Grizzly Bear Painted Ruins 2017 LP

Listening to their recent Song Exploder episode alongside others gave me the impression of lots of interesting demo ideas made too busy and homogenized once they got in a nice studio.

See, maybe I need to listen again, but "homogenized" is not the the word I would use. I love the sound of Grizzly Bear records, because even if there are lots of FX and studio tricks, to me they sound like really well recorded drums and guitars played through really good amps, very natural and jazzy, not at all clean, digital and homogenized.

I guess I mean a tendency to throw too many elements into the mix, which is made possible by good engineering, but I'm just in a phase where I want to hear more spare arrangements right now. I've only heard one or two songs from the new record though.

Yeah, I get you. But given that GB is more or less a prog band, shit's going to busy.

are there any acoustic guitars on this album or any songs that are reminiscent of 'On a Neck, On a Spit'?

On the subject of spacier/less busy arrangements, I think Will Calls (Marfa Demo) is one of their very best tracks.

listened to this twice and not sure where this will take me. on the fence as they say.

the highlight song for me so far is "Aquarian."

Ha, that's about the only one that hasn't clicked for me.

Three Rings, Neighbours, and Losing All Sense are my favourites.

Jeff Weiss on the new album: https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/nee7wq/grizzly-bear-is-invincible

I have bought tickets to see them in Manchester. Anyone else going?

I'm at a strange kind of "Sounds all right, wish I hadn't bought it though" point.

are you saying the old stuff is better? i bought all their albums in the past but now on Spotify.

i think this is getting better with each listen but only on listen four.

I've listened to this a lot and really, really like it. It's gone pretty much in the exact direction I wanted them to go in; a little more direct, a little more powerful, but still not obvious or predictable.

x-posts. Definitely not saying the old stuff is better. More that I've a vague feeling that I should have just spent the money on something else/I probably didn't need any more Grizzly Bear than I have ... and I just felt a compulsion to buy a CD. (I'm open to the idea that I'll change my mind and be glad I bought it, though).

I've come round to this quite a bit.

Good!

I'm seeing them live next Friday for the first time, at the Albert Hall in Manchester. Should be wonderful.

This has become the default weekend morning soundtrack in my house because my gf really likes it, and it's grown on me a lot. GB records take so long to reveal their hooks for me.

Fuck, this album.

Why does every release take so long to personally sink in? Why, with every release, do I initially think that this is the album where I'm on the verge to smugly declare "NEW JERSEY", only to subsequently grow to love almost all of the songs on it? Surely my faulty-ass ears, but still a mystery to me.

They were great live. Very powerful.

This is absent from a couple of the UK magazine polls - Mojo and Q - which feels a bit odd? Probably one of my two or three favourites of the year.

I don't know, I found it tremendously disappointing, even forgettable, which is not an adjective I'd use to describe their previous records.

all is forbidden -- all is forgotten

^ I would give it a few more spins, pomenitul. I felt the exact same way after two listens. Now, about eight spins later, it's in my top 20 of the year. It's definitely a grower.

And I'm not a GB fan, in general, which maybe you were. I didn't start loving their music until Shields.

I'm not a GB fan, but I at least usually know when they have a new record out. I am only just learning about this now.

Their profile ain't what it once was, is what I'm saying.

^yeah, that's fair. Shields was in my top ten of '12, so I'm more prone to know of a new album.

I felt like this had a big PR push (big Spotify billboards, for instance), strong critical reception, strong fan reception, well-received tour... so why is it absent from so many end-of-year polls? When The National, for instance, aren't? They feel, to me, like they're at similar points in their career in some ways. (Though The National are quite a lot bigger now, I guess.)

i'd bet their curation of the massive day of the dead project (of which incidentally "grizzly bear"'s "terrapin station" cover is my personal favorite) + the dessners' avant-garde activities (cantaloupe records + bang on a can etc) + the lead singer's wife being an erstwhile new yorker editor = ongoing behind the scenes highbrow cred points outstripping whatever aesthetic merits of the new grizzly bear record (which i happen to prefer to the new national record)

hmm I think also the National record is just more accessible, sounds warmer, simpler

At some point The National become like a huge band that gets played on pop radio next to Rihanna, right? I don't claim to understand it, but hey.

It does feel like no one cares about this GB record but it keeps getting a little better every time I hear it.

it's maximal in the best sense

I adore both bands lately, but The National seem an easier recommendation for me to friends who've stopped paying attention to new musics.

lol, bookmarks...

Somehow completely missed this one until now. Not sure if I wasn’t aware it was even out in 2017 or I just wasn’t in a place to care about a new GB record in 2017. But it’s really good!

Up there with their best, for sure

xp

Ok gonna go listen to it and stop knocking them.

― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Friday, May 5, 2017 7:58 PM (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol fuck, developing some real internet-induced dementia. I guess I didn't miss it but it also didn't really stick with me at the time

The new Daniel Rossen record is good. It's interesting to isolate his portion of their sound, and it's maybe a little too much of "his thing", but also Christopher Bear SHOWED UP on these tracks. Some really creative & slick drum parts on this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKEEbre1-yk

I knew he was a great drummer and also does scoring, but damn, this band had so much talent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvycoHMmJkk

might like this more than any grizzly bear album (it's between this and shields)

It starts well but the guitar patterns get gratingly repetitive. Is this just what he does

That fingerstyle flamenco thing? I guess it's just what he does.

Wow, I didn't know Shields was anyone's favorite GB album.

Yeah, Yellow House still feels far greater than anything else they released

I'm a Veckatimest/Painted Ruins guy