The Chicagoist Guide to the Pitchfork Music Festival: Part Two

Tapes 'n Tapes – Tapes ‘n Tapes is the latest Blogger buzz band to spike to popularity and then deal with critical backlash almost within the same week. Personally we see nothing wrong with them, even if their sound does ultimately lead them to sound like tribute band paying homage to mid-‘90’s indie rock. We love mid-‘90’s indie rock! However, we may just slip over to the Biz 3 stage to see what this whole Jeff Parker and Nels Cline Quartet thing is all about. We loves Nels’ guitar work with Carla Buzolich (and think he may be the best thing about Wilco right now) so it should be a treat.

Danielson – Best known for his work in Danielson Famile, we’re guessing his inclusion in the fest fulfills the “Sufjan Stevens” requirement. By this we mean that Danielson constructs orch-pop in the same vein as Stevens (and we also mean Stevens actually appears on his last album.) His music should interact perfectly with the environment visually, since his tunes are filled with sunny melodies and an honest playfulness wll matched by a sunny Chicago summer’s day. Hopefully the accompanying heat won’t beat down anyone’s spirits since his songs are built to be enjoyed with a smile.

Jens Lekman – How do we describe this guy? Twee lounge? Bombastic orch-pop? If anyone on this bill defies description, it’s Jen Lekman. Here’s an idea of what the guy is about: Since he doesn’t really know anyone in Chicago he gave away his guest list spots to people who created a song using his own backing track through his website. We call that amusing altruism that gives an insight into the whimsical nature of his music.

The National – The National keep receiving critical accolades but success seems just out of their reach. Every time we’ve seen them in Chicago they seem to have some sort of run of bad luck. Whether it was the inattentive crowd at The Pontiac, the nonexistent crowd at Subterranean, or the back of the leaving crowd at their Schuba’s gig with Clap Your hands Say Blah; these guys just can’t seem to catch a break in Chicago. We predict this appearance will prove to be the turning point for them as an audience of 17,000 is exposed to their noireish tales and lush melodies.

Liars – While they have exhibited an uneven recording career, the Liars remain one of the most interesting bands out there. Their latest disc centered on percussive soundscapes and we expect their live show will be an extension of that. The groups latest output is a bit claustrophobic and scary .. and boy oh boy are we looking forward to seeing how it translates onstage.

Aesop Roc and /Mr. Lif – The lone hip-hop main stage act is a much anticipated of two swift minds gifted with dense verbal skills. The socially conscious rhymes should keep the heads in the audience while the beats are sure to keep the headz bobbing.

Mission of Burma – the fact that Mission Of Burma’s latest disc, Obliterati, is a) excellent and b) hits harder and heavier than just about any band on EITHER day’s bill, should do a good job of embarrassing all the whippersnappers sharing the stage with them. We usually are terrified when our favorite bands that got us through high school and college get back together and create new material, but this is one reunion we’re glad has thus far exhibited pretty strong legs.

Devendra Banhart – We have nothing against Devendra, we’re just not entirely sure why his hippie shtick is so beloved by the indie kids. If you feel like experiencing a flashback to 1967, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, by all means check him out. Personally we’re going to duck out and try to figure out just what Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche is doing in on the Biz 3 stage instead.

Yo La Tengo – At this point Yo La Tengo has been around so long they’re almost retro, huh? While we adore their tender albums – does that make them the Yacht Rock of the indie set – we really enjoy the fact that they kick it up live

Spoon – This is a toughie for us, since Diplo is over on the Biz 3 stage and we’ve never seen him spin before. Thus far, the man who provided MIA with her first distinctive beats seems incapable of doing wrong. And we’ve seen Spoon a bunch of times and in our experience their show is best suited by a smaller club atmosphere. At last year’s Lollapalooza they seemed a little flabbier than we had ever seen them before. However, when they are on, they are ON; as in awesome. So I think we’re going to have to flip a coin to decide which stage to see during this time slot since both options are just so tasty.

Os Mutantes – File this under the “Historic Appearance of the Ultra-Influential Band.” It’s okay if you don’t know what Os Mutantes sounds like; even though 98% of the crowd will name-check them, only about 12% has ever actually heard anything by them. However you have heard LOTS of stuff built off their admirers. All you need to know is that their Latin-rock fusion is delectable, and an appearance by the in the U.S.A. is rarer than an over-30 male fan of Liz Phair’s last two albums. One way to look cool is by telling people that their name translated to “The Mutants.” Okay, maybe you won’t look cool, but at least you’ll look like you have some idea what you’re talking about.

And with that we close down our preview of the Pitchfork Music Festival. We really do believe that it has the capacity to be even better than last year’s event -- and we liked that one an awful lot – so be sure to slather on the sun block, load up on water and prepare to be wowed.

The Chicagoist Guide to the Pitchfork Music Festival: Part One is here.