It’s beginning to look as if, in certain online circles, there’s going to be quite a fuss around the new Grizzly Bear album, “Veckatimest” – comparable perhaps to the heat around the Animal Collective record at the end of last year. Security’s comparably tight around “Veckatimest” – ironic considering it was Grizzly Bear themselves who benignly leaked a couple of “Merriweather Post Pavilion” tracks – but we did manage to sneak one listen yesterday. A lot to take in on one listen, so I’ll hold off a proper preview until I get hold of my own copy, but first impressions suggest that if you enjoyed the breadth and atmospherics of “Yellow House”, the delicately-threaded melodies, a sort of grandeur and otherness that remains magically subtle and unself-conscious, then you’ll be fine with “Veckatimest”. I guess a few people will be expecting more compacted, shaped songs in the vein of the Department Of Eagles album, but that’s not really the case. Lovely stuff – and no, before you ask, I’m not going to leak it, stream it, post MP3s or anything like that. Some more good new arrivals among this lot, along with a couple of donkeys. 1 The Hold Steady – A Positive Rage (Rough Trade) 2 The Rockingbirds - The Rockingbirds (Heavenly) 3 Rodriguez – Coming From Reality (Light In The Attic) 4 Prefuse 73 – Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (Warp) 5 Cluster – Grosses Wasser (Water) 6 Peter Walker – Spanish Guitar (Birdman) 7 Royal Bangs – We Breed Champions (City Slang) 8 Richard Swift – The Atlantic Ocean (Secretly Canadian) 9 Love Is All – A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night (What’s Your Rupture) 10 Part Chimp – Thriller (Rock Action) 11 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz! (Polydor) 12 Pink Mountaintops – Outside Love (Jagjaguwar) 13 Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (Warp) 14 Wildbirds & Peacedrums – The Snake (Leaf) 15 The Juan Maclean – The Future Will Come (DFA) 16 Omar-S – Detroit: Fabric 45 (Fabric) 17 Alasdair Roberts – Spoils (Drag City)
It’s beginning to look as if, in certain online circles, there’s going to be quite a fuss around the new Grizzly Bear album, “Veckatimest” – comparable perhaps to the heat around the Animal Collective record at the end of last year. Security’s comparably tight around “Veckatimest” – ironic considering it was Grizzly Bear themselves who benignly leaked a couple of “Merriweather Post Pavilion” tracks – but we did manage to sneak one listen yesterday.
A lot to take in on one listen, so I’ll hold off a proper preview until I get hold of my own copy, but first impressions suggest that if you enjoyed the breadth and atmospherics of “Yellow House”, the delicately-threaded melodies, a sort of grandeur and otherness that remains magically subtle and unself-conscious, then you’ll be fine with “Veckatimest”. I guess a few people will be expecting more compacted, shaped songs in the vein of the Department Of Eagles album, but that’s not really the case.
Lovely stuff – and no, before you ask, I’m not going to leak it, stream it, post MP3s or anything like that. Some more good new arrivals among this lot, along with a couple of donkeys.
1 The Hold Steady – A Positive Rage (Rough Trade)
2 The Rockingbirds – The Rockingbirds (Heavenly)
3 Rodriguez – Coming From Reality (Light In The Attic)
4 Prefuse 73 – Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian (Warp)
5 Cluster – Grosses Wasser (Water)
6 Peter Walker – Spanish Guitar (Birdman)
7 Royal Bangs – We Breed Champions (City Slang)
8 Richard Swift – The Atlantic Ocean (Secretly Canadian)
9 Love Is All – A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night (What’s Your Rupture)
10 Part Chimp – Thriller (Rock Action)
11 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz! (Polydor)
12 Pink Mountaintops – Outside Love (Jagjaguwar)
13 Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (Warp)
14 Wildbirds & Peacedrums – The Snake (Leaf)
15 The Juan Maclean – The Future Will Come (DFA)
16 Omar-S – Detroit: Fabric 45 (Fabric)
17 Alasdair Roberts – Spoils (Drag City)