Pygmalion Festival – Day Three (Grizzly Bear / Dinosaur Jr. / Cloud Nothings / UMO / Frankie Rose / Lower Dens)

Whereas most days at Pygmalion Music Festival you’ll find yourself bouncing around from place to place to catch all the good bands, for the grand finale everyone was centralized in one place, downtown Champaign at the Highdive Outdoor stage. It was an amazing set-up and led to perhaps my favorite day of live music in Pygmalion’s 8-year history.

After a number of local Champaign/Urbana acts warmed up the stages (my personal favorite being folk/pop quartet Grandkids), current Grizzly Bear-tourmates Lower Dens kicked things off with their atmospheric, guitar-driven Krautrock, playing a number of tracks from their acclaimed 2012 album, Nootropics. The band’s expertise is creating hazy, trance-like soundscapes so while much of their music is probably better suited to headphones listening, dreamy singles like “Brains” and “Propagation” were mesmerizing.

MP3 Lower Dens – Brains

Former Vivian Girls drummer Frankie Rose took the stage with her band for a early evening set of reverb-heavy indie-pop from her acclaimed sophomore album Interstellar. The band’s lush, super-melodic tunes like “Know Me” and “Night Swim” sounded great on stage and considering the smallish crowd at the outdoor side-stage, Rose put on an engaging and enjoyable set.

MP3 Frankie Rose – Know Me

Unknown Mortal Orchestra were one of my most anticipated acts of the night and they didn’t disappoint. The Portland psych trio injected a healthy dose of druggy guitar jams to the festival proceedings, led by perpetually laid-back singer-guitarist Ruban Nielson. What the band lacks in an energy though they more than make up for with their visceral, fuzzed-out sound, made even better by the impressive rhythm section that gives tunes like “Ffunny Ffriends” and new single “Swim and Sink” their intoxicating psych-pop bounce. Grizzly Bear were obviously taken by the band as well, thanking them multiple times during their set, and it’s easy to see why.

MP3 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Swim and Sleep (Like A Shark)

It was a huge thrill to see Dinosaur Jr. at Pygmalion, given that they were one of the pivotal bands of the 80’s alternative rock scene, inspiring countless bands from Pavement to Nirvana. Unlike many of the bands from the pre-grunge era still kicking though, these guys are no nostalgia act. Following their reunion in 2007, they’ve released three solid albums and as they proved here, their live show destroys. On stage, the band is an ultra-tight three-piece, led by J Mascis’ incredible guitar heroics and cracked falsetto with powerful backup from Lou Barlow’s unrelenting bass and Murph’s thundering drums.

Dinosaur Jr. played just about the best (and loudest) set I could ask including all of my favorite classic tracks like “Keep Choppin'”, “Freak Scene”, “The Lung” and “Little Fury Bugs”. The highlight had to be “Feel The Pain” though, with it’s breakneck tempo changes and face-melting guitar solo. The band closed with their thundering cover of “Just Like Heaven” (complete with the abrubt ending), topping off an explosive set that proved beyond any doubt that J Mascis and co. still got it.

MP3 Dinosaur Jr – Feel The Pain

Cloud Nothings put on easily one of the most memorable sets at Pitchfork Festival this summer, partially due to the torrential downpour that they played through and eventually shut them down, so I was definitely looking forward to seeing them play a full set. The band absolutely delivered, playing a rager of a set and inciting one of the craziest mosh pits I’ve witnessed.

The band opened with their catchiest track, “Stay Useless”, but the bobbing heads and sing-a-long melodies quickly turned to fist-pumping and all-out thrashing as the band ferociously stormed through “Fall In”, “Cut You” and especially “Wasted Days”. Even sandwiched between veterans Dinosaur Jr. and indie royalty Grizzly Bear, the band more than held their own, playing an profoundly energetic, boisterous set.

MP3 Cloud Nothings – Stay Useless

Closing out this year of Pygmalion Festival was a performance from one of the most extraordinary bands working today (indie or otherwise), and the Grizzly Bear put one of the best shows I’ve seen at this or any festival. Opening with what happens to be my favorite song from their new album, “Speak In Rounds” the Brooklyn quartet awed the crowd with their unique brand of rock music that balances lush harmonies, dynamic instrumentation and complex yet engaging songwriting. The band just released their latest masterpiece, Shields an extremely ambitious, progressive that builds upon the band’s ten years of musical experience without attempting to replicate their previous albums, Veckatimest and Yellow House.

The new songs sounded breathtaking live, and provided a wonderful showcase for the band’s exceptional musicmanship, most notably Chris Bear’s improvisational drumming style and the band’s exuberant harmonies. “Yet Again”, “A Simple Answer” and “Sun In Your Eyes” stood out to me as highlights, joining the pantheon of great Grizzly Bear tracks like “Two Weeks”, “Knife”,  “Ready, Able” and “While We Wait For The Others”, all of which were played on Saturday night to perfection. The band closed with an energetic performance of “On A Neck, On A Spit” before expressing their gratitude at being asked to play Pygmalion Festival. After witnessing their awe-inspiring performance, the pleasure was all ours.

MP3 Grizzly Bear – Speak In Rounds
MP3 Grizzly Bear – Yet Again

Follow the jump for lots more Pygmalion Festival Day Three photos. Click here to see the full set.

Pygmalion Festival – Day Two (Dirty Projectors / Best Coast / Lord Huron / Tennis / Hospitality / Hundred Waters)

One of the great things about this year of Pygmalion Music Festival is that since it was condensed to three days instead of the normal four days (or five, the case of ’10), the festival organizers were able to fit a ton more of amazing bands into one night, all killer no filler if you will. Friday night was the best example, starting with great sets by Tennis and Dirty Projectors at the outdoor stage in downtown Urbana.

All due respect to Best Coast, but as far as band’s that play retro, sunny pop music, Tennis were clearly the winners on Friday night. The band played a fantastic set, drawing from the band’s debut Cape Dory and their latest album Young and Old, that was carried by Alaina Moore’s mesmerizing vocals and charismatic stage presence. Highlights included some old favorites like “Marathon” (the first Tennis song I heard, and still my favorite) and “South Carolina” and some dreamy tunes from their new album including “Origins” and set closer “High Road”. On a chilly night in late September, Tennis made the whole crowd feel warm and fuzzy.

MP3 Tennis – High Road

After just seeing Dirty Projectors at Pitchfork this summer, I knew what to expect (lots of angular guitar, odd time signatures and vivid, alluring harmonies), but that didn’t make the experience any less engrossing. Dave Longstreth has lept up to become one of my favorite indie rock frontman, when he wasn’t pulling off the band’s super-intricate art-rock jams, he was cracking jokes about being able to see the Walgreens sign poking through the trees from the stage and discussing with the crowd whether the moon was waxing or waning. Again, the tracks from Swing Lo Magellan like “Gun Has No Trigger” and “About To Die” were the highlights for me although the extended noisy jam on “Useless Chamber” was up there as well.

MP3 Dirty Projectors – About To Die
MP3 Dirty Projectors – Gun Has No Trigger

I headed out during the last couple Dirty Projectors songs, just in time to catch the beginning of Hospitality‘s set. The Brooklyn band put out one of the best debuts (and best indie-pop records in general) of 2012 with their self-titled album earlier this year, and even though they were relegated to the small stage, they completely rocked it. The band worked through some of the ultra-catchy, jangly pop on the record like “Eight Avenue”, “Friends of Friends” and “All Day Today”, while emphasizing their impressive guitar-work to make up for the lack of horn section from the album. They even played a couple new songs, that showed just why they’re one of the most promising new bands working today.

MP3 Hospitality – Friends of Friends

If you had asked me what my most anticipated act for Friday night at Pygmalion Festival was, my answer would have been Lord Huron, hands-down. The band has been on my radar for over a year and a half when they released two amazing EPs, Into The Sun and Mighty. It’s been a long wait, but they are finally releasing their debut album, Lonesome Dreams next week and I was thrilled to be able to hear them perform a bunch of new songs and a couple old at the Canopy Club.

Singer / songwriter Ben Schneider and his fellow troubadours played an enthusiastic set of their unique, tropical-inflected rhythms and upbeat afro-pop percussion, immersing the crowd in their lush, breezy sound. The band has a knack for writing melodies that stick with you and that was certainly on display throughout their set, especially on their 1-2 punch to close of set of “Time To Run” and classic “The Stranger”. I only wish they had some more time, because I could have easily watched Lord Huron play all night.

MP3 Lord Huron – Time To Run
MP3 Lord Huron – The Stranger

To borrow from one of Best Coast‘s most overused lyrics, the band seemed a bit “lazy” on stage at their headlining Canopy Club set. Bethany Cosentino didn’t waste any time mentioning her displeasure with their late time slot, complaining that it was way past all their bed times, and the band generally gave off the vibe that she didn’t want to be there (in heavy contrast to the rest of the headliners, who seemed absolutely elated to be playing). Yeah, it was still decently fun singing a long to tunes like “The Only Place” and “When I’m With You”, but overall the band was flat and non-engaging. The very young crowd didn’t seem to mind too much, but I, for one, gave up after a few songs to check out Hundred Waters next door.

MP3 Best Coast – When I’m With You

It turns out the decision to give up on Best Coast early and catch Hundred Waters, was the best one I made all night. Even though the band were moved last-minute from the larger Channing-Murray venue to the Red Herring cafe (essentially a basement), they still managed to put on a captivating set and sounded incredible. The band’s experimental folk/pop was the perfect late-night chill/dance music with their rippling synths, syncopated electronica and inventive harmonies create their full, complex songs. Just watching the percussionist produce the lush soundscapes by twisting knobs and clicking colorful buttons was one of the most rewarding experiences of the festival for me.

MP3 Hundred Waters – Me & Anodyne

Follow the jump for lots more Pygmalion Festival Day Two photos. Click here to see the full set.

Pygmalion Festival – Day One (HUM / Psychic Twin / Jared Bartman)

This year marked the 8th year that Pygmalion Music Festival has taken over Champaign / Urbana, IL, turning it into the epicenter for top-notch indie music for one weekend of the year. It’s also the 8th year that I’ve attended, so suffice it to say, I’m a big fan of the festival which continues to get bigger and better every year. The opening day of the festival hit a speed bump when headliners Sleigh Bells cancelled due to an injury, but luckily the band was able to get local space-rock legends HUM to replace them, it turned out to be a great opening day all the same.

I started the night at the Krannert Art Museum seeing perhaps the best artist to come out of my hometown (Peoria IL) in the last few years, Jared Bartman, and he brought along an impressive eight-piece band (including his wife and baby) to perform his captivating folk tunes. I find Jared’s music increasingly hard to classify, some of his newer tracks like “In Belize” have a Afro-Caribbean folk feel, others borrow from the striking guy/girl harmonies of Dirty Projectors, and there’s also a definite blues influence on tracks like “Love’s Secret” and his cover of “Grinning In Your Face” (notable for being Jack White’s favorite song).

His Pygmalion Festival set gave us a taste of all his different sides, but mostly showcased his vibrant songwriting and the lovely harmonies and strings arrangements that flesh out his music. Jared just released an excellent Daytrotter session this year and will be releasing his second full-length album in 2013.

Jared Bartman – In Belize (Daytrotter Session)

After catching a bit of Nashville-based experimental folk band Night Beds at Krannert I headed over to Psychic Twin, a band which formed from the ashes of local Champaign/Urbana favorite, Headlights. The electro-pop trio are a recent signee with Lefse Records and has been picking up some blog buzz lately with their infectious melodies, minimalist beats and dreamy vocals. The band recently added a third member on percussion who added some great energy to the set, and the band had the crowd dancing in the dark to enchanting tunes like “I Want To Forget” and new single “Gonna Get Her”.

MP3 Psychic Twin – Gonna Get Her

As I mentioned before, HUM were a last-minute replacement for scheduled headliners, Sleigh Bells, but considering I had just seen the noise-pop duo at Pitchfork Festival, I wasn’t the least bit disappointed. Prior to the announcement, I wasn’t too familiar with HUM but after listening and relistening to their albums You’d Prefer An Astronaut (which spawned hit single “Stars”) and Downward is Heavenward, I found myself anticipating their set more and more.

As if there was any doubt, the band still’s got it, tearing through a set with bombastically loud, spaced-out guitar and heavy drums that wonderfully contrast Talbott’s nonchalant vocal style. The highlights for me were the tracks from Downward is Heavenward (especially “Green To Me”) which I find to be the perfect mix of melancholic, cerebral indie rock with the blaring, head-banging riffs of 90’s alt-rock. If you’re like me, and never experienced HUM I definitely recommend you take a listen, you may just stumble upon a new old favorite.

MP3 HUM – Green To Me

Follow the jump for more Pygmalion Festival Day One photos. Click here to see the full set.

Hot Chip @ Pitchfork Music Festival (6/14)

On the title track to Hot Chip‘s sophomore album the British electro-pop band warns that “Hot Chip will break your legs, snap off your head” and watching all the wild, celebratory dancing happening in the crowd during their Saturday evening set, you could be sure they weren’t joking around. The band’s euphoric dance anthems incited an all out dance-riot, even their mid-tempo songs like “Boy From School”, which opened their set, were given upbeat live makeovers with emphasis on the throbbing percussion and soaring keyboards, while the infectious melodies ensured that the songs stick in your head.

The band played a wonderful set, hitting just about all of their big singles like “Over and Over” and “Ready For The Floor” (which awesomely featured a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere” in the middle), plus a bunch of highlights from their newest gem of an album, In Our Heads. I though “Don’t Deny Your Heart”, “How Do You Do?” and “Flutes” came off particularly strong, matching the energy and bravado of their classics. Lead singer Alexis Taylor doesn’t bother much with banter, weaving one crazed disco rave into another and delivering easily the funnest set of the weekend, and one of the best I’ve seen in my years going to this little festival.

MP3 Don’t Deny Your Heart
MP3 And I Was A Boy From School

Follow the jump for more Hot Chip photos. Click here to see the full set.

Chromatics @ Pitchfork Music Festival (6/14)

Chromatics released one of my favorite albums this year in Kill For Love, so despite soundcheck difficulties that had them start twenty minutes late, I stuck around to watch the Portland electro-pop quartet. The band opened with “Tick of the Clock”, the instrumental which was featured in the opening scene of Drive, which led seamlessly into one of the many highlights from their new album “Lady”.

The band’s vibe of gently throbbing electronica, ultra-melodic guitar lines and wispy vocals may be best suited for slinky dance clubs and late-night drives, but I thought it worked just fine during their early evening set. Before I booked it to watch Hot Chip, I got to hear the hypnotizing “Kill For Love” with it’s grandiose New Order-like synths and disco beats, and that made me very happy.

MP3 Kill For Love

Follow the jump for more Chromatics photos. Click here to see the full set.

Sleigh Bells @ Pitchfork Music Festival (6/14)

Going into Sleigh Bell‘s set at Pitchfork Festival I wouldn’t claim to be too big a fan of the band, but I think that’s because I never experienced them in the correct environment. On record, I find that the clashing guitars and saccharine vocals can be abrasive, but put them on a stage with stacks of speakers and hundreds of screaming fans and all the bombast and ear-shattering noise starts to make sense. Simply put, the band puts on a hell of a live show. Lead singer (and total babe) Alexis Krauss commands the stage with a ferocious punk energy, whipping her hair, leaping onto the front speakers, and shrieking into the mic, while the dual guitarists rip into guitar licks that would make Dethklok proud.

After opening with “Demons”, Alexis ripped off her leather jacket and the band played an electrifying version of their breakthrough single “Crown On The Ground”, which stirred the crowd to an uproarious frenzy (when the song finished I heard someone  in the front row exclaimed “that was the best song I’ve ever seen”). From then on it was continuous rush of huge beats, huge riffs and Alexis thrilling antics, inducing mosh pits, sing-a-longs and crowd-surfing, which Krauss took part in herself during “Rill Rill”. I’m still probably not going to be blasting Sleigh Bells out my car stereo on a regular basis, but if they’re playing anywhere near me live, I am totally there.

MP3 Crown On The Ground
MP3 Comeback Kid

Follow the jump for (lots more) Sleigh Bells photos. Click here to see the full set.

Wild Flag @ Pitchfork Music Festival (6/14)

Whether they were fans of Carrie Brownstein’s comedic turn in the hipster sketch-comedy show Portlandia or they’re fans of bands like Sleater-Kinney, Helium, and The Minders of which the bandmembers used to play, or they’re just really into girl-power, people turned up in waves to check out Portland super-group Wild Flag. The band started things off right opening with a cover of Television’s “See No Evil” and continued to melt faces with their upbeat and extremely catchy guitar rock.

Carrie and Mary Timony both took lead vocal duites as well as guitar, giving them both plenty of opportunity to carry out wild, feedback-heavy guitar solos and badass guitar poses (windmill strums and guitars thrusted over the head abounded). Meanwhile Rebecca Cole added the pop to the proceedings with her cooing harmonies, infectious keyboard riffs and dancing, while Janet Weis injected some of her colossal drum fills. From psych-jam freakout “Racehorse” to the sharp, refined guitar-pop of “Romance”, the gals destroyed all in their path. And although the temptation was great to yell Portlandia lines at Carrie like “Hey-Ooh River” or “Put A Bird On It”, thankfully I was able to refrain and just enjoy rocking out.

MP3 Romance

Follow the jump for more Wild Flag photos. Click here to see the full set.

Youth Lagoon @ Pitchfork Music Festival (6/14)

Youth Lagoon‘s palette of soft, intimate keyboards and subtle electronica doesn’t always translate well to outdoor music festivals, but I doubt that deterred any fans of the band’s deeply emotional dream-pop. Trevor Powers didn’t attempt to intensify their music and spent little effort engaging the audience, letting the seeping beauty of the songs speak for themselves. While newcomers may have been turned off, listeners like myself that fell in love with songs like “Cannons” and “Montana” from The Year of Hibernation, couldn’t help but be entranced with the gorgeous melodies and soaring crescendos emitting from the speakers.

MP3 Cannons

Follow the jump for more Youth Lagoon photos. Click here to see the full set.

Cults @ Pitchfork Music Festival (6/14)

It made sense that just before Cults began to play their sunny, throwback retro-pop, the sun came out at Union Park. The Brooklyn group certainly has grown a lot since I saw them two years ago, when they were still the mystery buzz band with just a few songs to their name but their live show is just as fun as ever. Madeline Follin’s still a pleasure to watch, swaying in her low-cut dress and ruby red lip stick stage and her vocal presence has definitely improved, especially on the powerful soul-pop of “You Know What I Mean”. A full band gave that extra oomph on tracks like “Never Heal Myself” and opener “Abduction”, helping to emphasize the dynamic tempos and soaring crescendos that make Cults stand out among their indie-pop peers.

MP3 You Know What I Mean

Follow the jump for more Cults photos. Click here to see the full set.

Cloud Nothings @ Pitchfork Music Festival (6/14)

Cloud Nothings‘ ferocious performance kicked off Saturday at Pitchfork Festival in the most awesome way ever. Focusing solely on tracks from their amazing 2012 release, Attack on Memory, Dylan Baldi and co. tore through tracks like “Stay Useless”, “Fall In” and “Separation”.

Nothing compared though, to their epic 15-minute version of “Wasted Days”, which was played such an absolute swirling fury that the heavy downpour of rain that started mid-song seemed inevitable, as if the skies had been cracked open by the power of punk rock. With wind blowing the rain directly onto the band drenching the stage, the house speakers were cut off and sound techs urged the band to stop. Yet even in the face of electrocution, the band played on with the crowd helping to amplify the climatic phrase “I thought I would be more than this!” over and over. Cloud Nothings – 1 Torrential Rain Downpour – 0.

MP3 Wasted Days

Follow the jump for more Cloud Nothings photos. Click here to see the full set.