Pitchfork

So, it's here-- tonight begins the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival. For those of you who can't be there, we are going to be streaming video of most of the sets over at the Festival website. Sitting in front of your computer is a far cry from lounging in the sun at Union Park, of course, but you'll get to catch live video from Spoon, Animal Collective, Public Enemy, the Hold Steady, Spiritualized, and a ton more. Enjoy, thanks to everyone who will be coming out and to all the bands, and we hope that you can make it next year.

Video:> Live Stream of the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival

I haven't listened to much Jeff Hanson, but, as been noted before, the first thing you notice is his voice-- high-pitched, delicate, precise. After spending some time last year with those Bobb Trimble reissues, I sense an overlap there, or perhaps it's just the way that they both remind me of Big Star in "Give Me Another Chance" mode. In any event, this song, from his forthcoming third album Madam Owl on Kill Rock Stars, is nicely balanced and sweetly melodic, as he sings the tune atop a bed of plucked banjo, horns, and a stuttering drum beat.

MP3:> Jeff Hanson: "If Only I Knew"
[from Madam Owl; due 08/19/08 on Kill Rock Stars; available for pre-order now]

Photo by Gabriel Wheeler

On their last two full-lengths, the San Francisco-based instrumental outfit Tussle have had a tendency to explore one idea per track. They'd draw inspiration from a Can bassline, say, or maybe an ESG drum roll, and then take that groove as far as they could, working in some inversions and variations, before moving on to the next cut. This early offering from the band's third album, the forthcoming Cream Cuts, finds them integrating several aspects of their sound into a single track. Right off the bat the production is less dry and clean, the reverb on the various instruments bleeds into each other and the initial feel leans more toward rock. Halfway through, though, after a short interlude, the song lights out for a new direction, a sharp, dirty sort of funk, the bubbling bass and tom rolls underpinning some light organ jamming. Given the song's title, you might hear all the above with an image of Robert Mitchum in your head (no, not that one, this one), which, given the vaguely menacing vibe, works.

MP3:> Tussle: "Night of the Hunter"
[from Cream Cuts; due 08/26/08 on Smalltown Supersound]

Less is more.

MP3:> Hot Chip: "One Pure Thought (Supermayer Remix)"
[original track from Made in the Dark; out now on Astralwerks/DFA]

This'll make for a nice change, at least, when it gets discovered by the guy on your floor whose morning alarm is the guitar intro from the Beatles' "Revolution" blasting at arena-ready volume. As with Beat Happening's "Sleepy Head", Belle & Sebastian's "We Are the Sleepyheads", or most of the discography of 1990s U.S. twee-poppers Sleepyhead, there's really not much sleepy about "Sleepyhead", a genre-crossing jolt of euphoric energy set to appear as a bonus track on Boston five-piece Passion Pit's debut Chunk of Change EP. "Everything is going to the beat," a man mutters at the outset (the sped-up voice is Jack Kerouac's, from one of his spoken word albums), and a steady, wooden thump soon falls in beneath synthetic handclaps, gliding bass, and strobing, keyboard-like sounds.

"Sleepyhead" may not be sleepy, but it's decidedly dreamy, a glistening array of woozy textures that call to mind both the atmospheric twee-scapes of A Sunny Day in Glasgow and the ecstatic seaside fantasias of Air France. The vocals, thin and a touch higher than Spencer Krug's, are indie rock all the way, once again making "Sleepyhead" more wakeful than somnolent. "They couldn't think of something to say the day you burst," sings Michael Angelako. Well, maybe if I were more awake...

[from the Chunk of Change EP; due 09/16/08 on Frenchkiss]

Ghislain Poirier's second video from the album No Ground Under is a short and sweet affair. An animated army of tie-clad zombies dance and tessellate across the screen for all of just over two minutes, courtesy of illustrator Gina Lassalvetat and director Thibaut Duverneix. Both the understated track and the showcased images are not what one would expect, based on the content of Poirier's last video-- the hockey/booty-fest that is "Blazin'". Here's the thing: the eclectic Mr. Bounce Le Gros is a bit of a renaissance man. This is most certainly not the first time his music has taken a less ass shaking and more artistic turn.

Sure, he can get the massive to break a sweat, but his tunes can also work well with contemporary dance. Check the video for the cheekily titled "Don't Smile, It's Postmodern"-- directed by Notice Bureau and featuring dancer Tim Rodrigues. There's also his ongoing collaborations with Montreal choreographer Dana Michel. Check "Critical Path Method" produced for Quebec's ArtTV.

The Pitchfork Music Festival starts tomorrow, and yeah, we're excited. Tonight we'll be at the Preview Night, watching Fleet Foxes, Extra Golden, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, and Boban Markovic at Millennium Park (the event is part of the Music Without Borders series). Hope to see you there. Otherwise, we leave you with a special highlight from last year, Dan Deacon vibing with a cast of thousands as he performs "Crystal Cat".

So many people I respect go ga-ga over Phil Elverum's various projects, but I've never quite connected with either the Microphones or Mt. Eerie. So, speaking as a curious listener who doesn't count himself as a serious fan, this track, from Elverum's upcoming album with Julie Doiron and Fred Squire, is among the most immediately likeable things I've heard from him. It's a simple recording, probably done on simple gear-- love the room tone here-- but Elverum's voice blends beautifully with that of the former Eric's Trip member, and the feel is warmer, less hermetic, and ultimately more inviting.

MP3:> Mount Eerie With Julie Doiron and Fred Squire: "Flaming Home"
[from Lost Wisdom; due 10/07/08 from P.W. Elverum & Sun]

As Pitchfork news reported, the Hold Steady played Letterman last night, and in addition to doing Stay Positive's "Sequestered in Memphis" they also contributed to a pre-taped segment. We'll hopefully supplement this post with a YouTube of the bit when it shows up, but in the meantime, here's the song.

Update! And here's that skit, where comedian Andy Kindler gets the inside scoop on the Hold Steady. Thanks to Tom Smith for the tip.

[original version from Stay Positive; out now on Vagrant]

Tu Fawning brings together a pair of Portlanders and previous collaborators (plus a couple friends): singer/songwriter Corrina Repp and 31Knots guitarist Joe Haege. Their recently issued, limited edition debut EP, however, eschews both the math-y stylings of Haege's combo and the spare folk of Repp's records for Hush and Mark Kozelek's Caldo Verde label in favor a slightly more arty, theatrical, and fleshed out sound-- in the ballpark of St. Vincent and Bat for Lashes, perhaps.

This particular track chugs along without really going anywhere, saddled some by a sonic tactic many close followers of the indie rock will likely consider played out by now: the dread handclap. Luckily "Out Like Bats" is salvaged by a well-employed loping guitar rhythm, flashes of piano, and some quavering backing vocals that just might get under your skin a little bit.

MP3:> Tu Fawning: "Out Like Bats"
[from Secession EP; out now on Polyvinyl]