So with the Pitchfork Music Festival 2012 edition gearing up this coming November (1st, 2nd and 3rd), we thought we’d get you into the swing of things and offer you a teaser of each band on the bill and maybe help you decide what to give a go, and what to give a pass for your beer pitstops, mustache touch ups and merch table grazings…. We finish with the Saturday (day 3) Line-up :
Grizzly Bear – Knife [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/13-Knife.mp3]
Grizzly Bear is an indie/folk rock band from Brooklyn, New York. Their music uses melody and ambiance in conjunction with hazy-eyed choruses, whistles, piano, banjo, and several woodwind instruments. Grizzly Bear was originally the solo project of Edward Droste (vocals/guitar), who recorded his debut album Horn Of Plenty at home. The record was originally meant for his friends, but it eventually circulated and got a proper release in 2004, this time with the help of Christopher Bear(drums/vocals). A re-release with a bonus disc of remixes was issued in 2005.
Simian Mobile Disco – Cerulean [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/02-Cerulean.mp3]
A London, UK production & remix team. Formed from the ashes of Simian in 2005 its members are James Ford and Jas Shaw. In addition to his work with Simian Mobile Disco, James Ford is a producer and has worked for bands such as the Arctic Monkeys, Peaches and Klaxons. Simian Mobile Disco was originally formed as a traveling DJ duet, playing on the side of their early four-piece band Simian. They ultimately released a number of low profile singles, such as “The Count” on Kitsuné Music, but arguably gained more fame for their remixes of artists such as Muse, Klaxons, The Go! Team, Air and others. In 2006, Kitsuné released SMD’s underground hit “Hustler”, which features a vocal performance from New York singer Char Johnson.
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinasaurs – Household Goods [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/04-Household-Goods.mp3]
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs is Orlando Higginbottom from Oxford, UK. Originally hailing from the Greco-Roman stable, his debut EP release was “All In One Sixty Dancehalls EP” (2009,Greco-Roman). Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs swings between overt musicality and scarily on-point dance floor intuition, ripping up gigs around the globe with his live show of bizarre instruments, glitter cannons and of course… dancing dinosaurs. Having completed successful tours across America, Europe and a recent sold-out run of headline dates across the UK, as well as featuring at every notable summer festival for the past two years, TEED will release his debut album this June 2012.
Breton – Governing Correctly [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/06-Governing-Correctly1.mp3]
Breton began life in a warehouse somewhere in South East London. Born from the creative force of musicians and filmmakers Roman Rappak and Adam Ainger and expanded recently into a multi-instrumental and visual collective with the inclusion of Ian Patterson and Daniel McIlvenny. This year, the very limited and quickly snapped-up EP Practical floated between “eerie and carnival-esque. Combining elements of math-rock, post-rock, straight-up Electro and even tropical” – Abeano.com. The second E.P. in the trilogy, entitled Sharing Notes, follows on Monday 5th July. The physical copy of this E.P. will come mounted on a hand-made circuit board with a list of components and directions which, when followed, creates a fully working synth.
Liars – Brats [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/10-Brats.mp3]
Liars is a three-piece band formed in 2000 consisting of Australian-born Angus Andrew (vocals/guitar), Aaron Hemphill (percussion, guitar, synth), and Julian Gross (drums). Although initially lumped into the New York dance-punk scene of the early 21st century, they have come to be categorized by their dramatic stylistic shifts between albums, while retaining a consistent interest in rhythm and sound texture. Liars are one of the many contemporary bands to draw from the late 1970’s British post-punk movement.
Twin Shadow – Five Seconds [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Five-Seconds.mp3]
Twin Shadow is the stage name of American musician George Lewis Jr. was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Florida, before eventually relocating to Brooklyn and adopting the Twin Shadow moniker. In 2010 he released his debut album Forget, produced by Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear. The album has been described as “steeped in 1980s new wave”, “building from streaks of haunting synth textures” and “hazily new wave-tinged pop”. Twin Shadow was the Rolling Stone ‘Band of the Week’ on October 7, 2010.
Disclosure – Latch ft. Sam Smith [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Latch-ft.-Sam-Smith.mp3]
Two brothers from the UK making house/future music. Debut single out on Moshi-Moshi Records in september 2010, the duo have released a 4 track EP on transparent records which they gave away for free via their facebook page (facebook.com/disclosureuk) and have recently announced a new single ‘Tenderly/Flow’.
Cloud Nothings – Hey Cool Kid [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Hey-Cool-Kid.mp3]
Cloud Nothings is an indie rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. Dylan Baldi started Cloud Nothings as a way to amuse himself between classes at Case Western Reserve University in 2009. The first batch of Cloud Nothings songs, including the blogosphere favorite “Hey Cool Kid” (available on the 2010 compilation “Turning On”), was recorded on a computer in the basement of Baldi’s home in Westlake, OH. A concert promoter who invited Cloud Nothings to play a gig in New York City in December 2009 prompted Baldi to hastily assemble a real band and drop out of college to focus on his music full-time.Baldi recorded the second Cloud Nothings album (2010’s Self Titled) in Baltimore with producer Chester Gwazda.The Cloud Nothings third album, Attack On Memory, was released in January 2012. It was the first album in 2012 to receive “Best New Music” status on Pitchfork.com.
Purity Ring – Obedear [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Obedear.mp3]
Megan James and Corin Roddick formed Purity Ring in 2010. They both grew up in Edmonton, Alberta. James played piano and Roddick played drums prior to the band’s inception, but neither play them as a primary instrument for Purity Ring. During live shows, Roddick uses a custom built, tree-shaped instrument to drive both live sound and lighting. Additionally, during live appearances both wear clothes custom designed and sewn by James. The duo were originally two of several members of the band of GOBBLE GOBBLE (now Born Gold). While on tour with Gobble Gobble, Roddick began experimenting with rnb and hip hop beats. James was asked to sing on a track called “Ungirthed,” thus forming Purity Ring. The song was released in January 2011.
Julio Bashmore – Battle For Middle You [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/01-Battle-For-Middle-You.mp3]
Mathew Walker from Bristol,UK may have appeared to burst on to the scene in late 2009, but the lead up to the Julio Bashmore EP for Claude VonStroke’s highly influential Dirtybird label was essentially a lifetime in the making. Siphoning the tastes of his older brothers through hip-hop cassettes, Julio’s interest in electronic music began in earnest after hearing Daft Punk’s “Da Funk”, which was handily around the time that turntables arrived in the house via his elder sibling. There was something Julio warmed to in the typically French approach Daft Punk and Cassius took to house music composition, and his earliest vinyl purchases reflected this. Aged 14, a battered old PC and a copy of Reason became Julio’s very first ‘instruments.’ He later experimented with synthesizers and guitars, playing in bands for a brief period, but by the time he was old enough to experience club culture firsthand, Julio had made the realisation that DJing was the true vehicle in which to deliver his music.
Rustie – After Light [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/10-After-Light.mp3]
Rustie is electronic musician signed to Warp Records. He has also released recordings on Stuff Records, Hyperdub, Wireblock and various other labels. He released the EP Bad Science on Wireblock Records.
Death Grips – Get Got [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/1-02-Get-Got.mp3]
Death Grips are an experimental hip hop group formed in Sacramento, California in 2010. The group consists of Stefan Burnett aka MC Ride (vocals) and the production team Zach Hill and Andy Morin. Their live setup consists of Burnett on vocals, Morin on keyboards, and Hill on drums.
Isaac Delusion – Midnight Sun [audio:https://sodwee.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/01-Midnight-Sun.mp3]
First of all, Isaac Delusion is about two multidisciplinary artists continually exploring new musical landscapes. From deep to high pitches, L.’s distinctive voice allows him to find the right tone and keep his own identity with each new idea, as proven by his noted collaboration with Larcier on the track entitled ‘Sometimes I See’, which combines industrial techno and sweet folk. His imagination makes him a mysterious character, and his charisma totally transforms him on stage. His trips to Iceland and his love for American pop folk led him to compose with his friend J. ‘Midnight Sun’, their first record.
