2006 Pitchfork Music Festival Sampler
Artist: Various Artists - EMusic
Genre: Alternative/Punk
Styles: Indie Rock, Hip-Hop
Label: eMusic
Review
Writeups by Matthew Solarski, Pitchfork Media
--Ghislain Poirier The Montreal-based Poirier knows how to start parties: mash-up some classics, lay down some thick beats, sprinkle in percussive flourishes, and poof, instant dance floor hysteria. Hip- and rump-shaking are inevitable.
--Tapes 'n Tapes:Combining jumpy, jagged guitars with throaty vocals and scratched-up choruses, Minneapolis rock group Tapes 'n Tapes write songs that are as playful as they are immediate. Some bands make raggedness sound like an affect but for Tapes 'n Tapes it comes naturally. Their songs are fantastically falling-apart-at-the-seams. Mountain Goats: One-time nurse John Darnielle adopts the Mountain Goats moniker any time he feels like sharing lo-fi folky odes with a caterwaul that is all his own. JD's songwriting skills put him squarely in the head of his class, and Darnielle is able to evince tears and hearty chuckles from his listeners, often within the same line.
--Destroyer: Leonine New Pornographer Dan Bejar has recorded under the Destroyer guise for over ten years now, and amassed a devout cult following the process. It's no fluke: Bejar's ambitious, serpentine folk songwriting and wiry, pub-poet delivery beg repeated listens, after which the mysteries only multiply.
--Chin Up Chin Up: Chin Up Chin Up craft gorgeous, atmospheric avant-pop. Highlighted by intricate, harmonic textures, and recalling the impressive post-rock of the best of their Chicago contemporaries, Chin Up Chin Up's star remains very much on the rise.
--Mr. Lif: Politically conscious mic-master Mr. Lif spits deft rhymes over sick Def Jux beats, ensuring listeners sit back and think about it — as soon as they finish getting up and shaking it. A dazzling and versatile lyricist, Lif's output proves continually relevant and inspiring.
--Futureheads: Switching up their delivery from caffeinated post-punk to contemplative pop, UK group the Futureheads prove themselves adept songwriters no matter the surroundings.
--Mission of Burma: After over 25 years of making music, the men of Mission of Burma know a thing or two about rocking. Following an unexpected reunion in 2002 and a surprisingly strong new full-length, Mission have proven they can still create music as inspired and hard-hitting as their new upstart contemporaries — most of whom owe a heavy sonic debt to the venerable Boston trio.
--Jens Lenkman: Forget sleeves, Swedish troubadour Jens has his heart emblazoned on a massive white flag forever waving above his head. The lad also has one hell of a record collection, from which he's known to borrow a choice sample or two — but the core of Jens's charm lies in the young man's off-kilter, Merritt-indebted lyricism and good ol' fashioned melodious songwriting.
--Yo La Tengo: After more than 20 years in the game, the beloved New Jersey trio trades in equal parts fuzz, jangle, and engaging experimentalism. A case study in synergetic musicianship, few acts play and record with such natural verve. One might say they put the fun in profundity.
--Matmos: The sample-mongering duo Drew Daniel and Martin Schmidt have earned considerable acclaim with their provocative sonic collages, which are at turns blissful, intricate, and frightening. Often conceptually driven, the San Francisco-based pair manage to inject a bevy of new ideas into each successive release, and it's anyone's guess what they'll do next.
--Danielson: Impossible to ignore is Brother Danielson's nasal voice, but warm up to it and you cannot help but be dazzled Danielson's mighty ship of ebullient, larger-than-life songs, featuring a crew of guest stars in numbers nearing triple digits. The scope and ambition of Danielson's latest opus, Ships, is nothing to sneeze at — graciously it's as fun as it is grandiose.
--The National: This austere New York-by-way-of-Cincinnati quintet weaves tales of romance and woe with stately elegance. Theirs is a sound which enraptures the listener slowly, subtly, but once convinced of the National's songwriting prowess and deft sense of mood, their power is hard to deny.
--Aesop Rock: The eccentric MC, née Ian Bavitz, shot to fame in the hip-hop underground following the release of Labor Days, on Def Jux. A formidable lyricist, Aesop spins downtrodden grumbling atop some of the freshest cuts on the block.
--Matthew Dear: This debonair Detroit DJ and producer has crafted a dancefloor language all his own, with spritely cut-ups and push-me-pull-me beats. Dear often tops the sonic sundae with his own clipped vocals, letting his syllables function as blips and bloops in their own right, and lyrically exploring the varied decadence of the night hours.
--Chicago Underground Duo: Derived from the Chicago Underground Orchestra, this Thrill Jockey institution conjures ghosts from the city's jazz and experimental legacy, while imbuing their free-spirited compositions with distinctive flair. Self-described as "two humans trying ever to expand outward and inward for the people and ourselves," the results of these attempts are consistently stunning.
--Spoon: Austin's Spoon serve up guitar- and piano-based pop rock as taut, streamlined, and essential as their namesake utensil. It's no wonder these four lads have ascended to the upper tier of indie rock — just consider the infectious immediacy of 2001's Girls Can Tell, 2002's Kill the Moonlight, and last year's Gimme Fiction.
--Ted Leo/Pharmacists: The nicest guy in indiedom, Ted Leo and his trusty band of Pharmacists craft spirited guitar music marrying the ethos and energy of punk with the riffs and playfulness of carefree rock. Truth is, Leo cares loads, and charges his strong lyrics with keen observational wit and the occasionally political barb — at no expense to the peerless Pharmacist fun factor.
--Devendra Banhart: De facto president and CEO of the popular freak-folk movement, Banhart has swiftly matured from four-track barefoot bard to ambitious, barefoot auteur with last year's epic Cripple Crow. With wit and whimsy that belie his young age, Banhart's appeal continues to grow almost as fast as his facial hair.
--Nels Cline: Guitar virtuoso Cline joined up with Wilco to lend his talents to A Ghost Is Born, but ensured his legacy long before that with a steady stream of jazz, blues, rock, and avant-garde compositions.
--Art Brut: "Ready, Art Brut?" implores singer Eddie Argos before his band launches into every song — and are they ever. The Brit four-piece craft commanding riff-rock around Argos' sing-shouted gospel of insight, charm, and utter hilarity. These relative newcomers wooed sold-out crowds across the U.S. long before their record was even released in America.
--The Walkmen: Woozy, drunken waltzes, speared by clangy guitars and manhandled by imposing spazz-singer Hamilton Leithauser — it's the Walkmen, ascendant New York five-piece extraordinaire. The boys brought upright piano to the fore with 2002's much-loved Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, and continued to delight with the dazzling, herky-jerky follow-up, Bows + Arrows.
--Cage: Gritty Def Jux MC Cage channeled his troubled upbringing into the gripping 2005 opus, Hell's Winter, among the best underground hip-hop records of the year. Lyrically, Cage delves into the darker corners of the human experience, towing a fine line with cynicism, and serving up some remarkable insight in the process.
--8 Bold Souls: These particular eight Souls concoct rollicking, improvisational jazz, utilizing cello, tuba, and woodwinds in addition to bass, trumpet, trombone, and percussion. Extolled for their virtuosity, 8 Bold Souls bring something fresh to every performance and recording.
1. "La Blessure"--Ghislain Poirier--2:29
2. "Just Drums"--Tapes 'n Tapes--3:46
3. "Woke Up New"--The Mountain Goats--2:57
4. "European Oils"--Destroyer--4:57
5. "Collide the Tide"--Chin Up Chin Up--4:19
6. "Brothaz"--Mr. Lif--4:30
7. "Skip to the End"--The Futureheads--2:56
8. "Spider's Web"--Mission of Burma--3:27
9. "Black Cab"--Jens Lekman--4:56
10. "Beanbag Chair"--Yo La Tengo--3:04
11. "Public Sex For Boyd McDonald"--Matmos--5:54
12. "Bloodbook on the Half Shell"--Danielson--4:52
13. "Abel"--The National--3:38
14. "Fast Cars"--Aesop Rock--4:37
15. "Dog Days"--Matthew Dear--5:57
16. "Red Gradations"--Chicago Underground Duo--2:52
17. "The Beast and Dragon, Adored"--Spoon--4:20
18. "Little Dawn"--Ted Leo / Pharmacists--5:35
19. "Long Haired Child"--Devendra Banhart--3:45
20. "Spider Wisdom"--Nels Cline--7:32
21. "Good Weekend"--Art Brut--2:49
22. "We've Been Had"--The Walkmen--3:29
23. "Good Morning"--Cage--3:48
24. "Odyssey"--8 Bold Souls--12:18
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