P O L A R B E A R D I S C O G R A P H Y

item: "polar bear" demo tape (1- with vocals)
released: 1995, the talent house
tracks: leader, daytime, water, zulu
notes: This was sold by their old management company for a short time. Now out of print.

item: "polar bear (soundtracks)" demo tape (2- instrumentals)
released: 1995, the talent house
tracks: leader, water, nu flesh, shafty
notes: This was sold by their old management company for a short time. Now out of print.

item: "WHORE: various artists play wire" compilation CD
released: march 5, 1996, WMO [Wire Mail Order label] (WMO 2CD)
tracks: being sucked in (again)
notes: The band's first official offering: they cover a song on a tribute album to the band Wire. Side note: the beginning of polar bear's cover seems to be a sample from the end of another Wire song, "A Touching Display." The CD is out of print and now can sell for around $50 or more.

item: "polar bear" man's ruin limited edition 12" ice blue vinyl
released: november 1996, man's ruin records (054)
tracks: zulu, shafty, nu flesh, gimmee, leader, water
notes: Released in November 1996 on Man's Ruin Records (an independent record label owned and founded by Bay Area artist Frank Kozik), this is the band's first major release: instrumental remixes of 6 of their songs, vinyl only. It was mainly meant to be for DJs to spin in clubs. "A great album to put on when you have friends over and are just chilling out," as one fan put it. A limited edition of 2000 copies, it's long since out of print (plus Man's Ruin Records has gone out of business). Finished, "non-remixed" versions of these songs were later released on CD, except "Nu Flesh" (which is the same version from the '95 demo tape). The record pops up on eBay once in a while, and you might find it at a good record store. It's also available for free download via the audio section of this site.

item: "polar bear" CD
released: may 1997, dry hump recordings (DH021)
tracks: monkey, water, face, gimmee, leader
notes: The band's debut CD (it's self-titled, but also known as the "Chewing Gum EP"), originally released in May 1997 on Dry Hump Recordings (operated by the band's then-management company). Out of print. You may be able to find it (or order it) at big music stores such as Amazon. It's also available for free download via the audio section of this site.
[reviews]

item: "POLARBEAR" demo tape '98
released: september 1998
tracks: friday, zulu, shafty, bodybag, flyer
notes: This was a recording PB made "for our own writing purposes, for intersted fans and for prospective labels." These songs (virtually same versions) were later released on the why something instead of nothing? CD.

item: "scoopy/wednesday" CD-R
released: october 17, 1998 (PBRCD01)
tracks: scoopy, wednesday
notes: They only pressed about 20 of these; Eric just kind of tossed 'em out into the crowd at the 10/17/98 Whiskey show. These songs both ended up on the why something instead of nothing? CD. Scoopy was slightly re-worked and renamed "hula", and wednesday was renamed "lick."

item: "why something instead of nothing?" CD (original)
released: february 19, 1999 (PBRCD02)
tracks: lick, friday, hula, sharkeye, shafty, flyer, bodybag, farm, belly, zulu
notes: Most fans of the band (and the band themselves) agree this CD represents polarbear's greatest work. They self-released it.. a limited pressing of about 2000. The band sold it at their shows and it was briefly available at a few independent music stores, but more widely available online. They sold out by 2002, but the CD was eventually re-released (see below).
[reviews]

item: "why something instead of nothing" CD (reissue)
released: february 10, 2004
tracks: lick, friday, hula, sharkeye, shafty, flyer, bodybag, farm, belly, zulu
notes:  Re-release on Long Live Crime Records, distributed by Koch Entertainment. The artwork is all new, but the music is the same as the original pressing. Went out of print in late 2006, but may still be available used from some CD stores, such as Amazon. The album is also available for sale digitally via the band's myspace page.

unofficial releases...

item: Blue Saloon 2/1/96 bootleg
tracks: leader (soundcheck), things to do when i'm dead, water, daytime, shafty, leader, zulu, gimmee
notes: PB's second show ever. I believe this tape was the prize from a Jane's Xine contest sometime in '96. Since then, the winners have traded copies, so there are a few tapes of it floating around. Average quality, not great. Obviously this was before the band earned much of a fan base.. you can hear people shooting pool in the background.

item: Spaceland 9/26/97 bootleg
tracks: gimmee, face, zulu, gone, nubong, monkey, fryday, leader, shafty
notes: This show was recorded with a MiniDisc recorder. The guy who recorded it kindly put it up on the net for a while. And there are copies of this show floating around the trading community. The first minute or two of 'gimmee' is missing, and there's a bit too much crowd noise, but not a bad recording.

item: The Gig 9/5/98 bootleg
tracks: gimmee, face, shafty, zulu, scoopy, wednesday, monkey, bodybag
notes: This is a live tape of polarbear's set opening for Banyan in Hollywood. Not the best quality recording, but a good show.

item: mystery bear/jig demo
tracks: "mystery bear", jig
notes: A couple unreleased songs from early '99 that the band let slip out. They've since made the rounds via mp3 and cd-r. "Mystery bear" is a smooth instrumental without a formal title. Kind of a Twin Peaks/David Lynch movie groove, as one fan called it. Seems to be an incomplete recording. "Jig" is a somewhat Deconstruction-ish track that contains a lot of samples and jumps around a lot.

item: "demos 1997-1999"
tracks: the 3 demo tapes + jig, mystery bear (15 tracks)
notes: "demos 1997-1999" is a CD-R that a Jane's Addiciton website distributed for next to nothing (blanks and postage) in March 2002.

item: "Jig"
tracks: various tracks from the audio section of this site (15 tracks)
notes: Some enterprising jerk burned a cdr of mp3s from the audio section then started selling copies for about $20 under the title "Jig".

item: Spaceland 4/10/99 bootleg
tracks: lick, face, zulu, shafty, shark eye, hula, monkey, farm, gimmee, bodybag
notes: Decent recording I made of one of their last shows. Some mic trouble at the beginning of the show, and they need to re-start 'monkey', but aside from that, excellent show.

 item: Polarbear DVD
notes: Features 3 live shows plus bonus music videos. more info.

 item: Satellites / Superzero
tracks: satellites, superzero
notes: These were 2 of the last songs the band ever did. Recorded by Rich Costey (David Bowie, Philip Glass, Dave Navarro) in late September 1999, they were demos for a prospective record deal that ended up falling through. The band broke up and these songs remained unheard by fans for several years until Eric included them as bonus tracks for the digital release of Why Something Instead of Nothing on the band's myspace in 2007.