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

Prior to the release of their sophomore album, Mumford and Sons will host a series of mini music festivals in the U.S. in August. The Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers will take place in four different cities (Portland, ME, Bristol, VA, Dixon, IL, and Monterey, CA), and will see the band headline alongside acts like St. Vincent, Gogol Bordello, Dawes, Justin Townes Earle, Grouplove, and more.

In addition to the music, each Stopover will feature local vendors and activities involving local businesses, venues, and people. As the band explains in an issued statement, “We want to stop off in towns where bands don’t usually tour, and celebrate the local people, food and music.”

They add: “We’re keen to promote the town’s local businesses, and we’ll be using the local bars and venues for after-show parties, whilst working closely with the local people to get everyone involved in making these shows spectacular. There will be a host of our friends playing too, and the vibe falls somewhere between ‘travelling Victorian circus’ and ‘Victorian travelling circus’. It should be a whole lot of fun.”

Tickets for the Portland, Bristol, and Monterey Stopovers will go on sale Friday, June 1st at 10am local time. The Dixon Stopover will go on sale Saturday, June 9th at 10am CT. Visit the tour’s website for more information.

Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers U.S. Tour Dates:
August 4 – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover In Portland, ME (The Eastern Promenade) – Mumford & Sons + St. Vincent, Dawes, The Maccabees, Apache Relay, Simone Felice, Haim

August 11 – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover In Bristol, VA/TN (Off State Street in Downtown Bristol) – Mumford & Sons + Dawes, JEFF The Brotherhood, The Very Best, Justin Townes Earle, Apache Relay, Simone Felice, Haim

August 18 – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover In Dixon, IL (Page Park) – Mumford & Sons + Gogol Bordello, Dawes, Abigail Washburn, The Very Best, Apache Relay, Haim

August 25 – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover In Monterey, CA (Monterey County Fairgrounds) – Mumford & Sons + Gogol Bordello, The Very Best, Grouplove, Two Gallants, Apache Relay, Haim

Annie Clark and David Byrne – it makes sense, right? Why not. Two critically-acclaimed artists, who both call New York City home, and sport album covers with their own mugs in a valium-drenched daze. (Here’s David’s, here’s Annie’s.) The reasoning should stop there, but it doesn’t. To be honest, Byrne could collaborate with anyone – and he has, several times – but in the expansive indieverse, he teamed up with Clark, and the two plan on releasing an album later this year. I was thinking about all of this at Chicago’s Vic Theatre on Friday night, amidst Shearwater’s stale reverberated guitars and about a half hour before St. Vincent’s set. When I’m bored, I tend to drift off like that, in these innate mental digressions. Sometimes they last a couple seconds, other times they clock in at 15 minutes; they can be vivid, they can be mundane, or they can be weird. Considering Alex Young’s cat, Zooey, popped up somewhere in there as well, this one was a tad peculiar.

But Zooey is peculiar. To date, she’s the only cat I can appreciate. I hate cats. I’m allergic to them, so I tend to stay away from the animal – you know, to avoid getting asthma, the itchies, whatever. Lately, however, I’ve become obsessed with the cat; she’s funny, she’s quirky, and she’s admittedly cute. When she’s just staring about, lying like a duck on the windowsill, I can’t help but run over and squeeze her. (I tend to act like Elmira around cute things.) I do this three or four times whenever she’s around, and she usually reacts one of two ways: like a bored French hipster or a ravenous beast from hell. When the latter occurs, I remember her bloodline’s related to a Serval – in other words, an African wild cat that prowls the Sahara at 50 mph. Yeah, this is what makes her deathly unpredictable.

Okay, so that’s the connection between Zooey and Annie Clark for me: unpredictability. Actually, that’s selling the parallel short; the two both share the same deadpan stare, they undermine their charming demeanor with visceral reactions, and they both were or are New Yorkers. ALRIGHT, I’m done talking about the cat. The thing is, I’ve thought about this so much I couldn’t help but write about it without losing my goddamn mind. Apologies.*

I’ve seen St. Vincent perform about three times in the span of two years. That’s not a lot, or should even be construed as too much, but whenever you revisit an artist on-stage, there are expectations – from the songs to the performer’s -isms. Clark just doesn’t let that happen; whether it’s her brazen presence or she’s just a damn good orator, I don’t know. She works with three albums – Marry Me, Actor, and our favorite from last year, Strange Mercy – but she could have just one and it’d be the same experience. There’s a reason for this: She shops things organic.

On Friday, she opened with Actor‘s “Marrow”, basically a staple in her repertoire, but by curving the verses, blistering the chorus, and needling around the lyrics, it sounded so new and fresh. Two songs later, she treated “Chloe in the Afternoon” like some hazy, drug-laced venture within a seedy Brooklyn lounge. Call it cabaret or melodrama, but when she fell back at each line, tumbling towards the floor, it added an emphasis to the track missing on any regular listen. Although I wasn’t too stoked about the synth solo this time around on personal favorite “Dilettante”, I couldn’t help but smile at how she stomped about during the thudding verses yet maintained that beatific vocal of hers – just gnarly adrenaline in focus.

Personality goes a long way, and Friday was no exception. Clark added personal anecdotes to a number of tracks; from calling “Dilettante” a “love letter, but also hatemail” for New York City, to discussing an author she discovered who escaped into nature and thought the “Northern Lights” were “the end of times, but it wasn’t and that was good news.” She chuckled after the fourth digression, adding, “Full of silver linings tonight, everyone.” Her best would arrive later, prior to their cover of  The Pop Group’s “She Is Beyond Good and Evil”. She discussed how during their London gig Mark Stewart of The Pop Group, who caught wind of their rendition months beforehand, joined them on-stage to sing along. Prior to the set, Stewart handed Clark a gift: a dish scrubber in the shape of Sid Vicious, aptly titled Sid Dishous. “This is what’s become of punk,” he said.

Call it a source of inspiration, though, because in a move absolutely no one saw coming, Clark followed up the cover by edging into her latest track, this past Record Store Day’s exclusive single, “Krokodil”. During this sludgy, gritty rocker – her heaviest to date – Clark first straddled a security guard’s head, then sang atop the guard railing separating the stage and the crowd, and finally dove straight into the abyss of fist pumping devotees. She crowd surfed for a good three minutes, screaming “dil, dil, dil” again and again in a manic manner. Fans in shock scrambled to support her and she refused to quit, singing every note and squirming over the sea of hands and arms like some epileptic mental patient. Now, there’s no telling where Clark’s bloodline stems from, but I’d like to believe it’s just as primal as any Serval: deathly unpredictable.

Beware, Mr. Byrne, beware.

* - I realize how cliche and limiting it is to liken Clark to a cat, and how some might construe this as a typical male writer throwing around the ol’ dogs and cats, boys and girls comparison. However, my justification is simple and swift: Zooey’s one hell of a cat. She pushes the envelope on the expectations of a feline, and for that, I don’t feel it’s — okay, whatever, I have no excuse. Still, if you only knew her – Zooey, that is.

Photography by Heather Kaplan

Setlist:
Marrow
Cheerleader
Chloe in the Afternoon
Save Me From What I Want
Actor Out of Work
Dilettante
Black Rainbow
Cruel
Surgeon
Champagne Year
Neutered Fruit
Northern Lights
Year of the Tiger
She Is Beyond Good and Evil (The Pop Group cover)
Krokodil
Encore:
Your Lips Are Red
—

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“I too lived — Brooklyn, of ample hills, was mine.” – Walt Whitman, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”

By this point, it’s an old story that Manhattan has lost much of its cultural capital to its neighbor across the East River. Nowadays, if you want cutting edge art, if you want to find clusters of musicians meeting at bars and coffee shops to talk shop, if you want to find the venues and neighborhoods that foster a multi-colored collaboration between the arts and across genres, cultures, ethnicities, and classes, you go to Brooklyn. Thirty years ago, you could say the same thing about downtown Manhattan. Below 14th St., Manhattan artists were experimenting with mixed media, provocatively crossing genres, and going for shock value. That spirit, transferred to the borough that has dominated New York City’s arts scene in the 21st century, was the guiding force behind the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival.

Curated by Bryce and Aaron Dessner (the twin guitarists from The National), the long time Brooklyn residents brought together their friends, collaborators, label mates, and just people who they liked playing with (as seen in this handy New York Times infographic) for three nights of genre-bending classical and rock music. The two brothers have long had their feet wet in both genre worlds, curating a similar crossover festival in Cincinnati, the MusicNOW Festival. But Crossing Brooklyn Ferry is distinctly New York-centric, with the city’s indie stars freely roaming through the festival checking it all out (at any given moment, you might be standing next to one of the Dessners, David Byrne, or Sufjan Stevens). Mixing classical and indie rock might seem like the cutting edge of cultural collaboration these days, but as composer Judd Greenstein revealed, “it’s starting to feel like less and less ‘a thing’ and more just the way things go.”

The mixture made for a somewhat weird approach – is this a classical concert? is it a rock show? – and more than once I had to control the urge to get up and dance. But as the weekend wore on, as the drinks flowed, and as the audiences loosened up, it became clear that you could happily groove in your seat for a chamber music set, and then flail away for some decibel-pushing indie rock.

-Jake Cohen
Senior Staff Writer

Thursday, May 3rd

JACK Quartet

Two-for-one happy hour beers are always an incentive to get to the show early, but the JACK Quartet intoxicates you with their virtuosity and cohesion. With the cavernous and cool BAM Café transformed into a chamber music salon, JACK crushed a program of sometimes daring but always engaging string quartet music. Missy Mazzoli’s Death Valley Junction began with dissonant sliding tones, undulating almost like the transcendent music of Giacinto Scelsi, before expanding into driving rhythmic ostinatos and ending with cellist Kevin McFarland’s gravitas-filled melody. Alex Mincek’s third string quartet, subtitled “lift-tilt-filter-split”, was a noisy exploration of string scratching, bow sweeping, and other non-melodic extended techniques. JACK played through the cacophonous music with purpose and calculation, finally obviating the tension with the sweeter harmonies of David Crowell’s The Open Road, featuring a refrain of syncopated violin, and epic Reichian ostinatos churning like a two-chord jam. Expert microphoning and a killer P.A. engulfed the room with sound, while JACK communicated the music as though they were a single mind. -Jake Cohen

yMusic

A lot has been said about the so-called indie classical genre in the last year, but like the term or not, yMusic might be its unofficial poster child. This is the right way to bridge pop and classical: play a set of chamber music composed by indie rockers like Son Lux (aka Ryan Lott) and Annie Clark, thrown in composers like Judd Greenstein and William Brittelle who write classical music with a pop/rock aesthetic, and do it all with a ferocity frequently found on a dive bar stage rather than a concert hall. Annie Clark’s Proven Badlands climaxed with a charged cantabile melody using a unique combination of piccolo and trumpet, while Son Lux’s Beautiful Mechanicals, the lead track off yMusic’s album of the same name, was the set’s highlight, building up an intense minimalist texture, breaking it down, and then peaking again. -Jake Cohen

Jherek Bischoff

Bischoff’s set might have been the wildcard MVP of Thursday night. With the impressive Gilman Opera House only about a third full, the Seattleite played through a set of his highly original orchestral pop songs, gradually building in intensity throughout, culminating with a four-on-the-floor cover of a Konono No. 1 tune. The lanky Bischoff bounced between ukelele, drum, and bass guitar, playing the latter with forceful, percussive octaves under sweeping chords from members of yMusic. An early set highlight was Amanda Palmer (of Dresden Dolls fame), who, bedecked in an ostentatious evening gown, lent her smoky alto and spotlight-stealing stage presence to a particularly theatrical rendition of Bischoff’s “Counting”. Rumors of a “very special guest” led many to correctly guess an appearance by Talking Head David Byrne, who sings Bischoff’s “Eyes” on the forthcoming album Composed. Byrne was playful, frequently breaking into a little two-step dance on the sentimental tune. -Jake Cohen

Callers

While the seated crowd in the opera house remained somewhat reserved, there was more of a party atmosphere in the upstairs BAM Café. With the chairs cleared away and the audience standing (and drinking), it felt like more of a rock concert, which didn’t entirely match the set from Callers. Singer Sara Lucas sang dusty vocals over jazzy drums and atmospheric art-rock electric guitar. Guitarist Ryan Seaton’s tone is somewhere between hazy surf rock and twangy country, but early on the band avoided their faster, upbeat tracks, offering instead heady songs that lounged with lazy drum beats. Eventually Callers managed to break out, as Seaton’s guitar galloped over a disco-flavored, four-on-the-floor beat. -Jake Cohen

Twin Shadow

Having just announced his much-anticipated sophomore album, Confess, not two days prior, George Lewis Jr.’s (aka Twin Shadow) set on Thursday night was a coming out party of sorts. While most of the press surrounding Lewis Jr. and his stellar 2010 debut focused on his knack for crafting danceable bedroom grooves, there was nothing “bedroom” about the way Twin Shadow were able to send their streamlined indie-disco soaring through all three stories of BAM’s Howard Gilman Opera House. In a live setting, Lewis Jr.’s sensual croon was stripped of much of its lo-fi haziness. But it was pleasantly surprising to hear that he actually has a fantastic voice. Assisted by Blackfire Percussion of the Brooklyn Music and Arts Program, new songs like “Five Seconds” as well as older favorites like “When We’re Dancing” shimmered with a Studio 54–worthy chic.  -Bryant Kitching

Sharon Van Etten

Midway through her stellar set, indie chanteuse Sharon van Etten awkwardly asked the seated Opera House crowd: “You guys doing OK? I’m getting a mixed vibe.” Van Etten’s ballads oozed a folksy, singer/songwriter vibe, which jived with the quiet and receptive audience. However, her set was also full of distorted barre chords, heavy strumming, and full-on rock drums that begged for standing and dancing. With her tight black jeans, striped t-shirt, and dark hair covering her eyes, Van Etten evoked a downtown punk feel, and more often than not, her music went that way too. Although she seemed flummoxed by her surroundings during between-song banter, Van Etten was confident in her music. The slow organ intro of opener “All I Can” built into a fist-pumping rock song, and festival curator Aaron Dessner lent his guitar handiwork to the herky-jerky rhythms of “Magic Chords”, accompanied by Van Etten’s sultry vocals with just a touch of raspiness. -Jake Cohen

The Walkmen

Lately it seems like all the press surrounding The Walkmen’s upcoming album, Heaven, makes a point of highlighting their transition into rock band middle age. Sure, getting old sucks, but if their hour-long headlining set on Thursday night was any indication, don’t expect Hamilton Leithauser & co. to start buying shiny red Corvettes or sporting ponytails anytime soon. Album opener “We Can’t Be Beat” saw the band show off some three-part harmonies à la Fleet Foxes, only to glide seamlessly into a handful of newer tracks like “Heaven”, “Heartbreaker”, and “Southern Heart”. The most impressive moment came during what will likely prove to be Heaven’s centerpiece, “Line By Line”. Paul Maroon’s subtle guitar work gently pulsated back and forth with the calming effect of ocean waves on a cool summer night. Backed only by Leithauser’s road weary croon, the result was something that might just be the most beautiful piece of music the band has ever written.

In other places, Leithauser’s elastic vocals were stretched to their seemingly unending limits, always managing to fall on the right side of the fence between screaming and singing. It was wild how, while their sound has taken leaps and bounds in the last 10 years, Leithauser’s voice sounded like it hadn’t aged a day. For their encore, they pulled out the often requested but seldom performed classic off 2002’s Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, “We’ve Been Had”. Introduced as “the first song we ever wrote” (great, now I feel old), it was the cherry on top of an already solid set. Watching, it was hard not to ask yourself: How many other bands out there could get away with a whole set consisting of only one song from their earlier (and more celebrated) LPs? The Walkmen have settled into quite the groove with their stark yet serene new brand of post-punk, but it helps me sleep a little easier knowing that they still can kick ass and take names when the opportunity beckons. -Bryant Kitching

Photography by Stephanie Berger.

Friday, May 4th

Victoire

Missy Mazzoli was one of the more ubiquitous figures of Crossing Brooklyn Ferry. Sharon Van Etten sang one of her songs, JACK Quartet played one of her pieces, and she presented an entire set with her all-female chamber group, Victoire, consisting of violin, clarinet, keyboards, vocals, and a double bass. Mazzoli sticks to a somewhat consistent form: Begin with slowly unfolding repetitive melodies, add in an underlying rhythmic drive from strings and keys, then build to an expressive full-group peak. While her rhythms vary, her harmonic language is somewhat limited, utlitizing a kind of pan-consonance that works with her minimalist textures but remains somewhat formulaic. The best moment in her set, the penultimate piece, broke that mold by climaxing in strident dissonant chords, releasing the tension with cool consonance. -Jake Cohen

So Percussion

Eight tuned bongos in a straight line meant one thing: Part One of Steve Reich’s Drumming, his epic 1971 percussion opus. The iconic piece has become something of a signature work for So Percussion, partially because they are just so damn good at playing it. The hypnotic phasing technique — where one drummer slowly speeds up the rhythm so that it sounds “out of phase” until suddenly creating a new composite rhythm — is all over Drumming, and So Percussion effortlessly handled the complexities of the piece. Oscar Bettison’s Apart for chromatic tuning forks was an interesting but tedious interlude following the opening onslaught of rhythm, but the closing piece, Glenn Kotche’s Drumkit Quartets, blasted the seated audience away like those old Maxell tape ads. Four unison drum kits assaulted the crowd with a metal-esque beat full of irregular meters and accents, while the middle movements from the Wilco drummer and composer explored random arrays of metallic noise, bells, and sirens. -Jake Cohen

Tyondai Braxton

Sitting cross-legged on a raised pedastal amidst an army of pedals, controllers, and a MacBook, the former Battles guitarist crafted a noisy 45-minute set of intricate rhythmic patterns and driving electronic beats that were slow to unfold and change. Braxton utilized his typical practice of creating expansive loops, but a rather uniform synthesized sound remained somewhat flat, while the loops themselves weren’t dynamic enough for my tastes. Still, Braxton wins big for trying out one of the more electronic compositions of the weekend, and there were occasional moments in his improvised soundscapes where everything clicked (literally and figuratively). -Jake Cohen

Sinkane

Taking a break from Tyondai Braxton, I wandered into the BAM Café to hear a smooth, supremely danceable sound, with interweaving guitar parts and a compositional style that reminded me of my favorite segments from Pink Floyd’s Meddle. Combining ’70s rock grooves with Afrobeat, funk, and soul, Sinkane (aka Ahmed Gallab) was the pleasant surprise of the weekend. The Sudanese singer and guitarist played a blowout set, combining psychedelic rock songs with a clean Afrobeat guitar tone and driving indie-disco beats. Sinkane was the first of several bands to kick out the jams, so to speak, in the BAM Café, moving the festival slowly from introspective art compositions towards full-on dancefest. -Jake Cohen

The Antlers

I like to imagine The Antlers had a pre-show huddle where they decided to use this homecoming show as an opportunity to be more aggressive on stage. The band used their arguably short timeslot to prove that after about a year, the tunes from Burst Apart have achieved their ultimate arrangements. Much like the live versions of songs from Hospice, the set of almost entirely Burst Apart tunes took on the form of extended, post-rock shells. The Antlers decided to present a heavier style that bore awesome results: Darby Cicci went bonkers turning knobs, vocoding his voice, and stomping bass pedals for “Parantheses”, becoming a little like an organ-grinding Jonny Greenwood. Peter Silberman strayed from his typical playing style of simply brushing over strings for some atmosphere in favor of strumming that was more like punching his strings. -Michael Zonenashvili

Buke and Gase

There’s nothing to prepare you for just how much sound Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez are able to produce from two quirky homemade instruments. These noise-rock darlings from Brooklyn craft intricate songs with a bevy of foot percussion and heavy electronic processing on their instruments, yet their music always retains a touch of the raw acoustic sound, untouched by effects. Dyer’s voice, captivating and elusive, was doubled or tripled with digital effects, matching her engrossing stage presence with a sound that belies her petite size. Their set consisted of all new songs, grounded in simple pop/folk forms but full of complex rhythms and angular melodies that never feel too progressive or out there. -Jake Cohen

St. Vincent

Hands down Annie Clark stole the show Friday night. No performer had a spunkier or more dominating stage presence, oozing sexiness but with a healthy dose of the oddball in her frequent tiny backwards steps. And at a festival overflowing with heady music made for sitting and thinking, St. Vincent was clearly for dancing and kicking ass. That’s not to say that their instrumental prowess or Clark’s considerable compositional talents weren’t on display, either. Her set, mostly drawn from her standout 2011 LP Strange Mercy, featured plenty of metrical tricks, as on the contorted chorus of “Chloe in the Afternoon”, as well as noisy assemblages of synthesizer during the verses of “Cheerleader”.

More than anything, St. Vincent played with a drive, intensity, and a full-on punk attitude that you don’t necessarily get from listening to their album. I had heard rumors that they put on a totally kickass live show, but that doesn’t even begin to describe the level they took things Friday night. Clark is more than a talented singer and composer, she’s also a virtuoso guitarist, jumping from arena rock strumming to careful leads and solos, all while bathed in a fuzzy distortion. Not content to just run through their songs, Clark climbed into the standing crowd in the orchestra pit and crowd surfed for “Krokodil”, their Record Store Day headbanger single that is more 1970s punk than 2010s indie. -Jake Cohen

DJ Sets (Chris Keating of Yeasayer and DJ Joakim)

Annie Clark finally got butts moving, and while much of the festival attendees were content to go home afterwards, a core crew of a few hundred partiers were compelled to keep it going in the BAM Café, which had transformed fully from chamber music salon to rock venue to dance club. Yeasayer’s Chris Keating spun ’80s and ’90s dance hits mixed in with trance and house beats, often finding completely novel combinations of tracks like his mashup of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” and Technotronic’s “Pump Up the Jam”, creatively reinterpreting the rhythmic orientation of Beyonce’s vocal tag line. With the passing of Adam Yauch earlier that day, a number of Beastie Boys tributes were met with raucous crowd approval, including a remix of “Intergalactic” and an untouched version of “Sure Shot”. Perhaps the best part, though, was witnessing the massive hipster dance party that was lurking underneath the reserved façade seen during earlier acts. Clearly there was a faction of the audience who needed to let loose, and despite getting yelled at to “sit down and stop dancing” during St. Vincent, I more than made up for it late night. -Jake Cohen

Photography by Rebecca Greenfield.

Saturday, May 5th

Caveman

Caveman exudes a “Hell yeah, we’re from Brooklyn” attitude in every way, and their enthusiasm for playing BAM was endearing. While that enthusiasm may have leaked into their set to make their harmonies richer, and make their woozy folk-rock a little woozier, something bugged me. I’m not sure which (probably) indie-rock group started the trend of the obligatory floor-tom, but it has evolved from an exciting set-improving tool to an instrument that simply takes up space. Caveman had a member who existed for the sole purpose of occasionally bopping said floor tom, and sometimes jazzing things up by hitting the rim. While their set was a nice start to the music in the “big room”, it might have been a little better sans the indie self-indulgence that is the singular floor-tom player. -Michael Zonenashvili

My Brightest Diamond + yMusic

yMusic must practice a hell of a lot, making their umpteenth appearance of the weekend, this time to make My Brightest Diamond’s live show a bit more dramatic opera and bit less rock-opera. Their classical chamber-pop combined with Shara Worden’s operatic croon to realize the theatrical potential of the venue, putting the “opera” back into Gilman Opera House. My Brightest Diamond utilized the collaboration to the fullest, drawing from yMusic’s ability to take classical technicality and give it a pop tinge. With a set leaning heavily on 2011’s All Things Will Unwind, Worden combined borderline interpretive dance, costuming, and stage props, including an instance of adorably exclaiming “I forgot my snow!” before showering the audience in confetti. -Michael Zonenashvili

Atlas Sound

Not unfamiliar with ramblings and musings that are as much performance art as his own psychedelic folk, Bradford Cox seemed humbled and reserved for most of his intimate Atlas Sound set. He constantly voiced how much of an honor it was to be playing at BAM, and even with a relatively short slot by his standards, Cox unmasked both his fractured demons and angels on stage alone and bare. Using solely his guitar and arsenal of pedals, pieces from last year’s Parallax such as “Te Amo” and “Modern Aquatic Nightsongs” became both naked compositions and noisy behemoths, providing a near-religious experience for his captivated audience; clearly, the man is revered in Brooklyn, and for good reason. -David DiLillo

Beirut

While any jaded Brooklynite may think a run-in with Zachary Condon is an unremarkable experience, the people brushing up against me throughout the show definitely thought otherwise. I overheard people of various accents from French to Middle Eastern exclaiming how they were so unbelievably excited to see Beirut. Whether it was their first or fifteenth time seeing the band, fans were treated to a confident blend of songs that not only drew from the bands various records but from various cultures. When Condon said “Happy Cinco De Mayo” right before “The Shrew”, it may have been a joke, but the hip-moving upright bassline and dual trumpet assault of the song’s crescendo was more evocative of Mexico than any Corona-sponsored holiday.

Not even the biggest proto-hipster could ever verify Beirut’s authenticity by saying “Yeah, I’m a huge fan of Balkan Folk.” I grew up listening to Georgian folk music in my parents’ car on long drives, and when Beirut played “Cocek”, a live-only instrumental, I was brought back to those car rides. The band is not just an experiment in different ethnic sounds combined with pop-sensibilities, but an authentic amalgam of these sounds and influences into a live show.

While normally touring with a couple of horn players, Condon brought out a full-on brass army for their return home. At any point there were at least two trumpets (fine, one’s a flugelhorn), two trombones, and either french horn or tuba to make every “brass drop” a turning point in the tune. Whether during the climax of “Santa Fe” or the hook of “Nantes” the brass sections took center-stage. Although some live shows have a tacked on horn section that just seems like a nice addition, Beirut’s horn playing is essential to their sound, and at BAM it was as powerful as ever. When a band comes on stage and empties their spit valves before the first song even starts, and enough saliva comes out of the trumpet to fill a water bottle, you know they’ve been working those instruments to perfection. -Michael Zonenashvili

Phi Slamma Jamma AKA Will Butler, Jeremy Gara, Tim Kingsbury, and Richard Reed Parry

While my legs weren’t last-day-of-Bonnaroo tired, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry’s three days had done a bit of a number on me. I was ready to leave after Beirut, but then The National tweeted that there was to be a secret performance at the small BAM Café stage at one AM. I thought “Secret National show? I have to be there!” and headed up to dance to Pat Mahoney and Nancy Whang’s DJ set for an hour (worth it, trust me) before a band advertised as “Phi Slamma Jamma” took the stage. While they might not have been The National, the set was definitely just as good. Will Butler, Jeremy Gara, Tim Kingsbury, and Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire fame took the stage under the fake moniker, and began a set of pretty impressive covers. From REM’s “Wolves” to the Flying Burrito Brothers’ “Wheels” the four piece were the most famous wedding band the crowd would ever see. With Sufjan Stevens and Local Natives dancing behind me, I was actually hooked by their covers more than the fact that most of Arcade Fire had inexplicably shown up for a “secret” set upstairs. They even brought up the Dessner twins for the Everly Brothers’ “Bird Dog”. Most importantly, they played Devo’s “Uncontrollable Urge”. Why’s that most important? Because it was (most of) Arcade Fire playing Devo’s “Uncontrollable Urge”. -Michael Zonenashvili

Photography by Mike Benigno

Gallery

Photographers: Mike Benigno, Stephanie Berger, Rebecca Greenfield

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Later… with Jools Holland was back on the air Friday night with a second set of performances from Damon Albarn and St. Vincent. (Here’s the first set if you missed it.)

Albarn performed “The Marvelous Dream” and “O Spirit, Animate Us”, two tracks off his Dr. Dee soundtrack. He also spoke with Jools about the project.

Clark showcased last year’s best album, Strange Mercy, with performances of “Northern Lights” and “Cheerleader”.

Watch the replay below.

Damon Albarn – “The Marvelous Dream”:

Damon Albarn – “O Spirit, Animate Us”:

Damon Albarn Interview:

St. Vincent – “Northern Lights”:

St. Vincent – “Cheerleader”:

Scott Auckerman’s Comedy Bang Bang podcast celebrated its third anniversary on Monday with an all-star episode featuring Zach Galifianakis, Paul F. Tompkins, and — everyone’s number one desired party guest — St. Vincent’s Annie Clark. For her part, Clark performed a three-song solo set, which included “Surgeon”, “Cheerleader”, and “Cruel”. You can listen to all three performances below, or head to Earwolf to stream the entire episode.

Thanks to Pat L. for the tip.

Later… with Jools Holland followed up last week’s massive lineup with the equally thrilling one-two punch of Damon Albarn and St. Vincent. Supporting the soundtrack to his Dr. Dee opera, Albarn performed “Apple Carts” and also sat down for a brief interview. For her part, St. Vincent showcased “Cruel” off last year’s best album, Strange Mercy. Watch the replays below.

Damon Albarn – “Apple Carts”:

Damon Albarn Interview:

St. Vincent – “Cruel”:

Noisey’s new Back & Forth web series features #realtalk between two musicians. In the inaugural episode, St. Vincent’s Annie Clark and tUnE-yArDs’s Merrill Garbus discuss gender bias in music, touring, and Annie’s upcoming album with David Byrne. Also, hear Annie utter the phrase ”Let’s leave no ass unfucked.”

What a week. Since Monday, the mp3 world has seen the glorious return of a bona fide classic band, the first single off one of the biggest MCs in the world’s forthcoming album, a heartfelt lament by a Big Apple rap legend, an angelic monolith from one of the UK’s favorite pop princesses, and much more. To find out what and whom we’re talking about, look no further.

The Beach Boys – “That’s Why God Made the Radio”

The first single off the Beach Boys’ reunion LP of the same name, “That’s Why God Made the Radio” practically sounds as divine as its title foreshadows. Vocally and harmonically speaking, these (near-) septuagenarians are incredibly virile, and that’s what ultimately lends the song its irresistibly tuneful and nostalgic charms. Still, there’s something to be said about the pristine guitar work and rhythm section, both of which conjure up a very familiar warmth. With this, we’re talking maybe the Boys’ best bit since 1977’s Love You, real talk. (Also, if you haven’t checked out Michael Roffman’s Lemme Get an Encore on B. Wilson and company, stop that.) That’s Why God Made the Radio arrives June 5th via Capitol/EMI. -Mike Madden

Dope Body – “Weird Mirror”

After some anticipatory feedback-gargle, the second single from Dope Body’s Natural History (out May 22 via Drag City), “Weird Mirror”, kicks in with some serious muscle. The noisy-as-all-hell Baltimore bros aren’t strangers to cacophony, but there’s something about this one – maybe the multiple but easy-to-miss sticky melodic phrases – that has us even more excited for the LP. Oh, and what the hell is homey singing about? -Mike Madden

Dopy Body – “Weird Mirror”

Florence and the Machine – “Breath of Life”

Florence and the Machine’s empowering Ceremonials single “Shake It Out” turned out to be maybe the best song to not make our year-end 2011 singles list. And with “Breath of Life”, Ms. Welch opts for a similarly ambitious vein. Given that it’s for the forthcoming summer flick Snow White and the Huntsman, it’s no wonder the whole thing is this damn cinematic, what with its bashing percussion, perfectly placed piano, intricate orchestration, and celestial opera. It’s a grower; let it breed. -Mike Madden

Mount Eerie – “Lone Bell”

The prolific Phil Elverum (AKA the brains behind Mt. Eerie and The Microphones) is up to his old tricks this year, set to release two full albums of new material. The first of those is Clear Moon (due May 22nd from Elverum’s own P.W. label), and the second track from the LP to see light is “Lone Bell”. The epic, haunting track opens with bass, rapid brushed drums, and a faroff piano, all as Elverum leads the listener on a journey through a “white wall of fog.” The cut builds and builds, adding a horn section, fuzzed out guitar, and some more clangoring sounds, everything working together into a hazy dreamscape. The whole thing goes up in a cloud of smoke, as if it had never happened, yet Elverum’s work tends to stick with you for a few days, and this is no exception. -Adam Kivel

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/44207723" iframe="true" /]

Nas – “Daughters”

Now that we know Life Is Good has an official release date – July 17 – an elevated excitement should come with even the mention of a new Nas track, precisely what happened with “Daughters”. Atop a (for lack of less-clichéd adjective) soulful No I.D. production, Nasty rhymes neatly, manning up to his daughters’ apparently rapid maturation (check that Facebook/Instagram bit) just how an elder statesman like him should. No, this doesn’t quite have the bite of “Nasty” or the opulent exoticism of “The Don”, but who’s to say dude isn’t allowed to wax parental? -Mike Madden

Purity Ring – “Obedear”

Edmonton electro-poppers Purity Ring burst onto the scene with their lush, saccharine sound. After recently announcing the name and release date of their debut LP (Shrines, due July 24), they’ve now let slip the first track, “Obedear”. The song combines a sort of minimalist hip-hop beat full of bubbling synths and chilly moans with Megan James’ cooing vocals. The brief moments where her vocals get down-pitched come straight out of The Knife, yet the thing bursts with a new, entrancing energy. Between the new disc and opening for The Dirty Projectors this summer, things bode well for Purity Ring. -Adam Kivel

Purity Ring – “Obedear” 

Siddhartha – “Diamond Dust”

San Francisco psych-rockers Siddhartha have decided to call their genre of music “Dashiki shoegaze.” Whatever you want to call their interlocking, swirling guitar parts, insistent drumming, and washed-out falsetto harmonies, its energy is undeniable on “Diamond Dust”, the first cut off their new LP, IF IT DIE (due May 1st from Neurotic Yell Records). Vocalist Marlon Hauser remains at the center of the supercharged mass, shout-singing  lines about the end empires and how you “gotta get it before it’s gone.” There’s some Yeasayer in the high-flung harmonies, but the track relies on a more claustrophobic rock intensity. -Adam Kivel

Siddhartha – “Diamond Dust”

St. Vincent – “Krokodil”

One week out from the Record Store Day release of St. Vincent’s new, limited 7″, and the A-side, “Krokodil”, is still rumbling around in our collective headspace. The gritty, distorted, jagged howl is a distinct left-turn from the majesty of Strange Mercy, more akin to the video of Clark and her band covering Big Black’s “Kerosine” that went around. There’s metallic industrial influence blended in with the aggression, and lines like “you’re mine by the sharp of my fucking teeth,” make this the rawest Clark has sounded on record. -Adam Kivel

White Fence – “Green Balloon”

It seems like 60s garage pop is a genre that was good enough to never ever go away; no matter how far we move from that decade, there are musicians faithfully reproducing the signature sounds. Tim Presley of White Fence adds his own wacky twist to the mix, but on new 7″ Green Balloon (due May 22nd from CMRTYZ), he keeps things pretty straightforward. The title track A-side works off thudding drums, straight-ahead guitar sugar rush, and some delayed vocals. Presley’s collaborative album with Ty Segall, Hair, may be getting the most attention, but a cut this fun deserves its own fun. -Adam Kivel

[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/39319263" iframe="true" /]

Wiz Khalifa – “Work Hard, Play Hard”

Between the near-corny poptimism of last year’s Rolling Papers and the super-stoned chilled waves of the recent Taylor Allderdice, Wiz Khalifa’s career has been somewhat schizophrenic of late. And with “Work Hard, Play Hard”, the first single off Wiz’s forthcoming O.N.I.F.C. LP, that trend continues. What’s interesting about this one, though, is that rap’s king of cheeba totally goes in during the verses (flow-wise, not lyrically; “I’m out this world, girl, you know I’m a star” is just ugh), yet tugs for the airwaves with the hook – what seems like an unprecedented duality for him. For once, contrast equals a whole lot of strength for this guy. That fittingly galactic StarGate and Benny Blanco-produced instrumental is hot, too. -Mike Madden

For Record Store Day, St. Vincent released a limited-edition 7″ containing two new tracks. The A-Side, “KROKODIL”, has since hit the web, and you can stream it below.

I worship at the church of karaoke. The parishoners and I are there to confess and meditate, to feel welcomed by a community, to hear a good sermon or two, to perchance see someone speak in tongues and have the words of the Lord Bon Jovi be channeled through a mere mortal. And, of course, to have some drinks and venture to make complete fools out of ourselves.

Karaoke exists in a vacuum of taste, where anomalies and exceptions always seem to arise and mess with my preconceptions. Maybe, like me, this is the only time you can really tolerate a Billy Joel song. Maybe those two dudes doing Sum 41′s “Fat Lip” actually sound kinda good, or that girl who’s really giving it the old college try on “Since U Been Gone” elicits all this empathy, and dammit you can’t be mad because she’s having fun!

This list — boiled down, mind you, from literally hundreds of runner-ups — is an extension of that feeling that happens when you flip through the entire karaoke book and you don’t see one song you want to sing. After polling the staff and consulting some of my long-time karaoke buddies, these are the songs we all wish would be added to the karaoke canon that we personally have never seen before (we are excluding the deep cuts in Austin’s Karaoke Underground book).

And if it’s one thing most of these songs have in common, they’re totally depressing. Sorry. To make up for that, and in contrast to a lot of karaoke standards, a whole grip of these songs don’t require you to have a good voice. In fact, you could be totally tone-deaf and still do an absolutely kick-ass version of  The Fall’s “Totally Wired” because the song isn’t about impressing Cee-Lo and Adam Levine with pitch and tone, it’s about the performance. There’s plenty more like that on the list that I felt would always be fun — songs that don’t focus on notes as much as they do putting on a great show.

Don’t fret, choir nerds, it’s not all post-punk pogo-dance chant standards. There’s plenty of new vocal challenges all over the list, from tUnE-yArDs to Jeff Buckley to Dirty Projectors to Hasil Adkins. There’s a lot more. Who knows, there may even be another list further down the road. What songs would you like to sing at Karaoke that are never in the books? Let us know in the comments.

You can access the entire list on Spotify. Enjoy!

-Jeremy D. Larson
Managing Editor

Andrew Bird – “Fake Palindromes”

When to sing:  After a couple glasses of wine to keep the voice nice and velvety. It’s a short one.

Make sure to:  “Monsters?”

Animal Collective – “For Reverend Green”

When to sing: Get this out of the way early, but don’t lead with it. Avey Tare’s vocals on this are daunting, histrionic, and require full commitment or else you will be laughed off stage for singing Animal Collective at karaoke. No guarantees for that not happening anyway.

Make sure to: Differentiate between the two “Lucky child don’t know how lucky she is” parts.

Arcade Fire – “Keep The Car Running”

When to sing: Great lead-off song — not too difficult to sing, short and sweet, not too obscure, speaks for itself.

Make sure to: Totally go for it on the “Ohhhh ohhh” and punch the air on that final snare hit like a hero.

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – “Can’t Hear My Eyes”

When to sing: When you want to sing  “Brandi” by Looking Glass, but you can’t quite remember how the bridge goes, or even if there is a bridge to the song.

Make sure to: Not have a catastrophic meltdown, but you should really be laying down on the ground and arching your back over the monitors.

Azealia Banks – “212″

When to sing: After midnight, after your confidence level has peaked,  after you contemplate that Azealia Banks isn’t even old enough to do Karaoke and put this song out.

Make sure to: Have this shit well-rehearsed, because the cadence of “Bet you do like to slumber, don’t you?” is not going to come to you when you’re reading it off the teleprompter. Good luck deciding on whether or not to drop the C-bomb. That’s on you.

Beat Happening – “Cast A Shadow”

When to sing: When the eyelids are heavy, and the 500 yard stare can be trained on not just anyone, but definitely someone.

Make sure to: Study/mimic Ted Leo’s performance of it at Underground Karaoke at Matador 21.

Best Coast – “When I’m With You”

When to sing: Right after you get back inside from smoking a joint in the ally and you tell that cute guy that “this next song’s for you.”

Make sure to: Ask the DJ if he can turn up that reverb.

The Black Keys – “10 A.M. Automatic”

When to sing: When you can’t quite put into feelings that guy’s t-shirt with a bald eagle on it.

Make sure to:  Put a little extra spit on those vocals like they used to do.

Black Lips – “Bad Kids”

When to sing: After a round of Jager, or Car Bombs, or Liquid Cocaine, and after you tell them you’re absolutely not going to sing “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Make sure to: Get, like, seven people on the stage.

Bon Iver – “Skinny Love”

When to sing: When you roll up to Karaoke solo, after several drinks isolated in a cold corner of the bar, and only when the weight of the world is on your heart.

Make sure to: Sulk back to your chair when it’s all over, back to your “cabin,” as it were.

The Breeders – “One Divine Hammer”

When to sing: Directly before or after someone sings Pixies – “Hey”.

Make sure to: Remember that this song is wicked filthy — direct eye contact with crowd is at your own risk. (Dudes, ask if they have the Clockcleaner version — it’s arguably better.)

Bright Eyes – “The Calendar Hung Itself”

When to sing: There’s no real bad time to sing this, the preeminent emo song of them all, but it’s more about when you have wherewithal to sing Oberst’s lyrics.

Make sure to: Render everyone so awestruck they all want to buy you a drink at the end of it — you’re clearly not in a good place right now.

Built To Spill – “Car”

When to sing: A great opener, before you’re even finished with your first drink.

Make sure to: Close your eyes by the third “I want to see, movies of my dreams,” or you’re not doing it right.

Cibo Matto – “Birthday Cake”

When to sing: In the environment where this song is an option, everyone’s going to be OK with it any time, but it’s definitely one of those songs to play if your equilibrium’s altered to the point where pitch is “optional”.

Make sure to: Get all of Miho Hatori’s eccentricities and dialect, especially the way she says “birthssday cake.”

CYHSY – “The Skin of my Yellow Country Teeth”

When to sing: When you are sure that this song will burrow into the soul of everyone watching – so, late in the night.

Make sure to: Slur each and every word, purposefully or not.

College & Electric Youth – “A Real Hero”

When to sing: After (or during) a big knife fight in the back of a bar. I don’t know if this song will ever escape its role as the soundtrack to Ryan Gosling driving off into the sunset.

Make sure to: Channel Bill Murray singing “More Than This” and you’ll be on the right track.

Das Racist – “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell”

When to sing: When you want to comment on consumptive corporate consumerism to a bar full of drunk people.

Make sure to: Replace “Jamaica Ave.” with a local thoroughfare in your city to try to get the message to resonate with your audience.

The Decemberists – “Don’t Carry It All”

When to sing: When you don’t want to sing “You Don’t Know How It Feels”, but you actually kinda do. Here’s something that sounds almost exactly the same.

Make sure to: Partake in the same kind of theatrics that The Decemberists do on stage and pretend that you’re a whale and try to eat the audience. This will go over well.

Dent May – “Eastover Wives”

When to sing: When you want to sing “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” but you’re never sure which of the 12 versions they’ll put on.

Make sure to:  Dance your white ass off while you’re up there.

Destroyer – “Your Blues”

When to sing: When the idea of singing another Bob Dylan song seems completely “repulsive,” but you’re still not of the inclination to “sing exact notes.”

Make sure to: BYO condenser mic and hold it delicately between your thumb and index finger.

Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move”

When to sing:  Get this one done early in your set – that little run up to that really high note in the pre-chorus can’t be easy after 3+ drinks. Nailing this song will win the affections of the boy in the Owen Pallett tee.

Make sure to: Remember those quiet riffs Angel Deradoorian does at the end. If you bring those out, Owen Pallett guy will definitely buy you another glass of merlot.

Dismemberment Plan – “You Are Invited”

When to sing: When you feel the tenor of the evening has taken a turn for the worse and want to relay a message of acceptance, positivity, and sing one of the greatest damn songs ever.

Make sure to: Work the crowd and tell the story – be the light at the end of all of these barfly’s nights, especially the guy who just sang “Hurt” seemingly without irony.

Elliott Smith – “Waltz #2 (XO)”

When to sing: It’s not as huge of a bummer as, say, “Needle in the Hay” or “Twilight”, but for those who like bumming people out at karaoke, this should be your go-to bummer jam. Bonus points if you bring your mother along.

Make sure to: Nail the “and on and on and on” perfectly or Howard Sims will be there with his shepherd’s crook so fast.

The Fall – “Totally Wired”

When to sing: The obvious time is after you just did some coke in the bathroom but feel free to make it a joke song — change lyric to “tired”!

Make sure to:  Respect Mark E. Smith and add a supurflous “uh” after every phrase (“I’m totally weird-uh, to be wired-uh”).

The Flaming Lips – “Do You Realize??”

When to sing: Late enough and drunk enough so that you consider Wayne Coyne’s questions about universe. The precise moment this can happen varies greatly from person to person.

Make sure to: Really ask the question, every time. It’s not a rhetorical question, it’s incredulous! Grapple with reality up there.

Free Energy – “Dream City”

When to sing: When you want to sing “The Boys Are Back In Town” but the last time you did you got kicked off stage for trying to sing all three lines of the guitar solo by yourself.

Make sure to: Wear a leather jacket.

Frightened Rabbit – “The Modern Leper”

When to sing: After an unstable amount of whiskey, and after you overheard someone talk about Mumford.

Make sure to: Think about the Scottish accent, but man, don’t go all Groundskeeper Willie on it. Let it alone if you have doubts.

Fugazi – “Waiting Room”

When to sing: When you have two people who can do both Guy Piccatio’s and Ian McKay’s parts. Then, and only then, should you do “Waiting Room”.

Make sure to: Sing when you feel like the fever of the room is about at this level.

Girls – “Lust for Life”

When to sing: It’s such a short song (only a minute and 30 seconds of singing) that it needs to be early on when people might still be paying a bit of attention. No flare, just a great song.

Make sure to: Figure out how Christopher Owens does the half pouty/half whiney thing before you step up.

Gogol Bordello – “Start Wearing Purple”

When to sing: After your fifth shot of Stolichnaya, and only if you’re wearing suspenders.

Make sure to: Take off your shirt but keep your suspenders on. Also buy a round of vodka for everyone pre-song and toast the audience during the high note and you will be crowned King Gypsy-Punk for the rest of the night.

Grinderman – “No Pussy Blues”

When to sing:  When you’ve squeezed the last ounce of pathos out of  ”Just a Gigolo”, and you’ve just gotta lay down some real talk with the bar.

Make sure to: Never unclench your teeth throughout the whole song — that’s part one of the Nick Cave impression. This is part two.

Guided By Voices – “Tractor Rape Chain”

When to sing: When you think you’re as drunk as Robert Pollard would be.

Make sure to: Elucidate to the DJ (and audience) that the word in questions is (probably) referring to parallel lines made by a tractor in a rapeseed field. Or not — your call.

Hasil Adkins – “She Said”

When to sing: After some rye whiskey, moonshine, or corn liquor.

Make sure to: Not memorize the lyrics, but memorize how Adkins says the words, which will be no where near how they are supposed to sound. The whole thing will work better if you pronounce “head” like “hayee.”

Hunx and His Punx – “U Don’t Like Rock N Roll”

When to sing: Immediately after some group of moms sings “I Love Rock  Roll”. That would be great.

Make sure to:  Wear a bedazzled leather jacket. Pants optional.

Interpol – “Obstacle #1″

When to sing: When you’re wearing black suit, shirt and tie, and you’re totally ready to make the same note that spans over 50% of the song interesting.

Make sure to: Import Carlos D’s New York Doesn’t Really Care swagger.

Islands – “Rough Gem”

When to sing: After someone sings Whitesnake or Dokken or Aerosmith — when things are decidedly un-twee.

Make sure to: Play air piano on those three timeless piano plunks on the chorus.

Jamie Lidell – “Multiply”

When to sing: When you want to sing  Jamiroquai’s “Canned Heat” but don’t want to hear anyone say “Why didn’t you do the Napolean Dynamite dance?”

Make sure to: Right after you fling your leopard-print suit-jacket on and take one last sip of your dirty martini. Study up on Lidell’s dance moves.

Janelle Monáe feat. Big Boi – “Tightrope”

When to sing: Two or three times a night is totally acceptable.

Make sure to:  Put in the version with the rap in it. I’m sure they have it, but you don’t want to get all “Waterfalls (No Rap)” on the mic. Also, put some voodoo on it, yeah?

Jay Reatard  - “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me”

When to sing: If you’re feeling like Jay, or if you’re feeling like a tribute to Jay.

Make sure to: Have a lot of fun singing a really, really dismal, depressing song.

Jeff Buckley – “Grace”

When to sing: On a night where you truly think that you can sing this. Which means you’re a ringer and you don’t really belong at the karaoke joint, or your liquid courage has overcome your actual talent. Also acceptable: on a $50 dare.

Make sure to: If nothing else, if you punt the riffing or that high G and make Buckley roll over in his grave, just make sure you hit the last little vocal riff — it’s just too perfect.

Jens Lekman – “The Opposite of Hallelujah”

When to sing: After a glass of champagne or two, when those bubbles start to go to your head and put a spring in your step. You’ll need it for those tambourines and handclaps.

Make sure to: Mime picking up a seashell to illustrate your homelessness. You can be the crab, too, if you feel so inclined.

The Jesus Lizard – “Seasick”

When to sing: Preferably after someone sings “Piano Man”, or something really just bad. Show them what bad really means.

Make sure to: Bow/curtsey gracefully when you’re done. Expect it to go something like this. If it’s not going like that, you’re doing it wrong.

Joanna Newsom – “Inflammatory Writ”

When to sing: When you’re wearing a flowery dress and want to be the first person to sing the words “poetaster” and “ululate” in a bar.

Make sure to: It’s got the swagger of a great drinking song, so hoist your stein and rock to and fro, and sing heartily about mollusks’ weddings and writers’ block.

Joy Division – “Transmission”

When to sing:  Because it’s not really a participation song and, depending on where you take it, more of a performance, doing this early in the night is advisable, odd as it may seem.

Make sure to: Not mimic Ian Curtis’ dance moves. You can’t do them, and may god help you if you get laughs. Totally cool to be inspired by Curtis, though.

The Knife – “Heartbeats”

When to sing: After everyone’s had enough clear, expensive drinks to get down to this sultry slow burner.

Make sure to: Not pick the Jose Gonzalez version and get all “Blower’s Daughter” on everyone.

Kurt Vile – “Freak Train”

When to sing: When you want to transfer your drunken ramblings from the bar to the mic. In fact, you could have never heard this song and as long as you’re all-in on the lyrics, it will be fantastic.

Make sure to:  Just walk right into a cab when you’re done singing because you shouldn’t be fit to drink anymore.

Lana Del Ray – “Video Games”

When to sing: It’s you, it’s you, it’s all for you.

Make sure to: Everything you do, you tell me all the time.

LCD Soundsystem – “Drunk Girls”

When to sing: When you hear someone of any sex go, “Oh my god where did Chrissy even go?” and when you got a posse behind you to to shout “drunk girls” and “drunk boys.”

Make sure to: BYO Sennheiser 509.

Lush – “Ciao! (feat. Jarvis Cocker)”

When to sing:  When you’re sick of duets that only serve to profess two people’s Endless Love for one another and you want one that’s just full of bile and vitriol.

Make sure to: If you want, play the opposite emotion, like the audition scene from Mulholland Dr!

M.O.P. – “Ante Up”

When to sing: When the “Scenario” call-and-response just doesn’t seem hard enough.

Make sure to: Go so hard. If you’re not aggro-rapping like Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame, you will fall into another terrible hip-hop karaoke performance so ante up.

Mclusky – “Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues”

When to sing:  When no one can see, or hear, and it’s the end of the world and you’re ushering everyone to their graves with the karaoke version of “Nearer My God To Thee”.

Make sure to:  Intone “sell me to wonderluuust” like Andy Falkous does.

Misfits – “Where Eagles Dare”

When to sing: After doing a “waterfall” with your group because you signed them up for this and they’re all going to…

Make sure to:  Huddle around the mic, arms around each other, and show everyone what a drunken group shout song really sounds like.

Mission of Burma – “That’s When I Reached For My Revolver”

When to sing:  Since it doesn’t have the bite that some of these other post-punk numbers do, you can sing it early and embrace that final chorus in arena-karaoke fashion.

Make sure to:  Not pick the Moby version. Ahh, that’s not a half-bad version.

The Mountain Goats – “This Year”

When to sing: When the taste of scotch is rich on your tongue, naturally.

Make sure to:  To do that little “ahha” thing before “listen to the engine whine.” And, make it through this night, if it kills you.

My Morning Jacket – “Gideon”

When to sing: Probably one of the hardest songs on this list, so you could really bring the place down if you’re aligned for it. If you got that high note, go for it anytime, and show that dude who just did “With Or Without You” what the deal is.

Make sure to:  Remember that you can hit the super high note like Jim James does live  – just scream that sawngun out.

The National – “Mr. November”

When to sing: This fall seems to be another perfect time, no?

Make sure to: Amble through the crowd really slowly, steadily stepping on tables and chairs, and if you run into a tiny girl in the bar, do this.

Neutral Milk Hotel – “Song Against Sex”

When to sing: When you want to sing “Too Drunk To Fuck” but you don’t have the drugs to take to soothe  your mind — you’re always sober.

Make sure to: To preface your performance by alerting the audience that there will be strictly be no video recording or photography of any kind. In fact, you should probably be doing that before every song anyway.

The New Pornographers – “Bleeding Heart Show”

When to sing: When you have a cast of at least A.C. Newman, Neko Case, Kathryn Calder, and Dan Bejar to join up for the “Hey la’s”, a crucial moment that cannot be left to the karaoke track.

Make sure to: Just give the guy who’s playing Dan Bejar a tambourine and a drink. He doesn’t need to be on stage the whole time.

Nick Lowe – “I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass”

When to sing: Such a great lead-off song, or you could win the night if you can get the DJ to give you a fast pass to the mic right after someone breaks a pint glass.

Make sure to: Bring your drink up there and then either pretend to drop it and laugh it off and wink, or throw it to the ground and stare directly at the audience and stand perfectly still until you are escorted from the stage.

Of Montreal – “Gronlandic Edit”

When to sing: To make an entrance upon arriving at the bar, as the beat is conducive to Night at the Roxbury-style head-bobbing and/or your own personalized moonwalk. With moves like those, you’ll get mic priority in no time.

Make sure to: Bring some friends in a boys’ choir to sing the high falsetto.

Okkervil River – “Lost Coastlines”

When to sing:  At the peak of the night — only because I think this is one of the better karaoke songs. It’s got the makings of one of those “gather ’round, we’re doing ‘Lost Coastlines’” vibes.

Make sure to: Use the little instrumental break that everyone in the bar has to sing the “La, la, la la la la,” part that’s coming up. It’s such a perfect place to explain it.

Patti Smith – “Free Money”

When to sing: Be true to Patti and do it sober!

Make sure to: Not go all Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs on this one — your melody rides the feeling.

Pavement – “Unfair”

When to sing: When you’re at a place on the Sunset Strip and you don’t want to sing “AEnima” again because no one really got it the first time.

Make sure to: Bring out those Malkmus histrionics and also let the DJ know that there really should be like every Pavement song in this book.

Peaches – “Fuck the Pain Away”

When to sing:  When the idea of singing “Closer” seems too dominant and chauvinistic, and you want something a little more coquettish and submissive, yet just as fucking graphic.

Make sure to: Go in knowing that you’re about to say “Fuck the Pain Away” 24 times, and pray for semantic satiation.

The Pharcyde – “Oh Shit”

When to sing: When you want to sing “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm” but you’ve got a team of tenors with you.

Make sure to: Just get a lady to sing Slimkid3′s verse because come on.

Pixies – “Hey”

When to sing: Directly before or after someone sings The Breeders – ”One Divine Hammer”.

Make Sure To: Interact with the singer of “One Divine Hammer”. This is your future wife, or at the very least you should start a band together.

PJ Harvey – “Words that Maketh Murder”

When to sing: When you’re pretty sure everyone’s either ready to go get eggs at the local diner, or you’re desperately seeking the attention of the guy or girl wearing brown and black in the corner next to The Addams Family pinball game.

Make sure to: Start loud, get soft, and then just sort of decide whether you want to finish loud or just repeat the harmonies or pass out.

Portishead – “All Mine”

When to sing: It’s such a James Bond-y torch song – the one that can bring you glory and fame – depending on your skill set.  After midnight, to be sure, and after you’ve told seven different men your seven different names.

Make sure to:  Ask if, just this once, you can smoke in here.

R. Kelly – “Trapped In The Closet”

When to sing: This for the KJ. If you’re ever a KJ, what you do is you learn the first 10 or so parts to this magnum opus and interpolate them throughout the night. This really is the best thing a KJ could do.

Make sure to: Pull out your beretta when things get heated.

The Rapture – “Out Of The Races And Onto The Tracks”

When to sing: After the idea of impressing people with your voice has long since faded, and you believe you can entertain the masses by doing one simple thing:

Make sure to: Shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake.

Regina Spektor – “Your Honor”

When to sing: Trying to explain to the bouncer that your belligerently drunk friend is just “fighting for your honor” and/or distract the bouncer by creating the first Regina Spektor-inspired mosh pit ever.

Make sure to: Grab an unsuspecting audience member to forcefully air-kiss.

The Replacements – “Bastards of Young”

When to sing: Right after a heated argument about what you’re doing with your life, or HBO’s Girls. The kind of performance you give will hang on how drunk you are — but that’s kind of the point with The Mats.

Make sure to: Tell the DJ that he should have literally every Replacements song in the book.

Rilo Kiley – “Silver Lining”

When to sing: You’ve been politely shot down by the fourth cute guy you’ve approached at the bar- is it your fault they’re all “seeing someone”?- and you want to show all those guys what they’re missing.

Make sure to: Not confuse it with “Dreams”. Trust me, those chord changes really sound the same, especially after one drink too many.

Rufus Wainwright — “14th Street”

When to sing: After a bottle of wine, and when you’re in any city with a gridded downtown, doesn’t matter how big.

Make sure to: Play up Wainwright’s slur if you have to and find that perfect three-glasses-of-wine legato.

Ryan Adams – “Halloweenhead”

When to sing: It doesn’t have to be October to chant this one across the bar. Be ironic, or find your inner Jack Skellington, and belt this out at Christmas shindigs everywhere.

Make sure to: ”Guitar solo!”

Scott Walker – “Jackie”

When to sing: When you can see the bottom of your first elderflower cocktail, and after you place a mint leaf behind your ear.

Make sure to: Indicate just as much, if not more, than Walker does in the above video. “My beard so very long and flowing” being one example of a shining moment for pantomime.

The Shins – “Gone For Good”

When to sing: A perfect song for an afternoon karaoke session, or one of your first songs.

Make sure to: Bring a friend who can do those harmonies cause they’re so breezy.

Silver Jews – “Punks In The Beerlight”

When to sing: Right before you propose to your burnout girlfriend.

Make sure to: Bring your punk up there with you.

Sleater-Kinney – “Dig Me Out”

When to sing: After you’ve grown tired of the same polite rebuffs you’ve been giving all night and want to transform your face into a giant “back the hell up off” sign.

Make sure to:  Furrow the brow, clench the mic, and curtsy at the end.

Sleigh Bells – “Rill Rill”

When to sing: When you want everyone to get up and sway together without singing “Time of Your Life”. Once that Funkadelic sample kicks in, it’s only natural.

Make sure to: Wear just one fingerless glove and a string of bullets, if you’ve got ‘em.

Spoon – “The Underdog”

When to sing: You’re sloppy, stained with kisses, and your high school girlfriend you haven’t spoken to in over a decade has just walked through the door.

Make sure to: Take a page or two from Tom Jones – dance, dance, dance with the horns!

The Strokes – “15 Minutes”

When to sing: That one night you decide to be bold and wear the leather jacket, despite the fact that your friends all joke around and call you “The Fonz.”

Make sure to: Stay focused, despite that dreamy guitar solo, watch for the changes, and try to keep up at the end.

Sufjan Stevens – “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”

When to sing:  When you’re sure that you can come back from it. This is for advanced artists only.

Make sure to:  …I don’t even know. I just kind of want to hear someone sing it and just live in whatever weird moment that it manifests forever.

Supergrass – “Alright”

When to sing: Someone’s brought up at least one reference to Alicia Silverstone, Brittany Murphy, Jeremy Sisto, or anything having to do with 1995′s Clueless.

Make sure to: Really belt out “But we are young!”, especially if it’s your 30th birthday.

Tapes ‘n’ Tapes – “Insistor”

When to sing:  When you want to sing Violent Femmes, but you’d rather sing a song about being a badger. The song has a great arc to it, so it should take care of itself.

Make sure to: Add that big scream in the final chorus.

Television – “See No Evil”

When to sing:  Right after the girl who sang Patti Smith asked you, “So, what are you singing?”

Make sure to:  Turn in your best Tom Verlaine impression (sing everything just a little behind the beat), and bring a beer to drink during that killer guitar solo.

The-Dream – “Yamaha”

When to sing:  When you want to branch out from your Prince standards, and “Darling Nikki”.

Make sure to:  Wear your motorcycle jacket, and take some names, lil’ mama.

The Thermals – “Here’s Your Future”

When to sing: On the eve of any Catholic-related holiday.

Make sure to: Keep the nasal passages clear; otherwise, you’ll have everyone asking what Springsteen song this is.

Titus Andronicus – “No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future”

When to sing:  After a three-Jameson rocks, and you get the idea that the only way anyone will like you tonight is if you bring everyone down to your level.

Make sure to:  Plant some ringers in the audience for the “You will always be a loser” part, and if you get everyone singing at the end you’ll be a karaoke loser forever.

Tom Waits – “I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You”

When to sing: When the night is squinting back at you, and there’s only about five people in the bar, and the bartender is wiping down the bar half-interested in what you’re doing.

Make sure to:  At the end, tell everyone to tip their bartenders.

tUnE-yArDs – “Bizness”

When to sing: Like “Tightrope”, as often as possible.  

Make sure to: BYO face paint, and see if you can find a way to do that vibrato thing Merril does at the start of the second verse.

TV On The Radio – “Wolf Like Me”

When to sing: After a spirited conversation about what, ultimately, is the best TV On The Radio song.

Make sure to: Put in a good argument for “Wolf Like Me”.

The Velvet Underground – “Beginning To See The Light”

When to sing: When your night is striking a nice balance somewhere between Loaded and White Light/White Heat.

Make sure to: Just make up whatever melody/words you want during the verse.

The Weeknd – “Wicked Games”

When to sing: When you want to bring the sexual tension from “girl look at that cute guy” to “this is unbearable and I have to leave.”

Make sure to:  Not even attempt this if you can’t hit those high notes. Consult friends before singing and listen to them if they laugh at you.

Whiskeytown – “Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight”

When to sing: When you’re drunk enough that your country roots start to show, but are still aware that you’re singing Ryan Adams.

Make sure to: Add that twang that Ryan Adams used to do.

Why? – “The Hallows”

When to sing: When you want to get back to the proto-hipster, and drop some fantastic white-boy rhymes on the mic.

Make sure to: Preface this song by “You’ve probably never heard of these guys” just for old-time’s sake.

Wilco – “Monday”

When to sing: After a couple of PBRs and after someone asks you if you know any country songs other than that Ryan Adams guy.

Make sure to: Infer that you do know more country songs, but few are as great as “Monday”.

Wild Flag – “Romance”

When to sing: I know it’s a new song in the canon, but really, when is there not a good time to sing this song?

Make sure to: Air-guitar throughout and slyly note to passersby that you saw Sleater-Kinney live before they split. Like, during the song.

Wire – “Ex Lion Tamer”

When to sing:  After you get done complaining about HBO’s Girls for the last hour and just want to grab everyone by the collars, and scream some metaphors in their faces. This is not an uncommon emotion.

Make sure to: Bring up a hype-man for the extra punch off from the mic when you sing the echo lines in the verse.

Wolf Parade – “This Heart’s On Fire”

When to sing: After about a pack of cigarettes into the night.

Make sure to: Leave absolutely all of it on stage.

When I got there, though, I realized that, for many, Coachella is just another California party. Whereas I was going to surround myself with music and people who loved music, like I have done repeatedly at Bonnaroo for the past six years, many here were at Coachella, to, well, be at Coachella. There’s certainly nothing wrong with going somewhere for the sake of going somewhere, plus the added bonus of catching sets of music, but the Coachella experience definitely wasn’t all my pubescent dreams had longed for. I expected massive crowds of cultish fans going nuts for reformed acts like At the Drive-in, Refused, and Mazzy Star. I expected Radiohead heads to overtake the polo field and post up all day at the main-stage waiting for their beloved gods of rock to grace their eyes and ears. Maybe I was hoping for something that really doesn’t exist anywhere but in my head. Maybe I’m outgrowing the magic of festivals. Or maybe there simply were too many young, neon-clad partiers and not enough music-worshippers.

Photo by Ted Maider

For whatever reason, the music never felt as powerful as I would have expected it to, because, when it comes right down to it, for many sets, I felt alone in my excitement. I may be out of line here, but something about Coachella did not sit well with me. The music was great, the setting was phenomenal, I just wish my dreams weren’t so far from the reality. But I guess that’s the reality of high expectations, they can never be met.

I’ll never forget the unique experience of actually keeping an eye out for the Radiohead fanatics, and actually being able to get close for Jeff Mangum right before he started. In many ways, it kept the performances I wanted to see intimate, but in others, I wish I had a community to look on with. Because nobody goes to a festival just to see music, and sadly, for many here, that seemed to be only one of the fringe perks. Maybe Bonnaroo is my perfect festival after all.

Anyhow, here’s what we all saw.

-Drew Litowitz
Senior Staff Writer

Friday, April 13th

Photo by Ted Maider

Abe Vigoda – Gobi – 12:00 p.m.

Abe Vigoda’s tropical goth-rock was a perfect way to ease into the weekend’s festivities. Playing their subtle blend of dream pop, new wave, and doom-goth–a vaguely sunny take on Disintegration era Cure–the California natives sounded pretty good in front of the Gobi stage’s palm tree-lined backdrop. Crush’s “Repeating Angel” was a skittering, tribal romp basking in the desert sun, as Juan Velasquez’s low howl skittered atop the murky synth. -Drew Litowitz

Wolf Gang – Gobi – 1:00 p.m.

With a name like Wolf Gang, I decided to judge a band by its title and check these bros out. After all, I have been known to like a few indie groups with references to animals in their names (oftentimes wolves in particular). But instead of the strange Odd Future/Wolf Parade amalgamation stemming from the deepest, most twisted associative regions of my brain, the roles of Spencer Krug and Tyler, The Creator were swapped out for the sort of standard British pop-singing and songwriting you rarely see performed outside of rom-coms starring Hugh Grant as a washed-up former pop singer. Dude even wore a thin black scarf and a matching vest! In other words, this was not my cup of hot beverage. -Drew Litowitz

Other Lives – Gobi – 2:05 p.m.

Other Lives was one of the most pleasant surprises of the festival weekend. Their show was sort of like what would happen if Talk Talk was part of the Canterbury Folk scene, and Thom Yorke gave Mark Hollis a few singing lessons. (To be clear, frontman Jesse Tabish sounded nothing like Mark Hollis, but for the sake of my stupid comparison to Talk Talk’s instrumentation, let’s just say Mark Hollis started singing like a folkier Thom Yorke mixed with Bowerbirds’ Phil Moore and it ended up sounding like this). And since Other Lives opened for Radiohead on the first leg of their North American tour, Yorke may in fact have given the guy singing lessons. Aside from Tabish’s vocals, though, dissonant strings, brass swells, churning acoustic guitar, and heavy piano made for a set filled with fluttering, grandiose “post-folk” explosions. Subtle, elegant, and ultimately, unhinged. -Drew Litowitz

Kendrick Lamar – Coachella – 2:40 p.m. 

Photo by Ted Maider

It’s hard enough to win over a crowd of anxious festival goers, and even harder when it’s raining and said festival goers have just endured hours of ridiculously long lines, parking, and a seemingly endless series of security checkpoints. But Kendrick Lamar made it look easy, drawing the first real crowd of the afternoon with his sharp flow and huge stage presence. Kicking off with a couple of verses from “Buried Alive”, his feature on Drake’s Take Care, Lamar managed to keep the audience engaged even as he stuck almost exclusively to tracks off of his forthcoming Dre-approved LP, before ending with “Rigamortis” and “Hiiipower”, two highlights off of last year’s Section.80. -Möhammad Choudhery

Jimmy Cliff and Tim Armstrong – Coachella – 5:10 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

One of Jimmy Cliff’s most renown songs is a cover of Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now”, a classic that digresses on rain clouds clearing and people’s situations improving for the best. Given Friday’s downpour, it felt like the wrong moment for a reggae star to sing such a track. Still, it didn’t matter though. If anybody could make people smile, it was Cliff, accompanied by punk legend Tim Armstrong, as they played a handful of reggae jams to try and brighten up the crowd. Cliff was lively on stage, while he danced charismatically and belted out tracks like “Vietnam” and Armstrong’s “Ruby Soho”, which had everyone dancing and looking past the rain. Shortly after his set ended, however, the clouds parted and Coachella returned to its normal state. Something tells me Cliff was behind the weather all along. -Ted Maider

Death Grips – Gobi – 5:45 p.m.

Minutes before the rest of Death Grips took the stage, Zach Hill’s drum soundcheck proved more than enough to inspire the first mosh pit of their set. And once they actually got to playing, it was clear that it’d hardly be the last. Frontman Stefan Burnett cut a downright terrifying figure onstage as he bellowed his way through “Beware” and “Spread Eagle Cross the Block”, both off the group’s first mixtape, the latter of which finds Burnett beasting over Link Wray’s surf-rock classic “Rumble”. New tracks “Lost Boys” and “I’ve Seen Footage” were met with raucous circle-pitting, as was the menacing “Guillotine”, which saw the audience attempt to shout along with Burnett’s half-intelligible shouts. In a way unlike any other act in recent memory, Death Grips fuses the blunt candor of hardcore punk with ferocious, low-slung hip-hop stylings that somehow caught the ear of Epic Records. To their credit, this marriage of ideologies works both on record and on-stage. -Möhammad Choudhery

Arctic Monkeys – Coachella – 6:30 p.m.

The last time they played Coachella, back in 2007, the Arctic Monkeys had just released their second album and were still being dismissed by many as just another NME-championed guitar boyband soon to go the way of the Fratellis, the Libertines, etc. Five years and two very solid albums later, they made their triumphant return to Coachella’s Main Stage, blasting through a greatest hits set that touched on all the best points of their catalog. Alex Turner has developed into one of the finest frontmen around in the years since then, cracking jokes in his dry Sheffield accent and leading his band through hits old and new with all the cocksure swagger and strut of a bonafide rockstar. Fan favorites “Still Take You Home” and “Pretty Visitors” were delivered with blistering precision, as was “R U Mine?”, one of two new songs the band played, whose thunderous groove nods heavily to tourmates and new chums the Black Keys. -Möhammad Choudhery

WU LYF – Gobi – 7:00 p.m.

The lead-up to WU LYF’s evening set was one of the most ridiculous of the weekend. Coachella’s few, proud young-alts packed themselves nicely into the Gobi tent to literally worship the vaguely enigmatic Manchester quartet. I mean, people were chanting “WU LYF” and shouting out “I’ll love you forever!” for a good ten minutes before the guys even came out to play. I really had no idea people were this apeshit over WU LYF up until this point. Shows how much I know. Throughout a set of bombastic, post-rocky pop, self-described by the group as “Heavy Pop”, I was awed by how gravely Ellery Roberts” voice actually was, especially in the live setting. Dude makes Tom Waits sound like Michael Jackson with minor laryngitis. His onstage banter was almost incomprehensible, too, since he even talks like he just swallowed a whole bucket of glass shards. “LYF” and “Heavy Pop” went over great, but the true highlight was probably when Roberts alluded to Kanye West’s “So Appalled” chanting “It’s like that sometimes man ridiculous” for seemingly no reason. Fine by me. After all, “We Bros”. And if we weren’t prior, we certainly are now. -Drew Litowitz

Pulp – Coachella – 7:50 p.m.

Pulp’s Coachella set was hilarious, fun, and exciting. No surprises there. But the relatively small crowd was a tad unsettling. It’s not like this was one of the first of the few U.S. performances this fairly popular band has played in nearly a decade, or anything. ANYHOW, before the band even entered, for a good ten minutes, Pulp’s deliberately overwrought “scrolling questions” introduction set the scene for a lighthearted, nostalgic jaunt through the band’s discography. Featuring green scrolling text operated by a seemingly arrogant, apologetic, insecure, and self-conscious, charmingly British computer, the ten-minute introduction certainly kept the crowd restless, with a seemingly never-ending string of ridiculous questions and commentary. But when Cocker and co. finally emerged, fans were promptly served a plate of the classic arty Brit-pop they anticipated.

With his captivating brand of British wit and his overtly sexual demeanor, Cocker played the role of sex-crazed ringmaster, momentarily turning Coachella’s main stage into Cirque du Pulp. Cocker even offered up grapes (yes, the man was eating grapes on stage) to the crowd, breaking down whatever fourth wall there could have been in a set during which the guy basically talked us through his sexual existence from beginning to present, from hiding in a wardrobe watching two people get it on, to eventually “Doing it for [himself] and entering the adult world,” (“Do You Remember the First Time?”). He even apologized for the band’s slightly slim set with a well-timed innuendo, “I’m usually great with timing, just ask my girlfriend.”

As for the particulars, obviously, “Disco 2000″ and “F.E.E.L.I.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E” hit pretty hard, and “Common People” was exactly the sort of “penetration” Cocker told us it would be. “I know we’ve only just gotten to know each other, and I’m sorry, but now I’m going to have to penetrate you,” he warned. Soon enough, Cocker’s ice cold “Ahs” and sensual whispers climaxed into the song’s yelped appeal for low-class monotony. As promised, we were all fucked. -Drew Litowitz

Frank Ocean – Gobi – 8:15 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Mystery surrounded Frank Ocean’s debut solo performance at Coachella: Was he going to play tracks off his mixtape, last year’s Nostalgia, Ultra? How many songs could he actually do live? Were other members of Odd Future going to show up?  All of these questions were answered in a very awkward set on Friday. Frank Ocean’s band strolled out in welding masks about 15 minutes late and tipped off the set with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Long Time Gone”. Throughout, Ocean kept cutting off his band, and it appeared as if nobody on stage really had an idea of what was going on. In hindsight, the only things that saved the show were Ocean’s fantastic vocals, which plucked all the right heartstrings when they were on, and a surprise appearance by Tyler, the Creator for “Analog 2”. -Ted Maider

The Rapture – Mojave – 8:45 p.m.

Still fresh off the release of last year’s In the Grace of Your Love, New York City natives The Rapture turned in a typically strong performance Friday night, with their blend of ’70s-era disco and spiked dance-punk making for one of the most assuredly crowd-friendly performances of the evening. Frontman/guitarist Luke Jenner was in top form, showcasing his pipes on the sax-infused “How Deep is Your Love”, in between digging into the band’s catalog for “Whoo! Alright, Yeah! Uh Huh.” and the obvious crowd favorite “House of Jealous Lovers”. -Möhammad Choudhery

Mazzy Star – Outdoor – 8:50 p.m.

It makes sense for a band that’s been defunct for about a decade to be a little rusty, but I also expect that same band to rehearse some of the corrosion away before returning to the stage of a major U.S. festical. Unfortunately, Mazzy Star’s Friday night set was a rickety, psychedelic mess. “She sings off key the whole time,” said one guy I talked to afterward. I personally found the band hopelessly in search for a psychedelic looseness, so much so that there wasn’t much for the audience to latch onto. The percussion was slightly out of time, the slide guitars squealed and bent aimlessly, Hope Sendoval’s voice wasn’t really even all that powerful or haunting. Sure, “Fade into You” peaked the crowd’s interest, and to be fair, the song’s sliding guitar melody aligned perfectly with its gorgeous chorus. But for such a draw as a reunited Mazzy Star, the set’s weaknesses were jarring. Certainly one of the weekend’s most disappointing sets. -Drew Litowitz

M83 – Mojave – 10:15 p.m.

Even the Black Keys and Explosions in the Sky couldn’t keep one of the largest crowds of the weekend from packing into the Mojave tent for M83 just after ten on Friday night. Anticipation built as the lights flickered off and on and the band’s soundcheck went 20 minutes over schedule. Hardly a soul left before Anthony Gonzalez finally took the stage, who was followed closely by bandmates Pierre Maulni and Morgan Kibby, and the collective wasted no time breaking into “Intro”, the gorgeous Zola Jesus-featuring first track off of last year’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. M83′s set mostly consisted of tracks off that album, with the group’s ubiquitous hit “Midnight City” making for one of the most unforgettable moments all weekend. Though fan favorite “Kim & Jessie” was conspicuously absent from their setlist, M83 more than made up for it with killer renditions of “Couleurs” and Daft Punk’s “Fall”. -Möhammad Choudhery

Refused – Outdoor – 11:20 p.m.

Photo by Frazer Harrison // Getty Images

When all is said and done, Refused was one of Coachella’s defining moments. I’ll go out on a limb and say that, barring the almighty Radiohead and the absolute absurdity that was Dre and Snoop’s set, Refused’s late-night Friday set was the true highlight of the entire event. That’s saying a lot for a guy who a) is not all that crazy about punk to begin with (even post-modern punk) and b) is not too familiar with Refused’s recorded output, outside of listening to The Shape of Punk to Come a few times. The band was so intense and involved, they felt as vital as they must have been back when they were consistently touring. These highly complex, thoughtful songs were executed with a more than healthy dose of intensity, really exuding the sort of self-aware, agnostic vigor that made them popular to begin with. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the band had always wanted to do The Shape of Punk to Come justice in concert because they never had a lot of time to promote it.

Frontman Dennis Lyxzén proved to be Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s true godfather, throwing his mic stand to the sky and catching it mid-air without giving his lungs any rest. Lyxzén even appeared to experience an on-stage epiphany, relentlessly appreciative of the crowd that came to watch a “group of Swedish dudes yell” and play songs over a decade old. “Stay curious,” he preached, “and don’t let boredom get you.” He was honestly, and overtly, thankful that Goldenvoice persuaded Refused to join the party in the desert. It was refreshing to see a band so consumed by their own songs. I couldn’t get “We want the airwaves back!” out of my head for the remainder of the festival. -Drew Litowitz

Saturday, April 14th

Photo by Ted Maider

Destroyer – Outdoor – 2:30 p.m.

I’d be hard-pressed to find a less enthusiastic frontman than Dan Bejar. It’s as if the dude is unwillingly being sent on an early morning Sunday school field trip with the lamest kids in his class. He’s almost never looking at the crowd. He sings like he just downed a pint of NyQuil, but then realized he had a show to do. That being said, somehow it’s not a total bore to watch Destroyer. This lackadaisical performing style actually suits Bejar’s ambivalent songs of artistic isolation. It’d be nice to see some enthusiasm, though, to feel like Bejar actually wants to be there, but I guess we just have to make do with the distance. Opening with “Rubies” got the crowd pretty excited, and a slow-burning “Bay of Pigs” closed out a set that was as dazed out as its removed frontman. -Drew Litowitz

Azealia Banks – Gobi – 2:50 p.m.

As one of the most buzzed-about acts of 2012, 20-year-old Harlem rapper Azealia Banks certainly had a lot riding on her early afternoon Coachella set. And though initial technical difficulties and a very early end (perhaps due to her lack of material; her debut EP was just delayed this week, in fact), Banks turned in what was arguably the breakout performance of the weekend, displaying a remarkably captivating stage presence that makes it hard to believe that this was one of her first live performances to date. Even as she delivered some of the downright filthiest lyrics of any performer this weekend (the refrain to her hit “212″ goes “I guess that cunt gettin’ eaten”), Banks was all smiles in a purple wig and black and white spandex. She saved the best for last, throwing down a searing surprise cover of the Prodigy’s “Firestarter” teasing the aforementioned “212″ before breaking into its first verse with the help of nearly everyone else packed into the Gobi tent. Banks was visibly choked up mid-verse when she realized this, but managed to finish the track off a high note. Though her set lasted a mere 25 minutes, the intense energy she brought to the stage and the promise displayed in the few tunes she did play ensure that the next time she plays Coachella, it’ll be for real. -Möhammad Choudhery

Childish Gambino – Coachella – 2:50 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Donald Glover just oozes with talent. When he’s not hosting fictional morning talk shows as Troy Barnes, the dense jock on NBC’s Community, he’s tearing up stages on tour as Childish Gambino. But similar to his acting gigs, Glover takes the Gambino persona to another level, and seamlessly blends the best of both worlds on-stage. For the Hollywood-glazed crowd at Coachella, Gambino, despite a broken foot, delivered the goods, complete with an intense sing-along rendition of “Bonfire” and a crowd-erupting cut of “You See Me”. Nothing could top the surprising uppercut of “You Know Me”, however, which featured dynamite appearances by Danny Brown and Kendrick Lamar, who hopped alongside Glover to equal fervor. Whether he’s Troy Barnes, or Childish Gambino, Glover’s remains one of the most interesting characters in the rap game these days. -Ted Maider

The Big Pink – Mojave – 3:25 p.m.

Despite coming off a decidedly disappointing sophomore effort, this year’s Future This, Milo Cordell and Robbie Furze had no issue tearing up the Mojave tent Saturday afternoon. The duo, joined onstage by drummer Akiko Matsuura and Leopold Ross on bass, leaned heavily on their most recent effort, with noisy pop jams “Hit the Ground” and “Rubbernecking” sounding endlessly better live than they did in headphones. Beginning their set to a half-full tent with Future This‘ lead single “Stay Gold”, the crowd seemed to grow with each successive song, with “Dominos” – a highlight off of the Big Pink’s debut A Brief History of Love – warranting the loudest cheers of their set. -Möhammad Choudhery

fIREHOSE – Gobi – 4:00 p.m.

Mike Watt looks exactly how you’d expect anybody from a seminal 80′s post-punk slacker band to look 20-some years later: like a slob. He has not aged particularly well. On top of that, he’s hard to comprehend. I tried to understand any of his between song banter, but he talked like he was coughing up dust. On the other hand, his bass playing, the actual thing I should be reviewing, was as astounding as it should be. His unique blend of punk-funk rhythm was exciting to watch. Some of the songs felt more like an excuse to pack as much frenetic, technical punk instrumentation in as possible, but no complaints there. -Drew Litowitz

Laura Marling – Gobi – 6:30 p.m.

All I can say is Marling did her best to not let the blasting bass bleeding into the Gobi tent get to her head, but it certainly got to mine. Her precious folk couldn’t stand against the overwhelming low-end if it tried, which it did. I cut out after about two songs, which I could barely make out over the noise. -Drew Litowitz

Jeff Mangum – Outdoor – 7:20 p.m.

I’ve now seen Jeff Mangum a total of four times, and, for better or for worse, almost nothing changes from show to show. His crazed, emotive performances are consistently on-point. For whatever reason (really, it is so unclear as to why Mangum is doing this again, but I’m not complaining) Mangum delivers the songs his fans have been mulling over since 1998 with an unmistakable earnestness and sincerity. His Coachella set was no different. (Though palm trees swaying behind the always awkward Magum was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.) Mangum smiled uncomfortably at outwardly doting fans in between wide-eye, crazed yelps about ashes falling from the sky.

In other words, it was as mind-blowing as any single man playing simple chord structures and singing over them could possibly be. The true surprise, though, was that Milk Hotel’s Santa-esque Scott Spilane and a slew of brass and accordion players made several appearances throughout the set. They came out to play “The Fool” and added the distinctive horns to “In the Aeroplane over the Sea”, which was an unexpected delight. Mangum looked like he hadn’t seen the sun in years, so I’m hoping somebody lathered him up with some SPF 80. -Drew Litowitz

St. Vincent – Gobi – 7:45 p.m.

Led by the ridiculously charming Annie Clark, St. Vincent deftly handled the unlucky fate of having to compete for a crowd against the Shins and a recently resurrected Jeff Mangum, even arguably coming out on top, with the gathered crowd stretching far past the Gobi Tent’s wings and back. The audience erupted when Clark broke out a theremin on opener “Northern Lights”, though the loudest cheers definitely came as she introduced “Cruel” by describing the plot of its music video. Clark’s angular guitar riffage took center stage for most of the set, with standouts including “Cheerleader” and new song “Krokodil”, which saw her temporarily ditch her axe for a bit of crowdsurfing. -Möhammad Choudhery

Flying Lotus – Gobi – 9:00 p.m.

L.A. resident Flying Lotus is hardly a stranger to the Polo Fields, having played three of the last four Coachellas. His stock as a performer has never been higher though; in the time since his lauded 2010 set, his Brainfeeder imprint has grown into one of the most respected labels in the country and he’s since collaborated with artists as diverse as Thom Yorke and Erykah Badu. His Saturday night set, which consisted largely of material from his forthcoming fourth LP, at Coachella’s Gobi Tent was easily one of the best performances of the weekend, exhibiting just how far he continues to stretch the limits of hip-hop and IDM to fit his singular musical vision. An array of Lotus’ famous fans – who ranged from Odd Future affiliate Earl Sweatshirt and Brainfeeder standout Thundercat to Dr. Dre himself – watched from the wings as Lotus had visible trouble containing his excitement. In between premiering new material, most of which sounds light-years from the space-jazz beat odyssey that was 2010’s Cosmogramma, Flying Lotus dropped a series of assured crowd-pleasing bangers, with “Yonkers”, “Hard in da Paint” and “Niggas in Paris”, all of which got the audience very riled up, though in his typically capricious style, nothing he played all night overstayed its welcome. -Möhammad Choudhery

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Mojave – 10:00 p.m.

One of the most hotly anticipated acts of the weekend, Godspeed You! Black Emperor faced the unfortunate fate of sharing a timeslot with David Guetta, Bon Iver, and the half-hour before Radiohead’s set, a fact that meant few would relinquish their vantage point at the main stage for a chance to see the Canadian post-rock titans, but the 20-or-so people who did make their way over to the Mojave Tent for their set were treated to a performance for the ages. Muted applause greeted the band, who took the stage and barely acknowledged the audience, turning instead to form a half-circle facing one another before breaking into the quiet meditative drone of “Albanian”, an unreleased track the band often begin their live shows with. “Albanian” was followed by “Gathering Storm”, the opening movement off of the band’s hallowed 2000 album Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven.

Even as they battled noise bleeding over from David Guetta’s set over at the nearby Sahara Tent, the nine-piece band packed their every note with the riveting intensity that’s synonymous with their name. The spine-chilling evangelical minister ramblings that hark the start of “Chart #3″ quickly gave way to contemplative violin and a fragile, arpeggiated guitar line that swelled gradually into a mighty grand finale. Even as they only managed to fit three of their songs into their allotted timeslot, Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s first major American festival appearance to date proved a resounding success. -Möhammad Choudhery

Radiohead – Coachella – 11:05 p.m.

Photo by Wendy Redfern // Getty Images

On Saturday night, Radiohead returned to Coachella for the first time in eight years. It was a refreshingly familiar set from a band that’s made a business of challenging its fans, ushering them through fields of radio friendly grunge-rock, high-anxiety prog-rock, alienated balladry, prickly IDM, and finally, through the dub-infected rhythmic kaleidoscopes of The King of Limbs. So much has happened in the vast Radiohead landscape since their first trip to Indio, it was hard to know what moves they would bust out when they finally took the stage. Ultimately, though, Yorke and his cronies (including new addition Clive Deamer assisting with percussion) delivered a cohesive set that balanced new material with old (though, only going back as far as OK Computer). The band was loose, energized, and clearly happy to be back.

“Bloom” started things off right, with Jonny Greenwood perched atop a miniature drum set, pounding two oversized snares in syncopated bursts with all he had, cutting straight into Phil Selway and Clive Deamer’s dueling rhythms. The rhythms cracked, skittered, and splintered, creating a sound resembling a pop song being ripped apart by a menacing force, all in its own perfect time. During an explosive “Lotus Flower”, Yorke was at his danciest, raising his arms with his signature, possessed jitter. Select old staples were injected with Deamer’s auxiliary percussion, adding a frenetic flavor to songs with relatively straightforward rhythms. In a set that featured three OK Computer selections (“Karma Police”, “Lucky”, and “Paranoid Android”), three Hail to the Thief cuts (“The Gloaming”, “There There”, and “Myxomatosis”), and two songs off of Kid A, “Everything in its Right Place” proved to be the set’s real gift. In his own subtle dedication to the state of California, Yorke opened by playing a few verses of Neil Young’s “After the Gold Rush” on keyboard, before jumping into a decked out version of the meditative live fixture. Deamer’s dubbed-out propulsion felt right at home here, making a decade old composition feel almost completely anew.

Though they played for nearly two-hours, with a light show consisting of formation morphing screens and glass bottle LED lights, exploding in red, blue, and green, nobody there wanted it to end. And who could blame them? -Drew Litowitz

Sunday, April 15th

Photo by Ted Maider

Metronomy – Outdoor – 2:00 p.m.

Metronomy’s minimal synth-pop was yet another pleasant surprise this weekend. Songs began subtly and elegantly before exploding synthesizers and minute drumming brought them above the minimalistic surface. These disco and funk-laden indie pop songs were a great way to start off the weekend’s final day. -Drew Litowitz

Greg Ginn and the Royal We – Gobi – 3:00 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

I honestly thought Greg Ginn was sound checking for a good three minutes before I realized he had actually started his set. This was a very sorry excuse for a performance, and felt like the guitarist of Black Flag dicking around with a loop pedal, a theremin, and, oh yeah, a guitar for as long as I could put up with it. Seriously, dude, you could do this shit in your garage, but I don’t want no part of it. -Drew Litowitz

Real Estate – Gobi – 4:10 p.m.

Real Estate’s suburban guitar rock fit in so well with the Coachella atmosphere, I almost forgot they hailed from New Jersey. They looked real good in front of Palm Trees/ “It’s Real” had the entire crowd chanting along with its wordless chorus, while “Green Aisles” was as nostalgically heartbreaking as on record. The band’s atmospheric guitar rock was so perfect in the Indio sun, I never wanted it to end. Neither did the band, evidently, slowing the set’s final song to a lurking crawl, its ringing picking patterns drifting through the Sunday heat. -Drew Litowitz

Porter Robinson – Sahara – 4:20 p.m.

Photo by Ted Maider

Porter Robinson is 19 years old and already DJing in the biggest venues around the nation. What the hell were you doing at 19? I will be the first to admit I am not the biggest fan of dub-step, but when people told me about Robinson’s “shit-show rave” at Oakland’s Fox Theater, he seemed like a safe bet for a good time in the Sahara. Porter Robinson spun everything from his own hits like “Unison”, to tracks from today’s contenders (deadmau5’s “Animal Rights” to name one). What was the crowd reaction like? Girls were mounted on shoulders all throughout the Sahara, and a circle pit formed that spanned a radius of roughly 40 feet. These moshing ravers were not messing around, either. One could have thought they stumbled into a Refused crowd as the fans pummeled each other and tossed inflatables in the air. And all the while, Robinson stood up there mixing, grinning, and slaughtering it. -Ted Maider

The Weeknd – Outdoor – 6:55 p.m.

Photo by Frazer Harrison // Getty Images

With little more than a trio of acclaimed mixtapes and a handful of high-profile collaborations under his belt, Abel Tesfaye has spent the last year developing into one of the most compelling musicians around. For his first-ever gig on American soil and third live performance to date, he tore through a 13 song set in front of one of the biggest crowds of the weekend. Tesfaye’s notably disturbed lyrics, which consist largely of harrowing accounts of depraved sex and drug abuse, were delivered without a hint of irony and in the same pitch-perfect croon he sings with on record. Meanwhile, the five-piece live band provided an apt backdrop to his stellar vocal performance, alternatively electric (an uproarious take on Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana”) and delicate (on the downright heartbreaking, all-acoustic rendition of “Wicked Games” that closed out the Weeknd’s set) at all the right points. By the end of their hour-long set, Tesfaye and his band had very much warranted every shred of hype that’s been circling Tesfaye since last year’s House of Balloons mixtape surfaced online. -Möhammad Choudhery

At The Drive-In – Coachella – 9:10 p.m.

Photo by Kevin Winter // Getty Images

Perhaps the most awaited of the myriad reunions and first-time appearances to be found at Coachella 2012, At the Drive-In’s subheadlining slot Sunday night is one that’s been “in the works”, rumored, and otherwise heatedly anticipated for so long that I didn’t quite believe it was actually happening until I saw Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s massive curly coif onstage. The audience erupted when they broke right into “Arcarsenal”, followed closely by a searing take on “Pattern Against User”. The rhythm section of Paul Hinojos and Tony Hajjar, on bass and drums respectively, moved like a well-oiled beast of their own alongside the blistering twin guitar attack of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Jim Ward, whose finest moment came during the crashing climax of “Napoleon Solo”. While their criminally short nine-song set hardly did justice to their immense catalog nor did it even begin to make up for the ten years of lost time since they disbanded, At the Drive?In’s tremendous performance Sunday night ensured that even if these guys never cut another album, their legacy is as intact as ever. -Möhammad Choudhery

Modeselektor – Mojave – 9:45 p.m.

In a rare West Coast appearance (their first in almost two years), German electro-duo Modeselektor closed out Coachella’s Mojave Tent with a brilliant performance that showcased why they’re regarded as one of the best live acts in electronic music today. Known for blending crafty IDM with their own distinctly glitchy take on hip-hop, Modeselektor’s set consisted largely of material from last year’s Monkeytown. Whispers of a guest appearance from noted super-fan/frequent collaborator Thom Yorke pervaded the performance all the way till its end, but those anxiously anticipating the arrival of Mr. Yorke sorta got what they wanted, in the form of Modeselektor’s epic rework of “Morning Mr Magpie”. -Möhammad Choudhery

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg – Coachella – 10:35 p.m.

Photo by Christopher Polk // Getty Images

You know how there are all these videos of The Beatles arriving in America to girls screaming uncontrollably? A slightly similar scene erupted when the 75,000 festivalgoers in attendance caught a glimpse of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg arriving at the Coachella main stage. Without missing a beat, the two immediately launched into past hit “The Next Episode” and the chronic smoke engulfed the crowd. Everybody sang each word, and hardly a soul stopped floating the entire time.

As expected, the two legends brought out an entire entourage of guests, which only added another level of excitement. Kendrick Lamar had already announced his guest spot earlier in the weekend, and performed his new cut, “The Recipe”, alongside Dre; Wiz Khalifa showed up for a “session” with Snoop, Eminem made a triumphant appearance, the highlight of which was “Forgot About Dre”; and 50 Cent looked back on his career over three tracks (“Wanksta,” “P.I.M.P.” and “In Da Club”). Of course, everybody was most excited for the holographic resurrection of Tupac Shakur, who performed “Hail Mary” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” alongside an equally surprised Snoop. Everything about this spectacle of a performance was surreal, if not just downright mesmerizing.

In the end, however, a few things didn’t make sense. For one, the set lacked much love for Dre’s landmark LP, The Chronic, and most of the time he stalked the stage in silence, leaving the spotlight instead for Snoop and their guests. Some might argue that was to be expected; after all, the producer has kept behind the scenes for the majority of the past decade. With that in mind, it’s best to take this set as Dre’s idea of a West coast party, and considering the thousands who remained ’til the end, he’s still keeping their heads ringing. -Ted Maider

Gallery

Photographer: Ted Maider, Summer Dunsmore

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St. Vincent and David Byrne’s long-in-the works collaborative album will see release this fall, and the two musicians plan to embark on a tour together shortly after, according to RollingStone.com.

The collaboration, which came to fruition after St. Vincent’s Annie Clark and Byrne met up at a Dirty Projectors/Björk show in Spring 2009, involves a brass ensemble. In an interview with Pitchfork late last year, Clark added that the album is “very split down the middle between who writes lyrics and who sings.”

Our first taste of their efforts together, “Two Ships”, was performed by a the 12-piece Asphalt Orchestra in August 2010, and you can watch live footage below. At the time, Byrne said he planned to add vocals to the instrumental.

In other Annie Clark news, she performed her Record Store Day single “KROKODIL” at Coachella yesterday. You can also watch that replay below (scroll to the 37:45 mark.)

The Roots’ annual Roots Picnic music festival returns June 2-3rd at Festival Pier in the band’s native Philadelphia. Along with the band itself, this year’s lineup boasts Kid Cudi, De La Soul, who will be backed by the Roots, a DJ set by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, St. Vincent, Major Lazer, tUnE-yArDs, Shabazz Palaces, Diplo, Danny Brown, Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, Wale, and more.

Two-day passes go on sale March 15th via Ticketmaster.

Fans anticipating St. Vincent’s Record Store Day contribution – a 7” red vinyl single featuring new songs “KROKODIL” and “GROT” – now have another release from Ms. Clark to look forward to. The best album of 2011, her CoS Top Star-earning Strange Mercy, is receiving the deluxe treatment from 4AD on May 8th.

Packaged with a DVD, the deluxe CD edition will be called Stranger Mercy (go figure). The DVD will contain St. Vincent’s 4AD Session from October of last year, plus the music videos for “Cruel” and “Cheerleader”. In addition, her 4AD Session will be available April 10th on iTunes.

As for her RSD release, 4AD says the new tracks “showcase Clark’s aggressive guitar chops” and are stylistically divergent from Strange Mercy. Record Store Day 2012 goes down April 21st. For a preview of Stranger Mercy, you can watch St. Vincent’s 4AD Session performance of “Surgeon” below.

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.

This spring, The National’s Bryce and Aaron Dessner will curate a three-day music festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Running May 3-5th, each night of the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival will feature a “different roster of innovative New York City bands and artists from a cross section of genres—plus screenings of commissioned short films and accompanying scores and a late-night dance party,” according to BAM’s website.

Among the notable acts playing are St. Vincent, Beirut, The Walkmen, Atlas Sound, Sharon Van Etten, The Antlers, Twin Shadow, My Brightest Diamond, Oneothrix Point Never, Caveman, Buke and Gase, Ava Luna, and Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang.

Three-day passes go on sale March 6th via the festival’s website.

The 11th annual Bonnaroo Music Festival runs June 7-10th in Manchester, Tennessee. This year’s bill is headlined by Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phish, and the reunited Beach Boys, with Bon Iver, The Shins, Dispatch, Foster the People, The Avett Brothers, Skrillex, Feist, and Aziz Ansari among the other heavyweights.

Other notables include The Roots, Ben Folds Five, Black Star, Alice Cooper, St. Vincent, Mogwai, Major Lazer, Flying Lotus, Alabama Shakes, Dawes, Flogging Molly, Childish Gambino, Ludacris, tUnE-yArDs, SBTRKT, Battles, Black Lips, Kendrick Lamar, Danny Brown, The Joy Formidable, Young the Giant, Kurt Vile and The Violators, EMA, The Antlers, Delta Spirit, Das Racist, The War on Drugs, Laura Marling, Here We Go Magic,  Yelawolf, and Mac Miller.

Also playing are Umphey’s McGee, The Word (featuring Robert Randolph, John Medeski, and North Mississippi Allstars), Bad Brains, Mariachi El Bronx, The Devil Makes Three, Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires, Gary Clark Jr., Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Kathleen Edwards, Phantogram, Two Door Cinema Club, Fitz and the Tantrums, The Civil Wars, City and Colour, The Kooks, Big Freedia, K-Flay, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Grouplove, White Denim, SOJA, Big Gigantic, Fruit Bats, Moon Taxi, The Soul Rebels, The Lonely Forest, ALO, Blind Pilot, Ben Howard, Trampled By Turtles, Mimosa, and Spectrum Road (featuring Santana, John Medeski, Jack Bruce, Cindy Blackman, and Vernon Reid.)

This year also promises another one of Bonnaroo’s trademark superjams; however, the participating artists have yet to be announced.

In all, over 125 bands and 20 comedians will perform across 13 stages during the four-day event. Additional artists and comedians will be revealed in the coming weeks. Below, you can watch the lineup announced by ESPN’s John Anderson.

Tickets go on sale beginning Saturday, February 18th at Noon ET via the festival’s website.

Update: Here’s the poster:

The CW continues to nab more indie stars. Following on the vampire slaying set by My Morning Jacket, St. Vincent will brave the delectable mischief of one Chuck Bass, when she appears on Gossip Girl tonight in a very special Valentine’s Day-themed episode. Check out a sneak preview below, featuring a short snippet of the indie songstress performing “Cruel”, and stay tuned for full clips following the episode. We’re just hoping Annie helps Blair come to her senses – seriously!

Update: Check out another clip from the episode, which sees St. Vincent performing “Cheerleader”.

Gossip Girl airs Mondays at 8/7 p.m. CT on The CW.

“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

Bad Veins – “Dancing on TV”

This clip from Bad Veins is equal parts tribute to the late, great Don Cornelius and A-ha’s “Take On Me”. How often can you say that about a music video?

The Black Keys – “Gold on the Ceiling”

The latest from Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney is the visual approximation of a band taking a well-deserved victory lap after having one hell of a past couple years. Cushy recording studios, massive wardrobes, photo shoots – it’s all there. Congrats boys, you’re officially rock stars.

Coldplay – “Charlie Brown”

Who knew parkour was still a thing? I guess when Coldplay is playing at an underground warehouse in your town, all of the normal modes of transportation get thrown out the window.

Cults – “You Know What I Mean”

In this video, Brian Oblivion of Cults doesn’t simply let one body-scaring stunt gone wrong end his fictional career as a daredevil. Instead, he hops right back onto the horse (or rather, the ladder) and risks his life to impress the girl of his fancy.

Drake – “Practice”

When most of us walk into a hotel room, there’s usually only a maid tidying up. When Drake walks into a hotel room, he finds…well, just watch it. First make sure your mom or any co-workers aren’t around though.

Jonquil – “It’s My Part”

This video combines three things: pizza, animal masks, and bull riding. In case you were wondering…yes, the result is as awesome as it sounds.

Madonna (feat. Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.) – “Gimme All Your Luvin”

Maybe a few of you have heard this one? To be honest, if I were ever featured in a video as unbearably corny and mindlessly bubblegum as this, I’d probably want to flip off the entire world too.

M.I.A. – “Bad Girls”

I guess Maya’s parents never told her to wear her seat belt when she was younger. Hey, at least no little kids got blown up this time.

Rick Ross – “Yella Diamonds”

As good as this track is, I’m still not sure how I feel about the fact that something that simply cuts back and forth from a vodka ad to a simulated rape scene passes as a hip-hop music video these days. Am I the only one who thinks the home invasion portion goes on maybe just a little too long?

St. Vincent – “Cheerleader”

We all know that Ms. Annie Clark “don’t wanna be a cheerleader no more,” but in this new video she apparently isn’t a big fan of being a giant-sized human art exhibit either. After breaking out of her binds King Kong-style, she unfortunately crumbles apart like a marble sculpture before she can make it to the Empire State Building.

St. Vincent has unleashed the video for “Cheerleader”, the latest single from last year’s best album, Strange Mercy. Directed by Hiro Murai, the clips sees a giant-sized Annie Clark on display at an art museum. Watch it below.

Update: The “Cheerleader” single arrives digitally on February 14th. It will include a “rare acoustic performance” of the song, according to an issued press release.

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.

Photo by Katie Scheuring

St. Vincent – ahem, Annie Clark – knows her share of covers. Last night, the Portlandia Tour stopped at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, where rather appropriately Clark chopped out a cover of Pearl Jam’s ’90s classic hit, “Black”. Stripped down, desolate, and soothing, Clark channels her inner Eddie Vedder here, ultimately proving she does still dream of the ’90s. Check it out below, courtesy of Pigeons & Planes.

In related news, see what cover she opts for next when she hits the road again next month. Peep the full itinerary below.

St. Vincent 2012 Tour Dates:
02/21 – Istanbul, TR @ Salon IKSV
02/22 – Rome, IT @ Lanificio 159
02/23 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv
02/24 – Milan, IT @ Tunnel
02/26 – Paris, FR @ Alhambra
02/27 – London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire
02/28 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
02/29 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
03/02 – Porto, PT @ Vodafone Mexe Festival
03/08 – Perth, AU @ Rosemount Hotel
03/10 – Brisbane, AU @ The Hi-Fi
03/12 – Sydney, AU @ Factory Theatre
03/14 – Melbourne, AU @ The Hi-Fi
04/14 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/17 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater *
04/21 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/24 –  Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *
05/03 – Providence, RI @ Lupo’s
05/05 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
05/07 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar
05/08 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
05/09 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s
05/10 – Indianapolis, IN@ Deluxe at Old National Centre
05/11 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
05/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
05/14 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
05/15 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
05/17 – Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall
05/18 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
05/19 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
05/21 – Nashville, TN@  Cannery Ballroom
05/22 – Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre
05/23 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
05/24 – Richmond, VA @ The National

* = w/ tUnE-yArDs

Photo by Katie Schuering

St. Vincent has announced a new leg of U.S. tour dates behind her third LP, and our number one album of 2011, Strange Mercy. This particular road trip kicks off in Providence, RI on May 3rd and wraps in Richmond, VA on May 24th. As previously reported, St. Vincent will also team with tUnE-yArDs for a pair of dates around their respective appearances at Coachella.

Check out St. Vincent’s updated tour schedule below, along with the video for “Cruel”.

St. Vincent 2012 Tour Dates:
02/21 – Istanbul, TR @ Salon IKSV
02/22 – Rome, IT @ Lanificio 159
02/23 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv
02/24 – Milan, IT @ Tunnel
02/26 – Paris, FR @ Alhambra
02/27 – London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire
02/28 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
02/29 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
03/02 – Porto, PT @ Vodafone Mexe Festival
03/08 – Perth, AU @ Rosemount Hotel
03/10 – Brisbane, AU @ The Hi-Fi
03/12 – Sydney, AU @ Factory Theatre
03/14 – Melbourne, AU @ The Hi-Fi
04/14 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/17 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater *
04/21 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/24 –  Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *
05/03 – Providence, RI @ Lupo’s
05/05 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
05/07 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar
05/08 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
05/09 – Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s
05/10 – Indianapolis, IN@ Deluxe at Old National Centre
05/11 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
05/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
05/14 – Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
05/15 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
05/17 – Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall
05/18 – Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
05/19 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
05/21 – Nashville, TN@  Cannery Ballroom
05/22 – Knoxville, TN @ Bijou Theatre
05/23 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
05/24 – Richmond, VA @ The National

* = w/ tUnE-yArDs

“Cruel”:

Well, Conan certainly kicked the week off to a good start. Last night, Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, stopped on by the show to knock out a glimmering rendition of “Cheerleader” off of CoS Album of the Year, Strange Mercy. Rather humorously, Clark started the performance with a sly pop culture-savvy nod to Elvis Costello’s controversial 1977 Saturday Night Live performance by charging into “Radio Radio”, only to stop and state apologetically, “I’m sorry ladies and gentlemen, there’s no reason to play that song.” It was an odd move, but a pretty cool one. Naturally, Clark’s familiar anthem quickly followed after to perfection. Check it out below, courtesy of The Audio Perv.

In related news, St. Vincent will appear at this year’s Coachella Music Valley and Arts Festival, set to take place April 13-15th, 20-22nd. Around that time, the group plans to headline a few west coast dates with Merrill Garbus’ tUnE-yArDs – very cool.

St. Vincent and tUnE-yArDs — the respective forces behind 2011′s first and eighth best albums – will come together this April for a pair of co-headlining performances. Sandwiched between their respective appearances at this year’s Coachella Music Festival are a pair of joint performances in Tucson, Arizona and Oakland, California on April 17th and April 24th, respectively. Check out both acts’ respective tour schedules below.

Also, if you haven’t already, check out the most recent episode of Audiography, which features a discussion with St. Vincent’s Annie Clark.

St. Vincent 2012 Tour Dates:
02/21 – Istanbul, TR @ Salon IKSV
02/22 – Rome, IT @ Lanificio 159
02/23 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv
02/24 – Milan, IT @ Tunnel
02/26 – Paris, FR @ Alhambra
02/27 – London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire
02/28 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
02/29 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
03/02 – Porto, PT @ Vodafone Mexe Festival
03/08 – Perth, AU @ Rosemount Hotel
03/10 – Brisbane, AU @ The Hi-Fi
03/12 – Sydney, AU @ Factory Theatre
03/14 – Melbourne, AU @ The Hi-Fi
04/14 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/17 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater *
04/21 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/24 –  Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *

* = w/ tUnE-yArDs

tUnE-yArDs 2012 Tour Dates:
01/12 – Auckland, NZ @ Kings Arm Tavern
01/14 – Melbourne, AU @ Sugar Mountain Festival
01/15 – Richmond, AU @ Corner Hotel
01/18 – Sydney, AU @ The Famous Spiegeltent
01/19 – Sydney, AU @ Hunting Lodge
01/20 – Sydney, AU @ Keystone Bar
01/21 – Holbart, AU @ Theatre Royal
01/22 – Brisbane, AU @ Powerhouse
02/09 – New York, NY @ The Allen Room at Lincoln Center
02/12 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
02/13 – Leeds, UK @ Cockpit
02/15 – London, UK @ Shepherds Bush Empire
02/16 – Tourcoing, FR @ Le Grand Mix
02/17 – Rennes, FR @ Ubu Club
02/18 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie
02/19 – Grenoble, FR @ Le Ciel
02/20 – Dudingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
02/22 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
02/23 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
02/25 – Oslo, NO @ BLA
02/26 – Malmo, SE @ Debaser
02/28 – Berlin, DE @ Festaal Kreuzberg
02/29 – Munich, DE @ Rote Sonne
03/01 – St. Gallen, FR @ Palace
03/02 – Turin, IT @ Hiroshima
03/03 – Rome, IT @ Lanificio
03/04 – Milan, IT @ Tunnel
03/06 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv Club
03/07 – Zagreb, HR @ Tvornica Kulture
03/08 - Ljubljana, SL @ Menza Pri Koritu
03/10 - Istanbul, TR @ Salon
03/11 – Tel Aviv, IR @ Barby Theatre
04/14 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/17 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater *
04/21 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/24 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *
07/05-08 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival 

* = w/ St. Vincent

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.

We also spoke about her approach to songwriting, both in and out of the studio, crediting her mother, and working with the legendary Glenn Branca, as well as indie stalwarts the Polyphonic Spree, Sufjan Stevens, and Bon Iver.

More information is available on St. Vincent’s Facebook and Twitter page.

Featured Music:
01. St. Vincent – “Surgeon”
02. St. Vincent – “Year of the Tiger”
03. St. Vincent – “Strange Mercy”
04. Bon Iver & St. Vincent – “Roslyn”
05. Beck, St. Vincent, and Liars – “Never Tear Us Apart”

Audiography Episode 023 – “St. Vincent” 
Written and Produced by Len Comaratta

[powerpress]

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

A true sin in this world is ignoring art. But we do. Our world works too fast. Our eyes have too big of stomachs. We digest without reflecting. We rely on our subconscious to dig deeper. This is life in the modern world. Our main priority: time. There is no greater asset. Though, here’s a piece of irony: A real piece of art is a physical representation of time. So, what’s our excuse? Don’t worry, you don’t have to answer. Just an introduction, really.

Here’s the real meat: A couple years ago, I tapped my closest friend Cap Blackard to direct the art here on Consequence of Sound. In our four-plus year existence, the site’s never looked better, and he’s to credit for that. This doesn’t surprise me, though. In fact, you could say that was my plan all along.

Fun fact: In sixth grade, the two of us attended an incredibly pretentious private school, where art was restricted to the art room. Style didn’t exist, only uniforms. Despite these stuffy restrictions, Cap went on to win the top art award at the end of the academic year. Sitting there in the pew (yes, a church pew) watching him receive the award, I remember feeling both happy and slightly envious. I was stoked for my best friend, but, hey, it was sixth grade and I wanted a trophy, too. After all, my earlier days in tee ball didn’t necessarily stock my bookshelves with gold.

Instead, I became one of his biggest fans, and over the years, I’ve closely watched Cap grow as an artist. These days, it’s hard to keep up. He never stops creating. To quote the late Kyle Reese, “That’s ALL he does! You can’t stop him!” To help with the workload, he’s tagged some exceptional talent. His assistant (and CoS Senior Staff Writer) Drew Litowitz came in with a full house of cards, submitting a couple of this year’s best works. While his other associates have also produced some fantastic pieces, as well.

So, don’t be a sinner. Take a goddamn minute out of your day, and soak up the art – all 30 pieces (complete with liner notes).

-Michael Roffman
President/Editor-in-Chief 

The Decemberists

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

I love The Decemberists and was glad to get a chance to do something around their latest release. Not having a chance to listen to the album I went off what I knew. I’d heard that the title The King is Dead may be a reference to The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead. I adapted the Smiths album cover to instead feature Decemberists front man Colin Meloy and added in a yellow forest background as seen on the Decemberists cover, re-staging the somewhat romantic posturing as a like-wise romantic wistful forest reclining. -Cap Blackard

Bright Eyes

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Bright Eyes – The People’s Key

Nothing too complex behind this piece. The fire colors and design were inspired by the album cover and the image itself is riffing off Bright Eyes’ name and the album title. Done with inks and watercolors. -Cap Blackard

Radiohead

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured art for: Album Review: Radiohead – The King of Limbs

This was my first piece as Assistant Art Director. From the moment I first heard The King of Limbs, I knew I wanted to convey the record’s dubbed-out, fractal, frenetic, rhythmically reflective sound. I also wanted to focus on how those aesthetics relate to the tree from which the record finds its name. Since it took four years of hibernation to create the record, I show Thom Yorke crawling from the roots of the old tree like some psychotic patient, with magpies in the trees, lotus flowers on the ground – the line work scratched and inverted in a chaotic, disorienting world of echo. The unsettling thing about this piece, though, is that I drew it far before I saw any of the artwork found in the Universal Sigh or the record’s newspaper addition, and it is ridiculously similar to the line work and style of those drawings, specifically the way Stanley Donwood and Dr. Tchok handled the trees. Eerie. -Drew Litowitz

The Strokes

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: The Strokes – Angles

Consequence of Sound got a copy of Angles waaaaay before any of us expected to and we wanted to be the first to break it. In lieu of the time crunch, I did a manipulation of an older photo of mine that I felt meshed with the geometry of both the album cover and the album’s sound. This is from a series I did of the most incredible public structure I’ve ever seen: The Plantation Fashion Mall. Now closed and abandoned, I was allowed to shoot the building to preserve its magnificence. Its glass domes and palatial architecture are the glory of late ’80s and early ’90s Florida incarnate.

I used Photoshop to tailor the image to Angles adding in some bold colors to match the album cover. This was my last series to date on a traditional film camera. The grain of the film aided in creating a beautiful watercolor-like aspect to the feature image. -Cap Blackard

R.E.M.

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now

Originally, I was going to do this piece by bleaching dark paper, but I ended up buying the wrong kind of bleach and it had practically no reaction. So I opted for some very wet watercolor work with the intention of creating an abstract foundation for an edited version of my reference photo of Michael Stipe. The hardest whites are liquid paper, and the overlay worked out pretty well after some filters and sculpting.

The severe whites and blacks as well as the presence of lines and the marigold and yellow are references to the album cover for Collapse Into Now. -Cap Blackard

Foo Fighters

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

This is the first piece of photography I’ve done specifically for the CoS feature image. Since the first music videos accompanying this album were all recorded on VHS, I decided to incorporate tape into the image. The photo was taken on a garage floor with discarded cigarettes and matchsticks to add to a grungy feel.

The VHS tape sacrificed for this project was of the 1980 skit comedy film, Loose Shoes. Even with Bill Murray featured in a couple of scenes the film didn’t have enough redeeming qualities to save it from my screw driver. I placed a label reading “Wasting Light” on the cassette. -Cap Blackard

Panda Bear

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured art for: Album Review: Panda Bear – Tomboy

Leading up to the much-anticipated release of Tomboy, Panda Bear released a few 7″ singles and sold tour posters and t-shirts, all with simplistic, pencil-drawn gray and white images, similar to record’s future cover art. Among these singles was “You Can Count On Me”, which featured cover art of a simple pencil rendering of a father and child. For my Tomboy illustration, I wanted to draw a portrait of Noah Lennox in graphite, to match the simple visuals Lennox had been using of late. The drawing’s minimalism and crude pencil marks show Lennox alone, totally underexposed, accompanying a record of unbearable loneliness and solitude.  -Drew Litowitz

TV On The Radio

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light

A digitally manipulated photo of a clustered flower that I took. No clue what kind it is. Normally I finish photos at a natural size and shrink them down to feature box size, but in this case what I thought were going to be some “final tweaks” on the feature image ended up being so extensive that it would’ve been a massive ordeal to redo them on the original file. There were many many many layers by the end of this piece. -Cap Blackard

Fleet Foxes

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured art for: Album Review: Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

Helplessness Blues is one of the most desperately inquisitive records I’ve ever heard. For every statement, there’s Robin Pecknold with yet another existential inquiry. To express Pecknold’s anxious disillusionment, I scribed some of the record’s key lyrics around a simplistic portrait of the Fleet Foxes frontman, highlighting some of the record’s most difficult questions. The hardest one being, “WHY? The result looks something like a bathroom stall graffiti portrait, used as some sort of shrine. I think that about fits the bill. -Drew Litowitz

The Cars

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: The Cars – Move Like This

A rare instance where I did the feature art and wrote the article. This is a collage, mostly sampling from mid ’90s DC comics (read: disposable) with a few other pieces from newer issues that were damaged, as well as an old issue of Disney Adventures. Images of cars were cut out and assembled then painted over with acrylic. The colors red, yellow, green, and blue pertain to the album’s cover. When I scanned the piece I wrapped it in plastic wrap 1) because it was still wet and 2) because I thought it might look cool. The gloss of the plastic wrap ended up being a bit overwhelming on the whole, and I prefer the non-plastic version. However, the picture I ended up using as the feature image is a cropped version of the plastic wrap version. You can see the full size plastic version here. -Cap Blackard

Moby

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Moby – Destroyed

This drawing started on a paper tablecloth at a Moroccan restaurant in Chicago (the Moby head to the left, drawn without reference) and CoS President/Editor-in-Chief Michael Roffman insisted that it be used for the featured image. I crumpled it up and abused it in my purse for a couple weeks before sitting down to finish it adding layers of inks, charcoal, white paint and liquid paper. The larger Moby head was drawn with reference after I’d rorschached the paper. The general feel of the images was derived from Destroyed‘s theme of stark loneliness. -Cap Blackard

Summer Tours

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: The 15 Hottest Summer Tours of 2011

I wanted something that summoned the spirits of summer traveling in North America: big rigs, deep forests, tropical coasts, a funky car covered in luggage, and a mysterious sun-soaked crow spirit (a byproduct of reading dystopian America graphic novel Puma Blues and its art by Michael Zulli). This piece started with loose pencils, water colored over, then inked with a broken and spewing Pilot Razor Point pen, and finally, accented with a white paint pen and liquid paper. -Cap Blackard

Lady Gaga

Artist: Virginia McCarthy & Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Lady Gaga – Born This Way

The illustration pencils and inks are by good friend, talented illustrator, and frequent collaborator, Virginia McCarthy. I provided the colors. A strange Gaga creature leads former Gaga outfits in a choreographed dance number emulating the “Born This Way” music video. The “Born This Way” video was in many ways such a stark departure from the visual complexity of her previous videos that this seemed a pertinent comparison to make – with those previous video’s costumes following the simply and scantily dressed Gaga form. The coloring and background was done in Photoshop. -Cap Blackard

Bon Iver

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Going into this piece I took ideas from both the cover for Bon Iver – a kaleidoscopic kind of Bob Ross painting of pastoral landscapes and farm houses. As well as the exceptional music video for the then new track, “Calgary“. It’s got a recurring bed/sleep and couplehood theme. I smooshed all those ideas together for this image.

The face isn’t frontman, Justin Vernon, but he does kind of have ’70s hair, so that’s where that came from. The background was laid in with no linework underneath it. The figures were put in with blue line, painted over, and the final lines for the whole piece were done in charcoal. -Cap Blackard

Incubus

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Incubus – If Not Now, When?

When I do feature illustrations for CoS, I always look into the album and the band’s recent goings on. Sometimes I have a good familiarity with the artist(s), sometimes not so much. I always strive to keep elements of the band’s latest project imbued into the feature art. This one side steps a bit. The cover for If Not Now, When? is a black and white photograph with a decent amount of grain to it. I knew I wanted a piece that was relatively monochromatic that would either have natural grain, or that I’d add grain to. In looking into the meaning behind the album’s name and the title track, I decided to take it into an alternate direction, riffing off how I’d choose to interpret the album title. In this case- how long until animals take on human traits or humans take on animal’s? -Cap Blackard

Portugal. The Man

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Portugal. The Man – In the Mountain, In the Cloud

The man’s face was a doodle drawn in my sketch book, pretty much actual size in the full size picture. Done with a ballpoint pen. It wasn’t originally intended to be part of the feature art but while playing with it it seemed like an interesting fit. I changed the color of the drawing’s lines to reflect the line drawing color of the album art. The photo was taken by me at Apollo Beach on Florida’s Space Coast. -Cap Blackard

Jay-Z & Kanye West

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Rise to the Throne: The Collaborative Highlights of Jay-Z and Kanye West

This was actually the first feature illustration I did for CoS, back in fall 2010. I mixed up which album was coming out and did a piece for Watch The Throne and not My Dark Twisted Fantasy. So though my first piece of published feature art was for last year’s Daft Punk, this was the first drawn. Rapper Astronautalis is now the proud owner of the original watercolor of this piece. -Cap Blackard

Stephen Malkmus

Artist: Virginia McCarthy
Featured art for: Interview: Stephen Malkmus

Borrowing the building-side painting look from Mirror Traffic‘s album art, Virginia created this strangely sinister portrait of Malkmus. A pencil illustration overlaid with digital paint. I came in and overlaid it onto a beat-up cardboard texture to give it a similar street-side texture to the album art.  -Cap Blackard

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Red Hot Chili Peppers – I’m With You

Riffing off the cover for I’m With You, with a fly perched on a pill capsule, I ended up with a fly version of Anthony Kiedis vomiting up pills into Flea’s mouth. Sure, why not?

This started with me working on a rough layout concept in Photoshop, where I completed the piece. For this image’s use in the feature box, it holds up really well. View it larger and my Photoshopping technique gets a bit transparent. It’d be nice to find the time to do an analogue version of this some day. -Cap Blackard

Lil Wayne

Artist: Bianca Triozzi
Featured art for: Album Review: Lil Wayne – Tha Carter IV

Bianca took the truly lil’ Lil’ Wayne from the cover of Tha Carter IV and age-progressed him to current day Carter. Sharing a Twin Peaks fanaticism with myself and Michael Roffman, she thought she’d drop the rapper into his own personal Black Lodge, complete with an armless statue sporting Nicki Minaj hair. This piece was all analog. -Cap Blackard

St. Vincent

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured artwork for: Album Review: St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

On the outside, Annie Clark is adorable, petite, and elegantly beautiful. She’s every hipster’s dream-wife. But, her meticulously chaotic soundscapes stand in stark contrast to her outward appearance. I wanted to play with that concept. To show the perfect, cute Clark with an almost sinister look on her face, her crazed hair, and a little bit of blood on her surgical gloves (“Surgeon”), just a taste of what her latest record has to offer. Her perfection marred only slightly by the blood on her hands from cutting herself open and crafting one of the year’s best albums. -Drew Litowitz

Wilco

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured artwork for: Album Review: Wilco – The Whole Love

“The Art of Almost” and The Whole Love were the two phrases which led me to this minimal graphic. Using the “charging” symbol from an iPod or iPhone as a launching point, I created a worn, distressed heart, “almost” filled with love, but still well on its way to getting there. -Drew Litowitz

Ryan Adams

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured artwork for: Album Review: Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire

Ashes. Fire. Roses. Using symbols commonly associated with Ryan Adams, and the record’s album art for inspiration, I wanted to create an image in which everything burned together into one fiery mess. Adams sits to the left, watching roses and a tropical forest burn right before his eyes. For such a dark, beautiful record, I think it gets the job done. -Drew Litowitz

October Party

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured artwork for: Consequence of Sound’s October Party in Brooklyn

For his birthday a couple years ago, indie rapper, Jackson, aka Ms. Paintbrush of Grand Buffet put a call out on his Tumblr for a gift wish. He wanted people to send him images of Jay Leno carjacking a seahorse. I was happy to oblige and sent him linework intending to color it soon after. Fast forward to this October and I finally got around to coloring it. This was simultaneous to being assigned our CMJ-timed October party poster and the image felt like a good fit for a concert poster. I’d done some “save the date” ad graphics leading up to the announcement of the party. They were simple, sepia-toned, text based images. Working the more bold, marker-colored seahorse graphic into that color scheme took some trial and error with different layering styles before I felt that it matched the feel of the rest of the poster. For the curious, the albums floating thin the seahorse’s car are Slave to the Rhythm and Tin Machine. You can see the original illustration with Jay Leno and the seahorse here. -Cap Blackard

Tom Waits

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Check Out: Are You Bad As Tom Waits?

This art was not just intended as the feature image for Waits’ Bad Like Me, but also CoS’ “Bad Like Me” Quiz. Inspired by that feature, I thought I’d make a carnival-style quiz machine to test your badness. This is a digital photo collage amalgamating many separate and very unrelated elements. The body of the machine is an antique, derelict Coke machine. You can check out a large, non-animated version here. -Cap Blackard

Coldplay

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto

I read that the WWII White Rose Movement was one of Chris Martin’s inspirations with this album, so I went with that image for the feature. There’s a memorial for the Movement that’s a very amorphous rose made from tiles set into the ground. I liked the notion, and based off that, I went for a similar idea with a fractured, but still recognizable look. The color scheme comes from the more prominent hues of the album art. Lots of texture layering for the background. This is an all-digital collage. -Cap Blackard

Lou Reed & Metallica

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured art for: Album Review: Lou Reed & Metallica – Lulu

No comment. – Drew Litowitz

The Beach Boys

Artist: Drew Litowitz
Featured art for: Album Review: The Beach Boys – The Smile Sessions

With my SMiLE graphic, I took the concept of a “lost” album to its logical pop culture counter-part. Parodying the well-known promotional image for ABC’s Lost, instead of Matt Fox and Evangeline Lilly in front of the bold Typeface, the five Beach Boys walk ominously along a dark beach, surfboard in hands. The scene’s high contrast gives the image a somber tone, the board looking almost coffin-like, with the Boys Beach marching towards an answer to the mystery of one of pop’s greatest enigmas. I knew I could have gone with something more along the lines of the album’s iconic cover, but I wanted to try something different. There was darkness behind the scenes, and I wanted to get at the legend of it all. Surf’s Up, indeed. -Drew Litowitz

David Lynch

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: David Lynch’s 20 Weirdest Musical Moments

For this graphic, I wanted to juxtapose some well-loved Lynchian images. The central image is of Dennis Hopper’s deranged, blue velvet obsessed criminal, Frank Booth. Eleanor Edwards photographed me with her blue velvet bathing suit shoved in my mouth. The rest of the images are all Twin Peaks- the zig-zag floor of the Black Lodge, splattered with garmonbozia, and a forest of Douglas Firs showing through underneath. -Cap Blackard

Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow

Artist: Cap Blackard
Featured art for: Album Review: Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow

Kate Bush is among my shortlist of all-time favorite artists. She’s a magical being in a woman’s body – people say variations of that all the time. As far as I’ve been able to tell, it’s true. I was really excited to get to do some feature art for 50 Words for Snow.

The first thing I attempted to do for this was to commission a local ice sculptor to do a rendition of Bush’s face, which I would light and photograph. Unfortunately, and as expected, ice sculpting was too expensive to pull that off. The illustration was easily something I could’ve lost myself in, with intricate details and so on. If I had allowed more time for myself I may have gone there. I mean, it’s Kate Bush! Instead I went for a more guttural, organic approach: I started with a broad, wedged pen and went at it abstractly. After creating a template for the piece that way, I went over it with a white paint pen, giving Bush’s face more depth and detail. Then grey markers, then more paint, then smaller ink pens, then more grey, then more paint.

Someday I hope to make something more grand based on Bush’s work. But it’s a start. -Cap Blackard

At this year’s Record Store Day – the April one, not the November shindig – I felt something that hadn’t occurred to me in probably 10 years. I felt excited to hold a record. Standing in line, clutching the inside of my far-too-thin hoodie (thanks, Chicago wind), I paced back and forth in my mind, thinking, God, I hope I get this album. The item in question? Big Star’s unreleased Third.

Of course, I didn’t get it. Nobody did. The store didn’t even receive a copy. So, instead, I spent a couple bucks on some singles, bit my lip, and went home somewhat satiated. But, for the 45 minutes prior to that moment, it was something slightly alien, but moreover familiar. There used to be a time when you couldn’t get an album.

Not everyone can remember that feeling, but they should. Prior to the digital revolution, music was somewhat of a privilege. As a child, you might spend weeks saving up money for something that takes less than two clicks to grab now. Don’t get me wrong — it’s liberating. But value gets partly tossed aside now. It really shouldn’t.

The album is by far the most integral facet of the music industry. People throw out EPs, toss in singles, but albums really mean something. If it’s even halfway decent, it’s essentially then a collection of perfected thoughts, emotions, and creations that are meant to be consumed, examined, and experienced. This year, we had far too many experiences – seemingly overloaded by an open-door policy of music thanks to Spotify.

That didn’t stop us, however, from finding 50 albums we thoroughly enjoyed.

-Michael Roffman
President/Editor-in-Chief

50. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire

In 2011, a record like this with precise craft, honest and bare songwriting, and gorgeous, subtle polish seldom gets made. Ashes & Fire is a mainstay because of its demeanor: authentic, exposed, and sublime. It’s a departure from the soaring years with the Cardinals and the rowdy solo work of yesteryear. Instead, Ryan Adams is mellow and content; his voice gleams from artfully sparse production (see: “Dirty Rain”). A tightly focused survey of the remaining ashes of his past, the album subtly questions what to do with all that history in light of a different self and becomes a modern classic in the process. -Liz Lane

49. The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar

The Joy Formidable may very well be the most appropriately named band to make their full-length debut this year. On The Big Roar, the Welsh trio’s brand of hook-laden guitar pop is a delight to behold as Ritzy Bryan’s urgent delivery transforms song after song into something anthemic. Their swirling layers of guitars and rapid-fire percussion pack enough of a forceful punch to live up to the other half of the band’s name. Full of catchy choruses and relentlessly energetic guitar crunches, The Big Roar is a stadium-sized album amidst a sea of clubs. -Frank Mojica

48. Astronautalis – This Is Our Science

On This Is Our Science, Astronautalis, aka Charles Andrew Bothwell, sounds as convincing singing about a turbulent relationship on “Secrets on Our Lips” as he does spitting verses on cryogenic experimenter Robert Nelson on “Midday Moon”. But it’s not just for intellectuals: Bothwell duets with Tegan Quinn on “Contrails” and features rapper P.O.S. on the album’s title track, gaining both indie and hip-hop street cred. This diversity catapulted Astronautalis’ fourth album into the iTunes top 10 downloads when it was released. In addition, producer John Congleton’s signature desperate, moody arrangements add emotional depth to This Is Our Science’s largely intellectual material. -Harley Brown

47. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread

At just 24 years old, Goodbye Bread is Ty Segall’s fifth full-length, and again he plays every instrument. The stats are impressive, but this spotless collection of West coast garage tunes handily earns this spot. Less howl-y and punky than previous releases, Segall varies his influences from John Lennon (“I Can’t Feel It”) to smokey blues rock (“The Floor”), all loaded with warm, fuzzy reverb. Songs like “Comfortable Home (A True Story)” show the young artist’s growth into a more personal songwriter, his half-languid falsetto more revealing than ever. It’s mellower, sure, but it’s also some of his most carefully considered output yet, leading to some of his best. And there’s still plenty of stomp and roll. -Benjamin Kaye

46. Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale

The cover of Summer Camp’s Welcome to Condale features a woman in a bathing suit doing a keg stand. So appropriate for an album that tempts the imagination, concocting this place called “Condale” where the kids are hot, the music spacey and romantic. The album is jaded Americana (even though the band is from England), conjuring images of the boardwalk, $2 beer specials, and sand in your hair. Their foreign nature only makes their fascination with American culture that much more apparent. This is an album for losing your virginity in the backseat (“Last American Virgin”), getting sunburned by the lake (“Summer Camp”), and smoking your first joint (“I Want You”). It doesn’t attempt to hide the fact that it relishes in the cliché while embracing a nostalgic beauty that makes the frivolity of youth so universal. -Summer Dunsmore

45. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch the Throne

Watch the Throne, likely the most widely anticipated album of the current decade thus far, sounds exactly like what it is: Two of hip-hop’s most powerful overlords reveling in knowing that they’re just that. In barely 45 minutes, Yeezy and Hov plow through the likes of bionic pop-rap (“Lift Off“), borderline-dubstep (“Who Gon‘ Stop Me“), exotic grandeur (“Murder to Excellence“), and bare-bones soul (“Otis”), all of which is – this cannot be overstated – immaculately produced. Plus, with these two guys constantly playing verbal ping-pong, the whole album is indubitably and nearly incessantly fun. And that’s really all it ever needed to be. -Mike Madden

44. Yuck – Yuck

Admittedly, every sound on Yuck’s self-titled debut is one we’ve all heard before. Rather than embracing one particular influence, Yuck seamlessly pays tribute to nearly all of indie rock’s greatest legends from song to song (e.g. Pavement, My Bloody Valentine, and Dinosaur Jr.). Sure, there is a revitalization of the fuzzed-out sounds of the late 80’s and 90’s here, but Yuck also taps into the spirit and emotional highs and lows that made those bands so intriguing in the first place. Sometimes, it’s not what you do but how you do it that matters. -Frank Mojica

43. Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin

A few months back, our own Jeremy D. Larson wrote that the tone of Mikal Cronin’s self-titled debut falls “somewhere between Velvet Underground’s Loaded and The White Stripes’ White Blood Cells.” For one, he’s right. Yet moreover, the album exudes this sentimental presence that recalls ’60s mainstays like The Byrds or Jefferson Airplane. It’s a hazy experience that’s quite addicting, like a 151-glazed night in your college heartbreaker’s dorm room. (What? Stay with me, folks.) Check into Cronin’s living room stunner “Hold On Me”, a track that frolics with mousy percussion and cyclical acoustics. It’s a moody think piece. Not moody in the sense that you’re out to scratch the world’s eyes out, but sort of like that welcoming isolation you pine for from time to time. Fact: Sometimes being alone feels better. With a voice and ear like Cronin’s, it’ll always sound better. -Michael Roffman

42. Kendrick Lamar – Section .80

Twenty-four-year-old rapper Kendrick Lamar is a native of Compton, CA, but you’re not likely to figure that out while listening to Section.80. Its beats bear almost nil resemblance to the storied G-funk of the city’s past. Rather, the album is built around electro-tinged, blurry near-boom-bap that gives Lamar more than enough room to do whatever he chooses on the mic, something he takes full advantage of. Plus, his finest verses (found on “A.D.H.D.” and “Fuck Your Ethnicity”) occasionally evoke 2Pac at his least thuggish. No small feat there. -Mike Madden

41. Washed Out – Within & Without

Two years ago, Ernest Greene was just beginning to take Washed Out beyond a childhood bedroom side project. After a year of Sub Pop signage and this full-length debut, Within and Without, Greene is headed beyond being another chillwave act with synths. This album is devastatingly gorgeous, submerging listeners in Washed Out’s world of dense, warm vocals (“Eyes Be Closed”),  gloomy love songs with strings (“Far Away”), and jaunty pop  (“Before”). Within and Without is a kaleidoscope of discovery, uncovering directions Greene’s counterparts have yet to explore. -Lauren Rearick

40. The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck

All Eternals Deck is a marvel, overflowing by turns with apathy, cheerful quirk, barely contained rage, and quiet wistfulness. And that’s just the first four tracks. John Darnielle’s vocal range is on full display here, laid over desperately driving guitars on 13 tracks as varied as they are meaningful. There are so many juicy pockets of lyrical cleverness here (see: “Estate Sale Sign”, “Prowl Great Cain”, and “For Charles Bronson”) that the album requires repeat listens to soak them all in. Fortunately, we’ve had most of 2011 to do just that. -Megan Ritt

39. Danny Brown – XXX

The greatest treasure of Detroit rapper Danny Brown’s breakthrough mixtape, XXX (an acronym that alludes to sex, drugs, and Brown’s age), is that it delivers as many ridiculous and hilariously clever lines as any other release this year. A brief sampling: “Sorta like Squidward and his clarinet/I’m in ya bitch mouth,” “You softer than Flanders’ son/Don’t make me put hands on son,“ “I‘m higher than Swizz Beatz’s hairline.” Oh, and the oft-dissonant, largely trimmed-down production has its moments, too (“Blunt After Blunt”, “EWNESW”, “DNA”). -Mike Madden

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38. Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica

Daniel Lopatin has been making progressively bigger waves with each release since 2008’s Russian Minds, but Replica is easily his best, most accessible full-length to date. Rather than the swirling analog haze that colored his previous work, the album sees Lopatin mine the discarded junk culture of yesteryear for a singular, strangely dystopian vision of the future more akin to that of a science fiction author than a musician. From the piano-laden “Power of Persuasion” to the meditative ambiance of “Submersible”, Replica is remarkable music unlike anything else on Earth, or anywhere else for that matter. -Möhammad Choudhery

37. Real Estate – Days

Ben Folds chronicled the suburbs with white boy angst. Arcade Fire did it with melancholia. Real Estate takes a more laid-back approach, shrouding their simple, yet relatable, lyrics about suburban New Jersey (the songs have straightforward titles like “It’s Real” and “Wonder Years”) in a fog of hazy guitar solos and precise rhythm that could take place anywhere in the nation, as long as it’s not a city. Like a high school summer, it feels relaxed and alluringly repetitious. And isn’t that the point? -Dan Caffrey

36. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse

For anyone who thought Bon Iver was the definitive impressionistic album of the year, Bill Callahan’s latest proves to be its strictly Americana counterpart. Hell, just look at the cover art. With Apocalypse, Callahan turns the Americana landscape into an ocean of sounds. Over a fiddle, an organ, a pedal steel, and reverb swells, Callahan becomes America’s most forward thinking country/folk singer still making music rooted in those old-time standards. “DC-4-5-0,” Callahan laments in the last moments of Apocalypse.  It’s an interesting sentiment, a powerful statement made without any real words. It’s the record’s Drag City serial number. As Callahan closes the door on yet another chapter in his demented world of horses, gunslingers, and cattle prodding, he is well aware that he’s doing so. It’s the question of where he’ll head next that makes the current state of his affairs all the more fascinating. In the meantime, we’re glad he’s leaving off here. -Drew Litowitz

35. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Anonymity and avoiding press in the hyper-mediated blogosphere turns out to be a pretty effective tactic for getting some attention – especially for Unknown Mortal Orchestra, whose music turned out to be as difficult to place on the genre spectrum as it is to put a face on their online presence. With the release of their self-titled debut, the heavy hooks of Bandcamp viral “Ffunny Ffriends” find a home in a tightly performed but cheaply produced space odyssey – an intricate mix of psychedelics, speedy guitar riffs, and otherworldly vocals. Frontman Ruban Nielson’s knack for melody (who can resist “How Can U Luv Me?”) and treating the voice as an instrument proves to be the icing on the cake, validating the weird internet hype and translating the buzz into legitimacy. -Caitlin Meyer

34. Adele – 21

A lot of people may roll their eyes at the inclusion of Adele’s 21 to year-end lists, but you can’t deny the staying power and grip the album has had on popular music. Love her or hate her, you couldn’t walk past a stereo or TV that wasn’t playing Adele this year. Being a pop music juggernaut doesn’t mean the album shouldn’t be respected, however. From the infectious “Rolling in the Deep” to the heart-wrenching “Someone Like You” to the vengeful “Set Fire to the Rain”, the album is solid front-to-back. Adele’s voice is a one-of-a-kind, jazzy, smoky, emotional powerhouse, and the fact that she is still topping charts months after the album was released shows she has a complete right to be on everyone’s year-end list. -Nick Freed

33. Cut Copy – Zonoscope

Leaner, meaner, and with more percussion. That’s the gist of Cut Copy’s excellent (and Grammy-nominated) follow-up to In Ghost Colours. Zonoscope sprawls into epic, tribal sounds and Beach Boys vocal harmonies, retaining its New Order moodiness and evoking sounds of native Australian ’80s new wave. If you went to a festival this summer, chances are you heard one of these hip-shaking beats wafting across a simmering summer vista. Do yourself a favor and listen to them again. Re-live your summer. -Paul de Revere

32. Gotye – Making Mirrors

One-by-one the countries of the world are falling in love with Gotye. The Austrailian multi-instrumentalist’s third album, Making Mirrors, has found its way into U.S. playlists in the wake of his video for “Somebody that I Used to Know” featuring Kimba. In it we see Gotye, with the charming anarchistic boyishness of Sting, singing with the heartrending honesty of Phil Collins. Ultimately it’s Collins’ bandmate Peter Gabriel that Gotye gets compared to the most, and for an obvious reason – the album is a musical wonderland of deeply layered and sophisticated pop sounds the likes of which we haven’t heard since So. From the Miracle Mile-like nuclear romance of “Eyes Wide Open”, to the lavish electro-reggae of “State of the Art”, Making Mirrors is sonically diverse, and with Gotye’s disarmingly genuine lyrics, it pulls madly at our heartstrings. -Cap Blackard

31. Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow

The most precious thing Kate Bush possesses is a rather magical way of thinking, and her latest record reflects this through utilizing an array of idiosyncratic collaborators (Elton John, Stephen Fry, her son Albert “Bertie” McIntosh) and characters ranging from a romantic snowman to a Yeti. Snow is a perfect inspirational touchstone for Bush, because when it falls, it makes everything seem more clear and yet retains a dreamlike quality. 50 Words for Snow is the musical equivalent of a long, yearning sigh, with songs like “Wild Man” and (almost 14-minute-long) “Misty” inhabiting a half-lit world that at different turns takes in driving beats, haunting piano, and spoken word to create the kind of unusual, inventive, and expansive sound Bush has become synonymous with, and she remains a sensual metronome of sorts (especially her voice, so unwavering and true) -  comforting and necessary in this increasingly confusing world. -Siobhán Kane

30. The War on Drugs – Slave Ambient

Despite the subtraction of Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs keep chugging along with their latest effort. Slave Ambient is a 12-track wallop filled with Dylan-esque vocals, instrumentals, and, yes, ambience. Singer/guitarist Adam Granduciel takes us through the rough-and-tumble landscape where we find the catchy, constant stream of “Best Night”, the steady thumping of “Your Love Is Calling My Name”, and the acoustic-driven coda of the elegiac “Black Water Falls”. The guitar play between Granduciel and Dave Hartley is second to no one this year. -Justin Gerber

29. The Men – Leave Home

The Men nailed their demands to the door of the Church of Punk/Hardcore and peaced-out for greener pastures. The melting pot that resulted on Leave Home is an alarm call for purists and tourists alike. It plays like a record-collector’s wet dream with obvious hat-tips to Spaceman 3, Joy Division, The Wipers, and whatever else is in The Men’s milk crates. But there’s no prerequisite to feel the primal churning squalor of  ”L.A.D.O.C.H.”, a song specializing in blunt trauma force to the guts-bag. The cocaine-surf instrumentals, relentless noise punk, and post-punk kraut-rock tunes that quake with the words, “Can you push them away?” over and over are all hurled into a storm of angular guitars, walls of drums, knives, fists, and sweat that doesn’t ever let up. This album’s so far from pure that if you snorted it you’d land straight in the ER. Man, that’s what’s so great about it, though. -Jeremy D. Larson

28. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo

Smoke Ring for My Halo is probably the easiest album to digest in 2011. That is, if you enjoy a good daydream. With his spidery guitar scales, sunset-staring vocals, and uber-melancholic lyrics, Kurt Vile sucks you in. It’s so easy to get lost here. Right off the bat, “Baby’s Arms” acts as a wormhole, to which you’re sliding into repetition and soul-seeking rhythms. From there it’s pure moonshine. Down quick, hard-hitting. Producer John Agnello keeps things at home, as well, which is where Vile belongs. We like our singer-songwriters close to us, and it doesn’t get any more intimate than this. Looking for a friend? Consider this album your new roommate. Just don’t expect him to do the dishes. Though, he’ll certainly keep you company. Always. -Michael Roffman

27. Childish Gambino – Camp

If Drake is the MC who made it cool to rap and emote, then Childish Gambino (aka actor/comedian Donald Glover) helped evolve the style into something far more nuanced and outlandish. Thanks to his comedic background, Gambino peppers his tracks with catchy rhymes and clever quips galore (like the line from “Sunrise”: “I’ve seen it all, like I’m John Mayer’s penis hole”). He’s an MC who understands the power of beats and an appealing production style, which he demonstrates on cuts like the menacing “Bonfire” and the electro-heavy “Heartbeat”. But it’s his wide-open emotional sentiments that make the LP shine outside the confines of its genre. Whether he’s confessing his detachment from the black community in “Backpackers” or sharing the pain of his childhood heartache with “That Power”, Gambino wears his heart on his pink polo shirt, readily rubbing into listeners’ faces at any given moment. Looks like the joke’s on us after all. -Chris Coplan

26. Wild Flag – Wild Flag

Wild Flag aren’t Sleater-Kinney 2.0, and that wound up being a good thing. The highly anticipated debut from the Sleater/Helium/Minders supergroup is a new beast entirely, harder rocking than anything they’ve done before. While Carrie Brownstein and Mary Timony’s voices will stir up a few warm, familiar memories, the overdriven guitars and psychedelic keyboard breakdowns make an outstanding case towards a new era for these musicians. Wild Flag stands as an impressive debut, with or without the band members’ all-star pedigrees. -Austin Trunick

25. Panda Bear – Tomboy

The journey of Panda Bear’s latest LP, Tomboy, was more akin to that of a hip-hop album than an indie solo record. After the first single dropped in the summer of 2010, Panda Bear announced a late fourth quarter release for his follow-up to the critically acclaimed, Person Pitch. Like countless rappers before him, Noah Lennox delayed his album again and again, finally releasing it on April 12th. The album is sonically smaller than Person Pitch but not any less ambitious. While wholly longer than its predecessor, the individual songs are short and to the point, resulting in fantastic, succinct blasts of space-age pop like “Last Night at the Jetty” and “Surfer’s Hymn”. -Carson O’Shoney

24. SBTRKT – SBTRKT

London artist SBTRKT has swept the world this year with his self-titled debut LP, rocking festivals and small venues alike. A leading proponent of post-dubstep sprinkled with a tad of R & B soul, his sound provides something astoundingly unique for the music scene: pure, unbridled novelty. “Wildfire” is the album’s standout track, its main synth bass line too infectious to ignore on the dance floor. “Living Like I Do” is stylistically different, evidencing more trance-like influences, and it shows the diversity of the album. Singing about love and heartbreak, with beats sometimes dizzying, sometimes morose, the album is an emotional exposition of SBTRKT’s affinity for the music medium. -Summer Dunsmore

23. The Weeknd – House of Balloons

The Weeknd really took this year by storm, in case you hadn’t been paying attention. It’s been a hurricane of success – the 21-year-old Toronto native is seemingly unstoppable. But it all started with the twisted allure of House of Balloons. From heavy hitting single fodder like “Wicked Games” and “High For This” to unsung heroes like the mellow “Coming Down”, or the Beach House-sampling “The Party & The After Party”, The Weeknd created a cohesive album equal parts grime and glamor. Multiply some of the tightest production this year by Abel’s pure upper register and you’ve got a winner. Now multiply that sum by uber-enticing lyrics of grotesquely beautiful over-indulgence, and what’s the outcome? An album that goes down smooth, but also leaves your esophagus battered, bleeding, and hurting oh so good. -Winston Robbins

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22. Thundercat – The Golden Age of Apocalypse

Super-bassist Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, is only 27, but he already has the sort of resume most only dream of, logging performance credits with everyone from Snoop Dogg to Erykah Badu, along with a full-time gig as bassist for thrash-fusion legends Suicidal Tendencies. Someone this good could only play sideman for so long, though. After lending his virtuosic talents last year to Flying Lotus’ magnificent beat odyssey Cosmogramma, Lotus returned the favor by producing Bruner’s stellar debut, The Golden Age of Apocalypse. But make no mistake. This is Thundercat’s Golden Age, his smooth bass runs and smoother falsetto starring throughout. The beat-heavy “Daylight” and dreamy rework of George Duke’s “For Love I Come” are obvious highlights, though Thundercat’s distinctly cosmic presence and unparalleled skill make for essential listening from start to finish. -Möhammad Choudhery

21. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Christopher Owens’ sweet, puppy dog eyes timbre convinces just about anyone that despite substance problems, scars of a former religious cult, heartache, and anxiety, everything is just alright in the present. Father, Son, Holy Ghost harnesses music’s spiritual characteristics in a conspicuous manor, as Owens and his band mates cleverly balance yearning gospel pangs with snotty, west coast retro rock. There’s paranoia (“Die”), choir loft church organ soul (“Vomit”, “My Ma”, and “Love Like a River”), and an overall smart execution of style no matter what Girls’ carefree fuck-it-all style says (see: “Just a Song”). Their sophomore album shows that Girls have honed in on a truly distinct sound that pulls from past influences, but manages to sound wholly original and really, really good. From poppy, riff-heavy opener “Honey Bunny” to the emotional apexes of the final three tracks, Father, Son, Holy Ghost plays as a complete and fantastic album. -Liz Lane

20. Tom Waits – Bad As Me

How fitting that in the same year as his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Tom Waits released an album that reminds us precisely why we love and still need the old rain dog. In crisp, vibrant bursts, Bad As Me revisits and revitalizes numerous styles and sounds from across Waits’ nearly 40-year career. But this record is much more than an old beatboxing junkman’s recycling project. Whether it be the tender frankness of lover’s plea “Back in the Crowd”, the cool chill of life’s autumn felt on “Last Leaf”, or the jarring nightmare of wartime romp “Hell Broke Luce”, Waits’ finest songs still shine a brief light upon those who often go unseen and unheard, which is precisely why we need him. Yes, we like to “stomp, whistle, and scream” and “dance with a soldier’s glee” (whatever that entails exactly), but Waits also knows that we need to cry in our beer, howl at the moon, and occasionally have our lives dignified by a stranger sparing a moment to listen to our sad stories. The fact that Bad As Me somehow manages to make it all so goddamn fun is what makes him Tom Waits. -Matt Melis 

19. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life

From a deceptively quiet beginning roars Fucked Up’s epic punk opera, David Comes to Life. Composed of 18 tracks that form four acts, the eponymous David rises and falls through love, loss, and ultimate redemption, which might not be as notable a project if the entire thing wasn’t screamed into your headphones by Fucked Up’s own Damian Abraham. Fortunately, Abraham and his backing guitars manage to ratchet out many levels of emotion amidst the chaos (and if that’s not the sound of heartbreak, then nothing is), turning David into not just another noisy punk album but a meaningful, moving journey through that most universal of emotions – love. -Megan Ritt

18. Atlas Sound – Parallax

Bradford Cox has never been one for compromises, in performance or on record. Every single release under the Atlas Sound moniker or in collaboration with his fellow Deerhunter bandmates has been a thorough representation of his tenacious artistic vision at the current time. Parallax, though in part an homage to the Neil Young and Patti Smith singer-songwriters of yore, is no exception to this trend, replete with Cox’s trademark creative guitar inventions, alien soundscapes, and queer punk attitude. Dealing with neglect, personal perception, and, yes, romance, the album shelters some of the catchiest (“Mona Lisa”), starkest (“Flagstaff”), and most intricate (“Amplifiers”) songs in Cox’s body of work thus far. It is this exact contrast of the candidly sweet with the unabashedly weird and unexpected – the acoustic noise with the controlled studio work – that makes Parallax and Cox’s music in total the unique gift to modern music that it is. -David DiLillo

17. The Horrors – Skying

Skying is a paragon of how to face the pressures of matching initial critical success with a follow-up: Nut up, evolve, and do something people might not expect. The Horrors lock their goth-outlined, post-punk gaze down on their pop-laced shoes and dive into ’80s influences to put together an album encapsulating their progression as a band. Faris Badwan’s vocals have been raised and fleshed out; everything is subtler, tighter, and more atmospheric than 09’s Primary Colours, all of which works to this album’s favor. From the insanely absorbing rumblings and synths of “Changing the Rain” to the spellbinding repetitions of “Moving Further Away”, each track could soundtrack a John Hughes film as easily as a hazy dance scene. By being brave enough to vary their sound, The Horrors are proving to be a band capable of understanding and managing growth – something not every act can accomplish. -Benjamin Kaye

16. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints

The songs feel more captured than recorded, like the studio just happened to be in the right place at the right time to catch the drones, the noise, the insipidness, and the catharsis. The connection between each of the nine tracks is loose; some howl with feedback and noise, while others play at a grunge revival, and then there’s the cantillation of “California”, a homily so raw it has the congregation squirming in the pews. But the wide palate of Erika M. Anderson is the prize of the record. Her knife is sharp and knows who to cut and where and how and can do it in a hundred different ways to leave someone just as marked as she is. Couple that with the cool breeze of a west coast girl who knows how to write a catchy melody, and the masochism of Past Life Martyred Saints really becomes something very real and addictive. -Jeremy D. Larson

15. Radiohead – The King of Limbs

Radiohead has attained a status such that every album it releases is expected to reach groundbreaking heights, introducing the world to some new luminous idea that will set the bar for all pop and rock music yet to come. It’s understandable, because Radiohead has done that a couple of times. But while The King of Limbs doesn’t do that, it does nothing to earn unwarranted hostility either. There are several gems that have etched a permanent place in Radiohead’s oeuvre, including the invigorating “Bloom”, the wordless wonder “Feral”, and, of course, “Lotus Flower”. If Radiohead is finished making instant classics, it will be no tragedy if The King of Limbs is a sign of things to come. -J. Harry Painter

14. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

Over 12 spiritually emotional tracks, Robin Pecknold marries his flawless vocals to harmonies and expertly woven instrumentals, all in a rich and satisfying circle. The songs are charged with memorable, soaring melodies, and Pecknold’s observational, first-person lyrics are teasingly profound. On the title track, Pecknold sings, “If I know only one thing, it’s that everything I see/of the world outside is so inconceivable/that often, I barely can speak.” Fortunately, he still does. A hallmark is usually pretty small to the naked eye. When this record is dusted off in 30 or 40 years, you will surely find the word classic etched somewhere discreet. -Tony Hardy

13. Beyoncé – 4

Born from bits and pieces of Fela Kuti, Broadway musicals, and Lionel Richie, 4 is simultaneously one of Beyoncé’s most musically diverse and personal records. It’s a master class, of sorts, of pop music over the last 40 years. From the mega-sized R&B/show tune/love anthem of “Countdown” to the old-school swag of “Party” featuring André 3000, 4 is a hit factory extravaganza – only with more substance. It’s incredibly personal; far deeper than anything else in her otherwise emotionally available career. Yet it’s also quite compact, doing away with some fluff and filler that plagued her past LPs. Already, we’re bubbling over with joyous anticipation for what 5 has to offer. -Chris Coplan

12. Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges

This year, bass saxophonist Colin Stetson went from little-known indie symphony stalwart (having backed everyone from LCD Soundsystem to Tom Waits) to a solo force in his own right. Nothing could encapsulate his stratospheric shot to prominence better than his second long-player, a formative mesh of free jazz, thrumming drone, and beautifully structured songwriting. Even more impressive is that the disc is composed solely of single takes without any overdubbing or looping. That’s right. Other than vocal contributions from Laurie Anderson and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden, the alternately cacophonic and startling, beautiful noises are coming straight from Stetson’s sax, proving his instrumental mastery and writing genius. -Adam Kivel

11. The Antlers – Burst Apart

Burst Apart couldn’t have been more appropriately titled, as it signifies the complete departure from the moving darkness of Hospice, the adherence to genre norms, and, most importantly for the band, The Antlers’ status as a one-man show. The creative talents of Peter Silberman, Darby Cicci, and Michael Lerner seamlessly fuse together throughout Burst Apart‘s 10 tracks to create everything experienced in their live show and, more markedly, a mesmerizing collaborative vision. Dynamism becomes the key word as the record progresses. The shifts from “Rolled Together”‘s hypnotic groove to straightforward rocker “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out” are executed without pause, without the emotive lyrics suffering in the least – proving anew that maybe, as long as you’re The Antlers, you really can have it all. -Caitlin Meyer

10. Drake – Take Care

Hip-hop’s a jungle full of bloodthirsty lions decked out in diamonds and looking for their next target. But suddenly a young lion emerges into a clearing: Drake. While his counterparts are all about pure thuggery and bragging ad infinitum, Drake’s sophomore LP changes the landscape with heartfelt, emotional confessions of lost love and personal inadequacies.

From the baller anthem of “Headlines” to the drunken loneliness and outbursts in “Marvin’s Room”, Take Care is Drizzy’s declaration of his own shortcomings in the middle of a white-hot ride up the charts, a spellbinding narrative if there ever was one. Drake has taken the work of his first, slightly disappointing record and shown himself to now fully understand the delicate balancing act he must endeavor. In essence, Drake has rewritten the rules of the rap game, adding much-needed depth to the swagger contest of modern verse slangin’. All hail the new king of the jungle. -Chris Coplan

9. Destroyer – Kaputt

According to Destroyer frontman Dan Bejar, Kaputt‘s coke rock aesthetic was never intentional. There was no irony, no hidden homage to Roxy Music and latter-day Steely Dan as many music fans and critics thought. It was just how he heard the songs. Whether you believe that insistence or not, the album’s enchanting mood and charismatic weirdness are undeniable. Bejar’s time-traveling tales of cryptic romance and doomed nightlife are laced with electronic drums, smooth jazz flute, and dreamy saxophone, the sonic equivalent to a Thomas Pynchon novel viewed through the glitzy fracture of a disco ball.

Opener “Chinatown” wraps the listener in the record’s world of slowly dying neon, the title track flits back and forth between what’s more appealing, cocaine or women (the band never bothers to decide), and album centerpiece “Suicide Demo for Kara Walker” escorts us through 400 years of the American party scene by way of a brown paper bag. The lyrics are impenetrable, and none of it probably ever happened, but that doesn’t keep us from feeling like we were there. -Dan Caffrey

8. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l

It’s rare to make music that people have never heard before; but on w h o k i l l, tUnE-yArDs have done just that, combining ancient African musical traditions like polyrhythms with looping and other modern technologies. More importantly, with songs like the irresistibly anthemic “Bizness”, Merrill Garbus has expanded from a blog-cherished eccentricity to a universal must-see. Her arrangement of two saxophonists, a bassist, and her own vocal and percussive instrumentation has rarely, if ever, been seen in music history. Not only that, her husky, yet lilting, squawk—which veers from eerie on “Wooly Wolly Gong” to famously siren-imitating on “Gangsta”—demonstrates noteworthy versatility.

With w h o k i l l, Garbus has ascended to the ranks of groundbreaking female artists like Lauryn Hill and MC Lyte, whom she emulates on “Doorstep” and “Killa”, respectively. Like other female artistic idol Bjork, she uses her voice nontraditionally, at times to convey a political message (i.e. call-and-response loops that sound like monkeys, singing the lyrics to “America”, on “My Country). Despite all this ground she’s covered, Garbus continues to challenge herself like on “You Yes You”, when she asks, “What’s that about?” when she starts to sing about personal satisfaction and, thus, perhaps complacency. Songs like the atonal, stop-and-start “Es-so” exemplify w h o k i l l’s aural challenge because it sounds more pleasing with each listen, challenging the listener to meet Garbus on her level instead of vice versa. And, ultimately, the effort is worth it. -Harley Brown

7. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

With Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, M83 set out to capture the stuff that dreams are made of – and succeed. This is nothing new in the world of dream pop and electronica, but M83′s ability to distil childhood longing and teenage nostalgia into spirit lifting, anthemic, synth opuses is second to none. He captures it. If you were a dreamy kid, adventuring at night, and trying to live out your dreams in the day – these songs crystallize that special feeling, that certain time, that tragic, beautiful, ever-fleeing youth. It’s an incredible thing to put on some headphones, curl up in bed, and go back.

Picking up where Saturdays = Youth left off, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming‘s sound matures while its subject matter remains in the same vein. That said, this is not a repeat performance. Anchored by far more analog instruments, and a thematic concept that spans two discs, M83 uses the space he’s created to its fullest with both gripping singles like “Midnight City” and affecting, transcendental instrumentals and interludes. “Claudia Lewis” recaptures the lavish art pop production of the ’80s and lovingly reinstates it as the ideal sound for rooftop dancefloors. “New Map” couples epic modern synth tracks with a smooth 70′s flute and sax arrangement for an exciting new sonic experience. With Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, M83 has proven himself as the most exciting electropop act of the current age – a musical mind inevitably looking back, but always pushing forward. -Cap Blackard

6. James Blake – James Blake

It’s almost hard to remember the pre-Bon Iver owl hoot collaboration days of James Blake, but believe it or not the debut album that took the blogwaves by storm is less than a year old. James Blake is the London post-dubstep singer-songwriter at his most consistent and most focused, with not a misstep to be found through 11 tracks. It’s easy to write Blake off as a one-trick pony if one merely samples a song or two, but this album is so far above that that the criticism is criminally uncalled for.

James Blake isn’t a conceptual journey, but, sonically, each track offers something not heard in the track preceding it. Whether it’s full-on dubstep throbbing as on “I Never Learnt to Share”, straightforward, soulful piano balladry as on “Give Me My Month”, or vocal manipulation and sampling as on “To Care (Like You)”, Blake’s first and so far only full-length album holds the listener’s attention despite being chock-full of unabashed minimalism. It’s not just an extended experiment in fun new sounds, however. There are sing-along moments aplenty, from the Feist cover “Limit to Your Love” to the hook-heavy “The Wilhelm Scream” and sentimental album closer “Measurements”. If Blake has set the bar so high here that he never matches it, that’s one thing, but it cannot be justly denied that the bar is nonetheless high and worthy of all the shameless imitation it will inspire. -J. Harry Painter

5. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

Badass pop-rock is back, and Dave Grohl is driving the truck. Two things (other than being led by a Nirvana alum) have made Foo Fighters wildly successful for almost 20 years: an acute pop sensibility and a goofy sense of humor. They’re both present on Wasting Light, but there’s something even more important: a thrashing, hard rock attitude and sound that kicks you in the face and makes you want more. Part of this is due to the much lauded return to analog recording on this album, and the garage band sound is quite literal, since it was recorded in Grohl’s garage-cum-studio.

Grohl’s expertly crafted melodies are much more lyrical than a typical hard rock song, but from the opening dissonant strumming of “Bridge Burning”, it’s clear that the Foo Fighters are returning to some of the grungy-ness of that early ’90s alternative sound. Amidst the tight vocal harmonies of “Dear Rosemary” or the power ballad “I Should Have Known” or the über-poppy “Arlandria”, Foo Fighters deliver a bona fide metal track in “White Limo”, with Grohl’s screaming vocals and a heavy chromatic guitar riff. No wonder they put Lemmy in the video. When Grohl said, “never lose faith in real rock and roll music” at this year’s VMAs, this was the sound he meant. -Jake Cohen

4. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

On her ambitious eighth album, PJ Harvey crafts a lush ode to her homeland that is brutal and uplifting, admonitory and exalting. Through evocations of The Great War (WWI) and other conflicts, Let England Shake paints an achingly beautiful picture of a country built on the lives of young soldiers and broken promises, simultaneously praising its glory while lamenting its modern stagnation and bloody history. A polarity of sentiment, grandiose without the pretense, explores the conflict of patriotic love (“The Last Living Rose”) with sociopolitical dissatisfaction (“England”).

The poetic resonance is breathtaking, and Harvey makes you feel it. Her voice, flooded with emotion, soars and swirls amidst autoharps and horns, creating a sonic landscape unlike anything she’s done before. It’s strikingly passionate, with a hauntingly marching momentum that pulls you in to her tales of war and hope. The sound is bolstered by recording in a repurposed church, adding a hallowed echo perfectly suited to the subject. Its success is immutable; the album nabbed this year’s Mercury Prize, making PJ Harvey the first artist ever to receive the distinction twice. Though the music and lyrics give strong grounds to call this album an all-time great, the honors bestowed on it cement its place in the annals of musical, nay, artistic masterpieces. -Benjamin Kaye

3. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

2. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Justin Vernon is out of the cabin. With Bon Iver he begins his return to civilization, now accompanied by throngs of sensitive fans and new street-cred courtesy of Kanye West. On this journey, Vernon could have followed the blueprint of For Emma, Forever Ago: churn out new songs dominated by an acoustic guitar and stripped-down production. However, he opted to go in a new direction with a fleshed-out, proper band and Bruce Hornsby as a muse.

Bon Iver needs to be heard in order from beginning to end, as most great albums do. The deceiving hush in the opening moments of “Perth” begins the journey to “Beth/Rest”, a synth-driven, kitchen-sink track with a guitar solo straight out of A Momentary Lapse of Reason that still polarizes fans months after its release. But that’s the beauty of Vernon’s risk-taking throughout the album. He didn’t rest on his laurels and create For Emma: Vol. 2. If anything, he created Bon Iver Mach 2, now with saxophones. The inclusion of the best song of the year, the gorgeous acceptance found within “Holocene”, didn’t hurt the album’s placing as our second-favorite album of the year, either. -Justin Gerber

1. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

“He thought there was going to be so much—more than he had ever dreamed possible… instead there was absolutely nothing.” It’s a line that sounds stripped from the best of Annie Clark’s songs; except that it isn’t. It belongs to Marilyn Monroe, in one of her diaries that dates back to April 1955. But how tragic, and how intimate, is that? Here’s Monroe, one of the most widely sought after figures in the history of pop culture, digressing on the fear of disappointment, especially to a loved one. It’s a recurring element in much of her personal writings. It’s also one of the driving motivations for Clark’s best work to date, Strange Mercy.

“Oh America, can I owe you one,” Clark laments by album’s end on “Year of the Tiger”. It’s one of the most poignant and culturally relevant tracks of the year–a bombastic herald to the States’ end times, when capitalistic whores die at the hands of coffee makers. What bitter, insightful precision. Look to your town squares, your universities, your banks, and your financial districts. It’s a mercurial year for Americans. The track’s sort of wavy, lazy distortion exemplifies that. We’re wary of the errors, we’re indignant of our culture, and we’re starting to wake up.

But there’s a deeper sense of self-awareness that Clark exhibits here. It goes back to Monroe. She hints that, despite the culture’s pre-conceived notion that all is equal, it’s anything but that. People scoff at the misogynistic, heavily racial days of Mad Men every Sunday (y’know, when it returns), but it’s not too far off today. It’s still, in many ways, a man’s world, and Clark underscores this error. On “Surgeon”, she cries out how she “spent another summer on [her] back” and of things that let her “get along, get along,” and later on the title track, she insists she’ll remain by her “lost boys.” This idea couldn’t be any more boldly stated than on “Cheerleader”, where she calls members in her family “honest thieves,” chalking it up to an America “with no clothes on.” So, why stay? As she suggests later into the album on “Champagne Year”, “it’s not the perfect plan, but it’s the one we got.”

It’s dense, morose stuff, though you wouldn’t really notice. Clark has spent far too much time etching out adventurous rhythms, crossbreeding genres in each track; you’d be remiss to even acknowledge some of its lyrical madness. It’s a delightful listen with a foreboding underbelly, if you will. Take the transition from funky treading to its synth-laden baths at the end of “Dilettante”, for instance. That’s the sort of stuff a guru carves out. But, Clark proves worthy of that title earlier on (if she hadn’t via 2009′s Actor) with “Cruel”, this year’s most attractive pop song with the most invaluable question of ‘em all: “How could they be casually cruel?” Is she being rhetorical, or does she desire an answer? Hopefully the former, because quite pathetically nobody has the answer. Christ, what does that say about us? -Michael Roffman

50. Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
49. The Joy Formidable – The Big Roar
48. Astronautalis – This is Our Science
47. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread
46. Summer Camp – Welcome to Condale
45. Jay-Z & Kanye West – Watch the Throne
44. Yuck – Yuck
43. Mikal Cronin – Mikal Cronin
42. Kendrick Lamar – Section .80
41. Washed Out – Within & Without
40. The Mountain Goats – All Eternals Deck
39. Danny Brown – XXX
38. Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
37. Real Estate – Days
36. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse
35. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
34. Adele – 21
33. Cut Copy – Zonoscope
32. Gotye – Making Mirrors
31. Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow
30. The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
29. The Men – Leave Home
28. Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
27. Childish Gambino – Camp
26. Wild Flag – Wild Flag
25. Panda Bear – Tomboy
24. SBTRKT – SBTRKT
23. The Weeknd – House Of Balloons
22. Thundercat – The Golden Age of Apocalypse
21. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
20. Tom Waits – Bad As Me
19. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life
18. Atlas Sound – Parallax
17. The Horrors – Skying
16. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
15. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
14. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
13. Beyoncé – 4
12. Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges
11. The Antlers – Burst Apart
10. Drake – Take Care
09. Destroyer – Kaputt
08. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l
07. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
06. James Blake – James Blake
05. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
04. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
03. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
02. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
01. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy