Grizzly Bear (Band)

Ask Fan Landers: Will My Band Always Be Broke?

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you ... More >>

The Ten Best Concerts in New York This Weekend, 12/14/12

Here are the best concerts to check out around the city this weekend, in no particular order.

Live: Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival Quakes Over Williamsburg

Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival Various Venues Friday, November 9 and Saturday, November 10 Better Than:The EDM debate It's hard to believe the Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival started five years ago in what used to be BKLYN Yard, now known as Gowanus Grove, and to those in the know (a/k/a e ... More >>

New Pornographers' A.C. Newman Is Going To Start A Jam Band

Carl Newman, the New Pornographers frontman who also records apart from the group under the moniker A.C. Newman, just released his third solo offering, Shut Down the Streets, a couple of weeks ago. The album's equally inspired by two recent events -- the death of Newman's mother and the birth of his ... More >>

BEST OF NYC™
The Too-Much City Arts Options? Why, Yes—We Have a Few.

Myspace Was Better Than Facebook (For Music)

With Facebook's stock and growth rates skydiving, it's time to say something that should have been said a long time ago: Myspace was better. Maybe not when it came to its coding or those garish "personalized" pages, but definitely when it came to music. Back in the day -- say, about 2004 or so -- ... More >>

The Drums and Hospitality Are Popping Over

Riding the indie pop wave

Live: The MATA Festival Brings Brooklyn's Drones And Whirs To Roulette

2012 MATA Festival Roulette Friday, April 20 Better than: Figuring out how to play the Koyaanisqatsi German Blu-ray on an American TV. Between Charles de Gaulle interpreted by a coloratura soprano, a Deliverance-style duel pitting a player piano against a live pianist, and a 13-piece chamber suite ... More >>

Will The Chart-Topping Success Of fun.'s "We Are Young" Break Pop-House's Top 40 Stranglehold?

The new No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, crowned today, is the grandiose slice of car-commercial-approved arena-pop "We Are Young," by the trio fun. Thanks to some massive sales at iTunes and other digital outlets—302,000 of them last week—"Young" leapt over Kelly Clarkson's "What Doesn't ... More >>

Confuse the Market: Post-Crossover, Indie Retreats

Chuck Eddy Gets Collected

The Devil's advocate speaks in Rock And Roll Always Forgets

Where the Bands Eat: Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear and More

Kim Erlandsen​ Want to sip cocktails and eat with the Arcade Fire? Unless you are already an awesomely talented, famous musician, too bad! What you can do, however, is sit and subtly stare at them from a few tables over while eating deconstructed Niçoise salads and sipping glasses of Bulleit ... More >>

Live: Wilco Braves The Elements In Central Park

Wilco w/Nick Lowe Central Park SummerStage Friday, September 23 Better than: Standing in one place for two hours in the rain in Central Park without Wilco. The dudes from NYCTaper peer up at the steady falling rain and the umbrella perched over their microphones, worried that the drops' patter ... More >>

Live: People Gather To Watch Jay-Z And Kanye's Throne, See The Stars

​ The Throne (Watch The Throne listening session) Hayden Planetarium Monday, August 1 Better than: any listening session I've ever been to. Album listening parties have almost always existed as excuses to drink on the record company's dwindling dime, the music itself largely ignored; backgro ... More >>

Download: Marques Toliver's Dreamy, Minimalist "White Sails"

Amelia Shivani Faldo​Gifted 24-year-old songsmith Marques Toliver is a heartstring-plucking amalgam of music-school-trained violin shred, the Williamsburg avant-boho vibe of pals like Grizzly Bear and TV On The Radio, and a deep-seated love of contemporary R&B--though, as he tells i-D, "If I h ... More >>

Was 2010 The Best Year For Music Ever? Five SOTC Critics Discuss.

Great song, at least​Welcome to Sound of the City's year-in-review rock-critic roundtable, an amiable ongoing conversation between five prominent Voice critics: myself, Zach Baron, Sean Fennessey, Maura Johnston, and Rich Juzwiak. Let us acknowledge at the onset that we are ripping this off fr ... More >>

The 10 Biggest Music Stories of 2010

Ah M.I.A., it just wasn't your year, was it? Photo by Rebecca Smeyne.​In 2010, Vampire Weekend and Arcade Fire both had #1 records. LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, MGMT, the National, M.I.A, and Sufjan Stevens all had albums debut in the top ten. Kanye West joined Twitter. Drake started a riot in New ... More >>

Was Animal Collective Really the Hipster?

​Making the rounds this week is a New York Magazine article entitled "What Was the Hipster?" Written by n 1's Mark Greif, the piece is meant as a critical history of an era pegged to have lasted just 10 years, from 1999 to 2009. The moment supposedly began with the move of Vice magazine from M ... More >>

Do Yourself a Favor: Dirty Projectors' Bassist Nat Baldwin Tonight For Free at Zebulon

Nat Baldwin's most visible credit at the moment may be his longstanding affiliation with Dirty Projectors. But the classically trained bassist has been sawing away at bull-fiddle tummies for far longer than Dave Longstreth's been serenading whales. Over the years, the New Hampshire native has appe ... More >>

Jay-Z's Ten Most Shameful Rock and Roll Moments

​Yesterday, it was announced that Jay-Z would be joining U2 on the band's five-date tour of Australia come November. It makes sense: in addition to commingling at the top of the Forbes 2010 Music Earners List, Jay-Z and U2 have performed together before--more than once, in fact. (Never forget ... More >>

Live From Last Night's New Twilight Movie Premiere: Death Cab for Cutie is "Team Jacob," Apparently

They brought dolls.​ We all have our opinions on whether or not a group of abdominal-flaunting werewolves should be getting their thang on to Grizzly Bear via Twilight, but it's time we hear it straight from the fans themselves. Thus, I ventured to Union Square's Regal Cinema last night; ther ... More >>

Oh, Yes, It's Devo

When it comes to high-art subversion, these guys still have everyone whipped

Chuck Schumer Is a Congressional Hipster, the Senator Repping Williamsburg

​There is no arguing that Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) is a fucking hipster. But is there anything of substance to speak of behind those thick frames, perhaps an Etsy account or a collection of rare 7" records? She certainly has nothing to do with the free concerts ("Pool Parties") tha ... More >>

Jamie Lidell Stops Overdoing It

Techno-soul's roughest smooth-talker gets messy on Compass

Talking With Here We Go Magic's Luke Temple About His Band's New Single, "Collector"

Yes In My Backyard is a semiweekly column showcasing MP3s from new and emerging local talent. ​Buzz-folkies Here We Go Magic are returning in June with their second album, Pigeons. It's a monster release for the Brooklyn band--their first for Secretly Canadian, their first as a five-piece ban ... More >>

Take Donald Glover, Aziz Ansari, and Das Racist's Joke Rap Seriously

A new generation of MCs grapple with how funny they're allowed to be

Live: St. Vincent and Bon Iver Sing Your (Dad's) Favorites at BrooklynVegan's Haiti Benefit

St. Vincent, Britt Daniel, Bon Iver, Zach Galifianakis, Janeane Garofalo, and more Haiti Benefit @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg Saturday, January 23 BrooklynVegan might best be known for having the most obnoxious commenters in the entire music blogosphere (which, in fairness, is certainly no small ... More >>

Pazz & Jop Bonus #2: The Voice Jay-Z Interview, Uncut

"I just love the Grizzly Bear. That project was great. It sounds like these church cathedral chords--it's just sick what they're doing." ​In 2009, Jay-Z rolled, grabbing his first number one record and--to the rapper's own surprise--a victory in our 37th Annual Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll. "When ... More >>

Parsing the Record Sales of Pitchfork's Top 10 Albums of the Year

​Matthew Perpetua posts the numbers behind one of the more visible/influential year-end lists out--so what do they mean? Well, for one thing, the once and future Brooklyn triumvirate of Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, and Dirty Projectors really sold records. About 300K of them, to be exact-- ... More >>

The Listening Habits of New Yorkers in 2009, Revealed

​According to Last.fm, anyway. No real surprises--we listened to way more Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jay-Z, etc. than did the rest of the world. Plus we basically stole Phoenix from France and Girls from California. For a kind of smug satisfaction, watch as music crops u ... More >>

The Clipse Go Apartment Shopping in NYC

Clipse in NYC. Photo by Rebecca Smeyne​Hey, so the Brothers Thornton are moving here. Vulture even went apartment shopping with them! There are many good details in the ensuing piece, not limited to the revelation that Pusha and Mal do not use their government names, even when they're talking ... More >>

Help Save Jelly NYC's Pool Parties

We loved these things so much we had M. Wartella make this graphic that you're probably in somewhere.​The last days of summer at Jelly NYC's Pool Parties brought the curious sight of New York Senior Senator Chuck Schumer gladhanding hipsters and swaying, like Jay-Z, to the sinuous sounds of Gr ... More >>

Solange Knowles Covers the Dirty Projectors' "Stillness Is the Move"

Remember that time Solange and La La photographed themselves dancing to Animal Collective?​Alright, we give, we give: space r&b hero Solange Knowles covering the Dirty Projectors' spaced-out proto-r&b jam "Stillness Is the Move." Those wondering why her sister Beyonce and Jay-Z can be found th ... More >>

The Second Act of Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson

He's through writing about himself—and he means it this time

Live: Jay-Z Celebrates Life, Death, and The Blueprint 3 at Madison Square Garden

Jay-Z and Madison Square Garden have a little history between them. In 2003, on the occasion of his retirement, Jay-Z recorded his MSG farewell concert on 35MM film. That footage became Fade To Black, the single best concert film of the decade. In 2009, on the occasion of the eight year anniversar ... More >>

Fashion Week in Review: St. Vincent at Rachel Comey, Fiery Furnaces at Vena Cava, a Grizzly Bear at Both

​ How do you know if you're at a super hip Brooklyn fashion designer's show? Just look for the super hip Brooklyn band playing the catwalk. Rachel Comey scored the lovely sounds of St. Vincent while Lisa Mayock and Sophie Buhai of Vena Cava recruited the Fiery Furnaces to set the moods at the ... More >>

News Roundup: Jay-Z, Them Crooked Vultures, Grizzly Bear/Michael McDonald, Michael Jackson

​ --Jay-Z held a formal news conference yesterday to discuss plans for his upcoming Answer the Call September 11th benefit show at Madison Square Garden. Sitting beside Governor Patterson, Jay remembered September 11, 2001, the day the original Blueprint was released, and the days that followe ... More >>

News Roundup: Oasis, Grizzly Bear, Thom Yorke

​--Noel Gallagher has posted a statement regarding his reasons for quitting Oasis minutes before the band was to go onstage at the Rock en Seine festival in France. On the band's website, Gallagher wrote that "the level of verbal and violent intimidation towards me, my family, friends and comr ... More >>

The Top 10 Records Sold Last Week at Generation Records in the West Village

In 2009, the traditional practice of exchanging physical copies of records for money is a trade that might best be called quixotic. But New Yorkers are stubborn people, and the record store is not dead. Below, the top ten records that sold in the last week at a store near you. Photo of the Gaslig ... More >>

Wilco at Keyspan Park (The Live Review)

photo by Harry Shuldman Wilco/Yo La Tengo 13 July 2009 KeySpan Park Brooklyn, NY Things Wilco are not (the American Radiohead; uncute). Things Wilco are (strummable; a great band to sing along to on a breezy eve on Coney Island, where they played last night in centerfield of KeySpan Park). Steeple ... More >>

Another Indie Label Goes the Totally Free Route

Magic Bullet, the erstwhile Virginia hardcore label and early home to bands like Cave In, Frodus, and Boy Sets Fire, recently announced a partnership with the online music start-up GimmeSound to give a large part of their catalogue away, for free:

News Roundup: David Archuleta's Pervy Dad, Shows at the Guggenheim, Jack White, Tom Delonge

--Jeff Archuleta, the overeager stage dad of 2008 American Idol contestant David Archuleta, has been charged with soliciting a massage parlor hooker. The charge stems from a January raid on a Midvale, Utah parlor after police conducted a five-day investigation. Archuleta's lawyer maintains his clien ... More >>

The Black Eyed Peas Steamroll the Charts

The Black Eyed Peas, whose The E.N.D. is completely successful as a work of bonkers zeitgeist, if not as an actual record--although SOTC officially pretty much fucks with about 60% of it--sold an astonishing 304,000 copies its first week out. Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away, the Dirty Projector ... More >>

Grizzly Bear Are Top Ten Material: Take That, Montgomery Gentry

The first week sales figures are in for Grizzly Bear, the scrappy, very well-exposed Brooklyn native sons whose Veckatimest seems to be the most all-around well-liked record of the year so far, certain critics at the Times notwithstanding. The band's sold 33,000 copies of their third studio album (n ... More >>

Final Fantasy & Grizzly Bear

OF COVERS AND CULTURE

New York turns 40

Learning to Fly Solo

Canadian rock stars alternately please crowd, themselves

Stravinsky Meets Scrooge McDuck

On the classical excellence, heaving cellos, and cartoonish zeal of Nico Muhly

Noise from the Front

For the week of February 28-March 6, 2007

Hard Targets

The rockneck-inducing splendor of Earl Greyhound