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Brooklyn's Grizzly Bear return May 25th with a new album Veckatimest (pronounced veck-ah-tim-est) , the follow up to the 2006's critically adored 'Yellow House'.
Featuring contributions from Beach House's Victoria Legrand and classical composer Nico Muhly, the album is named after a beautiful uninhabited island off the the coast of Massachusetts.
Featuring contributions from Beach House's Victoria Legrand and classical composer Nico Muhly, the album is named after a beautiful uninhabited island off the the coast of Massachusetts.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I first got hold of this album when it came out last year. I played it two or three times and to be honest - it completely failed to grab me. I knew there was a tremendous amount of hype around it but whatever that was about went straight over my head. After reading a few of the reviews I decided to give it another go a few weeks back, as I was intrigued as to what i was missing in this
I have to say straightaway that whilst I still find a few faults with Veckatimest, it has grown on me considerably. When this is good it really does approach brilliance. And for me the best of the album is from the middle onwards. Looking at this now I think it's the first two tracks that put me off. 'Southern Point' I like better now although like one or two other tracks I still think that the odd moment drifts to the bad side of 70s rock music. Maybe it's just me but I hear a faint echo of Steely Dan on at least one track, and I'd hate to think Grizzly Bear will drift down a mid 70s corporate rock/Eagles type gig... . I'm still unconvinced by 'Two Weeks'. I don't know but the piano-driven rock behind this track brings to mind a close resemblance to a Keane song. Perhaps that's what threw me? Still these criticisms are minor really. What I do like is the way the album builds after this. I'm loving the backing vocals and at times their placement is utterly sublime. The closing two tracks though are the standout of the album. 'I Live with You' is a dreamy classic and highlights the best of this record, when it's at its most ethereal and otherworldy is oddly when it packs its biggest punch. 'Foreground' is a fabulous way to bow out of the album and really leaves me wanting more. A very beautiful ending. (8.5/10)
I have to say straightaway that whilst I still find a few faults with Veckatimest, it has grown on me considerably. When this is good it really does approach brilliance. And for me the best of the album is from the middle onwards. Looking at this now I think it's the first two tracks that put me off. 'Southern Point' I like better now although like one or two other tracks I still think that the odd moment drifts to the bad side of 70s rock music. Maybe it's just me but I hear a faint echo of Steely Dan on at least one track, and I'd hate to think Grizzly Bear will drift down a mid 70s corporate rock/Eagles type gig... . I'm still unconvinced by 'Two Weeks'. I don't know but the piano-driven rock behind this track brings to mind a close resemblance to a Keane song. Perhaps that's what threw me? Still these criticisms are minor really. What I do like is the way the album builds after this. I'm loving the backing vocals and at times their placement is utterly sublime. The closing two tracks though are the standout of the album. 'I Live with You' is a dreamy classic and highlights the best of this record, when it's at its most ethereal and otherworldy is oddly when it packs its biggest punch. 'Foreground' is a fabulous way to bow out of the album and really leaves me wanting more. A very beautiful ending. (8.5/10)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Veckatimest is an uninhabited island close to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Veckatimest the album, however, is deceptively full of life. This is one of a series of paradoxes at the heart of this record. It feels awkward, each note having been carefully chosen, or composed, as some have suggested, but it comes across entirely comfortable with its nods to folk and experimentalism. It feels adventurous, but in an entirely safe way, like taking a trip after many hours happy reflection deep within the folds of a forgiving sofa, but only to the lush confines of some walled garden.
There will be and have been inevitable comparisons made with Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion. Both records are experimental and have had loose genres such as folk, pop and generic indie, even combinations thereof, thrown at them with the hope one might stick. The Animal Collective album however was full of giddy abandon; Veckatimest is truly hammock-worthy in its more relaxed approach.
The close harmonies of West Coast classics live on in this record, as they did in Fleet Foxes' successful release last year. Yet, there is much more at play here. The infectious bounce of `Two Weeks' is loveable in a way Fleet Foxes were not, which is to say, if they were `White Winter Hymnal', then this is summertime swoon.
The vocal is ever warm and dreamy to the point of Deerhunter. `Cheerleader' strongly recalls the considered plod of Bradford Cox's `Saved By Old Times'. The bubbling harmony, acoustic strumming, plucks and mid-tempos that start `Dory' bring Department of Eagles to mind. The orchestral quality of `Hold Still', with its choir-like vocal hints at the scope of the album's potential. `While You Wait For The Others' confirms it with its epiphanic and soaring vocal. Whilst it is not all about the vocal, here, it firmly is. Album closer, `Foreground', proves this and ushers the listen to a close with twinkles in ivory-tickled tristesse - a touching and fitting close to an album, which if not immediate, nor, curiously, especially memorable, does affect the listener in its sentiment and aesthetic.
Whether an injection of urgency would have cooked the mix too quickly or woken it from its comfortable reverie we will never know. Nevertheless, what is certain is that one Veckatimest is sure to be full of admirers from here on in.
There will be and have been inevitable comparisons made with Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion. Both records are experimental and have had loose genres such as folk, pop and generic indie, even combinations thereof, thrown at them with the hope one might stick. The Animal Collective album however was full of giddy abandon; Veckatimest is truly hammock-worthy in its more relaxed approach.
The close harmonies of West Coast classics live on in this record, as they did in Fleet Foxes' successful release last year. Yet, there is much more at play here. The infectious bounce of `Two Weeks' is loveable in a way Fleet Foxes were not, which is to say, if they were `White Winter Hymnal', then this is summertime swoon.
The vocal is ever warm and dreamy to the point of Deerhunter. `Cheerleader' strongly recalls the considered plod of Bradford Cox's `Saved By Old Times'. The bubbling harmony, acoustic strumming, plucks and mid-tempos that start `Dory' bring Department of Eagles to mind. The orchestral quality of `Hold Still', with its choir-like vocal hints at the scope of the album's potential. `While You Wait For The Others' confirms it with its epiphanic and soaring vocal. Whilst it is not all about the vocal, here, it firmly is. Album closer, `Foreground', proves this and ushers the listen to a close with twinkles in ivory-tickled tristesse - a touching and fitting close to an album, which if not immediate, nor, curiously, especially memorable, does affect the listener in its sentiment and aesthetic.
Whether an injection of urgency would have cooked the mix too quickly or woken it from its comfortable reverie we will never know. Nevertheless, what is certain is that one Veckatimest is sure to be full of admirers from here on in.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Shocked to see any negative reviews of Veckatimest. I still listen to it all the time- from first song to the last song it is truly fantastic.
It's only flaw is that it's too perfect.
It's only flaw is that it's too perfect.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Precisely crafted
Featuring outstanding production and varied instrumentation, this is a lush pop record. The record is meticulously crafted with each track being a very deliberate and complete... Read more
Published on 5 Feb 2010 by J. W. Evelyn
Veckatimest Review
Since purchase of this album I have been playing it non stop.
It is expressed as indie but it covers many different genres. Read more
It is expressed as indie but it covers many different genres. Read more
Published on 25 Jan 2010 by Mr. Ed Shean
I tried
I really, really tried with this album. I heard some very early Grizzly Bear stuff a while back (Deep Sea Diver sticks in the mind) and I had heard a couple of tracks off this one. Read more
Published on 25 Nov 2009 by Mr. M. Read
not as good a si expected
too twangy and too clangy, insufficiently ispirational and emotive - i want music that lifts me into the stratospere not drags me down among the neighbour's dustbins
i prefer... Read more
i prefer... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2009 by LUCINDA
Eclectic indie rock
I first saw this band on the Jool's Holland show earlier in the year. I think they played 'two weeks' which intrigued me and I wanted to hear more so I bought the album and was not... Read more
Published on 25 July 2009 by J. D. Berry
Ain't no Fleet Foxes
I can hear the connection, but I ain't feeling the joy. I turned to Grizzly Bear for a second hit of harmony, new melody, and folk influenced storytelling, but came away... Read more
Published on 9 July 2009 by Mr. K. O. Regan
Deserves every success
I doubt Grizzly Bear's sonorous brand of chamber pop will be pumping out on Radio 1 any time soon, and it's probably a bit too unusual for Radio 2. Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2009 by Jonathan Birch
A Bear Necessity
Once in a while an album comes along which puts much of what
one has come to know and love about popular music to the test. Read more
one has come to know and love about popular music to the test. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2009 by The Wolf
BUY THIS ALBUM.
I first heard this album about 5 days ago, and i literally haven't stopped playing it since. I was slightly dubious as to what it would sound like having not been a huge fan of... Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2009 by Midori Bear
Cape Cod's Craft
2009 has created a curse. 2009 has stumbled. The moment one sorry soul muttered the words "album of the year?? Read more
Published on 31 May 2009 by Mr. J. Milton
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