Bear In Heaven
Red Bloom of the Boom
Hometapes
Art Rock lives.
I popped this disc in the player and thought I’d found a Yes or King Crimson demo from the ’70s. There’s an urgent guitar flirting between weird sound samples, odd percussion, and a rhythm section that performs a tango with a singer whose lyrics may have come out of a Scrabble bag. Time signatures don’t stand still for more than a bar or two, and while the music isn’t exactly melodic, it does have a way of demanding attention. After the intense “Slow Gold,” Bear in Heaven slams on the brakes with “Werewolf,” a song that almost sounds like the intro to “Us and Them” by Pink Floyd. This mood persists as Bear in Heaven re-explores all the arty music that occupied FM radio back when radio kept the hippies amused until the drugs kicked in. All they need is a glow-in-the-dark poster with a sailing ship, a dragon, and an impossibly proportioned nude woman.
Hometapes: http://www.hometapes.com
