The Agit Reader

Pitchfork Music Festival 2016
Preview

July 14th, 2016  |  by Matt Slaybaugh

Pitchfork Music Festival

Catharsis, virtuosity, spectacle, escape. Pitchfork’s annual Chicago festival, at its best, offers heightened moments of all four, and in the most prized of moments, all four at once. Here are five acts per day that promise moments well worth remembering, and a good chance of something unforgettable. Check back next week to read my review of what went down.

Friday, July 15

Car Seat Headrest

With the extended narrative conceits of his songs, singer-songwriter Will Toledo offers catharsis in the literal form: blood-letting, throat-ripping, climactic expulsions of emotion. If the band’s live show lives up to the melodrama of their records, this will be an early highlight of the weekend.

Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks’ P4k debut was marred, perhaps, by singer/guitarist Cadien Lake James being confined to a wheelchair. Actually, it was an example of limits breeding invention, as he rose to the occasion and turned the set into a demonstration of his ferocious work ethic. I hope they’re half as good with all limbs intact.

Mick Jenkins
Hip-hop almost always rules on the Blue Stage. When a hungry and skilled MC with something to prove steps up, the virtuosity itself can be a spectacle. Mick Jenkins has all the necessary chops to turn this into a “yeah, I saw him back when” story like so many (e.g. Freddie Gibbs, Kendrick Lamar, Danny Brown) that have come before.

The Range
James Hinton offers virtuosity and wicked creativity. This will probably be “just” a DJ set, meaning there won’t be much to look at. So it will be a chance to relish the journey and Hinton’s particular viewpoint, as well as the way he juxtaposes beats, songs, and samples. Nobody combines attitude and atmosphere quite like The Range, for whom the surprises are more than half the fun.

Shamir
The Blue Stage after dark is where the weirdest kids in the park go to get loose. Shamir offers a couple of temperaments: one an ironic take on electronic R&B; the other a surprisingly tender bedroom recordist. His vulnerable persona makes him the kind of artist to whom people get very personally attached, so expect a set that offers the full range, but definitely a party. Be prepared for some real emotion to be on display, too, (i.e. teenagers losing their shit).

Saturday, July 16

Kevin Morby
This is some good programming. Morby’s songs are by turns grounded and expansive, but rarely designed to raise the blood pressure any more than a small cup of coffee on a Saturday morning. That kid who passes out under the stage will have a perfectly pleasant way to wake up and get ready for the festive day. For those already awake, it’ll be great to get out of one’s head and listen to Morby’s tunes lift off in the sunny live setting.

Savages

Want catharsis? Savages are like a Cassavetes film transubstantiated into the most urgent band of the 2010s. And yet they remain cooly unaffected by all the heat they throw off. I fully expect them to burn Union Park to the ground and calmly stride over the ashes of the grateful throng.

Blood Orange
I missed Dev Hynes’ set at Pitchfork in 2013, but I can tell you he’s having a bit of a moment right now. His new record, Freetown Sound, is excellent, and of all the artists on the main stages, he’s the one most convincingly poised to make the weekend relevant to the wider world.

Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals

Am I telling you to skip out on Brian Wilson doing Pet Sounds? I’m not sure, but I have watched a few videos of Anderson .Paak and his band, and I can assure you this will be something spectacular. And when you take into account the guestlists on Paak’s albums (including a few scheduled for this very fest), there’s a good chance of seeing some positive R&B worth bragging about.

Holly Herndon
The very moment you determine whether Sufjan Stevens is going big or low-key, rush over to Blue Stage and try to figure out Holly Herndon. She’s a PhD with a penchant for cutting up vocal samples in a way that’s as bewitching as it is mystifying. Her set will be a great escape, no doubt. Or you could sit and listen closely while you wonder how she does it.

Sunday, July 17

Kamasi Washington

Mr. Washington’s album, The Epic, is easily the most important (and amazing) jazz record of the last 30 years. And his band, the Next Step (two drummers, two upright bass players, keyboard players, three horns players, a pianist, and a vocalist) is straight fire. This is one of your best chances this weekend to see a genius musician (under the age of 70) at work.

Thundercat
Here’s the other genius whose fingers will be flying on Sunday afternoon. (And if we make a sacrifice to the right gods, we might even see the two onstage together.) The truth is, I don’t know what to expect here, and it could be a complete mess. But there’s something about seeing a real prodigy in person, someone who doesn’t just make music but breathes it in and out. The virtuoso bassist Thundercat is one of those. He’s also totally weird, so I can’t wait to see what he’s wearing.

The Hotelier
I know very little about this band, but their latest record, Goodness, exudes passion in excess. The story on the blogs is that they’re aching to break out of the emo ghetto. Well, they’ve got a primo set time on the intimate Blue Stage, and the kids who like straight-ahead rock music will be very little served elsewhere this weekend. (Hotelier, this is your day, seize it if you can.) Success or failure, it’ll be fun to watch.

Miguel
I just bet he’s going to go for it. Miguel has the second to last set of the festival, performing as the sun starts to slowly set. There’s a likelihood of high romance, and if he brings it, there are a lot of new fans to be made. And if he has any sort of competitive spirit, I’d love to see him make things difficult for the festival closer…

FKA Twigs
When FKA Twigs took the Blue Stage in 2014, I was instantly mesmerized. There’s a reason she started as a “Video Girl”—it’s impossible to take your eyes off of her. More significantly, she has an incredible sense of the theatrical, and a solid handle on her own charisma and appeal. Pitchfork has given her a huge stage and a captive audience that’s used to seeing people like Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper reach for the stars on Sunday night. I have no doubt she’s capable, and I can’t wait to see what kind of drama she has in store for us.

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