popwreckoning

I spent the second birthday in a row at Sasquatch – this year it was my 22nd birthday, on Monday. And this year I can clearly say was better than last year’s birthday when Kid Cudi fans started booing They Might Be Giants.

My day began at the Bigfoot stage for Givers, the Lafayette, LA natives with an insane amount of energy, and they all look to be about 18 years old. I’d seen Givers earlier this year when they toured with Ra Ra Riot, and when I saw them then, they out-shined both acts they played with. I was not disappointed seeing them the second time around, in the early afternoon of the last day. This band is full of a bunch of kooky hippies that was some of the most genuine people I’ve ever met. Givers played the Endsession tent later that day, and when I arrived, Taylor Guarisco came up to me and another photographer.

“So you guys are the ones who are taking photos?”

“Yep.”

“We don’t usually let strangers take pictures of us, so… I’m Taylor.”

“I’m Abby.”

“There, now we aren’t strangers anymore!”

And there were several other instances throughout the day that exemplified their friendliness and sincerity, but then this would get to be a really long post.

Noah and the Whale was next up on my agenda, the English folk rock band, whom I’d been anxiously awaiting to see. The whole band looked quite dapper on stage, with well-coiffed hair and sharp suits, and the sound that came from the band definitely didn’t match the appearance. They looked like New Order, but sounded like Mumford and Sons (in the simplest of analogies). I’ll gladly see them again, because they were pleasant, but not boring.

There were plenty of bands that fit into that category during the weekend – pleasant but boring.

Local dance rock band Head Like A Kite merely gained my attention when I was sitting in the media room right next to the Yeti stage. I’d completely forgot that they were playing, and when I heard the frantic dance music from outside, I had to run out. It’s a testament to Head Like A Kite’s persona. No matter how you feel about their music (which I quite enjoy), they put on a showstopper – with just two band members I might add.

Back at the Bigfoot stage was Black Mountain, a Black Keys-esque (not just because of the name) blues rock band, but with a female singer. I was rushing around like a chicken with my head cut off at this point, but from what I did see of Black Mountain, they had a lot of soul and a lot of edge. I’ll have to check them out again.

Stornoway also hit the Bigfoot stage that afternoon, but they couldn’t be more different from Black Mountain – English, alternative folk, and a majority of the band looked like squares. But they were equally as enjoyable. They were like Noah and the Whale, but more adorable, and I wish I’d seen more of their set, but like I said before – chicken with my head cut off.

I followed my fellow photographers over to the Yeti stage for Foster the People, as they were highly anticipated – and rightly so. I hadn’t seen a crowd for the Yeti stage bigger all weekend. I honestly thought they should have put Foster the People at the Bigfoot stage because the crowd was so big. But with how much radio play “Pumped Up Kicks” has been getting, I wasn’t surprised. The band was good, had plenty of energy, but to me, didn’t live up to the hype.

However, this next performer surpassed my expectations by miles (or kilometers for the Canadians at the festival).

Macklemore is amazing. I’ll just say that. If you haven’t heard his music, you may have heard his song “My Oh My” if you’re local. He sang it at opening day of the Mariners’ baseball season this year, and when I first heard that song it brought me to tears and gave me goosebumps. I didn’t know his whole performance would be that fantastic. The guy can put on a show, I’ll tell you. He had conversations with the audience, gave shout-outs to people born in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, crowd surfed, and jumped around the stage in a fringe jean jacket with David Bowie (circa Labyrinth) on the back. I cannot give Macklemore any more praise than anyone else can, but I will say that his album with his producer Ryan Lewis “VS” was the only album I bought for myself at the festival.

Seriously. Even after I was done shooting the first three songs, I went back in the media room to charge my camera battery for just a bit, but as soon as I heard the opening chords to “My Oh My,” I literally sprinted outside to listen. And again, I got goosebumps and I teared up. Thankfully I had sunglasses on.

I dare say that there wasn’t a greater moment at the whole festival, than when the huge crowd of his local fans screamed at the top of their lungs, “MY OH MY!”

I don’t even like hip-hop, and when Macklemore and Ryan Lewis did that Monday afternoon was perhaps my favorite performance of Sasquatch (except for the Foo Fighters). He’s just awesome.

So after that spectacular display of musical perfection (pardon the hyperbole, but it’s not all that hyperbolic!), the rest of the evening just paled in comparison.

However, I will say that !!! (Chk chk chk) is now my new favorite band to shoot. Not because I love their music (which I do), but after I thought I’d missed the first three songs, a friend of mine came into the media room and asked me, “Did you shoot Chk chk chk?”

“No, I missed the first three songs.”

“Get out there right now. He’s letting photographers in the pit the whole time. He said, ‘don’t let the photographers leave!’”

So I did, and I was glad I did, because he was strutting all over the stage, shaking his hips all which ways, going into the crowd multiple times, and loving the photographers. When a musician loves the photographers, we love him right back.

As I stumbled back to my computer and clean water, I saw the sky start to darken – and not just sunset dark, like storm cloud dark. Soon after, thunder and lightning. Lots of lightning. All I could think of was, poor Wilco. They were playing the mainstage last that night, and I didn’t even stay late enough to see them, to avoid the nasty storm coming our way on my three-hour drive home.

But I did stay late enough to catch all of Deerhunter‘s set at the Bigfoot stage, where I ran into Givers again, so we all stood in the middle of the crowd for our last performance of the night. I could not have thought of a better way to end the festival. All of Deerhunter was rocking hoodies with their hoods up, in case the rain decided to invade their stage, but it held out for the hour of moving ambient rock. The last time I’d seen Deerhunter was last April when they opened for Spoon, and this was so much better with the eerie color of the sky matched with Deerhunter’s sweeping melodies and Bradford Cox‘s lulling voice.

I wouldn’t have closed the night any other way.

Melbourne’s synthpop act Cut Copy have released their third studio album Zonoscope, recorded over several months, in their hometown and then mixed by Ben Allen (Deerhunter, Animal Collective and Gnarls Barkley) in Atlanta. The album was released on Modular Recordings on February 8. With their fame being stabilized by their second album, In Ghost Colours, released in 2008, the new album has been in the making since the comedown of their second album. Zonoscope is in the same ballpark as LCD Soundsystem and Phoenix, but throw in some 70s and 80’s, with just a dash of tropical summer beats.

The band, being around about a decade now, is very ambitious in the sense that they devoted a 15 minute block to the song “Sun God.” The song is one of the more immediate tracks in the sense that it has a more distinct sound and an entire minute of the mantra: “You’ve got to live, you’ve got to die, so what’s the purpose of you and I?” Then the song is swept away into a spiraling instrumental until the end of the album.

Though in that ambition, it could alienate those who were looking for a continuation of In Ghost Colours. Especially with the stark contrast from 30-second fillers that filled In Ghost Colours to the abstract instrumentals that divide the tracks, giving the listener a flowing album and something that wasn’t expected. These could easily be mistaken as flukes instead of the miniature bits of genius they are.

Even in the small bits of chaos throughout the album, the band’s soul is in every note that they hold on to and every lyric that frontman Dan Whitford sings is a dazzling soft silky tone that also hides a bite. The band has it all for sound, upbeat kaleidoscopic synths, soothing vocal hooks, tropical percussions, bouncing disco beats and a Caribbean vibe. The album in itself is a melting pot of all of these ideas with the same shimmer that led to the band getting to where they are now. “Take Me Over” is a brilliant display of almost all of these aspects, and with the catchy hook: “take me over, take me out, through the jungle, through the night, to paradise,” it is one that can be instantly loved. “Where I’m Going” is an explosive festivity of a rock ’n’ roll core with kaleidoscope synth. It explores a new place that the band has yet to go and a possible hint into where they could be going.

Zonoscope is the most pure form of Cut Copy and their boldest effort to date. It is something new and the band has been consistently making new music and pursuing new territories. Also, keep in mind that the childish mindset that was seen in In Ghost Colour is still there at the core, but has started along the path of maturity and is shown through Zonoscope.

Track Listing:

1. Need You Now
2. Take Me Over
3. Where I’m Going
4. Pharaohs & Pyramids
5. Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution
6. Strange Nostalgia for The Future
7. This Is All We’ve Got
8. Alisa
9. Hanging Onto Every Heartbeat
10. Corner of the Sky
11. Sun God

Mad Rad, Das Racist and The Thermals brought the house down at the free Sasquatch Launch Party at the Showbox at the Market last night, where the lineup to the now four-day festival would be announced.

Put on by Livenation and Sasquatch creator Adam Zacks, the launch party was MC’d by Comedian Todd Barry, who kept the crowd entertained between sets with dry wit and some fake teaser headliners.

“If you love me now, you’ll love when I play a set between headliners Elvis Presley and the Beatles, and tickets are only $7!” Barry proclaimed sarcastically to the less-than-attentive crowd. But I guess that’s what you get when you have a free show.

After Mad Rad and Das Racist played their sets, the lineup was announced in a video like previous years, which was played twice over, most likely so people could get a second look because they were freaking out too much over the Flaming Lips.

So far the lineup includes:

Death Cab for Cutie, the Decemberists, Modest Mouse, the Foo Fighters, Robyn, Wilco, Flying Lotus, Bright Eyes, Flogging Molly, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Das Racist, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Iron & Wine, The Flaming Lips.Black Mountain, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the Head and the Heart, Mad Rad, the Moondoggies, Noah & The Whale, Sam Roberts Band, Secret Sisters, Twin Shadow, Wye Oak, Tig Notaro, Smith Westerns, Rival Schools, Foster the People, Alberta Cross, S. Carey, White Denim, Washed Out, Gold Panda, Dan Mangan, Axis of Awesome, The Globes, Cotton Jones, Jaill, Basia Bulat, Other Lives, The Bronx, White Arrows, Pepper Rabbit, Talkdemonic, Rebecca Gates and The Consortium, The Young Evils, Bassnectar, Pink Martini, Cold War Kids, Old 97′s, Ratatat, Wolf Parade, Chromeo, Guided By Voices, Yeasayer, Beach House, Local Natives, Matt & Kim, Deerhunter, Mstrkrft, Trailer Park Boys, Sleigh Bells, Major Lazer, Skrillex, Fitz & The Tantrums, !!!, Archers of Loaf, Against Me!, The Thermals, Best Coast, CSS, Surfer Blood, Jenny & Johnny, Bonobo (DJ Set), City and Colour, Reggie Watts, K-Os, Gayngs, Tim Minchin, The Drums, The Radio Dept., Young the Giant, The Antlers, Sharon Van Etten, Villagers, Stornoway, Aloe Blacc.

Tickets go on sale on Feb. 14th starting at $79.50 per day and $285 for three-day passes.

Go to http://sasquatchfestival.com/ for more information or to purchase tickets.

Sporting vintage wayfarers, Bradford Cox, a.k.a. Atlas Sound took the stage at Broad Street on Saturday, attracting quite a large audience on the lawn for just one guy with a guitar, a harmonica, a distortion pedal and a microphone.

But Cox has the musical chops to legitimize a crowd that large. His experimental ambient side project apart from Deerhunter carries well in the festival setting rather than on his record Logos , because part of the allure of the music is seeing how little Cox actually has to do to make the sounds that he does.

Being such a stark presence in himself, Cox was mesmerizing on stage, whether he was playing his acoustic guitar with the capo way up or riffing on a harmonica.

Go to http://www.myspace.com/atlassound

On the first of two shows in Seattle, Spoon filled the Moore Theater Friday night with fans, fun and a fantastic lineup. I entered the theater after I inexplicably acquired two after-show passes and took a seat up towards the front for the openers. In fact, I didn’t actually take my assigned seat until Spoon started their set.

The theater was virtually vacant for the first act, Micachu and the Shapes, who pushed through their eccentric set of songs laced with cowbells and bottle percussion, as well as some insistent feedback ringing from the front speakers. They acknowledged it at one point – “Sorry for the buzzing.” And someone shouted from the audience – “Keep playing and we won’t hear it!” Micachu and the Shapes was far more experimental than the two bands that followed, but it does suck that they didn’t get a better crowd. I quite liked “Vulture,” as its ambient sound almost made sense with the buzzing feedback. But it was an early door time. People didn’t feel like getting an early dinner before the doors opened at 6:30. My dinner consisted of a maple bar, so I had no trouble making the opening bands.

After Micachu finished their set, there was a short turnover time before more photographers started showing up for Deerhunter. At this point, the number of attendees in the theater grew by quite a bit. Now that I’ve seen the show, I feel bad for everyone who didn’t make it to see Deerhunter, because they were so good they didn’t feel like openers at all. Singer Bradford Cox and the gang came out on stage, and awestruck by the size of the theater or something else, proclaimed “what the fuck is going on?” This turned out to be a theme throughout their show – disbelief. I almost felt like a terrible person for not being familiar with their music before this show, but I’m surely familiar with them now.

The set was so casual, with Deerhunter tripping across the stage, breaking out into laughter at times, and during “Nothing Ever Happens,” a friend of band jumped up on stage and shimmied around with maracas. She crawled on the floor underneath Cox’s legs as he played and she licked the guitar strings, climbed on the drums and leapt around the stage, stumbling into every band member. All of this culminated into a long, drawn-out version of  “Calvary Scars,” where Cox exclaimed how surreal it was to be twenty-seven in Seattle at the anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. “I’ll never be 27!” he repeated several times, as he waxed poetic about his twelve-year-old self, his own contemplation of suicide, and his unbelievable dream of his dead idol coming down from heaven to take vengeance on all the high school bullies. The whole thing was magical and felt completely personal, like we’d never see the same show again.

By this time, the Moore Theater was basically full. I didn’t have the luxury of sitting in an empty seat up front after I was finished shooting. But I didn’t care. I could have been on the second mezzanine and it still would have been amazing. I caught a glimpse of the set list, and it was huge. I knew we’d be there for awhile, rocking out to a smorgasbord of Spoon.

It was a hodgepodge of old and new stuff. Spoon played most of Transference, some select favorites from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, but a lot of Gimme Fiction. In fact, during “I Turn My Camera On,” I could see another of the photographers making frames with her hands up to her face. You could surely tell that the audience was full of new and old fans of Spoon. They have been around for about 15 years now, so it was to be expected that there would be fans mix age and below as well as fans my parents’ age.

They jumped right into their two hour-set with “Before Destruction” off Transference and moved swiftly into more of my favorites. The intimate, dome-shaped Moore Theater glowed with the spotlights reflecting off the walls, revealing the joyous faces of the audience. Britt planted his feet – clad in leather ankle boots – on the stage, strumming the notes of “The Underdog” on his guitar. The instant familiarity sent the audience into an indie rock dance party, even my fellow photographers. I can them on the other side of the stage bopping around with their cameras like silly fangirls at a Jonas Brothers concert.

The crowd swayed back and forth along to Britt Daniel’s flawless delivery, switching from his easy raspy tone to a powerful cry during each song. The one omission from the show that peeved me was “Got Nuffin.” It was nowhere to be found. It turns out that they played it the next night instead of Friday. I wanted “Got Nuffin,” but what I got was so amazing that I didn’t even care at the time.

Spoon also implored some friendly faces to play with them during the show. Seattle’s own Michael Lerner, a.k.a. Telekinesis played snare on a select few songs, and Cox stepped back out to play when Daniel just crooned into the mic without his guitar. When Cox walked on stage with a snowcap on, Daniel swung his guitar off his shoulder and handed it to him. Keyboardist Eric Harvey played the cool and sexy opening riffs of “Who Makes Your Money” and Daniel sauntered around the stage singing his “oh, oh, ooos” to the audience directly in front. He threw his head back and shouted the hook while Bradford snuck up behind him and thrust the neck of his guitar between Daniel’s legs. He stared down at his groin and continued crooning, “who makes your money? Who makes you money?” then shoved Cox back playfully as the audience giggled along with them. Soon after, Daniel set down his guitar and jumped into the crowd to wake up the one guy who wasn’t on his feet. Really, the guy was sleeping.

Taking a trip through oldies-but-goodies, I was completely satisfied with my Spoon experience. Even though I was hoping to hear “Got Nuffin,” I left on a pleasant note, as the finished on an high note with one of my favorite Spoon songs, “Jonathan Fisk.” And more dancing ensued. I loved the show’s friendly environment. It was awesome. If the security guards hadn’t been walking up and down the aisles making sure people stayed out of them, I’m pretty sure people would have started dancing with each other during several of the songs right down the aisles. As the show finished at about 11:30, I almost wanted to get tickets to Saturday’s show just to extend the greatness that I’d just experienced for another day, but I had work to do the next day. But I think if I’d seen Spoon two days in a row, I may have overdosed on awesome.

The heat of the first day, replaced by the requisite layer of San Fran summer fog, brought the largest crowd of the three-day festival.

Street Sweeper Social Club
Coming off a successful supporting role with Jane’s Addiction and Nine Inch Nails on last year’s NIN|JA tour, SSSC was easily the best dressed band of the festival. With great machine-gun style and obvious DNA from Rage Against the Machine, Tom Morello and Boots Riley performed songs from their recently-released and self-titled album including “Fight! Smash! Win!” and “100 Little Curses.”

Mastodon
Performing with a formidable presence, fans at this live show know why this is one of the best heavy metal bands in the country. Mastodon’s progressive style is intricate and monstrously powerful, drawing from metal, metalcore and jazz influences. Their immense sound is even more potent when it is radiating from an outdoor stage.

Bat for Lashes
Though it was too early in the day and their stage was too small to contain them, UK’s Bat For Lashes dished up wistful songs for the crowd who shoe-horned themselves into the side stage area. Less cutesy and more dynamic than I expected, vocalist Natasha Kahn’s velvety voice was haunting, even in the light of the afternoon.

Black Eyed Peas
Supporting their latest release, The E.N.D., the Black Eyed Peas are determined to keep their fans happy. Creating a massive dance party in the middle of Golden Gate Park is certainly one way to do just that.

Deerhunter
Also coming off a supporting role with Nine Inch Nails on their Lights in the Sky tour, Deerhunter’s performance was a surprisingly subdued version of their usually moody punk-art-rock shows. Maybe it was the tiny stage or the complete lack of atmosphere but only a hint of Bradford Cox’s lo-fi brilliance was evident.

Dave Matthews
No stranger to massive shows in Golden Gate Park, Dave Matthews brought his quirky personality and prodigious catalog of music back to the live stage. After the recent band turmoil, including the death of founding member and saxophonist LeRoi Moore in 2008, fans were happy to be dancing with the GrooGrux King once again.

check back for Day 3!

As Fuse TV continues their extensive summer music festival coverage, Fuse TV has announced that they will be airing all of the highlights from this year’s Lollapalooza festival, which starts today!, on August 15th.

This year’s lineup promises to ensure a continuation of the legendary festival’s cutting edge acts with Kings of Leon, Jane’s Addiction, Rise Against, Depeche Mode, the Killers, Tool + MANY more, including our personal favorites like Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band, scheduled to perform.

Additionally, Fuse is helping music fans stay connected to all of this year’s  Lollapalooza ’09 artists with Twt-a-palooza, a centralized online hub that lets you find, filter, and interact with thousands of tweets from the musical acts playing this year’s fest! Log in with you Facebook or Twitter account to ensure that you don’t miss a beat from one of this summer’s hottest musical gatherings: http://fusefest.fuse.tv/a/home

Wait, it gets even better… like free music? Well, Fuse has over 50 Lollapalooza ’09 artist tracks up for FREE download now on their site! Free tracks from Animal Collective, Alberta Cross, Neko Case, Band of Horses, Deerhunter, No Age, Santigold and MUCH more can be found right here: http://fuse.tv/tours/lollapalooza2009/downloads.html

Enjoy, and be sure to tune-in to Fuse on August 15th @ 9pm/8c for Fuse Fest: The Best of Lollapalooza ’09.

Fuse’s Best of Lollapalooza: website | twt-a-palooza | find Fuse in your area

Produced in association with one of Southern California’s premier rock venues, The Casbah, San Diego heats things up on August 28th & 29th with their 25th Annual Street Scene in the East Village (and adjacent to Petco Park).  In essence, it’s the ultimate two-day musical block party and the perfect way to kiss summer goodbye.  So drop those world-famous fish tacos, hop in your car or on your surf board and get in on the excitement.  Last year they managed to score Beck, TV On The Radio, and Cold War Kids, among others, but it looks like they may have outdone themselves for this year (complete lineup here.).  Boasting over 40 bands, the multi-stage street set up features some of the biggest names in indie rock, alternative rock, hip hop and pop today that I’ll probably get into mutliple arguments with myself over which bands to check out.  Here’s a little taste of what to expect, if you can handle all the action:

Friday, August 28th
Black Eyed Peas, Modest Mouse, Cake, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Band of Horses, Girl Talk, Devendra Banhart, Chromeo, Calexico, Matt & Kim, Deerhunter, Holy Fuck, Anya Marina

Saturday, August 29th
M.I.A., Thievery Corporation, The Dead Weather, Silversun Pickups, Of Montreal, The Faint, Busta Rhymes, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, No Age, Ra Ra Riot, Los Campesinos!

The show is rain or shine (who are we kidding, when does it ever rain in beautifully sunny San Diego!?).  Doors open: 4pm – midnight, both nights.  For $65 bucks, you can see 20+ bands in one day and it’s totally worth it.  There are also two-day passes, or the option of  VIP treatment if you’re above all that recession talk.  For additional ticket information, go here.  So, come celebrate the end of summer at this killer rock block party.  See you there!

Street Scene: website | tickets