Next Best Records Blog

I figured I should write something about this year's Pitchfork Festival, since I went all three days.  I also figured it wouldn't be a good idea to babble on and on about everything, so here's a list of ten things I liked about it (there were a number of things I didn't like, but it's better to stay positive, right?).  There's no particular order here (well, maybe chronological).

1. The Gza performing the Liquid Swords album.  I've only seen a handful of hip-hop acts live, but the Gza really brought it for his set Friday night.  He did a good job of recreating the entire album with minimal on-stage personnel.  He was the only Wu Tang member present, and so the set was obviously lacking the rest of the group's contributions to the original record, but Gza and Co. came through (especially Cappadonna, who was stellar throughout).
2. Sonic Youth performing the Daydream Nation album.  This was freakin' unbelievable.  Daydream Nation, from "Teenage Riot" to "Eliminator, Jr."  It's amazing to hear something you've listened to for forever perfrormed live.  There's always seemed to be so much going on during each song on the record that I guess I never considered the fact that, at it's core, it's just four musicians making all that noise.  Particular highlights included "Teenage Riot," "Eric's Trip," "Candle," and "The Wonder," but really the whole thing blew my mind.
3. Sonic Youth's encore.  So they go through the entire Daydream Nation album, and then they follow up with an equally brilliant encore.  Three songs (I believe) off the new record: "Incinerate," "Reena," and "Jams Run Free."  Hearing Thurston and Lee's guitars interweaving and seeing Kim still kickin' it, you couldn't help but feel like it was vintage Sonic up there.  Hearing those three tunes right after the main set made me sorta appreciate how good the new stuff is -- I guess I (like many) am guilty of putting the Evol-Sister-Daydream Nation triumverate up on the top of the mountain (in my case, along with Washing Machine) to the detriment of the newer stuff.  Anyway, I also appreciated seeing Ibold up there again -- you can never get enough Ibold bass action.  I don't care what the people say, Sonic Youth's still got it.  And they're still cooler than all of us.
4. $1 bottles of Water+.  First, you were able to get bottles of water for only a buck, which of course came in handy amidst the hot Chicago sunbeams.  To top it off, it was Water+, fortified with electrolytes and vapor distilled.  The guy at the water stand didn't seem to appreciate when I asked him, "How much better than water is Water+?"  I, however, did appreciate the greatness of Water+ (which, by the way, I decided is 2.5 better than regular water).
5. Beach House's set.  I wasn't familiar with a good number of the bands Saturday, so for most of the day my buddy Hoot and I decided which stage to go to completely based on how cool the band's name seemed.  We weren't really digging what we heard until we finally scored a good hit with Beach House, who we decided lived up to their name.  The mix at the stage B wasn't that great, but the dreamy-quality of Beach Party's snyth-driven rock (with spacy-guitar accents) was oddly fitting during this particularly hot portion of the afternoon.  We abandoned Grizzly Bear's set to hear Beach House -- it was a good decision.
6. People bringing their kids.  There was a bit of a lull late Saturday afternoon, so it was a good opportunity to relax in the shade.  Luckily, people brought their kids, and so the already decent quality of peoplewatching was brought to another level.  There's few things more entertaining than watching kids who can barely walk bouncing around a field while a band like Battles is playing.
7. Cat Power's set.  I think this set a new record for gap in between seeing a band/performer two different times.  The first time I saw Cat Power it was Chan solo opening for Guided By Voices in June 1996.  Saturday was the second time I saw her play, so that makes an 11 year gap.  Back in '96, she was a relative unknown who I found particularly impressive for her one-of-a-kind covers of Thurston Moore's "Psychic Hearts" and GBV's "Bright Paper Werewolves" (and also for the fact that she's . . . um . . . pretty).  Now, she's a big-shot who wins British awards whose songs appear on jewelry store commercials.  The Dirty Delta Blues Band worked well, and Chan sounded great (even though she apologized profusely for almost everything during the entire set).  Once again, the covers proved to be the highlights for me ("Naked If I Want To," "Tracks Of My Tears," "Satisfaction"), though the whole set was consistently great, really soulful tunes that were alternately laid back and energetic.
8. Brightblack Morning Light's set.  This normally isn't my thing, but I found myself digging the group's set.  Unfortunately, they were hampered with sound problems (they were forced to start about a half-hour late, and then you couldn't hear the vocals at all until midway through their second song, and even then only barely).  I thought they came through despite the sound, though, and laid down some nice grooves.
9. The Sea and Cake's set.  They were a nice surprise for me.  I'd never heard any of their stuff before the festival, and I thought they were great.  Good pop-rock stuff.  I worked my way close to the stage in anticipation of the Mighty Malkmus, and for whatever reason actually caught a good mix right in front of the speakers on stage right.  This is one band that I've definitely got to check out further.
10. Stephen Malkmus's set.  This was freakin' amazing -- really, the second best set (with Sonic Youth taking top honors).  I mean, he started out with "Heaven Is A Truck" and -- to my complete shock -- followed that up with the Silver Jews's "Blue Arrangements."  The bulk of the set was just Malkmus accompanied with his acoustic guitar (and distortion pedal).  He kept throwing hit after hit out there.  "Spit on a Stranger."  "Extradition."  "Loud Cloud Crowd."  Some people didn't dig the loose quality of the set (and it was loose, like when SM stopped in the middle of "Heaven" to fiddle with his amp).  I was psyched just to see him up on stage, and it was fantastic to hear these songs I've listened to for so long in a totally different setting.  He played three or so new songs, which sounded good . . . a logical step from the last album.  I particularly dug the one that had the "Stephen, I will" refrain.  To top things off, none other than Bob Nastanovich took the stage to drum for two songs -- "Trigger Cut" and "In The Mouth Of A Desert."  I was close enough to the stage to hear Nastanovich apologizing between songs for his playing during "Trigger Cut," saying that he never drummed on it before and that he was always just shaking the tambourine and doing backup vocals.  He was still great though.  After "Desert," the crowd called for more Nastanovich to no avail, with Malkmus quipping, "Those were the only two songs we didn't practice."  The set was closed all too quickly with "We Dance."

That's the list.  Like I said, Sonic and Malkmus were the big highlights for me.  All in all, getting to see three members of Pavement play was worth the price of admission, not to mention all the other bands I got to catch.