By April 27, 2006
Sasquatch Music Festival
Geroge, Washingon May 26-28
By Jonny Lieberman
While most people dream of being one of those lucky few able to share a tent with blacked-out B-list Hollywood celebrities at the sweltering Coachella Valley and Arts Festival, there is option #2 for those seeking something a little less extravagant: The Sasquatch Music Festival in the great state of Washington. At this point, you might be asking yourself, a) Where is this great state of Washington? And/or b) is this “Sasquatch” thing a joke? Unfortunately, I cannot answer the first question. But don’t let the goofy name and goofy graphics fool you. Sasquatch promises to be one of the best festivals of the year. The beautiful Gorge Ampitheatre overlooks the majestic Columbia River (you probably remember the Columbia River from all those futile attempts at fording the river on The Orgeon Trail), and with a lineup featuring that includes Nine Inch Nails, Wolfmother, Beck, Death Cab For Cutie and Queens of the Stone Age, what more can you ask for?
Warped Tour
Various Cities and Dates
By Adrian Prieto
I have something to look forward to every summer. No matter where you are at, you will be within driving distance to a Warped Tour stop. Where else can you see countless bands all day long? On each stop there are usually 60+ plus bands on 6 or 7 stages, ranging from mainstream radio acts to small local bands. The acts are usually rock based: punk, pop-punk, emo, indie, alternative and now even include hardcore and screamo acts. To give you an idea of what to expect, this past summer included the likes of: Fall Out Boy, The Starting Line, My Chemical Romance, All-American Rejects, and Motion City Soundtrack. 2004 was especially solid: Taking Back Sunday, The Early November, New Found Glory, Alkaline Trio and Thursday (on Warped ’06 as well). Although you might be struck by flying objects (one which gave me a huge bloody gash on my forehead), at least you’ll be there for your favorite bands.
Pitchfork Music Festival
Chicago, Illinois July 29-30
By Tricia Aung
Hosted by the excessively pretentious Pitchfork Media, the two-day Pitchfork Music Festival offers performances that are sure to please anyone appreciative of indie music. The lineup, meticulously Pitchfork-approved, features 38 bands who will perform in Chicago’s Grant Park. First day performances not to be missed include the high-energy Ted Leo & the Pharmacists and the hilariously satirical Art Brut. Tapes ‘n Tapes, Chin Up Chin Up, and Mission of Burma are sure to provide additional music ear candy on the second day.
Movement
Detroit, Michigan May 27-29
By Aaron Tate
The fourth edition of Movement: The Detroit Electronic Music Festival will feature an array of world-class producers and DJs from across the spectrum of dance music: Krikor, Superpitcher, and Alex Under (minimal techno); Dandy Jack, Pantytec (microhouse); Mark Broom, Josh Wink (techno); Markus Guenter (ambient); Klimek (downtempo); and others. Living legends/pioneers of house and techno will also be well represented: Rob Acid, Daniel Bell, Derrick Carter, Carl Craig, Roy Davis Jr., Richie Hawtin, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson. While the inclusion of Photek may warm the hearts of junglists everywhere, the appearance by MC/DJ team “Planet of Drums” almost certainly will not (they are awful). A dozen label showcases (e.g., Kompakt, Ghostly International), as well as a tribute to J-Dilla, are also on offer. Unless you prefer an all-access VIP pass ($200), the price is hard to beat: absolutely free.
Summerfest
Milwaukee, Wisconsin June 29 – July 9
By Tricia Aung
Contrary to the non-Midwesterner’s belief, Wisconsin is not just home to cheese and cow-tipping. For the past 38 years, Milwaukee has proudly hosted Summerfest, the world’s largest annual summer music festival. Summerfest is truly original, but can best be described as a week and a half of Slope Days, with a little more intoxication and a little less slope.
From emerging artists to music legends, Summerfest features over 700 performances over an 11-day period. Although the complete line-up has yet to be revealed, confirmed headliners include Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Mary J. Blige and Kenny Chesney. Other noteworthy performers include Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Jupiter Sunrise, and the Dresden Dolls.
Summerfest additionally offers plenty of enticing food and shopping opportunities that highlight the local community. Summerfest is a worthy destination for any summer road trip. After all, who could pass up seeing Kenny Chesney singing about sexy tractors?
Dave Matthews Band and Others
New York City, New York August 5-6
By Megan Altman
Dave Matthews Band is going to be back again this summer jamming out on Randall’s Island in New York City! The great line up does not end here, as Gov’t Mule will be performing on the main stage on Saturday, while David Gray will be performing on Sunday. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones will be performing both evenings on the main stage and Slightly Stoopid, Tea Leaf Green, and Yonder Mountain String will be performing on the second stage both days. This concert is hot and has often been known as Dave’s best performance all year round. Regular seating is already sold out, so don’t wait any longer to see a great concert this summer. Bring your friends, buy lawn tickets, sit outside, and “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.”
Weenie Roast
Los Angeles, California May 13
By Claire Readhead
May 13, 2006 is the Weenie Roast’s fourteenth annual concert. For those of you not from So-Cal this is a famous KROQ sponsored concert that features the hippest latest alternative rock bands in one blowout venue. Basically, it is amazing, and as far as I know, the Weenie Roast name comes from the prodigious amount of hot dogs sold to soak up the copious cups of flat sun-warmed beer consumed at this event. If your exam schedule lets you off the hook to head down to Los Angeles for this year’s concert you’ll catch Motley Crue, Audioslave, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, and The Killers, just to name a few. Bring sun-block, Advil, water and a good pair of dancing shoes because it’s going to be a long rocking day, and a long walk back to the parking lot.
Bonnaroo
Manchester, Tennessee June 16-18
By Jared Wolfe
What the hell were the producers of Bonnaroo thinking when they decided to have the music and arts festival take place on June 16-18? Have they no sympathy for those recent college grads who planned on smoking pounds of weed during the three day festival, but would be forced intro a reluctant abstinence due to drug testing when beginning their job mid-summer?
Cruelty or carelessness aside, Bonnaroo 2006 promises to be another journey into drug-filled, indie rock Shangri-La. It will cost a fortune, but Radiohead will be co-headlining, and how often does one get to experience them live? Tom Petty will also be co-headlining, and how many more years does one have to experience him alive?
Bonnaroo will also feature a plethora of indie and pseudo-indie rock superstars, such as Elvis Costello, Bright Eyes, Ben Folds, Medeski Martin & Wood, Stephen Malkmus, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Devendra Banhart, Dungen, Andrew Bird, Common, Sonic Youth and about 65 more of the best bands in the world.
Lollapalooza
Chicago, Illinois August 4 – 6
By Elliot Singer
For those of us whose summers aren’t planned around making it to Bonnaroo, the Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago might just be the answer. Into hip-hop? Chicago natives Kanye West and Common are there, as well as the average ensemble Blackalicious and the gravelly-voiced, serenading M.C. Lyrics Born. A nice treat is Lady Sovereign, who shares company with Londoners like Dizzee Rascal and M.I.A. Indie kids will find themselves particularly at home in Grant Park: everyone from the founding fathers (Wilco, Built To Spill, Broken Social Scene and their member’s band Stars and lead singer Feist, as well as The Flaming Lips and The New Pornographers) to talented charisma (Go! Team, Of Montreal, The Rapture) to some personal, smaller-name favorites (Midlake, Calexico, Iron and Wine) will each take their turn on Lollapalooza’s eight stages.
Intonation Festival
Chicago, Illinois June 24-25
By Natasha Pickowicz
Chicago’s Intonation Festival is co-curated by Vice Records, featuring many of their signed acts (The Streets, Bloc Party, The Stills, Chromeo, Annie, The Boredoms) as well as Robert Pollard (of indie granddaddies Guided By Voices), U.K.’s premier grime MC Kano and grime-lite princess Lady Sovereign, and San Francisco’s spazzy post-punkers Erase Errata. A steal at $35 for both days.
GrassRoots Festival
Trumansburg, New York July 20 – 23
By Elliot Singer
Although the GrassRoots Festival of Song and Dance doesn’t feature the headlining acts of bigger festivals, it does offer a glimpse of the eccentric performing arts scene of upstate New York. The music acts tend to be folk and bluegrass, and bands like Sim Redmond, Crow Greenspun, Donna the Buffalo, and John Brown’s Body might ring some bells. But GrassRoots also features a little reggae, funk, and zydeco too, like Thousands of One and Preston Frank. The scene, I’ve heard, is really what GrassRoots the legendary reputation it has, something only upstaters like us have grown to know and love.
By April 27, 2006
Wu-Tang had at least two geniuses in it. That’s one more than most seminal groups can ever admit to. Some would point to the Clan’s high numbers of membership and say that the percentages were tipped in their favor against a group of three or four. To that I would say that, pshaw, Lynnard Skynnrd has had about 4,000 rotating group members, and they still post a whopping zero in the brilliance department. Perhaps that’s why all of underground rap is still trying to find its way out of the 36 Chambers. One, for sure, was Rza, who is without a doubt the most influential producer in hip-hop over the past 15 years, and whose left-field, dusty, b-movie beats did to hip-hop expectations what Ja-Rule did to his career by feuding with 50 Cent. Contrary to ignorant belief, the second genius is not the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard or Method Man. There may have been no father to his style, but Dirty’s post-Wu career, or lack thereof, should speak to his reliance on the group dynamic for his effect. And Meth, well, he just sells deodorant and scores sweet cameos on Limp Bizkit albums. No, that other genius is one of the group’s more mercurial members, and the one who has had, outside of RZA, the most artistic success: Ghostface Killah.
Perhaps Ghostface’s success owes to the fact that, in his best moments, he always had RZA at his side, laying down rhythms as solid as concrete while Ghostface floated somewhere above like an angel on PCP. There was a theory (well, okay, RZA had a theory) that only RZA’s beats could provide the necessary backing to Ghostface’s utterly cerebral stream of non-sequiturs and psychotic eruptions. How funny, then, that at the moment of their parting, Ghostface would sound all the more precocious, energized and vital.
Somewhere early on during Fishscale, the gruffy voice of a boxing trainer aping Mickey Goldmill intones “You ain’t been hungry since Supreme Clientele!” and in a way it’s true – I don’t think there is any such thing as a mediocre Ghostface album, but by The Pretty Toney Album he had certainly found a comfort pocket. Such cheeky self-deprecation is more than just mere skit fodder, though, and Ghostface seems to have internalized a fear of his own reticence. As a result, he comes out throwing verbal haymakers on nearly every track, and Fishscale should be more than enough to knock hip-hop on its ass, at least until the next Ghostface album drops. Hell, by track four he’s already declared himself “The Champ,” so we should expect that the fight between Fishscale and the rest of the medium will be brief and brutal.
Pulling on a host of producers as diverse as Just Blaze, Pete Rock and the late J Dilla, Fishscale lets loose an absolute carnival of sounds, treating decades like hop-scotch squares and pounding its pump-action high tops between them as fast as it can. No rapper sounds more eloquent over entirely esoteric seventies samples, and Ghostface’s production crew matches him step for step. “Kilo” sounds like it was pulled off the editing room floor of Sweet, Sweet Back, mashing stoned funk and Blaxploitation stomp while Ghostface and fellow Wu member Raekwon enumerate on the nuances of the crack game. If Sly Stone had been born 30 years later, this is what he would sound like. On the aforementioned “The Champ,” Ghostface demands that all five boroughs “stand up” and then proceeds to send millions flying prostrate in every direction with an absolutely pulsating beat of throbbing horns and bawdy guitars. There hasn’t been a hip-hop song so deliriously exciting since “Hey Ya!” and if there is any true knockout punch on the album, this is certainly it. I’m not sure what exactly happens on the track, mostly because every time it plays I feel like I either want to dance or perish in a high-speed chase. But at some point, Ghostface creates a rhyming couplet that ends with the word “hysterectomy,” and I think that alone should nominate this for song of the year. “9 Mili Bros.” brings back the whole Wu-Tang family, and matches every bit of “The Champ’s” exuberance.
Ghostface’s true genius lies in his ability to make the utterly insane and nonsensical sound positively profound. A look at a lyrics sheet for this or any Ghostface album will bear more resemblance to the diary of a dementia patient than anything else. Ghostface drops obscure cultural references like he’s T.S. Elliot, and then sucks any causal logic out of his lines by throwing words together that just don’t belong. Declaring his brand of rap as “architect music,” Ghostface makes note of “gorilla medallions” and points out that a friend’s shoe has a “big Frankenstein hole” before having run-ins with Spongebob and enduring religious epiphany. He may be the only person on earth who can get away with this kind of stuff, and Ghostface absolutely revels in his lyrical freedom. This kind of architecture may not pass at Rand, but there’s not doubt that it will stand for years to come.
Maybe five years ago, Fishscale would not have seemed so vital, but the sad fact is that the rap world needs an album like this more than ever, and its delirious movements should be enough to satisfy any fans palette for the time being. For an album that could have easily faded into the halcyon past, Fishscale is decidedly forward-looking, and in a genre that continually digs itself into its own hole, Ghostface remains absolutely essential.