Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear are a four man band from Brooklyn, NY that have quietly become one of the best bands on Earth by letting their breathtaking music speak for itself, and terraform the scene around them. Since their breakthrough 2006 album Yellow House, the band has laid low and still produced some of the best music of the last few years. The Friend EP reworked old songs beautifully and hinted at future directions. Daniel Rossen's 2008 side project, Department of Eagles, was deservedly lauded by critics and fans of the group. Yet the world has changed since Yellow House. Fleet Foxes have broken through critically and to the masses with a sound akin to that of Grizzly Bear and pals Animal Collective have finally gotten the audience they deserve with Merriweather Post Pavillion. The time is right for Grizzly Bear's new LP, Veckitimest (named after an uninhabited island in New England) to artistically dominate when it's released on May 26th. It promises to be a more pop affair than the progressive folk-rock of Yellow House and their 2004 debut LP, Horn Of Plenty based on the songs the band has already debuted.

"While You Wait For Others" is just fucking drop dead gorgeous. Delicate sounds make way for triumphant crashes and ethereal harmonizing and the thunderous finish makes you want to just hit repeat over and over. The band unveiled this gem on NPR's Morning Becomes Eclectic, and I've been playing the shit out of it ever since.

MP3- While You Wait For Others

"Two Weeks" was debuted on Letterman and it's every bit the equal of "While You Wait For Others" in quality. Words are harder to come by in explaining it's genius, but I'll just say the band's vocal harmonizing enters the realm of justifying the adjective "heavenly" near the end.

MP3- Two Weeks

If you're new to Grizzly Bear check out Yellow House posthaste! Here's one of the best off that album and, what the hell, ONE OF THE BEST OF THE LAST DECADE- "Knife".

MP3- Knife

Just because I love you, here's the Girl Talk remix of "Knife" that adds "Wamp Wamp" by Clipse as well as other fun shit to create one of my favorite mash-ups of all time.

MP3- Knife (Girl Talk Remix)

Off the Friend EP, comes the band's reworking of Horn Of Plenty's "Alligator" which goes from being a poetic aside to a triumphant blast of sound that bowls me over every time.

MP3- Alligator (Choir Version)