Bear in Heaven

All Music Guide:

The Brooklyn-based Bear in Heaven was initially started in 1998 as a way for Jon Philpot, who was then still living in his hometown of Atlanta, to express his musical ideas during the off hours of a local recording studio. After he moved to Brooklyn at the end of the decade, Philpot continued working on his music, which included the duo Presocratics, who released a couple of records on the experimental label Table of the Elements. During the next couple of years, as more friends and associates from Atlanta and the South moved to Brooklyn, Philpot began assembling the group of musicians who would later make up the band. In 2003 he released (under the Bear in Heaven moniker but still ostensibly as a solo project) the EP Tunes Nextdoor to Songs on Eastern Developments, the label owned by Scott Herren, aka Prefuse 73. Soon, however, he added bassist and keyboardist Sadek Bazaraa, guitarist and bassist Adam Wills (who had toured with Rhys Chatham's guitar trio), bassist James Elliott (who he had met shortly after moving to Brooklyn and was one of the founders of the Social Registry label), guitarist David Daniell, and drummer Joe Stickney and began work on new music. In 2005, Daniell left to pursue his own project, and the remaining quartet began recording the full-length Red Bloom of the Boom, shortly after which Elliott departed to work with the then unknown School of Seven Bells and pursue his own electronic solo project, Ateleia. The album was released in 2007 on Hometapes, and drew early comparisons to bands like Radiohead, Animal Collective, and Can. In October 2009, Bear in Heaven's second album, the slightly less ambient Beast Rest Forth Mouth, came out, earning positive reviews and garnering Bear in Heaven some coveted spots at that year's CMJ festival in New York.

Wikipedia:

Bear in Heaven is a Brooklyn-based rock band formed by Jon Philpot. The sound of the band incorporates influences from psychedelic music, electronic music, and krautrock.

Jon Philpot has previously released music as part of the duo Presocratics, in collaboration with guitarist and composer Need Thomas Windham. Presocratics released two albums on the record label Table of the Elements in 2001; both were produced by Philpot.

The first Bear in Heaven release (Tunes Nextdoor to Songs, Eastern Developments 2003) was an EP of solo recordings by Philpot, with guest musicians performing on various instruments. Shortly after the release of Tunes Nextdoor to Songs, Philpot joined with guitarist Adam Wills, keyboardist/guitarist Sadek Bazarra (a graphic designer with Brooklyn design collective GH avisualagency), guitarist David Daniell (of San Agustin), and bassist James Elliott (Ateleia, School of Seven Bells). Eventually drummer Joe Stickney (formerly of Perpetual Groove, drummer with Paul Duncan, Rhys Chatham's Essentialist project, and current touring drummer with Panthers) was added to the lineup. Daniell left Bear in Heaven in 2005 to focus on his solo project. In 2006 they did a Take-Away Show video session shot by Vincent Moon.

Red Bloom of the Boom, Bear in Heaven's first full-length album with the full band, was released in 2007 by the Hometapes record label.

Elliott left the band after the completion of the recordings of Red Bloom of the Boom to focus on School of Seven Bells and his solo project, Ateleia. Bear in Heaven now performs as a four-piece with Philpot on vocals, guitar and keyboards; Wills on guitar and bass; Bazarra on bass and keyboards; and Stickney on drums.

Their 2010 album, Beast Rest Forth Mouth, received the "Best New Music" award from Pitchfork Media, with the reviewer stating: "Beast Rest Forth Mouth is as familiar-feeling as it is difficult to pinpoint. Mostly made up of textural, spacious three- to four-minute pop anthems with towering choruses, BRFM is a welcome reminder that an album doesn't have to be bombastic to feel huge and important. 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. Though not quite coming out of nowhere, BRFM seems like a surprise gift—a striking consolidation of the spiky psych-prog tendencies of their debut into a pop framework."

Their most recent album I Love You, It's Cool was previewed to fans on the band's website in March 2012 - capturing the album and slowing it down to 2,700 hours of drone. It has so far received positive reviews and was previewed by the website NPR. The album was released on April 3rd.