Photo by Ted Maider

Most people who came to Sasquatch! camped in tents and RVs in either the more peaceful VIP camping section or the favela on the hill camping section. Fellow writer/photographer Harley and I were in the very small minority of people who drove home every night after the whole festival was over. During the night drive back to Quincy, WA, we’d try to suss out and synthesize the day’s music, the people we saw, what costumes they were wearing, what native culture those costumes were appropriating, the things that were mumbled to us by a guy two vials deep into the evening, or “did you see that husband just yelling at his wife just then?” and were we possibly the only sober people there and should we just try to buy some drugs at the camp grounds tomorrow and oh look there’s the fourth ambulance of the week coming toward us racing back to the festival grounds. Then we argued for a long time about Bon Iver. Maybe we should stay sober.

All this handwringing led to this: You can’t really report honestly about a music festival unless you really allow yourself to accept the festival culture, which, for better or for worse, is what prevailed at Sasquatch! this year. Much of the middle card included fantastic bands finishing up long tours with a stop at The Gorge (e.g. Explosions in the Sky, tUnE-yArDs, Charles Bradley, Kurt Vile, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The War On Drugs, The Head & The Heart, The Joy Formidable, etc..) and despite the lack of non-Seattle hip-hop and any kind of metal/hardcore/punk band, the four-day holiday weekend appeared to be less about connecting with the music of the festival and more crafting an “epic weekend” to remember forever.

I don’t think it’s hyperbole to call the first view coming up over the hill of the Gorge breathtaking. The topographical setting of the festival lends itself to a larger-than-life experience, which is certainly what the sequencing of the lineups were aiming for:  swelling lines of guitars, big beat stompy folk rock, Girl Talk b/w Pretty Lights, and Tenacious D being the most metal thing at the festival. There were a few magnetic moments, some special little minutes from the days that resonated in the realm of music, like Deer Tick’s impromptu covers set, or Jack White’s flawless headlining set, or Spiritualized closing the second largest stage playing to a crowd of less than 200. But in the end, Sasquatch! went for the big feelings and for the most part scored. The music heard at The Gorge just sounds better, feels better, is better because of Sasquatch! being what it is: a vacation.

Since I didn’t go all Vice Magazine and paint my face, don a poncho and a day-glo trucker hat, and get “mangled” as one guy told me, Sasquatch! was really what you made of it. It’s your trip and how much of it you want to remember is entirely up to you. I think the lineup this year wasn’t as strong as it was in previous years, but you’re surrounded by people who are trying — chemically or otherwise — to have a good time. There was a group of people who asked me to take a photo of them with their phone as the sun set on Monday night and against my exhaustion, frustration, they all looked so happy. That’s how you do it.

-Jeremy D. Larson
Managing Editor 

Friday

honeyhoney – Yeti Stage – 5:05 p.m.

As one of the first artists of the day, honeyhoney was late for load-in thanks to the traffic entering the festival. Fortunately, they arrived just in time to tackle the unenviable task of opening a festival. There may be shades of country to honeyhoney, especially in the voice of banjo-shredding frontwoman Suzanne Santo, but their brand of Americana was delivered with a spirited rock energy that captivated the few and faithful among the crowd. At the halfway point, guitarist Ben Jaffe marveled at how the view from the stage looked like a Bob Ross painting, but without the “crazy people.” Also under the spell of the Gorge’s unparalleled beauty, Santo commented that she would have painted us into such a work. -Frank Mojica

Of Monsters and Men – Sasquatch Stage – 6:05 p.m.

The topographically stark Gorge was the perfect backdrop for Icelandic six-piece Of Monsters and Men, who have stepped into a Mumford and Sons-sized footprint with their high-stepping version of the folk power ballad. Vocalist and guitarist Ninna Hilmarsdottir—who bore an uncanny resemblance to Maggie Gyllenhaal, especially on the basketball court-sized screens flanking the Sasquatch Stage—led the band in anthems like “Little Talks”, which roused the sizable audience with “Hey!”s punctuating trumpet rotundas and acoustic guitars. They closed with “kind of a new song” (which doesn’t seem to be new at all, since it appeared on My Head Is An Animal along with the rest of their set), “Mountain Sound”, whose title and repeated mantra, “Sleep until the sun goes down,” seemed appropriate in light of the soon-to-be-setting sun and the venue’s rocky acoustics. -Harley Brown

Poliça – Bigfoot Stage – 6:30 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

After the ominous intervals of set opener “Fist, Teeth, Money”, vocalist Channy Leneagh’s voice had dropped a few octaves. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that it was later pointed out to me that she simply didn’t Auto-tune her set. It’s a choice reveal that the band’s confidence has grown even since South by Southwest in March. The dual drums and Chris Bierden’s bass thundered as always, but Leneagh allowed herself to depart from their compartmentalized rhythm, riffing on “Lay Your Cards Out” and new song “Raw Exit” (formerly “Exit Raw”), which they’ve been playing live for a while and hopefully will make it onto their next album. I couldn’t tell if the audience knew of Polica or simply happened to wander over in a substance-induced stupor, but given the applause and bodies movin’, it appeared that many left converted. -Harley Brown

Little People – Banana Shack – 6:40 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

The Banana Shack was dismally underdeveloped this year. Shortening and widening the tent was great for the late night sets, but if you were slated for a day slot at the Banana Shack, that basically meant you were in for an all too sunny electronic appearance. Little People was among the first of many to experience this misfortune. He looked so out of place, sitting in the sun with his mixing board, a whimsical array of looping instruments. He even messed up on recording the looping segment on one of his songs, and took about a full noticeable minute to correct it, but he got there, against all odds. Impressive stuff live and in the flesh. -Winston Robbins

Santigold – Sasquatch Stage – 7:10 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Whenever conversing with my international festival-going friends about covering Sasquatch!, the response was always along the lines of “That’s the one with the dancing guy, right?” That viral video of the dance party to Santigold’s 2009 performance of “Unstoppable” has become a festival legend and was the top conversation topic among fans on the hill and in the pit over what would happen for a sequel. Such a follow-up never happened, as Santigold left that moment preserved in time and pushed forward for a new adventure. Supported by a band in aquamarine Egyptian costume and backup dancers whose choreography seamlessly flowed from retro to hammer-wielding robotic stylings, Santi White created an all-inclusive carnival that offered something for even the pickiest music aficionados. Drawing upon everything from rock to dancehall to hip-hop, Santigold distilled various genres down to what makes each uniquely fun and blended them into a breathless 45 minute party that reassured the crowd that they didn’t need to follow anyone’s lead to let loose and just dance. -Frank Mojica

Mark Lanegan Band – Bigfoot Stage – 7:45 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

It’s fitting that at least one critic has compared Mark Lanegan’s voice to leather, specifically something along the lines of “a well-oiled baseball mitt,” because he took the stage like an all-star up to bat: His gargantuan frame was clad in a straight-brimmed Starter and windbreaker, and he gripped the mic stand like a—you got it—baseball bat. Ball-playing metaphors aside, Lanegan’s supple rasp texturizes more than anything else, and lacking anything substantial to rub up, makes for a boring performance. His Band’s slow jams showcase its uniqueness but don’t add anything even close to Screaming Trees’ screamadelia or his scary/sweet collaborations with Isobel Campbell. -Harley Brown

Girl Talk – Sasquatch Stage – 8:30 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Greg Gillis has one of the most simple business models in music: a compendium of popular samples that run the scales from Biggie Smalls to Kelly Clarkson, and a straight “party or die” attitude. Feed The Animals and All Day were well represented, with prominent samples like Lil Wayne and Birdman’s “Stuntin’ Like My Daddy” to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer”. Far more intriguing, however, were the new samples, which involved M83’s “Midnight City” versus Missy Elliott’s “Work It” and Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” juxtaposed against Drake and Lil’ Wayne’s “The Motto”. In other words, look out for some great mixes from Girl Talk in the near future. There’s a time and a place for each genre of music, and Greg Gillis takes it upon himself to make it that time and that place whenever he dons his sweatsuit and picks up his confetti cannons. He pulled out all the stops for Sassy, though, closing out the night with an impressive firework show that included a spark shower straight out of a Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial. -Winston Robbins

Explosions in the Sky – Bigfoot Stage – 9:15 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

It took more than a little willpower to tear myself away from Girl Talk’s piece-by-piece striptease and onstage dance party to go see Explosions in the Sky, which I knew would place me squarely back in the time when Explosions graciously provided the soundtrack to my final thesis. One of the first things I noticed was that I have never seen a band take themselves so seriously: Bent over their instruments, all the members of the band kept their eyes closed for the duration of their songs. Their fingers stretched wide across the frets, enormous on the Bigfoot Stage’s screens, to achieve those raw, open chords that make listening to their prog-rock so visceral.

It was the perfect time of night to listen to them, too, since the darkness allowed everyone to fully absorb their resonance without visual distractions. Explosions closed with “The Only Moment We Were Alone”, putting their dubstep neighbors to shame with that nine-minute build—which in and of itself climaxes several times—before finally, finally unleashing a wall of noise that shuddered through everyone at the same time. It was one of many moments reminding the festival attendees that we weren’t alone. -Harley Brown

Pretty Lights – Sasquatch Stage – 10:15 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

After Explosions in the Sky, Pretty Lights’ variations in dubstep minor were a whole different exercise in tension and release, starting with the countdown to his set flashing on Sasquatch’s aforementioned giant screens. Derek Vincent Smith’s one-man electronic outfit deals more in mid- and down-tempo than some of his EDM contemporaries, but he still sprinkled enough wubbery drops to satisfy what must have been the attendees raining confetti of glowsticks down from the hillside. Even though his set lacked the immediacy and WTF factor of Girl Talk’s instantly recognizable mashups just a half hour before, I appreciated Pretty Lights taking its time, segueing into “Finally Moving” as the glowsticks rained down in wave after wave. -Harley Brown

Saturday

Charles Bradley – Sasquatch Stage – 1:05 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Charles Bradley was born in 1945, making him a dogged 67. And instead of worrying about hip replacement, he’s more concerned with pelvic thrusts – a great way to gauge his performing ethos. The “Screaming Eagle of Soul” hit the stage looking slick with a grateful smile running from ear to ear. As he ran through hits from his solo debut, No Time For Dreaming, the crowd (a healthy mix of devoted fans and innocent morning passers-by) grew increasingly more receptive to his illustrious showmanship. It was wildly apparent that Bradley has the pipes to match his stage persona, especially as he crooned “The World Is Going Up In Flames” to a just-rousing Gorge. -Winston Robbins

Rob Delaney – Banana Shack  - 2:00 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

“Always open with not a joke,” Rob Delaney remarked, after commenting on a fan’s Montreal Expos hat. As a Twitter sensation, Delaney has posted countless laugh-out-loud moments under 140 characters, but onstage he proved equally adept at spinning a short story long. He seamlessly transitioned from an all too-revealing critique of anal sex to Danzig fan letters, selling him as a captivating teller of the dirtiest and most personal of stories. -Frank Mojica

Portlandia – Banana Shack – 3:00 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Sasquatch!’s Portlandia live experience began with a simple but memorable gem of awkward humor as Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein each read alleged text messages from the other to the crowd, with Armisen’s increasingly affectionate closings rebutted by more and more cold formality from Brownstein. The slideshows of old family photos, second-place Dracula poems, and cycling, and the Q&A session that followed all proved chuckle-worthy to some starstruck fans, but the shortage of surprise guests and traditional skits increasingly dwindled the over-capacity crowd to a more modest showing. -Frank Mojica

The Civil Wars – Sasquatch Stage – 3:15 p.m.

After the trashy beats and flashing lights of Girl Talk and Pretty Lights just the previous night, I was a little skeptical that a folk duo from Nashville could fill Sasquatch!’s cavernous depths with just two voices and a guitar. But once again, the screens saved the day, broadcasting images of the happy (and pregnant) couple, which made up for what they may have lacked in ingenuity with charm. Onstage, the Civil Wars’ carefully harmonized folk alternated between the embarrassingly honest choruses of contemporary country and Bible-belt stompers like “Barton Hollow”, and the latter fit the Gorge’s craggy, unforgiving landscape much better than the majority of the songs they played. But then frontman John Paul White would say something like, “This is the biggest audience we’ve ever played to, and we’re so happy to be here, and there’s a lot of times when people really don’t give a shit, so thank you so much!” and I’d have a hard time finding fault with their music because it was too pretty. -Harley Brown

THEESatisfaction – Yeti Stage – 3:30 p.m. 

Photo by Harley Brown

Across the festival from the Civil Wars, another couple was making their version of baby-making music at the Yeti Stage. Catherine Harris-White and Stasia Irons, otherwise known as Seattle future-funk duo THEESatisfaction, were bumping, grinding, and talk-singing over an engaging backbeat that drew just as much from variegated African percussion as it did 808s. I usually approach vocalists with a pre-recorded soundtrack with trepidation, but Irons and Harris-White assuaged any fears I had with synchronicity between verses along the lines of MC Lyte and the group’s instrumentals. Even though Shabazz Palace’s Palaceer didn’t make an appearance for his guest spot on “Enchantruss”—girls can dream, can’t they?—lyrics like “You’re breaking my bad habits/So we can wake and bake instead” still went over just as well, especially with this crowd. Unfortunately, awE naturalE’s subtleties, like the duo’s subtle mouth sounds and call and responses on “Bitch”, were lost live. -Harley Brown

Kurt Vile and the Violators – Bigfoot Stage – 4:15 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

It was still a sluggish afternoon at the Gorge as Kurt Vile began his sound check, and he wasn’t about to change that mood. Sluggish is Vile’s bread and butter. His shoegaze folk kept the pace evenly for his set’s entirety, and as he sported cuts from last year’s Smoke Ring for My Halo, the crowd wasn’t unresponsive, but they weren’t ecstatic by any means. They were somewhere in the middle for “Jesus Fever”, but by the time he closed with “Freak Train”, the webbed-shoes and the bare feet started moving and kicking up dust. -Winston Robbins

Dum Dum Girls – Bigfoot Stage – 5:10 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

In the five o’clock hour, the sky at the Gorge was heavily overcast with rays of especially bright light peeking through the clouds. Similarly, the ’60s girl group-themed vocals of Dum Dum Girls were wrapped in a garage and shoegaze haze. While the pieces fell into place on set highlights “Bedroom Eyes” and “Only in Dreams”, the lively choruses aimed for catchy but lacked sharpness in their hooks, while harmonies were lost in a sea of reverb and persistent sound issues. Like a Dum Dum Pop, the set offered a little sweet but not completely satisfying treat. -Frank Mojica

Childish Gambino – Sasquatch Stage – 5:25 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

We all know Donald Glover is a jokester, but the more you listen to his raps and see his performances, you start to feel he’s found his true niche. On Saturday afternoon, Gambino took to the Sasquatch stage as a blazing force in hip-hop, opening with the club-influenced “Firefly”, which automatically sent the crowd into a frenzy. After that, everyone was bobbing up and down as he dropped a new jam for Questlove, touched fans with “Freaks and Geeks”, and sparked a riot of a crowd with “Bonfire”. Gambino knows how to throw down on the mic, and it might not be long before Donald Glover becomes something of the past and Childish Gambino becomes his true identity. -Ted Maider

araabMuzik – Banana Shack – 5:40 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

And now for something completely different: Not only did araabMuzik, the MPC-destroying performing and recording moniker of Abraham Orellana, take the stage after Portlandia, he suddenly became a dubstep artist when I had been expecting Instrumental University’s low-slung trap claps and airy synthpads. After araabMuzik’s hype man took the stage, providing a bigger, louder version of his recorded hypewoman (“You are now listening to araabMuzik” with the frequency of a radio personality), Orellana took the distorted piano that opens “1, 2, 3 Grind” and dropped it into that telltale wub-wub. Crowd control staff got involved shortly thereafter, practically lifting people out of the way to attend to multiple flower-tiara’d girls atop their boyfriends’ shoulders, who couldn’t have been more than 12 or 14 years old. You’d be hard pressed to say araabMuzik didn’t know his audience, but the question is, which audience? -Harley Brown

Metric – Sasquatch Stage – 6:40 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

After playing a very brief acoustic set in the Kokanee Tent comprised of “Help I’m Alive”, “Youth Without Youth”, and the world debut of “Synthetica”, Emily Haines and co. took to the Sasquatch stage to play to the masses at a very boisterous Gorge. Metric has gained a considerable following, and sure as the sun, they all showed up to sing along with every word – even the songs off the group’s forthcoming effort, Synthetica. In fact, their set was very Synthetica heavy, which weighed down the pacing for casual fans, but with help of old favorites like “Satellite Mind” and “Dead Disco”, they still made it a full-fledged pop-rock extravaganza. -Winston Robbins

tUnE-yArDs – Bigfoot Stage – 7:30 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Among a small sampling of people I talked to at Sasquatch!, all had polarizing views on tUnE-yArDs’ music. “Oh, you’ve got to see them live,” I said, knowing that Merrill Garbus is a theatrical virtuoso that will mesmerize hapless bystanders with her clarion yawp. Sadly, the sprawl the Bigfoot stage and the dubious acoustics proved somewhat of a foil to tUnE-yArDs’ set, as jittery onlookers around me enjoyed bopping to “Gangsta”, but were definitely looking for something that hit harder. Even “Powa”, which was played early in the set and usually silences whole clubs, came out tepid (the vocal loops Garbus recorded in the beginning didn’t seem to ignite later in the song, as evinced by Garbus’ big goofy grin to the bass player at the end). All the elements were there, though– her gesticulations, her spot-on voice, her theatrical flair — everything that made tUnE-yArDs so impressive when she started this very same tour over a year ago. -Jeremy D. Larson

The Shins – Sasquatch Stage – 8:10 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

The Shins’ set was nearly upstaged by a hang glider. First one, and then a few, and then many people suddenly pointed at what seemed to be a flying go-cart zooming low over the canyon toward the setting sun (Choice excerpt: “What the fuck? Did you see that or were you too busy looking at your hand?” and a few seconds later, noticeably more distressed, “What is happening?”). But Mercer’s tenor commanded attention no matter the surroundings, especially while wailing the chorus on “Kissing the Lipless”, which opened the Shins’ set. For this performance, the band upped classical piano keys in the mix, softening the edges around the clipped enunciations on “Caring Is Creepy”. It still sounds smoother on record, but I appreciated the experimentation. The Shins played a good mix of old and new songs, indulging in “New Slang” and taking the time to jam out on tracks like “The Rifle’s Spiral”. The Sasquatch himself even made an appearance: Toward the end of the Shins’ set, he snuck out from behind the stage setup, essentially Port of Morrow’s album art. But Mercer is a professional and, of course, the band played on. -Harley Brown

St. Vincent – Bigfoot Stage – 9:00 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Once the night finally rolled in, St. Vincent took the crowd at the Bigfoot stage to an even darker place. Annie Clark ferociously pummeled her guitar until it surrendered its utter jagged wickedness, jolted along like a haunted robot to her band’s twisted rhythms, and even attacked a theremin on “Northern Lights”, all while unleashing angelic cries. The effect was akin to being kicked in the gut and hugged simultaneously. After tearing through a cover of The Pop Group, Clark left the safety of the stage to be thrown around like a rag doll by a completely enthralled crowd during the riot grrrl rager “Krokodil”. As hard-hitting as the juxtapositions between the hideous and the gorgeous on the live interpretations of Strange Mercy and Actor highlights were, it was this set-closing one-two punch of punk rock appropriation that stole not just the St. Vincent show but the weekend as well.  -Frank Mojica

Jack White – Sasquatch Stage – 10:00 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

If anyone’s going to break the set-in-stone festival set times, not to mention his own rules about live performances, it’s Jack White. After playing almost until his allotted time of 11:30 p.m., he left the stage with his all-male backing band and returned with the same when I had been expecting his all-female band, since he almost always switches halfway through his set. And then he blew through his end time with “We’re Going to Be Friends”, “Hotel Yorba”, and “Seven Nation Army”.

But that wasn’t nearly the best part of Jack White’s set. Nor was his ability to noodle through rock and roll’s evolution over the past 60 years or so years, or the prodigious talent of the predominantly Nashville- and Detroit-based Los Buzzardos, nor was it the millions of dollars worth of equipment on stage. No, the best part was probably when he played the Raconteurs’ “Steady, As She Goes”. “Here’s the part where I ask you to sing along. I don’t care if you don’t know the words, or if you don’t want to sing the words, or if you can’t sing the words, or if you don’t know what the words mean, or if you won’t know what they mean until you drive home tonight.” With that, he commanded the audience to sing, “Are you steady now?” At the third repetition, White and Los Buzzardos crashed into the final verse and got two thousand people to jump up and down, hands in the air, in unison. No glow sticks necessary.  -Harley Brown

The Roots – Bigfoot Stage – 11:30 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Saturday was stacked in terms of artists that warranted seeing. It seemed as though I was running all day to catch so and so’s set at a different stage, and I don’t think I was the only one. As a result, there was not much energy left in the reserves of most of the festival-goers. Those that stayed were yawning and standing on weak legs, but it was no fault of The Roots. They, as always, brought their “A” game and then some. In fact, as the masses migrated from Jack White back to camp or their cars, many were sucked in as The Roots crew dipped into their back catalogue, playing their anthemic “Proceed” followed by a funky off-the-cuff version of “Jungle Boogie”.

Drummer/hip-hop guru Questlove was sporting a different haircut (I guess he decided on cornrows for the evening), but the sound remained the same. Both Quest and Black Thought kept the ensuing massive hoard entertained throughout, dusting off more oldies like “The Seed 2.0” and “Mellow My Man” both of which were folded into choice cuts from their previous two albums, How I Got Over and Undun. By the end of the night, they were playing to the largest audience The Bigfoot stage saw all weekend. And yes, they played the Jimmy Fallon song. -Winston Robbins

Sunday

Hey Marseilles - Sasquatch Stage  - 12:00 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Fully aligned with those squinty-eyed early birds, the seven-piece Seattle chamber met the first crowd of Sunday with warm cello, fiddle, squeeze box, trumpet, and acoustic guitars backed with that big beat stomp. Props to their arrangements, which despite the all too familiar sound, flow in and out of the music without lulling a song into a weepy sleep. Eager, earnest, and polite — perfect for the first smile-and-nod of the day. -Jeremy D. Larson

Reignwolf – Yeti Stage – 1:20 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

He’s the kind of band that makes other bands roll their eyes at him — but that’s part and parcel why I stood and watched Reignwolf’s whole set. He’s Jordan Cook from Saskatoon, clearly a Jack White acolyte, and a complete cock-ass showman on guitar, playing pentatonic riffs with one hand and holding the mic with the other. For the first part of the show, it was Cook alone on stage, stomping on a drum, pleasing the living shit out of himself playing guitar and singing unabashed blues. His band came on a couple songs later and added a bit of a Black Sabbath via Spinal Tap groove-metal to the sound– a foreign vibe for most of the bands playing Sasquatch!. Of course, he was wearing a black leather jacket, doing The Lip Curl, pointing to screaming women in the crowd, standing on the bass drum, and sitting on the security guy’s shoulders. He’s without a record, but full of so much unabashed spirit, theatrics, and style that his live show is all he needs for now.  -Jeremy D. Larson

Here We Go Magic – Bigfoot Stage – 3:00 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

“Is everyone stoned?” Everyone probably should have been for this colorless start to the afternoon, which evaporated almost as soon as it pulsed from Jen Hunter’s admittedly formidable bass. I don’t know if it was the fact that Here We Go Magic’s bass-heavy blend of krautrock and psychedelic afterthoughts should be heard in a dark, enclosed space (i.e. headphones) as opposed to the blinding light and wind of midday in the Gorge, but the heavy atmosphere the band was trying to drive home with rhythm fell flat. They were effective when combined with more engaging foils, like vocalist Luke Temple’s Hayden Thorpe-like falsetto on “Tunnelvision” or the uptempo “Collector” with its synthesizers and catchy repetition of “I’ve got a mild fascination.” -Harley Brown

Blind Pilot – Sasquatch Stage – 3:30 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Sunday was a bit of a slow morning, so to hear Blind Pilot’s keen harmonizing and to see their smiling faces was truly a much-needed energy booster. Since last playing at The Gorge, they released We Are the Tide, a far more ambitious album than their debut and one that’s primed for a live setting. The best of the new bunch was the astoundingly beautiful “Half Moon”, and they left just enough time to play some of their golden oldies like “Oviedo” and “The Story I Heard”. Their tight, Northwest folk struck a chord with the Northwesterners at ease, who all came out in droves to see local rock on the mainstage. -Winston Robbins

The War On Drugs – Bigfoot Stage – 4:10 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

The hairs were grayer in the crowd for The War On Drugs’ set as Adam Granduciel’s humbuckers made their bossgaze music spiral out across the field. This was my first time seeing the band at a big festival on a sizable stage, though they hardly seem suited for any other environment. Their rolling guitar lines, no longer tangled in a small club, are given the chance to stretch and breathe in the wind. “Baby Missles” could stand tall next to any Springsteen song at Wrigley Field, and even the moseying “I Was There” wrapped around the crowd as Granduciel merely suggested the melody for those great lyrics: “I was there to catch a man/I thought I had him by the hand/I only had him by the glove.” Oh, and a fairly large dance circle broke out during “Come To The City”, instigated by a guy in a top hat wearing a black shirt with neon letters that read, “I’m In Cancun, Bitches.” Won’t find that at a rock club. -Jeremy D. Larson

Beat Connection – Banana Shack – 4:40 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Sunday was the windiest day of all at Sasquatch!, so to hole up in the Banana Shack to catch Beat Connection’s electro-savvy surf rock was a major relief. Not only did it get everyone out of the wind, it invited them into an atmosphere of rock ‘n’ roll straight from the beach. They ran through most of their Surf Noir EP over their short set, hitting triumphant strides during “In The Water” and “Silver Screen”. -Winston Robbins

M. Ward – Sasquatch Stage – 5:25 p.m.

Among the list of names that could have potentially headlined the festival over Pretty Lights was M. Ward, a man who needs very little introduction. If you’re a rock enthusiast, the man shreds like there’s no tomorrow. If you’re an indie vet, he’s written some of the best indie folk of our generation, and to the layman, he’s the other half of Zooey Deschanel’s She & Him project. I feel like any one of those criteria would deem him an eligible suitor for headlining, but alas, he was mid-day on the mainstage. None of that mattered once he started plunging deep into his enormous back catalogue. His latest effort, A Wasteland Companion, was well represented, but he also played a surprising amount of 2009’s Hold Time. What’s more, “For Beginners” and his cover of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On” were greeted with special warmth. He and his band (which included Bright Eyes mainstay Nate Walcott) played a tight, enjoyable set to finish off the afternoon at the Gorge. -Winston Robbins

Active Child – Yeti Stage – 5:40 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Admittedly, I was hesitant about how Active Child could pull off their affecting, unconventional sound live. Any doubts promptly dissolved upon witnessing Pat Grossi belt “You Are All I See” with a power only hinted at on the album of the same name. Instruments outnumbered people by at least a two-to-one ratio, but the trio switched back and forth to recapture the intricately layered nature of the album. The pacing picked up after Grossi switched from harp to synth for “Playing House”, with the crowd breaking out in one of the weekend’s unlikeliest sessions of clapping and dancing along. -Frank Mojica

Wild Flag – Bigfoot Stage – 6:20 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Right after Wild Flag’s set, I tweeted “Wild Flag > Jack White,” which elicited more responses than I’ve ever gotten, with people asking, “Are you sure about that?” I’d like to blame such an inflammatory statement on the comedown from Flag frenzy, but the truth is, the post-Sleater Kinney/Helium/Autoclave supergroup singlehandedly overturned my predilection for male-fronted rock. Their whole set simply annihilated, acting as the antithesis to White’s testost-rock: On “Racehorse”, Carrie Brownstein stretched open her red-lipsticked mouth and screamed, “You’d better RIIIIDE!” after commanding her rapt audience to “pony up” and “put your money where your sweet, sweet mouth is.” She and fellow guitarist and singer Mary Timony held their instruments aloft, letting the feedback buffet an audience slightly older and tamer than the festival’s general population but no less appreciative (“They fucking rocked it!”, “That was sick!”).

Despite the sanctity of Wild Flag’s performance, the foursome indulged in light moments like the falsetto harmonies on “Electric Band” and Brownstein’s infamous Portlandia humor (“We’re happy to be here in this Whitesnake video wind tunnel onstage”). During a cover of Patti Smith’s “Ask the Angels”, Brownstein took a moment to push against Timony’s forehead while the latter riffed, finally butting her away to finish the song. It was such a classically rock ‘n roll moment that reminded me of the age-old question: Are men necessary? Probably, but the ladies onstage certainly made me think twice about it. -Harley Brown

The Walkmen – Bigfoot Stage – 7:30 p.m. 

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Anyone who had the foresight to stick around at the Bigfoot Stage for the early evening also had the privilege to see the veteran musicians of Wild Flag and The Walkmen put on two of the weekend’s best sets back-to-back. While the former technically hasn’t been around for that long, The Walkmen have been playing together for a decade, and it shows. Hamilton Leithauser moves seamlessly from the Bing Crosby croon of brand new material like “We Can’t Be Beat” to throaty favorites like A Hundred Miles Off’s “All Hands and the Cook”, all the while busting the veins in his neck with his signature wail. Cuts off Heaven bounced with enthusiasm, but older songs sounded well-worn with years of experience and ceaseless touring. After such a professional performance, it was surprising to hear Leithauser say dryly, “We’re rarely invited in the first place, so it’s an honor to be invited back.” But when several shirtless young men crowd-surfed during “The Rat”, slamming the front row into the barricade, I think I understood where he was coming from. -Harley Brown

Apparat – Banana Shack – 8:00 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

I’m going to come right out and say it: I have a very rudimentary knowledge of Apparat and its history. All I know is that someone handed me a copy of The Devil’s Walk earlier this year, and I was infatuated by Apparat’s collected combination of the sentimentality of Aqualung with the beat-centricity of Modeselektor. I don’t want to jump the gun and say anything prematurely, but there were some serious Radiohead vibes coming off the Berlin outfit’s stage. As they drifted in and out of songs it was easy to get lost in their melodic beats. “Sweet Unrest” even evoked chorus chanting from those fans who were relishing the opportunity to see the out-of-towners play Sasquatch. And like I said, I’m not overly familiar with the band’s complete works, but I know for certain they put on a hell of a show for a very big audience (many of whom were just lining up early to see Mr. James Murphy).  -Winston Robbins

Beirut – Sasquatch Stage -8:10 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Meanwhile, over at the Sasquatch! stage, every single couple at the festival was settling into what would be three hours of some of the most unabashedly romantic indie music today, starting with Beirut (which one friendly, older gentleman in a tie-dyed Pink Floyd t-shirt next to me called “tragically romantic”). I got to Beirut’s set just in time for “Postcards from Italy”, as Zach Condon’s ukulele washed over a field of blankets and ketchup-stained curly fry containers with the setting sun. And then the horns kicked in, mirroring the tenor and vibrato of Condon’s own warble, which should be patented or put in a glass case somewhere for future generations—I’m sure more than a few were conceived that night—to marvel at. I was pleased that synth-based songs, like “My Night with the Prostitute from Marseilles” and Gulag Orkestar’s version of “Scenic World”, which sound thin on record, were fleshed out with a live drum and Beirut’s copious instrumentation.

When I asked my musically-trained fellow correspondent why “Scenic World” was so good, he didn’t have an answer. Instead, he asked, “Why is Beirut so good?” Maybe like the Gorge, both have an inherent beauty that’s difficult to explain or scientifically reconcile. The bassist, who threw his hands up in ecstasy during “Rhineland (Heartland)”, seemed to think so, too. -Harley Brown

James Murphy – Banana Shack – 9:30 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

And then it was time to choose. Do you go with the uber-hip funky disco of James Murphy or the crowd-friendly fest of pristine folk that Bon Iver had to offer? It might be the most important decision you ever make. This decision could ostensibly define you as a person. Okay, maybe not. But there were enough bodies in the Banana Shack to consider that the ratio may have been much, much closer to 50/50 for Bon Iver/James Murphy than one might have guessed. And those in attendance to see Mr. Murphy were certainly not let down. He began his set with a humble question – “Can I play some records now?” – not aimed at the crowd, but at the sound guy.

Regardless, both gave him their adamant approval, and that’s how it was for the next two hours: Murphy in his headphones, going back and forth between his turntables and the table he had set up behind him, full of vinyl (a formidable collection, to be sure) and drinks. The man brought the party so nonchalantly, it was easy to forget he was the ringleader. What wasn’t easy to forget, though, was the constant flux of disco and rave he kept thudding for the next two hours. And perhaps the most endearing part of his set was that he didn’t play a single song that anyone was familiar with, and it was still a solid two-and-half-hours of non-stop dancing. After going half an hour longer than he was scheduled for, he announced that this was “the most fun festival show in a long, long time,” and I doubt anyone in attendance would argue. One of the strongest sets of the festival, through and through.-Winston Robbins

Bon Iver – Sasquatch Stage – 10:00 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Full disclosure: “Skinny Love” made me cry. Right after a guy wearing what appeared to be a faux-fur head wrap and a tie-dyed tank top asked me if I was “journaling” and asked me for a hug, this hardened journalist got a little verklempt. It’s hard not to when thousands of people shout, “Now all your love is wasted/Then who the hell was I?” at the top of their lungs. Like the other cuts off For Emma, Forever Ago, it received the Bon Iver backing band treatment, swelling with lush strings and horns that would have sounded out of place on Justin Vernon’s mostly acoustic debut. Fortunately, he didn’t take himself too seriously, pausing after “Perth” to say, “This is pretty fucking cool!” and admitting that “Towers” was about “sweet, sweet college” while “Holocene” was about drugs and alcohol.

Another disclosure: I did not enjoy Bon Iver’s set on Saturday night, Colin Stetson’s mind-bending circular breathing aside. The swaying burlap curtains hanging from the light fixtures, glowing tiki lights onstage, and “Towers”’ 10-minute jam session was all too much. I was probably the only one who felt that something was missing—except the people next to us who wondered if this was a dubstep show—but I had a hard time finding For Emma-era’s emotion behind songs like the almost unrecognizably orchestral “Blood Bank”. After a performance so far removed from Vernon’s original intent, I wasn’t surprised to hear he’s taking five years off from Bon Iver. -Harley Brown

Monday

Gary Clark Jr. – Sasquatch Stage – 2:10 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Before he even started his first song, the crowd down in the pit chanted “Gar-ry! Gar-ry! Gar-ry!” It’s an unusual reception for someone playing so early in the day, but Gary Clark Jr. is the latest guitar god. Under a scorching sun, Clark shredded some vicious guitar solos and scraped his guitar strings with wild abandon in a manner more intimidating than anything in the swamps of the Delta. The blues may have been around for decades, but Clark proves that there is still freshness and innovation to be drawn from that world. -Frank Mojica

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Sasquatch Stage – 3:15 p.m.

 I last saw Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at Bonnaroo in 2006, fresh off the success of their self-titled debut. Even though the tent had been dark and hot as a jockstrap and the set was plagued with technical difficulties, the band’s wild-eyed enthusiasm made it worthwhile. Six years later, I approached another Clap Your Hands Say Yeah festival set, this time post-Hysteria, with some reservation. Even though the band members stayed static onstage, “Same Mistake” and “Hysteria” swept big and clean across the dancers—two of which held their right hands and clapped their left hands together, embodying the happy-go-lucky spirit of my first CYHSY show—in the front section, and old cuts like “Heavy Metal” still invigorated in a live setting. The telltale buzzing keys cuing “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth”, however, sounded old and tired, as though the band couldn’t muster the energy to play their most popular song anymore. It only reminded me that there will never be another Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. -Harley Brown

The Joy Formidable – Sasquatch Stage  - 4:20 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Thankfully the rocky landscape of the Gorge is a sturdy one, because The Joy Formidable fired a set of catchy pop backed by the kind of shoegaze noise that could cause an avalanche. The Welsh power trip performed like rock stars and were given a likewise response, especially for set high point “Whirring”. After a promise of a return and a completed album, the Welsh power trio ripped into “A Heavy Abacus” for a fast-paced, roaring close, which ended with drummer Matt Thomas pummeling solo for the finale. If anyone in The Joy Formidable deserved their own time in the spotlight, it was Thomas because his especially frantic style was one of the hardest-hitting of the entire weekend. -Frank Mojica

fun. – Bigfoot Stage – 4:40 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

After reading lackluster reviews of Some Nights, judging the album tracklist by its cover, and getting sick of the person who drives around my block blasting “We Are Young”, I didn’t have high hopes for fun.’s Monday afternoon set. I was the only one, apparently, since the band drew the second-largest crowd to the Bigfoot Stage after the Roots’ performance on Saturday night. And I have to admit, everyone else was right. Fun.’s set was, well, fun. Frontman Nate Ruess, who sported a “FUN.” basketball jersey with his name on the back, sounds uncannily like Freddie Mercury. His band also specializes in Queen’s bombastic, theatrical rock, minus the sense of humor. Their arena rock gets people singing along to ridiculous lyrics like “my friends are higher than the Empire State” (although that was probably because in this context, it was true). It’s true that Ruess’ stale soliloquy on “Some Nights”—“I sold my soul for this/Washed my hands of that for this/Miss my mom and dad for this?”—is kind of cringe-worthy, but who has time to think about that when you’re singing along? -Harley Brown

Feist – Sasquatch Stage – 5:30 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

On the Sasquatch stage, Leslie Feist illustrated how she can grip a crowd while actively avoiding shortcuts, even going as far as to omit obvious old favorites such as the iPod commercial sensation “1 2 3 4″ and reinvent others. For opener “When I Was a Young Girl”, Feist took the stage backed by only a drummer as she gave the song a makeover with country-tinged guitars, while “Mushaboom” was stripped down to an almost unrecognizable form. For penultimate “Comfort Me”, Feist asked the crowd to channel Bon Jovi or their favorite ’80s band to wave their hands and sing along all the “na na na’s”. The result may have reminded her of New Kids on the Block, but for the crowd it was the latest in a nonstop series of engrossing moments. -Frank Mojica

The Cave Singers – Bigfoot Stage – 6:50 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Seattle-based folk outfit The Cave Singers both managed to follow fun.’s anthems and set the stage for Deer Tick, whose covers set was to take Mogwai’s place after them. Frontman Derek Fudesco even sounded like John J. Macaulay, spitting gravel into the mic while he shook duct-taped maracas. The group’s more angular cuts, like “Black Leaf” and “At the Cut” from several years ago, got a four-day-tired audience on their feet—literally, a guy was wrapped in a blanket at my feet, rising only to tell his friend, “I’ve never been so tired in my life” before going to lean against the barricade—more than their quieter, more acoustic ballads. All in all, though, it was a good mix. I was just disappointed they didn’t have time to play their 10-minute version of ZZ Top’s “Legs”, which they promised they would later play acoustically next to the frozen margaritas. -Harley Brown

Silversun Pickups – Sasquatch Stage – 7:00 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Sometimes a band’s meant to play a festival at a certain point, and the Silversun Pickups were destined to perform at the Sasquatch stage, amidst the sun’s last plunge into the Gorge on this Memorial Day weekend. As exhausted as the crowd was, the California rockers’ loud fuzz breathed some life into the wary spectators, and frontman Brian Aubert even offered some comedic respite. ”Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes,” he exclaimed, quoting Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, all before launching into classics like “Panic Switch” and Lazy Eye”. How could we not oblige? -Ted Maider

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists  - Yeti Stage – 7:50 p.m.

Like The Cave Singers, Ted Leo also realized he was fighting a battle against festival fatigue. “Thanks for sticking it out for all four days,” he said, peppering his high-wattage set with Paul Stanley quotes and regret that there wasn’t an Erin Esurance hologram onstage with him (“But in this light, it probably wouldn’t work anyway”). The knot of fans clustered against the oncoming cold yelled things like “More of the same! Similar to before!” after Leo ripped through fan favorites like “Me and Mia” and “The One Who Got Us Out”. His band rocked so hard that they broke a bass drum pedal on “arguably their wimpiest song,” “Bottled In Cork”. Even though the crowd was small and the night was getting cold, Ted Leo’s warm stage presence and brutally intimate performance gave off enough energy to last the rest of Sasquatch! 2012. -Harley Brown

Deer Tick – Bigfoot Stage – 8:00 p.m. 

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Mogwai’s performance was cancelled due to travel issues, and Spiritualized was promoted to their closing timeslot, while a second Deer Tick set was added to the schedule. “We’re not here to play any Deer Tick songs”, announced frontman John McCauley before tearing into a special covers set that included Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline” and The Replacements’  ”Waitress in the Sky”. High points were a raucous rendition of “La Bamba” and becoming Deervana for “On a Plain”. It may not have been the post-rock giants, but Deer Tick’s cover set was still a special treat that made the most of the moment. -Frank Mojica

Tenacious D – Sasquatch Stage – 8:15 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Those who remained Monday evening quite possibly stuck around just for Tenacious D. Not only did they attract one of the largest crowds of the weekend, but also the liveliest. When JB and KG arrived on stage in comedic white fur coats, everyone surged (like an At the Drive-In reunion sort of surge), and things got tough. “We want to shut this motherfucker down,” Jack Black screamed, backing this statement up with on-target renditions of “Tribute”, “Kickapoo”, “Senorita”, and plenty more. The set’s true highlight, however, was when the festival’s mascot arrived for Pick of Destiny gem “Sasquatch” to shred some mean guitar solos in the name of rock. Only at the Gorge– and only with Tenacious D– could such a memorable performance take place. -Ted Maider

Spiritualized – Bigfoot Stage – 9:30 p.m.

 Photo by Colin Athens

Due to Mogwai’s late cancellation, Spiritualized was moved back an hour and a half, forcing everyone to wait longer, but giving them the last slot on the Bigfoot stage, with plenty of time to go over – which they did. After opening with a blistering rendition of “Hey Jane”, Jason Pierce and his band ran through a very sizable portion of their latest LP, Sweet Light, Sweet Heart. The party didn’t really begin, though, until they dropped “Ladies And Gentlemen, We’re Floating In Space” in tandem with the quiet ballad from the same album, “Stay With Me”. At 11:00 p.m., half an hour after they were supposed to be finished, they began a rousing live version of “Come Together” that had the dismally small crowd rocking back and forth in unison. That would be their last song of the night, but it was as triumphant a note to end with as the one they rode in on. In all seriousness, there should have been a lot more people at The Bigfoot stage to see the legendary UK outfit (to be fair, he was competing against Beck’s headlining set), but Pierce was unphased by the small turnout, and he rocked just like everyone knew he would. -Winston Robbins

Beck  - Sasquatch Stage – 10:00 p.m.

Photo by Jeremy D. Larson

Before the final set of the weekend, the main stage screens ceased the cycling of advertisement slides for corporate sponsors and upcoming concerts to show footage of a raccoon climbing the rafters. The surreal moment was the perfect segue for a performance by a weirdster chameleon such as Beck. Earlier in the week in Los Angeles, Beck reunited with his Sea Change band for the first time since it was recorded, and at the Gorge they took advantage of this special assembly to perform album standouts “Lost Cause” and “Sunday Sun”. As stirring as the renditions of these heartbreak odes were, it was the more upbeat hits like “Devil’s Haircut”, “E-Pro”, and “Loser” that predictably drew the biggest response, even if the man himself seemed somewhat disinterested.

Near the end, Beck and company were joined by Tenacious D for a rare performance of “Mutherfuker”, giving this year’s Sasquatch! its final “can you believe that happened?” moment. Beck may have been an odd choice for a headliner, namely for the lack of any new material, but he showed how fun it can be to just hear the crowd-pleasing hits combined with oddities for the more seasoned fans. -Frank Mojica

Gallery

Photographer(s): Jeremy D. Larson, Ted Maider

The 11th annual Austin City Limits Music Festival runs October 12-14th at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. The lineup boasts Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack White, The Black Keys, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Florence and the Machine, Avicii, Bassnectar, Iggy and the Stooges, The Avett Brothers, The Roots, The Shins, Weezer, M83, Gotye, The Afghan Whigs, Crystal Castles, Andrew Bird, M. Ward, Alabama Shakes, and Childish Gambino.

Also playing are Tegan and Sara, Rufus Wainwright, Thievery Corporation, Umprhey’s McGee, Metric, Stars, Delta Spirit, Polica, Esperanza Spalding, Steve Earle, Patterson Hood, Gary Clark Jr., Die Antwoord, Big K.R.I.T., Zola Jesus, The War on Drugs, Black Lips, Los Campesinos! Freelance Whales, Caveman, Tennis, LP, Two Door Cinema Club, Trampled By Turtles, Oberhofer, Bombay Bicycle Club, Old 97s, Antibalas, Lee Fields & the Expressions, Father John Misty, Ben Howard, Michael Kiwanuka, and Patrick Watson.

Three-day and single-day passes are now available via the festival’s website.

In support of his newly-released LP, A Wasteland Companion, M. Ward appeared on Friday night’s episode of The Late Show with David Letterman. Replay his performance of the album standout “Primitive Girl” below (via The Audio Perv).

Featured Music:
01. Sleepy Sun – “Deep War” (excerpt), “Creature” (excerpt)
02. Pelican – “Lathe Biosas” (excerpt), “Taraxis” (excerpt)
03. M. Ward – “Primitive Girl” (excerpt), “Me and My Shadow” (excerpt)
04. Alabama Shakes – “Heartbreaker” (excerpt), “Hold On” (excerpt)
05. LP – “Wasted”, “Into the Wild (live)”
06. Rihanna – “Cheers” (excerpt)
07. LP – “It’s Over”

Audiography Episode 033 – “LP”
Written and Produced by Len Comaratta, Alex Young, Ben Kaye, Adam Kivel, Ryan Staskel, Bryant Kitching, Chris Coplan, David DiLillo, Nick Freed, and Austin Trunick.

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Are you enjoying Audiography? Subscribe to the Podcast via iTunes!

Big week for M. Ward. On Tuesday, the shades-enthusiast/singer-songwriter issued his seventh studio LP, A Wasteland Companion, and to celebrate, the California native swung by Warner Bros. Studios (sans shades, surprisingly) to offer up a performance for Conan. The track? The delectably sweet “Primitive Girl”. Where to find it? Below, courtesy of The Audio Perv.

The mostly somber affair on Ward’s last outing, Hold Time, became bogged down by a sameness that let one song bleed into another, but with A Wasteland Companion, Ward strikes the perfect balance between his heartbreaking ballads and the pop swing he’s capable of, like on his classic 2006 track, “Rollercoaster”. His melodies can reach the tallest heights of the pop songbook, alongside his contemporary rivals Andrew Bird, Bill Callahan, and Cass McCombs, all of whom have a lasting place as songwriters in the musical legacy of this fractured period. With that said, what follows is a master at his craft.

“Clean Slate (For Alex  & El Goodo)”, an homage to the late great Alex Chilton, kicks off A Wasteland Companion with Ward channeling the Big Star tearjerker “Thirteen” with a countrified flair. Lead single “Primitive Girl”, a mid-tempo piano/keyboard-led track, follows and features some pretty harmonies but never really takes off. In the context of the album, “Primitive Girl” is fine, but as a single, it is one of Ward’s weaker tracks and not the album’s best entry point.

There is a manic quality in Ward’s music best exemplified on the road trip-ready rocker “Watch the Show” and the whiskey drunk piano ballad “Crawl After You”. These two standouts brilliantly illustrate Ward’s two faces. On “Watch the Show”, atop a rockabilly guitar crunch and a punchy drumbeat, Ward tells the tale of a misunderstood rocker named Billy Arthur Rose, singing, “I remember back when I was back in high school/I never thought I’d stoop so low/I thought I’d be the man unmasking the clown/Not the guy out polishing his nose.”

“Crawl After You”, among Ward’s most romantic ballads, floats on a church piano waltz before blooming into a swirl of violins, guitars, and synthesizers. Ward desperately yearns for his lost love singing, “I’ve been shook so bad that I cannot stand to utilize my feet/So I gotta crawl after you to tell you who I am.” The song is the perfect soundtrack to a sad, dusty, roadside dive bar, where it is easy to picture Ward penning his lyrics with a bourbon served neat resting in his hand.

And yes, indie darling Zooey Deschanel does appear on two A Wasteland Companion numbers. Don’t worry; she works inside the framework of an M. Ward solo album and doesn’t shift the style to the brightly colored folk/pop of She & Him. On “Me & My Shadow”, a track vaguely reminiscent of “Hotel California”, Deschanel’s backup vocals play second fiddle to Ward wildly jamming on his fuzzed-out Gretsch, providing proof that he is an extremely underrated guitar player. “Sweetheart” features a Beatles-esque melody with a country twist and has Deschanel and Ward dueting. Sadly, this one ranks alongside the two or three other lesser songs on an otherwise top-shelf album.

In the end, it’s the quieter moments of A Wasteland Companion that steal the show. Whether it’s the wistful introspection of “There’s a Key” and “Wild Goose” or the blissful folk of Ward finding a long lost love on album closer “Pure Joy”, it’s these moments that define him. A Wasteland Companion finds the melancholic Ward in fine form, and with this effort, he only further establishes his legacy as one of our under-appreciated greats.

Essential Tracks: “Crawl After You”, “Watch the Show”, “There’s a Key”, and “Pure Joy”

At their gig this past Sunday at London’s Royal Albert Hall, touring mates Feist and M. Ward covered The Jesus and Mary Chain’s duet with Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval entitled “Sometimes Always”. The track (originally found on the recently-reissued Stoned & Dethroned) is transformed into a sweet and strummy sing-along from the most twee summer camp ever. Watch the replay below (via Pitchfork via Exclaim!)

With Record Store Day 2012 now just seven weeks away (April 21st), a number of artists and record labels have begun to reveal their plans for music’s new favorite holiday. Here’s a recap of the some the more notable releases already announced:

– The Black Keys will release their latest LP, El Camino, as a deluxe vinyl. This RSD exclusive package also contains a bonus CD, a limited edition poster, and a two song 45 rpm 7″ single featuring previously unreleased live tracks: “Sister” and “Money Maker.”

– Mastodon has two releases planned: A split 7″ single with Feist, which features Mastodon covering the Feist song “A Commotion”, while Feist covers Mastodon’s “Black Tongue. Mastodon also contributes a cover of The Flaming Lips’ “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton”, which will be released on 7″ baby pink vinyl single as part of the Side By Side Series.

– Arcade Fire will release Damian Taylor’s remixes of “Sprawl II” and “Ready to Start” on special edition 12″ vinyl.

– Detroyer will re-release his 2006 album, Destroyer’s Rubies, on vinyl for the first time in the U.S. Available through Merge Records, the package also includes a bonus track “Loscil’s Rubies”, a 20-minute long bonus song remixed by Scott Morgan, and a digital download of the album. The vinyl will be available in ruby red.

– Neon Indian will release “Hex Girlfriend”, b/w a Twin Shadow remix of the song, on 10″ vinyl.

– Metallica will release their new EP, Beyond Magnetic, on 12″ colored vinyl.

– M. Ward will release his new single “Primitive Girl”, b/w “The Twist” and a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven”, on 7″ vinyl.

– The Tallest Man on Earthwill release a 12″ single comprised of “King of Spain” b/w a cover of Paul Simon’s “Graceland” and his own “Where I Thought I Met the Angels”.

– Red Hot Chili Peppers will re-release the deluxe 180 gram vinyl box set of their 2006 album Stadium Arcadium. Specially priced for Record Store Day, the deluxe package was mastered for vinyl by Steve Hoffman and includes two 16-page booklets – “Jupiter” and “Mars”.

– Also from the Side by Side Series, Sara Watkins will release a cover of The Everly Brothers classic “You’re The One I Love”, with guest vocals from Fiona Apple.

– Xiu Xiu and Dirty Beaches will team up for a split 7″, which features Xiu Xiu covering Erasure’s 1994 ballad “Always”, and Dirty Beaches reinterpreting ”Tu Ne Dis Rien” by French pop singer Françoise Hardy.

In addition,Wax Poetic reports the following releases will also see light on Record Store Day (we’ve yet to confirm these releases independently):

– Ryan Adams will release a 7″ single comprised of two Bob Mould covers, “Heartbreak a Stranger”, and “Black Sheets of Rain”, taken from the recent Bon Mould tribute concert in Los Angeles.

– Sufjan Stevens will join forces with Rosie Thomas for a split single, featuring the songs “Where Were You” and “Here I Am”.

– St. Vincent will put out a 7″ vinyl featuring two unreleased tracks: “Krokodil” b/w “Grot”.

– Andrew Bird will release a 7″ single featuring his covers of Alpha Consumer’s “The Crown Salesman” and “Handsome Family’s “So Much Wine”.

– David Bowie’s 1972 single “Starman” will be released on picture disc 7″ vinyl, and will come back with an unreleased b-side from the recently surfaced Tops of Pops performance.

Long week, no? Even Robin Pecknold had it rough. And word is there’s yet another redundant, mostly ornamental awards show scheduled for this weekend, one that somehow left Drive off of its top 10 Best Picture shortlist. Well, not to steal your thunder or anything Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but we’ve got a top 10 list of our own lined up. And while it doesn’t include a Nicolas Winding Refn film, it does include great new tunage from Mirroring, Rufus Wainwright and Gorillaz/André 3000/James Murphy(!!!). Suck on that, Oscar.

-Möhammad Choudhery
Staff Writer

A Place to Bury Strangers – “So Far Away” (School of Seven Bells Remix)

As if we weren’t already stoked for their next record Ghostory, which drops next Tuesday, NYC dream-poppers School of Seven Bells upped the ante with this breathtaking rework of A Place to Bury Strangers’ “So Far Away”, a highlight off of their just-released EP, Onwards to the Wall. The duo’s reinterpretation makes for essential listening for fans of either act, layering their signature ambient synth touches and careful percussion over the boisterous original. Onwards to the Wall is out now on Dead Oceans. -Möhammad Choudhery

A Place To Bury Strangers – “So Far Away” (School of Seven Bells Remix)

Cadence Weapon – “88″ (prod. Grimes)

It’s been four years since we’ve had a new album from meta-rapper Rollie Pemberton, better known as Cadence Weapon. But, now he’s promised on Twitter to have a “new habit of dropping a song/mix/video every week or so,” starting out by teaming up with ultra-hip experimentalist Grimes (AKA Claire Boucher). Pemberton’s wistful look back to 1988 lists a diverse set of influences ranging from Basquiat to Debbie Harry. The whole thing fits perfectly over Boucher’s simple, robot-trippy production, making a statement in under two minutes. The former poet laureate of Edmonton, AB has mentioned a new album due this spring called Hope In Dirt City, with more details to come. -Adam Kivel

[soundcloud width="500"]http://soundcloud.com/cadenceweapon/cadence-weapon-88-prod-grimes[/soundcloud]

Ceremony – “Adult”

California punks Ceremony are due back with their fourth LP on March 6th, the Matador-issued Zoo. From that record comes “Adult”, a loud, fast, straight-ahead rocker that clearly comes from a hardcore punk world, but features some shoegaze-y, garage-y distance. Frontman Ross Farrarr’s half-shouted note that we have “to give up the things we love sometimes” leads to a rumbling, insistent conclusion with an ultra-memorable hook. -Adam Kivel

Ceremony – “Adult”

Gorillaz – “DoYaThing (feat. James Murphy & André 3000)”

Yeah, good things do usually come in threes but few could’ve even dreamed up a collaboration this good. James Murphy and André 3000 lend a sweet hook and some typically kooky rhymes respectively to “DoYaThing”, the Converse-sponsored latest effort from Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s band of avatar alter-egos, Gorillaz. Originally released as a four-minute free download on Converse’s website as the most recent installment in their Three Artists. One Song series, the lovely people over at 107.7 The End are streaming an extended, 13-minute version of the track that’s every bit as good as you’d imagine 13 minutes with three of the most inventive musicians of the past decade would be. Now, can we talk about getting some new Outkast material? -Möhammad Choudhery

Crystal Castles- “Suffocation” (HEALTH Remix)

Lest we forget how absolutely awesome their second album was, Crystal Castles released a promo video for “Suffocation”, one of Crystal Castles (II)‘s best points, earlier this week; nearly two years after it was originally released. Their old buddies in HEALTH (remember “Crimewave“?) decided to get in on the II nostalgia too, giving “Suffocation” the remix treatment, fitting the original with their own dark, dancefloor-ready groove. HEALTH’s rework also serves as a timely reminder that Crystal Castles’ third full-length is due out this summer on Universal Music. -Möhammad Choudhery

Crystal Castles – “Suffocation” (HEALTH Remix)

M. Ward – “Primitive Girl”

It’s been three years since M. Ward last released a solo album, but you may be familiar with his other project, acting as the male counterpart to Zooey Deschanel in She & Him. Taken from his upcoming disc A Wasteland Companion (due out on Merge on April 10th), the piano-driven, insistent instrumental serves mainly as a platform for Ward’s tale of a girl he loves, and how “the primitive girl, she don’t need me.” Ward’s always been able to mix the upbeat with a twinge of wistful, and this track is no exception. -Adam Kivel

Mirroring – “Fell Sound”

“Fell Sound” is an early taste of the hypnagogic pairing of Liz Harris (AKA Grouper) and Jesy Fortino (AKA Tiny Vipers), working together as Mirroring. Unfolding like some dripping, smeared clouds, the smooth, sweeping soundscape and cooed vocals sound more like Harris’s work than Fortino’s. That said, it’s a strong indication that their debut collaborative album, Foreign Body (due March 19th, from Kranky) will be the perfect accompaniment to many calm spring evenings. -Adam Kivel

Rufus Wainwright- “Out of the Game”

Those who’ve been patiently waiting for the seventh installment in the Rufus Wainwright saga were finally rewarded this week with the title track off of his forthcoming LP Out of the Game. It’s a typically theatric Wainwright track with his soaring baritone at its center, though Mark Ronson’s retro-leaning production is a welcome addition to the mix. Out of the Game, which is set to include guest spots from Wilco’s Nels Cline, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner, Miike Snow’s Andrew Wyatt, Sean Lennon, members of the Dap-Kings and Martha Wainwright, is due out May 1st on Decca Records. -Möhammad Choudhery

Real Estate – “Exactly Nothing”

The B-side to New Jersey indie rockers Real Estate’s upcoming single for “Easy”, “Exactly Nothing” thrives on vocalist Martin Courtney’s soft-spoken droll. While it’s not quite the same sort of surf rock that dominated a year or two ago, when he asks “have you seen the ocean?” over Matt Mondanile’s lithe, dangling guitar line, the bleary warmth creeps in. Available digitally on March 5th from Domino, the single continues the nostalgic groove of last year’s full LP, weaving a relaxed, lilting tune. -Adam Kivel

Shlohmo- “Rained the Whole Time” (Nicolas Jaar Remix)

Twenty-two year old Nicolas Jaar continues his torrid streak of stellar releases (see also: “Don’t Break My Love” and Space is Only Noise) with this brilliant rework of “Rained the Whole Time”, the pensive closer off of beat wunderkind Shlohmo’s just-released Vacation EP. Jaar compliments the original’s languid, downtempo vibe with the sexy, contemplative bravado he showcased on the above-mentioned efforts, tugging at the heartstrings as he flips Shlohmo’s tight guitar line on its head while navigating the dense atmosphere of the original with expert ease; all the way to its gorgeous climax. Vacation is out now on Friends of Friends Music. -Möhammad Choudhery

On April 10th, M. Ward returns with his new LP, A Wasteland Companion, featuring an assortment of guest appearances, the likes of which include Zooey Deschanel, Mike Mogis, Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, and PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish, among others.

Last week, we had a chance to listen in with the video for “The First Time I Ran Away”; now we have another choice selection with the uber-poppy cut of “Primitive Girl”. Many will hear echoes of James in the instrumentation as M. Ward sings, in his Leonard Cohen-best, “She’s a primitive girl and she don’t like to boast, from her natural head to her natural toes.” It’s quite a Spring fling, if we say so ourselves. Check it out below (via Stereogum).

A Wasteland Companion is out April 10th via Merge.

A Wasteland Companion Tracklist:
01. Clean Slate (For Alex & El Goodo)
02. Primitive Girl
03. Me and My Shadow
04. Sweetheart
05. I Get Ideas
06. The First Time I Ran Away
07. A Wasteland Companion
08. Watch the Show
09. There’s a Key
10. Crawl After You
11. Wild Goose
12. Pure Joy

The third annual Hangout Music Festival runs May 18-20th on Alabama’s Gulf Shores. As previously reported, Jack White will top this year’s lineup and he’ll joined by Dave Matthews Band and a soon-to-be-announced third headliner. Update: Red Hot Chili Peppers have been confirmed as the third main stage headliner.

Other heavyweights include Wilco, String Cheese Incident, The Flaming Lips, who will perform Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Chris Cornell, Skrillex, Dispatch, and Steve Winwood.

Also playing are Randy Newman, STS9, Coheed and Cambria, Flogging Molly, M. Ward, Dr. Dog, Alabama Shakes, Dawes, Cage the Elephant, Gogol Bordello, Young the Giant, Mavis Staples, Big Freedia, Shpongle, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Gary Clark Jr., G. Love and Special Sauce, Allen Stone, Zeds Dead, Paul Oakenfold, Yelawolf, Mac Miller, Hey Rosetta!, Paper Diamond, and Sleeper Agent. Additional acts will be announced in the coming weeks.

Three-day and VIP passes will be available starting Friday, February 10th at Noon ET. Visit the festival’s website for more information.

Yep, it’s Friday again. And you know what that means: 10 of the week’s bestest, freshest songs arranged for your listening pleasure in descending alphabetical order. Today, we’ve got new material on deck from Jack White, Orbital, and M. Ward among others. TGIF, indeed.

- Möhammad Choudhery
Staff Writer

Beach Fossils – “Shallow”

At the beginning of February, it seems strange to embrace the warm, sunny sounds of Beach Fossils, but that’s why it’s great! There’s a major shortage during this time of the year of jangly surf pop, which makes this track stick out all the more. There is no sophomore album announced at the moment, but the Shallow single will be out 2/24 via Captured Tracks. -WR

Beach Fossils – “Shallow”

Daniel Rossen – “Silent Song”

Grizzly Bear is one of the most fascinating acts today. Altogether, the dynamics of each individual member are barely noticeable, but when one steps away, you can immediately pick out what that person adds to Grizzly Bear. In Rossen’s case, it’s some twangy melody and a high, straining set of pipes. You gotta go to Rolling Stone to hear it, but I promise it’s worth the trip. The Grizzly Bear off-season has been very fruitful thus far. Rossen’s debut solo EP, Silent Hour/Golden Mile, arrives March 20th via Warp. -WR

Jack White – “Love Interruption”

This past Tuesday, Jack White finally announced the news we’ve been half-expecting for years now, detailing the release of his long-awaited debut solo record, Blunderbuss. The album’s spare lead single, “Love Interruption”, finds White in a surprisingly candid mood (sample lyric: “I want love to roll me over slowly, stick a knife inside me, and twist it all around.” And that’s only the first line.) over sparkling keys and backing vocals, courtesy of fellow Nashville singer-songwriter Ruby Amanfu. Blunderbuss is out April 24th on White’s own Third Man Records. -MC

M. Ward – “The First Time I Ran Away”

You know those rare mornings when you wake up and you’re just instantly and naturally ready to go? That’s exactly what the first offering from M. Ward’s upcoming Wasteland Companion (out 4/10 via Merge) feels like. It takes off at a sprint, like these songs are hankering for sunshine, as if they’ve been sitting in some dusty corner of M. Ward’s brain for far too long. Bodes well for the album, that much is certain. -WR

M.I.A. – “Bad Girls”

Just a few days off from her scheduled performance with Madonna at this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, M.I.A. dropped this gem of a track, the first she’s released in awhile. A Danja rework of the “Bad Girls” that appeared on her Vicki Leekx mixtape last year, it’s the first we’re hearing of her soon-to-be-released fourth LP, out this summer on Interscope Records.  -MC

Maffew Ragazino feat. Das Racist – “Jackson Pollock”

While he’s not the first MC to sample Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks”, that goes to Gambino, Maffew Ragazino brings a whole new swagger to the track, one that arguably blows Gambino’s track out of the water. And once Das Racist joins the party, it’s with more passion than their usual lazy, stoner mantra. It’s the kind of rapping, in fact, where you’re so riveted by the verses that it’s easy to forget you were listening to Grizzly Bear. - WR

Nite Jewel – “Visions” (Stevie Wonder cover)

Don’t be worried, you didn’t miss Nite Jewel’s new album, that’s still scheduled for a March 6th release. This track is just a one off, and for a good cause. The 7″ single is available now via Yours Truly’s Bandcamp and each order comes with a $1 donation to the Lauren Abramson Memorial Fund. Romona Gonzalez (aka Nite Jewel) sticks to the basics on this track resulting in a hollow, gorgeous cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Visions”. -WR

Nite Jewel – “Visions” (Stevie Wonder cover)

oOoOO – “NoWayBack (feat. Butterclock)”

Chris Greenspan’s debut EP as oOoOO last year was one of the best parts of Tri Angle Records’ hallmark 2011. Greenspan looks to follow it up this spring with another equally creepy-looking EP, Our Loving Is Hurting Us. The first single is “NoWayBack”, which features hazy guest vocals from Berlin up-and-comer Butterclock. It’s a striking first impression of Our Loving Is Hurting Us, out April 10th on Tri Angle Records. -MC

Orbital – “New France (feat. Zola Jesus)”

This year, British electro pioneers Orbital look to make their triumphant return with Wonky, their first album of new material in eight years. Produced by Flood (of Violator, Achtung Baby, Pretty Hate Machine fame) and featuring goth-pop standout Zola Jesus on vocals, “New France” is exactly the sort of huge, timelessly brilliant dance track we’ve come to expect from the brothers Harnoll. Wonky is out April 3rd. -MC

POND – “Moth Wings”

Better known as half of Aussie psychedelic-ists Tame Impala, Nick Albrook and James Watson have, to date, also cut three stellar records as POND. “Moth Wings” is the meaty, wah wah-ed out second single off of the pair’s forthcoming fourth full-length, Beard, Wives, Denim, out March 6th on Modular Records. Check out the track here. -MC

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.

“I’m looking for something that’ll…break through. You know?” James Woods’ Max Renn yearns in David Cronenberg’s 1983 cult classic Videodrome. Oh, how things have changed. In today’s day and age, we’ve already drowned in media. It’s swallowed us. We’re nothing but a bubble amidst one infinite, engulfing abyss. Intimidated? You should be. With each passing second, you’re losing opportunities to take advantage of a culture that’s moving ahead and at an exhausting rate. You could very well be alone…left behind…abandoned. Terrified yet? Yes? Well, that’s more like it.

-Michael Roffman
President/Editor-in-Chief

The Darkness – “Nothin’s Gonna Stop Us”

They say that anything is possible through the wonders of animation. Nothing could be more of a testament to that statement than this latest video from The Darkness. Exhibit A: the part at 2:05 where the guitar player’s arms, legs and head all transform into more guitars while he’s mid-solo. Come on, don’t pretend you didn’t miss them.

Die Antwoord – “I Fink U Freeky”

How did we last almost an entire year without a single music video from these South African rapping weirdos? This clip plays kind of like a much darker, more bizarre version of their “Enter The Ninja” video from 2010, and takes their brand of shock-rap to almost uncomfortable levels.

Feist – “The Bad In Each Other”

Martin de Turah must have just seen Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life before he directed this latest video for Ms. Leslie Feist. It’s a grand and poignant analysis of the human condition that manages to be gritty and pastoral at the same time.

Lil Wayne feat. Bruno Mars – “Mirror”

In this video, Weezy up and goes Jackson Pollock on us all. With the help of Bruno Mars, he literally paints a picture of his soul, his demons, and his regrets. The result is a vaguely sacrilegious self-portrait of himself as a Jesus-like martyr up on a cross. Funny, because it’s exactly what my own self-portrait would probably look like.

M. Ward – “The First Time I Ran Away”

This latest animated video from M. Ward is as whimsical as a young child’s imagination and will make you wish you had a pet llama to go on adventures with when you were a kid.

Mark Lanegan Band – “The Gravedigger’s Song”

In a mere three and a half minutes, Mark Lanegan manages to conjure up images of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho and The Grudge among other famous horror flicks. In other words, don’t watch this one before you go to bed.

Miracles of Modern Science – “Eating Me Alive”

Steps for making a decidedly low budget yet instantly charming indie music video: 1. Find an empty room. 2. Buy several rolls of Christmas lights. 3. Begin playing.

Pretty Lights – “We Must Go On”

A spacey montage of city life in all its grime and poverty puts an almost political spin on Pretty Lights’s down tempo R&B jam. It’s essentially a view of the proverbial “rat race” through the eyes of someone who has just taken ecstasy. Hey, whatever makes life in the concrete jungle easier.

The War on Drugs – “Brothers”

Who knew that the combination of kidnapping and cowboys would be so creepy?

As previously reported, M. Ward returns in April with A Wasteland Companion, his first solo album in three years. As an early taste, Pitchfork brings us an animated video for “The First Time I Ran Away”. Watch it below.

A Wasteland Companion is out April 10th via Merge. It features Zooey Deschanel, Mike Mogis, Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, and PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish, among others.

A Wasteland Companion Tracklist:
01. Clean Slate (For Alex & El Goodo)
02. Primitive Girl
03. Me and My Shadow
04. Sweetheart
05. I Get Ideas
06. The First Time I Ran Away
07. A Wasteland Companion
08. Watch the Show
09. There’s a Key
10. Crawl After You
11. Wild Goose
12. Pure Joy

M. Ward is back in April with his first solo album in three years, A Wasteland Companion. As Pitchfork reports, the album spans 12 tracks and features contributions the She in She & Him, Zooey Deschanel, as well as his Monster of Folk collaborator Mike Mogis, Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb, and PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish, among others.

In support of the release, Ward will hit the road this spring, splitting bills with Feist, the recently reunited fIREHOSE and Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo. Check out the album’s tracklist and Ward’s tour schedule below.

A Wasteland Companion is out April 10th via Merge.

A Wasteland Companion Tracklist:
01. Clean Slate (For Alex & El Goodo)
02. Primitive Girl
03. Me and My Shadow
04. Sweetheart
05. I Get Ideas
06. The First Time I Ran Away
07. A Wasteland Companion
08. Watch the Show
09. There’s a Key
10. Crawl After You
11. Wild Goose
12. Pure Joy

M. Ward Tour Dates:
03/21 – Paris, FR @ Le Zenith ^
03/22 – Lyon, FR @ Transbordeur ^
03/23 – Lille, FR @ Theatre Sebastopol ^
03/25 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall ^
03/26 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo ^
03/27 – Glasgow, UK @ Royal Concert Hall ^
04/11 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore #
04/12 – Santa Cruz, CA The Cocoanut Grove Ballroom $
04/13 – Indio, CA @ Coachela Music Festival
04/17 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom $
04/18 – Flagstaff, AZ @ The Orpheum $
04/20 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
05/05 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre *
05/06 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground *
05/07 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place *
05/08 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues *
05/11 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *
05/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
05/13 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club *
05/15 – Durham, NC @ Page Auditorium *
05/16 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
05/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre *
05/22 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre *
05/24 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue

^ = w/ Feist
# = w/ Jonathan Richman
$ = w/ fIREHOSE
* = w/ Lee Ranaldo

In support of the upcoming solo LP, Between The Times & The Tides, Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo will be hitting the road this spring with some old friends and big names. In April, Ranaldo will play a pair of dates with Disappears, which features Sonic Youth drummer and Between The Times cohort Steve Shelley. Then in May, he’ll open a series of shows for folk singer-songwriter M. Ward.

For Ward’s part, he’ll be joining Ranaldo after spending time with Feist in Europe, followed by stateside shows with Jonathan Richman and the newly reunited fIREHOSE. See both Ranaldo and Ward’s tour schedules below.

Ranaldo’s Between The Times & The Tides is out March 20th via Matador. Ward is currently working on a new solo album, his first since 2009′s Hold Time.

Lee Ranaldo Tour Dates:
04/07 – Mexico City, MX @ Indie-O Fest
04/17 – Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt ^
04/18 – Albany, NY @ Valentines ^
05/05 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre *
05/06 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground *
05/07 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place *
05/08 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues *
05/11 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *
05/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
05/13 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club *
05/15 – Durham, NC @ Page Auditorium *
05/16 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
05/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre *
05/22 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre *

^ = w/ Disappears
* = w/ M.Ward

M. Ward Tour Dates:
03/21 – Paris, FR @ Le Zenith ^
03/22 – Lyon, FR @ Transbordeur ^
03/23 – Lille, FR @ Theatre Sebastopol ^
03/25 – London, UK @ Royal Albert Hall ^
03/26 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo ^
03/27 – Glasgow, UK @ Royal Concert Hall ^
04/11 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore #
04/12 – Santa Cruz, CA The Cocoanut Grove Ballroom $
04/13 – Indio, CA @ Coachela Music Festival
04/17 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom $
04/18 – Flagstaff, AZ @ The Orpheum $
04/20 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
05/05 – Portland, ME @ State Theatre *
05/06 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground *
05/07 – New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place *
05/08 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues *
05/11 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *
05/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
05/13 – Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club *
05/15 – Durham, NC @ Page Auditorium *
05/16 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
05/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre *
05/22 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre *

^ = w/ Feist
# = w/ Jonathan Richman
$ = w/ fIREHOSE
* = w/ Lee Ranaldo

We’re still two months away from South by Southwest 2012, but today the schedule for the music portion went live, adding a slew of new names to the bill. Previously confirmed acts include Built to Spill, The Magnetic Fields, Talib Kweli, Against Me!, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Cloud Nothings, and a keynote speech by Bruce Springsteen.

Update: As a number of readers have pointed out, several acts listed on the festival’s schedule yesterday have since disappeared, including Best Coast, ASAP Rocky, Dan Deacon, Zola Jesus, YACHT, Nicolas Jaar, Azari & III, Bear In Heaven, Caveman, Anika, Cerebal Ballzy, and Charlift. According to festival organizers, this is the result of a number of reasons, including incomplete paperwork. It’s also possible that an artist initially applied to play the festival, but has since changed its plans. As of now, it’s unclear which of the aforementioned acts will end up playing. Stay tuned to our Festival Outlook page for lineup additions and updates.

Now joining them are Best Coast, M. Ward, of Montreal, ASAP Rocky, Danny Brown, Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, Dan Deacon, The Drums, Astronautalis, Bear In Heaven, Ceremony, Chairlift, Crystal Antlers, Little Boots, Deerhoof, Dragonette, Gossip, Matthew Dear, Miike Snow, SBTRKT, Sharon Van Etten, Zola Jesus, Nicolas Jaar, Oneohtrix Point Never, Thundercat, The War on Drugs, Youth Lagoon, and Tennis.

Also set to appear are Lana Del Rey, The Ting Tings, Action Bronson, Apparat, Buraka Som Sistema, Spank Rock, Corrosion of Conformity, Jimmy Cliff, Rye Rye, K’naan, YACHT, Band of Skulls, White Rabbits, Beth Jeans Houghton and The Hooves of Destiny, Supreme Dicks, Caveman, Cerebral Ballzy, Freelance Whales, Here We Go Magic, Free Energy,  Eleanor Friedberger, The Black Angels, Blondes, Busdriver, Ezra Furman, Friends, Memoryhouse, Mikal Cronin, Miniature Tigers, Zechs Marquise, and Purity Ring.

The massive bill also includes Counting Crows, Tommy Stinson, The Wedding Present, Andrew WK, Brendan Benson, Hot Water Music, Gauntlet Hair, Grieves and Budo, Imogen Heap, Ingrid Michaelson, Michael Franti and Spearhead, The Henry Clay People, Justin Townes Earle, The Love Language, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Micachu & the Shapes, The Fresh & Onlys, Gardens & Villa, P.O.S., Anika, And So I Watch You From Afar, Fake Problems, Azari & III, Sleepy Sun, Bahamas, Japanther, The Knux, Carter Tanton, Cassettes Won’t Listen, Jacuzzi Boys, CHALI 2NA, Cities Aviv, Is Tropical, Javelin, Kids These Days, Living Things, Scattered Trees, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin.

Update: Despite previously being on the lineup, The Polyphonic Spree are no longer slated to play the festival.

Check out the complete lineup at our Festival Outlook. And stay tuned for additional lineup news and updates — typically, the biggest acts aren’t revealed until just days prior to the festival.

The music portion of South by Southwest 2012 runs March 13-18th in Austin Texas. Registration is now ongoing, with various types of badges to chose from. Click here for all the details.

Other notables include St. Vincent, Arctic Monkeys, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, Justice, Mazzy Star, M83, Explosions in the Sky, Childish Gambino, Flying Lotus, Destroyer, Cat Power, Madness, SBTRKT, Beirut, Amon Tobin, DJ Shadow, fIREHOSE, Miike Snow, The Rapture, M. Ward, Jimmy Cliff with Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong, The Horrors, Buzzcocks, James, EMA, Girls, tUnE-yArDs, and more.

The lineup also packs Wild Flag, ASAP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, Neon Indian, Santigold, Modeselektor, The Big Pink, Wu Lyf, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The Head and the Heart, Laura Marling, Company Flow, AraabMUZIK, Kaskade, Le Butcherettes, Real Estate, Wild Beasts, La Roux, Thundercat, Azealia Banks, Kasabian, Goyte, Manchester Orchestra, Black Lips, Atari Teenage Riot, and more. Check out the full lineup below or at our Festival Outlook.

Update: Tickets go on sale Friday, January 13th at 10:00 AM PT. According to Pop & Hiss, three-day passes are $285, three-day with shuttle are $335, and VIP are $665.

A number of familiar faces are in the running for Best Original Song at the 84th Academy Awards. Some 39 contenders have been shortlisted for the category, including The National for “Think You Can Wait” (Win Win), Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward for “So Long” (Winnie the Pooh), Jónsi for “Gathering Stories” (We Bought A Zoo), and OK Go for “The Greatest Song I Ever Heard” (POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold).

Also on the list are all the nominees (minus Madonna) from the same category at the Globes: Chris Cornell for “The Keeper” (Machine Gun Preacher); Mary J. Blige for “The Living Proof” (The Help); Sinead O’Connor, Brian Byrne and Glenn Close for “Lay Your Head Down” (Albert Nobbs); and Lady Gaga and Elton John for “Hello Hello” (Gnomeo and Juliet). John also go picked for “Love Builds a Garden” from the same film.

The 39 will be whittled down to three to five (it varies) on January 24th, with the award then handed out at the ceremony on February 26th. See the complete list of shortlisted songs and the films they’re from below.

“The World I Knew” from African Cats
“Lay Your Head Down” from Albert Nobbs
“Star Spangled Man” from Captain America: The First Avenger
“Collision of Worlds” from Cars 2
“Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu” from DAM999
“DAM999 Theme Song” from DAM999
“Mujhe Chod Ke” from DAM999
“Rainbird” from Dirty Girl
“Keep On Walking” from The First Grader
“Where the River Goes” from Footloose
“Hello Hello” from Gnomeo & Juliet
“Love Builds a Garden” from Gnomeo & Juliet
“Bridge of Light” from Happy Feet Two
“The Mighty Sven” from Happy Feet Two
“Never Be Daunted” from happythankyoumoreplease
“Hell and Back” from Hell and Back Again
“The Living Proof” from The Help
“Coeur Volant” from Hugo
“It’s How We Play” from I Don’t Know How She Does It
“When the Heart Dies” from In the Land of Blood and Honey
“Ja Nao Estar” from José and Pilar
“The Keeper” from Machine Gun Preacher
“Life’s a Happy Song” from The Muppets
“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets
“Pictures in My Head” from The Muppets
“Summer Song” from The Music Never Stopped
“Imaginary Friends” from Olive
“Sparkling Day” from One Day
“Taking You with Me” from Our Idiot Brother
“The Greatest Song I Ever Heard” from POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
“Hot Wings” from Rio
“Let Me Take You to Rio” from Rio
“Real in Rio” from Rio
“Shelter” from Take Shelter
“Gathering Stories” from We Bought a Zoo
“Pop” from White Irish Drinkers
“Think You Can Wait” from Win Win
“The Backson Song” from Winnie the Pooh
“So Long” from Winnie the Pooh

Gone are the more complex arrangements and lush production of Volume One and Volume Two, swapped here for sparse instrumentation and a focus on Deschanel’s vocals, a decision that yields mixed results. It is no secret that Deschanel’s talents as a vocalist are limited, but what she lacks in range she makes up for with abounding adorableness – a measurement that is not to be ignored when discussing Christmas music.

On tracks like opener “The Christmas Waltz” and “Christmas Day”, her vocal vulnerability lends an undeniable layer of sweetness, but on others such as “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, her inability to belt it out leaves the listener unfilled. That song at least is salvaged by Ward’s precision guitar playing, which is tasteful and subtle throughout the record, almost to the point of being underused.

The album’s finest moment is the pair’s duet on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”. The vocal interplay between Deschanel and Ward, the whistling bridge, and the brush-stroked snare make for an irresistible two minutes and 17 seconds, and it’s by far the band’s most successful attempt at making a retro Christmas album for hipsters.

Ultimately, A Very She & Him Christmas is an enjoyable if forgettable project that its creators probably had a very fun time making. It is background music for baking cookies and wrapping presents. Nothing more, nothing less.

Essential Tracks: “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, “Silver Bells”

This year was no different. With a decorated and diverse lineup that included performances by Robert Plant and the Band of Joy, Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene, and DeVotchka, this three-day assemblage was a welcoming ode to autumn. With sun-kissed weather accented by a brisk wind, all types of festivalgoers flocked to Golden Gate Park to make their pilgrimage. This is truly a festival for the intermingling of the old and the new: a time to appreciate seasoned veterans like Steve Earle & the Dukes (& Duchesses), John Prine, and Irma Thomas, while exploring new tastes with acts like Gomez, Fitz and the Tantrums, and Elbow. The crowd was a mix of the toothless and the homeless, the hipsters and the hippies, the yuppies and the socialites. To even begin to describe the range of cacophonous sounds, the ambiguous and perpetual haze that clouds one’s vision, the plethora of smells… all of these color every vein of San Franciscan life, and have come to be represented in this review through picture and word.

And rest assured, there were many priceless moments, the kind that only rock and roll — and San Francisco — can deliver. There was Devotchka’s Nick Urata chugging a bottle of red wine and then dousing the screaming crowd with it; thousands of people dropping to the ground and then jumping up simultaneously to the jarring sound of Fitz and the Tantrums; and time traveling backward into the ’60s during performances by Robert Plant & the Band of Joy and Dark Star Orchestra. The sort of feeling that comes with these experiences, that feeling that music is perhaps the only thing that can unite us and save us as human beings, is a memorable one. All idealism aside, each artist on the lineup delivered their best, and as CoS can duly attest to, the infamous adage rings true for Hardly Strictly Bluegrass: “The best things in life are free.”

- Summer Dunsmore
Writer/Photographer

Friday, September 30th

Southern Culture on the Skids – Arrow Stage

Scrupulous in their live performance, Southern Culture on the Skids has labored long over streamlining every aspect of their set. It’s what rock and roll should be — calculated yet improvisational, evidencing clear skill and creativity, while also being rigorous and animated. Band members Rick Miller, Dave Hartman, and Mary Huff resonated and glowed with effortless style during the entirety of their performance. All husky seduction, Miller wailed and moaned into the microphone, picking fiercely at his electric guitar. His counterpart, Huff, is a red-haired raven who knows how to keep up with the boys; she seduced eardrums during her performance of “You’re a Star”. The band’s music live embodies southern soul mixed with touches of naughty fun; their rendition of “The Wet Spot” — which sounded like Middle Eastern music accentuated with a touch of The Beach Boys’ surfer sound — featured a barely clothed belly dancer. With calls to clap, sing, and dance, their live performance at HSB turned out to be one of the most rallying shows of Friday afternoon.

The Felice Brothers – Rooster Stage

The Felice Brothers — Farley, James, Christmas, and Ian — have the sort of chemistry you can only find with family. James Felice’s performance of “Got What I Need” was a soulful soliloquy set organically in the midst of Golden Gate Park’s towering trees. His voice vibrant and resonant, James truly connected with the audience during this song, even interjecting an ever appropriate accordion solo. The Felice Brothers exhibited an interesting assortment of instruments during their set, and they used the accordion and the fiddle indiscriminately to construct their modern bluegrass sound.

As the main singer of the band, James emerged as the band’s truly talented jewel; his performance had all of the sincere, aching loneliness that attracts listeners to this genre. One can tell that the Felice Brothers write and play their music as a means to relate, a way for the listener to finally come to terms with the sort of feelings that they cannot put into words. Likewise, during “Saint Stephen’s End”, the mood was slow, emotive, and charismatic; it resonated within its surroundings. It was romantic and piercing, like a lullaby to a loved one, a last glance as a train leaves the station, the sun in your eyelashes. The last song of the set was “Whiskey in My Whiskey”, an ode recounting love, loss, and, of course, whiskey. As James wails the line, “I put some whiskey in my whiskey,” all one can think is — we’ve all done this, right? And that’s the Felice Brothers for you — soothing, poignant, and as good as the comforts of your favorite liquor.

John Prine – Banjo Stage

Active as a folk singer since 1971, John Prine’s style is reminiscent of another time. The power of his performance on Friday was in its subtlety. Dressed like Johnny Cash, his voice husky with wisdom and cigarettes, he sang to the old sentiments of America. While listening to tracks like “Grandpa Was a Carpenter”, one envisioned rocking chairs and summers by the lake; through his knack for songwriting and gentle acoustic guitar strumming, Prine created truly vivid imagery onstage. Folk artists today should take their notes from Prine; his formula is composed of simplicity and talent. The audience came to see Prine’s performance for his old soul, the way his voice carried on the early autumn wind during tracks like “Fish and Whistle”. He left the crowd with the whims of nostalgia, of a time when all you needed to create great music was an acoustic guitar and a vision.

Chris Isaak – Star Stage

The essence of Chris Isaak lies in the art of seduction. His voice drips like caramel when he performs live and is even sweeter than the croon that classifies his recorded work. The highlight of his performance, however predictable, was “Wicked Game”. With its infamous guitar succession from the Bm to A to E chords, its performance live delivers all of the dark romanticism one would envision. His artful yodel reverberating through the crowd, he sang, “Oh, I don’t want to fall in love with you,” and yet every woman instantly and effortlessly fell in love with him. At the song’s end, he held an infinite last sigh, and the crowd went wild for this man who mesmerizes.

M. Ward – Rooster Stage

Matthew Steven Ward, or simply “M. Ward”, conducts a rambunctious live show. Originally arising out of the Portland music scene, he’s been making music since 1999, and his sound has evolved to integrate the grind of rock and roll with tender, folkish finger picking. His performance at HSB seemed to be emulating Elvis, and just like with the King of Rock and Roll, the crowd adored M. Ward. His rendition of “Chinese Translation” was thunderous, with kick-drum beats that were so loud they threatened to break the speakers and a thrilling ensemble of electric and acoustic guitars. The crowd loved him so much they demanded an encore, and he was the perfect precursor to Bright Eyes, the next act on the Rooster Stage.

Robert Plant and the Band of Joy- Banjo Stage

Friday night at the Banjo Stage, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy were like the release of a long-held breath; there, before a crowd of thousands, was one of the greatest figures in rock and roll history. Plant formed his Band of Joy in 2010 in the pursuit of “something trippy, something far out” in which to sink his teeth into. Following a series of successful collaborations with Jimmy Page and Allison Krauss, Plant’s latest endeavor with the Band of Joy has led him around the United States in the past year to promote the band’s eponymous debut. Given his legacy as the lead singer for Led Zeppelin, one can tell from original tracks like “I Can’t Quit You Baby”, “Gallows Pole”, and “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” that a blues influence has always existed in Plant’s creative musings, and has since framed the bluegrass sound for his modern Band of Joy.

Covering Zeppelin songs like “Black Dog” during their performance, the Band of Joy put their distinct twist on the classics. And though Plant is 63 years old, with a long history of infamous nights raging and ravaging the music world, his live performance at HSB proved that true talent never dies. He visibly felt every note, every wail of the guitar. He is music; he was effeminate and exaggerated, moving like a sphinx, twisting and twirling and clapping along with the beats. The Band of Joy’s performance of “House of Cards” was a jewel, with long, trailing guitar wails matched perfectly to the resonance of Plant’s high-pitched exultations.

Bright Eyes – Rooster Stage

Clamorous and willing, the crowd collected in a small corner of Golden Gate Park’s Speedway Meadow to see Bright Eyes. The California sun setting behind them, the crowd instead faced east, allured by the promise of seeing Conor Oberst live. As one of the headlining acts of Friday evening, the band delivered all of its hooks masterfully, with Oberst’s voice exhibiting its uniquely raw and reverberating sound. The two best songs of the set were some of Bright Eyes’ classics, “First Day of My Life” and “Lover I Don’t Have to Love”. “First” was played with Oberst set on center stage in a vulnerable and poignant position; a pipe organ traced the song’s beat behind him. “Lover” followed directly after and is often considered a stark contrast in sound and style to many of Bright Eyes’ songs. Extremely stylistic when performed live, it was flavored with a sweeping electric guitar, as well as the keyboard and drum succession that make it such a strong piece. It was a dramatic example of Oberst’s talent and vision, and on Friday night he proved that he truly deserves to be called one of the most influential artists of the indie music scene.

Saturday, October 1st

Broken Social Scene – Towers of Gold Stage

Photo by Marcus Gedai

On this hazy Saturday afternoon, with the intermingling of dust and pot smoke, the ambiance for the evening was set when Broken Social Scene came onstage. Their performance of “Sweetest Kill” radiated outward from all directions, a mellow ode, a welcomed difference given the other “strictly bluegrass” bands on this day’s lineup. This stage was where the hipsters languished and descended for the day to listen to the orchestral music that Broken Social Scene so effortlessly produced. There was a desire to close your eyes, vibe, and listen; their performance packed punch, as if it were meant for an amphitheater, and they seemed to take notes from purely instrumentalist bands like Explosions in the Sky.

Irma Thomas – Star Stage

Irma Thomas is a goddess. With a voice that communicates every emotion, every tribulation, her performance was one of the weekend’s best. Performing such hits as “Time Is on My Side” and a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”, her voice ripped and roared through the evening. She was a robust, animated performer, an obvious queen of her trade. More than that, she knew how to catapult the audience into a frenzy; people sang and swayed, their souls filled with the sweet sounds of the 60s. The performance was practiced, clean, concise — truly the depiction of talent at its best.

Robert Earl Keen – Rooster Stage

Robert Earl Keen is a country songwriter from Texas. His music, likewise, comes from the American South; it’s all about the acoustic guitar solos, the subtle bass, and the simple drum line. His performance was a fun one, filled with hits like “Feelin’ Good Again” and “Gringo Honeymoon”. His best track was “I Gotta Go”, where he integrated his uniquely stylized and meticulous finger picking. He lent the essence of bluegrass back to the festival, with a performance as charming as his silk, three-piece suit.

The Flatlanders feat. Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore & Butch Hancock – Arrow Stage

Photo by Marcus Gedai

The Flatlanders’ performance was like the golden rays of the California sun; the lyrics and sound of singers Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock are warm and nostalgic. The Flatlanders originally formed in 1972, but after a year decided to disband; they then resumed performing in 1998 to much critic acclaim. These Texan mavericks made the Lone Star State proud on Saturday, channeling the soul and vivacity that makes Texas such a pivotal influence on the American music scene. Performing such songs as “Homeland Refugee”, the three sang about “leaving California for the Dust Bowl”, and the trio’s combination of voices came out sounding like a lullaby. There was an obvious camaraderie between the members onstage, making their performance an enjoyable one to watch.

Steve Earle & the Dukes (& Duchesses) featuring Allison Moorer – Banjo Stage

Steve Earle, his team of Dukes and Duchesses, and Allison Moorer performed the best set of Saturday. The relationship between Steve Earle and Allison Moorer on stage is reminiscent of Robert Plant and Allison Krauss; it’s a duet written in the stars. During Earle’s solo performance of “Meet Me in the Alleyway”, voice synthesizer and harmonica in hand, he played blues as blues is meant to played — vivid, husky, dark. It was all about him in this moment, about his talent, his knack for improvisation. He connected well with the audience; they were receptive to every slide of the harmonica, and there was a clear leeway, a union, as he and the audience tossed vibes back and forth. It was clear in this moment how music is felt so integrally, so innately.

At the end of a brilliant set, Earle and the Gang performed a cover of The Animals’ “San Francisco Nights”. With Allison Moorer’s first lyric sung, her voice lingering on the edges of San Francisco’s misty sunset, the crowd was united in the tone of the song. Could a moment ever be as perfectly picturesque as this: San Francisco, the crescent moon lingering in the sky, a place the hippies never left. It was metaphysical, transcendent, and it was clear that what defines San Francisco in the past and the present is its people. The music and the crowd were one, and this “warm San Francisco night” ended with one of the best performances of the weekend.

Sunday, October 2nd

DeVotchKa – Star Stage

DeVotchKa embodies the art of performance and rock & roll. Not only is Nick Urata an incredible singer, one who sings with all levels of emotion and can carry his note for more than 30 seconds, but he can play the banjo like the Devil’s right hand. The wallowing cry of his voice on Sunday could be heard for miles, as Urata and band rocked “How It Ends” and “You Love Me”. Jeanie Schroder played in incredible form, balancing the likes of a cello, and then a trombone, on her feminine frame. At the end of the set, Urata let out a last tribal cry, erupting eardrums all around, and then beat fervently at his banjo. He then grabbed a bottle of red wine set nearby, chugged it, and then swung the contents viciously at the crowd. I was doused completely, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. Urata is a master onstage, all art, style, and soul, and him and the rest of DeVotchKa delivered one of the best performances I have ever seen.

Fitz and the Tantrums – Towers of Gold Stage

Fitz and the Tantrums followed DeVotchKa and also played one of the most energetic shows of the weekend. The coursing heart of the group lies in Noelle Scaggs, who pranced around the stage during the band’s performance of “Pickin’ Up the Pieces”, beating her tambourine. She screamed, jumped, threw up the middle finger; never before have I seen a performer with so much sincerely energetic vigor. Her and Michael Fitzpatrick strike a charming dualism and effectively bring back the 1950s duet. Their voices were sweet together, rejoicing, nostalgic. Because of their animated way of performing, you can tell that the band operates under an element of perfectionism; they wanted that performance, that day, to be the best they had ever done. And they were certainly successful; every ounce of energy, talent, and improvisation visibly went into this effort.

Fitz and band followed with a cover of The Raconteurs’ “Steady, As She Goes”, which didn’t have the same resonance of Jack White, but it definitely had its own twist. Nonetheless, the crowd loved it, and they also went crazy for a cover of Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams”. Next was “L.O.V.”, which featured a rampant pipe organ (including a solo), drums, and keyboard. The crowd continued dancing wildly, and it was clear that this soulful style of music resonates with our generation as well. Their last song, “Moneygrabber”, was a more modern piece compared to the other cuts. Fitzpatrick and Scaggs yelled into the microphone, “Everyone, drop it like it’s hot!”; in sync, everyone shimmied down to the ground, then at the climax of the song and on Scaggs’ cue, the thousands of people in the crowd jumped up simultaneously and began a crazy dance party under the gaze of the Sunday sun.

Elbow – Star Stage

Elbow is a band that typifies modern alternative music. Led by the charismatic Guy Garvey, the band utilizes clear, acoustic strokes and strong kick-drum accents in their songs, creating an almost Middle Eastern, arabic tone. This was evident in their performance of “The Bones of You”; during the entirety of the song, Garvey reached out to the crowd, needing their participation, their approval, their love. The mood continued with “Mirrorball”, which featured an interesting mix of electric guitar and delicate vocalization. The performance was tender and sentimental; there was a moment where Garvey looked backward at the band members and smiled, and they each smiled back. You can tell there’s love amongst them, infused in every vein of their music, and that Garvey is the creative drive that keeps the band together. For him, synchronization, dutifulness, and practice are key, and what enveloped on Sunday was an ambiatic, well-performed set.

Dark Star Orchestra – Arrow Stage

Making my way to see Dark Star Orchestra’s performance, a concoction of smells enveloped me. Had I suddenly landed in the 60′s? Hippies of every size and shape wriggled and warped time with their free love and free drugs.

As one of the most acclaimed tribute bands to the Grateful Dead, Dark Star Orchestra has been performing since 1997 and has performed more than 2,000 shows. In the style of Jerry Garcia and his companions, they specialize in improvisational rock. Befitted in tie-dye tees, hair long and flowing, they entranced festivalgoers on Sunday with a dominant mix of electric guitar, bass guitar, and keyboard. The highlight of their performance was “The Music Never Stopped”, and I know that many people hoped it never would.

The Jayhawks – Rooster Stage

Unfortunately, The Jayhawks’ performance was the weakest of any I witnessed over the weekend. Coming off their recently released album, Mockingbird Time, the performance felt listless, as if playing live was a laborous task. Band members Gary Louris and Mark Olson did not express much enthusiasm while onstage, pausing at times to elicit a laugh from the crowd, but then resuming their rather stagnant performances. This is when I realized that not every set is golden and does not always proceed on the best note; these men are required to play, whether they are in the mood or not, and at the end of the day, they are simply human. The audience was receptive to this sentiment and likewise stood there barely moving, nodding their heads slightly. They played a track off their new album, “High Water Blues”, but altogether the performance was boring.

Gomez – Towers of Gold Stage

At the start of the set, lead singer Ian Ball yelled, “The sun’s going down, and we’re coming up!” And that’s exactly what happened. Gomez is a band that produces solid indie, exalting in their shows a youthful, enthusiastic energy. Their performance was providential, a truly human experience; it is with music, more than any other medium, that we learn the most about ourselves. And this was Gomez — raw, with Ball demanding that the audience dance like “crazy natives”, like they’re “lost in the middle of the woods and don’t know what the hell is going on.” And with the crescent moon arched visibly in the sky, these Sunday headliners said good-bye to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.

The Culture of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

Gallery by Summer Dunsmore

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Ben Gibbard threw a monkey wretch into anyone and everyone’s dreams of spending Christmas morning fireside with Zooey Deschanel, but all is not lost. Thanks to the October 25th release of a new holiday themed album from She & Him, we’ll all able to jimmy jangle along to the indie-pop princess this holiday season. The 12-track compilation, titled A Very She & Him Christmas, sees Deschanel and cohort M. Ward taking on such classics as “Blue Christmas”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”. ‘

Right below, we have She & Him’s cover of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. The album’s entire tracklist is after that.

A Very She & Him Christmas Tracklist:
01. The Christmas Waltz
02. Christmas Day
03. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
04. I’ll Be Home for Christmas
05. Christmas Wish
06. Sleigh Ride
07. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
08. Silver Bells
09. Baby, It’s Cold Outside
10. Blue Christmas
11. Little Saint Nick
12. The Christmas Song

Other notable acts include John Prine, Bill Kirchen, Kris Kristofferson & Merle Haggard, Gomez, DeVotchKa, Gillian Welch, Dr. John & the Lower 911, Earl Scruggs, Patty Griffin, Robert Earl Keen, Steve Earle and the Dukes (and Duchesses) featuring Allison Moorer, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Justin Townes Earle, The Jayhawks, Abigail Washburn, and Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses.

There are a bunch of indie favorites, too, including Thurston Moore, Robyn Hitchcock, M. Ward, Fitz & the Tantrums, The Low Anthem, Elbow, Kurt Vile & the Violators, Woods, Cass McCombs, A.A. Bondy, and The Band of Heathens.

Rounding out the bill are names like Buddy Miller, The Del McCoury Band & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Charlie Musselwhite, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain & Edgar Meyer, The Felice Brothers, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, The Belle Brigade, Jessica Lea Mayfield, The Civil Wars, Dark Star Orchestra, and, yes, MC Hammer.

Once again, the festival is free to attend. So, you really have no excuse.

This year had particular significance. Narrowly avoiding cancellation when sponsors walked away from the 2009 50th anniversary celebration (the number is a bit disingenuous; the festival took a hiatus between 1971 and 1985), the festival returned to non-profit status this year under the Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. banner. In addition, now in its “52nd” year, the festival experienced its first-ever complete sellout. 10,000 hungry folk fans took the water taxi across the harbor or wound around Harrison Avenue to attend each day.

Under nearly cloudless blue skies and despite the cruel heat doing its best to boil the good out of you, the venue really seemed to bring the best out of everyone. Whether contemporary risers or established legends, musicians brought their finest to the Fort. They couldn’t escape the magic of the place, love and passion flowing through every note sung or strummed. Covers and cameos were standard, tributes to music’s past, present and future.

The crowd’s appreciation and respect weren’t reserved for the performers, though it surely washed over them in waves. I’ve never seen a venue left cleaner at the end of the day, nor so many smiles and hugs shared by complete strangers – I myself partook in more than a few. Despite the odd segregation of the split main (Fort) stage crowd, with its square standing section on the right roped-off from the sea of beach chairs and blankets on the left, the sold-out crowd commingled as much as the bands. Indie-leaning youth danced with old-fashioned maturity to Emmylou Harris and Delta Spirit alike.

Photo by Nate Slevin

And there was still so much I missed. I’ve heard tales of Trampled by Turtles doing incredible things on the Quad Stage (I caught their encore cover of “Where Is My Mind?”), and The Devil Makes Three was a highlight for many. The story of John McCauley leading a score of artists through an amalgamation of “Goodnight Irene”, “La Bamba”, “Twist & Shout”, and “I Wanna Be Sedated” at the Backstage Benefit BBQ on Saturday night is already mythical. I never even made it to the newly added Lego DUPLO Kid’s Stage.

Yet it doesn’t bother me. The festival provided more than a fair share of fulfilling experiences. As Taylor Goldsmith said amidst Middle Brother’s set, “It’s not about what’s new or what’s different – it’s about what’s good, and folk music.” There was plenty of both to go around, and anyone in attendance should feel lucky to have witnessed what they did. I know I do.

-Benjamin Kaye
News Writer

Saturday, July 30th

PS22 Chorus – Alex and Ani Harbor Stage – 11:30 a.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

When people say the festival is getting younger, they’re usually referring to the audience, not the musicians. The inverse was true as the first notes of 2011 came from the voices of some of the youngest performers ever to take a Newport stage: a group of 11-to-12-year-olds from Staten Island. The PS 22 Chorus, an ever-graduating group of youth led by one Mr. B on keyboard, performed strong renditions of songs the typical middle-schooler wouldn’t even recognize. The audience was enthralled by the kiddy karaoke. Opener “Energy” by Austra roused true emotion, Mr. B pointing to one crowd member and ribbing, “No crying. I see you.” Soloists shined, like Roseli confidently tackling Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer”, generating applause at every big note. Of course, they’re still just kids, often looking like another bored choir practice, some lazily half-doing hand choreography or omitting it entirely. But by the time they closed with Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, the crowd was on its feet, showing the blooming performers a lot of love. Hopefully, some of these kids keep it up after graduation, because there’s certainly something special in the mix here.

Wailin’ Jennys – Fort Stage – 11:40 a.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

I initially had no intention of catching Wailin’ Jennys‘ set, but after hearing them do a stirring soundcheck of Gershwin’s “Summertime”, I wanted more of those lush harmonies. The trio of ladies didn’t disappoint, providing warm, perfectly keyed notes to the first main stage crowd of the festival. They also proved to be not just great vocalists but great performers, passing instruments back and forth between songs and telling tales to the obliging audience. Before gutsily covering headliner Emmylou Harris’s “Deeper Well”, Nicky Mehta told of how she mixed parenting and practice by playing for her twin boys in their Johnny Jump Ups, the bouncing babies acting as a barometer for a song’s success. “This next song is a winner for them, inspired much height in the bouncing,” she said. “Occasional impact.” Helped out by the fierce viola of a “male Jenny”, band member Ruth Moody’s brother Richard, the group played a sweet set of resplendent folk tunes, dropping a fair amount of reverential covers amongst their own catalog.

Typhoon – Alex and Ani Harbor Stage – 12:35 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

By noon, it was so hot that you would sweat sitting still, so I was relieved to find seating up front under the tent for the indie musical storm of Typhoon. After forming a hands-in pep-circle onstage as they were introduced, 13 band members took up 13 instruments and went into a cacophonous rendition of “White Lies”. At first the sound was overwhelming, but once it leveled out, the performance was commanding. Kyle Morton led the collective with a powerful voice and confidence that added miles to his stature. Songs like “The Honest Truth” and new number “The Common Sentiment” took full advantage of the mighty orchestration such a large band can bring to a performance when properly utilized. As the final notes of the last song faded, they realized they had more time, and without a word, they all jumped into “Down, Cowboy” with a boisterous breakdown befitting their name. Adding to the enumerable reasons this band separates from the congested Northwest indie-folk scene, I’m pretty sure they’re the only group around that could give emotional resonance to a refrain of the words “kitchen tile.”

Freelance Whales – Quad Stage – 1:40 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Yes, Freelance Whales have many “folk” instruments in their arsenal, and many of their songs distinctly tilt in that direction. Still, while their synth-pop sounds were more evidence of Newport’s modern proclivities, something didn’t settle in properly at their set. “Elevator, First Floor” (which they later encored at the LEGO Duplo Kid’s Stage with the PS22 Chorus) rang true enough, but others, like “Kilojoules”, felt out of place and, worse, just strange. Part of this is the band’s seeming inability to reproduce live some of the more complicated vocal layers of their debut, Weathervanes. One of that album’s standouts, “Starring”, came off as haphazard, off-timed, and all around weak. This young, buzzing band has some work to do before they come together as a live unit.

Gogol Bordello - Fort Stage - 2:00 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

“I warn you, this band is not for the faint of heart” was the introduction given to one of the most anomalous bands on the lineup, Gogol Bordello. The stage was sparse for a Gogol set: Only five members of the normally nine-piece band sat on chairs. No chair can hold what this band brings, though, even in acoustic form. Frontman Eugene Hütz was up on his feet by the second number, “Wanderlust King”, and shirtless by “Tribal Connection”. They didn’t bound about stage like they would at a plugged-in show or even at other unplugged shows they’ve played. Instead, the set showed respectful understanding of the setting. Their energy remained high, playing their hearts out for what at times felt like a private concert for the packed dance section. “I’m sorry, people over here,” Hütz addressed the lawn chair and blanket crowd on the left. “This music is not really for laying down type of purposes.” After a set consisting of hits from their wealthy repertoire plus new track “General Amnesty”, even the older crowd was out of their chairs and swaying about. “They’re getting the message,” Hütz said. We all did by the end: No matter the venue, these guys put on an incredible show.

Delta Spirit - Quad Stage - 2:55 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

A packed Quad proved I wasn’t the only one anticipating a killer set from Matthew Vasquez and his Long Beach crew, aka Delta Spirit, and it’s safe to say no one left disappointed. “Come on, you can get up!” Vasquez beckoned as they took the stage, and within half a second every chair was vacated. The band ripped through “Bushwick Blues”, “White Table”, and even furiously tore down the end of “Ransom Man”. Their fans loved them through and through, dancing about and singing to every song from “St. Francis” to older numbers like “People C’mon”, though there were understandably no crowd vocals for new track “Empty House”. The love was returned with an earnest, impassioned performance song after song. While Vasquez has mesmerizing energy as a frontman, guitarist William McLaren plays his axe to bits, and Jon Jameson is one of the most fun-to-watch bassists I’ve seen in a while, multi-instrumentalist Kelly Winrich may be the unsung hero of the group, bouncing between keys and percussion even in the middle of songs. Together, the band provided one of the brightest highlights of the weekend.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Tegan and Sara - Quad Stage - 4:25 p.m.

Given an acoustic set, Tegan and Sara had a chance to let their folk-side shine, but it was a show that might not have panned out as they’d hoped. Though they played hits like “Back Into Your Head” and “Nineteen”, a lot of it sounded similar in the stripped-down setting. Slipups and restarts were near constants; Sara stopped “Alligator” abruptly saying, “I fucked up, that’s me, that’s on me.” But what kept the show from awkward nonsuccess was the constant banter. “No? Not again?” Sara asked her sister. “Yeah, no, do it again,” Tegan quipped back. “Do it by yourself, in fact.” Despite the flaws, the packed Quad loved it, prompting Sara to satirically remark, “It’s so hard to start a song when everyone keeps yelling that they love you.” It wasn’t a standout set, but the intimacy they created with their adoring audience was commendable. As was Tegan’s time spent signing every article fans threw over the backstage fence. Their fans honestly love them, and it’s nice to see that love returned with equal sincerity.

Mavis Staples - Quad Stage - 5:35 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Full disclosure: I wasn’t actually at most of this set. I walked by, planning on just catching a song before moving on. Then Ms. Staples announced a special guest, and out came The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy, and this happened. It was one of those great moments that only happens at Newport, and watching the 72-year-old Staples literally punch out the end of “The Weight” till she was breathless was inspiring. After the song, Meloy wished Staples a happy birthday (it was July 10th) and gave her a warm hug before heading off to his own headlining set.

The Decemberists - Fort Stage - 6:05 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

With a new number-one record nestled firmly in folk stylings, The Decemberists were poised for a triumphant return to Newport, this time as headliners. Colin Meloy led his troupe onstage with a glass of wine held high to the applauding crowd. “Some of you look like you may be over-folked,” he remarked on the sunbaked lot. “But for those of you who are under-folked, we will try to folk you right now.” The joke garnered as many groans as laughs and set the stage for what I’ve come to expect is a typical Decemberists outing.

As always, the music sounded fine–great, even. These guys can play exquisitely, there’s no doubt. The setlist was nothing unexpected, relying heavily on The King Is Dead tracks like “Rise to Me” and “Rox in the Box”. They did sneak Meloy’s purposefully dreadful “Dracula’s Daughter” into the middle of “O Valencia!” but quickly abandoned it. “That was a bad detour,” Meloy laughed slightly. “Forget it.” The biggest problem here is that while everything sounds wonderful, it doesn’t sound like a great live show. Little is unpredictable, and nothing really pops with stage presence. “The Rake’s Song” came close with its powerful drumming and refrain and Meloy managing to get just the seated section to clap along was amusing. “Won’t Want for Love” also showed signs of life, but while Sara Watkins has settled into her role standing in for the ailing (and much missed) Jenny Conlee, her voice lacked the haunting quality that makes the track so affecting, and Meloy’s voice doesn’t play off hers as well.

Photo by Nate Slevin

For the second time this summer, I walked away from a Decemberists show with more memories of their repartee than their songs. Meloy dedicating “This Is Why We Fight” to festival founders Pete Seeger and George Wein for “teaching us that the ‘S’ word, socialism, isn’t a bad word and that we’re all in this together.” Calling “The Soldiering Life” a song about “homoerotic love between sailors” and dedicating it to “that flotilla of yachts over there. Hope you’re having fun and keeping the rosé chilled, because Lord knows mine isn’t.” The stage-farce that was closer “The Mariner’s Revenge”, complete with Chris Funk climbing down the stage rigging to get that one woman who wasn’t doing the moaning and groaning of being devoured by a whale to stand up and go “argh.” While Gillian Welch and David Rawlings coming out for an encore of “All Arise!” and “June Hymn” was a delight, even that was predictable and overshadowed by the tongue-in-cheek performance. In truth, this talented band shines in their humor, and it was an altogether fun show. However, I expect something more than sit-com entertainment from a live show, especially a headlining one in front of a sold-out festival crowd. Entertain me, sure, but put some energy into more than just cheekiness.

Sunday, July 31st

David Wax Museum - Fort Stage - 11:40 a.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

A year after winning a spot on the festival’s smallest stage, David Wax Museum was opening the main stage on Sunday. The band owned the promotion with a truly rousing set of their particular blend of Mexo-Americana. David Wax was a The Warriors look-alike with his red bandana and vest, hunched over his guitar like he was protecting the sound during “Look What You’ve Done to Me” with guest vocalist Rhiannon Giddens of Carolina Chocolate Drops. Suze Slezak was charming and elegant in her specially designed Lily Brush dress, even as she stomped about, creating unique vibrating and ratcheting sounds by playing, of all things, a donkey jawbone on “Yes, Maria, Yes” and “Chuchumbe” (roughly translated as “belly button”). As Wax explained, it’s a song rediscovered in archives 20 years ago after being banned by the Church in Mexico for inciting belly-to-belly dancing. The duo showed endless appreciation for their strong horn section and dancing percussionist Julia del Palacio, eliciting applause at every solo. Both smiled ceaselessly, and their sheer joy was contagious. “Can you feel what an honor it is for us to be here?” Slezak asked. Yes, the crowd answered, and it’s an honor to have you.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Mountain Man - Alex and Ani Harbor Stage - 12:30 p.m.

Where the Wailin’ Jennys impress with musicianship as well as vocals, Mountain Man are all about harmony. True, those harmonies are damn near perfect, but with nothing else but a subtle guitar, the show is far less interesting. The trio of ladies still haunted with their vocals on the likes of “Mouthwings” and the Kate Bush cover “Rivers of Babylon”. What was most surprising about the serious-sounding group is that they’re kind of dorks, though maybe the ironic band name should’ve given that away. Amelia Meath told a story of dreaming she was in love with and spooning Marilyn Manson. After one song, they remarked how sometimes howling like wolves was a suitable replacement for applause. The next song, which Amelia explained was a cover of someone she’d met online (“I’ve never met anyone on the Internet,” said Alexandra Sauser-Monnig. “You’ve never played World of Warcraft,” Meath replied), received a chorus of howls from the crowd. “This is great,” Meath said through laughter and baying. “We sound totally insane!” They sort of did, but when they were singing, they also sounded downright bewitching.

Cave Singers - Alex and Ani Harbor Stage - 1:40 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Pete Quirk doesn’t look like a lead singer. With his trucker hat, tank top, and full beard, he looked more like the roadie behind the wheel of the equipment truck. Then he gave a holler before the first notes of “At the Cut” came out in his distinctively pinched voice, and you couldn’t picture him behind anything but a mic, even if it was sometimes hard to pick out lyrics. His neck vanes popped like Macho Man Randy Savage during “Beach House”, stark proof of how much he was putting into the performance. He couldn’t have a more appropriate name than “Quirk”, with his constant blinking, head scratching, and jerky hand gestures. Seated, guitarist Derek Fudesco rocked back and forth like he was having a musical fit, and the sound he created with drummer Marty Lund was rowdier than many larger bands could muster. Straightforward and hard, when they were told they had 10 more minutes left, Quirk panted, “We’re done.” They ended early, but they left a lot of sweat and a great set behind them.

Amos Lee - Fort Stage - 3:25 p.m.

There was no introduction to Amos Lee as he took the stage–just the first notes of the title track to Mission Bell, gentle and subtle like the man himself. Chatter was minimal, though he echoed a sentiment many other acts shared about the strange crowd setup: “The beach chair people, while I know you’re enjoying it, it’s just a very strange thing to look at.” Seated or not, his voice demanded the fullest attention of the Fort Stage crowd, heartfelt and pure as it poured out through the thick air. A well-constructed set found him grouping rockier and bluesier songs like a slightly faster take on “Truth” and “Low Down Life” between soulful numbers like “Loose Tight” and “The Wind”. What it boils down to with Lee, as always, is that he can sing the hell out of a song. His voice is just undeniable, and when he was helped out by Secret Sisters on “Clear Blue Eyes”, it was even better.

Middle Brother/Dawes - Quad Stage - 4:20 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Another Matthew Vasquez set, another massive highlight. There’s not enough space to detail how truly awesome this set was. A notification sent through the festival’s app said it best: “If you’re not @Middle_Brother, you should be.” No band had more fun on stage the whole weekend than they did: Vasquez, his garb far less formal than the previous day, bounding about, sharing his mic with his bandmates during “Someday”; Taylor Goldsmith getting the crowd to sing on “Thanks for Nothing” and the bloodiest, gutsiest rendition of “Blood and Guts”; John McCauley sharing the stage with Mountain Man for “Daydreaming”, the girls visibly touched by the large, sublime harmonies provided by the crowd. “We haven’t even practiced!” Vasquez whooped at one point. “We haven’t even seen each other since North Carolina!” They had every right to be impressed with themselves. No band played as hard as they did that weekend, and no crowd was more responsive, hands constantly up, voices ringing out, bodies moving.

Photo by Nate Slevin

While I missed a Jonny Corndawg appearance (the honorary fourth middle brother), a text from my trusty photographer Nate had me rushing from Elvis Costello to catch an impromptu set by Goldsmith’s other band, Dawes. The mini-set opened with “Fire Away” and closed with “When My Time Comes”. For the latter number, the other brothers returned to take a few verses, appearing equally as enamored with their bandmate’s music as their own. One of the most lasting moments of the festival came when McCauley held his mic stand out over the crowd, the music cut away, and the Quad was reduced to rubble by the hundreds of voices belting the final chorus. Magic, plain and simple.

Elvis Costello - Fort Stage - 4:45 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

While it was hard to split time between a legend and a supergroup whose time together may well be limited, I somehow found a way to catch the majority of both sets. Billed as a solo, acoustic set, it was a welcome surprise to turn the corner and find Elvis Costello backed by The Impostors, though their presence could have been the result of his voice being too weak to hold the Fort down alone. He had a lot more help, though, as Secret Sisters came out for “A Slow Drag With Josephine” and a cover of Hank Williams’ “Why Don’t You Love Me Like You Used to Do?”. Chris Thile appeared on mandolin for “Brilliant Mistake” and stuck around for the next number, too, as Costello giddily proclaimed, “Please welcome to the stage–I always like saying this–Ms. Emmylou Harris.” Applause resounded as the headliner entered for “Scarlet Tide”, and on the eve of a debt crisis, the line “No more money left to spend” was especially poignant.

Closing with “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” was equally fitting and a spirited way to finish his set. Steve Nieve worked the theremin, possibly a first for the festival, like a magician, awing many. Saying how pleased they were to end their tour at Newport, Costello remarked, “You know you’ve come to the right place when you’re standing side-stage behind Pete Seeger watching Wanda Jackson.” Newport was even happier to have them, and for the first time the chair and blanket crowd was mostly on their feet. In fact, many of them stayed that way and walked towards the exits when Costello left the stage. While his voice was clearly fatigued, he never let up once, a showman to the end, and a headliner in many hearts.

M. Ward - Quad Stage 5:40 p.m.

Photo by Nate Slevin

Simple and cool, M. Ward started his set solo. Most of his time was spent making gorgeous tones come from his acoustic guitar, like slowing down “Chinese Translation” and making it pretty as hell. On two occasions he sat at a piano, his posture like he was playing a dive bar, to perform some covers. First was David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, almost unrecognizable as a near ballad. The second was of Daniel Johnston’s “Story of an Artist”, the lyrics of which Ward delivered with such a faux-deadpan expression and mocking tone that chuckles speckled the audience. Immediately after that, the mood shifted entirely as Dawes provided rocking back up for the remainder of the set, including a ridiculously fun delivery of “Roll Over Beethoven”. After an encore of “Ferry Boat”, Secret Sisters came out for “Something Stupid”, putting two of the most cameoed bands on one stage with the great Mr. Ward–a perfect way to close the Quad on the final day.

Emmylou Harris - Fort Stage - 6:05 p.m.

Though many left the Fort after Costello had finished, the remaining folks packed the main stage area full for the monument of grace that is Emmylou Harris. With her silvery white hair kept from her eyes with a black headband, a black leather bracelet, and a flowing black dress with white pill-stripes, she was a half step away from punk. At 64 years old, she stood tall and confident in the setting summer sun, glorious and classic all at once. When she introduced “The Road”, the ever-present sadness at the loss of her late mentor and partner Graham Parsons could be felt in the quivers of her voice. After “Get Up John” and some spot on a cappella harmonizing with her band for “Calling My Children Home”, she returned to some melancholy. “Okay,” she said, “I gotta get back to the sad stuff before people think I’ve been taken over by some jovial person.” It wasn’t her own sorrow that came next, but Steve Earle’s in the form of “Goodbye”.

Photo by Nate Slevin

A gentle country set isn’t exactly my cup of tea as a headliner, but Ms. Harris still did an applaudable job in the spot. It was the very essence of the modern Newport Folk Festival to see so many people, varied greatly in age, race, and background, shuffling their feet and swinging their arms to tunes like “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight”. Present and past sensibilities met onstage, as well, when the duo of The Civil Wars came out for Harris’s encore (well, she called it an encore, but she never actually left the stage). Dancing happily and singing for “Evangeline”, Joy Williams looked pleased as could be to be sharing the legendary Newport Fort stage with the equally legendary Harris.

Photo by Nate Slevin

That was it for Harris’s set, but the true closer of the festivities was something even grander. Out walked Pete Seeger, the eternal Newport icon, even at 92, guitar in hand. Then Middle Brother and Dawes walked out with Jonny Corndawg and Mountain Man. The Secret Sisters returned, David Wax Museum led out Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, and Brown Bird and M. Ward joined Emmylou Harris and The Civil Wars–a truly impressive array of artists. Even festival founder George Wein stepped onto the stage. As the crowd gathered closer to lend their voices, Seeger led the bevy of talent in “Turn! Turn! Turn!”. When he slung on his banjo, even the musicians on stage applauded and smiled. Calling out the lyrics for the unaware, Seeger paced us all through “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?”. It was felicitous, moving, and immutably beautiful. It was the Newport Folk Festival summed up in a single, neatly wrapped performance.

Photography by Nate Slevin.

The Culture of Newport Folk Festival

Gallery by Nate Slevin

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Winnie The Pooh is back on the big screen, five years after something to do with Heffalumps, and what seems like ages since anyone cared (though author A. A. Milne would have likely preferred this version of his honey fiend forgotten). In our music circles, the news has nothing to do with bouncing tigers, emo donkeys, and pigs who look more like pink beehives with rabbit ears, and more about Deschanel and the guy who brought you “The Internet Is For Porn” working on family film soundtracks.

Winnie The Pooh as a She & Him project works about as well as Yellow Submarine worked for The Beatles, because, if you’re going into this thinking “Oh, B-sides!”, you’re sorely mistaken. Composer Henry Jackman helms over half of the album, a whimsical score that should only interest fans of film’s orchestral compositions, while the rest is divided between original, charming-as-can-be kiddie tunes by Lopez, and repeatedly-reprised Deschanel/Ward covers of the Pooh theme (plus one original song, “So Long”).

Three-fourths of this record could be lopped off for the sake of its purpose here, rounding down to a few choice tracks like “So Long”, “Woods And Words/The Backson Song”, and Jim Cummings showing off his Tigger voice on “It’s Gonna Be Great”. For what Winnie The Pooh represents to many a childhood, the movie will no doubt not sell as well as it deserves to, and the soundtrack will most likely be completely overshadowed by the compilation for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. In the end, though, you get drawn in by the indie artists, a Tony Award winner, and the man of a thousand voices coming together to bring out your inner Christopher Robin, only to get sucked dry by overzealous scoring that really brings nothing new to the table.

It’s difficult to say who this album caters to. Maybe it holds appeal with the parents of kids who are just now getting their proper introduction to the living stuffed animals of yore. However, fans of Deschanel and Ward won’t likely find this worth listening to.

Admittedly, there’s probably no act as bright and bubbly as M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, collectively known as She & Him. They’re so wuvvy duvvy that it it made perfect sense that the duo were tapped to provide three songs for the upcoming soundtrack to the Winnie the Pooh reboot. With the theme song already so adowable that we want to squeeze a box of kittens, another sample drops in the form of “So Long” (which was previewed during the initial announcement.) To almost no one’s surprise, this offering is quite possibly more cutesy than the first track; so much so, in fact, that we’d like to rip a rainbow from the sky, bake into little cakes, and hand them out to every pudgy faced child in the world.

Check out the track at Some Kind Of Awesome. The OST drops July 12th, with the movie hitting theaters July 15th.

Primavera Sound has expanded from a small gathering at the intimate Poble Espanyol to a world-class event and the 11th edition was bigger than ever. The average attendance of its three main days at the Parc del Forum exceeded 40,000 attendees from across the globe, with two additional days at the original festival site, and intimate pre and post-parties scattered throughout the city. Despite the unavoidable presence of sponsorship, Primavera never comes across as a corporate cash grab thanks to a lineup that remains decidedly left-of-center. Yes, there are plenty of proven, reliable acts such as The Flaming Lips, Fleet Foxes, and The National, but it’s the more adventurous and less universal bookings of odd and obscure acts and cult bands performing their seminal albums that set Primavera apart from the average corporate affair. Primavera Sound is living proof that the likes of Einstürzende Neubauten and Suicide need not be restricted to ATP events.

Primavera’s eight stages include ones curated by Pitchfork and All Tomorrow’s Parties, and a limited capacity, indoor seated theater. The Rockdelux Auditori offers a relaxed atmosphere for the likes of John Cale and Mercury Rev and makes it possible for the festival to have performances that cannot be done outdoors, such as the intricate Sufjan Stevens production. Camping is nonexistent, with everyone staying in apartments and hostels throughout Barcelona, but the availability of beds and showers does not guarantee a full night’s sleep. The party never stops in Barcelona, with the main festivities beginning at 4:00 p.m. and ending at 6:00 a.m. every day, plus daytime performances in a nearby park and all the irresistible sightseeing the city has to offer.

Photo by Frank Mojica

New in 2011 was the Primavera Portal, a system that allowed the festival’s access card to double as a debit card that can be recharged online or at booths situated by the main concession area. Unfortunately, the problem with the digitalization of festival commerce is that things often go wrong, and in this case, something did and the whole system crashed. After waiting in hour-long queues for recharges on Thursday, because the Primavera Portal site crashed, attendees found that all the drink vendors could not sell any water or alcohol because they did not have the necessary scanning devices. Food stands accepted cash, but only the drink vendors could sell alcohol or water, and the festival was without any sort of liquid refreshment available for purchase for several hours, and the street vendors offering cheap beer and water outside the gates only appeared at night. A major hiccup in an otherwise smooth festival experience, yes, but when seeing the likes of Grinderman and Sufjan Stevens, a day of stress and dehydration was a price well worth paying.

-Frank Mojica
Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 25th

Nisennenmondai - Poble Espanyol - 5:00 p.m.

Photo by Frank Mojica

Primavera Sound’s choice of Nisennenmondai to open their main festivities says quite a lot about the heart of the festival. In the festival world, the instrumental Japanese noise band has only performed at smaller fests and the 2010 edition of Roskilde, but their experimental sound was a perfect match for the discriminating tastes of Primavera goers. As the sun scorched the crowd that left the refuge of the shade to get a closer look, Nisennenmondai unleashed unrelentingly pulsating bass lines, and a pummeling rhythm so frantic that some casual observers debated if drummer Sayaka Himeno was possessed by a demon. Spinning together traces of Krautrock, no wave, and math rock, Nisennenmondai proved to be a captivating festival opener as they turned their repetitions into something strangely danceable that won over a largely unfamiliar crowd. American festival promoters would do well to introduce their audiences to this inventive, thrilling trio next year.

Echo & the Bunnymen - Poble Espanyol - 8:45 p.m.

Photo by Frank Mojica

Watching a band perform a favorite album in its entirety is a special treat, but two albums back to back? That’s what Echo & the Bunnymen brought to Poble Espanyol, performing Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here along with an encore of a few more recent favorites, although a gander at “The Killing Moon” was not on the agenda for this trip down memory lane. While seemingly in good spirits, the post-punk legends sounded more and more as if they were merely going through the motions as the set progressed.

Thursday, May 26th

Sufjan Stevens - Auditori - 8:30 p.m. (5:00 p.m. on Friday)

Photo by Frank Mojica

If Harold Camping had not been wrong yet again about the impending rapture, then it would have surely played out like a Sufjan Stevens performance. Specifically, set opener “Seven Swans” was the sound of the end of days commencing, as heavenly as it was commanding, and the winged Stevens and company served as the rapture’s archangels. Next, the ultimate ironic dance party to ring in the forthcoming apocalypse came in the form of “Too Much”, leading into a journey through the madness of Armageddon during “Age of Adz”. After the destruction of all existence, what followed was a 100 minute journey through the rebuilding of reality and its various ups and downs and creations and destructions. Along the way, Sufjan Stevens took a break from cosmic folk and performed a rare cover of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” at the Thursday performance and treated the Friday crowd to “Sister”, with valuable singing lessons preceding the latter. Existence finally rebuilt itself back to normal during the rejuvenating 25-minute set climax “Impossible Soul”, where fans rushed the stage at both shows after Stevens asked, “Do you want to dance?”

Photo by Frank Mojica

Throughout what was more of an experience than a concert, Sufjan Stevens donned feathered wings, chimp masks, space capes, and a spinning disco ball chest piece, backup singers twirled ribbons and performed choreographed dance numbers, while animated imagery inspired by the prophetic visions of Royal Robertson flashed on the screen and an extra layer of visuals appeared occasionally on a scrim in front of the stage. But are the costumes, confetti, and multi-screen visuals excessive, if not unnecessary? Yes, he does not need an elaborate display and his songs are powerful enough to stand on their own, but this Knife-meets-Flaming Lips live spectacle makes the playful voyage through the end of the world all the more powerful.

Grinderman - San Miguel - 11:00 p.m.

Photo by Frank Mojica

Let’s just get this out of the way now: Nick Cave is currently rock & roll’s number one devil. At Primavera, Cave’s Grinderman exhilarated a large festival crowd with their darkly humored brand of sleazy, feral rock that put all those garage revivalists with a fetish for the blues to shame. Ever the magnetic frontman, Nick Cave didn’t walk across the stage so much as he swaggered and thrusted, and spent much of the set in the photo pit cavorting with fans that desperately grabbed at their idol and surfed to get closer. For an hour that passed far too quickly, Grinderman dementedly tore into tracks from both albums with the sort of furor that consumed the songs and spat them back out with new layers of filth and extended jams.

Suicide - Ray-Ban - 12:45 a.m.

Photo by Frank Mojica

Less than an hour before show time, Nick Cave implored the Grinderman crowd to watch Suicide, and quite a few punters took his words to heart. Suicide is definitely not a crowd-pleasing band that appeals to everybody, not even when performing their first LP, and not even at Primavera, but such challenging acts are what make the festival and its lineup so refreshing. Perhaps the ear-splitting and unsettling nature of the duo’s discordant beats and noise was too much to bear, or maybe people just wanted to hear “Ghost Rider” and call it a night, but the surprisingly sizable crowd left in droves. Fans that were up to the challenge were rewarded with a set that contained the crucial element missing from most of those “so and so performing some album” gigs: surprise. Despite the age of their debut album, Suicide transformed it into something fresh by applying new ways to confound and deafen.

The Flaming Lips - San Miguel - 2:15 a.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

At one point during the set, Wayne Coyne expressed his love for Primavera, declaring it to be one of his best festival days ever. Coyne sure has had a lot of them, considering their years of festival ubiquity, so it’s no empty platitude. Giant hamster balls, confetti cannons, costumed dancers, laser hands, and the rest of The Flaming Lips’ bag of tricks have been getting a lot usage over the years, but considering the crowd’s ecstatic reception, it might as well have been the first time. It was impossible to feel anything but the purest bliss during a life-affirming set full of sing-alongs accompanied by one hell of a spectacle.

Friday, May 27th

M. Ward - San Miguel - 8:00 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Performing on the same stage as the long awaited Pulp reunion is unenviable in the sense that for the fans camped along the front of the stage, watching M. Ward was just something to watch during a painfully long wait. Luckily Matt Ward and his band proved to be capable of capturing even the most distant and distracted Pulp fans with an hour of jaunty rock, blues, and country revivalism. The setlist favored the boisterous over the heartbreaking, most memorably a romping cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven”.

Belle & Sebastian - San Miguel - 10:45pm

Photo by Frank Mojica

After “Stars of Track and Field”, Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch realized the lyrical link shared between his song and the next band’s biggest hit, and acknowledged that it would not be the first time we heard “college” and “knowledge” within the same sentence that night and expressed his own anticipation of the reunion. As Murdoch later went to the crowd in search of dancers during “Legal Man”, Stevie Jackson performed a brief cover of “Common People”, giving all in attendance an opportunity to warm up for the imminent sing-along of the year. The dancers remained for crowd pleaser “The Boy with the Arab Strap”, after which they were awarded medals for their efforts. Putting forth a solid mix of new material and old favorites from their extensive back catalog with an infectious charisma, Belle and Sebastian were nothing less than charming at Primavera.

Pulp - San Miguel - 1:45 a.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Half an hour before show time, the hardcore fans crowding the San Miguel stage were treated to some pre-show entertainment consisting of laser projections across a curtain obscuring the San Miguel stage asking questions from the official website such as “Do you remember the first time?” and “Is this a hoax” in both English and Catalan and always in the Different Class font. Most randomly, green lasers inquired “Do you want to see a dolphin?” before a green dolphin of light appeared and swam across a sea of black. The laser show increased the excitement and tension to unbearable levels, and just as the anticipation became too much to bear, the lights went out, and a neon pink and blue P was illuminated, followed by the rest of the letters in their name one by one as the B.A.N.D.C.A.DOUBLE L.E.D.P.U.L.P. finally took the stage.

Pulp’s headlining set at Primavera was the first reunion performance announced, which was a chief factor in the decision to attend for many in the considerably international crowd, so anything less than a rapturous response to the band would have been a surprising letdown. As the curtain finally dropped during the first chorus of opener “Do You Remember the First Time?”, the crowd responded to the unveiling by screaming along to all the words at the top of their lungs and jumping along to the beat as if their lives depended on it. This level of energetic enthusiasm persisted throughout the entire set and peaked, predictably, during “Common People”, which Jarvis Cocker dedicated to the protesters in Plaça de Catalunya.

Photo by Frank Mojica

It may have been a Pulp reunion, but Jarvis Cocker was still the star of the show, delighting the crowd with his all-over-the-stage trademark dances, climbing, leaps, suggestive gesturing, and general refusal to stand still, while the rest of the band stayed in the back and on the sidelines. The peerless showmanship exhibited in his recent solo tours was retained, as was the bookish look of a professor that has seduced many a coed during office hours. After what might have been the sleaziest rendition of “I Spy” yet, Cocker stepped down to the photo pit, where he asked a couple from Athens, GA to introduce themselves and then told the woman that her boyfriend had something to ask her, setting the stage for a marriage proposal and then commenting on the niceness of the ring. Cynicism and biting spitefulness are often found in Pulp lyrics, but the source of them just might be a romantic at heart.

The setlist focused almost entirely on the era of the band’s commercial peak, with nine songs from Different Class, three from His & Hers, plus encore “Razzmatazz”, with “This Is Hardcore” and “Sunrise” as the only songs released after Russell Senior’s departure to be performed. Why does Pulp get a pass for churning out the hits at their reunion, while other bands get derided as shameless panderers? For starters, they were performed as if it were still 1995; it was as if the band had not abandoned us for nine years. More importantly, the music of Pulp has survived the ravages of time remarkably well, because they were never a true Britpop band in the first place. “Common People” has achieved a new identity as a vitriolic anthem against hipsterism, and at Primavera it was appropriated as a rallying cry for the local protestors, or at least the ones in the crowd that waved a giant banner stating “#Spanish Revolution Sing Along with the Common People”. The Primavera comeback was an explosive set that cemented Pulp’s status as the essential festival band of 2011 and will be remembered as fondly and regarded as definitive as their Glastonbury 1995 performance.

Saturday, May 28th

Yuck - ATP - 6:00 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Ideally, every festival would start out with a bang by having a great set early in the day to reward attendees that stumbled out of bed in time to attend the full schedule, with these early birds catching a quite special worm. Only at Primavera is 6:00 p.m. widely considered not just early but excessively so, but the ATP area still managed to fill just in time for recent indie darlings Yuck. The London-based quartet loudly revisited the sounds of the late 80’s and early 90’s indie greats, but made them sound fresh. Their performance revealed a genuine excitement to be playing the festival, and guitarist/vocalist Max Bloom gave shoutouts to both Pulp and Shellac before tearing into a new song entitled “Milkshake”. Yuck hasn’t even been around for two years yet, but their live sound implies a band that’s been going at it for far longer.

Warpaint - Llevant - 6:45 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Sometimes the stars align and a band gets a festival timeslot so perfect that the setting actually enhances the performance. After witnessing Warpaint perform on the beach of the new Llevant stage as the day finally began to cool, it’s difficult to imagine watching the Los Angeles band in any other setting. As clouds obscured the sun and the cool Mediterranean breeze rolled in, the charismatic all-girl quartet appeared confident before the large crowd as they intricately layered vocals and guitars to dreamy effect, peaking with the gorgeously transcendent pop of “Undertow”. Ubiquitous buzz bands are a dime a dozen nowadays, but Warpaint proved to be one that fully lives up to the hype surrounding them.

Gang Gang Dance - Pitchfork - 9:45 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Eye Contact, the latest album from Gang Gang Dance, is their most danceable release to date, and its tribal beats and psychedelic synth freak-outs gained an extra degree of intensity on the Pitchfork stage. Accompanying the band were an interpretive dancer and a flag waver throughout the set. The band sounded more urgently fantastic than ever, and frontwoman Lizzi Bougatsos hypnotized with her dances and soaring yelps, so leaving early enough to make the steep uphill climb to the San Miguel stage in time for the start of PJ Harvey was one of the biggest challenges of the weekend.

PJ Harvey - San Miguel - 10:30 p.m.

Photo by Colin Athens

Clad in a white dress and feathered headdress and surrounded by near-total darkness, Polly Jean Harvey looked as angelic as she sounded. Half of her 20 song set consisted of songs from the stellar Let England Shake that favored the jangly strum of the Autoharp over the guitar, with older favorites getting a subdued makeover. As stunning of an album as Let England Shake is and despite sounding especially gorgeous live, the noise of the massive crowd often overpowered the delicate beauty of the music. The new PJ Harvey tour is a delight, but is ideally enjoyed in a more intimate environment.

Animal Collective - San Miguel - 2:00 a.m.

Photo by Frank Mojica

Neo-psychedelic weirdsters Animal Collective have jumped from mid-tier to headliner since their last batch of festival touring three years ago thanks to the success of their latest and greatest full length, 2009′s Merriweather Post Pavillion. In contrast to the two previous headliners, Animal Collective was far less of a crowd pleaser, only performing a handful of “hits” in a set filled with almost entirely unreleased material. Evolving new music in a live setting is how their albums have always developed, so it’s refreshing to see a band that stays true to their roots despite a sudden surge in popularity. Typically atypical Animal Collective sets might seem like an awkward match for a festival’s main stage, since the crowd is guaranteed not to be full of fans that know what to expect, and at Primavera, some in the crowd declared the performance too self-indulgent and without “proper songs” and left early. However, the majority remained, and they were treated to some new songs that not just showed a lot of promise and even outshone the older selections. In contrast to the light cubes and Creators Project collaboration at Coachella, the visual element of Animal Collective’s set at Primavera was more mysterious and less elaborate, with only moderate usage of house lights and some trippy, colorful animations projected on the screens that never flashed any footage of the band or crowd. If their Primavera headlining set is any indication, their polarizing nature will not lose all the Merriweather Post Pavillion bandwagon-jumpers and continue to draw more followers because of it.

Gallery by Colin Athens

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Gallery by Frank Mojica

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]]> Photo by Frank Mojica New in 2011 was the Primavera Portal, a system that allowed the festival’s access card to double as a debit card that can be recharged online or at booths situated by the main concession area. Unfortunately, the problem with the digitalization of festival commerce is that things often go wrong, and in this case, something did and the whole system crashed. After waiting in hour-long queues for recharges on Thursday, because the Primavera Portal site crashed, attendees found that all the drink vendors could not sell any water or alcohol because they did not have the necessary scanning devices. Food stands accepted cash, but only the drink vendors could sell alcohol or water, and the festival was without any sort of liquid refreshment available for purchase for several hours, and the street vendors offering cheap beer and water outside the gates only appeared at night. A major hiccup in an otherwise smooth festival experience, yes, but when seeing the likes of Grinderman and Sufjan Stevens, a day of stress and dehydration was a price well worth paying. -Frank Mojica Staff Writer Wednesday, May 25th Nisennenmondai - Poble Espanyol - 5:00 p.m. Photo by Frank Mojica Primavera Sound’s choice of Nisennenmondai to open their main festivities says quite a lot about the heart of the festival. In the festival world, the instrumental Japanese noise band has only performed at smaller fests and the 2010 edition of Roskilde, but their experimental sound was a perfect match for the discriminating tastes of Primavera goers. As the sun scorched the crowd that left the refuge of the shade to get a closer look, Nisennenmondai unleashed unrelentingly pulsating bass lines, and a pummeling rhythm so frantic that some casual observers debated if drummer Sayaka Himeno was possessed by a demon. Spinning together traces of Krautrock, no wave, and math rock, Nisennenmondai proved to be a captivating festival opener as they turned their repetitions into something strangely danceable that won over a largely unfamiliar crowd. American festival promoters would do well to introduce their audiences to this inventive, thrilling trio next year. Echo & the Bunnymen - Poble Espanyol - 8:45 p.m. Photo by Frank Mojica Watching a band perform a favorite album in its entirety is a special treat, but two albums back to back? That’s what Echo & the Bunnymen brought to Poble Espanyol, performing Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here along with an encore of a few more recent favorites, although a gander at “The Killing Moon” was not on the agenda for this trip down memory lane. While seemingly in good spirits, the post-punk legends sounded more and more as if they were merely going through the motions as the set progressed. Thursday, May 26th Sufjan Stevens - Auditori - 8:30 p.m. (5:00 p.m. on Friday) Photo by Frank Mojica If Harold Camping had not been wrong yet again about the impending rapture, then it would have surely played out like a Sufjan Stevens performance. Specifically, set opener “Seven Swans” was the sound of the end of days commencing, as heavenly as it was commanding, and the winged Stevens and company served as the rapture’s archangels. Next, the ultimate ironic dance party to ring in the forthcoming apocalypse came in the form of “Too Much”, leading into a journey through the madness of Armageddon during “Age of Adz”. After the destruction of all existence, what followed was a 100 minute journey through the rebuilding of reality and its various ups and downs and creations and destructions. Along the way, Sufjan Stevens took a break from cosmic folk and performed a rare cover of R.E.M.’s “The One I Love” at the Thursday performance and treated the Friday crowd to “Sister”, with valuable singing lessons preceding the latter. Existence finally rebuilt itself back to normal during the rejuvenating 25-minute set climax “Impossible Soul”, where fans rushed the stage at both shows after Stevens asked, “Do you want to dance?” Photo by Frank Mojica Throughout what was more of an experience than a concert, Sufjan Stevens donned feathered wings, chimp masks, space capes, and a spinning disco ball chest piece, backup singers twirled ribbons and performed choreographed dance numbers, while animated imagery inspired by the prophetic visions of Royal Robertson flashed on the screen and an extra layer of visuals appeared occasionally on a scrim in front of the stage. But are the costumes, confetti, and multi-screen visuals excessive, if not unnecessary? Yes, he does not need an elaborate display and his songs are powerful enough to stand on their own, but this Knife-meets-Flaming Lips live spectacle makes the playful voyage through the end of the world all the more powerful. Grinderman - San Miguel - 11:00 p.m. Photo by Frank Mojica Let’s just get this out of the way now: Nick Cave is currently rock & roll’s number one devil. At Primavera, Cave’s Grinderman exhilarated a large festival crowd with their darkly humored brand of sleazy, feral rock that put all those garage revivalists with a fetish for the blues to shame. Ever the magnetic frontman, Nick Cave didn’t walk across the stage so much as he swaggered and thrusted, and spent much of the set in the photo pit cavorting with fans that desperately grabbed at their idol and surfed to get closer. For an hour that passed far too quickly, Grinderman dementedly tore into tracks from both albums with the sort of furor that consumed the songs and spat them back out with new layers of filth and extended jams. Suicide - Ray-Ban - 12:45 a.m. Photo by Frank Mojica Less than an hour before show time, Nick Cave implored the Grinderman crowd to watch Suicide, and quite a few punters took his words to heart. Suicide is definitely not a crowd-pleasing band that appeals to everybody, not even when performing their first LP, and not even at Primavera, but such challenging acts are what make the festival and its lineup so refreshing. Perhaps the ear-splitting and unsettling nature of the duo’s discordant beats and noise was too much to bear, or maybe people just wanted to hear “Ghost Rider” and call it a night, but the surprisingly sizable crowd left in droves. Fans that were up to the challenge were rewarded with a set that contained the crucial element missing from most of those “so and so performing some album” gigs: surprise. Despite the age of their debut album, Suicide transformed it into something fresh by applying new ways to confound and deafen. The Flaming Lips - San Miguel - 2:15 a.m. Photo by Colin Athens At one point during the set, Wayne Coyne expressed his love for Primavera, declaring it to be one of his best festival days ever. Coyne sure has had a lot of them, considering their years of festival ubiquity, so it’s no empty platitude. Giant hamster balls, confetti cannons, costumed dancers, laser hands, and the rest of The Flaming Lips’ bag of tricks have been getting a lot usage over the years, but considering the crowd’s ecstatic reception, it might as well have been the first time. It was impossible to feel anything but the purest bliss during a life-affirming set full of sing-alongs accompanied by one hell of a spectacle. Friday, May 27th M. Ward - San Miguel - 8:00 p.m. Photo by Colin Athens Performing on the same stage as the long awaited Pulp reunion is unenviable in the sense that for the fans camped along the front of the stage, watching M. Ward was just something to watch during a painfully long wait. Luckily Matt Ward and his band proved to be capable of capturing even the most distant and distracted Pulp fans with an hour of jaunty rock, blues, and country revivalism. The setlist favored the boisterous over the heartbreaking, most memorably a romping cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven”. Belle & Sebastian - San Miguel - 10:45pm Photo by Frank Mojica After “Stars of Track and Field”, Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch realized the lyrical link shared between his song and the next band’s biggest hit, and acknowledged that it would not be the first time we heard “college” and “knowledge” within the same sentence that night and expressed his own anticipation of the reunion. As Murdoch later went to the crowd in search of dancers during “Legal Man”, Stevie Jackson performed a brief cover of “Common People”, giving all in attendance an opportunity to warm up for the imminent sing-along of the year. The dancers remained for crowd pleaser “The Boy with the Arab Strap”, after which they were awarded medals for their efforts. Putting forth a solid mix of new material and old favorites from their extensive back catalog with an infectious charisma, Belle and Sebastian were nothing less than charming at Primavera. Pulp - San Miguel - 1:45 a.m. Photo by Colin Athens Half an hour before show time, the hardcore fans crowding the San Miguel stage were treated to some pre-show entertainment consisting of laser projections across a curtain obscuring the San Miguel stage asking questions from the official website such as “Do you remember the first time?” and “Is this a hoax” in both English and Catalan and always in the Different Class font. Most randomly, green lasers inquired “Do you want to see a dolphin?” before a green dolphin of light appeared and swam across a sea of black. The laser show increased the excitement and tension to unbearable levels, and just as the anticipation became too much to bear, the lights went out, and a neon pink and blue P was illuminated, followed by the rest of the letters in their name one by one as the B.A.N.D.C.A.DOUBLE L.E.D.P.U.L.P. finally took the stage. Pulp’s headlining set at Primavera was the first reunion performance announced, which was a chief factor in the decision to attend for many in the considerably international crowd, so anything less than a rapturous response to the band would have been a surprising letdown. As the curtain finally dropped during the first chorus of opener “Do You Remember the First Time?”, the crowd responded to the unveiling by screaming along to all the words at the top of their lungs and jumping along to the beat as if their lives depended on it. This level of energetic enthusiasm persisted throughout the entire set and peaked, predictably, during “Common People”, which Jarvis Cocker dedicated to the protesters in Plaça de Catalunya. Photo by Frank Mojica It may have been a Pulp reunion, but Jarvis Cocker was still the star of the show, delighting the crowd with his all-over-the-stage trademark dances, climbing, leaps, suggestive gesturing, and general refusal to stand still, while the rest of the band stayed in the back and on the sidelines. The peerless showmanship exhibited in his recent solo tours was retained, as was the bookish look of a professor that has seduced many a coed during office hours. After what might have been the sleaziest rendition of “I Spy” yet, Cocker stepped down to the photo pit, where he asked a couple from Athens, GA to introduce themselves and then told the woman that her boyfriend had something to ask her, setting the stage for a marriage proposal and then commenting on the niceness of the ring. Cynicism and biting spitefulness are often found in Pulp lyrics, but the source of them just might be a romantic at heart. The setlist focused almost entirely on the era of the band’s commercial peak, with nine songs from Different Class, three from His & Hers, plus encore “Razzmatazz”, with “This Is Hardcore” and “Sunrise” as the only songs released after Russell Senior’s departure to be performed. Why does Pulp get a pass for churning out the hits at their reunion, while other bands get derided as shameless panderers? For starters, they were performed as if it were still 1995; it was as if the band had not abandoned us for nine years. More importantly, the music of Pulp has survived the ravages of time remarkably well, because they were never a true Britpop band in the first place. “Common People” has achieved a new identity as a vitriolic anthem against hipsterism, and at Primavera it was appropriated as a rallying cry for the local protestors, or at least the ones in the crowd that waved a giant banner stating “#Spanish Revolution Sing Along with the Common People”. The Primavera comeback was an explosive set that cemented Pulp’s status as the essential festival band of 2011 and will be remembered as fondly and regarded as definitive as their Glastonbury 1995 performance. Saturday, May 28th Yuck - ATP - 6:00 p.m. Photo by Colin Athens Ideally, every festival would start out with a bang by having a great set early in the day to reward attendees that stumbled out of bed in time to attend the full schedule, with these early birds catching a quite special worm. Only at Primavera is 6:00 p.m. widely considered not just early but excessively so, but the ATP area still managed to fill just in time for recent indie darlings Yuck. The London-based quartet loudly revisited the sounds of the late 80’s and early 90’s indie greats, but made them sound fresh. Their performance revealed a genuine excitement to be playing the festival, and guitarist/vocalist Max Bloom gave shoutouts to both Pulp and Shellac before tearing into a new song entitled “Milkshake”. Yuck hasn’t even been around for two years yet, but their live sound implies a band that’s been going at it for far longer. Warpaint - Llevant - 6:45 p.m. Photo by Colin Athens Sometimes the stars align and a band gets a festival timeslot so perfect that the setting actually enhances the performance. After witnessing Warpaint perform on the beach of the new Llevant stage as the day finally began to cool, it’s difficult to imagine watching the Los Angeles band in any other setting. As clouds obscured the sun and the cool Mediterranean breeze rolled in, the charismatic all-girl quartet appeared confident before the large crowd as they intricately layered vocals and guitars to dreamy effect, peaking with the gorgeously transcendent pop of “Undertow”. Ubiquitous buzz bands are a dime a dozen nowadays, but Warpaint proved to be one that fully lives up to the hype surrounding them. Gang Gang Dance - Pitchfork - 9:45 p.m. Photo by Colin Athens Eye Contact, the latest album from Gang Gang Dance, is their most danceable release to date, and its tribal beats and psychedelic synth freak-outs gained an extra degree of intensity on the Pitchfork stage. Accompanying the band were an interpretive dancer and a flag waver throughout the set. The band sounded more urgently fantastic than ever, and frontwoman Lizzi Bougatsos hypnotized with her dances and soaring yelps, so leaving early enough to make the steep uphill climb to the San Miguel stage in time for the start of PJ Harvey was one of the biggest challenges of the weekend. PJ Harvey - San Miguel - 10:30 p.m. Photo by Colin Athens Clad in a white dress and feathered headdress and surrounded by near-total darkness, Polly Jean Harvey looked as angelic as she sounded. Half of her 20 song set consisted of songs from the stellar Let England Shake that favored the jangly strum of the Autoharp over the guitar, with older favorites getting a subdued makeover. As stunning of an album as Let England Shake is and despite sounding especially gorgeous live, the noise of the massive crowd often overpowered the delicate beauty of the music. The new PJ Harvey tour is a delight, but is ideally enjoyed in a more intimate environment. Animal Collective - San Miguel - 2:00 a.m. Photo by Frank Mojica Neo-psychedelic weirdsters Animal Collective have jumped from mid-tier to headliner since their last batch of festival touring three years ago thanks to the success of their latest and greatest full length, 2009's Merriweather Post Pavillion. In contrast to the two previous headliners, Animal Collective was far less of a crowd pleaser, only performing a handful of “hits” in a set filled with almost entirely unreleased material. Evolving new music in a live setting is how their albums have always developed, so it’s refreshing to see a band that stays true to their roots despite a sudden surge in popularity. Typically atypical Animal Collective sets might seem like an awkward match for a festival’s main stage, since the crowd is guaranteed not to be full of fans that know what to expect, and at Primavera, some in the crowd declared the performance too self-indulgent and without “proper songs” and left early. However, the majority remained, and they were treated to some new songs that not just showed a lot of promise and even outshone the older selections. In contrast to the light cubes and Creators Project collaboration at Coachella, the visual element of Animal Collective’s set at Primavera was more mysterious and less elaborate, with only moderate usage of house lights and some trippy, colorful animations projected on the screens that never flashed any footage of the band or crowd. If their Primavera headlining set is any indication, their polarizing nature will not lose all the Merriweather Post Pavillion bandwagon-jumpers and continue to draw more followers because of it. Gallery by Colin Athens [nggallery id=216] Gallery by Frank Mojica [nggallery id=217] ]]> http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/05/festival-review-cos-at-primavera-sound-11/feed/ 2 http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/05/vampire-weekend-bright-eyes-head-inaugural-mtk-festival/ http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/05/vampire-weekend-bright-eyes-head-inaugural-mtk-festival/#comments http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com//wp-content/uploads/2011/05/mtx-festival.jpg Tue, 10 May 2011 19:33:46 +0000 Alex Young http://consequenceofsound.net/?p=120276 The United States East coast and multi-day music events don’t have the best history together. Just ask All Points West… or Vineland… or M.I.A.. But this August, the MTK Festival will look to change that with an inaugural billed topped by indie heavyweights Vampire Weekend and Bright Eyes.

Set for August 13-14 in East Hampton, New York, the festival — known properly as the Music to Know Festival — will also feature Matt & Kim, Cold War Kids, Chromeo, Tame Impala, M. Ward, Fitz and the Tantrums, and Dawes.

Rounding out the bill are Ra Ra Riot, Tom Tom Club, We Are Scientists, The Limousines, The Naked and Famous, Francis and the Lights, Suddyn, Nicos Gun, and Young Empires.

Two-day passes go on sale Tuesday, May 10th to the general public for $195. Two Day VIP passes can be purchased for $645. Visit the festival’s website for more information.

For the 2011 edition, set to take place July 7-17 across various indoor and outdoor venues in downtown Quebec City, festival organizers have tapped Metallica, Elton John, The Black Keys, Ben Harper, Girl Talk, Death From Above 1979, and John Fogerty.

Other confirmed notables include Dropkick Murphys, Omar Souleyman, Cut Copy, M. Ward, Cage the Elephant, Dawes, The Low Anthem, Marie-Mai, Wanda Jackson, An Horse, Duchess Says, Karkwa, Nortec Collective, Mexican Institute of Sound, and Buck 65.

Additional acts will be revealed in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, you can view all the currently confirmed acts on our Festival Outlook.

Advance sales of the festival’s Hydro-Québec pass will go on sale tomorrow for an early-bird price of $55 at greater Quebec City area Metro supermarkets. (Buy me some peas while you’re there.) Starting at noon on Saturday, April 30th, passes can be purchased online at the regular price of $65 (taxes and service included) on the festival’s website. Single-evening tickets are also available at $30 – taxes and service included – except for the Elton John and Metallica concerts.