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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is a song for you, July 14, 2007
"Horn of Plenty" is an odd debut album for a band, since it was created before the band proper existed.
Instead, the first Grizzly Bear album is largely the efforts of Ed Droste, and he spreads himself over several genres -- freakfolk, pop, psychedelica and post-rock, layered together into gentle, hypnotic melodies. It's like sitting through a fuzzy, colourful dream and waking just in time for the remixes.
It opens with strange animal noises, and a reverberent hum... and a gentle guitar under a thin layer of murmuring keyboard. It sounds like someone doped Grandaddy. "I'm a deep sea diver with my fins/and underneath your current I do swim," Droste murmurs distantly. "I'm a deep sea diver losing air/and around here I'm sad swimming/you don't care..."
Things get slightly more upbeat in the gentle tripfolk of "Don't Ask" ("I fell into your arms that night/Don't ask"), before trickling into a series of fuzzy, gentle songs: exotic scratchy electropop, fluting indie-rock, ghostly ballads, lo-fi tunes that sound like they were recorded over a walkie-talkie, and shifting epics of shimmering freakfolk. It all finishes up with "This Song," a gentle guitar pop melody that may have a beat, but is as drowsy as a lullaby.
And this release has a second disc of remixed songs, which gives the mellow songs new twists -- jangling strings, a psychedelic reworking, funky dance beats, gentle electronic waves, maracas, grimy rock edges, carnival rock, hard techno, and what sounds like radio static. And these are all done by some brilliant artists -- Final Fantasy, Dntel, Ariel Pink, Efterklang, the Castanets, Alpha, Solex and Safety Scissors.
Grizzly Bear doesn't sound anything like its name would imply -- no rough edges, no rock, no wildness. Just very soothing, mellow fuzz-folk and gently lo-fi indie-postrock, which sounds like a worn-out, half-asleep freakfolker slowly drifting out to sea, in a mist of dreams. Yes, it's that endearing and pretty, but without an ounce of pretension.
Musically, it's layered like the Grand Canyon. At the core, it's made up of gentle guitar riffs and wandering acoustic melodies, but then Droste quietly weaves different sounds over it -- a haze of fuzz, ghostly synth, rattling drums, gentle keyboard melodies, some squiggling vinyl and crackling radio sounds, and a sprinkling of bells, tambourines, flutes, birdsong and other little sounds.
Droste does the same thing with his mellow, gentle, sad voice -- in "Showcase" he layers, echoes and harmonizes with himself, until it sounds like a chorus of Drostes are melting into the powerful melody. Lyrics are almost superfluous, but Droste spins a series of bittersweet songs about wishing that you hadn't lost someone ("My chest hurts a lot tonight/Maybe you can fix that... And when I walk on by, I see you waving...").
Grizzly Bear's debut album is a fuzzy, mournful little gem, and the bonus disc of remixes is pretty good too. Bittersweet, dreamlike and thoroughly enchanting.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
it grows on you, December 29, 2005
this album grew on me a lot this year, so much so I went back and got the remixes which are also strong, but personally I find the originals far more captivating. interestingly ignored by many, this album is a slow burner of quiet but haunting and gorgeous songs. definitely needs close listening before it's subtle beauty reveals itself.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly suggested, January 23, 2006
Listen to this at night time when you're driving by yourself in the woods. I promise you'll fall in a hazy love with it. I'm going to admit that on my first listen with this album, I felt like it probably had some good songs, but that it didn't appeal to me immediately. However, as with most of the other reviews I've read for it, after a couple listens, the album has grown on me in a way that no other album as done before. If you give it a couple listens, honestly, the songs kind of work their magic on you. Theyre beautifully soft and quiet examples of great melodies and harmonies. Each track fits perfectly on the album. It's just a fine example of a hauntingly beautiful piece of music that doesn't force itself on you. It's amazing if you give it the opportunity to be. I think the fact that it I gave it a couple more listens than I normally would has made it so much more rewarding and I'm very happy that I did so. It's all apart of the charm of the sound and the songwriting. I love it.
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