Grizzly Bear "Yellow House"

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I've been listening to it for a couple of months and I'm definitely, absolutely sure that it is brilliant.

― Owen Pallett (Owen Pallett), Sunday, 28 May 2006 21:52 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, the question was: has anybody else heard it and wishes to comment?

Secretly, I'd like to talk about the similarities between them and Albert Marcoeur. And Debussy's "Jeux".

― Owen Pallett (Owen Pallett), Sunday, 28 May 2006 21:53 (nineteen years ago)

i just posted about his on another thread. only heard the lullabye song and was subsequently blown away---shall be investigating further.

― possibly, Sunday, 28 May 2006 22:20 (nineteen years ago)

the warp thing is rather strange

― possibly, Sunday, 28 May 2006 22:21 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know Marcoeur or the Debussy, but I think it's great. That said, I have only listened to the secret stream Ed sent me which makes it hard to get a total handle on the thing.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Sunday, 28 May 2006 22:28 (nineteen years ago)

owen poos praise for gays

snarkyness aside i like what i've heard

― poos, Monday, 29 May 2006 05:25 (nineteen years ago)

I am highly skeptical of your comparisons but curious to hear the record.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Monday, 29 May 2006 05:28 (nineteen years ago)

There are similarities in the melody writing to Albert Marcoeur. Not a lot of traditional melodic tropes, but instead, carefully placed "sour notes".

As for "Jeux", well... I feel that it's orchestral writing is the closest Debussy ever got to R-Korsakov's abilities. And if you listen to the language he uses, texturally, it sounds very similar to the sounds Grizzly Bear have created on their new record.

Unfortunately, I don't think my favourite songs from Yellow House have been blogged about yet. "Little Brother", "In The Yolk" and the doo-wop song are all blindingly good.

― Owen Pallett (Owen Pallett), Monday, 29 May 2006 11:39 (nineteen years ago)

it must be said that the few songs that Warp's allowed to be blogged about are not necessarily the ones we would most want to...

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Monday, 29 May 2006 11:47 (nineteen years ago)

Is this another of them that there fake band/album threads?

― The Notorious ESTEBAN BUTTEZ (ESTEBAN BUTTEZ~!!!), Monday, 29 May 2006 13:12 (nineteen years ago)

would doo wop be the stereogum song owen?
ifso i wouldlikely find your statement correct...i'm not blind though but it is already worming around in my head

http://www.stereogum.com/archives/002642.html

― b00th (arghargh), Monday, 29 May 2006 18:14 (nineteen years ago)

one month passes...

this album is really quite lovely. floating in and out of the ether...

this and the espers album make for dreamy summer listening.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 1 July 2006 14:58 (nineteen years ago)

i have managed to scrape together most of this album online and really really like it. I hear a lot of van dyke parks in it, in a good way. i 've beeen so lazy lately about seeing live shows but some frineds of mine have suggested seeing htem live.

owen, i loved your remix of theirs by the way.

― boonah (boonah), Saturday, 1 July 2006 22:35 (nineteen years ago)

My favorites are "Knife" and "Central & Remote". Everyone whom I've played the album for has had overwhelmingly positive responses. Even my friend Liza, a general skeptic of everything, became teary. Her voice deepened and she said "That was delicious."

I was really creeped out by that statement.

― Patrik Sandberg (cobaininacoma), Saturday, 1 July 2006 22:44 (nineteen years ago)

describing non-food as delicious = classic

― breakfast pants (disco stu), Saturday, 1 July 2006 23:45 (nineteen years ago)

i'd call it delicious. don't feel creeped

i think it, hot chip and tv on the radio, maybe a little voxtrot are my favorite albums of the year so far. i still find the whole warp thing amuzing. speaking of which, i finally am loving the jamie lidell stuff

― boonah (boonah), Sunday, 2 July 2006 03:59 (nineteen years ago)

I was floored by "knife" after grabbing it from stereogum. Nothing on Horn of Plenty grabbed me quite the same way. I keep relistenling to it, expecting to find something I missed the first several times. I'm moderately excited to hear Yellow House.

― Dan Floss (Dan Floss), Sunday, 2 July 2006 07:16 (nineteen years ago)

"I hear a lot of van dyke parks in it, in a good way."

i agree. and it is in a good way. and it's very rare that i hear it in a good way. cuz i've been sick of wilson/parks worship for years.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 2 July 2006 09:59 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, it is rare. i don't see it as worship at all, just see bits and pieces and nothing really directly VDP

I'm always amazed when this band gets compared to animal collective. that to me is just lazy journalism

― boonah (boonah), Sunday, 2 July 2006 12:29 (nineteen years ago)

this is not "freak folk"

― kevin barking (arghargh), Monday, 3 July 2006 01:57 (nineteen years ago)

three weeks pass...

ok i got the full album. It's really a tremendous album, seems very well sculpted. A bit surprised to not see it discussed here more as I've been reading about it a bunch lately.
I would have to say "colorado" is my favorite track---quite thunderous in a epic exciting way. The harmonies do hark back to older stuff, but it's still a pretty unique album.

― boonah (boonah), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 17:21 (nineteen years ago)

I'm always amazed when this band gets compared to animal collective. that to me is just lazy journalism

Thank you for saying that. I don't get almost ANY Grizzly Bear comparisons, but I think that must be a result of my opinion that they are totally mediocre. Have you seen them live? SNORE FESTIVAL INCORPORATED.

― trees (treesessplode), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 17:42 (nineteen years ago)

yellow house is great. i will probably never see them live.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 17:53 (nineteen years ago)

Listen to their new album Trees. Granted I have no idea what taste in music you have, but it's great.

I'll agree first album was a bit snoozy, granted "pretty" snoozy, but snoozy.

― boonah (boonah), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 17:55 (nineteen years ago)

i love the new grizzly bear. i love the new vetiver. i love the new espers. and i don't think there is anything freaky about any of them.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 17:55 (nineteen years ago)

i'm with you on vetiver as will. Espers hasn't managed to grab me fully yet.

― boonah (boonah), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 17:58 (nineteen years ago)

Boonah, my taste ranges widely. Admittedly, I mostly listen to dance music and old soul/gospel records, at least right now.

However, I saw Grizzly Bear when I was more into that vibe and still didn't like them. Then I saw them when I'd gotten out of that vibe (w/ Lichens and Soft Circle), and all I could think about was how much I loved Lichens and how dull the other two bands were in comparison. It's obvious to me that their songwriting skills are good, but I just find the sound they're going for a bit too flat for my taste, at the moment.

Espers first album will always be among my favorite sky-staring albums.

― trees (treesessplode), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 18:00 (nineteen years ago)

you love lichens????????
WHOA

I've seen him and I wanted to claw my ears out.

one of the most ridiculous pretentious shows I've seen in ages.

― boonah (boonah), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 18:03 (nineteen years ago)

i never revived the grizzly bear thread because i thought once this got closer to release date someone else would do it. i totally thought this would be one of those reaffirm-our-love-of-the-album-format things for other people here. but i'll interpret the lack of discussion as testament to the fact that maybe people here actually still buy records rather than download them... or at least i'd like to believe so.

this is probably my album of the year though... actually so far one of the only albums i bother listening to the way you're meant to (tracklist, on real speakers, etc).

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 18:28 (nineteen years ago)

yeah, i assumed this would be a 'headphones album' but man, it opens itself right up on speakers - way way better, loud in a room.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 18:36 (nineteen years ago)

Downloaded a few tracks for a test-drive:

Damn, there's some wonderful stuff on here. "Central and Remote", for instance. And "Plans" is one of the most mesmerizing things I've heard in ages. Lovely & bewildering. All this to say nothing of "Knife". Of which, if I were to say something, I'd probably say, HOLY CRAP, THAT'S GREAT!!! (But I'd make it more literate-sounding, and use fewer exclamation points.) Anyway, it's up there with the best songs of the year.

"On a Neck" and "Lullaby", however, didn't move me much, for whatever reason. Think I'll have to 'em sink in awhile before they work (or don't). And "Easier" is just okay. I notice that there's definitely a threshold-point for this stuff. The more I hear, the more it all sounds the same, and the less the individual songs retain their identies.

Would love to hear more. I'm curious, but also hesitant. I've got more affection for tunes than for tones. Wouldn't surprise me if the bulk of this added up to lovely but forgettable mush.

By the way, I think the mentions of Animal Collective in conjunction with this are perfectly appropriate. The vocal braiding at times feels very AC-ish. The midsection of "Central and Remote", for example. "On a Neck" sometimes leans that way, too. As do most of the others I mentioned above...

― fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (fuckfuckingfuckedfucker), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 19:53 (nineteen years ago)

Oh wow, step away for a bit and it looks like some people have been hearing it. Fuckfucking. I hear what you are saying, however I find that there is a lot of variation in the songs and album. Perhaps a threshold for the album does get reaches, be it mostly because the songs take some attention and aren't exactly immediate, however I wouldn't even begin to call it "forgettable mush" mostly as that considering what's out there now, this strikes me and heads and tails more complex and memorable. Of course others will bed to differ, I just know I got a burnt copy of this and a bunch of my friends have it right now and at the moment I only hear good things. And then there was Trees...

― boonah (boonah), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 20:07 (nineteen years ago)

Just for the record, I'm not calling it "forgettable mush". Not by any means. That was probably a poor choice of words. I really like what little I've heard. But only a few of the songs really stand out in my memory, even after listening to 'em several times.

Therefore, I wonder whether the rest of the songs will be out-of-the-park winners (like the spec-fucking-tacular "Knife"), or ... let's say more abstract in nature.

― fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (fuckfuckingfuckedfucker), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 20:18 (nineteen years ago)

knife is definitely the poppiest, so if you are looking for more songs as poppy as that one, I'd say you might be out of luck. however, Knife is great, but I think so many of hte other songs are more memorable. COlorado is pretty poppy. you should check out that one.

― boonah (boonah), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 20:20 (nineteen years ago)

[salutes]

― fuckfuckingfuckedfucker (fuckfuckingfuckedfucker), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 20:23 (nineteen years ago)

A sonic treat, this "Yellow House". Great arrangements, instrumentation, vocals. Not entirely sure if the songwriting is up to snuff, after several listens, but I'm willing to overlook that.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Tuesday, 25 July 2006 20:34 (nineteen years ago)

So you might have an issue with the lyrics? I can see where you are coming from, but they seem sincere, whatever that means. I guess I just like the simplicity of them.

arrangements are definitely stand out here

― boonah (boonah), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 00:41 (nineteen years ago)

one month passes...

this is a fantastic album. I suspect ILXORs have been ignoring because much like myself I found the first album to be a bit of a non-event. This however has me taking note. The arrangements are fantastic and the harmonies as well. A band I couldn't have cared less about 2 months ago has likely made one of my favorite albums of the year. Funny how that works.

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 00:39 (nineteen years ago)

I really like this album too! It's very pop obv which helps.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 01:25 (nineteen years ago)

I particularly like the slowed down walz track with Final Fantasy strings. Reminds me of some old warped 45

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 11:11 (nineteen years ago)

this album sounds like mush

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 11:45 (nineteen years ago)

also sounds like meh

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 11:45 (nineteen years ago)

i'll try it again today but i've never been able to get past the first two songs, and i can't even remember what those two sound like.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 11:46 (nineteen years ago)

weird--guess we are not on the same page then. I think it's one of the best of the year.

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 12:01 (nineteen years ago)

rare that i care what pitchfork says, but i'm really glad they gave grizzly bear the Best New Music tag. The album is so so so so good and (it's out yesterday, kids, get your copy today!). did the blog hype mean that you've already digested and are over this album? or are you still basking in its shimmery generosity?

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 15:41 (nineteen years ago)

how is the new LP different from their first one, which was roundly ignored by music media/blogopolis?...(but it was actually pretty good)...

not having heard the new one, I approach with caution...the fact that both Pitchfork and Stylus rave about it seems a little fishy to me...

― hank (hank s), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 16:24 (nineteen years ago)

this album is great
i loved horn of plenty too

fishy or not at least they're getting what they deserve

― Chris Grasinger (gman59), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 16:40 (nineteen years ago)

it's fucking great

all should own it
hype or not

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 17:00 (nineteen years ago)

the albums are pretty different, especially in terms of production. 'yellow house' is not a bedroom record (although, truth be told it was recorded in Ed's childhood living room, apparently) the quality of the songwriting on 'horn of plenty' was very high, but the songs (and their arrangements) are much more sophisticated and accomplished on the new record.

i'm so happy they're on warp because i think it will bring them the push and attention they need (and i guess people still talk about how a band veers away from the typical warp aesthetic, which brings added attention) to make the record a commercial success.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 17:05 (nineteen years ago)

On half a fresh listen, very very good. I want to spend time with it, that's for sure.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 6 September 2006 18:37 (nineteen years ago)

well it's definitely not an album you can just get immediately

take the time that's for sure
it's nice to see reviewers seeing that

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Thursday, 7 September 2006 00:24 (nineteen years ago)

wow...The album is amazing, with a magical atmosphere into it.
rich,detailed production,varios styles(freak-folk,psych,prog,post rock..) balanced with great melodies,sometimes "beach boys" style, to keep it accessible.
can you ask for more from a record?

one of 2006 best.(and there arent many)

― emekars (emekars), Thursday, 7 September 2006 01:06 (nineteen years ago)

"one of 2006 best.(and there arent many)"

no way, there are lots!

my review of this album was really twee. i don't know what came over me. sometimes i can get like that when i really like something.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 7 September 2006 02:20 (nineteen years ago)

Hooray! Great band gets great reviews!

I had the privilege of hearing this album while it was in its embryonic stages, and I was somewhat disappointed with the professionalism of the final mixes. It sounded reverbed out and the EQs were very high end. I made an expensive overseas call to Ed to tell him so. I said, "I know the promo copies are already out but you've GOT to do a recall! Remaster it! It sounds like Alanis!"

He calmly replied, "Dude, you don't know what your talking about. YOUR record sounds like crap. You should fire your producer. He mixed your vocals too low."

That's the end of that story. I was wrong, Ed was right. This album is perfecto.

― Owen Pallett (Owen Pallett), Thursday, 7 September 2006 04:20 (nineteen years ago)

Ed, if you're reading this, and I know you are, call me already, it's my birthday today too.

― Owen Pallett (Owen Pallett), Thursday, 7 September 2006 04:23 (nineteen years ago)

Happy birthday, Owen. :)

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 7 September 2006 04:32 (nineteen years ago)

Great band gets great reviews!

OTM.

If I had reviewed it on PTW instead of Mikael, I would have given "Knife" a 9.0 or a 9.5. I honestly don't think I've played any song more this year (that goes for "What You Know" and "London Bridge"). It's No. 1 on my iTunes Most Played.

I don't know the science of it, but listening to Grizzly Bear makes the whole world move in slow motion for me, which I desperately need after going home for a wedding and seeing at least SEVEN of my friends' kids for the first time.

― Whiney G. Weingarten (whineyg), Thursday, 7 September 2006 05:02 (nineteen years ago)

scott what review did you write for this album, I'd like to read it.

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Thursday, 7 September 2006 08:30 (nineteen years ago)

i like their first one better though, still. maybe it's got something to do with more memorable melodies. i love 'Eavesdropping'

― rizzx (rizzx), Thursday, 7 September 2006 08:33 (nineteen years ago)

Happy birthday Owen.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 7 September 2006 09:58 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, may the cult of 'catchy melody' die in flames.

― Owen Pallett (Owen Pallett), Thursday, 7 September 2006 13:49 (nineteen years ago)

who said catchy? catchy is like McDonalds, memorable is like a super duper dinner

― rizzx (rizzx), Thursday, 7 September 2006 13:58 (nineteen years ago)

I try to avoid the word "catchy" as much as possible, but there's no doubt most things that appeal to me are catchy in some way. The best songs on your album, Owen, are extremely catchy.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 7 September 2006 14:15 (nineteen years ago)

The CD is streaming for free here. I'm still trying to let it all soak in.

Some of it is really beautiful, lush pop. Some of it seems like it kind of meanders and goes nowhere.

― like murderinging (modestmickey), Thursday, 7 September 2006 14:24 (nineteen years ago)

love how this inevitably turns into a final fantasy appreciation thread

It only meanders if you don't listen

listen harder

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Thursday, 7 September 2006 16:52 (nineteen years ago)

this shit sucks

warp needs a good kicking

― Python... No Bite :B (flezaffe), Thursday, 7 September 2006 16:54 (nineteen years ago)

Uh, beats?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 7 September 2006 16:55 (nineteen years ago)

"Uh, beats?"

exactly!

in fact, I find it hard to listen to Horn Of Plenty after hearing the remix CD that was packaged with it...(particularly the Soft Pink Truth thingy)...perhaps Yellow House will get the same treatment?

― hank (hank s), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

ILM in "my ice cream isn't salty enough" shocker.

― darin (darin), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:13 (nineteen years ago)

Salt is an essential componant of ice cream, actually.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:18 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, but a very small componant.

― darin (darin), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:22 (nineteen years ago)

Actually, if ice cream doesn't have enough salt, it fails to cohere, which makes the metaphor you propose all the more interesting.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:22 (nineteen years ago)

Well, I think Grizzly Bear is just salty enough - I do think it's weird that people expect music like this to "thump" or whatever.

― darin (darin), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:32 (nineteen years ago)

is it just me or is the whole "if you don't get it, that just means you're not paying enough attention" kind of an, uh, stupid line of reasoning?

― like murderinging (modestmickey), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:39 (nineteen years ago)

Curse your constant need to thump, Ned.

― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:40 (nineteen years ago)

"Uh, beats?"

if "Talk Talk" (and some great post rock bands) didn't have beats, neither can "Grizzly Bear".
infact,beats theres a chance it might ruin the whole thing.

― emekars (emekars), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:41 (nineteen years ago)

if "Talk Talk" (and some great post rock bands) didn't have beats

You do realize they released more albums than Laughing Stock, I trust.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:46 (nineteen years ago)

(ie, crusty old person who remembers "It's My Life" on pop radio in the States in 1984 or so regards the idea of Talk Talk as beatless as somewhat hard to argue)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:46 (nineteen years ago)

the Horn of Plenty remixes were pretty good, but for some reason I'm not really excited to hear this. SOMEBODY MAKE ME EXCITED TO HEAR THIS.

― bernard snow (sixteen sergeants), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:47 (nineteen years ago)

Anyway, my point is that "can you ask for more from a record?" is easily answered, especially with such self-limiting criteria. "(freak-folk,psych,prog,post rock..) balanced with great melodies,sometimes "beach boys" style" != everything musical.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:48 (nineteen years ago)

"You do realize they released more albums than Laughing Stock, I trust"

i do, but i refer to "laughing stock" and "eden", which are more compareble to grizzly bear than their mainstream pop albums (though they are good as well, for different reasons,less "arty")

― emekars (emekars), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:50 (nineteen years ago)

the self limiting criteria, is because i don't get paid for long reviews, not because thats all i think is good about the record..

― emekars (emekars), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:52 (nineteen years ago)

FWIW, the Talk Talk rhythm section is flat out astounding on both Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock, but because it's not up front/constant/etc. every second that can be hard to miss. And anyone who thinks that those two guys don't know their way around rhythm hasn't heard the first .O.rang album. (Not saying you're saying this, Emekars, just trying to make the point.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 7 September 2006 17:52 (nineteen years ago)

i don't know if grizzly bear's rhythm section is astounding, (infact, "yellow house" is probably not as astounding as the 2 talk talk records),but,same as in talk talk records - there is rhythm in "yellow house" as well and "it's not up front/constant/etc"..

― emekars (emekars), Thursday, 7 September 2006 18:05 (nineteen years ago)

wtf on the "talk talk" talk

i'm just saying--if you don't like this album fine. But don't call it boring, it's really rather complex musically and I'm sure someone will shoot this down, but it is

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Thursday, 7 September 2006 19:15 (nineteen years ago)

well... pitchfork effect is funny... they're currently the most blogged thing on hype machine and the 154th best selling music item on amazon.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Thursday, 7 September 2006 19:20 (nineteen years ago)

But don't call it boring, it's really rather complex musically

Complex != not boring, depending.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 7 September 2006 19:24 (nineteen years ago)

i should check this out. i like the espers record a lot.

― M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 7 September 2006 19:55 (nineteen years ago)

Grizzly Bear are on the John Kennedy X-posure show on Xfm 104.9 fm tonight
http://www.xfm.co.uk/sectional.asp?b=onair&id=337&b=onair

show starts 10pm to 1am

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 7 September 2006 20:01 (nineteen years ago)

This thread is finally hitting critical mass. I heard "On a Neck" back in July and have been looking forward to hearing the whole album.

― Billy Pilgrim (Billy Pilgrim), Thursday, 7 September 2006 20:07 (nineteen years ago)

added to metacritic today: Yellow House by Grizzly Bear
http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/grizzlybear/yellowhouse

currently 9th top rated album on Metacritic 2006
http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2006.shtml

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 7 September 2006 20:10 (nineteen years ago)

"scott what review did you write for this album, I'd like to read it."

it's pretty bad. by my standards anyway. i even apologized to the guy i wrote it for. i made up for it but writing something better for him after that. i don't think it's on-line. it was in a free paper down south. i should stick to metal and losers from the 70's. anyway:

"What a dream of an album Yellow House is. Summery, shimmering, light as air, yet grounded enough in solid song-craft that it never floats off into the ether. Which is the problem with most alt/lo-fi/fractured Americana/folk/psych groups and artists who worship at the altar of Wilson/Parks or whatever forgotten author of teenage symphonies to God knows what is being touted and resurrected this week. They sound pretty and create aching wisps of reverential fluff, but they go in one ear and out the other. Grizzly Bear's melodies stick with you. Now a four-piece – Grizzly Bear’s 2004 debut Horn Of Plenty being recorded by the duo of Christopher Bear and Edward Droste – the band makes drifting sand-pop (the album was mostly recorded in, yes, a yellow house off of Cape Cod) where sound and instruments waft in and out of the room like ghosts. There is guitar, a brush on a drum, banjo, strings, horns, and pianos that reverberate or tinkle or act as percussion. There are gorgeous side-two-of-Abbey Road vocal harmonies and there are lone voices lost in the weeds. There is a lot to take in – the ambient live noise and various fx adding to the mix – and yet Yellow House never feels crowded or messy. It’s hypnotic and intimate but never cloying in its intimacy. You never feel the hot breath of desperation. Only the cool breeze of delight in invention. The album makes you wish that more indie acts would take the time to learn how to make their songs breathe -to live with and inhabit their songs until they are sturdy and can stand on their own without crumbling- instead of just trying to turn their record collections into gold."

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 7 September 2006 21:15 (nineteen years ago)

i mean, like, dude, i get it, it's fucking summery or whatever. can't win them all! it's good anyway though and people should buy it. i still listen to it. and the espers album. i need to listen to the vetiver some more. those three are such nice records.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 7 September 2006 21:17 (nineteen years ago)

not that bad ss!

― chaki (chaki), Thursday, 7 September 2006 21:19 (nineteen years ago)

Grizzly Bear chat coming up on xfm soon, see link above to tune in via web

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Thursday, 7 September 2006 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

i heard teh xfm session, 'twas nice. unfortunately caught the tail end of a 49492835 minute long joanna newsome track before they went on

DJ Martion do you work for xfm?

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Friday, 8 September 2006 01:21 (nineteen years ago)

i like this album a lot, but i don't think it sounds as summery as scott does. i recall it sounding haunted in places. maybe that is part of the aesthetic heritage tho. or maybe that's just summer at night.

― breakfast pants (disco stu), Friday, 8 September 2006 01:42 (nineteen years ago)

i did mention ghosts...

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 8 September 2006 01:50 (nineteen years ago)

you sure did. "drifting sand pop" works too. there's that whole element of the outside being inside and inside being outside.

― breakfast pants (disco stu), Friday, 8 September 2006 01:58 (nineteen years ago)

I like that quote too Scott

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Friday, 8 September 2006 02:01 (nineteen years ago)

ps. not that I don't think this album deserves it but I can't believe the amount of sudden hype

hasn't this been leaked for months?
i've had it for 2

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Friday, 8 September 2006 02:06 (nineteen years ago)

i got a copy cuz there was a thread on a new york times article about freak folk and the grizzly publicist sent me a myspace invite cuzza the thread and then one of the grizzly dudes sent an e-mail apologizing for the publicist dude sending e-mails and then one thing led to another...and i ended up with the cd. and i really liked it. the power of ilm. that was probably 2 months ago. my review came out a month ago or so. or maybe even further back than that.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 8 September 2006 02:42 (nineteen years ago)

The album makes you wish that more indie acts would take the time to learn how to make their songs breathe -to live with and inhabit their songs until they are sturdy and can stand on their own without crumbling

Nicely put.

― darin (darin), Friday, 8 September 2006 05:49 (nineteen years ago)

what publication was it scott? also--I don't see anything "freak folk" about this band or album

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Friday, 8 September 2006 07:54 (nineteen years ago)

"ps. not that I don't think this album deserves it but I can't believe the amount of sudden hype
hasn't this been leaked for months?
i've had it for 2"

nobody thought they would make such a great album,so most people didnt even check the leaked version..

― emekars (emekars), Friday, 8 September 2006 12:55 (nineteen years ago)

The Wire review of this record says "The most enchanting [track] is Colorado which clocks in at nearly 30 minutes". i guess this version didn't make the final cut then?

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 8 September 2006 13:57 (nineteen years ago)

"Colorado" is my favorite right now.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 8 September 2006 13:59 (nineteen years ago)

i don't think there is a 30 minute version of colorado.

it's true I wasn't expecting much either from these guys. Liked ONE remix, found the first album to be OK but forgettable

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Friday, 8 September 2006 16:38 (nineteen years ago)

i should check this out. i like the espers record a lot.

I know some ppl compared this to Vetiver and Espers and these guys are generally considered part of the folk thing but "Yellow House" seems to have more in common with stuff like Beta Band, at least to my ears. Some of the vocals sound like the Moody Blues. Very grandiose. I like some of the songs, "Central and Remote" esp., but this isn't best of the year status for me ....

― dmr (Renard), Friday, 8 September 2006 16:58 (nineteen years ago)

Espers bores me. Comparing this to them is insulting

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Friday, 8 September 2006 17:15 (nineteen years ago)

no way! the new espers album is lovely! i never heard the first one.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 8 September 2006 17:17 (nineteen years ago)

and i never meant to say that grzzly sounds like espers. i only brought up vetiver/espers/grzzly together cuz they have all (rightly or wrongly) been tagged with the frk flk thang and they all put out albums this year that i really enjoyed.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 8 September 2006 17:23 (nineteen years ago)

maybe I should give it another chance. it's a little to renaissance fair for me

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Friday, 8 September 2006 17:27 (nineteen years ago)

i don't think there is a 30 minute version of colorado.

well, there clearly is if the woman in the wire reviewed one.

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 8 September 2006 17:43 (nineteen years ago)

Beta Band is a pretty good comparison. I like how "lived in" the songs sound. Whether that's a testament to planning or production, or what, I don't know, but the songs have a strong sense of themselves and of their purpose.

― Billy Pilgrim (Billy Pilgrim), Friday, 8 September 2006 17:45 (nineteen years ago)

don't hear much comparison, sonically, to stuff like espers.

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 8 September 2006 17:47 (nineteen years ago)

This music is certainly more dynamic than what's found on Espers II. The vocals, and how they blend with the music, is where I hear the Espers comparison. If not Broken Social Scene. The overall feel of the album reminds me more of Akron/Family's last album than anything. The overall effect is pleasant enough, but it hasn't sunk its teeth into me yet. Hopefully it's a grower.

― cosmo vitelli (cosmo vitelli), Friday, 8 September 2006 18:12 (nineteen years ago)

it took a while to sink in, but I think this album is as brilliant as everyone is making it out to be. it just lacks the immediate attention grabbing quality of Animal Collective and other similar acts.

― like murderinging (modestmickey), Friday, 8 September 2006 18:41 (nineteen years ago)

Great album.

― Racht Jeems (brimwide), Friday, 8 September 2006 19:55 (nineteen years ago)

I don't think it's a very immediate album in that regard. It's also not a very song-based album. There are only a few tracks (knife, lullabye), that seem to begin and end very dinstinctly. I would say that's the only "weakness" if you can call it that, because the atmosphere, the production, arrangements, the melodies, etc. are all amazing, beautiful, top notch.

It's so different from the first one. Daniel Rosen (he's the guitar player and second singer) wrote many of the songs and he's a big part of why Yellow House is a big jump forward.

― injun joe (brimwide), Friday, 8 September 2006 19:57 (nineteen years ago)

Interview about that on brooklyn vegan today

― injun joe (brimwide), Friday, 8 September 2006 20:03 (nineteen years ago)

hey 'brimwide' do you work for warp

― Python... No Bite :B (flezaffe), Friday, 8 September 2006 20:18 (nineteen years ago)

I'm kind of in the nitpicking phase of listening to this album right now, i.e. post-initial 3-4 listens absorption period but pre-big picture phase. And being that I'm here, "Marla" really drags things down at a point when the album needs more energy. Otherwise, tops! Scott's right about the summery quality. I'm not sure why Warp didn't release this back in May or June.

― cosmo vitelli (cosmo vitelli), Friday, 8 September 2006 20:24 (nineteen years ago)

Ed Droste from Grizzly about what he likes to listen to lately:

"I love Hot Chip, I really like Camera Obcsura, the new Ratatat, the new Of Montreal, which is amazing, Diane Cluck, Boards of Canada, The Futureheads, and then all this random stuff that I download from blogs…"

kinda surprising. i mean:twee? electronic indie? where are the influences for Yellow House?!

― emekars (emekars), Friday, 8 September 2006 21:45 (nineteen years ago)

Actually that's completely *un*surprising from where I sit!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 8 September 2006 21:48 (nineteen years ago)

I think lately is the operative word there. Maybe they are influences I don't know, I haven't heard this yet.

― just say no to individuality (fandango), Friday, 8 September 2006 21:50 (nineteen years ago)

Musicians in listening to music that isn't a direct influence on their band SHOCKAH.

I mean, I'm in an indie-pop band, but I still love mainstream R&B and microhouse and whatever, our lead singer is a huge stoner-metal fan, the drummer likes IDM and math-rock, etc.

― jaymc (jaymc), Saturday, 9 September 2006 00:24 (nineteen years ago)

"I'm in an indie-pop band" - which is? just curious..

p.s. i'd expect to find at least one influence..
i think for most musicians like Thurston moore, or Destroyer's similiar lists (and others), you can find the influence..

― emekars (emekars), Saturday, 9 September 2006 00:40 (nineteen years ago)

"I want you to know... when I look in your eyes..."

god damn, this part is just beautiful. one of those moments in song when you forget you live in the real world and everything becomes a dream.

― like murderinging (modestmickey), Saturday, 9 September 2006 04:27 (nineteen years ago)

i make electronic music and listen to johnny cash

weird

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Saturday, 9 September 2006 07:46 (nineteen years ago)

I've got a post at Said the Gramophone today with the original version of "Marla", which Ed shared with me. It's a beautiful, unsettling counterpoint.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Monday, 11 September 2006 10:44 (nineteen years ago)

SO happy to see this album get the attention it deserves. After "I'm from barcelona" i was completely sure Pitchfork had lost it

― boonah (boonah), Monday, 11 September 2006 11:59 (nineteen years ago)

ps. great post sean. I'm excited to hear the original

― boonah (boonah), Monday, 11 September 2006 11:59 (nineteen years ago)

popped up on luisterpaal today.

― fandango (fandango), Monday, 11 September 2006 12:05 (nineteen years ago)

a few months later Colorado is still my favorite. Little Brother my least, but it's still nice.

― boonah (boonah), Monday, 11 September 2006 12:16 (nineteen years ago)

I picked up this album over the weekend due to the Pitchfork thing making it sound nice, but more due to the Espers, Vetiver, etc. comparisons. I have only scanned this thread, so might be repeating other feelings. I like the album, but it doesn't do anything for me the way Espers does. Actually, Grizzly Bear sounds more like the kind of music I generally listen to, whereas Espers/Vetiver/freakfolk type music accounts for a smaller sampling of my tastes, though I find the music (esp. Espers) much more compelling and lasting. I know I'll listen to Yellow House a lot and it sounds beautiful, but doesn't have that deep-running feel that connects me to those artists they are compared with, seems sort of more light and surfacy.

― peter x (bucksbreeze), Monday, 11 September 2006 15:37 (nineteen years ago)

funn you should say that. I feel close to nothing from Espers. It's nice, but seems more like an "act" then something that's really coming from somewhere true. Vetiver is lovely, but again feels a bit smoothed out for NPR, for my tastes

― boonah (boonah), Monday, 11 September 2006 15:46 (nineteen years ago)

"I'm in an indie-pop band" - which is? just curious..

Canasta. We're from Chicago.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 11 September 2006 15:52 (nineteen years ago)

I saw you play once JAYMC
how funny

― boonah (boonah), Monday, 11 September 2006 15:54 (nineteen years ago)

Boonah, I understand where you're coming from. I don't know act or no act/ true or false, so I'm just happy to go with it and it really packs a wallop for me. I have a lot of friends I have played thier music for who just don't care for it. I guess they are one of those bands that there isn't much middle ground.

― peter x (bucksbreeze), Monday, 11 September 2006 15:56 (nineteen years ago)

Ha, Boonah, where?

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 11 September 2006 16:01 (nineteen years ago)

I feel bad critiquing any of these bands b/c they are all a hell of a lot better than most of the shit out ther, but if we are going to compare good with graet in my opinion Yellow Hous demolishes Vetiver/Espers

Vetiver suffers from overly simplistic songs that evntually fade from memory
it's lovely--nice, inoffensive, but generally a bit generic

Espers just strikes me as insincere--of course you believe the opposite. here's for people having their own opinions!

Jaymc-- chicago ages ago

― boonah (boonah), Monday, 11 September 2006 16:03 (nineteen years ago)

daniel's side project department of eagles is also great

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 10:54 (nineteen years ago)

And Department of Eagles are working on a new album!!

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 13:24 (nineteen years ago)

do you have tracks? will you share?

― boonah (boonah), Tuesday, 12 September 2006 23:36 (nineteen years ago)

Still can't stop listening to this album

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Saturday, 16 September 2006 02:29 (nineteen years ago)

I've gotta agree with boonah - this has way more depth/interest/staying power to me than vetiver/espers... I don't really get the animal collective comparisons with this one... possibly a few similar sounds but TOTALLY different mood

― xave (xave), Monday, 25 September 2006 03:24 (nineteen years ago)

i feel bad for bringing up vetiver and espers. i like all three records, but i only brought up vetiver and espers cuz along with grizzly bear they had been lumped together in the press and not cuz i thought they were all that similar. so everyone stop comparing the three! sorry, my bad.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 25 September 2006 03:56 (nineteen years ago)

I agree with Scott. They are only similar, to me, in a "If you like that, you might like this, too..." sort of way. otherwise, all 3 of those bands seem to be coming from completely different places.

Also, I've really warmed up to "Yellow House", played it a lot over the weekend.

― peter x (bucksbreeze), Monday, 25 September 2006 12:19 (nineteen years ago)

The freak-folk/not freak-folk argument is hilar. Somebody should post a quiz.

Q&A: Am I Freak-Folk? It's a psychadelic-chamber credibility test.

1. Have you ever used drugs that you'd describe as "esoteric"?
2. Have you ever worked at Angelica Kitchen?
3. Have you met Vashti Bunyan? (Bonus points if you met prior to Fourtet meeting her)
4. Do you live in Lisbon?

― Owen Pallett (Owen Pallett), Monday, 25 September 2006 15:53 (nineteen years ago)

I saw them in LA and it was great. I even liked HOLY SHIT which sounded like watered down Ariel Pink

maybe I'm just settling
anyhow, I HAD fun

the first band didn't do muc for me though and I wont remember their name but I Do remember their bad frilly shirts that looked like when Jerry had to wear that crap shirt on Seinfeld

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Sunday, 1 October 2006 04:53 (nineteen years ago)

http://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2005/11/08/inside-dvd-seinfeld.jpg

"Grizzly Bear. They are neither grizzly, nor bears. What's the deal with these guys?"

― cosmo vitelli (cosmo vitelli), Sunday, 1 October 2006 07:59 (nineteen years ago)

I saw them in San Francisco on Friday having never heard them before and they were really, really good.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Sunday, 1 October 2006 08:15 (nineteen years ago)

yes! that is the shirt. They were pirate themed or something. Thanks for tracking it down Cosmo.

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Sunday, 1 October 2006 14:56 (nineteen years ago)

The Wire review of this record says "The most enchanting [track] is Colorado which clocks in at nearly 30 minutes". i guess this version didn't make the final cut then?
-- jed_ (colin_o_har...), September 8th, 2006. (jed)
i don't think there is a 30 minute version of colorado.
-- ()()()---()()() (catharsistonight@yahoo.com), September 8th, 2006. (internet)
well, there clearly is if the woman in the wire reviewed one.

-- jed_ (colin_o_har...), September 8th, 2006. (jed)

so i tried to track down this 30 minute version and it seems that (internet) is right. i found several "colorado" files of around 30 minutes, all marked either advance or promo, but what they actually are is the 6 minute track followed by over 20 minutes of silence then a short bonus track of around 3 or so minutes.

so the question is - is there a 30 minute version? because i really can't understand the degree of lazy journalism that describes a 6 minute track as "clocking in at nearly 30 minutes". did she just look at her itunes playlist but not listen to the track?

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 22:32 (nineteen years ago)

maybe she was high when she listened to it and thought 30 minutes had passed.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 22:42 (nineteen years ago)

it is "the most enchanting track" though, so i guess she listened to it at least once.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 22:44 (nineteen years ago)

i can't stop listening to "colorado". i wish it was 30 minutes long.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 01:37 (nineteen years ago)

she's an idiot. My friend has the promo, that is the 30 minute track, a bonus track and colorado as normal. She clearlydidn't listen

teh Wire is a great magazine

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 02:17 (nineteen years ago)

can we compare this to anyone that isn't animal collective or vetiver? i have no idea what they sound like, and only understand "freak-folk" as meaning "new, and weirder than fairport convention." scott's saying it's a bad comparison, and he's getting agreement, but there aren't any other references through the thread! i clearly need to get to know "freak-folk" as a touchstone.

i am curious about this album because i like most of the adjectives above and, frankly, the cover is really nice. the line "drifting sand pop" makes me really curious. does this sound like archer prewitt's "gerroa songs"?

― derrick (derrick), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 08:41 (nineteen years ago)

it reminds me of the nonfree bits of Akron/Family.

it's not nearly so... classicist in style as Gerroa Songs. it's not just plain songs, adorned in lushness; it's a little more tricky than that.

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 08:57 (nineteen years ago)

you know, i would say someone like jim o'rourke, but i've only heard like one of his albums so i don't know why i would say that. the one i heard had similar guitars, maybe a banjo, that drifting ramshackle breeziness to it though. maybe that's why i say it.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 14:06 (nineteen years ago)

saw them last night open for TVOTR: the drummer makes the band. he doesn't even use a kick drum!

basically all their songs softly go "ahhhhhhh". at one point one guy was playing a flute, another a mandolin, and the drummer a xylophone and i thought "oh come on, fuck off".

but then again, it wasn't all that displeasing either.

― pinder (pinder), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 16:20 (nineteen years ago)

you are wrong about the live show, when I saw it in LA it was really dynamic. Lots of up and downs, harmonies, etc. Yeah, there are some aahs, but isn't that the beginning of every TV on the Radio song?

personally I prefer them to TV

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 18:36 (nineteen years ago)

xpost

huh, in vancouver? i know three people who were at that show. four now, i guess.

― derrick (derrick), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 18:40 (nineteen years ago)

at one point one guy was playing a flute, another a mandolin, and the drummer a xylophone and i thought "oh come on, fuck off

HUH?

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 18:41 (nineteen years ago)

TV on the Radio goes "oooooooh". Grizzly Bear goes "ahhhhh"

I just think it's funny that someone writes a song and decides the song really needs a flute, a mandolin, and a xylophone. Nothing malicious intended.

I actually quite liked Grizzly Bear live. The kind of show you like better the next day than you did after it was over. Like I said, the drummer was really good; very active without a kickdrum. I figured they wouldn't be very good live cause Horn of Plenty is a very headphone album for me. I listen to it when I want something quiet and lush and pleasing that's more folky than shoegaze, but don't have the energy to listen to Animal Collective.

Also, add Castanets to the "they remind me of...." list.

― pinder (pinder), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 20:36 (nineteen years ago)

have you heard the new album?
much better

What ever happened to the castanets?

― ()()()---()()() (internet), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 20:48 (nineteen years ago)

oh yea, i liked them.

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Wednesday, 4 October 2006 23:13 (nineteen years ago)

Grizzly Bear is the sound of beating The Castanets at their own game they're not bold enough to play

― like murderinging (modestmickey), Thursday, 5 October 2006 00:18 (nineteen years ago)

Shhhh... I'm (lurking, admittedly) right here. Every day. Feeling bold enough.
-Nets

― wolfwolfwolf (wolfwolfwolf), Thursday, 5 October 2006 03:35 (nineteen years ago)

one month passes...

I'm looking forward to seeing them live at the Scala--heard largely wonderful things. Was somewhat surprised at the reaction it had back home in the states compared to here in the UK. Here is didn't get that much attention (sadly) whereas back in the states it appears to be on top of everyone's lists, so much so rolling stone just did something on them. I guess we are too concerned with The Kooks right now to be bothered...A shame really. This album surely ranks high and above most of the releases this year.

― zippezappy (doomed), Wednesday, 8 November 2006 19:21 (nineteen years ago)

THE KOOOOOOOKS!!!!

― Owen Pallett (Owen Pallett), Wednesday, 8 November 2006 20:28 (nineteen years ago)

The show in San Francisco was really very awesome, and I subsequently purchased this fine CD.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Wednesday, 8 November 2006 20:42 (nineteen years ago)

This revival has inspired me to play it again. Tis indeed very fine.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 8 November 2006 21:02 (nineteen years ago)

Ah, San Francisco, and I'm assuming Sick Mouthy is in the states too. This supports my theory. The US gets this band and the UK does not. I shall see if I'm correct at the Scala show.

Is that really owen pallett?

― zippezappy (doomed), Wednesday, 8 November 2006 23:08 (nineteen years ago)

I really enjoyed Grizzly Bear at their Toronto show with TV On The Radio, and so did TV On The Radio. Most of the headliner's between-song banter focused on how good Grizzly Bear is. I found the Grizzly Bear performance kind of soothing, which was nice after a two-hour drive. I ended up buying Yellow House at the show and seem to be alternating between that and the new Califone for my listening pleasure.

― Binjominia (Brilhante), Wednesday, 8 November 2006 23:13 (nineteen years ago)

Smart Boy Binj, that califone is ACE

I'd say those 2 are in my top five of the year.

― zippezappy (doomed), Wednesday, 8 November 2006 23:17 (nineteen years ago)

I love listening to Grizzly Bear.
I like the "Deep Sea Diver" video too. Actually "fix it's" pretty good, too, the making out with manequinns and all.

― mox twelve (Mox twleve), Thursday, 9 November 2006 04:58 (nineteen years ago)

Sick Mouthy is definitely in the UK. not especially representative of the UK, though, perhaps.

― derrick (derrick), Thursday, 9 November 2006 09:13 (nineteen years ago)

Haha, yeah, very much in the UK but also in Devon, so considerably apart from it too!

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Thursday, 9 November 2006 09:59 (nineteen years ago)

well then that counts mr. mouthy

― zippezappy (doomed), Friday, 10 November 2006 02:20 (nineteen years ago)

i wouldn't have imagined that Americans that like Grizzley Bear were particularly representative of the US either.

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 10 November 2006 02:54 (nineteen years ago)

pretty decent-sized write-up in the new issue of rolling stone. they used the words "blog" and "hipster" a lot.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 10 November 2006 06:20 (nineteen years ago)

Rolling STone is writing about them?

blog and hipster is used for just about every band with mild notoriety coming out of the US these days it seems. Are there such th ings as blog bands from the UK?

― zippezappy (doomed), Friday, 10 November 2006 16:46 (nineteen years ago)

:( what horrible news!

Remaining Tour Dates Cancelled

Dear all,

It's with sad news we have to announce the cancellation of our final 12 European dates. Daniel's father has been struggling with cancer recently, and in the past few days he's gotten increasingly worse. We were already toying with the idea of coming home early so that Daniel could be with his family… but then the straw that broke the camel's back was when our van was broken into last night in Brussels and a good amount of our instruments and gear was stolen, leaving us literally with only the clothing on our backs. With that said, we are incredibly sorry to have to cancel. We don't have the money to buy new equipment right now and frankly, we are taking this as a sign that Daniel should get home immediately. We send all our thanks to the wonderful people that came out to our shows thus far this fall. Hopefully we'll have our lives sorted out this winter and can hit the road again sometime soon.

Many, many thanks and much love
Grizzly Bear

― sean gramophone (Sean M), Monday, 13 November 2006 05:15 (nineteen years ago)

Seems like there's been a lot of van break-ins lately...

I've really been digging Yellow House recently.

― Zachary Scott (Zach S), Monday, 13 November 2006 05:35 (nineteen years ago)

it's always the small bands that get screwed with this. I remember reading about film school having this happen too. big bands can afford big busses which are close to impenetrable and always have a driver sleeping on the bus.

This sucks really badly.

― zippezappy (doomed), Monday, 13 November 2006 09:00 (nineteen years ago)

Rolling Stone (and other print mags) routinely refer to Pitchfork as a blog-- they did in that Grizzly Bear review.

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 13 November 2006 13:53 (nineteen years ago)

mark i loved your review by the way. a lot.

― zippezappy (doomed), Monday, 13 November 2006 15:31 (nineteen years ago)

damn that really sucks. poor Grizzley Bear. was due to see them in just over a week.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 13 November 2006 19:19 (nineteen years ago)

Does anyone have the original version of Marla they could YSI?

― pernicus (pernicus), Thursday, 16 November 2006 18:40 (nineteen years ago)

that blows that people took their shit, huh

― Stephen Bush (Stephen B.), Thursday, 16 November 2006 18:44 (nineteen years ago)

getting your possesions stolen sucks so hard, my mom had her house broken into and they took a PHOTO ALBUM

who the fuck does that?

― pernicus (pernicus), Thursday, 16 November 2006 19:14 (nineteen years ago)

marla: http://download.yousendit.com/8628E54B512CED49

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 16 November 2006 19:58 (nineteen years ago)

whoa, the file is really corrupted, it's skipping like an old record player, which is funny because you can hear it was crapily recorded off of one. Sigh, I shall look elsewhere, but I appreciate the gesture Jed

― pernicus (pernicus), Thursday, 16 November 2006 20:15 (nineteen years ago)

are you taking the piss? the original of Marla is by Ed in the band's great aunt and was recorded in the 30s. this is the file. unless you can find an original 78 of it that's as good as your going to get.

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 16 November 2006 20:39 (nineteen years ago)

and, i mean, it's not actually a bad rip it just sounds the way records sounded then!

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 16 November 2006 20:42 (nineteen years ago)

something must have happened during the yousendit transfer. I'm not joking. It's skipping the whole time. You can't make out anything past the first 20 seconds. I'll try downloading it again!

― pernicus (pernicus), Thursday, 16 November 2006 21:22 (nineteen years ago)

ah ok, sorry! actually though, that corrupted file sounds excellent.

try this one:

http://www.yousendit.com/download/mYDKxZNQkY8%3D

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 16 November 2006 22:26 (nineteen years ago)

ah thank you I shall download it now

― pernicus (pernicus), Friday, 17 November 2006 01:08 (nineteen years ago)

However many months later, I am still stunned by the beauty of this album. this has to be one of the best releases of '06.

― like murderinging (modestmickey), Thursday, 23 November 2006 15:28 (nineteen years ago)

agreed. I have yet to get sick of it. I thought I was head over heels for Beirut, but I got tired of it. This, not yet, but it's bound to happen sometime soon.

― pernicus (pernicus), Thursday, 23 November 2006 17:38 (nineteen years ago)

three months pass...

I just discovered this album and love it. Reminds me a little bit of circulatory system--It alongside Destroyer's Rubies strike me as the albums of 2006 that will be still be enjoyed in 2007 and 8 and maybe 9.

― tornup_andhurt, Monday, 19 March 2007 00:23 (nineteen years ago)

I really dig this album, too, but I think if it has a shortcoming it's the homogeneity of it. They do that whole slow-moving piano bassline a little too much, and sometimes I wish the vocals wouldn't sound so distant. Still, I think it's quite beautiful.

― St3ve Go1db3rg, Monday, 19 March 2007 01:03 (nineteen years ago)

I see your point, although to my untrained ears, it doesn't sound so homogenous but fairly diverse, and the vocals always seem lush to me. It has a bit of a Lull in the flow, but I think on a whole it's really an album's album.

― tornup_andhurt, Monday, 19 March 2007 01:30 (nineteen years ago)

The vocals are nice sounding, they've just always got that same kind of effect on them, you know? It seems like it would be a little strange to make that decision, to say "This is how the voices on this record will sound" and have it be this kind of artificial thing. I wonder if they planned from the start to make it that way, or decided during mixing. Which isn't to say it doesn't work, though.

And I definitely think it works as a whole, and that's how I listen to it. I tend to hear it as "The Knife and other songs," though.

― St3ve Go1db3rg, Monday, 19 March 2007 01:35 (nineteen years ago)

Knife was not what I grabbed on to at first. I enjoy it but it's not my favorite.

To me it sounds like there are a few different vocalists, and that provides enough variety in sound to me I guess.

― tornup_andhurt, Monday, 19 March 2007 01:38 (nineteen years ago)

i got this album over the summer and listened to it and liked it allright. then i gave it another whirl a few months ago and was blown away. i don't know why i didn't get it the first time round. it's wonderful.

― Emily Bjurnhjam, Monday, 19 March 2007 02:52 (nineteen years ago)

these guys are a fantastic live group, all 4 members sing really well. they did a great version of 'she hit me, it felt like a kiss' when i saw them and the harmonies were all dead-on. compared to their live show, 'yellow house' is pretty underwhelming for me. i wish the recording was a bit crisper and not so soft and reverby. the songs still hold up pretty well, they just seem really subdued when i think about how they sounded in a live setting

― 6335, Monday, 19 March 2007 05:43 (nineteen years ago)

Anyone else see them do "The Knife" on Carson Fucking Daly? Every time I wonder why he's still on the air, he gives a band like this their national TV debut and I hate less.

― marmotwolof, Monday, 19 March 2007 06:03 (nineteen years ago)

haven't seen carson daly nor do I ever plan on watching carson daly but tha'ts pretty cool of him. I have however seen the insane video for Knife with the star trek creature that uses stones to make veins flow out of a dude wiht a huge head. it's really really really weird.

― tornup_andhurt, Monday, 19 March 2007 16:42 (nineteen years ago)

Yep. Dudes are totes zany.

― Drooone, Monday, 19 March 2007 21:29 (nineteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

Going to the LA Philharmonic / Grizzly Bear thingie in a bit. Mmmm. Firebird!

― Turangalila, Sunday, 2 March 2008 03:09 (eighteen years ago)

(They're doing a small set without the orchestra, toward the end, apparently)

― Turangalila, Sunday, 2 March 2008 03:15 (eighteen years ago)

Are we due a follow-up this year?

― Scik Mouthy, Sunday, 2 March 2008 08:00 (eighteen years ago)

They played a new song, fwiw, Nick. Nice guys.

― Turangalila, Sunday, 2 March 2008 09:04 (eighteen years ago)

two years pass...

fuck this album is hitting me hard right now. not sure why, haven't heard it in years, i think it just resonates really well with my new apartment or something

― sonderangerbot, Tuesday, 8 June 2010 17:46 (fifteen years ago)

two years pass...

http://sickmouthy.com/2013/02/12/grizzly-bear-yellow-house-2006-veckatimest-2009/

― they all are afflicted with a sickness of existence (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, 12 February 2013 22:00 (thirteen years ago)

four years pass...

the opening two tracks on this have stuck with me for years, although i recently rediscovered and fell hard for On a Neck, on a Spit. knowing they were obsessed with Jim O'Rourke's production on his solo records squares a lot of things - and yes, lots of VDP style layering & mixing. it's such an immersive & expansive sound

― flappy bird, Tuesday, 30 May 2017 05:58 (eight years ago)

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