Radio Free Chicago

Pitchfork 2010:Recap

With the sweltering Chicago sun present, the annual music festival from the online indie rock gods Pitchfork commenced at Union park where hordes of the country's hipsters and music buffs congregated. Friday was a busy day of missed interviews, long lines and a final relaxing moment enjoying the closing set by the evening's headliners, Modest Mouse.

 I had the unfortunate pleasure of listening to The Tallest Man on Earth battle with the hot sun with his heartfelt set and raspy voice as I waited in the seemingly never ending will call line. “Nostalgic Euphoria” pretty much sums up my sensory response to the festival's opening evening as this being my first opportunity to catch a full set from Modest Mouse since a brief opening set in 2003. This Portland act played a large role in the early shaping of my musical taste; when I moved to Chicago I found myself delving into different styles than what was normal for me at the time but certain bands became constant residents in the cd player, Modest Mouse being one of those. With the opening notes of this evening's set “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” reignited these pleasure moments flashing through my psyches as I waited in line for my opportunity to photograph the band in action. Playing an extended rendition as they ultimately transition into a tease of “King Rat” exciting the crowd and granting the first wave of pit photographers a ten minute free reign of shots as we unfortunately shot part of a three minute “Here it Comes”. Regardless of what I got to shoot, I was elated to hear Isaac Brock's raspy voice jest as he had himself set up on the corner of the stage alternating between guitars and mics. They played an excellent mix of classic Modest Mouse with newer tracks bridging the two generations of fans and leaving the crowd screaming for a second encore excited and pumped for what was to come this weekend.

The Tallest Man On Earth -  Thousand Ways

The Sandwitches Make a Cake In Tune With You

These self proclaimed monster mash enthusiasts are a west-coast trio made up of two leading vocalists: Heidi Alexander and Grace Cooper (both hail from their beginnings as back up vocalists of the Fresh and Only's) and Lance Kramer on drums. The Sandwitches originated in the Land of San Francisco and noise pop central caught their beaming wide-eyed whimsicality. The album is likened much to a delicious, yet nebulous, sandwich, layered with unusual ingredients and toppings that linger on your tongue and resonate in your ear drums. "Sandcake" is a an album that reads like a children's book, an amalgamation of cryptic lyrics with bubble gum buoyancy captures your child like wonder begging where this tale will take you while leading you on with twists you never saw coming, all along with your toes tapping. The vocals at times can be dissonant and borderline dreary, yet the lyricism is remarkable. An example is the track Tarantula Arms; 'Tarantula Arms... make like you're holding a grudge, I may act like an animal sometimes, but don't think I'm a monster...' is just one example of how their delicate lyrics can wrap around you like a web of eight-legged disarray, waiting to pounce on you with ambience and deception, in the most magnificently radiant way.

The Sandwitches - Tarantula Arms

Mission of Burma...Tonight!

Supporting their new album “The Sound The Speed The Light,” Mission of Burma bring their proto-indie punk to the Subterranean on Friday at 2011 W. North Avenue. The show is 17+, doors are at 9:00, $15.00. Opening are D. Rider and The Poison Arrows. For a taste of Burma, they'll also be at the Wicker Park Music Festival on Saturday.

The band is eight years into their renaissance, and the new album, if not splashy, is solid. These guys effortlessly display their chops in a calculatedly messy collision approach to instrumentation. Their style could almost be described as bare bones punk, except for the proggy vocals and time changes, and bombastic metal guitar elements. Some of their abstract lead-ins and breaks are a welcome departure, but they often seem like cool effects laid over something. The Mission incorporate experimental elements but never fully synthesize them.

They do best when they stick pretty close to old-school punk, which makes the album sound just a bit familiar. And uneven. When fully progging out, the only reminder of the punk idiom are the hard driving drums, and the songwriting seams begin to show. They dip their toes too deeply in a quasi-indie milieu on numbers like After the Rain, and Feed, sounding generic. But most of the tracks are looser edged. On One Day We Will Live There, So Fuck It, and Good Cheer, things are likably messier. The slick wherewithal present elsewhere, which can disadvantage any band striving for a punk aesthetic punk—this is supposed to sound gritty right?—falls away to unleash chaotic passion and plenty headbanging fodder.

There's every reason to expect a lot of payoff at this show, a high level musicianship and lots of swagger and energy. See you there!

Mission of  Burma - Good Cheer

Lovin' and Hatin' on Best Coast

Man, my relationship with one-woman-Urban-Outfitters-soundtrack-composer Best Coast has grown so tricky. About a year ago, when "When I'm With You" came into my life, I was smitten with Bethany Costentino and for good reason. Is there a better song to encapsulate having a crush on just the wrong guy than "When I'm With You"? Fuzzy guitar, fuzzier vocals, and an all around grungy surf-rock vibe completes the pure perfection of the song, appealing to my better nature of bad relationship decisions with it's charming lyrics. Costentino hates sleeping alone? Hey, I do too! Bethany must be just like me!

Unfortunately, however, my curiosity had to get the better of me and I had to delve further into Best Coast's brief career. What I found was that Costentino is nothing if not a one trick pony. "Crazy" is rhymed with "lazy" more often than not and Costentino really only covers two topics in her lyrics: Boys and weed. If a song isn't about getting high, it's about the bad news boy she's fallen head over heels for. Sure, it's a topic I relate to but dang, Best Coast, invest in some range. Or at least differ your chord progressions.

As Best Coast's buzz grew, my affair with Costentino cooled and by the time that Best Coast's debut, Crazy For You, rolled out, I was disinterested at most. Lately, however, I've found myself warming again to Costeninto's one trick.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for songs about unrequited love.

Best Coast - Boyfriend

Sure, it's overtly simple, particularly with the sophomoric "I'm waiting by the phone, I hope that he's at home waiting by his phone", but it's vague simplicity is the reason it's so relatable. Costentino daydreams of her just-a-friend and wants other girls out of the picture? Oh my gosh, me too! She's just like me! And that makes her appealing, right?

So where do I stand on Best Coast? I can't say I'm sure. Tomorrow, I might tire of Costentino's stoned rants about unrequited love and go back to more audibly interesting things but right now, "Boyfriend" is gonna stay on repeat.

Cults take Chicago this Saturday... and who the heck are Cults, anyway?

If you're a music critic/blogger/nerd and you remain unfamiliar with San Diego duo Cults, you're liable to get disbarred, flamed, dragged through the virtual town square and dismembered. If you're an average (or even above average) music listener who attends shows and likes new music but has something (anything!) to do besides browse The Hype Machine all day, you probably have no idea who Cults are — and there's good reason for that.

More than any other recent band I can think of, Cults, who play Chicago's Hideout this Saturday, 7/31, embody the new paradigm of indie rock that the ruthlessly cutting-edge blog community sells culture-conscious listeners. Basically, a young New York hipster couple threw up a digital 7" on Bandcamp.com, Pitchfork liked their stuff and slapped on the increasingly dubious "Best New Music" tag, and the rest of the internet creamed their collective jeans. The relative lack of information and bedroom production only seem to fuel the mystique, as though we're all slapping ourselves on the back for digging up the next Girls before they managed to come to us.

Cults - Go Outside

So, do Cults warrant some attention? Absolutely. Their lo-fi girl-group pop registers as smart, wistful and catchy. Some of their more subtle touches, like the buzzy, drum-machine-driven breakdown in "Go Outside" and the slow, menacing sashay of "The Curse" promise a lot more potential than slavish Ronettes revivalism. But I do have to wonder about the consequences for indie music when a band can't stew in their own primordial juices long enough to spit out a proper debut before they come under intense, nationwide critical scrutiny. Should we maybe, just maybe, let a band accumulate more than three songs' worth of material before we foist them on the interview circuit?

If all of this sounds a bit like Luddite grumping, excuse the curmudgeonism. But I worry that the relentless hyperbole about the newest of the newest diamond-in-the-rough indie finds creates a critical and audience consensus before we even actually get to, y'know, listen to a debut full-length album from some of these bands. After all, when was the last time, say, Stereogum upped a band that Pitchfork dissed, or any iteration of vice versa? And just try to find me a Cults write-up that doesn't read something like "blah blah mysterious boy/girl duo blah blah Shangri-Las blah blah OMG AMAZING." It's this sort of accelerated vicious hype-cycle that got Best Coast booked to headline the Metro before they put out their first fucking album.

Anyway, the point is that I like Cults, but I'm not sure how much I care that I like Cults, because there's just not that much Cults out there to like. Nevertheless, the internets tell us that Cults are primed for a meteoric rise. The San Diego duo will bring their three likable tunes (and hopefully some new ones) to Hideout this Saturday, and RFC photog Shani Silver and I will show up to report. Check back shortly after to see if we decide Cults have the staying power to stick around for, like, a whole EP.

Please Don't Ruin Songs I Love: Miniature Tigers' "Bullfighter Jacket"

It's not that I'm against remixes. I love nearly every remix that Cincinnati duo You, You're Awesome churns out and don't get me started on my adoration of kitschy mashups, especially when they involve Lady Gaga and Jack White! When it comes to remixing a song I love, however, dj's had best tread carefully and "treading carefully" is exactly what Aislyn (The new project of Passion Pit's Ian Hultquist) didn't do with his take on Miniature Tigers' "Bullfighter Jacket".

It's no secret that I love Miniature Tigers. In my opinion, Fortress, the band's latest disc, just might be the release of the summer and upon repeated listens, second single "Bullfighter Jacket" just might be the most solid track on the disc. I'm not saying it's perfect, I'm just saying it's damn good and perfectly encapsulates the Tigers signature creepy-sexy vibe. Hear for yourself!

Just as stellar live as it is on the record! Now, I completely understand the logistics of remixing a song like "Bullfighter Jacket". It's a super track and it's the second single. Theoretically, a remix can't loose. Also, theoretically, I'm a world renowned novelist and millionaire with a house in the Hamptons. In reality, however, I'm an unpublished novelist and a dirt poor writer who couch crashes in the suburbs. Similarly, in reality, this Aislyn remix of "Bullfighter Jacket" just might be the biggest travesty I've ever heard.

Listen for yourself, won't you?

Miniature Tigers - Bullfighter Jacket (Aislyn Remix)

Alright, positive things... Well, lyrically it's cool. Musically, it WAS cool. The end, you know, the part that's almost identical to the original song, is quite good but...

Negatives, however, include, oh, just about everything. Nothing that was added to the remix actually adds to the song. Instead, it just detracts from everything that made "Bullfighter Jacket" so enjoyable. The perverse whimsy? Overpowered by the electric stomp of the unnecessary elements Aislyn shoved in to the tune at every turn. This remix is like when your cat brutally tears apart your beloved hamster and brings you the corpse as a present. What are you doing, cat? I don't want that shit! I loved that hamster! Just like I loved this song! I don't want to listen to it's mangled cadaver! Why, Aislyn? Why?!

The moral of the story is don't ruin songs I love. It makes me sad.

Ra Ra Riot Reveals "Boy"

 Last week Ra Ra Riot released the first single from their forthcoming album The Orchard. The full album is due out Aug. 24, but the new single, “Boy,” offers a glimpse of what’s to come with the band’s second studio LP.

Unlike Ra Ra Riot’s 2008 album, The Rhumb Line, the lyrics for “Boy” are difficult to decipher, which is somewhat disappointing considering the lyrical quality in their previous work. The sweet scaling vocals, however, are easily one of the best parts of the song

The bass- and drum-heavy track slowly builds, with other instruments being layered on until well into the first chorus. The band’s use of violin is part of what makes it unique, and despite the strong instrumentation on “Boy” the string accompaniment isn’t lost in the track. Overall the band seems to have reached a fuller and more matured sound since their previous album, which there will hopefully be more of when The Orchard is released in a few weeks.

Ra Ra Riot - Boy

Droidcast: Underwater Whale Talk With Freelance Whales

A Conversation with Jacob Hyman of Freelance Whales on the Value of Busking and the Admirable Musicianship of J. Tillman

Lucky for me, I had the chance to interview the drummer for Freelance Whales, Jacob Hyman, last Thursday. It was my first ever band interview and phone interview and, like, my 6th interview of all time... so of course I made a few mistakes. The major flub was sitting next to the window in my apartment outside of which the Red Line train passes nearly every five minutes. This made transcribing the interview like interpreting Morse code... underwater. Despite the grueling activity, and to save you the trouble of hearing it yourselves, I completed the task! Oh yeah, and, I promised him I wouldn't post the audio.

And now that I've made a flurry of admissions, I will also confess that, through the process, I found myself rewinding the tape over and over again,  asking a lot of questions: "Did he say Judah was listening to 'Darth Vader' when he wrote songs for the first album? or 'Stars'? In this case, I went with the logical choice-- but ears can be deceiving.

So... I'll make you a deal: I'll send this to Jacob when it's posted, and allow myself this ample excuse to make corrections if there's anything I've translated incorrectly.  I don't think it's too far off, but I want to be honest here... I'm only part whale.  

Freelance Whales - Generator 2nd Floor

RFC: Other than being busy, has much changed since you guys started getting a lot of attention?

JH: Well, I’d say, we have been really busy. We used to practice twice a week for about 8 hours, and we haven’t really had a chance to really grind it out and practice in the studio for a while, we’ve been riding it out on the road instead. But things have definitely got more intense at some point, I think. We had 6 weeks off just now between tours and it’s the first time we’ve been home in about 6 months. It was nice to get home and relax and calm down, but it's been difficult to motivate ourselves to really do any hard work.

RFC: Understandable. Have you guys written any new songs, individually, or for the band since "Weathervanes"?

JH: We are working on a new song write now. I’ve written a few, personally, but I don’t know that they work well with the band—though they could eventually be adapted. We’ve been playing a song for a while that Chuck wrote, called “Rise and Shine,” we’ve been playing it at shows. So we’ve been toying with that one for about 6 months. And there is another one Chuck wrote that we will hopefully be recording some time in the fall.

RFC: Cool.

JH: Yeah.

RFC: So, as far as I’ve read, you guys started out pretty organically, playing outside in subway stations and on street corners. Did you guys ever make money “busking”?

JH: Oh sure. We made a little bit of money. When we first started out in the studio in Queens, we used the money we made busking to pay for the studio. It wasn’t very much money but if we went out two or three times, it would easily pay for a month’s rent. Which was nice, then we didn’t each have to pony up money. We were at a point when none of us were really working, we were just waiting for things to get moving. But that wasn’t the original goal—it was so we didn’t have to annoy our friends to come to shows. It was like, this is a way to get free advertisements to shows. There was one show we played in Brooklyn, where 15 people came up to us afterwards and said that they’d seen us playing on the street and they liked what they heard so they came to the show. And we realized this was an original marketing idea. And that’s what it was, and then it became sort of a practice stage for us, where we could really hone our vocals and rearrange the songs for that performance stage, re-interpret songs that were already written. 

The Dig Get Robbed - In Our Fair City?!

Nothing gets me down like bad things happening to good people so I was pretty sad when I heard that The Dig got robbed of quite a bit of gear but the fact that they were robbed in Chicago last night makes it all the more tragic. Here are the details, according to the band's latest press release:

The band's van was robbed overnight in Chicago and most of their gear stolen. The Dig will be able to play the Gurnee and Eureka shows thanks to the good men of Dashboard Confessional, who have kindly offered to share their gear for the next two nights.  Anyone with information on the stolen gear can please contact the Chicago Police and/or the band at thedigmusic@gmail.com. The van was parked on N. Leavitt St. and W. Evergreen Ave., and a full list of stolen items is below:

 

• Bass Guitar - Fender Electric Precision - Ivory Body w/ Black Pick
  Guard   SN: 619368

 

• Guitar - PRS - McCarty - Dark Red

 

• Guitar - Fender Telecaster - blonde body w/ black pick guard -
  double humbucker pickups - rosewood neck

 

• Guitar - Epiphone - 1967 Sorrento Sun burst hollow body

 

• Bass Amplifier - Ampeg  V-4    SN: 137500

 

• Guitar Amplifier - Fender Deville "212" Type PR247   SN: 178888

 

• Custom Speaker Cabinet - 2 x 10"

 

• Snare Drum Ludwig  14"x 5 1/4" Steel SN: 3079825

 

• Rack Tom - Slingerland 13" x 8" Pearl White 1962

 

• Laptop Computer - Sony Vaio - 2007

 

C'mon, Chicago. You're better than this! Anyone with any information about this bummer of an event, please let the band know or try to catch the guys at Six Flags in Gurney today to show your support. Added incentive to do your part for The Dig? They're a pretty sweet band! Check out this mp3 and hear for yourself.

The Dig - You're Already Gone

RFC Gallery: Beach House's "Used to Be".

When I first heard “Used to Be” by the dream pop duo Beach House, I was whisked away to an earlier more peaceful time oozing with nostalgia and happiness. I immediately imagine child like memories when one is mostly carefree with the only worry is dusk and “playtime” is over. As adults I think there are certain instances that place us down memory lane and for that brief period we are those happy children once more enjoying that brief moment.

Beach House - Used To Be

RFC Exclusive: Archie Powell & The Exports Single Premire

Last summer, Chicago's own Archie Powell & The Exports released their debut ep, Loose Change, a rock and roll romp that was just as influenced by Elvis Costello and the Replacements as it was a throwback to '50's and '60's acts with a sound that's sorely missed in today's scene, especially the local scene of Chicago. Now, Powell and company are about to release their first full length and this blogger thinks they're perfectly poised to make quite the splash.

Today, you've got the first crack at the quartet's first single, "Enough About Me", which the band's giving out for a listen exclusively here at Radio Free Chicago.

If you're not familiar with Archie Powell & The Exports, "Enough About Me" is a great start. It tells you everything you need to know about the natives: They're just a foursome of lookers from your own backyard that love drinking a cold beer and playing a good rock song. You won't find kitsch here, nor any irony- Everything you hear from Powell and the Exports is genuine, from the earnest lyrics that occasionally border on Costello-esque snottiness to the well rehearsed power chords, hard hitting drums, and stellar bass line. 

Archie Powell & The Exports -  Enough About Me

You like rock and roll. We all like rock and roll. So what are you waiting for? Grab "Enough About Me" and await for the band's debut, Skip Work, to hit the streets. But first! The band also made what is referred to as a "music video" for this song. You check out the making of below!

RFC Reviews: Pitchfork Music Festival 2010

Last week, RFC's own writing/rapping phenom Emanuel Vinson braved the heat and the hipsters of Union Park for the Pitchfork Music Festival for not one, not two, but all three days. See what he had to say about the fest with photography by Josh Darr!

Friday

El-P's set started off very shakily- El's backing music, with all its bombast and layers initially just sounded like a seizuring subwoofer and his mic continuously messed up throughout. But at a certain point in the set (maybe around the solo on the giant keytar or the A Tribe Called Quest call-and-response) every thing started to click in. It's not just that he makes impossibly epic industrial rap, it's that he hooks you into its emotional core. Enough so that (especially given the rough beginning) the closing one-two punch of "How to Serve Man" and "The Overly Dramatic Truth," definitely felt more than a little cathartic.

I consider myself a fairly big Liars fan. Even so, there are definitely parts of their albums that I enjoy more than others. Aside from recent single "Scissor," the more visceral side of Liars doesn't often intermingle with their more ethereal, creeping side. What is thrilling on record (like "Plaster Casts of Everything") was incredible live on Friday. However, the more tedious aspects of their discography were also present in full and often derailed the tension and momentum of the set. Still, lead singer Angus Andrew was magnetic and charismatic, and the Bauhaus cover was a beast.

I took the chance after Liars to go get some food and wander around, but coming back I caught the tail end of Robyn's set. And during that last half, it was a hell of a show. She sounded great, her band sounded great, and she looked great throwing herself into every inch of her songs. I definitely regret not being up front and center for the spectacle. My favorite moment was during "None of Dem," when she punctuated the line "None of these boys can dance..." with a quick "it's true!," in reference to her decidedly nonrhythmic Pitchforkfest audience.

So Broken Social Scene are all-growed up. Granted, I should have seen it coming, what with all the fedoras. Still, what once felt on record like a chaotic group of brilliant girls & boys singing their hearts out has pretty much transitioned into a few cool dads and their friends playing around onstage. Which is a realization that tainted my perception of the set somewhat (Someone referred to them as a "nostalgia act!" Already?!) but it was still a very good show. Not a lot there that wasn't there when I saw them a year ago, but if BSS are done breaking new ground, they're still dependable as ever. Best quote of the fest comes from Kevin Drew's closing statement: "Hope isn't a word- it's a fucking responsibility!"

Modest Mouse were also very good, if not entirely spectacular. I think there was a little bit too much emphasis on the blandest of their new material ("Education" and "Autumn Beds" bore me so much I can't stand it), though opening with The Moon & Antarctica deep cut "Tiny Cities of Ashes" was way inspired.They jammed a lot throughout the set, but it always felt tasteful and dynamic. Isaac was amicable and funny, talking to the crowd a surprising amount about important things like being too drunk and eating glow sticks. The band did a good job of reminding just how underrated Good News is, but I really think if they had played even one Lonesome Crowded West track it would have elevated the set significantly.

Saturday

 The two obvious (and oft-mentioned) touchstones for New Jersey's Titus Andronicus are Bright Eyes and Bruce Springsteen. The first time I saw the band, they were opening up for Los Campesinos! and quite possibly outshined said headliners. They were perfect then, and they were perfect on Saturday. Opening with "A More Perfect Union," the lead single from this year's excellent The Monitor, Titus roared through a set that was stacked with one joyously desperate singalong after another. 

The Smith Westerns let their hometown advantage bleed into their onstage swagger, with lead singer Cullen Omori slyly mugging it up in-between songs. The songs themselves are good enough; besides "Be My Girl" I'm not that familiar with their album, and wasn't necessarily compelled by their Saturday set to become familiar. I hear a lot about the craziness of old Smith Westerns shows in much tinier venues, so it sounds like a festival setting- while certainly a good look- wasn't necessarily conducive to their vibe. 

Wolf Parade gave an interview a few months ago saying that they felt like new album Expo 86 was the sonic equivalent of the gigantic music notes in Archie comics that floated from the speakers during a party. Besides being my favorite metaphor ever, it definitely felt like a true one during their set. Their setup was on point, and every song sounded great. The energy of the crowd during favorites like "I'll Believe in Anything" and new (excellent) single "Ghost Pressure" was uncontainable. They finished up with an extended "Kissing the Beehive," during which their usual weirdo indie rock sound eventually transformed into straight up prog metal during a time-signature slashing breakdown that I never wanted to end (and for a while seemed like it wouldn't).

If you're an avid listener to LCD Soundsystem's disco/post-punk hybrid, then you are probably regretting not seeing them at Pitchfork. And unless you're one of the p4k attendees who didn't get the memo about "North American Scum" I'd take a guess that you feel like I did- they delivered on every level. The setlist was a perfect blend from all three of their albums and James Murphy and band were killing it the entire night. The thrill of being in the full presence of a song like "All My Friends" live is a pure rush of ecstatic emotion. All I can say is get tickets to see them the next chance you can.

Sunday

My Sunday started with wandering around dizzily looking for somewhere to get out of the oppressive heat. When I finally settled, it was for Washed Out's set. There's a reason dudes like Washed Out and Neon Indian rose above their chillwave siblings. I'm sure that initially the interest was in the strength of the music, which is definitely excellent on all counts. But beyond being a good musician, Ernest Greene is something of a star. He's disarmingly handsome, easygoing yet precise, and knows how to connect to a crowd just right with his lax charm. Washed Out's set managed to be beautifully dreamlike and physically compelling for the audience, the latter of which Panda Bear's Saturday set had veered far from.

I have a feeling that at least half the crowd up front for Local Natives, like me, were simply waiting it out for Neon Indian and/or Sleigh Bells but by the end of their rapturous set everyone was way into it. Trying to describe their sound ("multi-part harmonies," "afrobeat-inspired rhythyms") would make them sound merely like a pastiche of all that is indie rock in 2010, and maybe they are, but that doesn't change the fact that they're damn good songwriters as well. Lead singer Taylor Rice got more and more into the music as the set went on until he was almost convulsing during the finale and the enthusiasm was contagious as all hell.

Hearing Neon Indian on record vs seeing him and his band live is like the difference between Super Mario World and Super Mario 64. It's hard to refer to Alan Palomo's creations as anything other than jams when you're caught bouncing back and forth to "Deadbeat Summer." And the whole set was jam after jam- even new song "Sleep Paralysis" felt as warm and familiar as anything on Psychic Chasms. I'm definitely onboard the Neon Indian bandwagon for the foreseeable future.

After such a set, Sleigh Bells- another band with only one (near-perfect) album out- had a lot to live up to. It was their homecoming to the festival of the site that crowned them. And when eight amps got wheeled out to the stage, the anticipation was almost unbearable. Especially since we had all missed Major Lazer (the other sureshot party act) to be there. Guitarist Derek Miller and singer/force of nature Allison Krauss came out, the crowd noise rose to a fever pitch, and the set started. But something was wrong- we couldn't hear the guitar ("Infinity," or otherwise) at all. The crowd was still in a frenzy as Allison sashayed, cooed, and yelped across the stage but the sound was pretty much at the same volume that the house music had been in what was easily the most crushing disappointment of the festival. 

Pitchfork 2010 didn't live up to my lofty expectations of BEST P4K EVER, but it was definitely a blast and well worth the time and money. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! See you next year!

RFC Reviews: Blitzen Trapper's Destroyer of the Void

I was raised on a pretty strict musical diet of classic rock and oldies. Come to think of it, I don’t think I knew radio stations played music that wasn’t older than I was until my early teenage years. Don’t worry; I’m up to speed now, but I still like my old school rock and roll.

So with that in mind, imagine my delight when I hit play for Blitzen Trapper’s latest album, Destroyer of the Void and heard music that sounded like it could have fit just as well in the 1960s or ‘70s as it does now. For their fifth studio album the band has truly embraced its classic rock influences and made them their own.

Blitzen Trapper opens the LP with what is probably its least conventional track, “Destroyer of the Void.” Pristine vocal harmonies draw you in immediately and lead you through a six-minute suite that bounces between being earthly and other-wordly in the best possible way.

Blitzen Trapper -  Destroyer of the Void

Nathaniel Rateliff at Schubas 7.21.10

In a time of smoke and mirrors music, it is rare and remarkable to see a band stripped down the rawness and honesty of talent and skill. Nathaniel Rateliff and his band stopped by Schubas on their first headlining tour, and I’m proud to say that Chicago gave them the warmest of welcomes.  Finally seeing this band for a full, give-us-what-we-want set, I felt like I was seeing them for the first time. Americana rock, however you want to describe it, is a moving, truthful form of musical get-down that was made to be heard in barns and around campfires across our economically stricken land. Or in our case, in warm Schubas intimacy with a room full of people who very clearly appreciate and adore Nathaniel Rateliff & Co. with the same fervor. Shroud and Early Spring Till were standouts as always, with harmonies that hit you in such a way that you’re frozen, amazed, and somewhat jealous. An hour-long set with a three-song encore is what I’m goddamn talking about. Thank you, friends, for bringing Chicago something fine on a sticky summer night. We are grateful.

Nathaniel Rateliff - Boil & Fight

Pitchfork Music Festival 2010 - St. Vincent

I have to admit I was skeptical. Really, how well could a St. Vincent performance go over at an outdoor festival? Having been a fan of Annie Clark and her eccentricities for some time now, I had always been of the mind she and her band were meant for the smallest, darkest, and most obscure venues. In fact, the first few songs made me feel as though I had entered some sort of Tim-Burton-directed Disney movie-- the Snow White-esque Clark, in her oversized black sunglasses and bright orange dress, was orchestrating some of the most whimsically dark, yet beautiful, tunes my ears have experienced. As the set progressed, things became less light, more dark, and a little more weird and Clark's movements followed suit, becoming increasingly erratic. By the time "Marrow" began I was convinced the field we were standing in was no longer a lush, green meadow--it had been transformed into a barren wasteland filled with sweaty, entranced hipsters, hungry for something unexpected. I don't want to speak on the behalf of others, but I'm almost certain all in attendance walked away feeling pleasantly surprised and totally fulfilled. My only request: please be weider.

St. Vincent -  Actor Out Of Work

Photography by Spencer Wells.