Year of the (Grizzly) Bear

Year of the (Grizzly) Bear

So unless you don't read anything online about music at all, you've realized that Grizzly Bear's heavily anticipated 3rd LP, Veckatimest came out last Tuesday. Consequently, the whole blogoverse went absolutely apeshit. I recently met the four of them at Sasquatch! and while I did not get the chance to interview them (I have no credentials!), I did find out that they were very gracious and down to earth people. So in the spirit of awesomeness, here are a few of the most interesting manifestations of people's obsessions with the glory that is Grizzly Bear (what a horrible sentence).

1. One of my favorite websites (that I recently discovered) is Black Cab Sessions. They basically feature really awesome artists doing creatively stripped down versions of really awesome songs. They recently did one for Grizzly Bear who played "All We Ask" which sounds absolutely gorgeous and intimate in the acoustic format. Oh the harmonies! That moment where Rossen takes over is orgasmic.

2.Here Grizzly Bear performs "Ready Able" on AOL Spinner's The Interface. The video doesn't quite capture their live (as in, with an audience) performance, but I thought it was still interesting to here them play something other than "Two Weeks" "Cheerleader" and "While You Wait for the Others" (all of which they also played).

3. Drowned in Sound had "Grizzly Bear Week" (we bloggers are sooo obsessed). Besides the standard album review, you can:
-look at a track by track analysis of Veckatimest,
-listen to GB's three favorite covers of their music,
-read indie-blogs by Wendy Rossen, Daniel's mom (Highly Recommended. She comes off as well informed, interested and unpretentious. Also, she mentions photos of "Ear Park" as well. Apparently the Department of Eagles album title is an actual place. "Tres amusant").
-Listen to Ed Droste talk to Laurent Brancowitz of Phoenix (also Highly Recommended)
-Read Christopher Bear's gumbo recipe, which I think is vegetarian (let me know how it tastes).

4. Stripped down, acoustic Grizzly Bear on WNYC with an interview to boot.