Featured Artist: Bear In Heaven

Bear In Heaven

What do you know? Another great band based in Brooklyn who plays psychedelic indie rock and experimental rock music. There's a catch with Bear In Heaven though. They create a sound that rivals that of extravagant film scores. They combine the genres of psych-rock, experimental rock and what's known as krautrock, which is a type of German experimental rock. Well, this krautrock genre must be the difference maker, because these guys are completely and totally organic. Their song structure is original and their music ranges from tightly knit electronica based tracks to long, sweeping prog-rock tunes. Pitchfork.com said that they seem to have made an album for an epic IMAX film. The band was formed in 2003 by Jon Philpot, who joined forces with Adam Wills, Sadek Bazarra, and Joe Stickney. Their first release was 2007's Red Bloom of the Boom which garnered little press. However, 2009's Beast Rest Fourth Mouth hit big in the US and UK. The album received a Best New Music label from Pitchfork.com and has gained a lot of attention out of the Brooklyn Indie scene. I really enjoy Bear in Heaven and I think they have created a sound that Pitchfork.com calls "music you will want to feel all around you."

Songs to Check Out:

- Beast In Peace

- You Do You

- Ultimate Satisfaction

- Fake Out

Review Session: Real Estate's Real Estate

Real Estate by Real Estate

Usually, when someone says Jersey Shore I imagine over-tanned, under-mannered guidos dancing like fools and drinking wine coolers. And when someone says music from Jersey Shore, I think Springsteen or Bon Jovi. However, in the case of Real Estate its fuzzy beach bums playing psychedelic surfer rock. Real Estate started with covers of Weezer and The Strokes, but when it came to the task of creating their own original album they took a different direction. Their self-titled debut album is simply amazing. From the opening track Beach Comber to the closer Snow Days the album arches across emotions, situations, and musical qualities. Heavily influenced by other great Jersey Shore Indie rockers Yo La Tengo, they approached their first album with the idea of accumulating their own influences and putting together their own sound. When listening to the album you can hear elements of The Shins, Modest Mouse, The Beach Boys, Menomena, Bibio and Yo La Tengo themselves. Do not go into the album thinking they copied these bands, they don't at all. The merely use them as a guide to create a river-esque flow of great music. Real Estate uses crisp, intertwined guitars, a slow and steady bass, and drums to match throughout the album. The technical aspect of their music is exquisite, and their haunting lyrics are apparent in each and every track. The band's chemistry is obvious as they play very reliable and appropriate tunes for the album. Real Estate's Real Estate is another amazing debut album in the year of 2009, but these guys are standing up to the best albums I have come across this year.

Rating = 8.6

Video: Pixies Hit "The Tonight Show"

Check out this video of my favorite band The Pixies!

Video: Pixies Hit "The Tonight Show"

Kyle's Korner: Fuck The Right Wing!

The time has come for me to put my political science studies into good use. I would say my political science degree but I can't say that til May. Anyways, in the past few weeks a lot of discussion has focused on the rate of change in a year after the election of Obama and also the "war" between the White House and Fox News. All of this got my mind aglow and my emotions stiring. After a few days of thought and reading and discussing these topics in class, I have come to some conclusions. All of them seem to deal with the right wing!

The first is that the conservatives in this country must have had a conference or something and decided they were going to rename themselves to the Grand Ol' Bullshit Party. The right wing didn't get mad when our President decided to fight an "illegal" war, when the government illegally wiretaped citizens, when congress passed the Patriots' Act (the worst bill ever), when we tortured prisoners of war, when the conditions at Walter Reed Veteren's Hospitial were exposed, when we let an entire city drown in the biggest governmental let down in the history of this country, or when our conservative supreme court intervened and decided an election which led to all of this. But they get mad at a President for trying to improve health care for Americans who cannot afford to have it. How Un-American of him!

The next is the "pace of change" issue Americans are having with the Obama administration. When you have an economy in the shitter, banks going under, and a floundering war in two countries on the other side of the world all because of George Walker "Texas Ranger" Bush and his trusty sidekick "Tricky" Dick, its difficult to change the things that you want to change. The fact that we aren't in a depression or that the Dow is over 10,000 is a bloody miracle if you look at what it was when Obama took office. We let a President make change quickly the last 8 years and look where it got us. Positive change takes time and ten months is not really much time. Let's talk about this after 2 years when we should be out of Iraq and have a thriving economy again. "Pace of change" my ass! Just another one of Fox News' conservative attempts to foster hatred towards Obama.

The last thing I would like to discuss is this "war" that Fox News is having with the White House because the White House said that Fox News is lying and making false statements about the Obama's reign. Well guess what Fox News? YOU ARE LYING! You make up these things about Death Panels and Illegal Immigrants getting benefits under the health care bill. Or how about Glenn Beck's comparison of Obama to Hitler. Or my favorite, that we are falling into a Socialist country. All completely false. By the way Socialism is amazing. Free college, free health care, lower crime rates, higher standards of living, and cleaner environments. That kind of sounds like what people really want in a country. Oh, so you have to pay higher taxes? That seems as if you want all those things without paying a price. That's freaking impossible! If you haven't seen Jon Stewart's attack on Fox News last week I recommend you check it out below.

It seems to me that the right wing wants Obama to fail. Actually thats exactly what they want. They want a divided country because they are miserable, self-loathing, biast assholes who have nothing better to do then pick apart a nation built on a foundation of unity amongst people with differing opinions. Thomas Jefferson may have disliked Federalists but he never made up bullshit about them. He simply did his best at convincing people he was right and they were wrong. Maybe if the right wing was right about anything they could do that too. With all this said I have only one last thing to say. Fuck the Right Wing!

Daily Show Video

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-october-29-2009/for-fox-sake-

Artists for the Next Decade

These are some bands or artists that I expect a lot out of the next decade. I look forward to seeing how wrong I was about these bands.

Arcade Fire

Well, I guess this one kind of speaks for itself. I mean they released in my opinion the greatest album of all time in 2004, Funeral, they released another brilliant album in 2007, Neon Bible, and well they may be responsible for Obama in the White House and the creation of the film Where The Wild Things Are. These guys are like Radiohead in the fact that everything they do is looked at as amazing, which is true unless you ask Wayne Coyne. Arcade Fire is young, they are musically beyond their years, and well their fan base is world-wide. I don't know if I ever expect them to top Funeral, but God I hope they try!

Yeasayer

If you have listened to Yeasayer at all over the past few years you know how creative and talented the are. Well, what if I told you that I think they will get better and better. With the release of All Hours Cymbals in 2007 they more then got their foot in the door of the indie music scene. Yeasayer has built a solid fan base over the last few years despite only releasing the one album. Their funky psych-pop-rock style of music is conducive to an endless potential of creativity. I can honestly see these guys making an album for the ages, and they have a chance with their next album Odd Blood due out in February.

Frightened Rabbit

If you haven't heard of or haven't listened to Frightened Rabbit, I would compare them to an angry Scottish version of The National. Lyrically the band essentially uses drunken tirades of sexual and emotional lashes against themselves and former lovers that turn out to be quite interesting despite their filth. Musically Frightened Rabbit has yet to hit their stride. I believe the talent is there, but it has yet to be harnessed into an album that is complete. That is why I am certainly interested in seeing where they go over the next decade.

Vampire Weekend

This NYC quartet's self-titled debut album hit the ground running and made a memorable mark on Indie music in 2008. They will be releasing a sophomore album in early 2010 and I know it is being highly anticipated by everyone who heard the first album. Whether you like them or not you must admit the are musically gifted and quite original and daft lyrically. If the can keep up the pace with very good to solid albums, this could be a helluva decade for these Columbia-educated boys.

Beirut

This is a personal pick. Beirut is one of my favorite bands and I follow their every move. With their double EP that came out earlier this year I saw that there is more to them then meets the eye. The amazing Zach Condon is creative and refreshes his music with everything he does. He is still young and there is about 90% of the world he hasn't written music in. That's a lot of cultural influence to delve into.

Grizzly Bear

Some are labeling Grizzly Bear as the greatest band out there right now. They are well-known world wide and critically acclaimed everywhere. They have released at least two top-notch albums in the 2000's with Yellow House and the immortal Veckatimest. With their haunting indie folk take on music they are more than capable of creating something special. I mean more special then what they have already accomplished, and that is saying a lot. With the exception of Arcade Fire they are the most accomplished band on this list and I am incredibly excited to see what the future holds bright for them.

Japandroids

The second-coming of Sonic Youth is embodied in the duo of Japandroids. I know that is a lot to put on these Vancouver-based rockers but I truly love them and I truly think they have what it takes to live up to that billing. Post-Nothing is their 2009 dynamic debut album with the booming song Young Hearts Spark Fire sitting in the two slot. One of the best songs of the year to go along with one of the best albums of the year. In a very good year for Indie music they managed to make a lasting impression. Will they be able to stay creative enough in the next decade? I think (hope) so.

Bon Iver

Justin Vernon is the man behind the music here and he maybe one of the most talented musicians we've seen this decade. So with one album under Bon Iver and one under Volcano Choir I look forward to some damage done by Vernon. Most likely he will be doing this with Bon Iver as their debut album was one of the best seen in the 2000s. Bon Iver has a woodsy-folk style that stands alone in the genre of folk music. Its sweet, yet sad and emotional, yet soft. Its remarkable how good an album can be when the music is simple but sensational. If you haven't hit these guys up or checked out Volcano Choir, please do so, because there is something about Justin Vernon that is special.