For the second time, buffaBLOG has been given the opportunity to attend and cover Pitchfork’s annual festival in the heart of Chicago. This year, we will be sending buffaBLOG writers Michael Moretti and Alyssa Gottlieb to preview, cover, and review the festival to clue some of us in as to what to expect or in many cases, what we are missing out on.
Each day, the two will preview five acts to make sure you are in attendance for. It would be easy and obvious to say “You need to check out Beck,” or “Make sure you don’t miss Neutral Milk Hotel,” but the writers will focus on the lesser known bands to check out and pay attention to. Here are Friday’s and Saturday’s recommendations in case you missed it.
Northampton, Massachusetts based quartet, Speedy Ortiz, are another one of the many buzzed about newcomers playing the festival this year. Signed to Carpark Records (Cloud Nothings, Dan Deacon, Beach House) in 2013, these grungey revisionists are bound to start. If the sound of Pavement meets a Nirvana-influenced Marnie Stern is appealing to you, then would dig Speedy Ortiz.
Since the widespread reporting of the incarceration of Russian activist rock group, Pussy Riot, the word “pussy” is a word that does not have the shock and awe that it did in say, 2012. With that being said, the most local-to-Buffalo act playing Pitchfork’s Music Festival is none other than Syracuse-based, Captured Tracks-approved quintet, Perfect Pussy. Their sound is very late 90s, with a combination of raucous muffled punk rock and brash emo. If you are a fans of Celebration Rock Japandroids, Mapmaker, or Newish Star, then Perfect Pussy is right up your alley. Just don’t google it.
West coast emcee, ScHoolBoy Q, is one of the most buzzed about up-and-coming
rappers in the music industry. Signed to Top Dawg Entertainment(Kendrick Lamar’s venture)/Interscope, the 27-year-old former gangbanger has been taking Billboard 200 by storm, landing numerous spots on the listing. Fans of Jay-Z’s flow, Kendrick Lamar’s accessibility, and Danny Brown’s creativity won’t want to miss this.
Montreal exports, Majical Cloudz, are an emotive electronic duo that’s sound will be perfect for a close-to-ending festival. The pair’s sound is chill and atmospheric, almost as if you were riding a crowded bus at 9pm on a Tuesday and it’s raining out. Think if Antony and Johnson fronted downtrodden, reflective James Murphy production, then you would have Majical Cloudz.
Without a doubt, the heaviest, most hardhitting band playing this weekend is Deafheaven. Formed in San Francisco in 2010, this post-metal/shoegaze quintet has grown a lot since it’s humble beginnings as a two man recording project. Deafheaven’s sound is like the voyage of Mogwai with the aggressiveness of Every Time I Die and hints of My Bloody Valentine.