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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 Furthur - 7/3/10 "Dark Star" - Lesh and Russo Moment
Mike McKinley
July 9, 2010
Last Tuesday while I was sitting at my desk at work, I felt this irresistible urge to hear Grateful Dead music -- not just throw on a recording, but see it. And by the weekend I was traveling four hours to see Furthur -- the latest band put together by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh -- for the first time. Nothing could scratch this itch except seeing members of the greatest American band ever over the July 4th weekend.

Despite it being a shit show getting in with hours of traffic, the Gelston Castle Estate is a beautiful venue -- the land itself creates a natural amphitheater and from the top the view of the horizon is gorgeous. This certainly could become one of the premiere summer venues in the northeast once they figure out a better infrastructure to deal with traffic. As the band worked their way through "Alligator" and "New Potato Caboose," the sunset was stunning. It was a perfect summer night and the band sounded on.

I had a few moments during the show that I feel compelled to share. First, long-time Dark Star Orchestra guitarist John Kadlecik was really impressive. Yes, it's a bit odd that a man who has made a career as a Grateful Dead scholar, and more specifically has played the Jerry Garcia role with DSO is now the lead guitarist in Phil and Bobby's band. However, there's a reason: the guy is really fucking good at it. But, it's still a bit odd. My friend and I shared a good laugh over the irony of the situation when during "Althea" he sang the line: "There are things you can replace, and others you cannot." Yeah, tell us about it.

Jeff Chimenti impressed the hell out of me with his playing in The Dead last year. This time around was no different. He took "Feelin' Alright" to new heights in the way he tickled the ivories--both playful and edgy, serving as a reminder that the Grateful Dead could also be a great jazz band when they want to be.

And finally, the most impressive thing I took away from this experience was seeing the rhythm section of Phil Lesh and Joe Russo. This music, or language, of the Grateful Dead is inherently weird and beautiful. If you don't get it, you don't get it. But if you do, then seeing the Grateful Dead's music still expand and evolve with someone like Joe Russo behind the kit is gratifying beyond belief. The conversation that he was having with Phil during "Dark Star" was worth the price of the ticket alone. Russo's an aggressive rock drummer with NYC-underground-jazz finesse, and after years and years of hearing him play music, I had a hard time imagining how he would sound in a band with Phil and Bobby. It took witnessing it to realize how good the conversation could be. During this "Dark Star" at about 4 minutes in through the end, I laughed out loud several times with sheer enjoyment of watching how deep, weird and awesome the group interaction got -- they exchanged ideas in that one-of-a-kind Grateful Dead psychedelic way, by letting them float by and spiral off. And then the subtext between Lesh and Russo was just incredibly inspiring. Check it out:

Phosphorescent's Van/Gear/Merch Stolen
Mike McKinley
July 9, 2010
Bad news -- here's the email from Dead Oceans (Phosphorescent's label):

We are devastated to report that Phosphorescent's van was stolen last night following their fantastic show on Pier 54 in New York City. You can read the following message below detailing the incident. Please help out if you can. Good vibes are needed right now.

Last night‚ after an amazing show at Pier 54 in New York City‚ Phosphorescent's rental van -along with all of their equipment - was stolen from outside a residence in Greenpoint‚ Brooklyn. Last night's show was the first night of their scheduled six-weeks US Tour. Among the stolen items was Matthew Houck's custom‚ irreplaceable 1955 Gibson ES-125 guitar‚ vintage amplifiers‚ and a vintage pedal steel with losses totaling around $40‚000. If anyone has ANY information or leads on what might have happened‚ or if you see any of this gear in pawn shops‚ on Craigslist‚ etc‚ please call the NY Police Department‚ Vector Management‚ or anyone you think might be able to help recover this gear. The van rental company is insured - they are covered for their van and are therefore not greatly concerned with recovering it. Phosphorescent DOES care though‚ greatly‚ about recovering any of this gear possible‚ and about right now figuring out how to rally up and make this US Tour happen. Anything anyone can do to help would be simply amazing. We have set up a Paypal account for anyone wishing to donate funds to help replace gear - anything helps. We will be sending updates about the upcoming tour dates ASAP. Thanks in advance for any goodwill and assistance and thank you for your support over the years.

Paypal donations can be sent to:
phosphorescentgearfund@gmail.com

Or donate directly via Paypal HERE

Vector Management:
Nick Stern
p: 212.317.2323
nick@vectormgmt.com

Full list of stolen items below:

STOLEN EQUIPMENT LIST:
MOST OF THIS GEAR IS IN STANDARD BLACK ROADCASES
STENCILED WITH "PHOSPHORESCENT" OR "PHOS"
IN LARGE WHITE LETTERS

GUITARS:
1955 Gibson ES-125 Hollow-body Electric
1968 Gibson EB-3 Bass with slotted headstock (brown)
197? Fender Stratocaster - Custom‚ Blonde wood finish. No brand names or markings anywhere.
197? Emmons Pedal Steel Guitar - Push-Pull Model

AMPS:
1973 Fender Twin Reverb (Silverface) w/ Indian Sun Worshipper Tapestry affixed to grillplate
1978 Music Man 112 RD500 Custom Amp w/ 10? Speaker
SWR Workingman's Bass Amp
196? Fender Deluxe Reverb

PEDALS:
(1) Line 6 DL4 Delay Pedal
(2) Fulltone Full-Drive 2 Mosfet
(1) Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Plus
(1) Electro Harmonix Little Big Muff
(2) Electro Harmonix 80's Memory Man Deluxe
(1) MXR Power Amp Pedal
(2) Boss TU-2 Tuner
(1) MXR Phase 90‚ CSP-026
(1) Fender Tuning Pedal

DRUMS:
DW "Collectors Series" Drum Kit - Black Matte finish
22? kick drum
16? floor tom
12? rack tom
14? Yamaha‚ Anton Fig snare drum‚ with maple hoops
(1) Ludwig boom cymbal stand
(2) yamaha boom cymbal stands
(1) DW9000 Hi-Hat pedal‚ DW7000 kick pedal
(1) Yamaha‚ double braced snare stand
(1) Ludwig double braced snare stand
(1) Ludwig drum throne/stool.
(1) 20? Zyldjian Constantinople ride cymbal
(1) 17in Zildjian A Custom crash cymbal
(2) Zildjian Constantinople Hi-Hats (paired)

OTHER ITEMS:
Black Arai Profile Full-face Motorcycle Helmet
Durango Boots - Brown Harness Boots

MERCHANDISE:
Approximately:
150 Vinyl (To WIlle/Pride/Here's to Taking it Easy)
150 CD's (To WIlle/Pride/Here's to Taking it Easy)
100 PHOSPORESCENT "LION" T-shirts

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