Veckatimest

Rolling Stone (p.73) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[This album] has a sound that is completely its own: an opulent, intimate rumble built on churning acoustic riffs, haunted croons and precise string parts." Spin (p.86) - "Steeped in Wilco's bittersweet Americana, and adding a Northeastern Gothic twinge, Grizzly Bear sound like they're trying to break your heart." Spin (p.33) - Ranked #4 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2009" -- "Grizzly Bear's third full-length is a coldly beautiful gem." Entertainment Weekly (p.64) - "The swirling gypsy dazzle of 'Southern Point' and 'Two Weeks,' with its lush Beach Boy melodies and jaunty piano jangle, are genuinely intoxicating." -- Grade: B+ Uncut - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A]mbitious, elegant....It's unquestionably a lovely record and it deserves to be heard on land, sea, indoors and out." CMJ - "The main clincher of this album is that it scoops you up and sweeps right through you....Gentle harmonies conjure swirls of pinks and tangerines, the vocals of band members are sinewy and lithe..." Billboard (p.56) - "Even with the generally lo-fi nature of Grizzly Bear's repertoire, the band manages to throw in a couple of rocking guitar riffs in tracks like 'Fine for Now' and 'While You Wait for the Others.'" Q (Magazine) (p.126) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "These former music students have constructed an album full of intricate songs that subtly changes with each listen....It's a beautiful piece of work." Pitchfork (Website) - "[C]arefully embellished, stripped bare when applicable, full of the joy of sounds colliding with other sounds....Only four guys so completely serious about music-making could come together to make an album this labor-intensive sound so airy, so natural." Record Collector (magazine) (p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Sporting production arrangements that sound simultaneously stripped and complex, this is the Bear's best album to date."

It's hard to decide what the most impressive thing about Veckatimest is: Grizzly Bear's ambition, which is seemingly boundless, or the fact that this boundless ambition never eclipses these songs. The band already made such an impressive leap from Horn of Plenty to Yellow House that an album to catch their breath would have been understandable. However, Grizzly Bear are most comfortable when they're challenging themselves, and Veckatimest delivers everything that Yellow House did and more. Just as that album blew off the dust and noise that covered Horn of Plenty's lo-fi sketches, this album's production clears away any remaining cobwebs, revealing these songs in all their intricate detail. That detail includes string quartet and choral arrangements by composer and conductor Nico Muhly on some tracks, but all of Veckatimest has a more rarefied air than any of Grizzly Bear's previous work. The band hints at the just how big the album's scope is with its first two tracks: "Southern Point"'s psychedelic folk-jazz throws listeners into its bustling acoustic guitars, piles of vocal harmonies, swishy drums, and various sparkling sounds, making it a disorienting and dazzling opening salvo. The gorgeous "Two Weeks," by contrast, is the album's most immediate moment, its "Would you always? Maybe sometimes? Make it easy? Take your time" chorus teetering elegantly between pleading and reassuring as it's buoyed by backing vocals courtesy of Beach House's Victoria LeGrand. From there, Veckatimest ranges from Yellow House-like rambles such as "Hold Still" and "Dory" -- which plays like a kissing cousin to "Little Brother" -- to elaborate, quicksilver suites like "I Live with You," which builds from the Brooklyn Youth Choir's vocals into skyward-climbing chamber pop, to "While You Wait for the Others" and "Cheerleader"'s deceptively simple pop. At the heart of all these songs are negotiations with someone close, as on "All We Ask"'s admission "I can't get out of what I'm into with you." Though the sheer heft of songs such as "Fine for Now" could easily topple the album's balance between ambition and intimacy, Grizzly Bear knows when to come in for close-focus moments like "About Face" and the final track, "Foreground" which, with its plaintive vocals and simple piano melody, is one of the band's most beautiful ballads yet. It's clear that Veckatimest was made for a lot of listening. Nearly every song feels like the musical equivalent of a big meal: there's lots to digest, and coming back for second (and thirds, and more) is necessary. ~ Heather Phares

最初はエド・ドロストのソロ・ユニットとしてスタートしたが、前作からバンド編成になったグリズリー・ベア。その影響もあってか、サウンドは一段とダイナミックになっている。エドのクラシック好きを反映して、曲によってオーケストラを導入。ビョークやアントニー&ザ・ジョンソンズの作品を手掛けてきたニコ・ミューリーがオーケストラ・アレンジを担当しているのも見逃せない。そのほか女性合唱団をフィーチャーするなど、様々なアイデアを組み立てて創り出した迷宮めいた歌の世界。実験的でありながら、たまらなく官能的だ。
intoxicate (C)村尾泰郎

レディオヘッドも絶賛するグリズリー・ベアの3作目は、催眠的なクリーン・ヴォイスとこの世のものとは思えないほど美しい残響を際立たせたサイケデリックな一枚に。アルバム・タイトルはバンドがインスパイアされたケープコッドにある無人島の名称（インディアンの名前を由来としているそう）で、音の雰囲気ともピッタリ。得意の儚げなコーラスとダイナミックなシンフォニーも冴え渡っている。　
bounce (C)小泉いな子