The 11th annual Sasquatch! Music Festival runs May 25-28th at the Gorge Ampitheatre in George, Washington. Topping this year’s lineup are Jack White, Beck, and Bon Iver, with Pretty Lights, Tenacious D, The Shins, Girl Talk, St. Vincent, Feist, and Silversun Pickups, among the other heavyweights.

Also playing are Spiritualized, Childish Gambino, Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai, M. Ward, tUnE-yArDs, Wild Flag, Mark Lanegan Band, Shabazz Palaces, The Walkmen, The Head and the Heart, Metric, The Joy Formidable, Little Dragon, SBTRKT, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Alabama Shakes, Kurt Vile, Zola Jesus, The War on Drugs, araabMUZIK, and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.

The bill also boasts Nero, Wolfgang Gartner, Deer Tick, Cass McCombs, Shearwater, The Helio Sequence, Gary Clark Jr., Apparat, THEESatisfaction, Dum Dum Girls, The Cave Singers, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Purity Ring, Active Child, Com Truise, Starfucker, Cloud Cult, Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, Grouplove, I Break Horses, Trampled By Turtles, Said The Whale, Hey Rosetta!, Gardens & Villa, and Craft Spells.

This year also marks the return of a comedy lineup with a live performance of Portlandia, in addition to Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Todd Barry, Beardyman, Rob Delaney, Pete Holmes, and Howard Kremer.

Check out the complete lineup at Festival Outlook.

Festival passes go on sale February 11th at 10:00 AM PT via the festival’s website.

The Minneapolis, MN music (and art – some of their members are actually “visual artists”) collective going by the name of Cloud Cult have garnered quite a following with their often melodramatic-yet-poignant take on indie music. Their most recent release, last year’s Light Chasers, was no different, though this time mastermind Craig Minowa and his crew had a determined eye locked on the positive potential of the future, instead of a tear-laden one looking at the past.

Their new video for “Unexplainable Stories” is a sci-fi reflection of that focus on new frontiers. Animated by Jon Thompson from Minneapolis-based Bolster Creative, it shows a resolute space-explorer preparing to leave a desolate looking landscape in search of something new in the universe beyond. Strap in for the ride and check out the premiere of the surprisingly affecting clip down yonder.

In other Cloud Cult news, after some planned downtime in early 2012 as Minowa and his wife/band-mate Connie await the birth of their next child (congratulations!), the band will release a new album in the spring. Minowa is also working on six hours worth of music for the National Geographic program “Expedition Wild”. He says of the project, “All of the music is the Cloud Cult flavor,” so expect robust baroque-rock with heavy orchestration. Minowa continues, “We’re looking at possibly doing a combined tour of colleges with [NatGeo] in the spring, where we entertain and they educate. The current plan is then to do a tour of orchestra halls around the country, utilizing the local symphony orchestras for the Cloud Cult performances.” Looks like 2012 is going to be a pretty stellar year for the band, so keep an eye out for more information.

The 16-track album is the band’s ninth studio album and its first release since the 2009 double-disc reissue of They Live on the Sun and Aurora Borealis.

In support of the release, the band led by Craig Minowa will hit the road for a fall tour of the US starting on September 9th in Northfield, MN. The third date of the endeavor promises to be a particularly special affair, taking place at eTown in Boulder, CO. It doesn’t sound special in itself, but the performance will be recorded in front of the live audience and broadcast coast-to-coast on NPR/public, commercial, and community radio stations. The band will then play several dates, including Bozeman and Missoula in Montana, Seattle, San Francisco, and LA before heading east for dates in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. The tour will wrap up with two CD release shows in the band’s hometown of Minneapolis.

Tickets can be found on Ticketmaster for select dates.

Light Chasers Tracklist:
01. The Mission: Unexplainable Stories
02. The Departure: Today We Give Ourselves to the Fire
03. The Invocation (p.1) – You’ll Be Bright
04. The Birth
05. The Baby – You Were Born
06. The Lessons – Exploding People
07. The Interference
08. The Battles – Room Full of People in Your Head
09. The Escape – Running With the Wolves
10. The Acceptance – Responsible
11. The Surrender – Guessing Game
12. The Strength – Forces of the Unseen
13. The Invocation (p.2) – Blessings
14. The Awakening – Dawn
15. The Contact
16. The Arrival – There’s So Much Energy In Us

Cloud Cult 2010 Tour Dates:
09/09 – Northfield, MN @ Lions Pause, St. Olaf College
09/11 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
09/12 – Boulder, CO @ eTown, Boulder Theater
09/14 – Bozeman, MT @ Zebra Cocktail Lounge
09/15 – Missoula, MT @ Top Hat
09/17 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
09/18 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
09/21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
09/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy Theatre
10/25 – Boston, MA @ Club Royale
10/28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Tracadero
10/29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Bell House
10/30 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
11/01 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
11/03 – Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century Theatre
11/17 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue CD Release Show
11/18 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue CD Release Show

The festival touts itself as reflective of the “hip and environmentally conscious West Town community” through its “[fusion] of original live music with green vendors.” I’m still trying to decide what about the festival was environmentally conscious. There was at least one power generator on at full blast. Plenty of animal, paper, and plastic products available for consumption. The recycling units were overflowing with trash. As for vendors, I hardly think independent radio and Zipcar booths constitute a “green” fest.

You know where this is going. This was hardly the eco-friendly weekend I’d had in mind. This was a glorified organic cotton tee shirt sale. And, no, I never found those bags my mother wanted.

I’ve already done my fair share of ranting without mentioning music. I understand that Green Music Fest is not some grandiose climate change conference or even a farmers’ market. It is a street music festival. Unfortunately, the quality of this year’s lineup mirrored that of the environmental initiatives.

Saturday featured music the typical self-styled, twenty-something Chicago street festival attendee would show very little interest in, if any at all. Think reggae. Lots of reggae. The Aggrolites and The Wailers (minus Bob) closed out the day. In between it was an odd mix of traditional Irish tunes and goofy clashes of folk, ska and rock music intended for small children. In addition to live music there was also a DJ stage, where would-be party starters supplied dancers with generic club beats. This is where the real show was. A solitary, tattooed punk clad in a sleeveless “Keith Richards for President” tee shirt saved the day. During his set of Fugazi, Ramones, Stooges classics members of his entourage danced with people as they entered the front gates for maximum awkwardness. It was a sight for sore eyes, but let’s face it: as a reviewer, you know you’re in trouble when the highlight of your day at a music festival is a skinny white guy with a Mac and a few choice LPs.

If Saturday was characterized by Rastas, well-to-do families and, strangely enough, PBR drinkers, then Sunday was a day of Pitchfork readers. Up-and-comers such as Fang Island–who recently received praise on said site–and Maps & Atlases meant sizable crowds and a more intriguing atmosphere relative to Saturday’s decidedly casual vibe. The bands themselves amounted to a string of mediocre opening acts, playing more so for curious listeners than to proper fans. The sounds were not wholly original but the intentions were right. These were the highlights of an otherwise unpleasant weekend. Then again, maybe I’m being too generous.

The biggest name on the bill that day wasn’t even the headliner. It was aforementioned Pitchfork faves Fang Island, the “everyone high-fiving everyone” group. Built upon meaty, arena-ready guitars, playful harmonies and boundless energy the “everyone high-fiving everyone” descriptor certainly is a fitting albeit frivolous one. Their live show is an air guitar contest with guitars. It’s art school geeks shamelessly living out their rock-and-roll fantasies. It seemed like they were trying bit too hard at times, but the crowd was receptive, or at least as receptive as hipsters can be. Fang Island knew they were playing to a tough crowd and did their gosh-darn hardest to give them something to remember. There’s something to be said for that. Look for them on tour with The Flaming Lips next month. From what their set evidenced, it should be a good fit.

Solely in terms of musicality, Maps & Atlases might have put on the best show of the entire weekend. The five-piece might seem too, dare I say it, cute upon first glance. Their bassist hides behind a large drum with a nature scene painted on it. Their frontman is the mild-mannered bespectacled type. They have a xylophone player. The group’s sound is actually far from the brand generic indie rock their image suggests. The percussive elements and interlocking bottle tap guitar parts were surprisingly well executed and the vocals maintained both body and warmth throughout their set. As for that xylophone, somehow it worked. With a new album and upcoming headlining tour, it looks like we’ll be hearing more from Maps & Atlases in the months to come. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Seattle-based singer-songwriter David Bazan initiated a brief Q&A session at one point during his set, the second-to-last of the day. The audience pressed him for his favorite author and color, to which he replied, “Time for more music.” Just before he began to play again, he added, “I’m a very funny guy.” Very funny indeed. Awkward moments such as these between songs made for an even more tedious live experience. The music itself certainly wasn’t an improvement. Bazan and his backing band churned out a heaping dose of uninspired bar room rock, dragging on far too long. There are plenty plainspoken men with guitars who know how to perform, who know how to interact memorably with their audience. I really don’t need to state the obvious here, do I?

Appearances can be deceiving, but the truth is sometimes they aren’t. In fact, sometimes they’re dead-on. As Cloud Cult, the headliner and closer of the festival, set up shop I knew that I wouldn’t care for them. As the sun set on Chicago Avenue and more people began to make their way up to the front row, I spotted too many instruments and pieces of equipment to fit on that puny stage. There were not one but two canvases set up in back. I lost count of exactly how many band members there were. It wasn’t until the group began to play that I realized just how right I was. Beginning with an orchestral instrumental and erupting into Arcade Fire-scale theatrics, the band charged through their set with two painters creating the kinds of abstract pieces your little siblings could probably top all the while. However, what I took to be embarrassing and self-indulgent much of the audience took to be anthemic and life-affirming. Which was more obnoxious, the former or the latter, is up for debate.

As I left the grounds down-tempo club beats from the DJ stage could be heard in the distance, the kind of music that made even Cloud Cult sound good. Green Music Fest might have been a bust, but I don’t have any regrets. It’s just another street festival. There will be more festivals and better ones at that.

Come to think of it, the weekend wasn’t entirely bad. I did hear one really good thing. Someone played Fleet Foxes’ “Mykonos” over the loudspeakers a few times.

However, on December 8th, that will change. On that day, the band will release a double-disc reissue of the two albums, complete unreleased bonus tracks, for everyone (as in nationwide release “everyone”) to enjoy.

If you’re looking for a quick history lesson, Cloud Cult’s lead singer/songwriter Craig Minowa created these albums during 18 months of seclusion at his Northern Minnesota organic farm after his two-year-old son passed away unexpectedly in 2002.  Originally released on the band’s own Earthology Records, they were mainly available on a local level due to a shoe-string credit card budget. Despite the limited distribution, both albums would receive critical acclaim and find their way on to a bounty of Year End lists.

Fans can pre-order the reissue beginning in November via cloudcult.com.

Now that we got all that covered, here’s another piece of news surely to get you attention: Following the reissue, the band will embark on a winter and spring 2010 tour. Then, it’s back to the studio where they’ll begin work on the followup to 2008′s Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes). A fall of 2010 release date is expected.