Bear Mountain
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Bear Mountain

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | INDIE

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | INDIE
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"Bear Mountain Show off Their "Two Step" With Nature"

Vancouver electro-dance band Bear Mountain have recently released their album XO and today, we are premiering the video for their tune, "Two Step."

Walking the line between an upbeat pop tune and an anthematic crowd pumper, "Two Step" is as pleasing to the ears as the video is to your eyes. Color-skewed nature shots are shown while different symbols and images are overlaid, somehow fitting perfectly with the track.

Check out the video below and head here to pick up Bear Mountain's album, XO. - FILTER Magazine


"Bear Mountain's XO is full of memorable, original songs"

It’s no surprise that Bear Mountain’s single “Two Step” was already topping the Hype Machine charts of most-blogged music before the band’s full record, XO, was released. The duo’s uplifting vocals, synths, and samples make for an original and powerful sound and catchy songs that stick around long after you hear them.

Bear Mountain began as the bedroom project of local musician Ian Bevis, who is also a member of electro-pop act Top Less Gay Love Tekno Party. Now revolving around Bevis and collaborator Kyle Statham, Bear Mountain released the seven-track debut LP in early August on iTunes and Bandcamp, with offerings like “Sing” and “Congo” providing a similarly addictive soundtrack. With this impressive outing, the Vancouver duo is likely to continue attracting attention in the electronic-music world. - The Georgia Straight


"Bear Mountain Congo"

Vancouver duo Bear Mountain layer vulnerable lyrics over pop collages with healthy oomph. Following their new album XO’s first single “Two Step,” which is also downloadable below, the latest track “Congo” showcases a nice build-up not like an avalanche, but like all the snow on a hill melted at once to slop down and water a big garden. XO comes out August 7th. - The Fader


"Album Review - Bear Mountain XO"

Certain songs make you feel younger. It’s something more than nostalgia; there’s a joyous enthusiasm in some music that doesn’t bring you back to the time you were young, but back to the sensation of being young. With the six songs on their debut album, xo, Vancouver duo Bear Mountain achieve this heart-pumping, smile-widening freedom, parsing the elements of dozens of genres and times and spinning them around until the listener becomes gleefully dizzy.
Opening track and lead single “Two Step” encapsulates the Bear Mountain experience perfectly, Ian Bevis and Kyle Statham pulsing a Technicolored insistence in a safety-bladed blender. There are the movie dialog samples of ambient electronic, the ramping square-wave synths of a controlled Dan Deacon, and a sampled vocal with tribal energy. The clap-along drumbeat sounds ripped from some inspirational ’80s track, but then futuristic dubstep bass wobbles crop up, blending time and space until neither is recognizable. The listener is lost in the mix, with only the pure fun of the experience to grasp for balance.

A couple of tracks stick a little too close to genre paradigms (the soul vocal sample and slinky synths of “Swim” fit too tightly in the techno package to be anything but a little dull), but the majority of the album succeeds in defying expectations. “See You Through” opens on a swinging jazz break, before a wash of new wave synths and delayed guitar rush over the top. Just as the song seems to make sense, dramatic disco vocals blur the lines, to only be slanted again by a fade to airy ambience and returned to the beginning. The song unravels like some sort of space opera epic, hopping from genre to genre to achieve some cosmic blueprint.

Clocking in at under half an hour (including a four-minute remix of one of the other tracks, courtesy of SleepyTom), the album is strong but doesn’t have enough time to breath, to let the world’s eccentricities establish themselves in a larger pattern. That said, closing out on the swanky, ethereal “Congo”, with its chopped choir samples and laser synth pulses, proves that epic sense of non-time. xo works within so many ’80s tropes while hitting contemporary pop notes–and refusing to be defined by either. - Consequence of Sound


"Bear Mountain Releases Live Album"

Live albums are generally rubbish for for diehard fans of outdated bands. And then there are the odd discs that actually turn you on to a new band, making you forget you are listening to a live recording long enough that when you remember you are, you say “Woah, all that was live?” Meet Bear Mountain. They make big (and often instrumental) swirling indie rock jams with a soulful heart and a pop edge. They also cover Germany Germany. Twice. Radical. - The Burning Ear


"Shiny Shiny New New"

From the first note Bear Mountain draws you in, with it’s glitchy undulating electronic beats and subdued vocals it’s a perfect audio night-cap. This is a song for going nowhere but doing it in style… We like. - Shiny Shiny New New


"Tell All Your Friends"

It’s great to be back. Well, sort of. It’s great to be back in the blogosphere with all you lovely followers, however, this Chicago weather has me missing the sunshine in FL. Anywho, let’s start off the week with some blissful, electronica sounds from Bear Mountain. Get lost in this track, and you’ll surely forget your Monday blues. Enjoy! - Tell All Your Friends


"Bear Mountain"

I’m pretty sure mondays are rough for everyone, so on this chilly monday evening, I’m offering you this smooth electronica instrumental by Vancouver artist Bear Mountain. “Swim” has this Washed Out or Teen Daze kind of feel to it, the sort of jam that makes you feel like you’re walking on a beach with the summer breeze in your face. If you dig this track, I highly recommend you grab his free EP on his Bandcamp page. Enjoy! - Trolls on Acid


"Bear Mountain"

Vancouver’s electro artist, Bear Mountain, is getting ready to release his LP and here we have the first taste of what is to be expected when the album drops, via the very dance-able hit and first single, “Swim”. Enjoy it below and also make sure to check out his old stuff, as well. - Song Operated


"New Music"

So you’re on Twitter, right, and you’re going through all of the people who have recently started following you, and after automatically following back all the people who look vaguely fit and are real (No, I’m not clicking that link; No, I don’t want cheap medical drugs, and I’m not entirely convinced that’s you in your prof pic either…) you then start to go though the bands. Do you follow back bands? More importantly, do you give them a listen? Being listened to is probably the best they could gain in their attempts at following people. I try to give everyone that follows me a listen (I have a lot of time to fill during the day) and the results are more 'miss' than 'hit' if I’m completely honest. But, when it 'hits', you get to grips with stuff like Bear Mountain. I got into Bear Mountain (aka Ian Bevis) via the above method and was pretty much hooked halfway through the first track of his Bear Mountain EP. A few months later he released ‘Swim’ unto the world, an absolute gem of a track: a beat-driven organ drives a nice summery groove, complete with swirling vocals – very reminiscent of Caribou – filtering through over the top. Hopefully a taster of things to come from the Canadian based artist, I look forward to seeing what he does next – whether that be a cracking follow-up single or what he just had for lunch. I’m all over that shit. I follow him now. You can download the track by heading to http://mybearmountain.bandcamp.com/track/swim - The Four Oh Five


"Passionate Sounds"

Vancouver artist Bear Mountain just sent over a new track entitled “Swim.” It’s a bit of a preview for his full-length album which is due out this summer on Distorted Disco Records. I”m loving the washed-out electronica vibes…..and definitely looking forward to hearing more from this fellow in the near future! Check out the track below, and head on over to his bandcamp if you want to hear some of his previous EPs. - Passionate Sounds


"Funky Beat Freeway"

We’ve been talking briefly with Ian Bevis of the local Vancouver band known as Bear Mountain, and so far, we’re digging his chill-funk beats. Ian just sent over his progressively danceable track called “Eden” off of his self-titled EP, which includes two other tracks following his style of funky beats laid on top of old film dialogue samples.

Be sure to grab his track “Eden” below and the rest of the EP on his Bandcamp through the pay-what-you-can method and follow him on tumblr as well. In a few days, he’ll also be releasing an acoustic-folk album so be sure to check that out, and look ahead for Bear Mountain’s full-length in the spring of next year. - Hearing Gold


"Bear Mountain, Swim"

“Swim” is a warm track from Vancouver artist, Bear Mountain. It’s a awe-inspired track that dreams big. Waves of washed up electronica pick up lush samples along the way, creating an inspiration instrumental. This is all kinds of delicious.

Be careful not to listen too long. You may get lost in the waves. You know what….

I wouldn’t mind. - We All Want Someone to Shout For


"Bear Mountain Releases New Single"

Bear Mountain - Eden
Dug this within the first few seconds of listening. Laid back ambient tunes with what sounds like movie samples laid over the track. Listen and relax. - Apathetic Arousal


"Bear Mountain Eden"

Been digging the funky dance beats of Vancouver’s Bear Mountain today. Ian Bevis sent over his self-titled EP, which consists of 3 distinct and bangin tracks ready for your downloading pleasure.

Go pick up this delightful gem for what ever you want to pay at bandcamp. Also follow them up on tumblr. Look ahead for full-length in spring of 2011. - Smoke Don't Smoke


Discography

Bear Mountain - XO

Photos

Bio

Bear Mountain's electro/dance style blends syncopated bass lines and arpeggiated synth chords with live instrumentation and soaring vocals to create a style all their own. Their approach to the traditional "indie-dance" genre is unmistakably fresh, and powerfully captivating.

In a short amount of time, Bear Mountain has garnered a significant online following through the release of early demos and remixes. This presence online has translated into a thrilling live show, and a captivating performance.