The Pitchfork Music Festival will return to Chicago’s Union Park July 19, 20 and 21. Predominately an independent music internet hub, Pitchfork has built a more mainstream following as internet journalism has gained in popularity since the site’s inception in the late 1990s. The festival began in 2006 with a modest lineup, ridiculously inexpensive tickets and affordable amenities, but each year it garners a little more attention and draws increasingly more recognizable artists. Bjork, R. Kelly and Belle and Sebastian are set to headline this year’s event. Past headliners include Spoon, Animal Collective, NWA, The Flaming Lips and many others. Here’s a rundown of some lesser-known artists that certainly deserve your attention whether you decide to take in the festival or not.
Friday, July 19
Mac DeMarco
A self-proclaimed burn-out, Mac DeMarco carries himself with the same disheveled, hobo-intellectual look one might conjure hearing his songs. It’s fitting that DeMarco is present at this year’s P4K fest because the website is in large part the reason for his media visibility. Not that the attention isn’t deserved. DeMarco plays stoner pop with thoughtful lyrics that threaten to float by in a cloud of hash smoke unless one pays closer attention. Much like Kurt Vile, DeMarco is a talented songwriter and vocalist, whose relaxed lifestyle betrays a sharp wit and serious musical talent.–Brent Velting
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom has been playing music since she got her first harp, which fell from the sky into her backyard when she was all of eight years old. She and that harp embarked on a series of adventures that would make Kerouac seem like a total snooze. But, long story short, Joanna learned to play her instrument in the styles of all the continents, and along the way she played some piano as well and began to write songs of her very own. Now she’s cracked the tender young age of 30, but she’s looking back on an extraordinary decade that saw her break into the pop world as a harp-playing singer of uncommonly compelling songs. Her first album, The Milk-Eyed Mender, was released by Drag City in 2004. Joanna hit the road in support of the album, driving from show to show with her harp in the back of her car. It was cheaper than driving a piano around – but still! About six months after the record came out, it started selling like hotcakes – or perhaps crepes is a more suitable form of pancake metaphor. The Milk-Eyed Mender still sells like crepes today – even on the CD format, which generally sells like crap these days. Joanna hasn’t ever looked back, and on both Ys (2006) and Have One on Me (2010) she has elevated her songcraft into unforeseen and wildly fulfilling areas for both herself and her fans.–Pitchfork.com
Daughn Gibson
Daughn Gibson hails from the Cumberland Valley town of Carlisle, Penn. The charismatic crooner and sound sculptor’s music sets his subversively witty and colorful tales against an engaging blend of electronic music, country and blues. Gibson’s spirited, DIY approach is informed by his time spent playing in punk and metal bands and stints as a cross-country truck driver. His deep baritone adds to the allure, which posits the handsome balladeer in territory explored by the greats. He’s earned comparisons to the likes of Lee Hazelwood, Scott Walker, and Arthur Russell, and contemporary artists like Nicolas Jaar, the Magnetic Fields and James Blake. Daughn will release his second LP and debut for Sub Pop Records in 2013.– Pitchfork.com
Saturday, July 20
Swans
In a music landscape ruled by hip-hop/pop acts threaded with dance arrangements and sugary chorus hooks, it’s even more alarming that Swans has returned to any level of success. Hardcore, minimalist journeymen, Swans have been doing things their way since 1982(!). Michael Gira, lead vocalist and creative for the band, is one of the most puzzling minds writers can try to quantify. There is simply no genre that Swans fall into. Orchestral, guttural, visceral, terrifying are the first words that come to mind. One thing is for certain: Swans are an experience. One of the greatest live bands that almost no one has heard of, Gira and crew want to take you back in the woods, beat the living shit out of you and make for damn sure you’re are no longer the same. This is not for the faint of heart, and it won’t be played at target anytime soon. If you want your money’s worth at the pitchfork music festival, catch yourself some Swans.–BV
Phosphorescent
Matthew Houck, an Alabama native/now Brooklyn resident, has delivered five albums as Phosphorescent since his 2003 debut. Houck has a highly distinctive artistic voice, but also a refreshing, rolled-sleeves approach to his expression. It was 2007′s Pride – a delicate and spare, haunted and haunting work of ragged country, bittersweet southern gospel and forlorn folk-ish drone – that first caused ears to swivel appreciatively in Phosphorescent’s direction. He followed it with To Willie, a tribute to country legend Willie Nelson, then 2010′s Here’s To Taking It Easy, an unapologetically enthusiastic plunge into country rock and rolling Americana. Now, his sixth album flashes yet another color in the subtly shifting Phosphorescent spectrum. Muchacho reprises the understated melancholia and sensuous minimalism of Pride, while kicking up a little of Here’s To Taking It Easy‘s dust, but it also strikes out into more adventurous waters via rhythm and electronic textures. Muchacho received Best New Music accolades from Pitchfork.com, an Exclusive First Listen with NPR Music, and The AV Club called it “Houck’s most accomplished release to date – his most heartrending and life-affirming, equal parts lost-love devastation and hip-swaying, horn-led exultation.”–Pitchfork.com
Ryan Hemsworth
Hemsworth’s remix of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout You” turned some heads in 2012. That undoubtedly had much to do with the brilliance and popularity of Ocean’s channel ORANGE album, which graced many end-of-year best-of lists. But hundreds of cream-puff, slap-hazard remixes of Ocean and other hip-hop artists come and go without making a blip on the radar. Hemsworth on the other hand takes his samples and crafts an intriguing and challenging composition. A ferocious work ethic has Hemsworth providing his own album of original work and polished remixes of dozens of other artists all within a year’s time. The careful attention to detail is starting to garner musicians approaching Hemsworth for collaborations, rather than the other way around. It’s easy to hear why.–BV
Sunday, July 21
Killer Mike
A true OG, Killer Mike made his debut on the Grammy-winning Outkast song “Whole World.” Since then he has continually distinguished himself with his superior rhythm, cadence and searing lyrical content. He further cemented his unique niche in hip-hop with 2012′s R.A.P. Music, which was produced entirely by El-P and topped many Best of 2012 lists. He spent the rest of 2012 on the road, proving his chops to sold-out rooms on a nightly basis.–Pitchfork.com
Autre Ne Veut
Born April 20, 1982, Arthur Ashin is the eldest of two children, and the only son of American expatriates living in rural Kenya. He’s struggled with minor bouts of depression throughout his life, but a year of intensive psychoanalysis helped Ashin to realize that anxiety was at the crux of his problems. He named his second full-length album for the diagnosis; in one sense, Anxiety sees Ashin closing a chapter on his adolescence through songs depicting his personal relationship struggles and ecstasies. There are club bangers on Anxiety, for sure; “Counting” is a cybernetic sea shanty that tips its hat to Timbaland, and opening track “Play by Play” rolls out like a slowly evolving Top 40 operetta, with nods to Dr. Luke and Patti LaBelle in equal measure. But when experienced as a whole, there is an unfolding sense of confession to Anxiety.–Pitchfork.com
Glass Candy
Crazy like a rabbit and happy like the new year, Glass Candy make music that is, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “irresistible.” On Beatbox, producer Johnny Jewel made beats fitting of his Hustletown hometown, and there aren’t many MCs who can ride a track like Ida No can, slippery but never sliding, full of highs and lows but never any flat lines. Glass Candy sound like a poet on a cloud floating above the discotheque, and the whole dance floor can’t stop reaching for them.–BV
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