Horn of Plenty

Grizzly Bear | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: November 9, 2004
• Label: Kanine Records LLC
• Copyright: 2004 Kanine Records
• Genres: Alternative Rock/Indie & Lo-Fi, Alternative Rock/Singer-Songwriters, Pop/Singer-Songwriters, Rock/Singer-Songwriters
• ASIN: B000QZUV80
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars forest music, November 13, 2004

By 

benj "benj" (Boston Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horn of Plenty (Audio CD)

maybe I'm being suckered into the whole grizzly bear/mountain imagery concept, but their music does have a very rustic, log cabin meets 2004 feel. It's sort of hard to describe because it's not exactly like anything else I've heard, at times I hear echoes of nick drake mixed with galaxie 500, but there are distinctly modern elements at play as well. Many of the songs sound like they are on an old vinyl record, and the vocals range from subdued and scratchy to clean and crisp. I've never bothered to take the time to write a review on amazon, but this one I was interested to do so. As far as I can tell they are relatively unknown, but if this album can make it into enough hands I'm sure they will get a huge following, this music is catchy, sad, unique and just about everything right. forget the new folk scene, this is something in its own. at the moment there is only one other CD out with a similar *tone* and that's the new ariel pink, but this beats that album out ten fold----i highly recommend this. no joke.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a song for you, July 14, 2007

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Horn of Plenty (w/Bonus Remixes) (Audio CD)

"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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars it grows on you, December 29, 2005

By 

bken - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horn of Plenty (w/Bonus Remixes) (Audio CD)

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.