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When Animals Attack! part 6: No Sleep Till Brooklyn Edition

When Animals Attack! Please check out previous articles here.

The Reflection of You

BEAR IN HEAVEN
bearinheaven.com

Brooklyn's Bear in Heaven announced their forthcoming album will be called I Love You, It's Cool with "the world's longest, slowest album stream ever" on their website (it's been slowed by 400,000%). Popular websites, such as NPR, The Huff Po and Washington Post, all reported on this.

That was December.

Today (Friday the 13th), the band revealed their first single "The Reflection of You" (at "normal speed") is available on Pitchfork. If you head there, you can find all the track listing and cover artwork.

What they didn't mention on Pitchy is Bear in Heaven's tour dates, which I'll include below. I Love You, It's Cool will be released on April 3rd via Dead Oceans / Hometapes.

3/28/12 - Andy Warhol Museum - Pittsburgh, PA 3/29/12 - Bishop - Bloomington, IN 3/30/12 - Basement - Columbus, OH 3/31/12 - MOTR Pub - Cincinnati, OH 4/01/12 - Luminary Center - St. Louis, MO 4/04/12 - Casbah - San Diego, CA 4/05/12 - The Echo - Los Angeles, CA 4/08/12 - Independent - San Francisco, CA 4/12/12 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR 4/13/12 - Crocodile - Seattle, WA 4/14/12 - Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, BC 4/17/12 - 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis, MN 4/18/12 - Schubas - Chicago, IL 4/20/12 - Zanzabar - Louisville, KY 4/21/12 - Exit/In - Nashville, TN

4/22/12 - Hi-Tone Cafe - Memphis, TN 4/24/12 - The Parish - Austin, TX 4/25/12 - Fitzgerald's - Houston, TX 4/26/12 - The Bottletree - Birmingham, AL 4/27/12 - The Earl - Atlanta, GA 4/28/12 - Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC 4/29/12 - Kings Barcade - Raleigh, NC 5/01/12 - Black Cat Backstage - Washington, DC 5/02/12 - 1st Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA 5/03/12 - Brighton Music Hall - Allston, MA 5/04/12 - La Sala Rossa - Montreal, QC 5/05/12 - The Garrison - Toronto, ON 5/06/12 - The Haunt - Ithaca, NY 5/08/12 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY 5/09/12 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn

LUCKY DRAGONS
luckydragons.org

At first, I thought their name was Luck Dragon (a reference to The Neverending Story), but I guess they're just Lucky Dragons.

Once again, they're based out of Brooklyn, and once again, you can hear their album Existers on Pitchfork (if you go directly to their Bandcamp, you can download the first song for free).

Album is out February 14th via Swill Children Records, release shows on February 16th and 17th. More tour dates below:

1/14/12 Gdansk, Poland, Festiwal Dni Muzyki Nowej
1/17/12 Bratislava, Slovakia, A4
1/18/12 Zilina, SLOVAKIA, Stanica
1/23/12 Nijmegen, Netherlands, Extrapool
1/27/12 Los Angeles, CA, Black Box
1/28/12 Los Angeles, CA, Mahasukha Meditation Center
2/15/12 Troy, NY, EMPAC
2/16/12 Brooklyn, NY, Release Party, 285 Kent
2/17/12 New York, NY, Release Party, Printed Matter
3/10/12 Los Angeles, CA, The Smell

FIELD MOUSE
fieldmousemusic.com

I like dreampop bands, so I was pretty happy to see that Filter Magazine just premiered Brooklyn's Field Mouse's single "Glass" on their website (where you can download the song for free).

Field Mouse's upcoming 7" called "You Guys Are Gonna Wake Up My Mom" will be released on February 28th via Small Plates.

If you live in New York, check out their shows:

Saturday, January 14, 2012 - Pianos
Saturday, February 4, 2012 - Lulu's
Thursday, February 16, 2012 - Spike Hill
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 - Union Hall

OLD MONK
freeoldmonk.com

Birds of Belize is the debut album from New York's Old Monk (can I just guess that they're based out of Brooklyn as well?). The album is coming out January 17th, and I am told that the pressed yellow vinyl will come with a download code of the album, plus three bonus tracks ("Monocle", "Class A Stock", "Tartan Lingerie")

If you can't make it to their live Cake Shop residency, you can tune on on January 18th on USTREAM to see them rehearse.

Cake Shop, NYC residency
Wednesday, February 1
Wednesday, February 8
Wednesday, February 15
Wednesday, February 22

GABRIEL AND THE HOUNDS
gabrielandthehounds.com

I don't know if Gabriel Levine (of Takka Takka) is still living in Brooklyn, but according to his press release, his album, Kiss Full of Teeth, was written and recorded around Brooklyn, "living rooms, garages, and in proper studios including community stalwart Seaside Lounge and The National’s garage studio in Ditmas Park".

While the Gabriel and the Hounds' album doesn't come out until February 28th, 2012 (on Ernest Jenning Record Co.), you can get a free download of "The World Unfolds", a track from Kiss Full of Teeth, on Soundcloud.

They have not updated the official website, but his album release show is on:

02.14.12 - Manhattan, NY @ Mercury Lounge

BRIEFLY (not Brooklyn-based):

LEIF(KOLT) www.leifkolt.com I am somewhat confused, but I think this DJ/producer is called "LEIF(kolt)". His latest release is an EP with Dusty Nix and is called Nothing for the Vultures, and was released January 10th. The six track EP is described as a collection of "electro-leaning pop mutations". Preview the video on youtube, details on how to purchase the tracks on leifkolt.com.

YELAWOLF yelawolf.com I was only given a link to the video for Yelawolf's new video "Let's Roll" (watch it in HD on vevo.com). The song is from his latest album, Radioactive, which came out November of last year. What's interesting is the song features an appearance by Kid Rock. I didn't know he was still alive (just kidding, I just haven't heard from Kid R in a while).

UPDATE: We're currently being featured in the popular artist today on The Hype Machine.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

CMJ Music Marathon Wrap-Up Day 2: Part I

Read More CMJ The College Music Journal’s (CMJ) annual showcase of rising talent in both music and film is a veritable wet dream for musicians and pop culture nerds alike.

CMJ Music Marathon Wrap-Up Day 2: Part I
Saturday, October 22, 2011

Friday’s CMJ adventure was a bit of a bust. Riot Act Media presented a happy hour showcase at Pete’s Candy Store—a hip bar in Williamsburg, roughly the same size and shape as your average Williamsburg apartment. Unfortunately, due to popularity (which is not a bad thing), it was impossible to squeeze into the tiny backroom where music was happening. Instead, we bemoaned our defeat by sampling the “happy hour” portion of the evening. If you’re at all curious what was missed, check out the following musicians that were in attendance, or visit Riot Act’s website (linked above): Brooklyn crooner Patrick Bower; the moody, orchestral Gabriel & the Hounds; Julie Ann Bee’s whimsy project Sea of Bees; and the waltz-lovin’ Robin Bacior.

Saturday was far more lucrative. As chance would have it, I caught the entire Lovely Hearts Club showcase at the Living Room. The lineup included a sampling of the Paper Garden Records label (in order of appearance): Belgrave, Gun Lake, Swear and Shake, Snowmine, and perennial W♥M faves Team Genius.

I missed Belgrave's first song. I’m hoping it was good but not too good, you know? I wouldn’t want to journey through life feeling as though I missed that one time when the clouds parted and God emerged to reveal some heavenly secrets (like why the Virgin Mary appears in pancakes but not breakfast burritos. Surface area?). However, if anyone could coax Him to play an encore, it would be Montreal natives Belgrave, as they specialize in the kind of soaring chamber pop that shoots for the stars, so to speak. “Tokyo” is a perfect example of a song with big dreams—rich, melodic layers, Trevor Boucher’s agile vocal chords, lovey lyrics; it all culminates with a head-thrown-back-arms-spread-wide chorus thatdelivers a romantic punch right to your cynical, beer-filled belly. How’s that for an out of body experience?

If Belgrave succeeded in transporting their audience to a Canadian dreamworld, Ann Arbor’s Gun Lake brought us back to earth in true Midwestern fashion. The beauty of Midwest music is that it always captures a certain mood that must be unique to the region; a strange brew of nostalgia, melancholy, reserve, and a pinch of self-deprecation thrown in for good measure. Not to be confused with the Pacific Northwest mood, which often contains more melancholy, less self-deprecation. However, they have mountains to dwell on; we have large areas of grass; let’s call it ‘topography psychology.’

I’m happy to report that Gun Lake met—then surpassed—all region-specificexpectations. Besides a knack for crafting interesting prose, every singing member has a voice like a rugged, Liberal Arts-educated angel. You know you’re in the presence of skilled musicians when they can jump from verse to flawlessly harmonized chorus without breaking a sweat (or breaking in pitch). Gun Lake provedfaithfulto this technique on their debut album Balfour; notably on the dusky ballad “Cliffhanger.” Live, the band didn’t really deviate from their pitch-perfect formula, and why would they? Highlights included “Cliffhanger,” which opened their set if I’m remembering correctly, and my favorite of the evening, “Trees,” a subtle waltz that almost reads as modern folklore. Listen to a live recording of “Trees” here.

Up next: Day 2, Part 2

lara () ♥ www.cmj.com