I am not a great listmaker because my consumption of music or books or films is limited by my budget, and spare time, since no one has felt the need to contact me and ask that I become a member of their press team. Oh, I would love to go to SXSW, Coachella, Pitchfork, advance screenings, advance galley copies, et. al on any company's dime, but we find ourselves in an incredibly fucked up situation, and only Tao Lin and the system of public libraries is willing to support me in my pursuit of critical professionalism.
If I had to name the best books of 2009, I would be hard-pressed, but I would put Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned on that list.
For movies, I would include Inglorious Basterds and Up, but I haven't seen anything else that approaches greatness. I suppose The Hurt Locker, the last movie reviewed on this blog and also the only advance screening I attended, deserves an honorable mention.
But music, I had bought more than ten albums this year, I think, and so here are my top 10:
#10: Atlas Sound - Logos
I do not think this was as good as Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel but there were at least three amazing songs--"An Orchid," "Walkabout," and "Quick Canal"--and that's good enough for me. And it's not like "Attic Lights" or the title track or "Washington School" are weak either. Overall, further proof that Bradford Cox is the most consistently great musical artist of the late aughts.
#9: Deerhunter - Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP
There were only five songs, but three of them--the title track, "Disappearing Ink," and "Circulation"--okay I don't want to repeat the previous entry. I put this above Atlas Sound because I prefer Deerhunter--they are louder, and they are tighter.
#8: Superchunk - Leaves in the Gutter EP
Criminally overlooked, as often happens to Superchunk. Though there are only five songs, and one of them is an acoustic version of another, further proof that Mac McCaughan is the most consistently great musical artist of the 1990's, and the aughts...that is, if you like their sound, which okay, not everyone wants energetic alternative pop-punk all the time, but I do. "Misfits & Mistakes" is as good as any other Superchunk song over the last twenty years. And this EP is so much better than Here's to Shutting Up that I had to include it. I really hope they do a full-length in 2010, and a proper full-scale tour. I like Portastatic, but it's not quite the same.
#7: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - S/T
I really don't think this is all that great, but it delivers on the hype, I think (in a way that the xx does not, for me). "Young Adult Friction" is a cool song. There are a few other good tracks, and a couple that are a bit annoying. But the sound is pure MBV, and while K. Shields & Co. may continue to dangle the promise of a new record--"it's a poor substitute at best," but it's good enough for now.
#6: Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Every year that Sonic Youth puts out a new album I will always put it in the top 10. And I do not think I am being unfair. This is one of their most fucked up records in recent years. It's so weird, and funny, and heavy, and accessible. Better than Rather Ripped, better than Sonic Nurse--on the basis of the first two tracks alone. Not that the rest of the album is any less inspiring.
#5: Jemina Pearl - Break it Up
Truthfully, this belongs closer to #10, as it wore me down after a couple weeks, but for those couple of weeks, it was the only thing I listened to. An incredibly consistent album--and probably better than the Be Your Own Pet swan song Get Awkward. The second half of this album is amazing. The first half is not too bad either. I would list all the great songs but it would be pointless because I would just list every song on the album, except for maybe two or three that grate on me a bit. Jemina can be a little annoying at times, but that is also what makes her great.
#4: Morrissey - Years of Refusal/Wavves - S/T (tie)
Two albums I bought on the same day back a long time ago at the beginning of 2009. The Morrissey was more immediately satisfying, but I rank it alongside Wavves because Wavves has the potential to be pretty awesome down the line. Morrissey turned 50 this year and continues to satisfy me by not backing down from his position that it is okay to be miserable and alone and sing songs about how horrible a serious adult existence can be--a true original, and one of the very few who has not lost the power he once wielded, some twenty-seven years on. Wavves turned 23 this year and satisfied me by singing songs about smoking pot and feeling bored and various fun things to do in California--like, I wish I had this album on a boombox, could go to a beach in SoCal, could light up a J, and then go for a swim, while getting a good tan. It may be fantasy, but Wavves proves that the dream of turning from nobody into the next big thing is still possible, and having much publicized festival meltdowns tends to help this cause.
#3: Girls - Album
Probably just on the basis of "Lust for Life," "Big Bad Mean Motherfucker," and "Morning Light." Those three songs are so awesome. I just think Girls are the most interesting new band to make their debut in 2009. The fact that they seem really messed up emotionally, but are also strangely wholesome, and sincere, is a combination that worked out very well for them on this album.
#2: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
Now we get to the heavy hitters. Initially, I didn't see what was so great about this album. I loved "Zero," but I was like, "Why is the rest of this so somber? Why will you not kick the shit out of everyone, Karen O? This will not be fun to see live! Who cares?!" As time passed, and more listens gradually occurred, I realized this album is a masterpiece. Think "Maps" over and over, in various permutations.
#1: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Once again, when I rated Sound of Silver the #1 album of 2007, I sided with the bandwagon jumpers, and now here, I will do the same with AC. I've been listening to them since Feels, and didn't really see what was so great about them. Strawberry Jam has proven to be an album that has really grown on me. But this album, which is now over a year old, is their first undisputed masterpiece. I never understood the appeal of AC until I gave this album a chance. This led me to recently purchase the Fall Be Kind EP, which does have one song that approaches the heights this album reaches, but overall, almost nothing can top this album. Okay so a couple places said Kid A was the album of the decade (after OK Computer was the album of the previous decade, or else Nevermind or Loveless)--and don't get me wrong, I love Radiohead as much as the next guy, but this album is so good it should have been hailed as the album of the decade. Kid A may have been gloomy, and portentous of things to come in American and global society (9/11, Bush, Iraq, Economic Hell)--but on the other end of the spectrum we have an album about leaving one's body for a night, forgetting everything awful about life and society at large, and just finding a little space where happiness can exist, if only for forty or forty-five minutes. Plus I didn't like Kid A as much as everyone else. So, all hail Animal Collective as the next Radiohead, even though it seems doubtful they will ever reach that degree of commercial popularity.
Showing posts with label The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Show all posts
Friday, January 15, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Justyn with a Y - Swans(ong)
Ah the life of the struggling artist, forced to seek gainful employment outside his chosen field of play. Do we writers know the bitter sting of rejection any better than musicians? We are always asked by our friends and relatives--"are you still writing?" "Are you still playing music?" It seems inevitable. No one wants to ignore a person's dreams, even when they realize those dreams are improbable. We all want to believe that you can do what you love and make something out of yourself at the same time.
Does anyone know how hard it is to work on something in private, perfect it as you see fit, give it a proper professional sheen, and send it to the appropriate people who will then judge it as they see fit, while hoping they will offer you some kind of publishing deal, some kind of record deal, which will finally allow you to live your life the way you have always wanted to, going into your predetermined space and playing around with your instruments until you come up with something cogent, some statement, some piece of art which is meant to---? Excite, inspire, assuage, or comfort? Does anyone know how hard it is to then go around in person and present this material to the masses--which amount to barflys and cocktail waitresses--and try to keep a positive attitude? Does anyone know how hard it is to make money back on your investment when your chosen item of trade is presented by a complete unknown, and has questionable merits?
That is not to say that Justyn with a Y's debut album Swans(ong) has questionable merits musically, but for me, I generally feel that folk music has questionable merits. I don't understand it. I've never gotten into Bob Dylan. Justyn gave me a Townes van Zandt record and I liked that okay. There was only one time I listened to it and it felt appropriate--when I was driving my car into the city recently, to go to a jazz concert that I knew I was going to be late to, not really wanting to go at all, just feeling depressed in pretty much every way--and the album worked wonders. And I understand why Our Mother the Mountain is a great album.
Justyn has played in three bands since I have known him: Hog Hug, Phosphates, and Para Para Parasol. Justyn with a Y is the title of his solo project, and his first album Swans(ong) easily eclipses the entirety of his recorded output with any of those three previous bands--but I say that with a caveat--the caveat being that I liked the musical stylings of those previous bands better.
Okay, so Hog Hug never really set the world on fire, but I saw them play a couple times and I liked the song "Bar" and I have a bootleg of one of their concerts on my iPod and they play an interesting cover of the Beat Happening song "Tiger Trap." The Phosphates were my band, so to speak, and when one member left, Justyn filled in, and thus began the final tumultuous months of that band, which contained some of their best music and most troublesome feuds. I may be biased but I feel that the Phosphates were a supergroup of sorts and it is sad that they did not make it the way I envisioned. Para Para Parasol was a step in the right direction for Justyn, and their album is totally decent. I liked it just fine. I liked the sound, but they weren't exactly going to set the world on fire either.
Swans(ong) is not going to set the world on fire either. But this is Justyn's best work yet. It was recorded in a forest in Maryland in August 2009. It starts off uncertainly with "Slowing Me Down" which is sprightly enough but perhaps has some questionable lyrics. When the line "You know that my time is a precious thing to me/I can't spend it all making love to a memory" keeps coming up I can't stop thinking about masturbation, sorry. "Jason Moran" is the second song and takes things in a slightly weirder direction. I do not know who Jason Moran is but I feel compelled to google him or wikipedia him. Justyn reveals himself to be a bit more of a craftsman with this song, since it is somewhat more complex and probably shouldn't work, but does to a certain extent.
There are 9 songs on this album and of those, about four work really well. A couple of them are probably disposable, and another couple of them are totally decent. I think it is worth noting that Justyn did everything on his own with guitar on this album, no drums, nothing else but the ambient sounds of nature in the background. And to me, that ambience is the strongest part about the whole album. I felt that it could have been played up and used to a far more powerful effect. As it is, you hear a little bit, for about a second, at the very beginning, a little bit in between songs, and then at the very end for a couple seconds. The ambient nature sounds complement the nature of the material--and it could have been really cool, like a Microphones record, but instead it ends up sounding like a demo tape with slightly more to it.
"Shoelace Necklace" is the first song to be totally pleasant, but sounds like it could fit easily on one of those early Sebadoh cassette recordings. It is nice, but it is not especially a major statement. "Coastal Highway" comes next, and is the first truly great song on the album. Justyn is definitely branching out a bit from his comfort zone on this one, and it pays off. For some reason it reminds me of Neil Young--probably just the way the singing sounds. The song delves into a guitar hook that sounds like something off of Psychic Hearts. But in a folk way. This is my primary criticism--the material would sound much better with a full band, a punk/noise band. But "Coastal Highway" would not be magnified by a full group. It is at full strength the way it is.
"Direction is Round" is another song that works on the album, though not to the degree of "Coastal Highway"--more like to the degree of "Shoelace Necklace." My other basic complaint about this album is the production--yes, the nature setting is nice, but underused. But this is what separates amateurs from professionals. You can always tell the difference between your friend's band and say, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, or even Wavves, bands that supposedly break out while doing everything D.I.Y. Guided by Voices are probably the only band that really did sound "lo-fi" and unpolished when first noticed. Production is unimportant, it seems, when people like Beck or Lou Barlow can record their own album on a four-track and be totally great. But no one would really listen to those recordings if they hadn't already heard the more "hi-fi" stuff--You're Living All Over Me or Odelay. If I am supposedly drawing comparisons to Justyn then it is inutile as the French might say.
"L#A#N#D" is probably the most notable song on the album, and is either the most annoying or most enjoyable thing on the album. I think it is nice, and simple, and well-constructed. I don't really understand the lyrics but it seems like they might be about Christianity. "Even if Your Road Leads Down" is a bit different, and definitely works--certainly darker than anything on the album up to this point. And perhaps makes me think about art, and failure. When I saw the artwork for the album, I told Justyn it was very "confrontational." And he asked in what sense, and I said, "In the sense that, with the title 'Swan Song,' you're leading people to believe that it's the last thing you'll do musically. But the spray paint across the 'ong' is like saying, 'No, I'm not ready to quit yet.'"
"Lorraine" makes me think of a more clever and less listenable song by Ozma about a character from the Back to the Future movies, and as it is, it is totally decent, but doesn't leave much of an impression. That is not the case for the final track, "When the Tension's Gone," which sounds a bit like Pavement to me, and is arguably the best single song just Justyn has ever recorded. That it is quiet and mournful is a shame for the modern rock radio stations of today that could play Justyn's much buzzed-about new single...It is the perfect way to cap off the album as it is. Yes, it reminds me of "Here."
There's not much more I could say that I haven't already intimated. Yes, this is Justyn's best work yet, and he has good reason to be proud of it, but it's not really the type of music I usually like (folk) and I don't think many people are going to be able to get into it. I think people need a reason to like their bands--i.e. they are not usually very good reasons. Like, people like Lady Gaga because she is catchy and cool, or people like Animal Collective because they are "music for intellectuals," or something, and people like Deerhunter or Girls because they are provocative, and people like the Pains of Being Pure at Heart because they are the closest equivalent of My Bloody Valentine, or people like Jack Johnson because he reminds them of just kicking back with friends, smoking a j, having a beer, and talking about what is good in life, or people like New Order because they are an awesome band for the dance element, or people like Weezer because they have a crush on Rivers Cuomo. The reason people would like Justyn with a Y is because it would be music to put on a mixtape for the person you have a crush on. But it is too difficult to be that kind of music. It is original, and it could only be made by Justyn, and I do not think it is going to open the door to an especially lucrative career in music, but it is his most accomplished work to date, and something that, if he could build upon it, might find a way to attract a larger body of listeners.
Does anyone know how hard it is to work on something in private, perfect it as you see fit, give it a proper professional sheen, and send it to the appropriate people who will then judge it as they see fit, while hoping they will offer you some kind of publishing deal, some kind of record deal, which will finally allow you to live your life the way you have always wanted to, going into your predetermined space and playing around with your instruments until you come up with something cogent, some statement, some piece of art which is meant to---? Excite, inspire, assuage, or comfort? Does anyone know how hard it is to then go around in person and present this material to the masses--which amount to barflys and cocktail waitresses--and try to keep a positive attitude? Does anyone know how hard it is to make money back on your investment when your chosen item of trade is presented by a complete unknown, and has questionable merits?
That is not to say that Justyn with a Y's debut album Swans(ong) has questionable merits musically, but for me, I generally feel that folk music has questionable merits. I don't understand it. I've never gotten into Bob Dylan. Justyn gave me a Townes van Zandt record and I liked that okay. There was only one time I listened to it and it felt appropriate--when I was driving my car into the city recently, to go to a jazz concert that I knew I was going to be late to, not really wanting to go at all, just feeling depressed in pretty much every way--and the album worked wonders. And I understand why Our Mother the Mountain is a great album.
Justyn has played in three bands since I have known him: Hog Hug, Phosphates, and Para Para Parasol. Justyn with a Y is the title of his solo project, and his first album Swans(ong) easily eclipses the entirety of his recorded output with any of those three previous bands--but I say that with a caveat--the caveat being that I liked the musical stylings of those previous bands better.
Okay, so Hog Hug never really set the world on fire, but I saw them play a couple times and I liked the song "Bar" and I have a bootleg of one of their concerts on my iPod and they play an interesting cover of the Beat Happening song "Tiger Trap." The Phosphates were my band, so to speak, and when one member left, Justyn filled in, and thus began the final tumultuous months of that band, which contained some of their best music and most troublesome feuds. I may be biased but I feel that the Phosphates were a supergroup of sorts and it is sad that they did not make it the way I envisioned. Para Para Parasol was a step in the right direction for Justyn, and their album is totally decent. I liked it just fine. I liked the sound, but they weren't exactly going to set the world on fire either.
Swans(ong) is not going to set the world on fire either. But this is Justyn's best work yet. It was recorded in a forest in Maryland in August 2009. It starts off uncertainly with "Slowing Me Down" which is sprightly enough but perhaps has some questionable lyrics. When the line "You know that my time is a precious thing to me/I can't spend it all making love to a memory" keeps coming up I can't stop thinking about masturbation, sorry. "Jason Moran" is the second song and takes things in a slightly weirder direction. I do not know who Jason Moran is but I feel compelled to google him or wikipedia him. Justyn reveals himself to be a bit more of a craftsman with this song, since it is somewhat more complex and probably shouldn't work, but does to a certain extent.
There are 9 songs on this album and of those, about four work really well. A couple of them are probably disposable, and another couple of them are totally decent. I think it is worth noting that Justyn did everything on his own with guitar on this album, no drums, nothing else but the ambient sounds of nature in the background. And to me, that ambience is the strongest part about the whole album. I felt that it could have been played up and used to a far more powerful effect. As it is, you hear a little bit, for about a second, at the very beginning, a little bit in between songs, and then at the very end for a couple seconds. The ambient nature sounds complement the nature of the material--and it could have been really cool, like a Microphones record, but instead it ends up sounding like a demo tape with slightly more to it.
"Shoelace Necklace" is the first song to be totally pleasant, but sounds like it could fit easily on one of those early Sebadoh cassette recordings. It is nice, but it is not especially a major statement. "Coastal Highway" comes next, and is the first truly great song on the album. Justyn is definitely branching out a bit from his comfort zone on this one, and it pays off. For some reason it reminds me of Neil Young--probably just the way the singing sounds. The song delves into a guitar hook that sounds like something off of Psychic Hearts. But in a folk way. This is my primary criticism--the material would sound much better with a full band, a punk/noise band. But "Coastal Highway" would not be magnified by a full group. It is at full strength the way it is.
"Direction is Round" is another song that works on the album, though not to the degree of "Coastal Highway"--more like to the degree of "Shoelace Necklace." My other basic complaint about this album is the production--yes, the nature setting is nice, but underused. But this is what separates amateurs from professionals. You can always tell the difference between your friend's band and say, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, or even Wavves, bands that supposedly break out while doing everything D.I.Y. Guided by Voices are probably the only band that really did sound "lo-fi" and unpolished when first noticed. Production is unimportant, it seems, when people like Beck or Lou Barlow can record their own album on a four-track and be totally great. But no one would really listen to those recordings if they hadn't already heard the more "hi-fi" stuff--You're Living All Over Me or Odelay. If I am supposedly drawing comparisons to Justyn then it is inutile as the French might say.
"L#A#N#D" is probably the most notable song on the album, and is either the most annoying or most enjoyable thing on the album. I think it is nice, and simple, and well-constructed. I don't really understand the lyrics but it seems like they might be about Christianity. "Even if Your Road Leads Down" is a bit different, and definitely works--certainly darker than anything on the album up to this point. And perhaps makes me think about art, and failure. When I saw the artwork for the album, I told Justyn it was very "confrontational." And he asked in what sense, and I said, "In the sense that, with the title 'Swan Song,' you're leading people to believe that it's the last thing you'll do musically. But the spray paint across the 'ong' is like saying, 'No, I'm not ready to quit yet.'"
"Lorraine" makes me think of a more clever and less listenable song by Ozma about a character from the Back to the Future movies, and as it is, it is totally decent, but doesn't leave much of an impression. That is not the case for the final track, "When the Tension's Gone," which sounds a bit like Pavement to me, and is arguably the best single song just Justyn has ever recorded. That it is quiet and mournful is a shame for the modern rock radio stations of today that could play Justyn's much buzzed-about new single...It is the perfect way to cap off the album as it is. Yes, it reminds me of "Here."
There's not much more I could say that I haven't already intimated. Yes, this is Justyn's best work yet, and he has good reason to be proud of it, but it's not really the type of music I usually like (folk) and I don't think many people are going to be able to get into it. I think people need a reason to like their bands--i.e. they are not usually very good reasons. Like, people like Lady Gaga because she is catchy and cool, or people like Animal Collective because they are "music for intellectuals," or something, and people like Deerhunter or Girls because they are provocative, and people like the Pains of Being Pure at Heart because they are the closest equivalent of My Bloody Valentine, or people like Jack Johnson because he reminds them of just kicking back with friends, smoking a j, having a beer, and talking about what is good in life, or people like New Order because they are an awesome band for the dance element, or people like Weezer because they have a crush on Rivers Cuomo. The reason people would like Justyn with a Y is because it would be music to put on a mixtape for the person you have a crush on. But it is too difficult to be that kind of music. It is original, and it could only be made by Justyn, and I do not think it is going to open the door to an especially lucrative career in music, but it is his most accomplished work to date, and something that, if he could build upon it, might find a way to attract a larger body of listeners.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Pitchfork Music Festival - 7/17/09, 7/18/09
I forgot to bring my camera with me this year, so I won't be able to include any pictures. This is the 4th Pitchfork Music Festival that I have attended ('05, '06, '07, and now '09)--I would have gone last year, which I think had the best line-up yet, but I was in L.A. I read in the Chicago Tribune this year that they had to scale back their ambitions for big name performers and go for more up-and-coming talent. But that has always been the case with this event. Lollapalooza has been occurring two weeks afterwards for the same period of the last 5 summers and while sometimes great bands play that other festival (last year had a similarly great best line-up ever) it is SO not worth it.
While Grant Park is THE outdoor space of Chicago and a badass place for a music festival, it is ultimately TOO BIG and so Union Park, where Pitchfork occurs, is a much more welcome respite. You do not have the whole of the skyline as your backdrop, but you do have the Willis Tower (!) in close view. Beer is cheaper by a dollar or two, I think. The food options are similar, but I still think Lolla is more expensive on that front too. The ticket price difference is frankly absurd. And the line-up this year is way lame. The only bands I would see would be Lou Reed and Deerhunter--and they play at the exact same time, so sorry, but I would see Lou Reed, but I feel like I would be crestfallen at the end of the set for missing that other band in their prime.
I didn't go last night to see Flaming Lips, and Sunday probably had the best line-up of any single day. And I don't have pictures but I will relay a short narrative to deliver my central thesis: the best moment of the summer has passed, unfortunately! (at least in this city).
Friday night I went in hoping to see Yo La Tengo, Jesus Lizard, and Built to Spill. I arrived, having purchased my tickets through will-call, and proceeded to wait for ONE HOUR outside the gates while Tortoise finished up and Yo La Tengo started. Their organization at the will call window was a total disaster and made me feel that I was in for a horrible weekend and that all the money I blew was going to be a total waste. Well, I got in, and was very grateful that it worked out, and I stood pretty close to the stage waiting for Jesus Lizard for about 45-50 minutes. I saw Yo La Tengo playing in the distance and they looked like they were tearing it up (though they didn't play "Too Late" which would have been on my request list).
One difference from this year was that there were no announcers or Thax Douglas reading poems before the sets would start, which I have to say was sort of fun in a way. But Jesus Lizard started, and they played "Puss" as their opening song, and David Yow immediately jumped into the crowd and sang the first words of the song while being held aloft, and I was in serious pain. I almost lost my glasses. It was without question the most violent show I have ever experienced. Their sound was excellent and David Yow proved that he is one of the best frontmen in all of rock, even during a reunion tour. Some of the other highlights were "Then Comes Dudley," "Boilermaker," "Gladiator," "Blue Shot," "Monkey Trick," and "Bloody Mary." I was surprised that there were about three or four songs I didn't recognize. I had to leave during their last song because I was so beaten up. Then they played a two-song encore, which I missed too. I needed to get a water, I was dehydrated. (Jesus Lizard will play the Metro around Thanksgiving and I hope to be there. I also hope not to die there, but something tells me the crowd-surfing will be more contained at the Metro.) It was a cool weekend (probably the coldest in the history of the event) but there was plenty of sweating anyways. Built to Spill played, and I watched them play "Liar" and "Stab" and decided that the place was way too crowded and it wasn't worth it for me to stay. Don't get me wrong--I love BtS but I have to admit that they can be a boring live band.
The next day was much more fun for me because I decided to drink. The first set I saw was Fucked Up, and this was almost as violent as the Jesus Lizard, but the crowd was not quite as crazy, probably because Fucked Up are a regular working band, though I am sure many would argue that each set was just as wild. This was the second best set of the weekend for me. They played about half songs from The Chemistry of Common Life and the other half from Hidden World, at least as it seemed to me. Pink Eyes was the Tim Harrington of this year. Ideally both of them could play back-to-back next year.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were next, and I have not heard their record, and I only saw them from a distance, but I have to say, they were pretty cool! However, they sound EXACTLY like My Bloody Valentine. This is not a bad thing. However, it led me to theorize that, okay, they like MBV, I like MBV, we all love MBV--why not start a band that sounds just like MBV and then everyone will love us, and we can be the new MBV? That was what I feel went on in those band members' heads two years ago or whatever. Their male singer sounds just like Kevin Shields and their female singer sounds just like Blinda Butcher and their guitar sound recalls the Isn't Anything-era. Maybe Loveless is next? Regardless, I liked them. I'd get their album on the basis of the live show.
Ponytail were next, and I liked them alright, but not as much as Pains of Being Pure at Heart (as these were the only two I had never previously heard). They were like a combination of Yoko Ono, The Go! Team, and Deerhoof. They were interesting. I don't know if I'd go out and get their record. I think I would have liked them more if I was closer to the stage.
I waited around for Wavves next, and they were about twenty minutes late starting their set, which started to draw ire from the crowd, thinking that another meltdown might be in store for us. Half the people wanted there to be a meltdown actually. When he finally started, he played "Nervous Breakdown," which was wonderfully unexpected and awesome. Then he turned in what I have to say was a very solid performance. I really enjoyed their set. It wasn't a disappointment and hopefully he has redeemed himself and will prove the haters wrong.
I saw parts of MF Doom, but I had gotten more beer and a snack before. I saw about three songs by them. It was okay I guess. I just feel like hip-hop is a lot more predictable when it comes to the actual performance aspect than rock because you are not worrying about the band playing. You just have to remember your lyrics. Regardless, the Tribune said Doom had lip-synched his lines, and I couldn't tell if that was true, or if that was just hyperbole (one of the vocab words he tossed off near the end).
I saw part of Matt & Kim, by this point really drunk and getting free beer because a friend knew someone at one of the tents. (Another girl at the tent played drums for TV on the Radio and Spoon during live shows and I was like, oh my God that's the coolest thing in the world!) I compared them to Fiery Furnaces but they are nothing like them. My friend told me he threw "Widow City" out of his car window during his recent road trip and I was shocked and offended. Fiery Furnaces should play Pitchfork festival because a) they never played before, b) they are from Chicago, c) they rule. Matt & Kim have nothing on them, but they are interesting for being super happy people--I wish I could be like them!
Black Lips closed out what I saw (I missed the National, sorry)--and while I haven't heard their recent record, their last record, I just couldn't get into, sorry. "Cold Hands" and "O Katrina!" are O.K. as far as the best songs on the album, but happily, Black Lips are a good live band. I kept saying I didn't like them and they would only be redeemed if Bradford Cox came up as a special guest which I said had a 1% chance of happening--but overall, they sounded pretty good live. If I were closer, I'm sure I would have gotten really into it. But by that point the alcohol had turned me into a disinterested half-zombie, spewing bile about whatever crazed topic entered my mind.
Yo La Tengo: 8/10
Jesus Lizard : 9/10
Built to Spill: 6/10
Fucked Up: 9/10
Pains of Being Pure at Heart: 7/10
Ponytail: 6.5/10
Wavves: 8/10
MF Doom: 5/10
Matt & Kim: 5/10
Black Lips: 7/10
Regardless of my personal situation, which has deteriorated greatly from the excellent times of 2005 and 2007, this is still the best event in the city of Chicago. Period. Let the summer wind down, bring on the pain of winter, and start counting the days until they announce next year's line-up. Boycott Lollapalooza until they bring ticket prices down to, oh, $50 a day ($60 with service fees...).
While Grant Park is THE outdoor space of Chicago and a badass place for a music festival, it is ultimately TOO BIG and so Union Park, where Pitchfork occurs, is a much more welcome respite. You do not have the whole of the skyline as your backdrop, but you do have the Willis Tower (!) in close view. Beer is cheaper by a dollar or two, I think. The food options are similar, but I still think Lolla is more expensive on that front too. The ticket price difference is frankly absurd. And the line-up this year is way lame. The only bands I would see would be Lou Reed and Deerhunter--and they play at the exact same time, so sorry, but I would see Lou Reed, but I feel like I would be crestfallen at the end of the set for missing that other band in their prime.
I didn't go last night to see Flaming Lips, and Sunday probably had the best line-up of any single day. And I don't have pictures but I will relay a short narrative to deliver my central thesis: the best moment of the summer has passed, unfortunately! (at least in this city).
Friday night I went in hoping to see Yo La Tengo, Jesus Lizard, and Built to Spill. I arrived, having purchased my tickets through will-call, and proceeded to wait for ONE HOUR outside the gates while Tortoise finished up and Yo La Tengo started. Their organization at the will call window was a total disaster and made me feel that I was in for a horrible weekend and that all the money I blew was going to be a total waste. Well, I got in, and was very grateful that it worked out, and I stood pretty close to the stage waiting for Jesus Lizard for about 45-50 minutes. I saw Yo La Tengo playing in the distance and they looked like they were tearing it up (though they didn't play "Too Late" which would have been on my request list).
One difference from this year was that there were no announcers or Thax Douglas reading poems before the sets would start, which I have to say was sort of fun in a way. But Jesus Lizard started, and they played "Puss" as their opening song, and David Yow immediately jumped into the crowd and sang the first words of the song while being held aloft, and I was in serious pain. I almost lost my glasses. It was without question the most violent show I have ever experienced. Their sound was excellent and David Yow proved that he is one of the best frontmen in all of rock, even during a reunion tour. Some of the other highlights were "Then Comes Dudley," "Boilermaker," "Gladiator," "Blue Shot," "Monkey Trick," and "Bloody Mary." I was surprised that there were about three or four songs I didn't recognize. I had to leave during their last song because I was so beaten up. Then they played a two-song encore, which I missed too. I needed to get a water, I was dehydrated. (Jesus Lizard will play the Metro around Thanksgiving and I hope to be there. I also hope not to die there, but something tells me the crowd-surfing will be more contained at the Metro.) It was a cool weekend (probably the coldest in the history of the event) but there was plenty of sweating anyways. Built to Spill played, and I watched them play "Liar" and "Stab" and decided that the place was way too crowded and it wasn't worth it for me to stay. Don't get me wrong--I love BtS but I have to admit that they can be a boring live band.
The next day was much more fun for me because I decided to drink. The first set I saw was Fucked Up, and this was almost as violent as the Jesus Lizard, but the crowd was not quite as crazy, probably because Fucked Up are a regular working band, though I am sure many would argue that each set was just as wild. This was the second best set of the weekend for me. They played about half songs from The Chemistry of Common Life and the other half from Hidden World, at least as it seemed to me. Pink Eyes was the Tim Harrington of this year. Ideally both of them could play back-to-back next year.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were next, and I have not heard their record, and I only saw them from a distance, but I have to say, they were pretty cool! However, they sound EXACTLY like My Bloody Valentine. This is not a bad thing. However, it led me to theorize that, okay, they like MBV, I like MBV, we all love MBV--why not start a band that sounds just like MBV and then everyone will love us, and we can be the new MBV? That was what I feel went on in those band members' heads two years ago or whatever. Their male singer sounds just like Kevin Shields and their female singer sounds just like Blinda Butcher and their guitar sound recalls the Isn't Anything-era. Maybe Loveless is next? Regardless, I liked them. I'd get their album on the basis of the live show.
Ponytail were next, and I liked them alright, but not as much as Pains of Being Pure at Heart (as these were the only two I had never previously heard). They were like a combination of Yoko Ono, The Go! Team, and Deerhoof. They were interesting. I don't know if I'd go out and get their record. I think I would have liked them more if I was closer to the stage.
I waited around for Wavves next, and they were about twenty minutes late starting their set, which started to draw ire from the crowd, thinking that another meltdown might be in store for us. Half the people wanted there to be a meltdown actually. When he finally started, he played "Nervous Breakdown," which was wonderfully unexpected and awesome. Then he turned in what I have to say was a very solid performance. I really enjoyed their set. It wasn't a disappointment and hopefully he has redeemed himself and will prove the haters wrong.
I saw parts of MF Doom, but I had gotten more beer and a snack before. I saw about three songs by them. It was okay I guess. I just feel like hip-hop is a lot more predictable when it comes to the actual performance aspect than rock because you are not worrying about the band playing. You just have to remember your lyrics. Regardless, the Tribune said Doom had lip-synched his lines, and I couldn't tell if that was true, or if that was just hyperbole (one of the vocab words he tossed off near the end).
I saw part of Matt & Kim, by this point really drunk and getting free beer because a friend knew someone at one of the tents. (Another girl at the tent played drums for TV on the Radio and Spoon during live shows and I was like, oh my God that's the coolest thing in the world!) I compared them to Fiery Furnaces but they are nothing like them. My friend told me he threw "Widow City" out of his car window during his recent road trip and I was shocked and offended. Fiery Furnaces should play Pitchfork festival because a) they never played before, b) they are from Chicago, c) they rule. Matt & Kim have nothing on them, but they are interesting for being super happy people--I wish I could be like them!
Black Lips closed out what I saw (I missed the National, sorry)--and while I haven't heard their recent record, their last record, I just couldn't get into, sorry. "Cold Hands" and "O Katrina!" are O.K. as far as the best songs on the album, but happily, Black Lips are a good live band. I kept saying I didn't like them and they would only be redeemed if Bradford Cox came up as a special guest which I said had a 1% chance of happening--but overall, they sounded pretty good live. If I were closer, I'm sure I would have gotten really into it. But by that point the alcohol had turned me into a disinterested half-zombie, spewing bile about whatever crazed topic entered my mind.
Yo La Tengo: 8/10
Jesus Lizard : 9/10
Built to Spill: 6/10
Fucked Up: 9/10
Pains of Being Pure at Heart: 7/10
Ponytail: 6.5/10
Wavves: 8/10
MF Doom: 5/10
Matt & Kim: 5/10
Black Lips: 7/10
Regardless of my personal situation, which has deteriorated greatly from the excellent times of 2005 and 2007, this is still the best event in the city of Chicago. Period. Let the summer wind down, bring on the pain of winter, and start counting the days until they announce next year's line-up. Boycott Lollapalooza until they bring ticket prices down to, oh, $50 a day ($60 with service fees...).
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