Tag Archives: Local Natives

by | December 23, 2010 · 2:56 pm

TUiW Best of 2010: The 15 Best Songs of 2010

2010 has been a fantastic year for music, making it especially difficult for us to narrow our list down to 15. After much deliberation, we’ve made our choices and now bring you TUiW’s picks for the Best Songs of the Year.

15. Local Natives – “Sun Hands”
Local Natives have all the sophistication and worldliness of Grizzly Bear without the austerity. There’s no better example of that than “Sun Hands,” an energetic, wide-eyed indie anthem with all the pastoral trappings and Talking Heads influences that you need to Make It on a blog in 2010. And yet Local Natives is more than the sum of their parts, and “Sun Hands” is a catchy song that is hard to get out of your head once it takes up space there. (J)

14. Broken Social Scene – “Forced to Love”
When the record came out in May, I wrote that “Forced to Love” is “the type of song that demands loud speakers on a sunny day,” a description that holds true even in the cold days of winter. It’s the standout track on Forgiveness Rock Record, one that has the band at their best, not only playing to the rafters, but over them. (M)

13. Wavves – “Post Acid”
Wavves mostly ditched the lo-fi in favor of a different quintessentially 1990s sound: the power-punk of Lookout Records. Like someone else you’ll be seeing a little higher on the list, Nathan Williams distilled his self-loathing and public meltdowns into some of the most infectious and catchy music of the year. On “Post Acid,” Williams turns in a ranging, stomping piece of SoCal punk with energy and hookiness to spare. Its hard to think of a song that earned an intro from John Norris more than “Post Acid.” (J)

12. The Morning Benders – “Excuses”
A lush, beautiful song that recalls the Wall of Sound, “Excuses” kicks off Big Echo in grand fashion. The crashing drums and wobbly strings, combined with the “la-la-las” make the song incredibly catchy, and one that won’t leave your head for days. (M)

11. Wye Oak – “Emmylou”
My Neighbor/My Creator, like a lot of EPs, expanded Wye Oak’s slowcore-leaning musical aesthetic, nowhere more so than on the infectious rocker “Emmylou.” The song reshapes the Wye Oak aesthetic, adding a punkish energy and a slight power-pop edge, while not losing their confessional, sharply lyrical style. Like other Wye Oak songs, “Emmylou” is pretty, but it isn’t nearly as fragile.

10. Best Coast – “Boyfriend”
Best Coast had a breakout year in 2010, and the lead off single from Crazy For You is about as catchy as they come. Bethany Cosentino shares her yearning for a boy, while also adding that he has a better girlfriend already that’s “prettier and skinnier.” It’s a charming track that’s just as fun to listen to one the hundredth time as it is on the first. (M)

9. Arcade Fire – “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
Even given the expanded sonic palate of The Suburbs, the album concluding Blondie/disco of “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” comes as a bit of a surprise. The only song that features Regine on lead vocals, “Sprawl II” makes great use of her voice, setting it against a rising synth line that betrays a kind of innocence. “Sprawl II” summarizes the entire album, finding a measure of beauty in the “Dead shopping malls” that “rise like mountains beyond mountains” while still showing how stifling living there can be (“quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock”). (J)

8. Robyn – “Dancing On My Own”
One of the most infectious dance songs of 2010, “Dancing On My Own” displays a vulnerability not often found in the genre. Frequently aggressive in her songs, here Robyn has a sad side to her tone, offering up a song that is both moving and catchy as hell. It’s hard to listen to “Dancing On My Own” without hoping that all pop songs could be this good. (M)

7. Deerhunter – “Desire Lines”
On “Desire Lines” Bradford Cox digs deep into his library, merging everything from 1960s doo-wop to shoegaze to ambient noise to make an anthem to being bored and disappointed. With lyrics about outgrowing enthusiasm, “Desire Lines” feels like a great anthem for a time when a lot of us were struggling just to find jobs we didn’t want. And yet there’s a quality of serenity to the song, as if Cox is at peace with the notion of forever cycling through desire and disappointment. (J)

6. Superchunk – “Digging for Something”
After a nine year absence from the studio, Superchunk returned, with “Digging for Something” kicking off Majesty Shredding. It’s a swift and insanely catchy rocker, and it’s probably the year’s best rock song. With John Darnielle providing some back up vocals, “Digging for Something” is the type of song that you can listen to and start over right away.(M)

5. Big Boi – “Shutterbug”
Being the straight-man in a group is a difficult and unrewarding task. Ask Jason Bateman or Chico Marx. So it was easy to, if not overlook Big Boi, then at least expect a more straightforward album than you’d look for from Andre 3000. However Big Boi smashed that expectation, nowhere more so than the infectious bass-rattler “Shutterbugg.” Big Boi rattles off classic lyrics like machine gun bursts, climaxing in the catchy bridge and a command to “throw your deuce up in the sky for the shutterbugg.” (J)

4. Joanna Newsom – “Good Intentions Paving Co.”
With a nod from Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, Joanna Newsom offered up one of her catchiest and most accessible songs. Always a fan of long, flowing narrative, Newsom her crafts a song full of pop sensibility without giving up her unique sound in the process. If you’ve been hung up on Newsom and her love it or hate it voice before, be sure to give this track a try before writing her off. You won’t regret it. (M)

3. Beach House – “Walk in the Park”
For such a melancholy song, “Walk in the Park” is oddly soaring. That contrast, one that permeates Teen Dream, somehow makes “Walk in the Park” all the more heartbreaking. Depicting a shattering relationship with Beach House’s usual ambiguity (“the face that you saw at the door, isn’t looking at you anymore”), before switching to its equally wrenching conclusion. “Walk in the Park” is a beautiful, fragile, sad song and one of the best of the year. (J)

2. LCD Soundsystem – “I Can Change”
James Murphy hasn’t been shy about getting introspective in the past, but on “I Can Change,” he starts to question the idea of we change one another to be in love. “Love is a murderer” he cries in the song, offering a serious rumination on love in complete contrast to the goofier “Drunk Girls,” found previously on the record. Murphy has said there might not be any more LCD Soundsystem records, but if he keeps putting out singles like this, we’ll have more than enough great songs to keep us satisfied.

1. Kanye West – “Runaway”
What better way to summarize 2010 – a year that gave us The Decision and Rand Paul and the continued success of Jersey Shore – than with an infectious toast to douchebags, assholes, and scumbags. On “Runaway,” Kanye confronted his public persona, his award show escapades, and his outspokenness and generally agreed with the haters, while at the same time showing how that side of his personality is inseparable from his genius. From 35 minute music videos to moving paintings to epic SNL performances, Kanye reminded us all of his outsized ambition, and nowhere did he cash in on that more than our Song of the Year. (J)

Be sure to come back tomorrow as our Best of 2010 coverage wraps up with the 15 best albums of the year.

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by | July 20, 2010 · 1:22 pm

TUiW Goes to the 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival

Pavement closes the festival

TUiW hit the 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival this past weekend, and for those that couldn’t make it out, here’s our blow by blow recap:

Friday
Arriving a little late at the festival, the first act I saw was Robyn, who brought a high energy set to the early evening of Day 1. Armed with a band that consisted of two keyboard/synth players and two drummers, Robyn started the dance party with chart-climbing single “Dancing On My Own,” but sadly left out her American breakthrough single, “Show Me Love.”

Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene followed, packing the stage as usual with 4-5 guitarists at once. The only downside of the set was Lisa Lobsinger, filling the role occasionally filed by Feist, Emily Haines, or Amy Millan. Lobsinger has a great voice, and “All to All” is one of my favorite tracks on Forgiveness Rock Record, but Lobsinger hardly swayed as she sang and brought little energy to the high energy band. Her bandmates however brought the fire, especially with closer “Meet Me in the Basement,” their instrumental “anthem” as Kevin Drew called it. Closing out the day were indie rock stallwarts Modest Mouse, who took to the stage with “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” and largely played some of their deeper cuts alongside singles “Dashboard” and “Satellite Skin.” Issac Brock screamed and shared knowledge with the crowd, but it was during Modest Mouse that the first signs of Pitchfork’s poor stage setups started to show. Anyone to the side or too far past the sound tent had a hard time hearing any of the banter, and the music was garbled. All this aside though, the band put on a great show.

Saturday
Opening the day were Free Energy, the James Murphy-produced outfit that genuinely seemed overjoyed to be playing at the festival. The band bounced their way through the impossibly catchy “Free Energy” and “Bang Pop,” and most definitely won over a slew of new fans. Real Estate was a great early choice, with their gentle rocking floating through the oppressive heat before Delorean brought up the energy level with a frantic set that at times evoked M83, if M83 were huge U2 fans. They were followed by one of Saturday’s best acts, Titus Andronicus,

Titus Andronicus

who got the weekend’s first mosh pit going as they ripped through tracks from The Monitor and got the crowed to yell in unison “You’ll always be a loser!” from “The Future, Pt. 3.” The band got major props in my book for dedicating a song to a girl in attendance that they had heard had been in an accident and missed a prior show, a classy move. Unfortunately, the high of Titus Andronicus was followed with the low of Raekwon. Just after his DJ took the stage, technical problems hit, and the Wu Tang Clan member didn’t even hit the stage for another 10 minutes, where he was again slowed by technical glitches, that were followed up by a short, uninspired set that clearly had all of its energy drained from it. Over on the too small Balance Stage, the Smith Westerns put on a more than pleasant set in the shade that would have been better if the sound on the stage didn’t turn the vocals into an indecipherable mess. The smaller stage had a number of problems with, particularly that it was in a small space with limited ways in and out, but the poor sound system made it hard to hear anything if you weren’t positioned right at the sound tent. All of that was thrown out the window during Wolf Parade, who didn’t need banter to show they were clearly loving playing the festival. The band didn’t slow down at all, blasting songs from their superb Expo 86, as well as older cuts like “This Hearts On Fire” and “Soldier’s Grin.” The highlight however came with the monstrous “Kissing the Beehive” closing the set, sending the crowd into a tizzy. All of that excitement would then be immediately followed by the much dissed set by Panda Bear, which consisted mainly of Noah Lennox holding down a few keys on a synthesizer and yelping every now and then as crazy images played on the big screens. The epic scope of Person Pitch was nowhere to be found, and left me hoping that Tomboy sounds better on record than it did live. The night was closed with an epic set by LCD Soundsystem, helped in part by a crowd that was so ready to go nuts they started cheering when the giant disco ball was raised above the stage well before it started. Now, I’ve seen James Murphy and Co. a few times, but this was easily the best. Though the set lacked much of This Is Happening (only “Drunk Girls,” “Pow Pow,” and “I Can Change”), the crowd went absolutely nuts during a particularly pulsing rendition of our favorite song, “All My Friends.” Though few of the twentysomething hipsters can identify with a song about being an aging hipster, the song hit the right note, and created a frenzy of dancing and singing along that was a major highlight of the festival. Capping their set, the band played the chorus of “Empire State of Mind” before hitting the reprise of “New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down,” ending the day on a really high note.

Sunday

Best Coast

Kicking off my last day of the festival was Best Coast, a band was really excited to see. Bethany Cosentino led the trio through songs from the band’s early singles and EPs, before giving a taste of her forthcoming album Crazy For You, which sounded great. She also got in one of the best punchlines of the festival, joking, “You guys remember Woodstock in the 90s? This reminds me of that.” While Girls played a set that sounded pretty close to their record, Washed Out produced a great set of chillwave jams, but I personally had a hard time getting into a guy playing with his laptop, so it could have been better. Just as the sun went behind the clouds for a while, Beach House took the stage, bringing the soft sounds of Victoria Legrand’s voice and Alex Scally’s spiky guitar to a crowd that seemed more than happy to slowly nod their heads as they jammed along. Songs like “Walk in the Park” carry a little more power live, adding some extra punch to the Teen Dream tracks. Local Natives played to a huge crowd surrounding the tiny Balance Stage, bringing tracks from Gorilla Manor to life with their three part harmonies and thundering drums. Surfer Blood too played to a big crowd, bringing a little more rock with their now polished live act that didn’t disappoint. Next up came a phenomenal set by St. Vincent,

St. Vincent

who played all material from Actor with a tight backing band that brought the grandeur of the record into a smaller, but equally stunning sound. Annie Clark brought some of the best guitar work of the weekend to tracks like “Just the Same But Brand New” in a set that, while perhaps a bit too soft for its timeslot, was among the best of the weekend by far. Here We Go Magic impressed me quite a bit, bringing an energy I didn’t expect and getting the crowd moving through the hot afternoon. Everyone that wasn’t at Here We Go Magic was busy at Major Lazer, the Diplo-led crazy factory that featured Chinese dragons, ladder leaps, and a huge party. A Major Lazer show can really be described in so many ways, but its truthfully something that has to be seen for its total craziness be believed. Anyone that was wiped out by Major Lazer got a blast of the chillwave from Neon Indian, who brought a whole band together to groove through tacks like “Terminally Chill” for a big crowd. After Neon Indian, many people stuck around for noise duo Sleigh Bells, but with Neon Indian running over and technical delays, the band went on quite late, and apparently suffered through some sound issues, before finally breaking through and bringing the noise. Meanwhile, Big Boi led the crowd through songs from solo and Outkast repertoires, and even brought with him a crew of really awesome 10-and-under breakdancers. And then it was time for Pavement, the big draw of the weekend. With Drag City’s Rian Murphy offering a hilarious sequel to an act he used to do in Pavement’s heyday opening (highlighted by his claim that, “I’ve been listening to Pavement since 1991, so I’ve been waiting for this reunion for 20 years!”), the mood was frantic for the band, who shut down the festivals webcast under suspicious circumstances. The set was a little more uneven than their triumphant turn at Coachella, with songs like “Stop Breathin,” “Stereo,” and “The Hexx,” hitting perfectly, and others, such as “In The Mouth A Desert” and “Cut Your Hair” coming out sloppily. They still served as a fantastic closer for the weekend, which was laden with more bright spots than otherwise. Pitchfork puts on a great festival, with its small size, constant flow of sets, and high quality acts. If issues like the sound and size of the Balance Stage can get worked out, then there’s nothing to stop Pitchfork from being among the best festivals in the country.

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by | May 18, 2010 · 9:43 am

Austin City Limits Lineup Revealed

The last big American music festival of the year has it’s lineup, and the Austin City Limits festival will be headlined by…The Eagles? Yep, it appears ACL will be headlined October 8-10 by the chillest band of the 1970s, along with Muse and Phish, with The Strokes, M.I.A. and the Flaming Lips taking the second string headliner bill. The rest of the lineup is filled in with big guns including LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, Vampire Weekend, Norah Jones, Band of Horses, Monsters of Folk, The National, and the Mountain Goats and lesser but good guns including The Black Keys, Broken Bells, Yeasayer, Beach House, Matt and Kim, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, Girls, Local Natives, Devendra Barnhart, The Morning Benders, and White Rabbits. You can check out the whole lineup here.

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by | April 22, 2010 · 4:58 pm

TUIW Goes to Coachella: Sunday

Stephen Malkmus of Pavement

TUiW spent the past weekend in Indio, CA for this year’s Coachella festival. Here’s our recap of Sunday:

Local Natives
The L.A. band got a lot of support from the locals at Coachella, who packed the tent well in advance of their set. Local Natives worked through tracks off of their stellar debut Gorilla Manor, and brought even more energy to tracks already filled with plenty. Album stand outs “Sun Hands” and “Airplanes” sound even more gorgeous live, as the band’s stellar harmonies floated over a more raw, live sound. With a great debut and a tight live performance, the future looks awfully bright for Local Natives.

Owen Pallet
Owen Pallett brought his quirky, formal style of violin and looping (complete with a multi-instrumentalist accompanying him) and focused mostly on tracks from Heartland, his really good new album. The show also featured Pallett’s amiably goofy stage presence, like when he referred to the stage he shared with Jonsi and Bradford Cox as the “gay ghetto” and then asked his accompanist if he had tried “cornholing.”

Deerhunter
Though they were beleaguered with technical problems, Deerhunter put on a fantastic live set, thanks in large part to the enthusiasm of frontman Bradford cox. During one particular technical setback, Cox improvised a Coachella songs, pondering the number of people who OD’ed or had faulty condoms. He also gave a shout-out to fellow Coachella performer Julian Casablancas before closing with “Disappearing Ink,” on which he admitted to ripping off Casablancas’ vocal style. The rest of the set was full of fantastic, fuzzed out jams, with the highlight being a great version of “Nothing Ever Happened.”

Yo La Tengo
It was oddly delightful to see Yo La Tengo, a band that has toiled so long in relative obscurity, play the main stage of a major festival. Their brief set functioned as a kind of greatest hits and the band tore through songs like “Autumn Sweater” and “You Can Have It All” (complete with some stylish dance moves) while saving enough time for one of their trademark noise freakouts at the end. All in all, it was an immensely satisfying set from a great band.

Spoon
Continuing the theme of unexpected bands triumphantly taking their rightful place as festival headlines, Spoon played a great set to an adoring audience. While the show didn’t reach further back than Kill the Moonlight, it featured all of Spoon’s newest essentials, even if the crowd didn’t seem as into the songs from their newest album. Also, Bradford Cox joined the band on guitar for “Who Makes Your Money.”

Pavement
For what we’d estimate was a sizeable minority of Coachella-goers, this was it. The reason we shelled out $300 and drove 20 hours to a desert in the middle of nowhere in California. So was it worth? Hell yes. From the first strains of “Silence Kit” to the triumphant finish of “Cut Your Hair,” Pavement was back with an energy and a fire that betrays the slacker storyline. Playing a range of music from across their career (but centered on Slanted and Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain) Pavement was, simply, everything we dreamed they’d be.

Thom Yorke and Atoms for Peace
They weren’t Radiohead, but Thom Yorke’s new band injected new life into 2006′s good-not-great The Eraser (which they played through from start to finish). Yorke was bouncy and energetic (and had a bit of an unofficial dance-off with Flea) and all the stuff he played was great, but the highpoint was when he played “Airbag” on just an acoustic guitar and then moved to a piano for “Everything in Its Right Place.”

Gorillaz
A somewhat disappointing end to Coachella, Gorillaz much lauded stage showed was stripped down, with the band appearing as themselves as pictures and weird video clips playing behind them. The music was alright, but without the much discussed holograms or even a video of the cartoon’s singing, it was a fairly typical set. There was no Lou Reed appearance, as was the rumor floating around, but De La Soul (who performed on their own earlier in the day) and a video of Snoop Dog appeared to rock out with Damon Albarn and co.

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by | March 22, 2010 · 1:51 pm

TUIW Goes to SXSW

The music section of SXSW is really more like an alternative Spring Break than some sort of professional music conference. From Tuesday night to Saturday (technically Sunday morning) I saw pieces of over 60 shows by pretty much every member of the indie rock class of 2009-10. I’m not going to go into every band I saw, so instead, let’s talk about a smattering of the most interesting ones.

TUESDAY:

Metric: There was a time where Metric was one of my favorite bands, but a lengthy hiatus and a weak follow-up album killed some of my enthusiasm. Still, live, the band is a force to be reckoned with and their style of slick, highly polished pop-punk is so distinctive and big that I’m a little surprised they aren’t a much more famous band. Their show at the huge Fader Fort on Tuesday showed that Metric are a band that could have no problems entertaining arena-sized crowds, if only they could sell enough tickets.

WEDNESDAY:

Here We Go Magic: I know HWGM as friends and tourmates of Grizzly Bear and for their excellent first record, which was pretty sedate and deliberate. So I wasn’t expecting their show to be as raucous and thumping as it turned out to be. The songs were ratcheted up and their new stuff, for a record due out later this year, was quite good.

jj: jj put out one of my favorite records of 2009 but they were, without a doubt, the biggest disappointment of the week. Their show consisted of singer Elin Kastlander standing alone on a bare stage while someone hit play on instrumental versions of their songs, which she then sang over, without enthusiasm or energy. The bands other member, Joakim Benon, eventually wandered through, lit a cigarette, and stared at her while she sang. As performance art, jj’s set was kind of amazing, but as a show, it sucked.

Sleigh Bells: Sleigh Bells, however, were as advertised. One of the hottest bands to spring to life in the last 12 months, pretty much all of their praise has focused on their live show, since the band only has a few demos to its name as far as recorded output goes. Nonetheless, their show was a frenetic dance party, almost as if a Madonna show and a Metallica show were happening on the same stage at the same time. Unlike other bands, Sleigh Bells found a nice balance between utilizing loops and samples and actually putting on a show.

THURSDAY:

Local Natives: Local Natives just put out their kind of incredible new record a few weeks ago, and arrived at SXSW at the perfect time to build on that buzz. Their songs have a pop live that I wasn’t expecting, while bringing out the energy and sunny pop vibe in their music. I saw them twice and was impressed both times, especially with their insanely catchy single “Airplanes” which seems destined to be in a car commercial very soon.

Surfer Blood: By my rough estimation, Surfer Blood played approximately 3,200 shows at SXSW, which makes sense since their record is perfect spring break music. Filled with chunky guitar riffs (Weezer is a common reference, but I’d compare their single “Swim” more to Van Halen) and thumping percussion, Surfer Blood makes music that is perfect for a sunny, boozy day. But, while their show was serviceable, it lacked the energy that comes across on the record.

The Besnard Lakes: Led by a husband and wife duo from Canada, The Besnard Lakes make music with the rustic feel of Grizzly Bear, but the sweeping grandeur of The Arcade Fire. I would hazard a guess that Stubbs’ outdoor amphitheater was the largest venue they’ve ever played, but soaring songs like “Albatross” had no problem filling the space.

Drive-By Truckers: DBT are a Southern rock band, not a Confederate rock band, and that crucial difference gets at why Patterson Hood’s awesome band works for me in a way that, say, Kid Rock or .38 Special doesn’t. The band’s music has a dark, gothic edge (reminiscent of one of my favorite writers, Flannery O’Connor) but Hood doesn’t forget to just flat out rock. It was my first time seeing DBT (and I suspect I was one of the few people there who was more excited for them than either of the two headliners), and they didn’t disappoint.

Band of Horses: I’ve seen Band of Horses twice already, but it seems like they’ve been a little revitalized by their new material. They’ve fully embraced their country side to solid effect as the new songs sounded pretty good. I was surprised that it seemed like they had as many fans at Stubbs as Broken Social Scene, but they definitely earned even more this weekend.

Broken Social Scene: I’ve seen Broken Social Scene 4 times now and, if this time wasn’t quite as transcendent as when they’re at their best, it was still a darn good rock show. They devoted most of their set to airing the new material from their forthcoming album, but it all sounded interesting and fit right in with their old stuff (including a nice run through “Anthems of a Seventeen Girl” featuring Emily Haines on vocals).

FRIDAY:

Free Energy: Between this band and the new LCD Soundsystem song (which sounds like L.A. McCartney), it seems like DFA is branching out to other 1970s sounds besides disco. Free Energy is a power-chord, glammed out 70s rock band that wouldn’t be out of place opening of Aerosmith in 1974 (except they’d, you know, blow Aerosmith away). If you want to have a good time, see a Free Energy show or, failing that, just by their record and crank the stereo.

Washed Out: Washed Out mastermind Ernest Greene has been hesitant to tour and its easy to understand why after seeing him live. The show basically has Greene cueing loops on a sampler and singing over it – not exactly the most compelling stuff (added to the fact that I kind of don’t like his record to begin with). He brought out a band to spice things up, but it couldn’t rescue a show that just wasn’t working.

Best Coast: Best Coast’s winsome, fuzzed out beach pop made for some of my favorite songs of 2009, despite the fact they’re singles and Bethany Cosentino hasn’t put out an LP yet. Live, the songs don’t lose their melancholy beauty but, except for her two big songs (“Sun Was High” and “When I’m With You), the set dragged a little and the crowd didn’t seem totally into it. Still, “Sun Was High” was positively gorgeous and I can’t wait to listen to the full record.

Memory Tapes: Another chillwave, sample-tastic band, but Memory Tapes also has a post-punk edge to it that came out live (unlike his compatriots in Washed Out and Neon Indian, Dayve Hawk actually plays guitar at his show) and really helped the excellent songs from “Seek Magic” come out live. The crowd was really into it and all in all, it was an excellent show.

Neon Indian: I was fully prepared for a “they are who we thought they were” rant about Neon Indian but, I’ve got to admit, I kind of dug his show. Flanked by a live band that seemed a little more prepared and fine-tuned than Washed Out’s, the songs had an energy and directness that the album was missing. I still think “Psychic Chasms” sounds too much like a lazy first draft, but I now have a little more hope for the future of chillwave than I once did.

SATURDAY:

Wye Oak: Wye Oak’s live show consists of Jenn Wasner singing (and her voice is positively haunting) and playing guitar while bandmate Andy Stack plays drums with one hand (and both feet) and keyboard with the other. However, beyond being technically astounding, their music retains its patient beauty live, and was definitely one of the highlights of the weekend for me.

Titus Andronicus: I’ve been thinking about “The Monitor,” Titus Andronicus’ newest record, for a while and trying to formulate what exactly to say, but I’m glad I got the chance to see them live. I liked them a lot when I saw them last year but, I don’t know whether it’s the confidence that comes with the added experience of a year or the insanely high level of their new songs, but they were on a totally different plane. Their highbrow punk rock was blistering and epic (in a 45 minute set, they got through 4 songs, including the 15 minute “Battle of Hampton Roads”). Making a 68-minute concept record about the Civil War may be an inherently ridiculous undertaking, but Titus Andronicus pulled it off, in what may have been my favorite set of the weekend.

Woods: Woods is kind of a weird band. A lot of their set is devoted to noise and cassette looping and its difficult to tell how much of the singer’s odd timbre is his voice and how much of it is caused by the special effect microphone he uses. But, as a huge fan of “Songs of Shame” it was really awesome to see them take their pretty, pastoral folk songs and turn them into Crazy Horse-esque jams. They are decidedly esoteric, but highly rewarding to listeners who can get into it.

Real Estate: Real Estate’s show is kind of the opposite of label-mates Woods. While a live setting brings out Woods’ eccentricities, it irons out Real Estate’s, giving an immediacy to their winning, beachy, Jersey Shore shamble. It made for a really great show, as they tore through songs like standout “Beach Comber” and “Suburban Beverage.” I saw them twice and was not disappointed either time.

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by | March 9, 2010 · 7:36 am

Get Free SXSW Samplers

Going to SXSW but don’t know anything about the bands playing? Well stay tuned here for our comprehensive guide, but you can also download a couple of free samplers to get you up do date, with tracks from Spoon, The Walkmen, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Local Natives, Surfer Blood, Broken Bells, and more. Find one here and here.

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by | February 16, 2010 · 9:54 am

Sasquatch! Festival Lineup Announced

We have another festival lineup to announce! This year’s Sasquatch! Festival will feature headliners Pavement, My Morning Jacket, and Massive Attack. Also playing? Vampire Weekend, MGMT, the National, LCD Soundsystem, Band of Horses, Ween, Tegan and Sara, Broken Social Scene, Passion Pit, Public Enemy, She & Him, the New Pornographers, the Hold Steady, the xx, Dirty Projectors, No Age, Drive-By Truckers, Kid Cudi, the Mountain Goats, Quasi, Camera Obscura, Midlake, WHY?, Japandroids, Wale, YACHT, Cymbals Eat Guitars, the Very Best, Neon Indian, tUnE-YarDs, and Local Natives. That sounds like a damn good lineup. For the full list, head here.

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