Chris DeLine

Late last month Edward Droste, lead singer of Grizzly Bear, made an announcement via his Twitter feed: “Well after much rehearsal and preperation [sic], we will not be on Letterman tonight. We were about to walk on when dave said we ran out of time.” It was significant not just that they were bumped, but also that the television viewing audience was missing out on something special. The band had lined up a string quartet to accompany them through the first televised rendition of “Ready, Able” from their new Veckatimest. The album is audibly thick and far too rich with warped layers to be described as a rock record. Rather, the music is a collage of sounds, combining vocal harmonies with piano, guitars, and a variety of other instruments into an elegant behemoth of twisted genres. Famed Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood has called Grizzly Bear his favorite band, and if that’s not a worthy vote of confidence, I don’t know what is. Grizzly Bear’s Late Show appearance has been rescheduled for sometime in July, but you’d be doing yourself a great disservice to miss seeing the band in such an intimate setting, just in case Letterman runs out of time again. With Here We Go Magic.

[This critics’ pick was originally published by City Pages.]