For much of this week, I’ve been providing advance coverage of this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. Now it’s finally here. My coverage continues all weekend long. For hour-by-hour updates, feel free to follow along with me on Twitter. In the very late evening/overnight hours, check back on the site to read my daily writeups that chronicle the good and bad of the things I saw. I’ll try and post photos too, but if I’m too tired to slap all that together it might have to wait until Sunday/Monday. Basically I’m saying there are plenty of ways to keep up with all the happenings this weekend without actually being there. Plenty of sets will also be streaming online, so go to the festival website for details on how to do that. It’s set to be a great weekend, with only the smallest chance of a stray shower amidst the sun and temperatures that will get hotter each and every day. Stay safe and have a blast. Here’s your Friday edition of Pick Your Poison. Great stuff today in the form of tracks bu Gardens & Villa, The Glitch Mob, Rams’ Pocket Radio, Superhumanoids, Tom Vek and Memory Tapes remixing ANR. Tracks by Peelander-Z and Walls in the Soundcloud section are both pretty great as well.
Anybody else particularly excited for this upcoming weekend? The Pitchfork Music Festival kicks off tomorrow afternoon, and you can almost taste the sweet air of Union Park already. I wish all of you could come with and we’d have a blast, but most assuredly not everybody that is a regular visitor to this site will be going. You’ve got other options – like going to see the new Harry Potter movie, assuming it’s opening at a theatre near you. Alcohol is another solid choice, of the blackout variety kind, if you’re old enough. We’ll chat more about that later. For now, let’s handle the Thursday edition of Pick Your Poison. Tracks with my seal of approval today include ones from Army Navy, Ash Black Bufflo, Jacuzzi Boys, Male Bonding, Otherness, and remixes from tracks by YACHT and Blonde Redhead.
After two days of hardcore festival-going, you start to really feel run down. Too much sun, too much heat, too much sound destroying your eardrums, too much alcohol, not enough water. Weather reports are saying the temperatures are only going to get hotter as the weekend progresses, and Sunday could feature heat indices in the 100 degree range. That’s sort of the way of life in July in Chicago though, so I advise you to be careful, watch out for your friends or just random strangers that don’t look like they’re in good shape. Stay safe while having fun. There’s plenty of first aid and most assuredly somebody will get you water if you need it. Don’t hesitate to ask for anything. The vibe at the Pitchfork Music Festival is not about being the biggest asshole or music snob you can be. Rather, the goal is community. Good people, coming together to celebrate good music. We’re all friends, whether we know each other or not, and you may call that some hippie bullshit if you like, I don’t care. If you happen to find me or meet me out in Union Park this weekend, I’ll buy you a drink, shake your hand and maybe even give you a hug, just for being you. So come on out and have some fun with us. If you don’t have tickets already and are super late to this party, there are still some single day tickets available. Check PitchforkMusicFestival.com for more details. Have a great weekend everyone, and keep up with the insanity by streaming the sets online or read my commentary via Twitter. I’ll also be posting day-by-day recaps and photos (when I can) of all the weekend’s insanity. I hope this preview guide has helped you out in choosing the acts you’d like to see this weekend. See you out in the park!
SUNDAY, JULY 17 (Gates at 12pm)
1:00 The Fresh & Onlys* (Green Stage)
1:00 Darkstar (Blue Stage)
Sundays are a day of rest. They’re reserved for sitting back and taking in the scenery rather than outright hard work or even expending any heavy energy out in the hot sun. As standing around watching bands all day isn’t exactly resting, you’re probably in good shape by starting your day with something that’s a little lower impact energy-wise. The Fresh & Onlys have you covered with their songs that are perfect for a day at the beach. Given that there is no beach in Union Park, the lawn will do just fine. If you can find some shade and have a blanket with you, spread it out and lay down for a bit. You’ll probably be tired from two days of fun anyways. Should you choose to violate doctor’s orders and want to bust a move to start your day, Darkstar is who you should go see. Pretty true to their name, moody techno music is what they make, though maybe it’s closer to synth pop. OMD is a good reference point for them, as are the 80s in general. Darkstar aren’t the sort of guys who function well in the sunlight, but they’ll do so here to likely serviceable results. You’re far better off catching them in a club after midnight. So The Fresh & Onlys are my pick. Their albums are better too.
1:45 Yuck* (Red Stage)
1:55 How to Dress Well (Blue Stage)
This is a proverbial Battle of the Hyped Bands. It’s going to be fascinating to see how each one fares. How to Dress Well earned a lot of press thanks to last year’s amazing “Love Remains”, but since that time the commotion has died down. Tom Krell, the man behind the name, isn’t one to do a lot of press or even a ton of live shows, and in turn that makes it tough to keep attention focused. Having a record that’s tough to get into doesn’t help either. Early reports said that HTDW shows were rather boring and somewhat unpleasant given Krell’s lack of stage experience, but more recently the talk has been more positive. Still, his songs don’t exactly scream “energy” or fun, so that might be a problem come his set at Pitchfork. Yuck, on the other hand, are still riding the hype they earned with their self-titled debut early this year. Their sound is uber-cool 90s rock, and they’re at home with references to Dinosaur Jr. and Pavement as focal points. They’ve managed to keep the talk going pretty well courtesy of a number of carefully timed singles and music videos that are most definitely NSFW. Yuck is playing the bigger stage, and with good reason. They’re set to be an early highlight on Sunday.
2:30 Kurt Vile & the Violators (Green Stage)
2:50 Twin Sister* (Blue Stage)
In case you were keeping track, Kurt Vile & the Violators did play last year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. They were on the small stage and while I heard positive things about their set, I personally chose not to go see it. It was nothing against the man himself, but rather just the mere coincidence of being pitted against some tough competition on the other side of the park. What Vile has done in 2011 is far more remarkable than what he was best known for in 2010, which was not much. His album “Smoke Ring for My Halo” is one of this year’s highlights, and it makes him a much more desirable act to see vs. a year ago. To hear those new songs performed live will likely be a treat. And while Vile is certainly not lacking in stage presence, his songs aren’t the best for a mid-day sun-soaked bit of enjoyment. His quiet-ish brand of folk, like last year, probably won’t be any easier to deal with on a larger stage where the intimacy yet again gets thrown out the window. Plus, Vile is pitted against Twin Sister. Twin Sister’s couple EPs were very good but not quite on the level of great. They’re another 80s revivalist pop band, with a touch of quirky experimentalism. What’s clear though is that with their debut full length on the way this fall, they’re no longer messing around. Twin Sister are ready for their close-up, and it’s probably advisable that you give it to them by catching their set.
3:20 Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All* (Red Stage)
3:45 Shabazz Palaces (Blue Stage)
Here we go: hip hop showdown. In so many ways, the entire weekend boils down to this time slot and these two acts. Shabazz Palaces are bound to be the losers in this face-off, and it’s totally understandable why. Their record “Black Up” is arguably the best hip hop album that has been (and likely will be) released in 2011 thus far. It’s intelligent and experimental and unlike anything else you’ll hear this year. What it lacks is fun. That’s not to say Odd Future’s tracks are fun – the clear intention of the hip hop collective is to provoke more than anything else. Their cuts about raping and killing and every other unspeakable evil act have resulted in many a protest, in some cases riots, and some women’s rights groups have said they’re planning to protest outside against Odd Future. Whether or not these guys actually believe the words they’re spitting out is open to interpretation. Most likely they just want to rile people up. If you caught their performance on “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” a few months back, and it became something of a viral video for how insanely good it was, then you know you can expect the unexpected from these crazy kids. In other words, you kind of NEED to go see Odd Future, less because of their songs and more because nobody has any idea just what sort of crazy shit they’ll attempt to do.
4:15 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti* (Green Stage)
4:45 Baths (Blue Stage)
This is a challenging set to analyze, because unlike virtually every other hour all weekend long, neither Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti nor Baths are particularly great bands in a live setting. Okay, that’s not entirely the case…they’re just not great for a festival setting. Baths isn’t, at least. It’s easy to argue though that the chillwave style of Baths can make for a lightly danceable cool down period in the later afternoon hours. His debut record “Cerulean” was a summer highlight last year, and his counterparts are other bands playing the festival, such as Toro y Moi and Twin Shadow. Where Baths differs is really in how chillwave is trending these days. A lot of the chillwave artists that emerged in the last couple years have since put out sophmore efforts that adapted to become brighter, dancier and more produced. Baths isn’t there…yet. Maybe live it’s a different story, I don’t know. Could make for a fun set though, even if he does stick to all “Cerulean” material, it’s kind of a joy to watch him work. But in terms of Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, they’re well known to give largely crap performances. Every now and then the sun shines in just the right direction and sheer brilliance will emerge on stage, but the rest of the time you’re in a bad spot. Given how I’ve just trashed the band, why then am I recommending you go see them? It’s all about the catalogue. Ariel Pink may deliver a subpar version of “Round and Round” off the last album “Before Today”, but even a bad version of that song nearly beats to death anything Baths can come up with. Not that the Baths record is bad, it’s that Ariel Pink is so good. Do with that what you will, and if you choose to take a trip to the Baths, that might be a great time too.
5:15 Superchunk* (Red Stage)
5:45 Kylesa (Blue Stage)
Fact: Kylesa is the only metal band playing this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. Outside of Mastodon, there’s not a ton of metal-related acts that can draw an indie crowd, but hopefully Kylesa is one of them. They’ll be playing the Blue Stage, which is amusing because that tends to have the weakest speaker system out of the three stages in Union Park. Will you still likely hear them across the park over at Superchunk? There’s a strong possibility of that happening. The thing is, Kylesa’s most recent records have been far less heavy and loud than their back catalogue might suggest. They’ve been drifting closer to a psych-rock direction as of late, and it sounds good on them. Don’t be afraid to throw up your devil horns if you go see their set though. On the other side of the park you’ll have Superchunk, and if you already know and like the band then you know nothing needs to be said. They deliver a great set each and every time they walk out on stage, and there’s nothing to suggest that’s going to change on Sunday afternoon. They’re pretty much a quintessential 90s band, heirs to the Pavement crown even if they were never able to fully grasp it. Last year they put out “Majesty Shredding”, their first full length in nearly a decade. Not much has been lost, and you’ll gain oh so much by going to see them play live. You don’t even need to know a single song to fall in love with Superchunk.
6:15 Deerhunter* (Green Stage)
6:45 Toro y Moi (Blue Stage)
This matchup is most definitely tougher than it appears on paper. On any given Sunday, Deerhunter would take Toro y Moi around back and make him their bitch before either went on stage. That’s me saying that Toro y Moi tends to be proverbial weak sauce. I was not a supporter of Chaz Bundick’s chillwave project when last year’s “Causers of This” came out. It showed up just a minute late and a dollar short compared to the dozens of other similar artists that had already gotten the attention of so many bloggers and critics in the preceeding months. Yet Bundick smartened up, and with a quick turnaround for a second album, Toro y Moi’s “Underneath the Pine” changed the game (and sound) for the better. Clarity and melody were the two biggest improvements, not that they were lacking before, but now they shone through like a torch in the night. Toro y Moi rose, and Toro y Moi conquered to craft one of this year’s finest albums thus far. Yet you’ve still got Deerhunter, and what Deerhunter have going for them is a commendable streak of excellent albums that dates back to 2007’s “Cryptograms”. They even got away with putting out a double album in the form of “Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.” and suffered no consequences for it, unlike so many other bands that tried and failed miserably. So in a pissing contest, Deerhunter wins. But Toro y Moi is bound to have a fun, highly danceable set, which plays better than the swirling and darker psychedelia of Deerhunter.
7:25 Cut Copy* (Red Stage)
7:40 HEALTH (Blue Stage)
Battle of the dance crews. Both Cut Copy and HEALTH are essentially electronica dance bands, but they craft their music in almost completely different ways. Cut Copy are the clean boys. Their synth-based dance pop is shiny and fresh and fully club-ready. HEALTH are divisive. They like noise and they like beats, pretty much in that order. It gets loud. There’s static sometimes involved. They’re basically a noise rock band using dance music as a disguise. They’ve drawn comparisons to Liars and Excepter but with a strong synth bent. HEALTH is also not the most critically acclaimed band in the world, even if they do get a lot of credit for being inventive with their sound. There are plenty of people who appreciate HEALTH for what they do or what they’re trying to do, and in their live sets there’s an intensity that will keep your eyes glued to the stage. What they don’t have though is an army of strong singles. Look for everything from “Lights and Music” to “Heart’s On Fire” to “Where I’m Going” and “Take Me Over” to emerge from Cut Copy’s set and slay crowds. Their new album “Zonoscope” is one of 2011’s best, and if the sun’s setting and you’re not dancing your ass off then something is wrong with you. No matter which set you go and see though, you’re virtually guaranteed a great show. The night could essentially end once these two bands leave their respective stages and I think everyone would go home satisfied. As it stands though, there’s one more act left to cap off the entire festival.
8:30 TV on the Radio* (Green Stage)
Within the span of 5 years, Radiohead put out 3 albums that changed music forever (this point is NOT debatable). Those three records were “The Bends”, “OK Computer” and “Kid A”. By that same token and within that same time frame but a decade later, TV on the Radio pretty much matched that accomplishment. Their three records were “Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes”, “Return to Cookie Mountain” and “Dear Science”. Each of those records were pretty much the pinnacles in the years they were released, in that no other artists put out anything better. Earlier this year they put out their fourth long player, “Nine Types of Light”. You could very well say that it breaks their streak, but a dip in quality was inevitable sooner or later. Only the greatest of the greats, your Zeppelins, Beatles and Stones have pulled off longer runs of greatness. And “Nine Types of Light” is absolutely a wonderful record, just not on par with the near perfection that came before it. That’s okay though, and it should do little to harm what looks to be a rousing and excellent show from TV on the Radio to close out the entire festival. The band belongs there. In fact, they probably belong on a bigger stage with a bigger crowd. All it’s really going to take is a massive hit single and they could be selling out arenas. That sort of stuff needs to happen organically though, without the sacrifice of any integrity. If there’s one band playing this entire festival that knows what integrity is all about, that band is TV on the Radio. Expect greatness from them, and greatness you shall receive.
I’d like to take a moment here to light a candle for the loss of a bastion of my youth. When you’re young, there’s this perception that you’re invincible and that you’ll live forever. In that same vein, you expect the things and people that you love to stick around and never die as well. Sooner or later though, time passes and people die or things get destroyed or shuttered. Such is the case with Chicago radio station Q101. After 19 years, most of which I was an avid fan and listener, the station is switching on Friday to an all-news format. Alternative rock radio in Chicago will be officially declared dead. While I haven’t exactly listened to that much new “alt rock” in the last few years, there’s enough of the 90s and early 00s stuff that still gets played that I love. Also, thinking about it a little closer, I’m probably one of the few people my age that still listens to terrestrial, local radio on a daily basis. I’m too cheap to pay for satellite and appreciate the variety/the inability to guess what will get played next. So tomorrow will be a sad day. If you’re in Chicago and are near a radio, I hope you’ll tune in for at least a little bit. If you’re not in Chicago, you can listen online at Q101.com. Best of luck to all the employees of the station, too. I spent 2 of my summers in college interning there, and they’re all wonderful people. Pick Your Poison today isn’t quite the monumental equivalent of a radio station shutting down, but there’s still plenty of good songs in this collection. Highlights include tracks from The Bynars, The Castells, The Gift, and Soft Metals. Aeroplane’s remix of Grace Jones is pretty decent, and you can also download a free full length album from Chicago’s own Plastic Boots. In the Soundcloud section you may enjoy a new Simian Mobile Disco cut, if that’s your thing.
Faronheit’s advance coverage of this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival continues today with my analysis of the music you’ll bear witness to on Day #2 of the weekend. Check out my preview of Day #1 by clicking here Friday was to help get your bearings straight, figure out where everything is at, or if you’ve been before what has changed. By Saturday you should be energized and ready to go. Unless you’re still in bad shape from Friday for whatever reason. The decisions on all that are yours and yours alone, though I do encourage you to have the best time possible. If that means stopping by the beer tent every hour on the hour, so be it. Just know that like most festivals around the world, bringing in contraband like drugs is often frowned upon. I’m not going to get preachy and tell you to say no to drugs, but instead will tell you that passing through security with a smile on your face and a stash of drugs up your ass is not 100% advisable (well, the smile part is). Best of luck to ya if you’re smuggling something in. You can learn more about what you’re allowed to and not allowed to bring into the festival by clicking here. It’s gonna be a fun weekend, so try not to spend it in a jail cell. That’s my introduction dealie, let’s get on with the preview of Day 2 at the 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival!
SATURDAY, JULY 16 (Gates at 12pm)
1:00 Julianna Barwick* (Green Stage)
1:00 Chrissy Murderbot ft. MC ZULU (Blue Stage)
Say you had yourself a wild time on Friday night. Perhaps you partied late with friends, or maybe went to an aftershow. Either way, you’ve dragged yourself out of bed, not wanting to miss a moment of the fest on Saturday. The good news is that easing into the day is super convenient thanks to Julianna Barwick and her unique brand of atmospheric/beautiful songcraft. Ethereal is a great word to describe what she does, very subdued and just a touch haunting. In the heat of a Saturday afternoon it may make you feel like you’re roasting alive, but if you can find some shade and sit down with some cool water you’ll be just fine. On the other hand, maybe you’d like some energy to get you pumped for the day. The great news is that Chrissy Murderbot has you covered. He will almost definitely put on a hugely entertaining and wild set spinning records while his pal MC ZULU rocks the mic. The intense club beats with some hip hop thrown in could be great, or it could also give you heat stroke, bouncing around amidst a sea of sweaty bodies. It’s the first set of the day, and you probably don’t want to tire yourself out. She may not be in the best of circumstances, but Julianna Barwick is my pick in this matchup.
1:45 Woods (Red Stage)
1:55 Sun Airway* (Blue Stage)
Woods make pretty great music. Their last couple albums have been critically acclaimed slices of lo-fi folk with a strong pop bent. Their newest album is titled “Sun and Shade”, which is a great descriptor of both the music on it as well as the environment in which it sounds best. Naturally then, Union Park should be a remarkable location to see them perform. Here’s the issue though: Woods are not the most exciting live act. It’s not exactly right to call them boring, but there’s a solid chance you’ll be disappointed that their songs aren’t quite so dynamic when performed on stage. Sun Airway, on the other hand, will likely fare far better. They’ve got a more experimental, psychedelic bent to them, and their debut album sounds remarkably informed by Animal Collective. Yet Sun Airway are very much their own band with their own style, and arguably approach their live sets differently too. Expect a fair amount of energy and the sort of hunger a young band has trying their best to impress. If you go see their set, you’ll likely walk away feeling exactly that: impressed.
2:30 Cold Cave* (Green Stage)
2:50 G-Side (Blue Stage)
Like most portions of the schedule from Friday, here’s another rap vs. rock matchup. The shared audience between Cold Cave and G-Side has got to be nonexistent, and in fact you may find this to be no quandary at all if you dislike both acts. The thing is, both have put out great albums within their respective genres. Cold Cave’s “Cherish the Light Years” is a fantastic piece of 80s glam rock maxed out to stadium-sized proportions. The songs soar and the synths roar and there’s hooks galore (sorry for what I just did there). By contrast, the hip hop duo of G-Side comes out of Alabama and they’re set to be one of the bigger surprises of the weekend. If you enjoy some immensely creative wordplay and a whole bucket of energy, these guys will likely tear it up. There’s a grand sense of experimentation with some of their beats, and they’re very 2.0 connected when it comes to rhyming about surviving 9 to 5 jobs and blogging about things. I’m giving the recommendation to Cold Cave, simply because I like their record more and know they’ll deliver a solid show, but for all you hip hop fans out there, you’ll hopefully be talking about those crazy dudes in G-Side should you choose to go see them.
3:20 No Age* (Red Stage)
3:45 Wild Nothing* (Blue Stage)
Is this the toughest choice to make on your Saturday? Arguably, yes. Wild Nothing made a pretty big impact with their debut album “Gemini” last year, and that along with a follow-up EP made for a great year for the band. There’s a relatively solid and passionate fan base surrounding their hazy, psychedelic version of indie pop. Contrast that with No Age and their scuzzy, lo-fi brand of rock and roll and you’ll find a couple similarities. No Age has had a run of excellent records the last couple years, and their live shows have been nothing short of raucous. They get loud, they bring the energy, and they leave everything on stage. Last time I saw the duo, guitarist Randy Randall had a broken arm courtesy of doing crazy shit. The pluses of No Age are their strong performances, while the negatives are their often harsh and difficult (but relentlessly catchy) sound. On Wild Nothing’s side, it’s far easier to like the material, but their live show might not quite be on the same level that No Age’s is. In other words, this is a tough call to make, and perhaps you’d best be served by spending 30 minutes with No Age and then 30 or so minutes with Wild Nothing. I give my full support to both bands.
4:15 Gang Gang Dance* (Green Stage)
4:45 OFF!* (Blue Stage)
Clearly defining the sound of OFF! is remarkably easy. Punk rawk are the two words to use, and the alternate spelling of “rock” is there to tell you that these guys kick ass and take names. A couple years ago, Jesus Lizard played the Pitchfork Music Festival, and their set was of the classic variety in which shirts were removed, bodies were surfed, and there was self-abuse on a microphone. OFF! bear a similar ethos while skewing a little younger than Jesus Lizard. Keith Morris is a punk legend, courtesy of Circle Jerks and Black Flag, and the punk bastions that are part of this new band only aid him in creating the purest of mayhem and chaos on stage. OFF!’s set will undoubtedly be the craziest of the entire day, if not the weekend, and to miss it is to deprive yourself of a head-bangingly good time. Gang Gang Dance is, coincidentally, also know for their live show. Their songs aren’t as driving and hard-hitting as OFF!’s, but what they lack in punk spirit they make up for in mystic energy. Lizzi Bougatsos is easily a spiritual cousin to Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the way she owns the stage, and the band’s weird, freak-out experimental sound lends itself well to that temprament. The rebel side of me says that OFF! is where you should spend your time, but the music lover in me likes Gang Gang Dance and their great new album “Eye Contact” so much that it’d be such a pity not to hear those songs live. So again I push for the split decision. You don’t have far to walk between stages, so divide your time wisely and you can see great amounts of both bands. They start a half an hour apart from one another anyways.
5:15 Destroyer* (Red Stage)
5:45 The Radio Dept.* (Blue Stage)
Dan Bejar has put out a LOT of albums under the Destroyer moniker. The official number is 9 full lengths, and while there are bound to be some misses in there, ultimately there are far more hits. That’s not to say those records have been successful, but rather that they’ve merely been smartly constructed and ever-evolving. “Kaputt” is his latest opus, and it finds the troubador exploring the soft rock side of his personality. Saxophones and slow jams are the new hot thing, trying to make that cheese from the 80s your parents listened to cool again. The thing about that cheese is how well Destroyer does with it. “Kaputt” is one of this year’s finest albums, and to see that and a number of classic Destroyer cuts performed live would be nice. As nice as The Radio Dept. though? The Swedes know their pop music, and in particular this band knows fuzz pop extremely well. Their first album “Lesser Matters” is one of my favorite records of all time, and their last (third) album “Clinging to a Scheme” was one of the best things released in 2010, and in many ways signaled a rebirth for these guys after struggling by the wayside. They’ve never toured all that much, and in support of that newest album they’ve gone farther and won over more people than ever before. Shows from The Radio Dept., while not perfect (they could use a drummer), are still special no matter where you see them. They’re coming back to the U.S. almost specifically to play this festival, and they deserve your love and attention. Tough call once more, and I promise this is the last “double” recommendation I’ll make for Saturday.
6:15 The Dismemberment Plan* (Green Stage)
6:45 Twin Shadow (Blue Stage)
Have you been so fortunate to have seen The Dismemberment Plan before? They broke up in 2003, but were very prolific in their time together. Apart though, things weren’t so good, in particular for frontman Travis Morrison. He embarked on an ill-fated solo career that is legendary for having his album “Travistan” receive a jaw-dropping 0.0 rating from Pitchfork. When a publication does that to you, the words “enemy for life” come to mind. Of course money can make even the worst of enemies the best of friends, and with The D Plan reuniting for a bunch of shows under the thought that they’d “see where it goes”, there’s not a whole lot of doubt that the Pitchfork Music Fest organizers put a bucket of cash on their doorstep and asked them to play this year. I’m sure it was tough to say yes (/sarcasm). The great news is that The Dismemberment Plan have a stellar catalogue and a stellar live show, so that’s not something you want to miss if you’ve never seen it before. And for those that have seen it, get your kicks now because it might be the last time they come around to Chicago or most anywhere else. Time will tell on that one. As for Twin Shadow, his debut album “Forget” is wonderful, and he puts on a very engaging live show, but he can’t beat The Dismemberment Plan. Not many acts could. Still, if rock and roll is less your thing and synth-pop/glo-fi/new wave is more your thing, maybe Twin Shadow is worth your time.
7:25 DJ Shadow (Red Stage)
7:40 Zola Jesus* (Blue Stage)
What is there that can be said about DJ Shadow? The man’s a pioneer. He’s considered to be one of the creators of a genre known as instrumental hip hop. It’s a lot like how it’s written, in that you could pretty easily throw some rhymes over the heavily creative beats he’s throwing out there, but by no means is that essential. Shadow’s music stands up just fine on its own. He hasn’t put out a new record in 5 years, and hasn’t done a whole lot of touring recently either, so there are two benefits to seeing him live. First, there is a new album on the way, and it will be out this fall. Chances are he’ll be playing a bunch of new tunes and they will be awesome. Second, it’s a rare opportunity to see this club legend in action, mixing crazy obscure samples together better than a Girl Talk could ever hope for. He doesn’t have the full showmanship that Girl Talk does, where there’s costumes and toilet paper cannons everywhere, but what he lacks in sheer spectacle he more than makes up for in crazy-cool musical concoctions. Check him out if you’re down for some later evening, sun setting dancing. Here’s a hint: Fleet Foxes immediately following his set will not be great for glowsticking to. Playing close to the same time as DJ Shadow will be Zola Jesus, and she’s more for the rock crowd. Well, technically most of her songs probably classify as gothic synth pop, but some of the more industrial rock textures require the heavier guitar sound. Zola is probably best known for her powerful voice, one that suits darker melodies exceptionally well. You’ll likely find it difficult to pull yourself away from her set once you start watching, and that’s a great sign. She’s got a new album out this fall too, which means you can expect to hear some new songs as well during her set. The way I view it, while there are good and bad DJs all across this great globe of ours, the talent of mixing together vinyl records achieves pretty much the same result every time – smart and inventive dance music. To have a full band and to craft songs from pure scratch though, that takes just a touch more talent. Not to knock the legend of DJ Shadow, I’m sure his set will be pure bliss for the dance crowd, but Zola Jesus is where my ears are gonna be.
8:30 Fleet Foxes* (Green Stage)
If you’re asking me, and you certainly didn’t, Fleet Foxes do not deserve to be headliners at this or any music festival. That distinction is something you earn with time and brilliance, of which Fleet Foxes only have one going for them. The two albums to their name? Both are amazing, excellent works of art that are among the best things released in their respective years. But we’ve known these bearded dudes for how long? 3 years? 3 years and 2 albums and suddenly they’re headliner material? Look at Animal Collective, more than 10 years old with nearly as many full lengths to their name. Even TV on the Radio have been around for exactly 2x as long and have put out 2x as many albums as Fleet Foxes. Then you give close analysis of the material. As sparkling and gorgeous of music these guys make, energy isn’t exactly their strong suit. Their songs tend to be on the sleepy side. Lay down in some grass in the dark and soak it in, because that’s going to be the best way to experience Fleet Foxes’ set. Now I apologize for bitching, but when they were announced my reaction was (and remains), “WHA?”. Will I still stick around and relish every single second that Fleet Foxes are performing? Absolutely. Will I sing along with the songs and mess up the harmonies for the people around me? Why not. Will I praise this band to high heaven for putting on a show that completely soothes my ears and aching body? Without a doubt. Just don’t expect me to be happy about it unless they rise to the challenge and fully prove themselves to be worthy headliners. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that’s how it works out.
Every now and then, a music news story shows up that particularly entertains me. Not that music news ISN’T entertaining, but between new album or tour announcements, so much of it is routine more than anything else. The story I’m talking about this week was the one in which Morrissey was attacked by a dog. There are plenty of animal lovers out there, and I’m sure Morrissey has respect for animals (you don’t title an album “Meat Is Murder” and disrespect animals), yet his being attacked/bitten makes a whole lot of sense to me. The sense of entitlement, the ease with which he kicks opening acts off tour with him, the way he complains that his solo work doesn’t get nearly the praise that The Smiths do, and how he’s now refusing to release a new record until a label gives him the sort of deal he’s looking for all appear to be the actions of a smug, self-centered fool. In other words, the Moz is probably a cat lover. That’s not intended to be a slight against cat lovers in any way, shape or form, but a close examination into the behaviors of cats brings a certain alignment to light. Cats make you earn their affection. They make cat food commercials where felines eat Fancy Feast out of a crystal glass. As a contrast, dogs enjoy chasing their tails, being loyal, and begging for scraps of food. Though they often live in peace and harmony, cats and dogs are technically natural enemies. They’ve made not one, but TWO bad kids movies about it. If Morrissey is a cat person, no wonder a dog tried to bite his arm off. Now Moz has a good story to tell about it, and hopefully some pithy remarks to add during some live shows. He might write a song about it too, with the word “bitch” featured prominently in the title or lyrics. That sounds like something he’d do. And it’ll be fun. And funny. Because Morrissey is a character. I love the guy to death and think he’s tragically talented, but music aside he can be just a bit abrasive for my personal tastes. So there’s my extended rant for the day. Onto Pick Your Poison, which is excellent for a Tuesday. Smart choices in today’s batch include songs from Luke Temple, Max Tundra (covering Prince!), Mister Heavenly, Poland, Psychic Babble, Work Drugs and Young Buffalo.
Welcome, my friends, to Faronheit’s annual coverage of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Yes, for one week out of the year, this site becomes dedicated to one of the most exciting and innovative music festivals in the world. Taking place in Union Park on Chicago’s West Side, one of the hallmarks of the Pitchfork Music Festival is that it is a “boutique” fest, catering to smaller crowds and fewer artists. Three days with three stages is the scope of it, and each day features a smorgasbord of unique indie talent from all different genres of music. This year’s festival happens this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 15th-17th. Friday is a shortened day, starting later to help accomodate those that have jobs and might be working. Of course if you’ve already been before then this is nothing new to you. For any newcomers, I hope you’re ready to have a lot of fun and see a lot of great music coming up. Over the next 7 days, it’s my intention to provide you with a hands-on guide to the festival, starting with day-by-day previews of the acts with recommendations on who you should go see. Once things kick off on Friday, I’ll have daily recaps of the good, the bad and the ugly for you, along with some photos. Things wrap up on Monday with a final look back at what will surely be one wild weekend. So get your birkenstocks ready, grab some hummus and dive right in to a preview of the music you’ll be exposed to on Day 1 of this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival!
Key: Bold + * = recommended acts
FRIDAY, JULY 15th (Gates open at 3pm)
3:20 Gatekeeper (Blue Stage)
3:30 EMA* (Red Stage)
The first matchup of this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival is actually a pretty fascinating one. If you’re unfamiliar with either of these two artists, the breakdown is quite easy. Gatekeeper does what is probably best defined as “witch house”, electronica music with a very dark and disturbing side to it. Last year’s “Giza” EP had a very 80s nightmare appeal to it, emphasizing synths with some gothic atmospheres and paranoid electro freak outs. There’s not much in the way of vocals, save for some samples used sparingly in a number of songs. But it’s very danceable, even if it’d most definitely be at home inside a pitch black club after midnight. 3:20pm in an outdoor setting is not ideal for this by any means. EMA on the other hand is probably a little more suited to the time slot she’s in. Erika M. Anderson is now doing a “solo” thing after the break up of her long-running band Gowns, and her debut “Past Life Martyred Saints” is one of this year’s undisputed highlights. Though the melodies may be slower and the lyrics intensely dark, EMA’s anguish is personal and confessional and courageous and compelling in spite of its bleak outlook. You can’t dance, but you will feel, even if it is a numbness. In the roasting temperatures and the Chicago sunlight, perhaps that sort of physical torture will help you relate to EMA’s set that much more. Still, dark energy vs. dark emotion makes for a tougher decision than you might think. If you’re not liking one, perhaps make the short trek to the other.
4:30 tUnE-yArDs* (Blue Stage)
4:35 Battles (Green Stage)
You want tough? This is probably the toughest matchup of the entire festival. Two acts with equally weird pop bents, both of which are known for positively insane live shows. Which one will you get the most out of? That’s nearly impossible to say. Here’s how it breaks down though. Battles are coming off a not-so-great new album, but their back catalogue is nothing short of solid and exciting. Their small issue is having to deal with the departure of Tyondai Braxton, who contributed quite a bit to the band prior to their current record. One wonders if they can still get away with performing an amazing song like “Atlas” without him. Still, their set is sure to be fierce and damn exciting. tUnE-yArDs, on the other hand, has one of the year’s best albums in the form of “w h o k i l l”. Merrill Garbus is a hurricane force to be reckoned with live, as even when her debut album “BiRd-BrAiNs” was not so warmly received people were 100% converted upon seeing it performed. If you’ve seen any videos online of her performing some of the new stuff it’s intense to watch her quietly patch and loop elements together and then simply wail with that incredible voice of hers. Quite simply, there’s just not another artist like tUnE-yArDs out there right now, and if you miss her set that you might miss the best set of the entire festival (headliners and everything included). In their defense, Battles could very well be the second best set of the whole fest, so plan accordingly.
5:30 Curren$y (Blue Stage)
5:30 Thurston Moore* (Red Stage)
Here’s a choice that’s not tough because it’s based almost entirely on personal preference. The crossover audience between hip hop act Curren$y and Sonic Youth stalwart Thurston Moore is entirely thin, if not nonexistent. On the positive side as well, both acts have a number of great records to their names. Curren$y is one of the more innovative minds in hip hop these days, and his output in the last couple years has been nothing short of impressive. Yes, his favorite topic is weed and his voice takes a little getting used to, but the way that he styles his rhymes and his ability to sound comfortable no matter what sort of backing track is behind him makes him a formidable talent and one to keep a close eye on. Thurston Moore is obviously best known for everything Sonic Youth, but he’s carved out a nice little niche as a solo artist as well. His latest collection of songs, “Demolished Thoughts”, which came out a couple months back, is one of his best solo records in awhile. He may tackle a Sonic Youth favorite or two, but expect the primary focus to be on his own material. It’ll certainly be a quieter set than the assured noise and hype men that Curren$y will undoubtedly bring with him, but from a technical standpoint and from a sheer guitar playing standpoint, Moore brings a unique element to the stage.
6:25 Guided By Voices* (Green Stage)
6:30 Das Racist (Blue Stage)
Another rock vs. rap dynamic is placed in front of you as the sun begins to set over Union Park. This one is arguably more difficult to choose between than Curren$y vs. Thurston Moore, if only for quality’s sake. Guided By Voices are legends with a number of classic albums to their name, and with their reunion tour continuing from last year, the band continues to bring it each and every time. Seasoned veterans of rock can go one of two ways: either you get better with age or let age get the best of you and fall by the wayside. With a catalogue of such amazing songs to pull from, if you’re familiar with their albums then look for the equivalent of a greatest hits set on Friday night. Robert Pollard’s voice hasn’t aged, despite the multitude of cigarettes he continues to smoke, and the band just sounds tighter overall. As for Das Racist, their second long player “Sit Down, Man” was easily one of, if not the best hip hop record released in 2010. These guys are less hardcore rappers and more a few dudes that make hilarious rhymes. They are legitimately funny, and that’s likely even more between the songs than during them. They build their beats from a variety of styles so it’s definitely different than most rap acts, and their lyrics are far more pop culture based than most of what’s out there right now. Das Racist’s set will be most assuredly a lot of fun. As much as I’d love to recommend them, for me personally it’s tough to turn down Guided By Voices, particularly because nobody has any idea how long they’ve got left. This one’s more a case of old vs. new than it is rock vs. rap. Choose wisely, my friends.
7:20 Neko Case* (Red Stage)
7:30 James Blake (Blue Stage)
This is an interesting pairing, but it also makes for an easier choice when you think about it closely. Neko Case is nothing short of amazing. That voice has brought together many a solid solo effort, and she’s also one of the most exciting things about The New Pornographers. Expect her to wear her alt-country solo hat for this set though, and plow through much of the material on her last couple great albums. There is not one bad thing that I’ll say about Neko Case, because really there’s nothing bad to say. Then you’ve got James Blake. He’s blown up huge this past year, and his self-titled debut has made for one of the strongest and best things released so far in 2011. Fascinating only begins to describe what he does on that album, and most assuredly it will be interesting to see him try and recreate it as best as possible in a live setting. One thing you may notice about James Blake though is that about 90% of his songs are very very quiet. His album is an exercise in minimalism and therefore creates the impression that a live set will be more of that quiet restraint. By this time in the evening you might be a little worn down and tired, so finding some shade and watching some James Blake could be a very welcome time – in particular if you need a fast nap. Go see Blake in a dark, small club. I’m sure that’s where he’s most at home. In the sunlight outdoors will likely not lead to good things for him no matter how strong the material might be.
8:30 Animal Collective* (Green Stage)
Remember the days when Pitchfork used to have two headliners each night, and you had to choose big stage or small stage? Yeah, those were good times. They don’t exist anymore though, which is why everyone will be forced to sit through another Animal Collective headlining set unless they’d like to leave. Here’s the deal with Animal Collective – their catalogue is largely brilliant, and they’re still technically coming off of a masterpiece of a record in the form of “Merriweather Post Pavilion”. Excitment is high that they’re going to play a few new songs, which is most definitely a draw. The thing about these guys is that they tend to be hit or miss. When they’re hit, you more or less get enhanced, exciting editions of many of the songs you love from the band. When they’re miss, they will do whatever the fuck they want on stage, not play any recognizable songs, and pretty much improvise next to trippy visuals for the entire set. A formless blob of a non-show will likely leave the crowd upset. At Lollapalooza 2009, they made a wrong way turn and were close to insufferable. At Pitchfork 2008 they held pretty firm to actual songs and it worked wonders. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that they buckle down and focus this time around.
It’s 7-11 Day, my friends. What that means, if you fail to understand, is that you can get some sweet deals at your local 7-Eleven convenience store. Free Slurpees, most importantly. Hopefully you’ve taken advantage of it already today, and if not, there’s a couple hours left to still make a run. The people I feel really sorry for? Those without a 7-Eleven in their vicinity. Maybe Pick Your Poison can help take away some of that sting. Top of the heap today includes tracks from Best Coast, Crystal Antlers, Dominant Legs, Early & Often, Megafaun, and Races.
For years now, we’ve stood by and simply watched (or listened) as Matthew Friedberger unleashed solo record after solo record during brief breaks from his main band The Fiery Furnaces, of which he is a main part of along with his sister Eleanor. Well, technically speaking, Matthew has only released a couple solo albums, the double discer that was “Winter Women and Holy Ghost Language School” back in 2006. This year though he’s freaking out and unleashing 8 albums of original material as part of a project called “Solos”, where he spends an entire record with just a single instrument and his own voice. If you separate out all of those various LPs in addition to the ones still forthcoming in 2011, he’ll have put out more solo full lengths than he has with The Fiery Furnaces. All the while, Eleanor Friedberger has done nothing on her own, leaving many curious as to what she might come up with were she to pursue such a path. Well, wonder no more, because last summer she recorded her first solo album. Now here we are, one year later, and that record is finally out, and very naturally titled “Last Summer”.
Anyone that’s ever heard a Fiery Furnaces album before knows what Eleanor is like behind the microphone. Her vocals are done in an almost sing-speak fashion, and that’s primarily due to the extensive amount of lyrics she’s got to spit out within the confines of a typical song. She writes the stuff too, and tells stories both real and fictional concerning her own life or the lives of others. On “Last Summer”, those hallmarks remain, though the stories she tells across this album are 100% true things that have happened to her. Not that it makes much of a difference in the end, except in making close analysis of the lyrics that much more poignant. She talks about a failed attempt to rekindle an old relationship on opening track and first single “My Mistakes”, even though the song itself is such a delightful slice of synth pop pie that you’d imagine it’d have to be about something more upbeat and fun. On the funky “Roosevelt Island” she details a trip she made to the New York neighborhood, leading off with an anecdote about encountering a doppelganger. “We saw a picture of a girl with the same hair and I posed next to her/Made a great photo but I never thought I’d see her again/Didn’t really ever want to see her again,” she sings with the most rapid-fire delivery possible. Dealing with the specific time frame of when the album was recorded, “Glitter Gold Year” mentions 2010 many a time, to the point where Eleanor begins to play around with just HOW she sings it. But she’s also apparently not happy with said “glitter gold year”, beacuse she also often repeats, “you said it wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s worse”. Seeing as how “Last Summer” is a recording of tales from 2010, there most definitely is no way that’s getting erased anymore, not that we’d want it to anyways. Even the most experienced New Yorker can sometimes get lost in such a large city, and “Owl’s Head Park” is an amusing tale about how going to pick up a custom-made bicycle left her at the titular park and unsure of how to get home. “The boys on the F train said that frame was fresh/it was the color blue/but I didn’t know my way/so I couldn’t get home to you,” are a few lines that emphasize just how Friedberger is able to keep a plot moving along while also providing miniscule details that enhance what’s already there. It’s a big part of what makes The Fiery Furnaces so unique and exciting, and it plays the same role on her solo effort, though with slightly different sonic results.
The two separate Friedberger halves of The Fiery Furnaces work so well together because of how their individual dynamics come into play. Matthew is the guy who puts together all the weird sonic experiments, while Eleanor writes and sings behind those avant-pop sounds. Rare is the Fiery Furnaces track that is straightforward and simply structured. The closest moments you’ll get to pure pop from the band comes through in tracks like “Single Again,” “Here Comes the Summer”, “Benton Harbor Blues” and “Tropical Iceland”. If you loved those moments, or if they’re some of the only songs you actually like from the band because the rest is too strange, then “Last Summer” is the record you’ve been waiting for. The songs almost always hold a typical verse-chorus-verse structure, and the oddest instrument used is either the saxophone or harmonica. Actually, the saxophone solo that closes out “Owl’s Head Park” is one of the most fascinating moments on an album that’s by no means lacking in them. The vibe is very much 70s pop throughout, and various aspects of it show up on certain tracks. “Roosevelt Island” mines the territory of past greats like Stevie Wonder or The Commodores. There’s a nice bit of psychedelia on “Inn of the Seventh Ray”, particularly when Eleanor’s vocals are hit with the echo effect and the synths are bleeping about like they’re floating within that same ether. “I Won’t Fall Apart On You Tonight” has some more fun with the vocals, creating some splendid backing harmonies that essentially make it a girl group song. And a pair of beautiful acoustic guitar-based folk ballads turn up as well courtesy of “Scenes from Bensonhurst” and “One-Month Marathon”. Though there are obviously some personal instrumental touches in there, at their core they recall some of the amazing folk records from artists like Joni Mitchell or Joan Baez. There may be a mixture of diverse styles across these 10 tracks, but Eleanor’s own quirks along with a serious knack for crafting memorable hooks makes everything work, even if she never pushes too far in one direction or the other.
Weighing “Last Summer” against all the other music with a Friedberger name stamped on it is a tough thing to do. Matthew’s influence has undoubtedly been a good on for the sake of originality and experimentation, but there’s something to be said for exceptionally strong writing and powerfully addictive pop songs. “My Mistakes” factors in pretty well to be one of the best, catchiest things you’ll hear this calendar year, and there’s a secret sort of delight to be had from condensing the weirdness of The Fiery Furnaces into something wholly pure and easily digestible. The mood of the album too, given its summer release date, makes for a perfect soundtrack to one of those lazy days hanging out at home with the sunshine streaming in through the windows. Yeah it works best in summer, but even in the winter it can probably be used to warm you up a little bit and bring out that innate longing to travel to the Inn of the Seventh Ray or ride the Cyclone on Coney Island. These may be Eleanor’s memories of things that have happened to her, but the way that she spins those tales tend to put us there with her. Honestly, there are far worse ways to spend your money and 40 minutes of your life. While the album likely lacks the staying power of a “Blueberry Boat”, the immediacy and lack of a learning curve make it special in its own way. Matthew may be releasing 8 albums this year, but it’s doubtful that any one of them will be as lovely and wonderful as “Last Summer” is.
Do I need to remind you that it’s Friday? I hope you’ve got some insane weekend plans coming up. Summer’s just the time to do wild things with time spent outside and such, so go all in and enjoy it. After my small rant against the Dave Matthews Caravan yesterday, if you are going I hope it’s tons of fun despite some of the artists playing. Of course you probably don’t have time to download and listen to new music if you’re booked solid, but if you’ve got a few moments or are just catching up after the weekend, there’s lots in today’s Pick Your Poison to enjoy. My personal stamp of approval rests on songs from Arc in Round, Broadcaster, The Earth Is A Man, My Brightest Diamond, Otherness, Pure X, Tidelands and Wooden Shjips. And for fans of Black Moth Super Rainbow, there’s a new track from side project/band member Tobacco in the Soundcloud section for your streaming pleasure.
Let’s get the clarifications out of the way right from the start: when talking about SBTRKT, feel free to pronounce it “subtract”. This isn’t MGMT, where they get upset if you call them “management”. Of course saying each individual letter S-B-T-R-K-T can be a bit stressful to the tongue versus how much easier the 4 letters of M-G-M-T are to rattle off. So save some breath and just keep it simple. That could also very well be the unofficial motto of SBTRKT’s self-titled debut. Calling it easy on the ears is accurate, but by no means should that indicate that the music is dumbed down or skewed purposely towards picking up as many new fans as possible. Downbeat electro minimalism is the name of the game, and unlike his similar counterparts in a James Blake or Jamie Woon, SBTRKT isn’t trying to make his music glitchy or tough to follow. Compelling and expertly crafted seems to be good enough for him, and if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for us.
You should know that SBTRKT is less of a musician and more of a producer. He’s helped out a number of artists and done plenty of remixes, to the point where he’s known much more for that stuff than any original material he’s put together himself. In creating his own songs, most everything is electro-heavy without much in the way of actual live instrumentation. There are vocals on most of his songs, but they’re never his own. Guests on his debut album include Sampha, Little Dragon and Roses Gabor, among others, all contributing their voices to songs that are tight and engaging while holding onto a grand sense of modesty. The couple instrumentals definitely hold their own, but SBTRKT is smart in spacing them out across the album to avoid running into too many quiet, vocal-less passages. Additionally, the emphasis placed on the song itself rather than a particular beat or other element gives each track an earnest and more pop-driven appeal than a lot of the other music coming out of this particular subgenre.
While the first couple tracks on the album are by no means bad, it’s not until “Wildfire” hits that things really start to take hold. Little Dragon’s super smooth vocals are a big part of what makes it work so well, very much akin to her guest spot on the song “Empire Ants” from last year’s Gorillaz record “Plastic Beach”. Sampha does the wealth of singing on the album, guesting on about half the tracks. His voice has a distinct quality to it that works well in an R&B sort of way, and thankfully SBTRKT provides him with the necessary backing elements to pull off a solid assist. “Trials of the Past” is his biggest moment on the album, though “Something Goes Right” is pretty accurately titled as well. Roses Gabor’s turn on “Pharoahs” makes for a later highlight too. What surprising is how remarkably solid the entire album feels. For something that’s got a mixture of guest appearances, it could easily have fallen into territory like UNKLE, where the list of contributing artists can make or break it. Whether it’s one or three or ten, SBTRKT is smart enough to have the guests play to his strengths rather than the other way around.
Putting it bluntly, SBTRKT is for the crowds that have wanted to get into the more downtempo, quieter side of electronica but have had a tough time doing so because other artists have made it difficult to do so. They’re simply flexing their creative muscles to their maximum, and interesting though it may be, commercially appealing it is not. SBTRKT may not have any full-on club hits via his self-titled debut, but at the very least this is a wholly listenable and remarkably interesting set of songs. Experimental may not be the operative word that comes into play, but when you know how to put together a strong set of songs, the innovative side isn’t necessarily the most important one. Not knowing much about what a SBTRKT record might sound like considering his pedigree and initial EP, this record is a pleasant surprise. If he’s able to continue to put together albums this good, keep an eye and an ear out – SBTRKT is one to watch.
Well, this weekend marks the Chicago stop for the Dave Matthews Band Caravan tour. If you’ve not heard of this monstrosity, it is a 3 day festival complete with a lineup of jam bands, alt-country and a host of other artists of a wide variety. It’s part hippie fest and part frat kid celebration, even if it does boast a few artists that I legitimately like. If you’re going, I hope you have fun. If you’re not going, I think you’ve spared yourself some cash and can probably find a better, more enjoyable use for it. Part of me hopes that the DMB tour bus has another “incident” in which a bus driver “accidentally” dumps human waste onto a boat of passing tourists. It’s been a few years since the last time DMB did that, so doing it again might help to keep things fresh. Just a suggestion. If you want to discover some great new music you won’t hear at the Dave Matthews Band Caravan, look no further than Pick Your Poison for today. Highlights include tracks from Dog Day, Fair Ohs, Go Rydell, Las Kellies and Young Circles. In the Soundcloud section you’ll also find Toro y Moi’s remix of Cut Copy, which is fantastic.
They say time flies when you’re having fun. Well, I don’t know if I’m having a lot of fun or it just has something to do with the holiday off on Monday, but to me it feels like this week is just moving at a super high rate of speed. Next thing you know 9 days will have passed and we’ll be celebrating the start of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Have I mentioned that I’m really psyched for that? If you’re going, you should be too. And if you’re thinking about going but haven’t put down some cash for tickets yet, you might want to hurry as from what I understand the days are getting ever closer to sell out status. Have a look at the official festival website for more details. There aren’t any Pitchfork Music Fest artists in today’s Pick Your Poison, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting or good. I can recommend tracks from Crystal Antlers, Fruit Bats, Grey Area, Old 97s, Simian Ghost and Tennis Bafra.
Every year around the start of July, it becomes abundantly clear via the calendar that we’ve hit the halfway point. Six out of twelve months have passed, and given that amount of time it feels appropriate to look back briefly on some of the highlights (and lowlights) of the music we’ve heard thus far. Rather than approach it in a typical “Best Albums” format (no hints as to the “master list” that will emerge in December), I like to instead examine the first half of the year in terms of “surprising” and “disappointing” albums. The differentiation between the two isn’t as simple as good and bad or black and white. There are records on the Surprising Albums list that won’t show up at year’s end as the “Best of” anything, and by that same token, just because a record winds up on the Disappointing Albums list doesn’t mean it’s destined for the bargain bin. In order to achieve the designation of being “surprising”, a record simply needs to blow my expectations out of the water. You turn it on expecting a total crapfest and wind up with something that at the very least leaves you moderately satisfied. A strange turn of events towards the positive side of the spectrum. Opposing that, those albums designated “disappointing” earn that label by building expectations prior to its release and then failing to meet them. Everyone WANTED to like the fourth Indiana Jones movie of the 3 “Star Wars” prequels, but in the end it was letdown city. You earn a reputation for greatness and then slip up for whatever reason. So as to avoid any sort of confusion or suggestion that any list is ordered in such a way that these albums are ranked, I’ve arranged each list to be alphabetical by artist. If you like, feel free to also click onto the links provided to read my original reviews of the albums on these two lists. Today we’ll tackle my list of “5 Disappointing Albums”. If you missed yesterday’s list of “5 Surprising Albums”, you can read that piece by clicking here. I hope you have fun and enjoy these lists, and by all means feel free to let me know what some of your most surprising and disappointing albums from the first half of the year are in the comments section.
Bright Eyes – The People’s Key (Original Review)
It’s just a tiny bit unfair to say that “The People’s Key” was a disappointing album. For devoted Bright Eyes fans, this was more of a record that wanted to give something back after a pair of mediocre-to-bad solo/Mystic Valley Band long players. Oberst was exploring more of an alt-country angle that devolved into frat boy rock after awhile and just wasn’t working. By contrast, “The People’s Key” sought to bring something good back to the Bright Eyes name, maybe for one last time before it gets retired, and does a relatively good job doing so. Oberst’s lyrical witticisms are strong and viable, and the songs themselves are among the most commercially pleasant that he’s ever written. The record is a full step ahead of even the last Bright Eyes album, 2007’s “Cassadaga”. So what makes this record so damn disappointing then? If this is the best album Oberst has been associated with in years (save for Monsters of Folk), shouldn’t this small victory come as a pleasant surprise? On paper, that’s absolutely what it should be. In context, this is more of a pyrrhic victory than anything else. Oberst may still know how to string words together that are jaw-droppingly brilliant, but now they’re colder and more distant than ever. We easily could have and should have given up on the thought that maybe Bright Eyes would return to the days of “Fevers and Mirrors” where he was an emotionally scarred and scared kid, but if that side of the band changed your life, giving up is that much harder to do. Then there’s the concept of “selling out”, which to his credit Oberst hasn’t really done, but the much more rocking and much more easy to digest nature of “The People’s Key” seems to suggest it’s what he wanted. There’s something coldly calculated about this record in how it seems designed to please people. If this truly is the final Bright Eyes record, we definitely know he could have done better, even if it meant torturing his soul for just a little longer. That’s all we really wanted anyways. Buy it from Amazon
Panda Bear – Tomboy (Original Review)
To those that used “Tomboy” as their introduction to Panda Bear, I feel a little sorry for you. It’s by no means a bad record, but to put it more broadly, it’s like first hearing Weezer via “The Green Album”. Your experience with the artist isn’t ruined, but there are far better entry points you could have taken. With Panda Bear, your one and only spot to jump in was via “Person Pitch”. That was a record not just mindblowing in 2007 when it was first released, but it’s one that continues to shake worlds even today. It was a record fiercely ahead of its time, launching a whole other genre unto itself that wouldn’t fully blossom until over a year later. Plus, it shared some of the spotlight with the Animal Collective record that would soon follow it, “Merriweather Post Pavilion”, which is very much its own story too. So it was a very good couple years for Noah Lennox. Where “Tomboy” found him earlier this year was in a lot of the same headspace where those two albums were made, but in a world that had vastly changed its musical landscape since then. What was once ahead of its time and brilliant suddenly registered as being a retread of old ideas and at the very most exploitative of current trends. Panda Bear still stands higher than many of his now similar counterparts on “Tomboy”, but the hope was for less of that and more of an admirable attempt towards keeping the expansion of his sound going with even fresher techniques this time. Was he out of ideas, or just trying to bide some time? We’ll know for sure next time. Buy it from Amazon
Radiohead – The King of Limbs (No Original Review)
I have never reviewed a Radiohead album, and by all accounts I probably never will. I bear no hatred or ill will towards the band, and in fact my feelings are closer to the opposite. My primary concern is that once I start writing about the band, I won’t be able to stop myself. I intensely study every single Radiohead album to the point where a day rarely goes by in which I don’t hear one or more in full. I would write a 300 page book on them in 10 days if somebody would commission it. I go from vinyl to CD to mp3 to nitpick little details and discover elements unique to each format. Obsessive is one way to describe it. The point being, I continue to hold the belief that there has never been a legitimately bad Radiohead record (not even “Pablo Honey”), and “The King of Limbs” only affirms such a stance even more. What amuses me is all the anger being heaped upon the band for making an album that’s a completely logical progression from where they’ve been before. Coming off the success that was “In Rainbows” is what essentially screwed them. Say the band had reversed the release order of their last two albums, so “The King of Limbs” came out in 2007 under a “pay what you want” scale and “In Rainbows” was a carefully priced “newspaper album”. My argument is that the reaction to both records would have been noticeably different. In fact, “The King of Limbs” feels like a natural progression out of the “Kid A”/”Amnesiac” days more than anything else, combined with a slice of Thom Yorke’s solo effort “The Eraser”. But the cold hard truth is as follows: after a hugely successful revival and radicalization of the music business that was “In Rainbows”, Radiohead retreated into their own heads and made the record they WANTED to make, fan reaction be damned. They’re really fucking brilliant still, it’s just this doesn’t seem to be the expected or right thing to be doing at this juncture. So people have been bitching and moaning about it, and they’ll continue to bitch and moan about it until Radiohead straightens up and flies right again. The only reason this record should be a disappointment is if you were expecting something truly revelatory or earth-shattering. As for me, that’s what I expect from the band every time. Buy it from Amazon
The Strokes – Angles (Original Review)
After the mess of a record that was “First Impressions of Earth”, The Strokes were on the verge of breaking up. They never officially announced a break up, but given their lengthy hiatus and establishment of other projects, you could easily understand if they pulled a Jack White and woke up one day saying that The Strokes had nothing left to offer the world. What motivated these guys to get back together again was likely more monetary than anything else. The return of The Strokes meant that dollar signs were in their future, as evidenced by a number of sold out shows when they first began to resurface. Shortly after word had gotten around that a new album was on the way, the band put out a new single “Under Cover of Darkness”. Unlike their douchey third album, the song sounded like it belonged in the same sessions as their first two amazing records, and that only pushed hopes and dreams higher that now was the time The Strokes would truly be able to capitalize on their success. Then again, reports were also surfacing of band members calling one another out for things and word that Julian Casablancas came in and recorded his vocals separately from the rest of the band. Not a great sign for personal relationships, but if the album worked then so be it. “Angles” turned out to be a small failure almost entirely because of the band’s inability to fully cooperate with one another. Traverse its 10 songs and you’ll find a handful of different perspectives written into what was supposed to be just one. This disconnection ultimately hurt the album, yet it remains better than “First Impressions of Earth”, which is something of a compliment. Word on the street is that everybody’s friends again and recording for the next Strokes album has been good so far. Start crowwing your fingers now. Buy it from Amazon
TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light (Original Review)
The fellas in TV on the Radio had been on a hot streak the likes of which had not been seen since Radiohead pulled off the perfecta trifecta that was “The Bends”, “OK Computer” and “Kid A”. The TVOTR perfecta trifecta amounted to “Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes”, “Return to Cookie Mountain” and “Dear Science”. All three of those albums were at or close to being named the best albums of their respective years by a number of publications (including this one). Not only that, but those three records were released in a span of 6 years that coincided perfectly with a tour-record-tour-record pattern. Naturally, they were in need of a break. The hiatus came, band members focused on side projects, and after close to a year off they reconvened to craft their fourth full length. Either they needed to take a longer break or have simply run out of fresh ideas, because “Nine Types of Light” represents a new low from a band whose level of respect was at an all-time high. That’s not calling the album bad, that’s saying a couple small blemishes have appeared on what was once a pristine surface. There are a few distinct album highlights, from “No Future Shock” to “Will Do” and the effervescent closer “Caffeinated Consciousness”, but the weakest turns are made via the slowed down, quieter moments. TVOTR can do sleepy ballads very well, as evidenced by their past ones, but when you string a few of them together it starts to drag the entire album down. Such is the case here, even if each one is frought with substance and meaning. “Nine Types of Light” is a step down for the band, but more like a minor half-step than a taller, cliff-sized one. Buy it from Amazon
Hope you all had a delightful extended holiday weekend. Typically I’ve still posted some mp3s even when everyone else takes the day off, but for once I really wanted to simply chill out and not have to worry about a post. Sorry if you were hoping for some 4th of July music on the actual date. I tried to help you out on Friday’s Pick Your Poison. I’ve actually got a couple 4th of July-related songs for you today. A day late and a dollar short, but better late than never. Songs I can recommend in today’s edition include ones from Austyn Sullivan, The Grownup Noise, Little Deadman, Little Horn, The Soft Moon and Unnatural Helpers.
