Gorilla vs. Bear
Encyclopedia
Gorilla vs. Bear is a leading mp3 blog
for independent music MP3
s, videos, news, and reviews from all genres. It was created by Chris Cantalini in March 2005, and David Bartholow joined as a contributor in 2006. Gorilla vs. Bear regularly features unknown, established, and independent unsigned artists. The blog is also known for their use of Polaroid film
and Holga cameras
for artist portraiture and live music coverage.
In 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio
selected Gorilla vs. Bear as one of their hosts of "Blog Radio", a weekly radio program on the College/Indie Rock channel Left of Center
. Currently it is on the Channel Sirius XMU.
During the South By Southwest
music festivals since 2011, Gorilla vs. Bear has curated a small showcase entitled Gorilla vs. Booze. The showcase has featured many bands including Dirty Projectors
, White Denim, Ariel Pink, Alela Diane, Girls
, Wavves
, The Golden Filter, Cut Copy, Harlem, The Cool Kids
.
described Gorilla vs. Bear as "among the first to get behind buzzed-about artists like White Denim and Santogold, and its year-end best lists feel like guides to next year's artists to watch." It has been named as Filter Magazine
's 2006 "Blogger of the Year", The Morning News
's 2007 "mp3 Blog of the Year", Rolling Stone's "Best in Rock", URB.com
's "Best Music Blog" of 2008, and one of The Independent
's "25 Best Music Websites". The New York Times Lens Blog featured Gorilla vs. Bear's Polaroids in August of 2010. In April 2011, the site was nominated "Best Independent Music Blog" by MTV's OMA Music Awards.
MP3 blog
An MP3 blog is a type of blog in which the creator makes music files, normally in the MP3 format, available for download. They are also known as "musicblogs" or "audioblogs". MP3 blogs have become increasingly popular since 2003...
for independent music MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
s, videos, news, and reviews from all genres. It was created by Chris Cantalini in March 2005, and David Bartholow joined as a contributor in 2006. Gorilla vs. Bear regularly features unknown, established, and independent unsigned artists. The blog is also known for their use of Polaroid film
Instant film
Instant film is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera...
and Holga cameras
Holga
The Holga is a medium format 120 film toy camera, made in China, known for its low-fidelity aesthetic.The Holga's low-cost construction and simple meniscus lens often yields pictures that display vignetting, blur, light leaks, and other distortions...
for artist portraiture and live music coverage.
In 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
selected Gorilla vs. Bear as one of their hosts of "Blog Radio", a weekly radio program on the College/Indie Rock channel Left of Center
Left of Center
Left of Center was a College rock/Indie rock radio station on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 26 and Dish Network channel 6026. It was replaced by Sirius XMU as part of the Sirius/XM merger of channels on November 12, 2008...
. Currently it is on the Channel Sirius XMU.
During the South By Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
music festivals since 2011, Gorilla vs. Bear has curated a small showcase entitled Gorilla vs. Booze. The showcase has featured many bands including Dirty Projectors
Dirty Projectors
The Dirty Projectors aka David Longstreth includes Amber Coffman , Angel Deradoorian , Brian McOmber , Nat Baldwin , and Haley Dekle during live performances...
, White Denim, Ariel Pink, Alela Diane, Girls
Girls (band)
Girls is an indie rock band from San Francisco, California. Made up of two key members, Christopher Owens who is the main writer and Chet "JR" White who plays bass and produces. The band's lead singer, Christopher Owens, is a former member of the Children of God cult...
, Wavves
Wavves
Wavves is an American surf pop/noise punk band based out of San Diego, California.-History:Wavves started in 2008 as the recording project of Nathan Williams. Wavves released several 7"s as well as a cassette leading up to the first two releases 'Wavves' and 'Wavvves'...
, The Golden Filter, Cut Copy, Harlem, The Cool Kids
The Cool Kids
The Cool Kids is an American hip hop group. Consisting of rappers Antoine "Sir Michael Rocks" Reed and Evan "Chuck Inglish" Ingersoll , the group is based in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan...
.
Awards and recognition
Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
described Gorilla vs. Bear as "among the first to get behind buzzed-about artists like White Denim and Santogold, and its year-end best lists feel like guides to next year's artists to watch." It has been named as Filter Magazine
Filter (magazine)
FILTER, the publication that promises us that "Good music will prevail," is a seasonal American music and off-beat entertainment magazine. It features commentary and photos of up-and-coming musicians and filmmakers ranging from actors to writer-directors...
's 2006 "Blogger of the Year", The Morning News
The Morning News (online magazine)
The Morning News is a U.S.-based daily online magazine founded in 1999 by Rosecrans Baldwin and Andrew Womack. It began as an email newsletter and in the fall of 2000 evolved into a news-oriented weblog with a New York focus...
's 2007 "mp3 Blog of the Year", Rolling Stone's "Best in Rock", URB.com
URB
URB is a monthly American magazine devoted to electronic music, hip hop and urban lifestyle and culture. Based in Los Angeles, California, the magazine was founded in 1990 by Raymond Roker....
's "Best Music Blog" of 2008, and one of The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
's "25 Best Music Websites". The New York Times Lens Blog featured Gorilla vs. Bear's Polaroids in August of 2010. In April 2011, the site was nominated "Best Independent Music Blog" by MTV's OMA Music Awards.