« Newer | Older »

Robbie Fulks is in Town
Gary Miller
August 4, 2010
Must-see show alert: alt country genius Robbie Fulks solo at the Big Picture Theater in Waitsfield, VT. He's touring in support of his new CD "Happy," a countrified Michael jackson tribute. In addition to MJ covers, you can expect hardcore, whiskey-drinkin' country, scorching satire,and flatpicking at a SERIOUS major-league level. Robbie also plays with a full band saturday at Valley Stage in Huntington VT.

Read our interview from last year with Robbie here. Free Pretty Lights EP - Spilling Over Every Side
Mike McKinley
July 30, 2010
Download Pretty Lights new EP Spilling Over Every Side for free at www.PrettyLightsMusic.com. This is the second (of three) free EP's Pretty Lights will release this year. Bravo!

I just caught PL at Camp Bisco -- super impressive set. Here are upcoming dates‚ including a sold-out headlining show at Red Rocks:

08/07 MORRISON‚ COLORADO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
08/14 SAN FRANCISCO‚ CA Outside Lands
08/14 SAN FRANCISCO‚ CA The Independent (night show)
08/25 KNOXVILLE‚ TN The Valarium
08/26 MEMPHIS‚ TN Minglewood Hall
08/28 NEW ORLEANS‚ LA CAC Warehouse
09/03 CHICAGO‚ IL North Coast Music Festival
09/04 NEW YORK‚ NY Electric Zoo Festival
09/05 AUSTIN‚ TX Nocturnal Festival
09/25 SANTA BARBARA‚ CA West Beach Festival

Osheaga Preview: Sampling Montreal's Local Flavor
Ryan Lowell
July 28, 2010
With a seemingly infinite number of summer festivals and a regretfully less accommodating number of paid vacation hours accrued‚ a great festival needs something special to earn and maintain a loyal audience. This year I'll be heading North of the border again‚ back to Montreal's Osheaga festival‚ a worthy use of my hard earned PTO. Sure Osheaga is hosting plenty of the big names who are making the rounds this summer‚ like Pavement‚ Sonic Youth and The National to name a few. But what sets the pride of Parc Jean Drapeau apart from similar hipster oriented festivals is the local flavor Montreal adds to the equation -- both onstage and off. Apart from the gorgeous national park backdrops of Osheaga's smaller stages‚ excellent public transportation and impressively clean concert grounds‚ the countless talented local bands playing throughout the weekend are what show Montreal in the best light. Last year I was caught off guard‚ but this time around I've got my eye on several of the locals‚ anticipating the bands that might make me fall in love with Montreal all over again.

We Are Wolves:
A chaotic mess of abrasive distorted riffs‚ club banger beats and the language of love‚ this hometown trio has all the necessary ammo for auditory assault in a live setting. Apart from energetically mixing punk and techno‚ the group's aggressive bilingual vocals make for Francophones that sound less like they want to seduce your girlfriend and more like they want to raid your liquor cabinet and do back flips off your roof.



Final Flash:
Dubbed a psychedelic folk/rock group‚ I can tell from the few videos I've watched online that Final Flash's dense sound can't be fully captured in a slew of camera phone clips posted on YouTube. But the fact that they're an engaging listen in spite of bootleg limitations has me wondering just how much energy this quintet can pour out in person. Impressing with both folky acoustic tunes and upbeat group jams‚ Final Flash's layered arrangements have potential to add another layer of beauty to their surrounding wilderness.



Marie-Pierre Arthur:
In this world of double standards where We Are Wolves get credit for somehow making French somehow not sound seductive‚ their female neighbor Marie-Pierre Arthur caught my ear for the exact opposite reason. Though I'm still undecided about the iPod commercial ready instrumentals backing her every foreign word‚ a trip to Montreal just wouldn't be complete without watching a pretty girl sing in French. Her half hour set won't be time enough to teach me the local language‚ but it could be just what I need to get in the romantic frame of mind for my first date with Pavement.



Arcade Fire:
Though these dangerously hyped Montreal natives have an audience far beyond their hometown‚ I'm cautiously optimistic that they'll be in top form on their home turf. And they'd better be‚ because performing in the headlining spot means performing for a half hour longer than weathered vets Sonic Youth and Pavement. Both championed and plagued by the success of Neon Bible‚ Arcade Fire have to live up to the greatest expectations of their career with their follow up The Suburbs. Their Osheaga set will fall just days before The Suburb's release‚ and should be a good preview of the nature of the inevitable media storm to follow. What little I've heard of Suburbs sounds promising‚ and I'm hopeful that the band will deserve their headlining spot. Here's a live video of the title track from Suburbs. The quality isn't excellent‚ but it previews the group's solid new material and front man Win Butler's snazzy hairdo.

Win Tickets to Liberate Music and Yoga Festival: Lotus‚ Brothers Past‚ Rubblebucket and more
Mike McKinley
July 28, 2010
The Contest is Now Closed

State of Mind is giving away two pairs of tickets to Liberate Music and Yoga Festival -- just fill out the form below for a chance to win. Liberate will take place August 20th and 21st in Sheldon, Vermont - for details, visit the Liberate site. The winners will be selected at random on August 10th.

Here's the lineup:
Lotus, Brothers Past, Rubblebucket, Beats Antique, Dead Sessions and Friends with Tommy Hamilton and More, Spiritual Rez, emancipator, Kirtan w/ Prem Prakash, Tom Hamilton's American Babies, JaneYoga, Lucid, Bearquarium, Jeff Bujak, Twiddle, DJ Reverence of Rise Up Sound, Dopapod, Barika, Kirtan w/ Patrick & American Raga, the Human Canvas, Groove Yoga w/ Danny & DJ tonybonez, and Hip Yoga Flow w/ Danielle & DJ Duke.

Pitchfork Music Festival Preview
Michael Carney
July 16, 2010
It's a gorgeous‚ hot summer day in the Windy City and the tastemaking Pitchfork folks are kicking off their 6th festival today. The media juggernaut has assembled a fierce lineup this year that is anchored by such heavyweights as LCD Soundsystem‚ Raekwon‚ Broken Social Scene and Modest Mouse. However‚ the most buzz and the biggest crowds should be surrounding the temporarily-reunited Pavement when they close out the fest Sunday night.

Of course I'm excited to see all of the scene veterans this weekend‚ but the Pitchfork Festival has always been about the break-out bands for me. Last year I was writing about the likes of Japandroids‚ The Very Best and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Here are some of the relative unknowns that I think are going to have a big weekend at Pitchfork:

The Smith Westerns



These Chicago natives are super young--read: none of them are of drinking age yet. But‚ they've got chops and hooks beyond their years. Think sixties garage-pop doo-wop and all the reasons you like The Black Lips. Check them out here on local access TV show "Chica-go-go." Stick around for the end when they all get down to "Superstition" to close out the show.

Real Estate



For me‚ Real Estate are the band of the summer--one of my favorite new bands of the past year. Their self-titled debut full-length is a an epic suite of jangly‚ hazy beach rock. Grab a copy of this‚ make yourself a jug of sangria and sit out back in a kiddie pool. There‚ that's your summer.


Sleigh Bells



Sleigh Bells are another of those super divisive buzz bands. Being made up of basically a guitarist‚ a singer and a sampler puts off a lot of folks. Get past that and actually listen to them and you get air-raid guitars from former hardcore journeyman Derek Miller‚ psycho cheerleader lyrics from former girl-group star Alexis Krauss and blown-speaker beats that sound like something MIA and/or Diplo dreamed up.


Delorean



Hailing from Barcelona‚ Delorean trade in a sunny‚ 80's influenced synth-pop that their name implies. Their new album Subiza is another candidate for album of the summer. After napping in the backyard with Real Estate and your sangria‚ make more sangria‚ put this on and go hit the club.

I'll be at Pitchfork taking it all in this weekend. Check back here next week for my full report.


Visit the Pitchfork Music Festival

« Newer | Older »