A daily, usually vulgar, music blog focused on psychedelic, shoegazing, space rock, folk, post rock, hauntology, ambient/noise, and related genres.
I’m currently revamping the site and tweaking a lot of the images, layout, functionality, etc. So if this thing keeps shapeshifting on you, it’s not bad acid. Promise. Some of the older posts will look a little funky, and I’ll be fixing that tonight. Apologies.
Click on the photos to see a larger, higher resolution version.
Despite that fact that the sun radiated full force on Union Park, baking the crowd in 95+ degree weather, Boris was too dark and mysterious to not wear black. Czech the gong.
Boris’ set was very tight and put the crusty dude contingent of Pitchfork into a frenzy. I thought the set was a tad disappointing since they focused more on their metal oriented material rather than their more drone and psych oriented trip-outs on Rainbow and Altar. Though I do understand why they didn’t play those songs, as both of those records were collaborations with Michio Kurihara (of Ghost) and Sunn O))), respectively. Nevertheless, it was nice to see Pitchfork add an evil aspect to the Sunday lineup.
Of course, for all sinister live shows, it helps to bring your best blankey for sitting down solutions.
The only thing at Pitchfork Music Festival 2008 that was more metal than Boris was the mascot for one of the fine BBQ vendors on the concourse. Meet Righteous Oinker.
It’s obligatory photo recap time! Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a press pass this year, so many of the following photos prominently feature the back of people’s domes. Click on the photos to see a larger, higher resolution version.
After two months of flawless weather in Chicago, the climate waited until the most excellent of weekends to unleash her fury, with downpours on Saturday and oppressive, Biblical heat on Sunday. Despite that, Pitchfork Music Festival, by and large, ruled. Though we were all very privileged to see some excellent performances (sans Vampire Weekend… the Decibel Tolls is the only blog with an official “VW sucks it” philosophy), this whole festival belongs to one man, in my opinion.
And that’s Mr. Jason Spaceman…
Remember when I said Boris would be the loudest band at PMF? Wrong! Spiritualized was loud enough to decimate the festival’s PA system in the middle of “Take Me to the Other Side.” Mr. Pierce was so distraught over the whole predicament that, well, he took it upon himself to knock over their mic stands with his guitar and send his vintage (I think it was a) Telecaster through his amp head. It’s good to see psych dudes go delightfully apeshit every now and again. He wasn’t too upset about the whole thing, as he came back on stage to wave bye to the crowd and take a humble bow.
I was hoping that Spiritualized would roll through with an extra ensemble or two, and they delivered. The crowd roared when the Spritiualized gospel singers took the stage for some very intense, wall of sound plus gospel renditions of “Come Together,” “Soul on Fire,” and more. Pierce even brought out the big guns and dusted off “Shine a Light” from 1991’s Laser Guided Melodies (my favorite Spiritualized album)! This is the closest I’ll ever get to taking drugs inside a church.
Animal Collective brought a whole slew of new material during Saturday night’s performance. Actually, they premiered one song in the middle of a 20-minute rendition of “Fireworks” come to think of it. AC also brought out one of their newest fan favorites, known as “House” and “Simple Things,” depending on what you read. Avey Tare sported an awesome bucket hat. Unfortunately, none of my photos turned out that well, so I won’t post them. I had amazing photos of their performance last May at The Dame in Lexington, but unfortunately, my camera went AWOL shortly after. Moral of the story, unload your shit early and often.
Caribou was the other sick performance that stood out from the weekend. The rain hit right when Caribou started at 2:15, but the music was too sunshine-saturated to make you take notice. As I discussed in the Pitchfork preview, Caribou is an exercise in percussive fortitude. Dan Snaith performs with a full band, and bangs the shit out of the drums for each song’s climax.
The highlight for me was hearing an old favorite, “Skunks” off of 2003’s Up in Flames. Just like the recorded version, Snaith and Company laid the booty bass on thick. Though the Left Banke never received their due credit in the ’60s, their body of work is alive and well in Caribou. One interesting side note – Caribou seems to get 86 love in Chicago. At their Metro show back in November, they were opening for Battles (though they were great, Caribou was better). Otherwise, for their headlining shows, they’re generally plunged back into smaller clubs like the Empty Bottle. Their Saturday afternoon super-stoked psych-pop explosion blew the crowd away. You heard it from everyone in attendance, so methinks their Pitchfork appearance will reverse that current, and Snaith will receive his due props in the Windy City (though I do enjoy seeing Caribou in smaller rooms, he deserves a wide audience). Though the music was still sweeping and gorgeous as well, it’s the two drummer assault that takes emphasis live.
Also during Caribou’s set, hometown drank heroes 312 Ale / Goose Island flung about a bazillion beach balls into the crowd.
Though not related to the focus of this blog, my girlfriend (much to her delight) and I got to see our lil’ friend Jarvis, too.
Straight from my view from the cheap seats, here’s the Decibel Tolls’ preview for some choice artists I’m anticipating seeing at this year’s festival. My prophecies for these shows have been gleaned from my experience with a couple of these artists in the past, general intuition, and my magic 8-ball. First, it should be noted that the clouds are currently graying here in Chicago, and it looks like the first day of rain we’ve had in, oh I dunno, two weeks or so will conveniently happen during the festival. Just our luck, right? Should be a delightfully apocalyptic time!
It’s somewhat unfortunate that Caribou was slotted for a 2 p.m. show. As with any psych group worth their salt, Caribou offers very enthralling visual aspects including background images that look like they were taken out of a Julian House book. No matter, Caribou has the chops to engage with or without seizure-inducing lights. They hang tough with two drummers, including Dan Snaith himself. When I saw Caribou with Battles at the Metro in November, it was an exercise in percussive fortitude. Since he’s not promoting a particular album at this point, it’s a safe bet that Caribou will dig deep throughout his catalog, which is generally the preferred position for me. Caribou is absolutely not to be missed. [Saturday : 2 p.m. : Connector Stage]
I had the privilege of being involved with two different Animal Collective shows, and if I was smart, would’ve started this blog back then. When you help run a concert through either a venue or your college radio station, it’s easier to score interviews and sound bites. But enough about my stupidity… The first show was in the last wake after Sung Tongs in the spring of ‘05, right at the time the group was moving away from more acoustic material. Jane (Panda Bear and friend Scott Mou) was getting ready to drop the excellent but zoned out Berserker, and you certainly heard a lot of that. It was very droney, and the crowd seemed somewhat polarized by the lack of Sung Tongs songs played. It was great nonetheless, but would’ve been better to see in a theater instead of a standing room recital hall. Animal Collective understands this to an extent, so I would be surprised if the outdoor Union Park setting didn’t encourage the more pop-oriented side of their repertoire (with a little Here Comes the Indian thrown in for good measure and to draw a line in the sand). The second time was at The Dame in Lexington in May of ‘07. AC toured sans Deakon, and considering the electronic structures on what was to be Strawberry Jam, it didn’t much matter. The performance was unrelenting. They played non-stop, with all three members in queue facing the side of the stage instead of the front, and swaying in unison like a cult. It was a sinister, but dare I say, upbeat and almost danceable performance. Every song morphed into the next, and most songs were unrecognizable until Avey Tare throated out the first lyrical yelp. Every Animal Collective show is different, and that’s part of what makes them one of the most exciting, relevant groups of today. Panda Bear is a super rad dude, by the wayz. [Saturday : 9 p.m. : Aluminum Stage]
.jpg/800px-Boris_(band).jpg "Noise Consultations: Pitchfork Music Festival 08 Preview")
Boris has a wealth of source material to choose from, with their prolific output of releases and collaborations. Though some of their best stuff to date has come from their work with Michio Kurihara of Ghost and Sunn O))), Boris, either out of respect or functionality, will probably not perform these songs. And I certainly would be surprised if we heard anything from their Merzbow split Rock Dream. No matter what the show shapes up to be, Boris will be the loudest band, and most immovable object, at Pitchfork. I’m not a bettin’ man, but I would put money on that (unless Spiritualized shows up with, like, 30 goddamn dudes). If “Blackout” from Pink starts rumbling from the PA at 10,000 watts of evil, all bets are off. Shut down the park, call the police. [Sunday : 2 p.m. : Connector Stage]
This might be wishful thinking, but I want, as mentioned, Spiritualized [Sunday : 7 p.m. : Aluminum Stage] to show up with 30 goddamn dudes. Like this:
If you didn’t get tickets yet, well, they’re gone except for tonight’s performances. But, you can catch some streaming live intarweb action at the festival’s website.
Pitchfork Music Festival 2008
Alright heads, get your djembes out – it’s time for a campfire jam. Boredoms are recreating, to a larger degree, their celebration of 7/7/7 last year with 88Boadrum. On August 8 (that’s 8.8.08, you see) in both New York and Los Angeles, 88 drummers will perform an 88-minute composition written by Boredoms. The press release does not indicate whether Boredoms will actually be present at either of these performances, though. The New York performance/installation piece will be conducted by Gang Gang Dance (excellent), and the LA performance will feature musicians handpicked by Boredoms. So who knows. And Nike is involved, which is certainly strange. But when it comes to Boredoms, nothing is really strange. Like Eye rockin’ his own band’s shirt in their current press photo.
So yeah, do you wanna bang a gong or two for this shindig? Just respond to this Craigslist post. In the interim, enjoy footage from last year’s 77Boadrum event. Totally your mom’s worst nightmare.
MP3 :::
Boredoms – (Spiral)
Gang Gang Dance – Nicoman
Boards of Canada are sacred territory for me. In fact, I may subject you sometime to this college thesis I wrote about Geogaddi when I was a freshman. Normal people don’t think this hard about ambient, immovable analog synth launches, so BoC is serious business. Only one dude can do them right, and that’s the elder statesman of thick, sprawling, storm inducing psych-hop, Odd Nosdam.
Pretty Swell Explode, Odd Nosdam’s latest 2-disc release, compiles all of his fairly recent remixes and collaborations, including this track from BoC’s Trans Canada Highway. I need to sling some of Odd’s excellent, gorgeous mountain-moving “Untitled Three” collaborations with Flying Saucer Attack’s Jessica Bailiff up here soon (one of which can be found on Pretty Swell Explode), but for the time being, Odd Nosdam showcases his genius in this gigantic, barely recognizable interpretation of “Dayvan Cowboy.” Despite this, I still think of the Kittinger Fall, as featured in the original music video, when I hear it. Odd Nosdam kinda sounds like falling from the edge of the atmosphere, in a way. The second movement is not for wimps, so proceed with caution.
This track is HEADPHONES ONLY, por favor.
MP3 :::
Boards of Canada – Dayvan Cowboy (Odd Nosdam Mix)
I forgotten that I recently heard Nothing People, out of beautiful northern California, being viciously bumped in Permanent Records when I was there a couple of weeks ago. I was immediately hooked by the Simply Saucer meets Numbers vibe – punk ethos, but with psychedelic expanse. Thanks to a recent post by one of my favorites, Raven Sings the Blues, I was treated to these fuzz and echo saturated canticles again.
So far, Nothing People is jammin’ LP only, with three introductory 7″wax stacks and their recently dropped full-length Anonymous on crazy clear vinyl. “Sickness” is an ionospheric jaunt with dirty, sharp angles. You can pick up Anonymous and more at the SS Records site.
MP3 :::
Nothing People – Sickness
The Chicago by way of Texas no wave psych fright fest Indian Jewelry recently laid down a gross set on WFMU (still the best station on the planet) who posted the entire performance up on the Beware of the Blog. They played a pretty eclectic cross section of their catalog, including grooves off of their latest, excellent and surprisingly catchy record Free Gold, their previous, more sinister Inevasive Exotics, and some choice miscellany. My favorite live shows tend to gravitate toward quite different, but not unrecognizable, performances of the recorded material, and Indian Jewelry seem to pretty much feel the same way. The extended version of “Lost My Sight” is sexy like my tractor. Trenchant and nefarious – these dudes are prophets.
I had the privilege of seeing Indian Jewelry live in the fall of 2005 with sludge warriors Warmer Milks, and it was psychotic. The stage was ornate with intense strobe lights, billowing smoke, shawls, industrial sized aluminum foil, animal skulls, and the Lone Star State flag. Not for the faint of brain, Indian Jewelry steer the helm of a very ominous head trip. Worth seeing if you have the chance. I definitely recommend tryin’ to grip Free Gold, so hey, why not preview it here.
MP3 :::
Indian Jewelry – Live on WFMU
As you know, I’m super obsessed with Ghost Box, and just this week the collective dropped three delicious new tracks for their subscribers (it’s free, so you should sign up). I can’t stop, won’t stop talking about the mighty Ghost Box – who, as I’ve mentioned before, are more or less the most prolific collectors and composers “library music.” That is, all the Ghost Box artists sample, reconstruct, and rebuild the sounds of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and turn it into the springboard for their deep, spacious, glacial psychedelic electronic glitch movements. I absolutely love how each artist on Ghost Box creates a cohesive musical ambiance, and it’s always paradoxically retro and futuristic. The Focus Group in particular sounds like how the Atomic Age envisioned the future.
Ghost Box brings it heavy on the zone out times. If you love Silver Apples, Raymond Scott, or Broadcast, you need at least one Ghost Box release in your collection.
The Focus Group’s new release “We are Coming Back to Dance with You” is dense while creating a huge sonic headspace to take in each sound with profound consideration. As with most of The Focus Group’s catalogue, “We are Coming Back…” treads this weird, thin line between being tranquil and being spooky, sorta in the same vein as Music Has the Right to Children. And as prevalent on that aforementioned album, The Focus Group lays it thick on the bucolic imagery. This is pretty much the same with The Advisory Circle. “Energy in the Home” builds itself around analoge synths and what is, presumably, some public television program. Once again, futuristic in the most nostalgic sense. Some of my favorite songs feature random field recordings over vocals. It’s a good way to go, and you get plenty of that with both The Focus Group and The Advisory Circle.
MP3 :::
The Focus Group – We are Coming Back to Dance with You
The Advisory Circle – Energy in the Home
I missed the live broadcast of this, unfortunately, but The Wire will have the podcast up later tonight. Ghost Box, the holy purveyors of library music and host to Belbury Poly, The Focus Group, Mount Vernon Arts Lab, and more, did a special mix for Adventures in Modern Music on Resonance FM. You know it was siiick.
Just look at their playlist from last week! If you wanna know what’s up, but you don’t know what’s up, that playlist is what’s up.
Not hip to Ghost Box? No problem. Get your education here. This is your basic reference point for Broadcast and Boards of Canada glitch trips.
Also, want. That’s doppler good!
From the mighty Ghost Box collection
MP3 :::
Belbury Poly – Tangled Beams
