Bear in Heaven INTERVIEW, Show with Wess Meets West, Lobisomem

Sunday, June 27, 2010:


Location:
The Space
295 Treadwell Street
Hamden CT

All Ages

Doors 7:30 PM

$12 ($10 advance) Buy Tickets Now

Directions


Frontman Jon Philpot founded Bear In Heaven in 2003, using his previous project Presocratics as a starting point for the Tunes Nextdoor and Songs EP. After several years with a few lineup changes and an album along the way, Bear In Heaven churned out the kraut-inspired Beast Rest Forth Mouth. Recorded as a four piece, the band has since trimmed down to a trio after the departure Sadek Bazaraa. The band is touring with Crystal Castles and will also tour with Twin Sister and Mountain Man. Bear in Heaven will also have performances at NYC's South Street Seaport, Pitchfork Fest in Chicago, Capitol Hill Block Party and Austin City Limits.

Jon Philpot recently shared his time with CT Indie to talk about the band and music in general!


CT INDIE: I have been listening to Beast Rest Forth Mouth nonstop for a couple of days now. The first song, Beast in Peace is so mind blowing because it feels like Talk Talk's Ascension Day or even After the Flood reconfigured as a tribal kraut epic. It was such a relief to hear a band reconnecting with that kind of intensity and freedom. So much of what's happening in music today is, I hate to say, ephemeral, but Bear in Heaven sounds like it's reaching for... timelessness. How did this all come about?

JON: We love Talk Talk. This is a high compliment. Timelessness is - and - has secretly been one of my musical objectives. We have to live with our music for a long time. It has to stand the test of time. I'd love it if we could transcend trends and make music that people will enjoy years from now. For years, it was a self- defense mechanism... We're making music that not many people enjoyed... so I thought, maybe they'd like it in 10 years?! Most of the music that has influenced me is 20 years old or older. Bands like Spaceman 3, Talk Talk, Faust, Heldon, Fleetwood Mac or composers Charlemagne Palistine, Scott Walker and Tony Conrad shaped how I listen too and accept music. So, it only made sense to look toward the future. Maybe, just maybe, someone will change the way they think about music after buying one of our records from a dollar bin in the year 2031.

CT INDIE: How has the tour been going? Have you encountered anything that really surprised you along the way, or had anything unusual happen?

JON: Tour was amazing. Currently home for a spell, working on new songs and just unwinding as much as possible. We made a huge leap from never touring for more than 2 weeks at a time, to an expansive and exhausting 11 weeks. I gotta say, we did quite well... Minimal disasters and a lot of amazing shows. As far as surprises, obviously getting majorly derailed by the volcanic ash cloud was pretty epic. Instead of a quick 2 hour flight from Spain to London, we spent 50+ hours in vans, trains, and tunnels to make it, was an exercise in patience and endurance to say the least....

CT INDIE: What do you think about where music fits into our lives today; not only in how it's experienced but also in how it's produced?

JON: Hmm, I'm not yet 90 years old, so it's hard to see a full generation’s difference in music and compare and contrast. I will say I listen to more music than I ever have, and that's saying a lot. It gets overwhelming at times, as we all share music, and I hit this wall a couple of years ago, frustratingly so, that I'll never ever ever, we'll never ever ever catch up. There's SO much out there. And as a musician, it surrounds me. At home on my stereo, on my commute in my headphones, at practice through my amp, and at shows on stage and off. I could get deep and try to critique the state of music, but really, I'm generally pretty stoked on it. Creativity is high, especially with the folks I know, and that's really all I desire. Pretty cool.

CT INDIE: Do you think it's still important to write an album, not just individual songs? Do you approach recording with any overall concepts in mind?

JON: I don't think we've ever approached an album with an overwhelming amount of concept. We write songs as they come, many develop along the way, and as other songs are completed, the songs we have "in the can" tend to morph and change around. We do believe that an album should work as a whole, and we put a lot of thought and effort into making sure that happens. We've yet to sit down, and discuss major themes either lyrically or musically prior to making an album, but we definitely know what fits or doesn't, and aren't afraid to heavily edit songs in order to make them work with others.

CT INDIE: What are some of the non-musical inspirations that you work into your songwriting, from the visual to the abstract?

JON: How could this be narrowed down? Childhood, the 223rd dimension, deserts, women, light, friendship, smiles with strangers, the future, Peru, Georgia, Alabama, positivity, negativity, the Gulf, meditation, salt, muscles, haha, shit, I dunno. We take it all in!

CT INDIE: Have you come across any opinions or perspectives about Bear in Heaven that you hadn't ever considered before, but found to be a welcome take on your music?

JON: We do enjoy when critics or fans can't place us in time or genre. That has to be my favorite. We've always pegged ourselves as an outsider band, and done a great deal of work to never wear our influences on our sleeves. The biggest surprise is how many people have pegged us an 80's synth revivalist sort of band. I'm cool with that. We all are. But I can't say that was a conscious thing. We probably pull the most of our inspiration to the 2 decades before then, but I gotta say, comparisons to Toto, Talk Talk or Moroder.. that's good company :)

CT INDIE: What kind of gear do you use to achieve your sound? Are there any tools that you simply could never do without?

JON: In my opinion, we've got a lot of unique things going on that really separate us from most bands... That especially goes for our live shows. We are all connected via midi, and there's lot of drum triggers going on, that are equal parts limiting and enabling... Through technology, we've been able to figure out ways to reproduce an album written as a 4 piece, as a 3 piece.. It can be frustrating being a technology driven band... We rival Battles in the amount of cables we have strewn on stage.. and it really challenges my OCD tendencies, seeing this HUGE mess of wires laying about. It can slow us down a bit, as we are all learning these processes as we go, no one in the band went to Carnegie Mellon, haha. In the same breath, it's super rewarding to bang your head in the practice space over this process and then, boom! we figure it out, it's a learning experience, and drives the way we construct a song more than you'd ever imagine.

CT INDIE: What is the band most excited about right now?

JON: The door has been opened for us. We've been a band for over 6 years now, just busting our humps for the sake of friendship and music. We've got an audience now, and that's pretty inspiring. Knowing that people are listening is vindicating. We're doing our first US headlining tour this summer, that's special, and we're re-releasing our album with a bonus remix disc of basically a dream come true list of remixers. We're a happy (and busy) bunch of guys.



Click Here To Hear Remix Of Crystal Castles "Celestica" On Dazed Digital.com

MP3: "Lovesick Teenagers"

MP3: "Wholehearted Mess"

MP3: "Lovesick Teenagers (Oh No Ono Remix)"

Sharing the stage at The Space on June 27:

Wess Meets West - "Huge epic indie quasi-metal in the vein of Russian Circles. There were a few moments when the band appeared as though it could force a crescendo through pure energy".-Hartford Advocate

Lobisomem makes instrumental electronic music. His music, however, does not fall comfortably into the boxes that one normally uses to categorize electronic music. It is not dance music, sample-laden cut-ups, or raw experimental noise. It is instead a hybrid of more subtle influences referencing African, South American, and Jamaican music as well as more native forces such as hip-hop and jazz.


Bear in Heaven Tour Dates

06/24 - Portland, ME @ Space
06/25 - Winooski, VT @ The Monkey House
06/26 - Buffalo, NY @ Big Orbit's Soundlab
06/27 - Hamden, CT @ The Space
07/09 - New York, NY @ Pier 17 #
07/10 - Ottawa, ON @ Cisco Systems Bluesfest
07/13 - Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear's Place ^*
07/14 - Northhampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hall ^*
07/15 - Toronto, ON @ El Mocambo ^*
07/16 - Ann Arbor, MI @ The Blind Big ^*
07/17 - Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival ^
07/17 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall ^*
07/19 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon ^*
07/20 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club ^*
07/21 - Fargo, ND @The Aquarium
07/23 - Seattle, WA @ Capitol Hill Block Party
07/24 - Vancouver, BC @ The Biltmore Cabaret ^
07/25 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir ^
07/26 - San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop ^
07/27 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo ^
07/29 - Denver, CO @ Hi Dive ^
07/30 - Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge ^
07/31 - St. Louis, MO @ The Luminary Center for the Arts ^
08/02 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop ^
08/06 - Berlin, Germany @ Festaal Kreuzberg
08/08- Katowice, Poland @ OFF Festival
08/06 - Berlin, Germany @ Festaal Kreuzberg
08/08 - Katowice, Poland @ OFF Festival
08/10 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega - w/ Oh No Ono
08/11 - Oslo, Norway @ Blaa (Oya Club Night)
08/12 - Gothenburg, Sweden @ Way Out West
08/13 - Arhus, Denmark @ Musickaffen - w/ Sleepy Sun
08/14 - Haldern, Germany @ Haldern Pop
08/15 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Melweg - w/ Sleepy Sun
08/16 - Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol
08/18 - Frankfurt, Germany @ Ponyhof
08/21 - London, UK @ X0Y0
08/22 - Powys, UK @ Green Man Festival
08/23 - Edinburgh, UK @ Capital - Fringe Festival
08/24 - Belfast, Ireland @ Speakeasy
08/25 - Dublin, Ireland @ Crawdaddy's
08/26 - Leeds, UK @ Leeds Festival
09/07 - Nashville, TN @ Cannery Ballroom %
09/08 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Heaven Room) %
09/09 - Orlando, FL @ Club at Firestone %
09/11 - Raleigh, NC @ Hopscotch Music Festival
09/12 - Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
09/29 - Ithaca, NY @ Castaways ^
09/30 - Montreal, QC @ Pop Montreal ^
10/09 - Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits

# with Zola Jesus
^ with Twin Sister
* Mountain Man
% with Crystal Castles

Show Review: Depreciation Guild, Wild Nothing, EULA @ Daniel Street

It’s eight o’clock sharp, on the slightly humid night of Wednesday, June 23rd. I am the fourth person in line at Daniel Street. So as not to be presumptive, I ask the bouncer if he has a guestlist, instead of just telling him that I should be on the guestlist. Shrewd move on my part – he is guestlistless. However my contact comes immediately to the door, and all is well.

Once inside, a lone woman onstage is tuning a left-handed guitar. The music playing over the sound system reads like one of my high school mix CDs: Pavement, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Gang of Four. I reminisce a bit and get settled into the seat that, barring a few chats with friends and closer looks at the bands onstage, I will be parked in for the rest of the night.

When the opening band’s members take to the stage, it turns out that the woman from earlier is the guitarist and lead singer of the New Haven three piece outfit EULA. The first sounds consist of errant drum hits, bass runs, and slow, deliberate guitar strums. This free rhythm of sounds seamlessly morphs into the band’s first song where distorted, picked bass guitar is prominent. Throughout the set the drummer and bassist are very busy with their respective instruments, creating a propulsive sound punctuated here and there by staccato rhythms that the guitarist joins in on. Conventional chords seem to be avoided by the guitarist, who often uses voicings that include open strings. The klieg lights blink idly in the background. Between songs the lead singer addresses the audience but avoids eye contact with the crowd. There are seven brave souls who have elected to stand up close to the stage, some with arms crossed, most nodding stiffly to the music. The band has a nervous energy, but is tight and competent.




After EULA's set, I comment to a friend that they have a good live sound. No frills. But unlike the other two bands, I have not listened to EULA on record. Maybe they, like the other bands with whom they’re billed, have a reverb-saturated sound on record or use other types of studio trickery to find a distinct sound, and from only listening to them on record perhaps I would have gotten a different sense of the band. It is this studio recording / live performance dichotomy that has me interested to hear the next two bands because both of their sounds depend heavily on effects. How would the bands choose to adapt their sound to a live performance?

The next band, Wild Nothing, is outfitted with shiny new Fender guitars, including a fire engine red Jaguar bass, a style of Fender guitar that along with the Jazzmaster, first gained popularity in alternative rock circles because they were a favorite of Elvis Costello, who incidentally started playing over the PA as soon as Wild Nothing’s set was finished. My previous thoughts on the transition from recording to performing are quickly proven to be naïve. Effects that are used in the studio are easily reproduced onstage - the lead singer simply asks for some reverb on the mic, and there’s that characteristic sound. The plaintive vocals and the shimmering harmonics of the arpeggiated suspended chords contribute to the band’s bittersweet, ethereal sound. About halfway through the set the band’s half scale Roland synth gets some attention from the second guitarist. After each song the guitarists take time to alternately retune or change tunings. There is about double the number of people standing up close to the stage during this set.

The Depreciation Guild sets up their gear while I’m outside, and when I hear obvious mic checks I make my way in to watch the last band of the night. Like EULA the band's tune ups become the first song, which uses guitar atmospherics and long note vocals, conjuring a sonic landscape firmly in step with My Bloody Valentine, Low, etc. The second song starts with an e-bow swell from the second guitarist, then the wall of guitars comes in. Then the chiptune elements pop up, which is more prominent in the band’s older material. 8-bit major scale keyboard parts always make me think of baroque classical music. I wonder to myself if the band’s name is truly inspired by those institutions (Guilds) popular during the period, or if it’s just coincidence. After each song the band takes time to adjust their tunings or to add capos to the necks of their guitars. However, they sustain a nice white noise during the breaks that gives continuity to the whole set. Towards the end a slower, quieter number starts off with what I’m pretty sure is the same major seventh chord from the Cocteau Twin’s classic “Heaven or Las Vegas”. Sweet.


If there is a theme to this evening’s show it is understatement. Instrumental prowess is on display by all the bands, but it takes second stage to songcraft and the cultivation of a mood. Synth pop is the way I heard Wild Nothing described before seeing them live, but the synth onstage was used sparingly. The chiptune elements of the Depreciation Guild’s sound were subdued as well. Is it a tasteful use of technology that if used too much would only diminish the mood the bands were going for? Are they elements of a band’s sound that make them unique and simply were not used enough? You decide.


Photos by Luke "The Duke" Dringoli

With Honor returns to Connecticut- Hostage Calm, Ambitions

One of the most important and popular hardcore bands in the history of our fair state, With Honor, will play their first Connecticut show in over a year and a half tomorrow at the Wallingford Hungarian Club. The band plays a frantic brand of hardcore punk that will inevitably produce a barrage of stage dives and sing a longs.

If one huge hardcore reunion isn't enough, support comes from Ambitions, who broke up around two years ago. The band is releasing a brand new 7 inch of their melodic hardcore in late summer and decided to play a few shows to support it.

Other support comes from Connecticut favorites, Hostage Calm who are using this show as a tour kick off for their summer long trek across the country. Reignition from Pennsylvania and Tabernackle from Rhode Island are opening the show.

Redscroll Records will have a 7" distro at this show.

With Honor

Hostage Calm

Ambitions

Reignition

Tabernackle

June 26, 2010

6pm

$10

Wallingford Hungarian Club

147 Ward Street

Wallingford Connecticut

Trunks & Tales, Young Mountain, Tragwag, The Thin Heir , Enoughalready

Friday, June 25, 2010:


Location:
Lil Tommy J's Home for Lost Boys
20 Shelley St
Waterbury

6:00 PM



Young Mountain

The Thin Heir

Enoughalready



New England DIY Fest 2 went down earlier this month. For anyone that didn't get to go, get a taste of what was missed at Lil Tommy J's on Friday, courtesy of Connecticut DIY.

Show Review: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists & Screaming Females

Downtown Milford was bustling on the gorgeous evening of June 18^th; sidewalks and restaurant patios were filled with people enjoying the sunshine in what few hours of the evening remained. The most exciting thing going on in Milford that night however, was actually taking place indoors, where Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and Screaming Females were performing at Daniel Street.

The show began with Screaming Females, a three-piece outfit from New Brunswick, New Jersey who play a mix of punk and rock’n’roll. Though the members of the band look as though they are barely out of high school, all three proved to be extremely talented at their instruments; the bassist and drummer provided driving and catchy riffs/beats while front woman Marissa supplied one amazing guitar solo after another while topping off their songs with impressively strong vocals. While her short stature and mop of brown hair covering her eyes may give her a somewhat timid appearance, she is not afraid to scream, and scream often. Screaming Females’ entire set was fast-paced, with only a short introduction by Marissa a few songs into the performance to say, “Hi, we’re Screaming Females, I have to tune my guitar,” and after quickly hitting one string, the band resumed playing. Screaming Females definitely left the audience blown away and wanting more, and despite recent van troubles, they certainly did not let that affect the mood of the concert.

After a quick set-up and sound check, headliners Ted Leo and the Pharmacists abruptly opened their set with “The Mighty Sparrow,” the first track off of their newest album The Brutalist Bricks, released earlier this year on Matador Records. The night was filled with good tunes and interesting stage banter, as Ted Leo and his band mates discussed where the word “soccer” comes from, poked jokes at each other, and addressed the idea of being called a “sell-out,” with frequent interjections from members of the audience. The band played several songs off of their new album, including “Even Heroes Have to Die,” “One Polaroid a Day,” and “Bottled Up in Cork,” which Ted announced they recently made a music video for, mixed in with older fan-favorites such as “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone” and “Counting Down the Hours.” There wasn’t much motion going on in the audience aside from several bobbing heads and a few guys in the middle of the crowd dancing, likely a result of the band’s music being on the more mellow side of the punk rock spectrum, but that doesn’t mean people weren’t into the show; a quick look around the venue showed that virtually everyone in the building was singing along, whether they only knew a couple verses or they had every word to every song memorized. After playing for well over an hour, Ted returned to the stage for a much-desired encore, playing three songs solo before the rest of the band joined him partway through the fourth, and then dedicated their last song to the members of Screaming Females. The concert ended promptly around ten-o-clock, and though it was still early for a summer Friday night, the show appeared to have left everyone satisfied.

-Chelsea Dodds

A Paper Tugboat, The Cavemen Go, The Weird Beards, DJ You B

Thursday, June 24th:


Location:
Pitkin Plaza
141 Orange St., New Haven

RAIN LOCATION: BruCafe (right next to Pitkin Plaza @ 141 Orange St)

7-10PM
All Ages - FREE

A Paper Tugboat: "Like Social Distortion doped up on morphine..." - Hartford Advocate

From the time The Cavemen Go first emerged as a duo (singer/guitarist Jeremy Sage and drummer Bob Rock) in 2003, the band was markedly distinct from their Connecticut peers. Sage’s songwriting channels the no-frills, hook-heavy sounds of early rock’n'roll without coming off as self-consciously retro. His lyrics and singing convey an unabashedly-hopeful romanticism, but the kind tempered with dry wit and emotional ambiguity. - February Records

The Weird Beards thrive in the Land of Crazyness that is New London, Connecticut with a BARITONE UKULELE, ACOUSTIC GUITAR, STAND-UP BASS, DRUMS and TROMBONE with occasional harmonicas, djembe, electric guitar, puppets, roboshades, robots, plaid pants, a rude blue dude, arreakas and a wheel on an upside down bicycle.

MV & EE play Popeye's Garage

This Friday, MV & EE will be playing at Popeye's Garage in New Haven. This is mindblowing for a number of reasons and I can't really elaborate about it because there are simply no words.

MV & EE are Matthew Valentine and Erika Elder from Burlington, VT. They describe themselves as "lunar raga," which is very fitting. Their rambling, reverb drenched vocals are accompanied by sweet droning guitars, spacey slide guitar, and occasionally other musicians like The Bummer Road, The Golden Road, or The Canada Goose Band. The whole thing is pretty haunting and messy, psychedelic 70s folk at it's best and worst. They've collaborated with numerous guests, and released tons of albums over the years, including the fantastic Green Blues. Their 2007 album Gettin' Gone is a classic as well, which sees them playing primal Crazy Horse styled grunge rock. They recently released Their new one, Barn Nova, on the excellent Ecstatic Peace label.

Also playing with them are The Mountain Movers and The Book Slave, who are both excellent in their own right. The Mountain Movers are from New Haven, and are fantastic. Panos wrote a great review of their latest album The Day Calls Out For You right here. They don't play out very often, so don't miss your chance to see them. Also playing is The Book Slave, who you probably already know and love. They're completely dissonant guitar players, experimenting with mixing clashing notes and hardcore.

MV + EE, The Mountain Movers, and Book Slave

Popeye's Garage
New Haven, CT
Friday June 25 7:00 pm