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[title]RECOMMENDED: See all FYF coverage
My Bloody Valentine
Origin: Dublin, Ireland
It's the reunion that keeps on giving. In 2008 the revered and impossibly infuential Valentines—led by notoriously eccentric guitarist Kevin Shields—reformed, and late last year they finally produced new material in the form of an album, m b v. Originally formed in 1984 as a sort of Cramps/Birthday Party hybrid, the outfit eventually made their name with a distinctive use of saturated reverb, pitch-bending and distortion, along with the infamous deafening volume at which they played live. Their 1991 LP Loveless was a benchmark, opening the flood gates to the shoegazing likes of Ride, Slowdive, Chapterhouse et al. MBV, however, are the real magisterial deal.
Download Loveless on Amazon Download Isn't Anything on Amazon
MGMT
Origin: Brooklyn, NY
Led by Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngarden, Brooklyn's terrifically funky, psychedelic pop band MGMT come to SoCal. After a smash-hit with their debut album Oracular Spectacular, MGMT backed away from infectious synth-pop and have since been exploring the outer reaches of trippy rock. Their new self-titled album, in fact, sounds like it might sound a bit like a catchier take on early Genesis, with a sonic sensibility which could set MGMT alongside the Flaming Lips and Animal Collective on the top tier of freaky US indie.
Download Congratulations on Amazon Download Oracular Spectacular [Explicit] on Amazon
Beach House
Origin: Baltimore, MD
The Baltimore duo released Bloom, its fourth album of stunning textured dream pop, earlier last year. This FYF appearance may be anything but intimate, but Beach House, having truly bloomed recently, has the potential to transform the larger venue into a hazy bedroom of its own design.
Photograph: © Elias Tahan Solange
Origin: Houston, TX
In the past three years, Solange has made some surprising choices. The 26-year-old covered the Dirty Projectors, sang with of Montreal and, most notably, started collaborating with Dev Hynes, who gained notoriety in London punk-funk trio Test Icicles. Hynes' fingerprints can be found all over Solange’s new seven-song EP, TRUE, where her nimble tones relax on a bed of twinkling guitars and languorous bass grooves. With a full-length penciled in for next year, it looks like Solange is finally carving out a niche of her own, just left of center.
Download TRUE on Amazon Download SoL-Angel And The Hadley Street Dreams on Amazon
Yo La Tengo
Origin: Hoboken, NJ
A thread of ambiguity runs throughout Fade, the serene but unsettled 13th album from indie-rock cornerstone Yo La Tengo. It’s a lot of uncertainty for a band that released its first LP in 1986, but it shows that the trio is still searching, refusing to coast on what it already has figured out. At their Saturday set, the band will play its patented mix of hushed vocals, crunchy guitars, insistent drumming and unmistakable sincerity.
Photograph: Will Govus Washed Out
Origin: Perry, GA
The man who arguably kicked off chillwave (but don't blame him), Ernest Greene is best known for the theme song to Portlandia. His Washed Out project looks to shake the blissfull synthesizer shtick with an array of 50 instruments in what sounds like a lush, tropical headtrip. Perfect for a summer SoCal fest.
Download Life Of Leisure on Amazon Download Within And Without on Amazon
Photograph: Ruvan Wijesooriya Holy Ghost!
Origin: Brooklyn, NY
Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser, otherwise known by the marginally sacrilegious moniker Holy Ghost!, have paid their dues: They spent years working their fingers to the bone in DFA’s back-room studio-sweatshop, toiling away as the label’s in-house musicians. After a series of absolutely fabulous remixes for artists ranging from Moby and Jazzanova to In Flagranti and MGMT, the duo’s 2010 Static on the Wire EP blew away fans of hook-stuffed electronic disco. And now? Well, the guys are bona fide rock stars, with a full band and (we presume) a bevy of groupies just begging for more.
Download Holy Ghost! (Deluxe Edition) on Amazon Download Static On The Wire on Amazon
Photograph: Jessi Rose The Melvins
Origin: Montesano, WA
Though they're turning 30 this year, Melvins show no signs of slowing down; in fact, the dynamic alt-metal duo of Buzz Osborne and Dale Crover is pushing harder than ever. Having played every U.S. state (plus D.C.) in a record-breaking 51 days last year in its "Lite" trio incarnation, the band is back in pulverizing double-drum quartet mode (featuring fill-in bassist Jeff Pinkus of the Butthole Surfers) for this FYF gig.
Download Everybody Loves Sausages on Amazon Download Houdini on Amazon
Kurt Vile and the Violators
Origin: Philadelphia, PA
The Philadelphian troubadour—and The War On Drugs collaborator—and his crew hit SoCal, peddling lo-fi psych and an echo-sodden, agreeably eccentric blend of folk and rock, as per 2011 album Smoke Ring for My Halo. Expect to hear new tunes from Vile's April release, Wakin on a Pretty Daze.
Download Wakin On A Pretty Daze (Amazon Exclusive Version) on Amazon Download Smoke Ring For My Halo (Amazon Exclusive Version) on Amazon
Photograph: Rory Earnshaw Jonathan Richman
Origin: Natick, MA
A Jonathan Richman show is always cause for excitement, particularly in the last few years, as he lightens his Dylan-like touring schedule. A few decades after he helped start punk rock with the Modern Lovers, Richman remains one of the country's most entertaining live acts—a real old-fashioned song and dance man. You'll usually find him in the company of drummer Tommy Larkins and his own acerbic wit.
Download I, Jonathan on Amazon Download Because Her Beauty Is Raw And Wild on Amazon
Les Savy Fav
Origin: New York, NY
Veteran, smart and self-aware quartet LSF formed at the fertile Rhode Island School of Design, their pigeonhole-defying oeuvre having variously embraced hardcore, punk-funk, emo, art-punk and math-rock and whose limited success never quite matched that of the numerous bands whose careers they surely helped kick start. The band has an exquisite sound, filled to the brim with rich bass tones and vigorous post-punk percussion. Look forward to the usual yet unpredictable antics of the frontman Tim Harrington's delirious performance.
Download Root For Ruin (Bonus Version) on Amazon Download Inches on Amazon
Shlohmo
Origin: Buckinghamshire, England
Born in 1983, this British beatboxing artist, composer, teacher and director has been dropping beats since he was a teenager. Being fluent in both Hebrew and Arabic brings a unique style to Shlomo's music, and since first tasting the spotlight in 2004—when he collaborated with Bjork on her all-vocal song, Oceana—Shlomo has been on the scene, sometimes with his Vocal Orchestra, the world's first beatboxing choir.
Download Laid Out - EP on Amazon Download Vacation - EP on Amazon
!!!
Origin: Sacramento, CA
The punctuation-named band was formed in 1996 from members of other bands such as the Yah Mos, Black Liquorice and Popesmashers. Though most people pronounce the band's name aloud as Chk Chk Chk, the members apparently say that it can be pronounced by repeating thrice any monosyllabic sound. We say choose a less high maintenance name—but the tunes are solid, so we'll cluck like dummies.
Download Thr!!!er on Amazon Download Strange Weather, Isn't It? on Amazon
Photograph: Doug Seymour Baroness
Origin: Savannah, GA
Baroness hails from Savannah, close to Mastodon’s Atlanta stomping grounds, and shares with its Georgia sibling a penchant for breathtaking melodies and brute force. Frontman John Baizley bellows over meaty hooks and monster fills, but these metal heads are romantics at heart.
Download Yellow & Green on Amazon Download March to the Sea on Amazon
Poolside
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles-based duo Poolside are often described as "daytime disco." This basically means pop disco, with happy, casual lyrics and melodic, retro synths—which, for an outdoor, SoCal summer concert sounds pretty damn good. Expect to hear lackadaisical, groovy tracks from last year's Pacific Standard Time.
Download Quarterlife Crisis on Amazon Download Pacific Standard Time on Amazon
unknown Touche Amore
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
This LA-based, post-hardcore band is composed of lead vocalist Jeremy Bolm, guitarists Clayton Stevens and Nick Steinhardt, with Tyler Kirby on bass guitar and drummer Elliot Babin. They're part of the "screamo" revivial, so bring your earplugs to Sunday's set.
Download Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me on Amazon Download Touche Amore [Explicit] on Amazon
Classixx
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Previously known as Young Americans, this neo-disco duo recently dropped the slick Hanging Gardens album on the unfailingly cool label Innovative Leisure. Classixx’s remix work often features vocals that give the music that nu disco sound, and their newest tracks, which you're most likely to hear during Sunday's set, are more instrumental then Classixx tracks of yore.
Download Hanging Gardens on Amazon Download Holding on on Amazon
Photograph: Brad Elterman Mac Demarco
Origin: Montreal, Canada
How quickly success has latched itself onto Canadian singer and songwriter Mac DeMarco. Of course, 22-year-old DeMarco deserves every bit of the attention. He’s prolific (debuting his first album, Rock and Roll Night Club, in 2012, then following it up with another gorgeous full-length, 2, in the same year), talented (think delightfully lackadaisical rock with old-soul lyricism) and entirely lacking in pretension. DeMarco just emanates a rush of freewheeling lightheartedness when he plays, so look forward to a happy Sunday set.
Download Rock and Roll Night Club on Amazon Download 2 on Amazon
Photograph: Aliya Naumoff Glasser
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles-based Glasser, a.k.a. Cameron Mesirow, has an experimental, Joni Mitchell-meets-Bjork kind of sound. Her contributions to the ethereal pop canon haven't gone unnoticed, with 2009's debut EP Apply and 2010's full length album, Ring. Meslrow's dad is a member of Blue Man Group in Berlin, and her mom is one of the founders of new-wave group Human Sexual Response, so it really does seem like she was born for this.
Photograph: © Andrew Volk How To Dress Well
Origin: Cologne, Germany
He plays covers of Ashanti and Janet Jackson and boasts a heart-breaking falsetto that would make Frank Ocean jealous, but don't call Tom Krell an R&B artist. The singer-producer behind How To Dress Well fuses emotive vocals, chronicling depression and loss, with ethereal sonics that owe as much to experimental artists like William Basinski as they do to Timbaland.
Download Total Loss on Amazon Download Love Remains on Amazon
Photograph: Courtesy Enabler PR Chelsea Wolfe
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Buzzy SoCal singer Chelsea Wolfe offers an improbable mix of scrappy outsider folk and black-metal atmosphere that works despite long odds. Check out her alluringly creepy Apokalypsis for proof, and expect to hear from her newie, Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs, during her Sunday set.
Download Unknown Rooms: A Collection of Acoustic Songs on Amazon Download Apokalypsis on Amazon
Photograph: Angel Ceballos The Orwells
Origin: Elmhurst, IL
So far, the story of the Orwells is about as idyllic as they come, especially for a garage band that convened when most of its members were in their freshman year…of high school. The band is just coming off its first major tour in support of its debut album, Remember When, released last summer on Autumn Tone Records. "Sounding real raunchy and shit," say the Orwells of themselves, and they’re not wrong. Fans of early Black Lips and general extreme lo-fi garage rock will approve of this energetic Illinois five-piece.
Download Remember When on Amazon Download Other Voices EP on Amazon
Photograph: Denee Petracek Mikal Cronin
Origin: San Francisco, CA
Mikal Cronin mostly recalls the scruffier guitar bubblegum of the '90s—Matthew Sweet, Sloan, Velvet Crush, the Lemonheads, etc. You know the sound: everyman lyrics, huge bittersweet choruses about broken relationships, the occasional woo-ooh-ooh. Touches of piano and blown-out acoustic guitar add a fresh ripple, but Cronin is a student of Guitar Pop 101. Still, his gets an A+ for his new MCII.
Photograph: Courtesy of Tell All Your Friends Guards
Origin: New York, NY
You know Guards frontman Richie Follin, even if you’ve never heard of the guy. He’s the singer-songwriter behind the Willowz, a garage-punk act that director Michel Gondry tapped for the soundtracks of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep. Guards, which includes keyboardist Kaylie Church and Willowz drummer Loren Humphrey, has already landed support slots on tours with indie heavyweights like the Joy Formidable and Menomena, all before their debut full-length was even released. The trio has plenty of connections, apparently, and its indie-pop aesthetic is on the nose. That keen sense of culture carries over to the band’s highly stylized songs, which run the gamut from guitar-driven anthems to retro-pop cool.
Download In Guards We Trust on Amazon Download Guards on Amazon
Pional
Origin: Madrid, Spain
Pional, born Miguel Barros, is a Spanish producer, mixer and electronic musician who has remixed songs from the likes of the xx, Delorean and Chairlift. He provides the vocals and all instrumentation on his own tracks, and plays the drum machine at his live shows. He's a bit of a Renaissance man, which you can see for yourself at his Sunday set.
Download A Moot Point on Amazon Download Last House On The Left EP on Amazon
Fear of Men
Origin: Brighton, England
Brighton, U.K. quartet Fear of Men—two cute boys, two sweet girls—traffics in exquisitely dreamy, female-voiced indie pop with just a hint of gothy gloom around the edges. Hope to hear tracks from their latest 12 inch, Early Fragments, which was released this past February on Kanine Records.
Download Early Fragments on Amazon Download Green Sea Single on Amazon
Photograph: Ryan Russell Lemuria
Origin: Buffalo, NY
Buffalo outfit Lemuria offsets twee guy-girl vocal interplay with surprisingly tight, muscular guitar pop. Why can't all indie rock kick this much ass? Also, a fun fact to impress your friends with during the band's Sunday set: Lemuria is the name of a hypothetical "lost land" variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Far out.
Download The Distance Is So Big on Amazon Download Pebble on Amazon
Antwon
Origin: San Jose, CA
Antwon turned heads last year with End of Earth, which paired debaucherous rhymes and smooth, radio-ready beats. His style of hip hop is eclectic and grassroots—he's all for file-sharing and Internet culture.
FYF 2013 lineup: Sunday bands (slide show)
Check out all the bands playing Sunday sets on August 25 at FYF 2013.
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