2008 Pitchfork Music Festival Sampler

FEATURED ARTISTS FROM THE 2008 PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL SAMPLER

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  Signals, Calls and Marches [Remastered] by Mission of Burma

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  Mission of Burma helped define early-80s post-punk, adding tape manipulation to the typical guitar-bass-drums and pushing punk's limits without compromising its rebellious spirit. Now almost 30 years later, the band's debut album Vs. remains a staple; reformed since 2002, Burma will return to the Pitchfork stage to bring their masterpiece to life.

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  Akuma No Uta by Boris

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  Psych rock, stoner rock, hardcore, sludge, or ambient — listen to the Boris discography and you’re bound to hear a bit of everything. The genre-defying Japanese trio shifts styles so much they’re said to credit their albums in a kind of code: Those attributed to “BORIS” are likely to lean to the conventional, while discs tabbed “Boris” or “boris” edge to the experimental. The band’s best-known disc Pink was released in 2005 but gained broad distribution in North America in 06; it won a rave from Pitchfork, which dubbed the threesome “balls-out riff-makers.”

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  In Ghost Colours by Cut Copy

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  Started in 2001 as a solo venture by Aussie songwriter, producer and DJ Dan Whitford, Cut Copy eventually expanded to include guitarist Tim Hoey and drummer Mitchell Scott. Their contributions to the band’s first full-length, Bright Like Neon Love, blended with Whitford’s synths and samples to yield a bit of rock familiarity within an abstract but danceable electro cocoon. Cut Copy’s new disc In Ghost Colours recalls the airy AM pop of the 70s; Pitchfork lauded the “synth-pop shimmer” of lead single “Lights & Music.”

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  Jarvis by Jarvis Cocker

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  Known today as the major creative force behind the British band Pulp, Jarvis Cocker’s rise to fame was slow. Founded in 1978, the band flitted in and out of success until the single “My Legendary Girlfriend” (from Separations) brought attention from fans and labels alike. Pulp hit their prime with “Common People,” the smash single from Different Class; the album was certified gold in its first week of release and entered the UK charts at #1. After the group disbanded in 2002, Cocker quieted down to work on various side projects and collaborations. His solo debut, Jarvis, appeared in late 2006.

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  Soul On Fire by Spiritualized

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  Frontman Jason Pierce has been fooling with the psychedelic for decades. The former Spacemen 3 singer-guitarist has made a career of combining the minimal with the entrancing, spending months in the studio tweaking his tracks in search of the perfect balance of trance and space. Spiritualized emerged in 1991 with a string of EP releases before their debut full-length; the band’s acknowledged masterpiece Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space appeared in 1997. Following five years after the band’s previous release and three years since Pierce had a near-death experience in which he was revived twice, Spiritualized’s Songs in A&E is slated for release in June.

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  OK-Oyot System by Extra Golden

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  The mix of Kenyan Benga music and American rock that is Extra Golden started out as a leisurely exchange of compositions by Ian Eagleson, Alex Minoff and Otieno Jagwasi in the summer of 2004. After hashing out some ideas and adding drummer Onyango Wuod Omari, the band headed to a Nairobi club with a few mics, a laptop and a mixer. Three hours later they had completed nearly all of Ok-Oyot System — but the disc didn’t see the light of day until two years later, following Jagwasi’s death from liver disease. Since then Extra Golden has added Benga star Opiyo Bilongo to its lineup, made a name with dynamic live shows and released a second album, Hera Ma Nono.

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  Visiter by The Dodos

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  The brainchild of San Francisco multi-instrumentalist Meric Long and percussionist Logan Kroeber, the eclectic young Dodos draw on everything from folk and blues to metal, African drumming and the Javanese gamelan. Pitchfork calls the duo's debut disc Visiter "one of the most welcoming (and welcome) records of 2008," and adds that they "hit with a full-band force … in their astounding live sets."

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  03/07 - 09/07 by High Places

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  New Thrill Jockey signing High Places, a feel-good collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Rob Barber and vocalist Mary Pearson, formed in Brooklyn just two years ago, but their eponymous 2007 EP has already earned acclaim and comparisons to past primitivists like Beat Happening. Pitchfork deemed that disc's four brief songs "intimate enough to sleep in, rhythmic enough to dance to; lo-fi and simple, but strange enough to get lost in."

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  Kontpab by Mahjongg

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  The Chicago-based groove-traffickers and recent K Records signees of Mahjongg match tribal beats to trebly guitar licks á la Talking Heads. Per Pitchfork, they've "taken up the noble mission of keeping their home city weird. No one knows exactly what to expect from any given performance of theirs, and they've kept up the struggle of cultivating that spontaneity on record," where they're "plastic pop purveyors, afro-poppers, dance-punkers, and whatever else the hell they feel like."

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  Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel by Atlas Sound

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  Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox's solo project is a natural outgrowth of the distorted pop for which his main gig gained notice. Eschewing Deerhunter’s traditional rock instrumentation, Atlas Sound spans a wide range of sonics on the debut Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel. Cox infuses elements of minimal techno and house music with layers of reverbed guitars and looped percussion, arranging his filtered vocals through a dreamy soundscape of ambient compositions. The result is a series of pure pop tunes wrapped in lush, fluid acoustics.

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  For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver

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  Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) decamped to a cabin near his rural roots in northwestern Wisconsin for some rest and relaxation. What he got was For Emma, Forever Ago, a powerful, simple, reflective and heartfelt debut built from haunting guitar and layered vocals — minimalist tools that enhance, not obscure, Vernon's introspective lyrics. Pitchfork dubbed it "a ruminative collection of songs full of natural imagery and acoustic strums — the sound of a man left alone with his memories and a guitar."

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  Weirdo Rippers by No Age

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  Formed from the remnants of noise-rockers the Wives, No Age rose from through LA’s art-skate-punk scene to status as much-buzzed band of the moment. Randy Randall (drums and vocals) and Dean Sprunt (guitar) got together just two years ago; last year Fat Cat issued Weirdo Rippers, an acclaimed compilation of five earlier EPs. Into songs that rarely crack the three-minute mark, No Age packs intensity, grit, and noise-pop punch. Their Sub Pop debut, Nouns, was released in May.

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  Rip It Off by Times New Viking

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  From Columbus, Oh., and Matador Records comes the six-string crunch, cymbal splash and brooding lyrics of Adam Elliott, Beth Murphy and Jared Phillips, aka Times New Viking. The band's new disc Rip It Off glows with the giddiness of just making noise — and as Pitchfork notes, "In a time when technology makes professional-sounding recordings accessible to even the smallest bands, that exuberance is refreshing."

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  What's For Dinner? by The King Khan & BBQ Show

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  Were it biologically possible for George Clinton and Sun Ra to procreate, King Khan could be their seed. His backing Shrines feature the percussion of soul legend Ron Streeter (who backed Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder and others) and horns from Simon Wojan (Cloudland Canyon), “Germany’s Coltrane” Ben Ra and rockabilly sax man Big Fred Rollercoaster. The band’s latest release WHAT IS?! and the track “Welfare Bread” both scored spots on Pitchfork’s year-end lists in 2007.

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  Blood Visions by Jay Reatard

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  After doing time with such acts as the Lost Sounds, the Bad Times, the Final Solutions, Angry Angles and others, Jay Reatard’s back where he started — as a solo artist. A young punk vet, Jay started the Reatards at the age of 15 and within a short time recorded Get Real Stupid, on which he juggled guitar, vocal duties and percussive stylings on a bucket. His 2006 release Blood Visions pairs terse, punchy lyrics to a gritty, guitar-driven garage sound that hits you in the face and unapologetically walks away.

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  Maths + English by Dizzee Rascal

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  Dizzee Rascal is on his way to accomplishing what few other British rappers have done: break into the American scene. His album Maths + English mixed influences as varied as rock guitars (on "Sirens") to Bugsy Malone-ish backchat ("Wanna B A G"). And with guest spots from the likes of Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner and Dirty South legends UGK, Dizzee scored cred on both sides of the pond. Though available stateside only as a download, Maths landed on Pitchfork's top 50 albums of 2007.

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  Street Horrrsing by F*** Buttons

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  Combining dronescapes with subtle melodies, tribal beats and distorted vocals, Fuck Buttons' Benjamin John Power and Andrew Hung fracture pretty backdrops with outbursts of tumultuous clamor. Live, the duo elaborates on the repetitive elements of its debut disc Street Horrrsing that moved Pitchfork to write that “Fuck Buttons stick religiously to simple ideas, but mix them in surprising ways.”

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  Street Horrrsing by F*** Buttons

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  Like No Age, HEALTH hail from the Los Angeles noise-rock scene, and the band's self-titled debut album was recorded at its home club-slash-epicenter, the Smell. On album, HEALTH merge synths, drums, haunting, repetitive lyrics, and an odd permutation of a guitar pedal and microphone called a zoothorn; live, they unleash a torrent of raw energy and lets it rip.

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  Feels by Animal Collective

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  With their eighth full length Strawberry Jam, Animal Collective solidified its standing among the most innovative thinkers in music today. Taking the #6 spot on Pitchfork’s top albums of 2007, the group’s most cohesive effort to date creates a unified whole from an assortment of dissonant and sometimes chaotic parts. AC’s live show is just as unpredictable, often featuring improvised selections and unreleased songs, and just as dense with layered vocal melodies, frightening screeches and haunting drones.

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  Boban I Marko by Boban Markovic Orkestar

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  Although the roots of trumpeter and bandleader Boban Markovic are in Serbia's Vladicin Han region — the heartland of gypsy brass — his band's international touring and contributions to the blazing soundtracks of the films of Emir Kusturica (Underground) have earned worldwide renown. With a sound that blends traditional Balkan music with jazz, Latin and pop inflections, the Boban Markovic Orkestar enlivens a genre steeped in tradition and history.

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  A Hawk And A Hacksaw And The Hun Hangár Ensemble by A Hawk And A Hacksaw And The Hun Hangár Ensemble

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  The brainchild of percussionist Jeremy Barnes (ex-Neutral Milk Hotel), A Hawk and a Hacksaw released its self-titled debut in 2004. Barnes played all the instruments on that disc but managed to explore a century of American music in its sonic influences; for the follow-up Darkness at Noon, he added trumpet, tuba, and violin, mingling Americana with Eastern European strains. Now featuring Barnes and violinist Heather Trost, A Hawk and A Hacksaw's latest release is The Way the Wind Blows.

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  Let's Stay Friends by Les Savy Fav

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  Formed in 1995 by friends who met at the Rhode Island School of Design, Les Savy Fav took its early inspiration from the Clash, Pixies and Fugazi, but over the past decade the now-Brooklyn-based band has made its own name with a series of scorching singles, albums (most recently last fall's Let's Stay Friends), and wild shows. LSF live is both hard-hitting and hilarious, thanks mostly to frontman Tim Harrington's unpredictable antics. This summer the Pitchfork Music Festival brings the band back to the scene of its infamous 2005 Union Park appearance.

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  Walking With the Beggar Boys by Elf Power

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  Elephant 6 alums and Athens, Ga., natives, Elf Power meshes a slew of strings with psych guitar and the homemade, mellotron-like tape organ on their eighth LP, In a Cave, which the Village Voice termed "an affirmation of the bells-and-whistles-within-worlds recordings" on which Elf Power and its E6 compatriots made their bones. With the Apples in Stereo and A Hawk and a Hacksaw also on the festival bill, E6 followers will see three of the collective's bands in action in Union Park.

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  New Magnetic Wonder by Apples In Stereo

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  Founding members of the Elephant Six pop collective along with Olivia Tremor Control and Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples in Stereo released their self-titled debut in 1994. Fun Trick Noisemaker appeared the next year and brought attention to the band’s hallmark blend of Beatles- and Beach Boys-inspired psych-pop. Frontman Robert Schneider’s bubbly charisma and gift for gilt-edged hooks have remained touchstones ever since; those traits are sharp as ever on the band’s recent disc New Magnetic Wonder.

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  Beyond by Dinosaur Jr.

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  J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph were key players in the mid-to-late '80s Amerindie underground. They pushed the boundaries of song structure and melody in the context of post-punk rock, often departing into freeform noise before returning to familiar distorted progressions and J’s signature vocal mewl. Having spawned a generation of enthusiasts and imitators, the band can lay a claim to the creation of what became marketed as “alternative”; its influence on Nirvana was palpable. After more than a decade of separations and side projects, Dinosaur Jr. reunited in 2005 and released Beyond in 2007.

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