Mr. Bird never ceases to amaze

Andrew Bird hasn't been touring around too much lately if you haven't noticed, but that doesn't mean he's not hard at work. Mr. Bird has been hard at work on his next album and writing about the songwriting procces for the New York Times! Now that's rather impressive. I just leanred about his endevour in the latest newsletter. Here's the direct quote from Andrea (the wonderful lady who keeps us all informed about what Andrew is doing)

As I have mentioned, Andrew is hard at work in the studio on his next album. He is writing about the songwriting process for the New York Times and received his very first NYT byline today for his first installment for the blog “Measure for Measure” … Read all about it here: http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/ - and check back there every few weeks for more updates…

If you didn't know, Andrew Bird recently released a new EP titled Soldier On. It's quite exceptional. I'd highly reccomend picking up a copy.

Summer is on the horizon

Even though there is still traces of snow on the ground, it is clear that summer is in the distance. Two things brought this to my attention: the fact that everyone is sick (more a sign of spring coming which will then be followed shortly by summer because we all know how short Chicago springs are) and that lineups for summer music festivals are being announced. As you hopefully noticed below, Lolla has begun the long process of announcing it's lineup and releasing tickets and now the next best festival has begun to announce their lineup as well. Of course I'm speaking of Pitchfork. Last years Pitchfork was amazing (although I'm told it was nothing compared to the year prior). Here's the initial lineup (there are always add ons)

Friday, July 18:Pitchfork Music Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties present Don't Look Back

Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back+ more, to be announced

Saturday, July 19:

Animal Collective

!!!

Vampire Weekend

Dizzee Rascal

No Age

Atlas Sound

Fleet Foxes

+ many more!

Sunday, July 20:

Spiritualized

M. Ward

Boris

Extra Golden

El Guincho

+ many more!

Just like last year, this year features a wide gamut of genres and is three days (it used to only be two days). The first day is fashioned off of last years by which I mean they're bringing back classic groups (last year there were three so I imagine they'll do the same this year) to perform their opus magnums in their entirety. The first artist to be announced for this day as you can see is Public Enemy. That should be an incredible experience.

I'm unfamiliar with many of the other bands which will mean I'll be doing a lot of research between now and July 18th (the first day of the festival). I have faith in Pitchfork so I assume that many of the bands I haven't heard of will be stellar, but at the same time I am a little disappointed. I wish there were a few more big names, but on the other hand I love festivals so much because I get to find new music. My disappointment is certainly premature though because many more bands are yet to be announced.

As far as the artists I do know, I'm very excited for them. This short list would include Public Enemy, Animal Collective (who I was recently introduced to), Vampire Weekend, and M. Ward. I've seen !!! (yes, that is a band and it's pounced by saying any three one syllable words but most commonly known as Chick Chick Chick) before and I was unimpressed. The music just wasn't interesting to me. Despite the robust amount of energy and stage presence, I didn't enjoy them, but I may end up checking them out at the festival just because they may have changed in two years time.

I forgot to talk about the actual acquiring of the tickets. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (or rather today) Wednesday March 12th at 12 pm. There are three kinds of tickets that you can purchase. They are three day passes ($65), two day passes which get you into Saturday and Sunday ($50), and individual day passes ($30). I personally recommend the three day pass because this an incredible music festival and I guarantee you will find something you like every day. Even when you're not listening to music there are always fun little things to do like shop through the booths selling vinyls, get free stuff, and eat delicious food.

We'll just have to wait and see what else those amazing fokes over at Pitchfork can come up with. I must say I'm certainly excited. This should be a definite event to look forward to for any music lover who lives in the Chicago area or is willing to make the trek up to the Windy City. I hope to see you there!

Out with the old, in with the new

Over the years I've accumulated a large amount of Cd's, DVDs, video games, and books that I simply don't listen to, play, read, or watch. I assume many of you are in the same boat as me. Until recently, they just sat around collecting dust and taking up space. Fortunately I found this website called Swaptree.com. Here's the URL. I just got my account last weekend and I've already made two trades. I highly recommend this site.

Breaking Lolla news!

Sadly, the first set of tickets for Lollapalooza have come and gone, but have no fear because more on their way. That's not the breaking news though. Two headlining acts have been confirmed for this years Lolla: Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails! Don't believe me? Then go check out Metromix's website. It's legit and I couldn't be more excited. Hurray!

Read a book!

A friend of mine showed me this silly video. It's quite funny. Basically it's just a satirical video about rap today. Enjoy.

Lost & Found

I was checking out Post Secret the other day and I found this interesting video/website. Watch the video for more information, but basically the website is a place where people post pictures from cameras/memory sticks that they find. The goal is to reunite people with their lost memories (pictures). If you've lost your camera, I'd recommend checking out the site. It's quite new and already they've reunited people and their pictures.

Live: Girl Talk

Thanks to many different things I'm involved in, I haven't really done a real post in quite some time. Here's my review of the Girl Talk show I attended recently.

Girl Talk is one of the most amazing performers I have ever seen. The show he put on was possibly one of the best I have ever attended. The fact that it was at the Metro and I was in the front up against the stage (they took down the barricade for the show) only a few feet away from Girl Talk made it that much more incredible. Essentially the entire night was a 3 hour long dance party. You could dance or at least move to all three acts and the entire Metro was packed. Sadly in the mass chaos that accompanied the crazy dancing I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. The picture above is just an example of the splendid chaos of a Girl Talk show.

All three acts were one man acts. The first act was this fellow by the name of Lord of the Yum Yum. Basically his only instrument was his voice. He used a loop peddle to create layer upon layer of vocal tracks. The final product was quite cool. I'd like to check out his recorded material some time.

The second act was Dan Deacon. As is custom with Mr. Deacon, he played from a table in the audience. This worked to my disadvantage because I was right up against the stage, but I had no trouble dancing to the sounds he put out. I think his recorded stuff is ok. I like other artists in his genre a bit better such as Girl Talk and E-603. I'm not criticizing his live performance though. You can't really hear the lyrics to his songs as they get drowned out by the bass, but that was alright with me. My favorite part of his set was this flashing green skull that was right above his table.

Then of course, there was Girl Talk. Like I said before, he was phenomenal. He came out wearing a sideways baseball cap, sweatshirt, and sweatpants all in white. As the night progressed, he took off layer after layer until he was down to just his boxers. That's just what he does. His mashups were stellar as usual. His set was about half Night Ripper (his most recent album) songs and freshly mixed songs. Not a single person could resist the enticing beats that Girl Talk was spinning.

It was more then a concert; it was an experience. In my book it ranks up there with shows like Rage Against the Machine, Deerhoof, and Andrew Bird. These are the shows that I will remember forever. If you missed Girl Talk this time around, I'm truly sorry because you missed out. I would highly recommend you drop whatever you're doing next time he comes around. You won't be disappointed.