Customer Reviews

Yellow House

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I normally don't do reviews on Amazon, in large part to the fact that most people reading them have already formed their opinion on the item in question. Grizzly Bear's Yellow House is a prime example of this unfortunate pattern. The chance of an "average" reader wandering into this area without some appreciation for the genre will be rare. However, I was such a reader, so I figured I would give it a shot.

In my opinion, I have not heard anything that comes as close to audio art as Yellow House. It is very clear that the band spent an enormous amount of time and effort polishing each indvidual song, which alone is impressive, but also blended the entire album catalog so the sounds were cohesive, flowing, almost like a long poem. They use a tremendous amount of instruments, fading and editing, and room space to create a haunting and magical atmosphere.

At first listen, what might be mistaken as mild chaos at times will later showcase a tremendous amount of control and management of sound. No doubt layering techniques are used on some tracks, but it's hard to tell what effects are natural (like playing an instrument far away from the sound stage) versus fabricated at a sound board. Plus, the band is able to reproduce a lot of their sound live; a must for any artist who wishes to be taken seriously.

All pretention aside, I am really glad I found Yellow House. I can enjoy it on so many levels, from playing it in the background of a party, or just mellowing out with the old lady and a good book. If you're considering buying it or on the fence in your decision, you won't regret your purchase. This one is going to last you a long time and has a timeless, breathtaking sound.

The lo-fi neo-psychedelia freak-folk of "Yellow House" is not so easily described. Hence the rather amorphous appellates "lo-fi" and "neo-psychedelia" and "freak-folk." Listening to the album (over and over again), a lot of descriptions came to mind...

The Beach Boys, minus the beach ("Knife").

A moon-powered TV on the Radio ("On A Neck, On A Spit").

A tamed-n-trained Animal Collective ("Easier").

Hot Chip on ice ("Little Brother").

If none of that makes any sense to you (and who can blame you?), let it be enough to say that Grizzly Bear's sophomore LP is as warm and silky as sudsy bathwater. The quartet utilizes banjos, laptops, and flutes (among other, more traditional instruments) to create something so atmospheric, so emotional, so good that at times it's just plain heart-wrenching.

Named after one of the band members' mother's home, where the album was recorded, the album is just as inviting as a return to the loamy roots of nostalgia. The apogee of cool soul sonics, "Yellow House" is big enough to live in, but as cozy as a warm embrace.

a song excerpt may help you get the genre, but to really get IT you should hear the whole album, go for the whole ride, and listen to how the delicately balanced songs progress with geometric precision, then are broken with magnificent grizzly guitar tantrums and textural spasms that manage to be both futuristic and timeless. dont write them off as a freakfolk experiment. grizzly bear is a really great band. you must see them live too.

anybody out there familiar with the music of robert wyatt? well this digs into a similar vein of spirit. great melodies with lots going on: xylophones, lap steel, glockenspiel, autoharp, keyboards, guitars, banjo, clarinet, flute, saxophone, bass, drums & touches of electonics, all have a say in the matter. tasteful and mostly dreamy, a feast to listen to over and over. it gets richer, in fact, with each listen. great stuff.

Absolutely exquisite and haunting, I cannot stop listening to this album! There's really not much more I can add to all the glowing reviews except to say it's completely enchanted me and I want everyone to know that if you are in any way curious about this band, please take a chance and let Grizzly Bear draw you into their world. The comparisons to TVOTR are very accurate. I find their songs meander along in the most pleasant way, taking me to strangely sentimental places. The melodies are intricately layered and complex and the songs take unexpected twists and turns. "Knife", for me, is a gorgeous aching love song. I'm a huge fan of Akron Family, and I can hear many similarities, though Grizzly Bear feels, overall, denser and more thickly layered. A beautiful album that will stay in my car for many, many commutes. I second the motion to put this in your car for a long, gray, rainy drive. Enjoy.

Yellow House is a natural and healthy progression from their first album, Horn of Plenty. This majestic, captivating release showcases the band taking a step up in sophistication and complexity. The structure of the tracks are most often sprawling and have a tendency to change direction in mid-song. It is very folk-influenced, but definitely shows patches of pop psychedelia. This will probably hit home for fans of Animal Collective.

I've been following Grizzly Bear for a year and a half. A friend introduced me to Horn of Plenty, their first album, when it first came out and when the band was still rather obscure and the sound sparse, a product of leadsinger Edward Droste's improvised bedroom set up -- a fact you'll be quick to learn in every other of the seemingly endless features on them right now. Horn of Plenty was a really beautiful, unexpected album but with Yellow House, Grizzly Bear has entered a different realm of finesse and theis record is undoubteldy one of the finest of the year. There are lush arrangements, intricate harmonies, and an incredible suite of songs that move in surprising directions. Yellow House may still take a few listens to fully grow on you (although the Knife is an instant classis), but listen to it twice on the way to work on a gray fall day and you'll never stop.

Do not listen to this album if your looking for something new, different, harmonic or simply put ~ beautiful. If you are though, my curious friend then may the gods be with you to absorb the melodic blows this album delivers.

Grizzly Bear like a few choice indy(ish) bands have there vocals down almost too perfectly. "Easier" kicks off the album as a bedtime story that leads to worlds unseen. You really get a feel of what the album will be like in this first song ~ harmony, simple drum placement, and sounds you hear only in cartoons way too early in the morning. All these make up whats to come ~ "Knife" shows up just in time to remind you that its the vocals that make Yellow House.

I was really into "Central and Remote" for a while because of the amazing breakdown in the second half of the song. The acoustic really wants the musician inside you to come out and play, its THAT inviting! "Plans" will seem like the band formed into one giant animal because each sound brought by the members mesh just too well ~ the whistling and again the harmony between the memebers is astounding. Really makes you think the direction music is headed after hearing an album like this.

"Reprise and Colorado" couldn't be placed in the albums list any better. Colorado is also the most simplistic sounding song on the album, with repeating lyrics and the constant sound of something swarming around you. Those two finishing songs finally behead the monster that is Grizzly Bear ( in a good way ) Don't worry it will grow back and hopefully later into another beast with similar traits that follows this album.

The old cliché about the parallel between sound and location pops up here in an endearing way: Yellow House was recorded in singer/guitarist Edward Droste's mother's house--yellow, of course--on the outskirts of Boston. The domicile's creakiness and mustiness permeates these uniformly lovely songs, giving them the homespun feel of something that's been sewn together in an old rocking chair. Grizzly Bear uses the full band at its disposal by gracefully piling instruments atop each other, and their solid group dynamic allows them to focus on ancillary yet important elements like mood and album flow. Some have griped that the production is too tinny for something this sweeping, but if it doesn't sound like a Sony cash cow, it does have the air of a time capsule, dug up and played on the Victrola for the first time in decades. It's the final magic touch on a thoroughly accomplished and enjoyable record.

There is no need to tell you how amazing these boys are. You will find out all on your own as you listen to every heartfelt song on the album. Yellow House has such a unique collection of instruments and vocal inputs from all the band members. Of course, nothing can be compared to the actual live experience. There is so much energy to the music that it cannot be justly recorded. I highly recommend this album because you will never find a better album this year. Definately check out Grizzly Bear's "acapella" version of "Knife" on La Blogotheque.