Bear in Heaven, Slam Donahue, DBK
Saturday, March 3 2012
7:00pm - All Ages - $12
Bear in Heaven
Bear in Heaven have trapped echos, tremors, winds, and fading light. They've redefined time, and folded it. They've unbuttoned sound, and realigned it. Within four walls in Brooklyn, Jon Philpot, Adam Wills, Sadek Bazaara, and Joe Stickney mined the democracy of their collaboration, plus the endless hours of stream of consciousness recorded documentation of rehearsals over the past years, to conceive the crystalline form of Beast Rest Forth Mouth, their second album, their exaltation.
A seed planted in the Southern US years ago (all members hail from Georgia or Alabama), Bear In Heaven began as the musical arm of Jon Philpot in 1998. Time eventually brought in a slew of players, like rickety scaffolding, that grew the sound and guided the group to morph from a 6to5to4piece. As a four headed organism, Bear In Heaven has now found a sonic stride unlike any in their history. Freely acknowledging the importance of the number four, the album Beast Rest Forth Mouth (think 'East West North South') was a conscious product of the four compass points, of the four makers, and of the inevitable confusion that manifests from that crossroad mentality: four directions could lead you anywhere and everywhere. Its the acknowledgment of what can go down at that convergence, at that dusty center, that drives Bear In Heaven and imbues the songs of Beast Rest Forth Mouth with something akin to both eternal peace and nervous urgency.
Preceding Beast Rest Forth Mouth is 2007s Red Bloom of the Boom, a 7track, 43minute exploration that crosses the streams of psychedelia and prog. Pitchfork called it 'a true cohesive work in an era when the album as art form appears to be slowly dying' (7.8), and The Onion found it 'a powerful, functional mix of This Heat, 70s soft rock, early Genesis, and oddly, later Pink Floyd.' The album was further informed by a collection of remarkable music videos by the band and their collaborators, providing a mirror into both the creative scope of the Bear In Heaven consciousness, not to mention the day jobs they keep as editors, filmmakers, and designers. The packaging and visuals for Beast Rest Forth Mouth continue in this tradition, the band collaborating with artist Laura Brothers to create the tactile doorway into the sonic swirl of the album.
Feeding the Bear In Heaven process further is a collection of extracurricular activities. Jon Philpot recently collaborated with Roberto Lange on his Helado Negro project (Roberto also had a hand in the final mix of Beast Rest Forth Mouth), as well as performed live with neighbors and label mates Stars Like Fleas. Adam Wills has played and toured with Jonathan Kanes February Rhys Chathams Guitar Trio, and started a new band with Joe Stickney called Dark Vibe. Joe Stickney was one of the drummers in the Boredomsled 88 Boadrum last summer. Jon, Sadek, and Adam were three of the two hundred guitarists in Rhys Chathams recent Crimson Grail performance at Lincoln Center.
Beast Rest Forth Mouth will first reveal itself through a limited 12' EP of the track 'Wholehearted Mess,' out September 8 on Hometapes. Bear In Heaven curated remixes from Pink Skull, Max Brannslokker, and Arclike, simultaneously creating a unique tributary off their own musical flow and a bona fide club friendly 12' pressed in multicolor vinyl. Tour dates across the east coast and the south will accompany the album release, adding yet another dimension to the prism of Bear In Heaven, built on sound and vision and everything in the in between.
Dead Oceans/Hometapes
Mp3s: http://www.myspace.com/bearinheaven
Slam Donahue
Slam Donahue is the name of David Otto, Thomas Sommerville, and Keenan Mitchell's band. Slam has been busy of late: signing with Cantora Records this past winter, preparing to release their first mixtape in February, and getting ready for SXSW again this year. They would rather you listen to some songs than read this but if it has to be this way. They write pop songs about how they are feeling and the anxieties of the moment. Having been compared favorably to Prince, The Cure, and Smashing Pumpkins, they prefer not to be compared at all.
Cantora Records
Mp3s: http://slamdonahue.bandcamp.com
DBK
dbk is a three piece band, formed in the fall of 2009 in New Haven, CT. The band performs dynamic, epic post-rock, with elements of modern psychedelia and shoegaze, experimental leanings, and emotive vocal arrangements. dbk's songs are developed from improvised recording sessions- David Keith (drums, vocals) edits these recordings, cutting and arranging sections to create original, and unique arrangements. He then presents these to the rest of the band, to work out live group performance, explore alternate ideas, etc., before finally re-recording the finished song. With clear influence and inspiration from legendary bands like the Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Jane’s Addiction, and the Police, dbk creates a fresh, distinctive, and diverse new sound.
Craig Douglas is a multi-instrumentalist, performer, and recording artist from Hartford, CT who has self released two ambient & dream pop solo albums under the monikers Omega Vague and Darkwater.
David Keith is an established and accomplished musician/recording artist/producer from New Haven, CT. He has toured both locally and internationally with numerous projects over the past 15 years, including Mighty Purple, Eight To The Bar, and Nightcrawler 1947. He is co-contributor to the pop outfit Mission 0 (with his sister Megan), as well as to the experimental electronic project Indigen (with Frank Pelliccio).
Mp3s: http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=281797
Bear in Heaven have trapped echos, tremors, winds, and fading light. They've redefined time, and folded it. They've unbuttoned sound, and realigned it. Within four walls in Brooklyn, Jon Philpot, Adam Wills, Sadek Bazaara, and Joe Stickney mined the democracy of their collaboration, plus the endless hours of stream of consciousness recorded documentation of rehearsals over the past years, to conceive the crystalline form of Beast Rest Forth Mouth, their second album, their exaltation.
A seed planted in the Southern US years ago (all members hail from Georgia or Alabama), Bear In Heaven began as the musical arm of Jon Philpot in 1998. Time eventually brought in a slew of players, like rickety scaffolding, that grew the sound and guided the group to morph from a 6to5to4piece. As a four headed organism, Bear In Heaven has now found a sonic stride unlike any in their history. Freely acknowledging the importance of the number four, the album Beast Rest Forth Mouth (think 'East West North South') was a conscious product of the four compass points, of the four makers, and of the inevitable confusion that manifests from that crossroad mentality: four directions could lead you anywhere and everywhere. Its the acknowledgment of what can go down at that convergence, at that dusty center, that drives Bear In Heaven and imbues the songs of Beast Rest Forth Mouth with something akin to both eternal peace and nervous urgency.
Preceding Beast Rest Forth Mouth is 2007s Red Bloom of the Boom, a 7track, 43minute exploration that crosses the streams of psychedelia and prog. Pitchfork called it 'a true cohesive work in an era when the album as art form appears to be slowly dying' (7.8), and The Onion found it 'a powerful, functional mix of This Heat, 70s soft rock, early Genesis, and oddly, later Pink Floyd.' The album was further informed by a collection of remarkable music videos by the band and their collaborators, providing a mirror into both the creative scope of the Bear In Heaven consciousness, not to mention the day jobs they keep as editors, filmmakers, and designers. The packaging and visuals for Beast Rest Forth Mouth continue in this tradition, the band collaborating with artist Laura Brothers to create the tactile doorway into the sonic swirl of the album.
Feeding the Bear In Heaven process further is a collection of extracurricular activities. Jon Philpot recently collaborated with Roberto Lange on his Helado Negro project (Roberto also had a hand in the final mix of Beast Rest Forth Mouth), as well as performed live with neighbors and label mates Stars Like Fleas. Adam Wills has played and toured with Jonathan Kanes February Rhys Chathams Guitar Trio, and started a new band with Joe Stickney called Dark Vibe. Joe Stickney was one of the drummers in the Boredomsled 88 Boadrum last summer. Jon, Sadek, and Adam were three of the two hundred guitarists in Rhys Chathams recent Crimson Grail performance at Lincoln Center.
Beast Rest Forth Mouth will first reveal itself through a limited 12' EP of the track 'Wholehearted Mess,' out September 8 on Hometapes. Bear In Heaven curated remixes from Pink Skull, Max Brannslokker, and Arclike, simultaneously creating a unique tributary off their own musical flow and a bona fide club friendly 12' pressed in multicolor vinyl. Tour dates across the east coast and the south will accompany the album release, adding yet another dimension to the prism of Bear In Heaven, built on sound and vision and everything in the in between.
Dead Oceans/Hometapes
Mp3s: http://www.myspace.com/bearinheaven
Slam Donahue
Slam Donahue is the name of David Otto, Thomas Sommerville, and Keenan Mitchell's band. Slam has been busy of late: signing with Cantora Records this past winter, preparing to release their first mixtape in February, and getting ready for SXSW again this year. They would rather you listen to some songs than read this but if it has to be this way. They write pop songs about how they are feeling and the anxieties of the moment. Having been compared favorably to Prince, The Cure, and Smashing Pumpkins, they prefer not to be compared at all.
Cantora Records
Mp3s: http://slamdonahue.bandcamp.com
DBK
dbk is a three piece band, formed in the fall of 2009 in New Haven, CT. The band performs dynamic, epic post-rock, with elements of modern psychedelia and shoegaze, experimental leanings, and emotive vocal arrangements. dbk's songs are developed from improvised recording sessions- David Keith (drums, vocals) edits these recordings, cutting and arranging sections to create original, and unique arrangements. He then presents these to the rest of the band, to work out live group performance, explore alternate ideas, etc., before finally re-recording the finished song. With clear influence and inspiration from legendary bands like the Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Jane’s Addiction, and the Police, dbk creates a fresh, distinctive, and diverse new sound.
Craig Douglas is a multi-instrumentalist, performer, and recording artist from Hartford, CT who has self released two ambient & dream pop solo albums under the monikers Omega Vague and Darkwater.
David Keith is an established and accomplished musician/recording artist/producer from New Haven, CT. He has toured both locally and internationally with numerous projects over the past 15 years, including Mighty Purple, Eight To The Bar, and Nightcrawler 1947. He is co-contributor to the pop outfit Mission 0 (with his sister Megan), as well as to the experimental electronic project Indigen (with Frank Pelliccio).
Mp3s: http://www.sonicbids.com/epk/epk.aspx?epk_id=281797
