This year’s Free Press Summer Fest has been announced, and, wow, I must say I am impressed. Snoop Dogg, The Avett Brothers, Primus, Big Freedia, Danny Brown, Jeff the Brotherhood, Willie Nelson, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Flaming Lips (performing Dark Side of the Moon), Wavves, Diplo, Best Coast, Major Lazer, Turquoise Jeep! I’m gonna have a hard time avoiding the miserable Houston heat this summer!
Every Saturday, I post a 15-20 minute podcast featuring some tracks I’ve been jamming the previous week, as well as some commentary and random musings from yours truly. Enjoy!
This week is a quick homage to my weekend – Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011. Enjoy this quick playlist while you gear up for Day 2!
Tracklist:
Major Lazer – Keep It Goin’ Louder
M83 – Steve McQueen
Passion Pit – Sleepyhead
The Thermals – Liquid In, Liquid Out
Hum – Stars
A friend of mine and I were discussing the awesome awesome lineup for Fun Fun Fun Fest this year, and recently, they announced their schedule for our viewing pleasure. My friend was excited, but admitted he knew only a few bands. Where, he wondered aloud, could he find a comprehensive rundown of each band, a sampling of their musical chops, so he could further educate himself before the finest weekend of his year? I assume the Fun Fun Fun website has such a playlist, and they do, and it’s cool, but I wanted to make my own. So every Friday, from now until the fest (that’s nine weeks), I will be posting a playlist for your educational purposes for each stage and day, excluding the Yellow stage, which is mostly comedy.
This week’s playlist covers the bands playing on the Blue (Hip-Hop/Dance) stage on Saturday – Cecil Otter, Purity Ring, T-Bird and the Breaks, Brandt Brauer Frick, Cold Cave, Childish Gambino, Rakim, Dan Deacon, Neon Indian, and Major Lazer.
After jamming to “Belispeak,” “Lofticries,” and “Ungirthed” this year, this group’s upcoming debut LP is one of my most anticipated albums currently. I am curious to see how this group’s ethereal synth-pop translates to the stage.
Peep the new Beyonce track (via Fader), produced by Major Lazer’s Diplo, if you dare. It just uses an old Lazer beat, throws in some terrible Lil Jon yells, and passes over what most great Beyonce tracks have…..melody. Hopefully this isn’t a taste of things to come from Miss Fierce.
Today I continue my ten-part series showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of last year.
20. Kid Sister – Right Hand Hi
We waited a long time for Ultraviolet, and it was worth it. Sure, most of the tracks had been previously heard (thank you Internet), but having them all in one cohesive package made for a pretty stellar dance mixtape. Not to mention it began with this banger, an ode to “stackin’ money and drinkin’ all night.” How could you not get that hand up high?
Today I continue my ten-part series showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of last year.
40. Phoenix – Lisztomania
It’s been a long time coming, but thanks to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, the French quartet are now a festival circuit band and one of the biggest groups in the world. Their jazz-fused, stream-of-consciousness take on upbeat pop is clearly expressed through this track, featuring an unconventional chorus that, like so many things Phoenix, works perfectly, even if it’s a bit outside the boundaries of what we normally hear on CHR.
Today I continue my ten-part series showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of last year.
70. Miley Cyrus – Party In the USA
“Seriously?” Yes, dude, seriously. You know why people hate this song? Because Miley sings it. That’s the only reason. Any other reason and you have no soul. Why? Have you listened to this song? It’s fucking awesome. Seriously. And Hannah Montana had nothing to do with its awesomeness. That crunchy bass line? That banging beat? And the melody is pop gold. I mean, it’s not like Miley had anything to do with the songwriting and production – she didn’t. She just sings. And the Auto-Tune makes her sound like sweet, sweet candy. Seriously. So stop pretending like you don’t love this song just because 14-year-old girls do, too. They’re not always wrong. Sponge Bob is still awesome.
For those of you still willing to lie and say you hate this song, and you don’t crank it when no one’s looking, nodding your head like yeah, moving your hips like yeah, let me ask you this: do you even like music? Seriously.
Today I continue my ten-part series showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of last year.
80. Nickel Eye – Brandy of the Damned
Seems like all last year, the Strokes were running around doing all kinds of different things unrelated to their core band. Julian and Albert pursued solo projects, while Fabrizio started Little Joy. The only one that sat around and counted money was Nick Valensi. Bassist Nikolai Fraiture started the Nickel Eye project, churning out a debut album in January of 2009. While I was mostly underwhelmed with the majority of the disc, “Brandy of the Damned” is the ultra-repetitive, ultra-catchy standout.
