Features:
The Waking Life of Brian McTear:
http://www.shinygun.com/print.php?id=109
--Bryson Meunier, Shiny Gun, August 25, 2004

Revenge is Sweet:
http://citypaper.net/articles/2004-07-22/music2.shtml
--Michael Pelusi, Philadelphia City Paper, July 22-28, 2004

Days of the Weeks:
http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=7712
--Doug Wallen, Philadelphia Weekly, July 21-27, 2004

Reviews for Revenge:
http://www.splendidezine.com/review.html?reviewid=10921318582941
--Mike Baker, Splendid, August 23, 2004

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/2004/08/08/entertainment/9335994.htm
--Amy Phillips, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 8, 2004

http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/b/bitterbitterweeks-revenge.shtml
--Jon Goff, PopMatters, August 27, 2004

http://www.30music.com/rev.php?rev=753
--Luther Hermanson, 30music.com, July 28, 2004

http://indieworkshop.com/reviews/1005/
--grant, indieworkshop.com, August 2, 2004

Press Quotes for Bitter, bitter weeks 2003:

Producer Brian McTear emerged from behind the sound board to release a collection of stripped-down stirrers for his solo debut. McTear's is the type of fragile, singular voice that breathes a sort of trembling soul into songs built of little more than acoustic guitar and tough experience. From the somber reminiscing of "Tn" to the swelling "You Paralyze My Heart," Bitter, Bitter Weeks is a feat of songwriting, and a marvel of genuine feeling.
--Brian Howard, “Best Local CDs of 2003” Philadelphia City Paper, January 1-7, 2004

Simple acoustic songs delivered sparingly as if it were recorded three to four decades ago. This, from a recording engineer in Philadelphia.
--Rob O’Connor, RollingStone.com, Our Critics Top Albums of 2003

...the results really are staggering. His playing is extremely interesting, featuring just enough twang to satisfy lovers of alt-country, but never so much that it sounds fake - I mean, he's from fucking Philadelphia, after all. McTear has a way with words too, chiming in with straight-to-the-point lines like "Oh, stop acting like there's nothing left to dream, 'cause life is just beginning." This simple honesty tastefully works its way into every song, and it makes McTear's debut incredibly hard not to like.
--Mike Conklin, Basement-Life

The songs are simple, melodic, hypnotic. The openhearted music never surrenders to moping, but there´s always a disquieting undercurrent of sadness. If McTear keeps writing songs this good, though, even better days will lie ahead.
--Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer, January 19, 2003

In these times when everyone’s home studio is churning out 64 track tributes to Pet Sounds or Loveless, it’s nice to see someone with a full commercial studio at their disposal sketch out their songs as stark as this ­ and the tunes hold up.
-- Larry Crane, Tape Op, Mar/Apr 2003

The results are some pretty heady singer-songwriter confessionals, for the most part just a voice and guitar; at times he sounds like an early 60’s Bob Dylan, only with his heart somewhat less than intact.
--Andrew Carden, MOJO August 2003

If you had to guess the time and place this 12-song acoustic collection was crafted, it wouldn’t be unjustified to think of England in the mid-1960’s. There’s just enough melodic whimsy and unadorned acoustic strumming to suggest that period when folksingers were discovering pop musicÉIt’s partly McTear’s voice , a gentle childlike instrument that expresses fresh wonder with an unusual accentÉ
--Rob O’Connor, CMJ New Music Monthly, Jan/Feb 2003

The same guy who’s spent a career bricking and mortaring walls of sound for other musicians, it turns out, has a soft spot for the minimal, getting his strum on with almost no adornment over the course of a 35-minute long-player. This can be a perilous path—stripping a bunch of songs bare and laying them out for the world exposes weak writing faster than anything, and too much consistency of texture quickly becomes boring—but McTear demonstrates his engineer’s ear with an attention to detail and variation that keeps things rolling pretty well.
--Joe Tangari, Pitchfork Media, April 21st, 2003 (rating 7.0)

Next years best CD already
Brian McTear is the co-owner of Miner Street/Cycle Sound Studio and the producer/engineer/multi-instrumentalist behind (can I do this in order?): Ashtabula, The Bigger Lovers, Burning Brides, Butterfly Joe, Echo Orbiter, Eltro, Lefty's Deceiver, Matt Pond PA, Mazarin, She-Haw, Swearing at Motorists, Swisher and The Trouble With Sweeney. Now he rips opens his own solo semi-acoustic CD as Bitter, Bitter Weeks, with the same tender-hearted musicality that marks his charges, as well as a bubbling subtle spirit, endearing atmospheres and doubly entrancing melodies. It's that good.
-- A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia CityPaper’s Choice 2002 Awards.

In a time when original talent seems almost impossible to find, and even the best of the pack often exhibits a resigned banality, Bitter Bitter Weeks (aka Philadelphian Brian McTear) exhibits an extraordinary ability to turn straightforward pop songs into moving and impassioned poems of uncanny depth and emotion. Often accompanied by nothing more than an acoustic guitar or the simplest of arrangements, McTear proves that--contrary assumptions notwithstanding--simplicity is not simple but in the right hands ineffably potent. McTear is a gifted progenitor of the form, exhibiting an innate grasp of the subtle dynamics that create passion and depth from delicate songs devoid of any pretense other than intelligence, grace and respect for the oft-defiled art of songcraft.
--Donovan Finn, CU Cityview, January 3-9, 2003

His trebly voice and guitar strings pop and creak over some of the most inconspicuously brilliant lyrics you'll hear 'round these parts. There's the lump-in-the-throat emotion of "You Paralyze My Heart," the high lonesome of "Taking Pills" and the biting, nearly rocking "The Best Days of My Life." For someone who's dedicated the last six years to helping other musicians fine-tune their sonics, it turns out McTear's got a penchant for wordsmithing.
-- Brian Howard, Philadelphia CityPaper, December 19-25, 2002

...McTear's austere arrangements foreground a voice that brings to mind Uncle Tupelo-era Jeff Tweedy, while guest musicians contribute pedal steel, harmonica and a lovely vocal chorus on the last few tracks. Great music for big rooms or slow nights.
--Sarah A. Sternau, Alternative Press #175, February 2003

Brian McTear is the sonic saint of the Philadelphia music scene, and with good reason. ...On his self-titled debut (My Pal God Records), touches of banjo and Rhodes piano accentuate the precious heartbreak of McTear's lyrical laments, while friends [Matt] Pond, [Quentin] Stolzfus and the late Sara Weaver accent his lonesome musical canvas.
--J. Gabriel Boylan, Philadelphia Weekly, December 18, 2002 ALIST

Dashes of Alex Chilton’s ragtag pop and Jonathan Richman’s childlike wonder give a warm glow to this boy-and-his-guitar bundle of agreeable melodic, soft-pedalled laments.
--Jim Allen, Uncut, February 2003

The songwriting tears at your heartstrings and guarantees repeated listens. Mr. McTears vocals and his guitar style compliment each other as nicely as anything I've heard in a long time. If the Shins record had been an acoustic folk record, it would have sounded like this.
--(CS) www.geekamerica.com

É [The] upcoming, self-titled album (due this winter on My Pal God) is a warm and guileless work with more than a hint of twang around the edges. He's got an evocative voice (and knows how to use it), and his songs will make sense to anyone with a heart."
--Time Out, New York Nov, 2002

It's no surprise that the production on McTear's self-titled debut is excellent. There's just a hint of an echoed quality to his vocals that truly bring them out, and the guitar is perfectly crisp and clean. Those elements allow McTear's words to shine, and they do, proving him a talented singer/songwriter in addition to a talented producer. Bitter, Bitter Weeks is a melancholy display of sincerity often found lacking in angst-ridden music popular today, and it's a welcome addition.
--Jeff Marsh, Delusions of Adequacy, 3/17/03

Focusing on that simplicity makes Bitter, Bitter Weeks a record worthy of praise. The threadbare sound draws attention to the accuracy of the music and the depth of the lyrics. Brian McTear has proven himself as a producer with his past. His new album boldly affirms his place among talented musicians as well.
-- Rachel Turner, Aversion, June 27, 2003

Modest song structures and a sense of whimsy prevail, with hummable melodies filling out the essentially stripped-down songs, turning them into meatier compositions. The vocals are lithe yet yearning, especially on the one live-recorded track, “The Best Days Of My Life,” in which every syllable seems to ache. It’s rare that a man and his guitar can sound so substantial, but Bitter, Bitter Weeks is definitely and exception.
-- Philip Buchan, Splendid E-zine, 2/4/2003

Moving stuff. Lonesomeness in the city. Even with occasional banjo and pedal steel this music feels like the city. If someone were to do an updated Midnight Cowboy the soundtrack would have Joe Buck moseying down the big, bad boulevard with 'Sage' humming in his ears.
--HELLTHY entertainment

Armed with a redolent voice and understated instrumentation McTear rolls through relationships (“You Paralyze My Heart”), tough times (“Still As A Stream”) and the promise of a better tomorrow (“Earthquake”).
--Rob Heater, Sponic (Originally appeared in issue: 12)

Some fabulous and deeply personal music emerged in response to 9/11 and the "war on terror" (and I don't mean that "Have You Forgot About Bin Laden?" song).  Some of this music is available at Protest Records, a site featuring a number of MP3s with focuses against war and other negative developments in the US of late.  I'd recommend "Revenge", a beautiful song by Bitter, Bitter Weeks (Brian McTear), from My Pal God Records.
-- Ben Regenspan, Catalyzer Journal http://www.catalyzerjournal.com/cnews/archives/archives-6.php