Horn Of Plenty

Performer: Grizzly Bear
Distributor: Redeye Music Distribution

Notes: Grizzly Bear's debut offers up a lysergic brand of minimalist psychedelic folk perfect for those who find Elliott Smith's early work a bit too accessible and upbeat. Marking an evolution from one-man home recording project to full-fledged quartet, the studio-recorded Horn of Plenty features a mostly melancholy mix of acoustic guitars, reeds, retro organs, and samples, all drenched in enough acid-washed effects to give Devendra Banhart flashbacks. Frontman Ed Droste's weary, somnambulistic vocals work well with the slackadaisical melodies to create an unsettling atmospheric sound full of shimmering shadows. Songs like the opening "Deep Sea Diver" and the mesmerizing "Shift" crawl along at an almost funereal pace, the latter featuring what sounds like a scratchy Gramophone recording of a piano augmented only by echoing whistles, clapping, trippy found sounds, and weirdly hypnotic multi-tracked vocals. The expanded lineup and production budget have done nothing to change the group's lo-fi approach, which produces a murky sound that unfolds like a narcotic dream you can't quite shake upon waking. This is the kind of album you'll want to listen to late at night, perhaps a few sheets to the wind, with lights off and headphones on to allow these creepy, quiet little tunes to worm their way into your subconscious. ~ Bret Love

Rolling Stone (No. 988, p.127) - 3 out of 5 stars - "...[T]he pure atmospheric power of the songs is more than enough to hypnotize...." Uncut (p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] strikingly accomplished debut, its dovetailing of alt.folk and chamber-pop with found sounds and glitchy effects going far beyond the limits of 'folktronica'." The Wire (p.58) - "HORN OF PLENTY is acoustic music willing and able to efface its own identity, to transform and transmute itself ad infinitum." Mojo (Publisher) (p.94) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[A] pillow-soft tapestry of guitar, woodwind, glockenspiel, percussion and mantra-like vocal harmonies, glazed with FX and found sounds."

This Brooklyn-based unit, originally devised as a one-person bedroom recording project by songwriter Edward Droste, purveys sleepy, diaphanous folktronica that cross-hatches acoustic and electronic instruments into pleasantly rambling stoner dreamscapes. In 2004 Droste brought in singer and multi-instrumentalist Christopher Bear to flesh out his recordings, and the Grizzly Bear franchise officially began. Their 2004 debut was regarded enthusiastically by the music press, and was re-released a year later with additional remixes by many of the celebrated mixmasters of the day. Their 2006 follow-up sported a full band line-up and a much more lush sound, while maintaining the kitchen-sink charm of their earlier work.

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