Enter this year's lineup, as there are still many acts I wouldn't blink an eye towards cough..Lady Gaga...cough..Wolfmother, and a few more that would waste my word count but I won't mention. Anyway the beauty and essence of a festival like Lollapalooza is it's “Melting Pot” aesthetic meshing an array of genres into this weekend festival, pinning fan favorites against each other in a head-head showcase and scheduling cluster-fuck. With that said, if you are heading to Lollapalooza this year I cant imagine you having at least ten must see acts this year if not more. To give you a nudge in the right direction let me introduce you to three bands I will not be missing this weekend, The Walkmen, Warpaint and of course (drum roll) Arcade Fire.
The Walkmen- Friday 1:00-2:00 adidas Mega
It was a Saturn commercial in early 2001 that had me scouring through my roommate's CDs learning of this Philadelphia band named after the portable tape player of my childhood, The Walkmen. Their debut, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone, played as one of my pivotal soundtracks of the first years I lived in Chicago, Hamilton Leithauser's voice was an exhilarating change to the norm layering his frenzied wails over layers of instrumentation reminiscent of an old world. Fast forward nine years as the Philly quintet prepare to release their sixth record, Lisbon with a new label, Fat Possum, an album none the less recorded in five days; the band looks to build off the tidied sounds of You and Me while utilizing the experimental aspects of A Hundred Miles Off. Early signs point in the right direction as enough romanticism shines through their jaunty danceable melodies.
Warpaint-Saturday 2:15-3:00 Sony bloggie
At this point, I think I could sing most of their debut EP, Exquisite Corpse myself as those six songs are pretty engrained into my psyche. An intense blend of atmospheric and ethereal compositions jammed out over angelic vocals seductively proclaiming independence. The recorded version does not even begin to showcase the magic this Silver Lake quartet creates onstage as each member truly find a groove with their instrument translating this fusion into a symphonic explosions of orgasmic excellence. If you haven't already acquainted yourself with these four amazingly talented ladies as they prepare to release their yet to be titled debut LP on Rough Trade this September, make sure you don't miss their afternoon performance.
Who cares whether or not Win Butler cant get along with Wayne Coyne, as long as he and the rest of his Canadian troupe continue to produce the level of music they have thus far I'm a happy man. The biggest excitement for me when this year's Lollapalooza lineup was announced was the inclusion of Arcade Fire. A band that I learned of prior to my blogging days and an act infamous for their energetic live performance I hadn't a pleasure to witness yet was enough to twist my arm to strongly considering to attend. Their songs continuously address themes centered around family values, various realms of faith and social expectations. Now whether it be my internal artist projecting a hope for similarities as my own work or my hypothesis is true, regardless of the fact their music continues to affect me constantly demanding my intellect to further review their lyrics and heart warming symphonic cacophonies. The Suburbs, is the band's upcoming third full length album on Merge Records recounting the upbringing of Butler and his brother,William in the suburbs of Houston,Texas. This is not an act you do not want to miss, it should be an extravagant production of ambiguously tangled orchestrations of relatable tales and thought provoking themes.
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