Wednesday, April 16, 2008

ACL Lineup Announced Yesterday

So it's been well over a month since my last post, and for that I apologize. To be quite honest, there hasn't been an incredible amount of stuff to write about aside from a fantastic (as always) performance by The Hold Steady at Emo's a couple weeks back and an excellent release from Man Man. In fact, let's talk about that for a second.

Prior to the release of Rabbit Habits, I would describe Man Man to my friends as, "You know, like the type of shit that pirates sing when they're having a party." However, like Strawberry Jam did for Animal Collective last year, Habits propels Man Man into the upper echelons of the indie rock community. Lead singer Honus Honus calls this the band's "pop album," but that's using pop in a very relative sense of the word. He's not that far off, as there are hooks on the album that will stay in your head for days, if not for the melody for the wordplay, such as the Big Trouble" refrain, "You look like a man/But you talk like a fool/You strut like a stallion/But you fuck like a mule." On the sparse, piano-based "Doo Right," the audience gets a rare glimpse at Honus' sensitive side, allowing him to show that he can do more than just impersonate Captain Beefheart. However, the band's quirks are not entirely gone, by any means. "The Ballad of Butter Beans" begins with a xylophone melody which can only be described as "Looney Tunes-esque," "Mysteries of the Universe Unraveled" consists of nothing but fireworks being shot off in the middle of Philadelphia streets (which can be seen here at pitchfork.tv), and the album closes with two 7-minute+ epics. This album is not for everybody, but for fans of Tom Waits, Captain Beefheart, or anything with a gypsy flair, then this is an absolute gem.
Key Tracks: "Hurly/Burly," ""Harpoon Fever (Queequog's Playhouse)," "Top Drawer"

Now, on to ACL

Every year, I look forward to finding out who will be playing at the Austin City Limits festival. Though ACL is not on the same level as Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo, it has become a fairly formidable festival with at least one performance every year that would publicly defecate myself in order to see. A few years ago, it was the Pixies, two years ago the Flaming Lips, last year LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire. When the months of anticipation ceased yesterday, I was a little bit disappointed to find this year's lineup to be a bit lackluster. Even the usual staple Wilco is missing. However, I'll examine the highlights, in no particular order:

1. Gnarls Barkley: Though the The Odd Couple is no St. Elsewhere, there is not human being more soulful than Cee-Lo Green (he may be disqualified for this award, however, because he is not a soul man like the rest of us, but, in fact, a soul machine). If this year's performance proves to be anything like their ACL show two years ago, then we can look forward to awesome constumes, random covers, and hilarious stage banter from the soul machine himself.

2. Beck: Sure, The Information was absolutely terrible and the guy is a Scientologist, but we should not forget how much excellent music this guy made up until a couple of years ago. Though I've never seen it personally, Beck's live show has been highly touted for its energy and theatrics, and if we're all very lucky, then he might bust out some old-school Midnite Vultures dance moves for us.

3. Okkervil River: Riding high off of last year's excellent The Stage Names and recent stage performances with Roky Erikson and The New Pornographers, Okkervil River comes home to Austin at the apex of their career so far. I can't wait to see if they maintain their brutal live energy of their earlier career or if their trademark thrift-store suits will finally turn them into the professional musicians they've been threatening to become for years.

4. Vampire Weekend: I say this for pretty much every band at a festival, but VW wins this year's award for "Band I'm Pretty Excited About Seeing at ACL, But I'd SOOOOO Much Rather See Them in a Club Setting." Even still, if I'm able to get close enough, then their adorable Ivy League charm and cool tunes should be able to keep the Texas heat at bay, as they'll surely end up with a daytime slot.

5. The Kills: This is a band who will end up with a daytime slot, and their show will be a massive disappointment because of it. Hotel and VV are, in fact, evil vampires who want to kill you. Hopefully they'll play an aftershow to give people an idea of what a real Kills show is like.

6. Drive-By Truckers: This brilliant and under-appreciated southern rock outfit should strive in the festival setting due to their huge riffs and "Fill the truck up with High Life" attitude. Expect to be surrounded by lots of drunks and lots of flannel.

7. Man Man: Read the above review of their album and then look up pictures of their live show; supposedly a deadly combination. The only reason I'm not more excited about this ACL show is that they're coming next week with Yeasayer (also playing ACL) to play a club show.

8. M. Ward: Love the guy, but this could turn into a very boring sunburn.

So, those are 8 performances that I'm legitimately excited about, which I suppose is not that bad. However, all of the big acts are artists that can only be called "slightly exciting." The main act is the Foo Fighters, and I think that Dave Grohl is one of the baddest dudes on the planet, and they have a real knack for writing kick-ass singles, but I have this looming feeling that this huge setting will force them into an hour and a half of appeasing stupid people by resorting to their many lighter/cringe-worthy ballads. The remaining biggies -- David Byrne, John Fogerty, and Robert Plant -- are all former leaders of bands that I may claim innocent human life to see, but in whose solo output I have absolutely zero interest.

1 comment:

JMA said...

I think I got about fifteen consecutive words in this post...well done sir!