“Bear In Heaven has figured out how to render bodily sensations, fears, and passions into what feel like effortless three to four minute pop songs. This is the sort of thing that lesser bands might try their entire careers to do and never accomplish.” - Eric Harvey, Pitchfork on ABC
“Take out the earbuds and let it fill a space: This is music that’s bigger than your iPod— music you’ll want to feel all around you.” - Eric Harvey
Pitchfork on Bear In Heaven’s Beast Rest Forth Mouth :: BEST NEW MUSIC.
Megafaun are headed to Europe! Gather, Form & Fly is being released across the ocean by the wonderful Crammed Discs. We’re still trying to figure out how to be a helpful-yet-undetected stowaway on this amazing trip:
11/13/09 Paris, France @ Point Ephemere *
11/14/09 Evreux, France @ Abordage *
11/15/09 London, UK @ Scala ∆
11/17/09 Lille, France @ Le Grand Mix ∆
11/18/09 Nantes, France @ Olympic ∆
11/19/09 Strasbourg, France @ La Laiterie ∆
11/21/09 Amtwerp. Belgium @ Trix ∆
11/22/09 Groningen, Holland @ Vera ∆
11/24/09 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Loppen ∆
11/25/09 Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol ∆
11/27/09 Amsterdam, Holland @ Paradiso
11/28/09 Utrecht, Holland @ Le Guess Who Festival
11/29/09 Cologne, Germany @ Studio 672 ∆
12/01/09 London, UK @ Borderline †
12/02/09 Aldershot, UK @ West End Centre
12/03/09 Manchester, UK @ Dulcimer
12/04/09 York Moors, UK @ The Band Room
12/05/09 Cork, Ireland @ Opera House Festival
12/06/09 Dublin, Ireland @ Wheelans
* with Akron/Family
∆ with The Dodos
† with Deer Tick
Today we unveil a bona fide Megafaun video, crafted on the road this summer to the tune of “Impressions of the Past.” We’ve watched this so many times. I think we’ll watch it again now. While we do that, you can read a little thing we wrote about the beauty and her maker, our friend Tim:
Thousands of miles, thousands of images. On tour with their new album “Gather, Form & Fly”, Megafaun was captured, piece by piece, by the photographer Tim Lytvinenko. Part-documentary, part-sense memory, Tim’s images took on a life of their own as he traveled across the west with the band, the music, the landscape, and everything in between. He set his first magical trademark sequences to the album’s epic and beautiful “Impressions of the Past” —- and a video was born. Further shaped across the plains, the mountains, the coast, and the desert of North America, the video became a daily experience for the band on tour. Tim’s memories became everyone’s, almost just as real as the moments they documented. This seemed to be the perfect expression of this song —- one that came by surprise, and one that conjures up the collective nostalgia of Summer 2009, and perhaps all those bygone seasons before.
So enjoy. Put yourself in it. Fill in the blanks.
Megafaun “Impressions of the Past”
Directed by Tim Lytvinenko.
Produced by Hometapes.
Buy “Gather, Form & Fly” on 2xLP or CD here.
Bear In Heaven and their ecosystem welcomed the foreign-yet-familiar object of me these past few days. I got to see them play five times. I wandered the city with them. I wandered it alone. I sat still. I saw so many old friends and met so many new ones that I listed them all by name, in chronological order, in a notebook on the plane ride home.
I can’t say enough about our dear friends and longtime-collaborators Bear In Heaven, their new record Beast Rest Forth Mouth, and the vibrant intensity of their performances — it seeps all the way from the stage to their practice space to the streets to my speakers in the dark dark Portland night. They connect all the dots, and, this past week, I was lucky enough to color in the spaces.
Here are a few links to some excellent words about their CMJ-related performances, as well as some nice pictures. The one above was taken by Rez in the pouring rain in Brooklyn, following their show at the Pitchfork Showpaper Benefit at the Market Hotel last Saturday:
Oh My Rockness - Friday CMJ Pick: Bear In Heaven
Pitchfork - on the Pitchfork Showpaper Benefit at Market Hotel. Sat. 10/23.
Heeb Magazine - Live review of Bear In Heaven at the Market Hotel, Sat. 10/23
SPIN - On Bear In Heaven at the After The Jump party at Brooklyn Bowl, Sat. 10/23.
Time Out NY - On Bear In Heaven at the After The Jump party at Brooklyn Bowl, Sat. 10/23.
-Sara
![Way back when we started Hometapes, I don’t think we ever could’ve imagined that we’d one day be working with artists (Slaraffenland) on the other side of the globe (Copenhagen) who in turn would create a long form film with a super-talented, acclaimed filmmaker (Vincent Moon). But that day has come.
Today we present to you: TEMPORARY SLARAFFENLAND
Shot in one day around the city of Copenhagen, the film showcases all of the songs from Slaraffenland’s new album, “We’re On Your Side.” Think of it as a 40-minute, moving postcard from Slaraffenland and Vincent Moon to you. In addition, we’ve created a pretty, little website to showcase the film, give more information about it, and show a map of the various locations around Copenhagen where it was filmed. (Suggestion: download it and watch it on your lunch break today!)
This is a big day for Hometapes. We couldn’t be more proud of what Slaraffenland and Vincent Moon have created. Thanks to Mathieu, Rasmus, David, and everyone else who helped make this project come to life.
[For bonus points, check out the Pitchfork review of “We’re On Your Side” that came out today!]](http://11.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krkc4ulhhX1qzqm26o1_500.png)
Way back when we started Hometapes, I don’t think we ever could’ve imagined that we’d one day be working with artists (Slaraffenland) on the other side of the globe (Copenhagen) who in turn would create a long form film with a super-talented, acclaimed filmmaker (Vincent Moon). But that day has come.
Today we present to you: TEMPORARY SLARAFFENLAND
Shot in one day around the city of Copenhagen, the film showcases all of the songs from Slaraffenland’s new album, “We’re On Your Side.” Think of it as a 40-minute, moving postcard from Slaraffenland and Vincent Moon to you. In addition, we’ve created a pretty, little website to showcase the film, give more information about it, and show a map of the various locations around Copenhagen where it was filmed. (Suggestion: download it and watch it on your lunch break today!)
This is a big day for Hometapes. We couldn’t be more proud of what Slaraffenland and Vincent Moon have created. Thanks to Mathieu, Rasmus, David, and everyone else who helped make this project come to life.
[For bonus points, check out the Pitchfork review of “We’re On Your Side” that came out today!]
Bear In Heaven Beast Rest Forth Mouth LP/CD/MP3 out now!
Today, Bear In Heaven starts watching you. The eyes that have been on us for weeks as we hit repeat, repeat, repeat on our stereo now belong to your record store, your iPod screen, and, if you are lucky to catch Bear In Heaven on tour, on your t-shirt.
Beast Rest Forth Mouth manifests in multiple ways: a compact disc (image below), trusty and ephemeral digital (from your favorite vendors), and, most exquisitely, as an LP. As the image above illustrates (that’s Bear In Heaven in a Tennessee field), the LP is available in two colorways: red jacket with blue LP and blue jacket with red LP. Each version shares a 17” x 22.5” newsprint poster (the art is unique to the LP, just as the inner panels of the CD are unique to that format), as well as a coupon for a high quality digital download.
As a bonus to Hometapes mailorder customers, we’re including a BEAR IN HEAVEN STICKER in all orders. If you are in North America - we’re offering a discount on the “Wholehearted Mess” 12” for a limited time. See the Beast Rest Forth Mouth product page for more info on how to easily order the 12” - with $5 off - when you buy your copy of Beast Rest Forth Mouth on LP or CD!
The Bear In Heaven tour blog is in full effect. Here, Adam and Joe live our dreams for us, in front of Backyard BBQ in Apex, NC - the only restaurant we’ve threatened to actually release as part of the Hometapes catalog.
Don’t miss these guys:
10/08/09 Knoxville, TN @ The Pilot Light
10/09/09 Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
10/10/09 Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree
10/11/09 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
10/12/09 Asheville, NC @ Broadways
10/13/09 Washington, DC @ DC9
10/14/09 Philadelphia, PA @ Kungfu Necktie
10/15/09 Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear’s Place
10/16/09 Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool (album release party)
10/23/09 New York, NY @ Lit Lounge (CMJ showcase)
via bearinheaven
Bear In Heaven headlines the upcoming Team Clermont CMJ showcase on October 23 in NYC! More info here.
Hometapes designed the flyer. Come to the show and ask me (Sara) why the whale is eating the circles. I’ll be in town all week - burning a hole through my laptop keyboard, dropping my phone in inappropriate places, over-enjoying trains, hiding in museums, and loitering around Shake Shack. More soon on another Bear In Heaven show that weekend, too.
Pattern Is Movement and The Roots played together at the Brooklyn Bowl last Thursday.
That sentence is enough to constitute a rad blog post. However, thanks to the magic of the world we live in, we can all watch and see what exactly Pattern Is Movement + The Roots means. The above is a healthy edited piece with clean audio featuring the guys covering D’Angelo.
We also came across these dirtier videos that capture the vibe in their own way, as well as Pattern Is Movement’s version of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” (which you may remember from Daytrotter). We suggest you check them out, too, for Chris Ward drumming awesomeness juxtaposed with Questlove alone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiwL2meymnY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCt6WPhEgIs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8CRgdPKUBE
The Daredevil Christopher Wright perform a beautiful cover of Megafaun’s Drains for Fader TV.
Debilorithmicos “I’m Out” feat. CYNE
Awesome video featuring Cise Star and Akin from CYNE!
As promised, a proper live version of “Long Gone” by Slaraffenland from their recent tour with Akron/Family. This took place in Buffalo, NY. Thanks to Kitsch Dork for the video!
Thanks to Akron/Family for posting a live version of “Long Gone” by Slaraffenland. Enjoy!
(Edit: spoke too soon. It ain’t live. Let me see if I can dig one up).
via akronfamily
Bear In Heaven - Wholehearted Mess 12” on crazy red marble splattery vinyl is officially available today! (It also comes with a coupon to download an mp3 version).
I know we’ve been yapping about it all month, but only because it’s awesome. More importantly, because it signals the beginning of excitement over Bear In Heaven’s new album, BEAST REST FORTH MOUTH. Get excited. Get this thing before it’s gone. Remixers include: Pink Skull, Max Brannslokker, and Arclike.
If you have lost all faith and trust in us (yet still read our blog for some reason), listen to the words of your peers from way fancier websites than this:
Stereogum (interview and mp3z!)
Village Voice (interview and mp3z!)
RCRD LBL (mp3z!)
Stay tuned for more Bear In Heaven news in the near future.
Peace.
