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Pitchfork Music Fest Recap, DJ Kittens   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Monday, July 18, 2011 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: Karl

Karl

PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL 2011: There I was again. I started Friday by splitting sets from two arty, yet different combos. tUnE-yArDs is all about the vocal loops and jazzy flourishes, as you can hear on "Gangsta."  Merrill Garbus was really working the crowd, which responded well.  But for positioning's sake, I had to sneak back to see Battles, which was mostly playing instrumentals like "Futura" from their new LP, though vocalists would appear on video screens behind them (here's a new ATC profile of the band).  Thurston Moore, touring his new solo LP, was genial and displayed his gentler, Lou Reed-ier side on numbers like "Benedediction" and "Blood Never Lies".  The 1995 lineup of Guided by Voices may have been the biggest jolt of energy to the fest up to that point, serving up much of the classic Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes albums, with a couple from Vampire on Titus and a few others, while Bob Pollard worked his way thru a bottle of Cuervo Gold. The anthemic "Game of Pricks" went over especially well, and the other Sasquatch fest clips uploaded at the link are pretty representative of the Pitchfork set.  Neko Case joined GbV on "Echos Myron" befor her own set -- and it's seems almost odd that she is now one of the most commercial acts represented at the fest, with radio-friendly material like "People Got A Lotta Nerve" and "This Tornado Loves You."  Having lived in Chicago's Ukranian Village for a time, this was a sort of homecoming for Case who was received quire warmly (indie chicks still love her).  I actually found her set's pacing suffered at times, but her pipes rank with Wanda Jackson and Loretta Lynn, so it's tough to complain (despite the omission of "Deep Red Bells").  I'll confess that I slipped out of the night's headliner, Animal Collective, a bit early.  They had a trippy stage show, but even their material that I like, such as "Bluish," I prefer in smaller doses.

Saturday unofficially started with the end of a set from Woods, playing decent psych-folk that made me wish I had arrived early enough to give them a full listen.  The day offically started for me with the 80s-influenced Cold Cave, who are often compared to bands like The Cure, as songs like "Villains of the Moon" might suggest. However, they appeared with just the two keyboardists and a drummer, which gave them a vibe more like Killing Joke or Ministry.  It also meant a lot of programming, though I award them points for strutting, twirling and dancing about wearing leather jackets in the oppressive heat.  No Age had some technical issues, but gave it their best, with the skronk of "Fever Dreaming" not requiring a sampler.  Destroyer, touring behind "Kaputt," gave some (but not all) of Dan Bejar's earlier stuff the same 70s, Steely Dan / Al Stewart vibe, but made it work surprisingly well.  Indeed, their set was a bit more dynamic than Neko's.  But perhaps the biggest surprise of the fest for me was the reunited Dismemberment Plan, a band to which I have paid little attention.  But I enjoyed their angular punky pop, albeit the guitar-based stuff like "The Ice of Boston" much more than the keyboard-driven, quasi-rappy numbers.  Saturday closed with Fleet Foxes, and these clips of "Grown Ocean" and "Mykonos" sadly do not convey how sweeping and intense the band was, handling a big and occasionally delirious crowd with verve and aplomb.

My Sunday started with the 90s-influenced Yuck, who opened with "Get Away."  A tasty set marred by a tech glitch near the end; check out their set from SXSW 2011.  If Yuck is the band that burst on the scene, Kurt Vile is the guy making strides.  Lat year, he played fairly avant-garde stuff the third stage; this year, touring the acclaimed Smoke Ring For My Halo, he was all about the stoner rock, like "Jesus Fever" and "Freak Train." But I'd bet Ariel Pink was the one who was truly stoned -- his goofinesss and struggles with his headset were amusing, and the vaguely cheesy 80s themed numbers like "Bright Lit Blue Skies" put a smile on my face, but the set was abruptly ended before their best known, "Round and Round," ostensibly due to drum issues... but the frontman seemed like he was on something.  Fired up and ready to go was the reformed Superchunk, which mixed new material like "Crossed Wires" with old faves, culminating in the anthem that cannot be named. I had planned on sticking around for Deerhunter, but it would be unfair to them and me to place them in such an anti-climactic position.

SUFJAN STEVENS goes animated for the video of "Get Real, Get Right."

FRANK BLACK talks to the Kansas City Star about his post-Pixies career.

MARISSA NADLER shares a few of her favorite things for a Pitchfork Guest List.

FIERY FURNACES: Vulture compates the solo efforts of Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger.

CHEAP TRICK narrowly escapes a stage collapse in Ottawa, Canada.

JERRY RAGOVOY, who wrote or collaborated on some of the most soulful ballads of the 1960s, including the Rolling Stones hit "Time Is on My Side" and the Janis Joplin signatures "Piece of My Heart," "Cry Baby" and "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)," died last Wednesday of complications from a stroke. He was 80.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Pt 2) shatters the opening weekend record once held by The Dark Knight, raking in an epic 158.1 million, also shattering the midnight showing record once held by Twilight: New Moon. The North American total is estimated at 168.6 million.  Transformers 3 took a 55 percent hit from the teen wizards, coming in second at 21.3 million... it's still trailing Transformers 2, but with a 302 million domestic total, shed no tears for the autobots.  Horrible Bosses dropped only 38 percent, taking in 17.6 million, with a 60 million total to date against a 35 million production budget.  Zookeeper drops 39 percent with 12.3 million; it's 42 million total looks worse against an 80 million budget. Cars 2 rounds out the Top 5, but Potter helps hand Pixar a 45 percent drop to 8.3 million. Cars 2 has rung up 165 million so far, but may not break 200 million -- the first Pixar movie to make that little since A Bug's Life.  Below the fold, Winnie the Pooh was right behind Cars 2 with an 8 million opening, which ain't bad against a 30 million budget. The bear does even better overseas.

JENNIFER LOPEZ & MARC ANTHONY are ending their marriage.

NICK LACHEY & VANESSA MINMILLO were married Friday evening in a tropical island ceremony in front of just 35 friends and family.

BRADGELINA marriage rumors denied. Shocka.

MILA KUNIS reaffirms her date for the Marine Corps Ball, contra prior idiocy from Billy Bush and Gawker.

CHARLIE SHEEN may be roasted by ex-wife Denise Richards.

ARNOLD & MARIA SPLIT: The soon-to-be ex-couple attended the same dinner party and managed to emerge smiling.

HUGH HEFNER claims he was blindsided when he was left at the altar by Crystal Harris.

TIGER WOODS: Ex-wife Elin Nordegren has found love again with wealthy American investor Jamie Dingman... who reportedly dated Tiger's ex-mistress number one, Rachel Uchitel.

RUSSIA: Blood in the streets of Dagestan cities and villages flows over the fact that those who regard themselves adherents of "pure Islam" - Wahhabites (or Salafites) - do not like how citizens behave themselves and wear clothes. The talks between representatives of moderate and "pure" Islam have not yielded any results so far.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS detained two Omani women for driving, local media reported.

EGYPT: The military council governing the country is moving to lay down ground rules for a new constitution that would protect and potentially expand its own authority indefinitely, possibly circumscribing the power of future elected officials.

PAKISTAN: Inter-Services Public Relations Director Gen. Athar Abbas has claimed that there are terrorist safe havens inside Afghanistan.

IRAQ will execute two of Saddam Hussein's half-brothers within a month along with three other former regime officials, an official said Friday, a day after the five were handed over by the US military.

DJ KITTEHS put the bodies on the floor.

A DEPRESSED FERRET has escaped from a circus in Siberia along with a monkey and a red-breasted parakeet. I thought the depressed joined the circus.

CHARGING TURTLE, stunned human.

BRINGING A COCKATOO - or handcuffs -  to a job interview is a bad choice (unless you're auditioning for a remake of Baretta).

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