000s. The gorgeous, bouncy piano chords, by contrast, are the album’s most instantly gratifying musical motif. The chorus’ lyrics, “Would you always? Maybe sometimes? Make it easy? Take your time,” see-saw between pleading and reassuring.

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Music Quickspins

Grizzly Bear – Painted Ruins (RCA Records, 2017)

Grizzly Bear’s new album, Painted Ruins, is an airy and ambient journey. Five years since their last album, the band comes back with impeccable production, clean instrumentation and grand vocal performances. The group has constructed an amazing sounding album. “Four Cypresses” features tight drumming, chill guitar riffs, swelling synth sounds and strings. Despite that, the band’s blend of electronic and organic instrumentation sounds like something Beck has done before. The group’s grandiose-sounding vocal performances complement the descriptive yet ambiguous lyrics. The lyrics provide a neat sense of mystery, such as, “Eyes on the lost sons trained in the tricks of the world / Fathers and keepers packed in that crowded room,” from the track “Glass Hillside.” Painted Ruins channels the feeling of walking in a grassy field on a breezy morning with clear blue skies above.

 

Trial Track: “Glass Hillside”

9/10

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Music

Don’t POP til you get enough

Photo by L.P Maurice
Photo by L.P Maurice

Grizzly Bear

A music student’s wet dream. If three-part vocal harmonies performed by musicians juggling several instruments at once doesn’t get you off – I don’t think anything ever will.  Grizzly Bear’s performance at L’Olympia Sunday night left us speechless. Really, we have no words.

Bassist, producer, and back-up vocalist Chris Taylor casually looped in the sax, oboe and flute, Christopher Bear snapped away on the drums, and lead vocalists Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen ethereally breathed life into their melodies, plucking away at piano keys and guitar strings.

The boys are touring in promotion of the latest addition to their musical catalog. Shields was released earlier this month, much to the brava of those that were fans of their earlier, less commercial work. The bandmates took some time apart last year to work on solo projects and develop their own, individual musical styles. Their live show proves that they successfully honed their strengths, regrouped and learned to meld together better than ever.

 

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

As Grizzly Bear’s openers at L’Olympia on Sunday, Unknown Mortal Orchestra lucked out in playing to a packed house. And there really couldn’t be a band more deserving of the spotlight.

UMO are hardly ‘unknown,’ for they’ve lapped the Pitchfork crowd multiple times in the past year alone, stealing several festival gigs. You really do have to see them live to understand all the brouhaha. UMO performed as a three piece, just a guitarist-vocalist, drummer and bass player. Somehow, the sound that generated from their instruments pumped with all the manpower of a full funk-rock orchestra. This is rock that you can really groove to. Choosing to tag along on the Shields tour was a smart move for UMO, chances are pretty high that they’ll gather an immense following before the end of the year.

 

An Evening with David Byrne & St. Vincent

On paper, David Byrne and St. Vincent’s Annie Clark may seem like an odd pair. In the Plateau’s majestic church Eglise Saint-Jeane Baptiste, they dropped jaws. The two are touring on the heels of their collaborative effort, Love This Giant, released at the beginning of the month. Clark’s angelic, pitch-perfect voice blended harmoniously with Byrne’s signature Talking Heads warble. And man, can that girl shred; Clark’s skills on the electric guitar are near unmatched by any female rockstar. The evening was a hoot. In between Byrne’s quips and – how could I not mention – a fully choreographed set list, it was truly a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience.

 

How Music Works w/ David Byrne and Win Butler

At the Ukrainian Federation on Saturday night, POP-ers had the opportunity to meet the men behind all their adulation. Yes, David Byrne recently wrote a book called How Music Works, but his talk with Arcade Fire’s Win Butler didn’t really stick to what lies on the pages. It was hardly a lecture. Butler and Byrne exchanged jokes, jabs, and perspectives on success in the music industry. Discussion topics were kept quite light, from ‘what to wear on stage’ to ‘why musicians use choreography in their routines.’ Perhaps the only real insight we gained from the talk was hearing Byrne and Butler’s public realization of the end of music as a commodity. For as internet pirates continue to allow albums to go for free, recording artists look to the live show as the real product.

 

Born Ruffians

These Ontarians played not once, twice but three times throughout POP Montreal. The indie-pop-rockers are kind of behind in terms of the Canadian music scene. They toured throughout the summer and continue to this fall, but are still relying on old material. Their last album, Say It, was released in 2010. Despite the lack of excitement in their set lists, the Ruffians still put on a good show – they managed to gather large crowds at each of their sets.

 

Mozart’s Sister

All the hens have been clucking over Mozart’s Sister. Caila Thompson-Hannant has been bouncingaround the Mile End’s hip-but-encouraging music scene for a few years now, but she is finally getting noticed thanks to her Arbutus label mate Grimes. When she performs as Mozart’s Sister, Thompson-Hannant belts it and sexes it up. She made sure to take advantage of the spotlight at her free show at Parc de la Petite-Italie on Thursday and at Eglise POP Little Burgundy on Saturday night.

 

Rich Aucoin

There is no such thing as a Rich Aucoin ‘show.’ It’s the Rich Aucoin experience. He pulled out the confetti, rainbow parachute and YouTube video memes galore at Divan Orange yet again. Aucoin may be one of the best performers out there; he convinces entire crowds to join him in reciting virtually all of the lyrics to his songs and whips them into a sweaty, dance-induced frenzy. He has toured relentlessly, bringing the ‘experience’ all over North America in the wake of his 2011 release, We’re All Dying To Live.

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Music

Quickspins

Band Of Horses – Mirage Rock (2012; Columbia Records)

Ever since landing their 2010 “Best Alternative Album” Grammy nomination for their third studio album, Infinite Arms, Band Of Horses has changed. They are no longer the melancholic indie rock band they once were. Instead, the Seattle-based quintet are embracing a change of record management from indie to major with Sony-owned Columbia Records, penning a track for the third installment of the Twilight franchise, Eclipse, and enlisting the aid of legendary producer, Glyn Johns (noteworthy for his work with Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, to name but a few). The latter does little to erase the proverbial “SELL OUT” label from their foreheads.

Mirage Rock is the musical equivalent of trying on hats. “Everything’s Gonna Be Undone” sounds like a reject Fleet Foxes track, while “Dumpster World” would be more at home as a B-side for The Moody Blues. This album is boring, forgettable and lacks any sort of artistic direction. Band Of Horses needs to focus less on vanity and concentrate on re-discovering what drove them to play music in the first place.

Trial track: “Dumpster World”

Rating: 3.5/10

-Paul Traunero

 

Grizzly Bear – Shields (2012; Warp Records)

New York-based indie rock band Grizzly Bear is probably most famous for their second album, entitled Veckatimest, which received widespread critical acclaim, including a thumbs up from Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood.

In Shields, the band continues to impress with their songwriting and unique take on art and psychedelic rock. The only thing that seems to act as a drawback is the growth time of songs. Unlike their previous effort, it takes a couple of listens before the themes and lyrics echo and reverberate through your brain. Hooks aren’t catchy, but are instead carefully crafted with the lyrics to complement the entire album, so that each individual song sounds good as a collective part of the album.

The album will please the casual music aficionado and will delight ardent fans of Grizzly Bear, as they continue their strong trend of solid, well-written music.

Trial track: “Yet Again”

Rating: 8.7/10

-A.J. Cordeiro

Stars – The North (2012; ATO Records)

Just weeks before their free, headlining POP Montreal gig at La Tulipe, Montreal’s most infamous lovesick pop-rockers dropped their sixth full-length studio album.

The North is hardly a departure from Stars’ signature soothing, affectionate indie-pop ballads. If anything, it seems as if the band has relaxed and given way to commercial inspiration. This is obvious in “Theory of Relativity,” a catchy, fast-paced electro tune with synthesizer a plenty and vocalist Amy Millan’s self-professed favorite track off the album. In “Do You Want To Die Together”, the group put a modern-pop twist on motown by pairing Millan and Torquil Campbell’s swinging, call-and-return duet with hard-rock guitar. Chances are this shift towards edgier, electro-pop-rock is due to the welcoming of their new guitarist, Chris McCarron.

Stars has been together for over twelve years. And through any and all strife, not one of their albums have been a ‘flop.’ They know what their listeners want. The North will further inspire an already dedicated fanbase and even allow it to blossom, but it’s nothing special.

Trial track: “Do You Want To Die Together”

Rating: 6/10

-Elizabeth Mackay

 

The xx – Coexist (2012; Young Turks)

With the release of their second album, London’s The xx mark a whirlwind three years. In 2009, the group released their first record, xx, to incredible critical acclaim. A few months later, guitarist/keyboardist Baria Qureshi left the band, and in 2011, band member and producer Jamie Smith gained his own praise with the remix album We’re New Here. With heaps of success emanating from a three-year-old debut album, Coexist, the band’s second full-length effort could be only one of two things: an outright flop – a victim of the sophomore jinx – or a protraction of the band’s, and its individual members’, fortunes.

What a few listens of Coexist reveal is a confident, yet conservative, group. Allowing only minor tweaks to their idiosyncratic sound, The xx effortlessly set the mood, open up spaces, and decorate the dark. Sure, there’s no song quite like “Intro,” but when Coexist’s finale arrives – the brilliant “Our Song” – try to feel anything but amazement.

Trial track: “Swept Away”

Rating: 8.4/10

-Andrew McNeill

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