Deerhunter and Atlas Sound‘s Bradford Cox will be making his big screen debut in an upcoming AIDS drama titled The Dallas Buyers Club. But that’s not all. The frontman will be playing Jared Leto‘s lover, a cross-dresser who is drying of AIDS. Heavy.
With all the new music released these days, it’s hard to keep track of what is really good and what is pretty much a toss out. Some of the most major names in the industry are reworking their sound, collaborating, or mundanely creating the same old tune again. We looked at the newest releases coming out over the next couple weeks, and did you the favor of deciding what’s worth it and what’s getting panned in the reviews. We’ve got a list of the worst to the best albums this week (from nah… to yeah!), and some that fall in between:
Concert goers got their money’s worth at Seattle’s Moore Theatre show featuring Spoon with openers Micachu & the Shapes and Deerhunter. Britt Daniels, the lead singer and guitar player, swept up the audience the moment he walked on stage. He came out solo and began playing an acoustic version of “Me and the Bean,” from their first album with Merge Records, Girls can Tell. The lighting on the stage, for the moment, comprised of twinkle lights wrapped around and built into their gear. It was beautiful and unexpected.
Daniels followed the opener with a low-key version of “Mystery Zone,” from their newest album Transference with Eric Harvey on piano. The excitement could be felt as the crowd waited for more. Their gentle crescendo into a rock experience was genius. Their third song satisfied cravings for rock when the rest of the band-mates, Jim Eno on drums and Rob pope on Bass, joined the stage for “Written in Reverse.”
Turning in a slowly-building set of their rollicking and minimalist indie rock cross-bred with a Kinks-styled rock classicism, Spoon turned in an engaging performance early Sunday evening on the Coachella Main Stage, manically bouncing from the stripped and skeletal tracks from their new album Transference (the roiling “Written in Reverse”; the pulsing “Who Makes Your Money,” which featured Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox on guitar) to the full-bodied and horn-lined closer, “The Underdog,” from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.
What is it with summer and musicians frequently getting injured? Not only do mainstream acts get injuries but of course, indie artists do too – and they’re just as bad.
Street Boners and TV Carnage reported that Crystal Castles’ Alice Glass received a concussion at LA’s Hard Fest 2009. Although the police had canceled the event for a “hazard” status, it was actually one of the rave’s riot cops that gave Alice a kick in the head which is currently keeping her in the hospital.
Here’s BeatCrave’s video coverage of the last day at the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, May 30. Make sure you also watch the video coverage for day one, and day two.
The video features performances of Neil Young, Oneida, Deerhunter, Sonic Youth, Gang Gang Dance, DJ /rupture, Simian Mobile Disco, A-Trak, Zombie Zombie and DJ Mehdi. Enjoy!
Camerawork and video editing by Tiago Morelli
The ninth edition of the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona closes its doors today with a record of assistance of over 80,000 spectators, and a total of 171 performances. Check out our video coverage of day three.
Although I didn’t get to see everything, great things were said of emerging artists like Ezra Furman & The Harpoons, The Lions Constellation and Rosvita. However, I was able to watch the performances of The Bad Plus, Neil Young, Oneida, Deerhunter, Sonic Youth, Gang Gang Dance, DJ /rupture, Simian Mobile Disco, A-Trak, Zombie Zombie and DJ Mehdi.
Yay! Pitchfork Musical Festival 2009 is coming! Their website has announced July 17th – 19th as their official dates for the 2009 festival. Although the line-up hasn’t been announced yet, it should be pretty good based on the last two years. (Sonic Youth and Public Enemy? Hell yeah.) Pitchfork Music Festival is held in Chicago’s Union Park with just three stages. There are fewer stages but the line-up is rarely a let down. So for those of you who enjoy the smaller festivals, it may be the the one this summer! Tickets go on sale March 13th.
Check out these videos from last year’s festival via Pitchfork.TV below!
It’s that time of year again! Time for our favorite music magazines to start listing their top picks for 2008. We’ve recently got our hands on Pitchfork’s Top Album and Top Tracks of 2008 as well as Paste’s Top Live Music Acts on 2008.
Who earned top honors this year?
It looks like Cut Copy, Deerhunter, Fleet Foxes, and Portishead all made the top 10 lists for album and track of the year. While Tom Waits and Radiohead took top honors when it came to live performances. You think these lists were right on par or was someone left off you think deserves a space on one of the top picks lists?
Check out videos of Tom Waits and Radiohead after the break:
