Pitchfork

The Balance stage was in a new (better) location this year, providing a more intimate space with a bit of shade to see some great shows. King Khan pretty much held court out here on Sunday, rocking the crowd with his set with the Shrines and then coming back later that night to jam with Bradford Cox while everyone waited for Cut Copy. During his proper set, had the dollar bills up in the air for "Welfare Bread".

Speaking of dollar bills... also on the Balance stage on Sunday were two Wu-Tang legends, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon, getting right to the point over some raw, no-frills beats. Here they are on the classic "C.R.E.A.M."

When A Tribe Called Quest forced people who weren't usually hip-hop fans to pay attention with 1991's Low End Theory, "Scenario" was the Hot 100 hit that tattooed them on an Alternative Nation's emerging consciousness. The blog Unkut has unearthed an alternate version of "Scenario", featuring previously unreleased verses by fellow Native Tongues crew members De La Soul and Black Sheep. "In and out of every situation like MacGyver," Black Sheep declares. I could do without the extra cowbell, though, and it is pretty lo-fi, likely a multi-generation dub.

What's more, DJ Johnny Juice remembers yet another "Scenario":

""A Tribe Called Quest was doing 'Scenario'. It was me, Dinco, Busta, Jarobi was there - everybody was in that motherfucker - Dres from Black Sheep was there, both of 'em, Chris Lighty, Mase and Pos from De La, all them motherfuckers rhymed on 'Scenario'. Everybody rhymed on it but Q-Tip, and the best motherfucker on that shit was Posdnuos. He fuckin' destroyed it, and he ain't even like the beat! And after he finished rhyming, everybody went back and rewrote their rhymes!" (via Gorilla vs. Bear)

Stream/MP3:> A Tribe Called Quest [ft. De La Soul, Black Sheep & L.O.N.S.]: "Scenario" (Alternate Version)

[original track from Low End Theory; out now on Jive]

Teenage themes, so hard to beat. The latest video from M83's 2008 Saturdays = Youth, like "Graveyard Girl" before it, focuses on adolescence and the synth-pop sounds of the French electronic musician's own youthful Saturday. "Somebody lurks in the shadows," M83's Anthony Gonzalez sings gently atop pristine yet heart-tugging production, but the clip starts out with only the innocent sight of two young women roller-skating together in the gym, both dressed in pink. When they bump into each other, leaving their legs tangled, a bunch of other roller-skating girls-- this time dressed in yellow-- start to encircle them, vaguely menacingly. They end up offering the girls in pink a Big Lebowski-esque glance up their skirts. But the first two soon venture back out on the road, eventually meeting up with some boys at a graffiti-covered skate park. I'm not sure what the clip is saying in its handling of the girls' nascent sexuality but "Kim & Jessie" sure is a pretty tune.

[from Saturdays = Youth; out now on Mute]

The big story surrounding Stephin Merritt's latest album as the Magnetic Fields, 2008's Distortion, had something to do with-- wait, it'll come to me-- distortion. Merritt's greatest gifts are as a songwriter, though, so it's no surprise that album standout "The Nun's Litany" sounds just as good stripped bare. (That's how the nun would want it, anyway.) New York's Other Music recently recorded Merritt singing both "The Nun's Litany" and his 2002 Eban and Charley soundtrack's "This Little Ukulele" backstage at the city's Town Hall, accompanied only by his bouzouki. Merritt slurs over a word here and there, but it's tough to deny the charm and good humor of his dour, Eeyore-ish performances.

It's too bad the clip cuts away from part of "The Nun's Litany" in favor of Merritt's interview with someone from Other Music, but the interview does give Merritt a chance to explain that he can't remember lyrics. He also discusses his preferred songwriting locale (noisy bars), his feelings about live performances ("I don't see the point"), and how a bouzouki is like both a 12-string guitar-- with eight strings-- and a ukulele. "This little ukulele tells the truth," Merritt sings. Except when it's a bouzouki.

"The Nun's Litany"

"This Little Ukulele"

[Distortion and the Eban & Charley OST are both out now, on Nonesuch and Merge, respectively]

Familiar names like Silver Jews, Avey Tare, Enon, Black Dice, and Deerhunter got the headlines when Brooklyn's Rare Book Room Studio owner Nicolas Vernhes announced his Rare Book Room Records' inaugural release, the excellent Living Bridge. But New York's Palms (formerly Palm in the Claw) were there, too, with the menacing minimalism of "Der Koenig". "Das Lowenfell", from forthcoming Palms debut LP It's Midnight in Honolulu, explores a warmer, gentler side of the group, with much the same attention to mesmerizing sonic richness.

Nadja Korinth, one-half of the duo with Ryan Schaefer, sings in German and English above acoustic guitar that gradually picks up speed, guided by drumming that reminds me of Dirty Three member Jim White's bare contributions to his You Follow Me album with Nina Nastasia. "Watching the waves roll over each other," Korinth sings, harmonizing with herself, as the sound of wind rustles in the background. The track ends with some conversation in French, but its key moment-- Korinth's husky, waveringly extended "Ahhhh", full of love and/or regret-- defies language. Sort of like "Lowenfell," which doesn't seem to translate (it's in Shakespeare, though).

MP3:> Palms: "Das Lowenfell"
[from It's Midnight in Honolulu; due 08/25/08 in Europe and 09/09/08 in the U.S. on Rare Book Room]

Ghostly International duo Twine have been putting their formal computer and technology training to musical use for more than a decade. Greg Malcolm and Chad Mossholder originally formed Twine as a trio in 1997, at Ohio's Kent State University, and latest album Violets sees Twine continuing their evolution as sonic atmospherists in the vein of Fennesz or Tim Hecker. On Violets' "Endormie", Talk Talk-like guitar repetitions waft across glitchy IDM beats, eerily girlish vocals, and smooth waves of electronic sound. For the video, Mossholder retains this focus on trance-inducing abstraction, offering us flickering glimpses of nature and trains through a combination of negatives and unaltered footage. "There's a wonderful place out there, but I don't know where to go," a voice murmurs in childish sing-song, soaked in watery effects.

[from Violets; out now on Ghostly]

With a bassline fit for a sword-wielding Uma close-up, Chairlift's "Earwig Town" is as somber as it is creepy. In fact, it's pretty gross. Frontlady Caroline Polachek, keeper of the Nord and city key, informs us of being let down in Earwig Town: "They burrow in through your left ear/ Lay their eggs and crawl out their eye." Good thing Motel 6 accepts Diner's Club.

Polachek's unblinking seriousness, backed with guitarist Aaron Pfenning's pillowy bass vocals, makes you wonder how far their tongues are tucked in their jowls. The track comes from the Boulder-now-Brooklyn trio's full-length debut, Does You Inspire You, out now on Kanine Records-- home of Grizzly Bear's rough-edged debut Horn of Plenty. The band's toured with Yeasayer and MGMT and are currently touring with Ariel Pink. As they slice in the occasional painfully spacey synth patch, it's clear that Chairlift has some (twisted) Knife leanings.

Stream:> Chairlift: "Earwig Town"

Bonus: Here's "Evident Utensil", another track from Does You Inspire You:

MP3:> Chairlift: "Evident Utensil"
[from Does You Inspire You; out now digitally and due 10/28/08 physically on Kanine]

The setup for a cheesy slasher flick-- watch out, the phone he's calling from is inside the house!-- becomes a squelchy, lighter-than-air electro-house single when London DJ/remixer Rex the Dog asks, "I Can See You, Can You See Me???" Rex the Dog, aka Jake Williams, has gotten some attention in recent years with remixes for Mylo, the Knife, Robyn, Soulwax, Röyksopp, and others, along with original tracks for both Germany's minimal-oriented Kompakt and France's Daft Punk-leaning Kitsuné. Williams' fascination with vintage synths remains on his newest single, as does the kind of one-sentence refrain that was the focal point of his track on last year's Total 8 compilation. A spare, squiggly opening bulks up with stomping kick drums as Rex promises, "I won't leave you." A DJ can see whether people are dancing, of course, but whether dancers should be worried about trying to see the person behind the turntables (or Ableton Live, or Winamp) probably depends on what this long-time electronic musician has in mind.

Stream:> Rex the Dog: "I Can See You, Can You See Me???"
[from the "I Can See You, Can You See Me???" 12" and digital single; due 08/25/08 on Cooperative Music]

Tom Waits has been wreaking "Glitter and Doom" across the U.S. this summer, and in the past few weeks his trek has taken him to Europe, too. How very presidential. Waits played a show July 5 at Fox Theatre in Atlanta, and NPR's website is streaming the concert as part of the "All Songs Considered" concert series. I hope he covers one of those pretty Scarlett Johansson songs.

Stream:> Tom Waits: Live in Atlanta

Swedish chanteuses El Perro del Mar and Lykke Li were on tour together recently, and they found time in their San Francisco stop to do a joint installment of La Blogothèque's "Take Away Show". The highlight is "Dance Dance Dance", a ramshackle, Shakira-referencing indie-pop tune from Li's Björn Yttling-produced Youth Novels; it's introduced here by a snippet of the guitar from Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", which Li played live at Roskilde. Over off-kilter percussion and acoustic instrumentation that really isn't so far off from the Youth Novels version, Li somehow makes her small voice huge, then fills in on kazoo for the studio take's saxophone solo. Elsewhere, Li lends backing vocals and handclaps to a chiming, windswept rendition of El Perro del Mar's mournful "Somebody's Baby" (not a Jackson Browne cover), and the two singers duet on a similarly forlorn rendition of Wendy Rene's 1964 Stax single "After Laughter".

Lykke Li [ft. El Perro del Mar]: "Dance Dance Dance"