After a week away, it was nice to be back in the studio. This week I played several folk-related tunes, a few garage-based ones, and a small handful of indie pop tracks. With the amount of indie-folk I’ve played of late, I’m thinking we’re in store for another dreamy mix and maybe even a garage rock mix in the near future.

It finally happened. Winter arrived. Snow fell and we woke up this past Sunday with about three inches of the stuff. I’m glad it didn’t arrive earlier, as Friday saw me at KSVR for a four hour stint of music.

Bears are a delectable pop band out of Cleveland, Ohio that blend indie pop sounds with psychedelic instrumentation and the clash between sleepy and mopey vocals. If there’s anything I like, it’s rainy-day pop music, and that’s precisely what this is. Greater Lakes is the band’s new LP — their third at that — and it comes out on Misra Records on Valentine’s Day 2012.
Word is floating around that this is their best album yet, and with a few listens, it’s easy to hear the truth in …

This show began like any other, but without the transition difficulties. All was smooth. The music, on the other hand, was not. After a long, satisfying week, I was in need of some loud, abrasive rock music. But it wasn’t all like that. Due to the cold weather, I mixed in some beach pop, fuzzy dream pop and good old garage rock and pop.

Is it just me or is there an overabundance of indie Christmas tunes being released this year? As in, substantial quantities more than usual. Maybe I’m just paying attention this time ’round. Anyway, one of the better ones I’ve heard as we approach the holiday season is “I’m A Snowman” by Ohio’s best pop group Bears.

It’s been ages since I’ve written about Bears, Ohio’s best pop band. And I was totally stoked to get a few copies of their new single in the mail (ordered a few months ago when it was still at the plant). Who Knows includes two brief songs, the title track and “Make Something.”

How many bands these days have a xylophone? Very few. It’s just one of the many things that make Bears (MySpace) special. On their self-titled debut, the Cleveland, Ohio pop group mixes its pop sensibilities with light psychedelia on par with early Of Montreal and Elephant 6 style-recordings. Lumped into that somewhat classic era in more modern pop music would make it seem like Bears have a lot to live up to, but with such a strong debut, the group appears to have already succeeded.