Bear In Heaven

Brooklyn-based Bear in Heaven originated in 1998 when Jon Philpot, still based in his native Atlanta, sought an outlet for his musical concepts outside regular hours at a nearby studio. Following his relocation to Brooklyn near the close of the 1990s, Philpot sustained his creative efforts, among them the Presocratics duo, which issued multiple releases via the experimental Table of the Elements imprint. Over the ensuing years, additional associates from Atlanta and the broader South gravitated to Brooklyn, enabling Philpot to gather the musicians who would form the eventual band. He issued the EP Tunes Nextdoor to Songs in 2003 on Eastern Developments—the label run by Scott Herren, aka Prefuse 73—still under the Bear in Heaven name yet operating essentially as a solo endeavor. Soon afterward, he incorporated bassist and keyboardist Sadek Bazaraa, guitarist and bassist Adam Wills (previously on tour with Rhys Chatham's guitar trio), bassist James Elliott (encountered soon after Philpot's arrival in Brooklyn and a co-founder of the Social Registry label), guitarist David Daniell, and drummer Joe Stickney, after which they commenced work on fresh material. Daniell exited in 2005 to focus on his own project, leaving the remaining quartet to track the full-length Red Bloom of the Boom; Elliott subsequently departed to join the then-unknown School of Seven Bells and advance his solo electronic venture Ateleia. Hometapes put out the album in 2007, prompting initial comparisons to Radiohead, Animal Collective, and Can. Bear in Heaven's second album, Beast Rest Forth Mouth, appeared in October 2009 to favorable notices and secured the group prominent slots at that year's CMJ festival in New York. The band sustained an intensive touring schedule that expanded their following amid continued acclaim for Beast Rest Forth Mouth, logging more than 200 performances in support of the record, while a companion remix disc surfaced in August 2010. Early in 2012 the quartet completed its third studio album, I Love You, It's Cool. For promotion, Bear in Heaven streamed a version on its site slowed by 400,000 percent, transforming the comparatively brash and melodic set into an ambient expanse lasting beyond 247 hours. Their fourth album, the reflective and emotionally resonant Time Is Over One Day Old, arrived in 2014.