Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend

One of the most compelling draws to this year's Lollapalooza festival is the foursome known as Vampire Weekend. They've cultivated a wide appeal despite--or perhaps in light of--their elite literati pedigree. The boys started gigging around 2006 in their last undergraduate year at Columbia University, starting off at humanities societies and parties. With that kind of foundation, you'd think the emphasis would be on explorations primarily invested in lyric, to which their freshman album track "Oxford Comma" is certainly a tribute. But really, the performative experience Vampire Weekend cultivates is an affective one rather than hyper-intellectual or hyper-referential--the result seemingly bringing the hipster, the geek, and the downright adorkable all a little closer together.

Describing their sound as "Upper West Side Soweto," Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, Rostam Batmanglij, and Chris Tomson mix well-read indie melodies with joyful, Afro-pop-inspired rhythms. Their first album, Vampire Weekend (2008), was a smash in the alternative scene and appealed to a sophisticated collegiate crowd. The rather specific age demographic (as I can't imagine folks in their 30s and 40s interested in titles like "Campus") was noted by some critics, but the Afro-pop sedimentation of the bass lines were without rebuke.

Their second album, Contra (2010), slows down the pace and is invested in blending influences rather than downright mixing, sacrificing some of the blazing guitar proficiency of the earlier album for thoughtfulness; it's worth it for tracks like "Horchata" and "I Think Ur A Contra." And this past May, the band released their third studio album, Modern Vampires of the City (2013), which quickly reached no. 1 on several charts. With many positive reviews, Vampire Weekend seems to be finding a balance between its popular and independent streaks.

To get a sense of what I mean by this doubleness in Vampire Weekend's discography, I recommend comparing these two tracks from their first and second album respectively: "A Punk" and "I Think Ur A Contra."

As I mentioned, "A Punk" belongs on your jogging mix for its bounce and speed that infects your ear. Brief and simple, its bounce and play with arpeggio as a technique makes it very satisfying when on repeat. Similarly, the vibrato alto flute lines are a strikingly different sound in light of the larger synthesized sounds of contemporary indie pop.

"I Think Ur a Contra" is slow; it shimmers, and it very gradually envelops and develops through the sweet upper range of Keonig's voice. There is a strikingly low bass line from the piano (rather than a keyboard), with other elements subtly slipping in suggesting that the speaker grows from thinking to knowing his subject is in fact, a contra(diction).

The single from their new album getting radio play right now, "Diane Young," while far more electric than I anticipated, seems to nicely split the difference. Considering the new album comes only two months before Lollapalooza, I anticipate they have big plans for their Chicago crowd.

Can't get enough? Stream this expertly recorded live concert from NPR. Or check out another act on the same label, Ra Ra Riot, which has been inching into the limelight but is extremely underrated as yet.

Prepare for Vampire Weekend's 6:30pm set on Sunday, August 4th, at the Bud Light stage by checking out their music, available from iTunes and streaming on Spotify.

--Elizabeth Tavares

The Postal Service: Live in Boston

The Postal Service

Without The Postal Service I am not sure we would have Death Cab for Cutie, and without Death Cab there certainly wouldn't have been the other. A collaboration between electronica whiz Jimmy Tamborello and DCFC frontman Ben Gibbard, The Postal Service was named for the courier service that allowed the duo to trade song ideas. While they did pepper radio stations with three trim EPs at the backend of the '00s, the group is a one-album wonder. In early 2003 they released Give Up, spawning five major radio hits and breaking independent label sales records under the auspices of Sub Pop. (Think Nirvana.)

In the last few months the duo released a deluxe remaster of Give Up as a 10th anniversary edition, more than doubling the original ten-track set list. It is unclear whether the two are putting the nail in the coffin on their collaboration, as they are making the rounds at all the large festivals touring the album--a trip that is also helpfully touting Gibbard's recent solo project Recent Lives (2012). They were one of the most anticipated acts of this year's Coachella festival, many betting that this may very well be the last chance to hear the pair perform live. Below is their full performance this past June in Boston. (It's a fan video, so the quality isn't fantastic, but his or her constancy in filming the entire concert is to be admired).

In terms of synthetic production values, it is difficult to quantify the duo's influence. The album was an immediate success in both indie and mainstream circuits. It walked that fine line between the elite and popular--a line to which very few can successfully cater. I think DCFC does so to varying degrees, but Radiohead might be the epitome of walking that fine line, all the more with their new side project, Atoms for Peace.

For its part, The Postal Service provides a hinge not only for its members, but also for alternative pop in general. You can certainly hear the band's shimmering textures, instrumentation, and predisposition for vocal layers in DCFC's breakthrough, Transatlanticism (2003). Give Up also seemed to signal a period of transition out of "indie emo" acts like Blink 182 and My Bloody Valentine, making room for the likes of Spoon, Vampire Weekend, Arcade Fire, Iron & Wine, and Phoenix--many of whom are festival regulars.

I am likely overstating and oversimplifying the network of influence here, but these groups seem to be part of a movement early in the last decade where spinning and pre-fabricated samples were becoming increasingly amenable to the live venue.

Perhaps the two tracks from Give Up that best articulate the synthesis between analog and pre-fab sound production is the ubiquitous "Such Great Heights" and "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" (at 50:55 and 00:00, respectively, in the full concert video above). The former has been sampled, covered, and remixed unendingly since its initial release. (I do believe a couple covered it for my high school's talent show one year.) Some of my favorites include versions by Feist, Iron & Wine, and particularly Ben Folds, who deploys spoons and Altoids canisters to replicate some of the effects.

Despite the gossamer production of smoothly syncopated kit work and iterative leggato guitars, the lyric themes behind both tracks are morally dark and left unresolved in the narrative lines. This is true of much of DCFC's music as it is for The Postal Service: Both seem invested in studies of contrast where songs of hope take up an emotionally plumbing musicality (see "St. Peter's Cathedral") while anthems to youth are lyrically invested in the close kinship between love and death, joy and despair. Their live performance, such as that embedded above, is a good example. Band mates work hard to get an audience clapping and singing along to their biggest hit whose topic just happens to be suicide.

I point out the juxtapositional pairings of theme and tenor not to suggest the naivete of festival-goers--a claim they are often unfairly stamped with as festivals themselves become increasingly corporatized--but rather to indicate the immense success and staying power of an act invested in challenging their listeners with unsettling yet stunning paradoxes.

Prepare for The Postal Service's 8:30pm set on Saturday, August 3rd, at the Bud Light stage by checking out their music, available from iTunes and streaming on Spotify.

--Elizabeth Tavares

Heartless Bastards: "Into Love"

Lolla starts tomorrow. To get you ready, Daijams is posting three artist reviews--one at 10am, one at noon, one at 2pm--all written by the knowledgeable, music-loving, deadline-observing Liz Tavares.

Heartless Bastards

Erika Wennerstrom is the indie scene's answer to Bonnie Raitt and Sheryl Crow. Her blues vocals front her band, Heartless Bastards, with that same timeless quality especially indicative of Raitt: It doesn't suggest a particular historical moment and obfuscates the age of the singer, certainly. It fits the mood, always.

As a female singer in the current market, I imagine it has been difficult for Wennerstrom not to trade on her gender, pouting up a sweetness as in She & Him, depending on sex appeal such as Ke$ha, or unraveling her gendered markers altogether in a way that brands acts like Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. My apologies for all of the name-dropping, but Wennerstrom--supported by Dave Colvin, Jesse Ebaugh, and Mark Nathan--doesn't seem invested in crafting anything other than a fat rock sound. And with the preponderance of "indie" and "alternative" acts, rock is a terrain left relatively untended.

Those who are invested in the development of the rock genre are, however, not to be trifled with--and the Heartless Bastards are often lumped in among them. Their first studio albums were produced by Fat Possum Records, the same label as fellow Ohioans The Black Keys, to whom they are often compared. Rolling Stone is fond of linking the band with Spoon and the White Stripes as well as some of the top rock acts of the past decade.

Despite hailing from Ohio, the rambling pace of their tunes suggest the Great Wide West--songs that don't even attempt to hover around the industry benchmark of two to three-and-a-half minutes. I first heard them at Lollapalooza in 2009. And their second of four studio albums, All This Time (2006), was the soundtrack to the rest of that year. This year at Lollapalooza, there are no major garage, blues, or professedly rock acts, so Heartless Bastards seem to be tasked in filling a large gap mid-festival in late Saturday afternoon leading up to two experimental hip-hop/rap groups. A tall order indeed.

The Bastards most recent release is last year's Arrow (2012), which attempts to capitalize on their western prairie aesthetic. And it is lovely, if a bit over-produced--but that's the trend these days. For this album I recommend "Skin and Bone" and "Parted Ways."

However, it is 2006's All This Time to which I continually return as a touchstone of their particular sound. If you are new to the band, start with "All This Time" and then "Searching for Ghosts." In the first, the driving warm guitar lines are fat and catchy as Wennerstrom lopes through a melodic lines. Her enunciation of "I love you so much baby" is snark and barely timbered with a blues growl that she never lets get the better of her. "Searching for Ghosts," on the other hand, is plaintive and companionate, strung with close harmonies shared between band mates. The deceptively simple guitar line sucks you in and then suddenly gains a grizzled texture at the bridge. Unlike the blues-rock tradition, these songs don't take heartbreak as a theme, but are rather appeals to hearts full of wanderlust. Nevertheless, they will break your heart.

Prepare for Heartless Bastard's 6pm set on Saturday, August 3rd, at the Grove stage by checking out their music, available from iTunes and streaming on Spotify.

--Elizabeth Tavares

Brick + Mortar: "Heatstroke"

Soon after I moved to the Chicago area in 2005, I saw my first concert in the city--the ska punk Mad Caddies and the reggae rock band Pepper at the House of Blues--crushed against the front of the mosh pit with my good friend Elizabeth Tavares by my side. We were besties before that, but since that moment she's been my favorite concert buddy (outside of my mother). Liz has introduced me to some of my favorite bands (oh hey Black Keys), and this year will be our third Lollapalooza together. I've been wanting her to write for Daijams for a long time, and I am thrilled today to present Liz's debut Daijams review, in which she tackles indie duo Brick + Mortar!

 

Brick + Mortar

There is something about duos that is hard to describe. Perhaps it is the insularity of teamwork contained to a couple, or the kind of tight partnership that a pair necessitates. Mehldau and Metheny. Abbott and Costello. Brooks and Dunn. Duos present opportunities for technical exploration not available to soloists, but between the two of you there isn't exactly a safety net. Perhaps it is this kind of edge that explains the increase in duo acts in the electronica and house dance scene in the last two decades. Jus+ice just dropped a new live album. The Postal Service released a remaster of their greatest hits this year. France is going to implode if Daft Punk doesn't drop Random Access Memories, like, yesterday. I would like to submit to the list a duo primed for the kind of national exposure only a festival like Lollapalooza provides: Brick + Mortar.

   

Brick + Mortar are a predominantly tri-state deal, noted for their high-energy live shows in the region despite the small discography consisting of a trim five-track album and two three-track EPs, all released with the independent label Anchor and Hope Music. After releasing the EP Heatstroke (2011), the act was featured in a number of magazines including Vice, given the special treatment by NPR's All Songs Considered, and invited to participate in the 2012 SXSW "House of Creatives" showcase.

While often described as an "indie rock drum and bass duo," it is hard to group the refined electronic stylings of Brandon Asraf (bass, vocals) and John Tacon (drums, samples, vocals) with the grit of something similarly structured, like The Black Keys--a frequent Lollapalooza participant. I'm a bit surprised, in fact, that Brick + Mortar wasn't scheduled to play at Perry's--the stage under the trees catering to DJ, electronica, and dance acts--but I would bet that organizers imagine that the duo's jazz improvisational techniques will be able to draw a larger crowd to the two o'clock BMI stage slot relatively early on Friday, the first day of the festival.

While the tracks from 7 Years in the Mystic Room (2010) are engaging, the three out of Heatstroke (2012) are what I am looking forward to. I recommend starting with "Move To The Ocean." It opens with a clatter of drums built from a simple kit that replicates out-of-studio rhythm recordings that were all the rage in the early '00s. The bass is more reverb and fuzz than actual pitch, giving you the sense that you are already pressing up to the edge of what your ears can take. Add interstitial vocal textures and then a sweetly affected vocal line to create some contrast against the crush of the rhythm section. But the cleverest piece is a sour synthesizer line that trades time with these other two elements to craft this packed brief and biting track. This kind of instrumental complexity makes the EP ideal to run on repeat. "For Yellow Walls" adds speed to the mix to put their technical chops on display. But the sweetheart of the album is the title track. While the two tracks listed above are about texture and proficiency--elements I tend to privilege in my own listening--"Heatstroke" is a brilliant piece of songwriting. The album version is great, but I strongly recommend starting with the acoustic version included here, as it nicely exposes the duo's tight harmonies and finesse with the simplest of tools.

   

Prepare for Brick + Mortar's 2:10pm set on Friday, August 2nd, at the BMI stage by checking out their music, available from Bandcamp and streaming on Spotify.

-- Elizabeth Tavares

Band of Horses: "The Funeral"

Confession: I watch "American Idol"... when it's on... when I'm on the elliptical at the gym and my other options are Fox News and a blowout Twins-Red Sox game.

But from what I've seen, this has been a great season. Incredible vocals, honest commentary from a talented performer (Urban) and more manufactured girl-on-girl drama than I can handle. But I like it for the same reason I plan to love the sixth installment of the "Fast and Furious" franchise: These guys have been around long enough fine-tuning their product that by now they're the absolute best at it.

F&F WILL have the greatest car-action sequences of the summer. Guarantee it. Their stunts have been getting bigger, badder, and Vin Dieselier each go-around. Yes, there's a fair bit of CGI, but the things they do with hydraulics, sheet metal and explosives are mind-boggling. We've come a long way since slammed Honda Civics sneaking between the axles of a big rig.

And AI? They've toyed with endless combinations of judges and had years of mediocre talent. How many winners have really done anything with their careers besides early winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood? And don't say Clay Aiken doing a cameo on that one episode of "Scrubs".

This year they have talent. Too much of it. They know it; the judges have commented since the top ten that most of the group could've won previous years. And now they have judges that recognize and genuinely encourage the talent. Sorry, Mariah, I'm not talking about you and your aimless, self-promoting diatribes. I'm talking about the pithy and often truth bomb-riddled comments from Nicki and Keith.

After top-three finalist Kree Harrison performed Rascal Flatts' "Here Comes Goodbye" on Wednesday night's show, Keith gave her a beautiful response. He thanked her for the performance.



It was such a charged series of moments. Just before the song, everyone had watched a video of Kree returning to her home in Texas and opening up about losing both her parents by the age of 12. Obviously that particular performance for her was bittersweet. And she laid it bare in the song. That's what truly talented musicians do, and Keith connected with the action in a visceral way. That was some good TV.

Music can connect us. Down to the basest part of our being. Sometimes we connect with music we never expected to. So (finally!) enter Band of Horses, a set of Charleston, SC-based alt-folk-rockers lead by appropriately for the Pacific Northwest-bearded and tattooed Ben Bridwell (hails from Seattle). Some might find Ben's voice shaky or thin at times, though his multi-layered compositions (including organ-synth!) are good for plenty of sonic swells to headbang/aggressively shoegaze to.

BOH has been around, in one form or another, since 2004, and by now has four full-length studio albums to its name, including the Grammy-nominated Infinite Arms (2010). But 2005's Everything All The Time included the breakout single "The Funeral", a slow-burning anthem that alternates between delicate electric picking and crooning, and Coldplay-esque blasts of blended sound.

After getting plenty of mixed-media attention in commercials and TV shows, "The Funeral" became a pretty well-known piece of BOH repertoire. Which generally makes me not want to like it. But dammit that is one lovely track. It's catchy and melodic, and bittersweetly profound to boot. (Sample lyric: "At every occasion, I'll be ready for the funeral.")

It just bridges that gap between brains through the airspace. It connects. It embeds. It runs through. It rocks. It ends. Enjoy the full set and wait for it, or skip ahead to 34:30 to catch it immediately. These guys play Lolla on Friday. Enjoy, and take comfort in the fact Ms Carey isn't coming back to AI*.



*Love you, MC, truly, but maybe focus a little more time on being a mom at this point.



  

Imagine Dragons: "Radioactive"

We love bands with a little mystery, right? We love to get to know bands, but still be left wanting for the whole truth -- just to keep things interesting. Fortunately for the fairly straight forward Las Vegas-based indie rockers Imagine Dragons, they retain a little mystery.

Apparently, their name is an anagram. THAT ONLY THEY KNOW FOR WHAT. How mysterious is that? We love.

I puzzled for whole minutes and could only come up with A RANDOM SIEGING. Maybe I’ll try a few more before emailing the band my attempts at cracking the code.

But other than that, I’m going to once again trot out the “not entirely remarkable” moniker. Don’t get me wrong, these guys are solid. Their Killers- and Strokes-esque brand of supercharged pop-alt-rock with heavily layered guitar riffs and smashing drums is catchy, captivating, and highly replayable.

And in this video’s live setting, they haul out a massive drum -- look out, Boiler band! -- so they have that going for them.

Their rise to fame seems unsettlingly quick: The first two members, Dan Reynolds and Wayne Sermon, only met in 2008. A few years, additional band members, and EPs later, they inked a deal with veritable record label Interscope in fall 2011.

OK, so maybe that is a bit remarkable. And certainly the great speed with which their discography and music videos gained widespread popularity is commendable; either they have a kickass manager or the media and public believe they’re just that good.

I’m going with a combination of both. Decide for yourselves when you see them bang that drum on Friday of Lolla. Maybe they’ll even give out a clue to their anagram.

(P.S. Here's a bonus video of violinist Lindsey Stirling and haht vocal rock group Pentatonix doing a cover of "Radioactive.")

HAIM: "Falling"

Welcome back the magnificent Rachel Aguiar, music lover and writer extraordinaire, as she profiles LA sister trio HAIM.

Este, Danielle, and Alana Haim

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear "family band"? The Brady Bunch? Donny and Marie? Hanson? The Jonas Brothers? An innate cheesiness? HAIM, a trio of sisters from Los Angeles, has no trouble moving past this stigma. And as it turns out, harmonizing is that much easier when you’re related (just listen to the a cappella start to the song “Better Off”).

Slightly reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac, HAIM (rhymes with time) does an excellent job capturing a kind of west coast breeziness in each of their songs. I first discovered the band in the middle of the winter in Chicago, yet every time I listened to their music, in my mind I was driving down the coast of California in a convertible with the top down.

Despite forming the group more than five years ago, HAIM has only recently found mainstream success, especially after their EP debut at SXSW in 2012. Every single they release garners more attention than the last. Their latest single, “Falling,” definitely continues along this path, complete with funky bass lines, hand clapping, and soaring vocal hooks.

Recently, HAIM also collaborated on Kid Cudi’s new album, Indicud, creating one of the most critically acclaimed songs on the album, “Red Eye.” It was great to see how well HAIM’s bubbly and upbeat sound complemented Kid Cudi’s rawness. Here’s hoping to see more HAIM collaborations in the future.

So what should you expect from HAIM at Lollapalooza? You can expect a perfect show for lounging in a grassy field on a sunny day. That thought alone is what’s getting me through this rainy April. See you there!

-- Rachel Aguiar

Thievery Corporation

The DJ introducing this set sums it up well: Thievery Corporation is a gypsy carnival, an amalgamation of whatever instruments, vocals, and ambient sounds the acid jazz-loving band members bring to the table.

If you're familiar with the 2004 "Garden State" soundtrack, then you've probably been entranced by Thievery Corporation's best-known song, "Lebanese Blonde," which was featured in the movie. In today's featured performance, that song (which was originally released as a single in 1998) is second on the setlist, beginning around 6:20 with the recognizable sitar riff. Most all their songs give the same flavor as the hashish-praising "Lebanese Blonde" -- a bass groove,  meaty and echo-y female vocals, and relaxed drum beats with elements of dub, bossa, and Middle Eastern. This is music to sit on the side of the hill and groove to, as they've proved with a few past Lolla performances, including the Brazil festival in 2012. Clearly, Perry Ferrall is a fan:

Catch them at Lollapalooza 2013 on Friday, August 2.

Frightened Rabbit

Sometimes, it’s the shyest among us that have the most to say.

This was true in the case of Scott Hutchison, a guitarist and singer from Selkirk, Scotland. (Fun fact: William Wallace was named Scotland’s defender here!) Growing up, Hutchison was so fearful of human interaction his own mum dubbed him a “frightened rabbit.” His own mum.

Think they give many “participation trophies” in Scotch country? Not so much. Fortunately, the wee kit grew up to become a (albeit visually) well-adjusted adult who sings, plays, and interacts with the audience quite naturally.

The nickname, however, stuck around, as Hutchison used it as a stage moniker for his solo performances starting in 2003. He was later joined by his brother Grant (drums) and another guitarist by the name of Billy Kennedy. Today Frightened Rabbit tops out with five members.

Hutchisons and co. put out their first record, Sing the Greys, in 2006, and followed it up with The Midnight Organ Fight in 2008, The Winter of Mixed Drinks in 2010, A Frightened Rabbit EP in 2011, State Hospital (an EP) in 2012 and, most recently, Pedestrian Verse in February this year. Not quite as prolific as their furry namesake, but still pretty impressive.

Aside from having some really fantastic album titles, Rabbit’s music is heartfelt and catchy folk-pop, though not entirely remarkable. Some of the potential vigor might be absent from this particular performance, as Scott announces early on it was meant to be an “off day”, with a dream performance scheduled the following day at San Francisco’s historic Fillmore venue.

But at heart these guys aren’t head-banging material. Nor do they need to be. There’s enough aural variety -- mixed guitar riffs, lively keyboards, cosy harmonies, sentimental and Scottish accent-delivered lyrics -- to keep your ears entertained. After half a dozen albums, they’re comfortable in their own pelt.

The songs have a range of depth, and are at their most powerful when more driving, layered, and repetitive -- similar to the work of their countrymen The Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks. Comparatively, they may demonstrate a slightly wider sound palette, floating about among the realms of light, dark, heavy, and airy. Does that make them better?

Not necessarily.

But we all have biases. Grab yourself some mates, a couple pints, throw on all three, and decide for yourselves. Just make sure you get an opinion from the shy one.

NOTE: These guys hit Lolla on Friday, August 2.

Nine Inch Nails: Live at Woodstock 1994

Now I remember why it's so difficult to keep a daily blog. An hour of musical lovin' is difficult to find some days.

But the artists of Lollapalooza are varied, interesting, and weird enough to capture our attention amidst the noise of life's busyness. See: Nine Inch Nails at 1994 Woodstock, so covered in mud that they look like zombies. Zombies playing industrial rock. Rock. On.

My friend Laura said that NIN got her through high school, and I can understand why. The band is loud, unapologetic, loud, expletive-ridden, and loud. You can't possibly have a sad thought while enduring the overwhelming force of NIN's sound.

The band, which officially consists of frontman Trent Reznor and whoever he chooses to play with after a given album, played the very first Lolla in 1991. In fact, the '90s were NIN's heyday, with two Grammys and a nod from Time and Spin magazines to the influence of Reznor (as Reznor has succinctly written on the NIN Wikipedia page). (Oh come on, you can totally tell he wrote it.)

After a philosophical difference with the recording industry, NIN began releasing music through Creative Commons in 2008, and they seemed to dip below the radar. The band went on official hiatus in 2009, but Reznor began rumbling about getting the band back together in 2012. This year's Lolla will kick off NIN's fall festival tour, with dates in San Francisco, Philly, New Orleans, and Paris, among others. And Reznor has said he's working on new material; perhaps we'll see some in Grant Park.

Besides Reznor, the current NIN line-up includes Eric Avery of Jane's Addiction, Adrian Belew of King Crimson, and Josh Eustis of Telefon Tel Aviv, along with Alessandro Cortini and Ilan Rubin, who joined NIN for the band's 2008 album releases.

Let's hope it rains the first day of Lolla, because they'll be playing on Friday night and I want to see Zombie Reznor in all his glory.

Zombie Trent Reznor

YAWN: "Kind of Guy"

De-globalization is the new black: Eat local, drink local, ride local. How about listen local? Enter YAWN, the first hometown heroes to appear in this Lolla prep post-a-ganza. These relative newcomers stomp the ground around Wicker Park, so they won’t have to travel quite so far to make their Sunday spot at the festival.

The YAWN yarn has the group’s origins dating back to 2007, though things didn’t really get yawning until 2010, when they released a self-titled, five-track EP and blew the doors off a showcase at Austin’s South by Southwest festival in 2010.

This successful doors-blowing landed them exposure in Pitchfork, NME and other fine musical word-spreading media. They proceeded to issue EPs Open Season in 2011 and Happy Tears (available for free on their website!) in 2012. They were yawn their way.

But yawn just a minute; what about the Yawn sound? Theirs is a pop potpourri, a veritable endless stream of “Man, that reminds me of” propelled by close resemblance to the multi-layered and sample-laden electronic stylings of Yeasayer, Brian Eno, Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, etc etc. And that's not a bad thing.

Someyawn, they do emerge from the proverbial pile, however. There’s a lightness, a playfulness, an uber-rhythmic yawnness to their tracks that sets them apart. Clearly, the quality is difficult to nail down.

But what also stands out is the wide variety of sounds they produce across their brief discography. They’re experimenting, changing, evolving -- enough to keep things interesting, not so much as to confuse the listener. They’re being, dare I yawn it, artistic.

One explanation for their diversity is -- homer alert! -- the Chicago climate. In an interview with online music journal Pop’stache, the guys joke that the abrupt and drastic seasonal changes in the City that Works inspire them to follow suit in their music-making. Yawn!

Unknown Mortal Orchestra: "Ffunny Ffriends"

Unknown Mortal Orchestra comes from the psych rock genre of wandering guitar, simple structures, and groovy drum beats. They released a self-titled debut in June 2011 and a sophomore album, fittingly titled II, this past February. They created some buzz at this year's SXSW, and they're
currently on a worldwide tour that will take them through Chicago as well as Paris, Liverpool, New York, Akron, and Des Moines. (Party in Des Moines!)

But as with Bob Dylan, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, and a number of other artists, you probably either love or hate the voice of lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Ruban Nielson. Live, he sounds like this:

And with effects, he sounds like this:

I'll be honest: I like Unknown Mortal Orchestra better with the effects than without, but maybe that's okay -- they are a psych rock band, after all, so that's half the point. Nielson's high-pitched, raspy voice has an odd timbre that sounds strained without the echo-y, lo-fi sound effects. Bassist Jake Portrait and drummer Riley Geare round out the trio and provide a solid rhythm section to cradle Nielson's distinct, guitar-led melodies and frazzled, just-trying-to-cope-with-life lyrics, which are both endearing and impactful. And I'm always a sucker for a Kiwi accent. Check them out on Saturday of Lolla.

Alt-J (∆): "Fitzpleasure"

Please welcome the magnificent Rachel Aguiar, music lover and writer extraordinaire, as she profiles British rock band Alt-J, who perform Sunday of Lolla.

Alt-J

Every once and a while, you’ll listen to an album that you fall in love with from the very first listen. Alt-J’s An Awesome Wave was not one of these albums for me. The first time I heard the Cambridge-based band’s album, I couldn’t tell if I loved it or hated it — it was a completely unfamiliar experience. Uncertainty about the album soon developed into straight-up obsession. The band utilizes a vast range of styles and instruments that may seem haphazardly thrown in at first, but ultimately come together. Listeners will find themselves transfixed by the erratic and warbly voice of lead singer, Joe Newman. As I introduced Alt-J (named for the keystrokes needed to create a ∆ on a Mac) to as many friends as possible, I found it increasingly challenging to describe the band.

Many have called Alt-J “the new Radiohead.” In their review, Pitchfork wisely moved beyond this too-simple description and tried to distill the essence of Alt-J’s sound: “The notion of a male vocal that’s halfway between Macy Gray and a goose gibbering over beats discarded from Eskimo Snow-era WHY? is certainly a complex notion. Sometimes they sound like Bombay Bicycle Club playing in a submarine.”

The review goes on to discuss how the lyrics don’t seem to make any sense. This definitely felt like the case upon the first few listens. However, later I found that the lyrics in each song have huge significance, and it was rather startling when I finally made the connection.

The song “Fitzpleasure” is seemingly filled with lyrics that make no sense – “Tra-la-la, in your snatch fits pleasure, broom-shaped pleasure.” The entire song is actually inspired by a rather nasty scene in Hubert Selby Jr.’s novel Last Exit to Brooklyn, which involves a prostitute named Tralala, a group of men, and a broom.

Additionally, the song “Matilda” is actually homage to the climax of one of my favorite films, “Léon.” One of the catchiest songs on the album, “Breezeblocks,” references Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. Finally, “Taro” tells the love story between two war photographers, Robert Capa and Gerda Taro, specifically capturing Capa’s last moments before and after he steps on a landmine.

Fans of the album will find themselves transfixed by the stories of the songs as well as the sweeping, experimental sound. I’ll be honest: While some of the friends I introduced to Alt-J have become mega-fans, others were not so impressed. Ultimately, I highly recommend giving An Awesome Wave a few listens before deciding whether or not to catch them at Lollapalooza.

-- Rachel Aguiar

Mumford & Sons: Live at Glastonbury

Saturday's Lolla headliners hardly need an introduction, as they've taken the American music scene by storm since dropping their debut album, Sigh No More, in early 2010. Prior to that, Mumford & Sons had already developed a fan following in their home of England and neighboring Ireland. But as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Amy Winehouse, the Kinks, the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, and dozens of other magnanimous British artists have proven, to make it in the U.S. is to hit the jackpot. Maybe it's because we spend more than $300 million a year on costumes for our pets, or maybe it's because we're the world connoisseurs of music. No one can be sure.

Anyway, the U.S. word-of-mouth machine began rumbling about this quartet of stunningly talented Brits in mid-2010, but we really took notice when they nabbed two Grammy nominations in December 2010. The attention garnered from their live performance of "The Cave" at the Grammy ceremony in February 2011 doubled their album sales, and a few months later Mumford & Sons headlined at Glastonbury, giving us today's hour-long, full-concert jam. They charmingly insert a few "new" (at the time) songs, tracks like "Lovers' Eyes" and "Below My Feet" that became the lynchpins of their sophomore album, Babel, released more worldwide more than a year later, in September 2012. This time they won the Grammy, nabbing "Album of the Year" this past February and killing the competition with an unapologetically emotional and lively performance of the lead track, "I Will Wait," a video of which is sadly absent from YouTube (darn you, copyright).

You've got to love a band that has fun on stage.

I was somewhat distressed to learn, while researching this post, that frontman Marcus Mumford was born in 1987, making him the same age as me. Cue "what am I doing with my life?" moment, to be superseded by "fuck yeah, my generation!" This band is one of the most entrancing rock bands performing today, and their show will be a major highlight of Lollapalooza. Their music is ardent, poetic, danceable, and instrumentally complex thanks to each members' expertise on a range of elements and willingness to go balls-to-the-walls on four-part harmonies. The effect is chilling.

I'm so excited, I'm giving you TWO full-length concerts in today's post. This is a Daijams first. Check 'em out in front of an American audience. Their charm, grace, and genuine thankfulness is ingratiating.

The Court Yard Hounds: "Skyline"

 

Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, a.k.a. the Court Yard Hounds

I was a latecomer to country music. In fact, I still haven't truly come around. My boyfriend practically grew up wearing cowboy boots and line dancing, so I'm making an effort, and I've found a lot to like: lovely harmonies, sweet acoustic guitar mixed with melodic violin, lots of blond hair. I speak, of course, of the Court Yard Hounds.

This country duo just released their debut in 2010, but they're no newcomers to the music scene. Sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison are two-thirds of the Dixie Chicks, a group they started together in 1989. They hit paydirt in the mid-'90s, when lead singer Natalie Maines joined up and helped them earn 10 CMA Awards and 13 Grammy Awards between 1998 and 2007. The group has been on hiatus since 2008, so the sisters embarked on this side project.

Maguire and Robison's pedigree and polish is obvious in their performance. They've both primarily been instrumentalists with the Dixie Chicks, playing everything from guitar to fiddle to banjo to mandolin to accordion. But with the Court Yard Hounds, Robison takes the lead on vocals, and her self-penned and personal lyrics weave through warm guitar and violin sounds, reaching climax when Maguire chimes in with tight, shiver-inducing harmonies. This is easy listening, much like the Dixie Chicks' corpus, but it's sans Natalie Maines' bold stage presence and that thing that country singers do with their voice sometimes, where they flip the end of a word to the back of their throat. (Can someone tell me the technical term for that? Check out what I mean with this 2002 DC performance. Listen to Maines' third word, "know.")

The Court Yard Hounds will release their sophomore album this summer, so you'll want to pick that up because they'll probably play it top to bottom during their set on Saturday of Lolla.

Maines is also keeping busy, with her first solo album, Mother, set to drop on May 7. But never fear, Dixie Chicks fans: The three firmly insist that their reign is not over. In the meantime, the mellow music of the Court Yard Hounds will sate the country-minded among you. I wonder if you can line dance to it.

Ben Howard: "Black Flies"

In choosing to write about the increasingly famous British singer-songwriter Ben Howard, I was suddenly awash with a sense of deja vu. Have I penned on this talented young man before? Indeed, I have.

But that’s ok. Surely there are more than a few ways to describe his art. More performances of his to bless this blog with.

For those too lazy to follow the above link or flit off to the Wiki monster, Mr. Howard is a scrappy youngster (25 -- I have a birthday this Saturday and yes, that’s young) hailing from Devon, U.K. His heartfelt brand of indie-folk acousti-rock fits right in with the wave of outdoorsy, unshaven, kale-munching hipster-nip (Mumford & Sons, Wilco, Fleet Foxes, resurgence of DMB, etc.) continuing to sweep the planet. And that’s a good thing.

Since his last feature in this space, Ben’s released a full-length studio album called Every Kingdom that coincided with a breakout performance at the 2012 South By Southwest festival in Austin, TX. Oh, and it helped land him a PAIR of highly coveted 2013 BRIT awards: British Breakthrough Act and British Male Solo Artist. Not too shabbs.

His performance of “Black Flies” at last year’s Dutch uber-rock festival Lowlands (seriously, people will give up their entire vacantiegeld to attend this multi-day extravaganza) is a bit of a departure for him. He generally doesn’t do much with electronically boosted sound: At a sold out show in Amsterdam’s famed Paradiso venue last year, his mostly mellow and intimately engaging songbook almost didn't fit the cavernous space.

You can see/hear that for the first half minutes of “Black Flies.” And then the switch flips. The dark switch. The gut-wrenching, head-bowing, tear-jerking dark vivid emotion switch that belies something truly grim and burning going on deep inside. Here it is laid bare: raw and white hot.

Ben is such a sentimental performer, singer and lyricist that you knew that dark switch was there all along. Frankly, I think it suits him, and I wouldn’t mind seeing a little more of it in his music. But it's early in his career, and for now, I’ll take what I can get.

Not convinced his inky depths are for real? Check out this sick, sad-times cover of one of the brightest pop gems of the last decade:

Beast Patrol: "Plaster"

You can't make it in rock music without a badass, low-angle promo shot.

At Lollapalooza, there is no scraping the bottom of the barrel. If you like female-led alt-rock groups like Metric, Tegan & Sara, and Blondie, put a check-mark next to the Saturday performance of the 2013 line-up's last-billed artist*, Beast Patrol, and read on.

Two-year-old Beast Patrol is an alt-rock trio from Brooklyn that came together after taking part in "a revolutionary show powered by bicycles, called Natural Ass." Vocalist/guitarist Vanessa Bley and bassist Anthony Marchesi were already living together at the time, but it seems the moment they met drummer Robert Granata, the stars aligned over the cycling-frenzied tushes. (It was a party intended to promote the use of bicycling as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. The entire show was powered by audience members riding 18 bicycles. It's a pretty awesome idea, and very New York.)

Vanessa was playing the show with her self-titled band, whose EP carried her name:

And Marchesi and Granata jumped right in to promote that album with her. The trio soon decided to form under a new name, and Beast Patrol was born. This past September they released the first EP under the band's name, titled Fierce & Grateful. And the four-song EP sounds just as its title suggests—eager but graceful, thoughtful, and rocking. They band has described their vibe as a "cocktail of all our favorite bands: '90s rock, '70s funk, '80s beat, '60s drugs, etc."

Check out the EP's intoxicating single, "Plaster," of which Bley said to Rolling Stone: "'Plaster' came so quickly when I wrote it. Total explosion. I actually hated it at first because it was so personal, but over time the lyrics applied to more and more...We all fall apart and try to clean it up. It’s important to step outside yourself and try to get in. Keep the beast in check." Sounds like a mission statement.

Stream the full Fierce and Grateful EP and download it for free here.

*In reality, the bottom half of the line-up has no official order of importance. But isn't this a fun gimmick?

The Cure: Live at Reading Festival 2012

If you're unfamiliar with one of the world's original goth rock bands, also known as one of the world's most successful and influential alternative rock bands, here's the quick and dirty version: The Cure was formed in England in the 1970s. Of the original line-up, only frontman Robert Smith remains, and his gloomy song lyrics and echo-y vocals have come to define the band's sound, though he wasn't originally slated to be the lead vocalist. The band's best-known songs, "Boys Don't Cry," "Friday I'm in Love," "Lovesong," "Just Like Heaven," and a few others have received extensive radio play over the years, with the latter three reaching the Billboard Top 100 in the 1980s and 90s.

The Cure has never played Lollapalooza, which may explain why people are freaking out about it. Above, check out their full performance at England's Reading Festival last August along with Lolla 2011 headliners the Foo Fighters.

Which brings me to my point: I'm super excited to see The Cure. They are going to be awesome. But Lollapalooza was founded to give smaller, unknown bands the limelight, even if just for 43 minutes on the Kidz Stage. While you should totally go to Lollapalooza and see artists like The Cure or Nine Inch Nails (who were on the original Lolla lineup in 1991), you shouldn't go JUST to see The Cure or Nine Inch Nails. Tomorrow I will profile the very last name on the 2013 Lolla playbill, Beast Patrol, a Brooklyn outfit that formed in 2011 and has released one self-titled EP to date. Maybe someday, after releasing 13 studio albums and establishing a worldwide fanbase, they'll return to headline Lolla again. Maybe not. But this festival is about them, and the other 100 bands you probably don't know much about.

But omg totally go see The Cure on Sunday night because they're going to be SO AWESOME.

Lolla 2013 Lineup Posted

Greetings music fans! As Chicago emerges from winter hibernation, the Lolla organizers have bestowed something to carry us through the petulantly late-arriving spring: the 2013 lineup! [insert excited squealing noises]

Over the next 123 days, look to this independent, lovingly written blog for the low-down on every single one of the bands, rappers, DJs, singer-songwriters, and oddities playing Grant Park on August 2, 3, & 4, from headliners The Cure and Phoenix (Sunday), Mumford & Sons and The Postal Service (Saturday), and The Killers and Nine Inch Nails (Friday) to the local bands and "we're just lucky to be here" outfits that fill out the festival's 125-artist roster.

Three-day passes are already sold out (though a number are always available from Craigslist, scalpers, and radio giveaways). Single-day passes go on sale this Wednesday, April 3, at lollapalooza.com.

To whet your whistle, check out this year's teaser video: