Pitchfork

Photo by Amelia Bauer

You know Daniel Rossen as one quarter of the plucky Brooklyn experimental folk combo Grizzly Bear. But unless you know Dan pretty well, you more than likely don't know his friend Fred Nicolaus. Way before Daniel became a Grizzly Bear, he and Fred Nicolaus were Department of Eagles. As D.O.E., Daniel and Fred crafted an LP called The Cold Nose, before Daniel headed off to build up a Yellow House and Fred fell even further into the pleasures of the domestic realm.

After roughly four years of work whenever they could find the time, Daniel and Fred-- with some help from everybody else in Grizzly Bear not named Ed Droste-- have crafted a brand new Department of Eagles record entitled In Ear Park. The eleven track set was recorded by Grizzly's Chris Taylor in Brooklyn, and is due October 7 on 4AD. You can hear Ear's title track over in Forkcast now.

Hey, speaking of Ed Droste-- and Grizzly Bear, of course-- the dude himself recently chatted a bit with Billboard.com about the status of the follow-up to 2006's Yellow House. Ed claims "the mood [on this LP] is slightly more a sunny afternoon versus a fall afternoon," and that the new disc may arrive as soon as this April. Oh, and Ed also noted something of which you're probably already painfully aware: their "Letterman" appearance, originally scheduled for July 2, has been pushed back to July 23. And, as it turns out, the new song they'll be debuting is called not "Nine", but, rather, "Two Weeks". This new date means Nico Muhly won't be able to attend; Thomas "Doveman" Bartlett will appear in his place.

Grizzly Bear's other live engagements-- including all those dates with Radiohead-- remain unchanged since our last report. UPDATE: The Grizzlies have added a special benefit show at Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg on August 9. Part of the gig's proceeds will go to The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation's flood relief efforts.

In Ear Park:

01 In Ear Park
02 No One Does It
03 Phantom Other
04 Teenagers
05 Around the Bay
06 Herring Bone
07 Classical Records
08 Waves of Rye
09 Interlude
10 Floating on the Lehigh
11 Balmy Night

Grizzly Bear:

07-31 Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge $
08-01 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-02 Louisville, KY - 930 Listening Room $
08-03 Indianapolis, IN - Verizon Wireless Music Center *
08-04 Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom Music Center *
08-06 Montreal, Quebec - Parc Jean-Drapeau *
08-07 Northampton, MA - Calvin Theater #
08-08 Jersey City, NJ - Liberty State Park (All Points West Festival)
08-09 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg (Flood Fund benefit) $
08-11 Washington, DC - Sixth & I Historic Synagogue $
08-12 Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center *
08-13 Mansfield, MA - Tweeter Center *
08-14 Boston, MA - Calderwood Courtyard (Museum of Fine Arts) $
08-15 Toronto, Ontario - Molson Amphitheatre *

$ with Violens
* with Radiohead
# with the New Pornographers