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A$AP Rain

Throughout this weekend I’ll be posting casual Pitchfork entries. Here’s one from yesterday about A$AP’s set.

To the casual passerby of Pitchfork Music Festival around 4:15p.m., festivities inside Union Park sounded a bit rowdier than usual. Gun shot sounds and plumes of smoke filled the air as A$AP Rocky and his A$AP Mob took over the red stage. A highly anticipated set for many a festival-goer, the prime spots in-front of the stage were already cramped 25 minutes before the Harlem-born rapper was set to perform. At 23 years old, Rocky has his priorities. Stage banter centered on ladies and partying, above all. “If you came here to party, holla,” Rocky commanded of the crowd repeatedly, and each time, received a resounding response— until the rain arrived. After merely three songs, clouds once again overtook the park. Die-hard fans stayed waving their hands in the air and bobbing their heads to the relentless bass while the rest of the crowd dispersed to find shelter. Rocky continued to rage. Meanwhile, in a tent across the park designated for storage lockers, the conversations stayed away from partying.
 
Friends huddled together in a circle for warmth. Each took out their slightly wet iPhone. “My phone says it’s a 0% chance of rain,” said one man. “The weather won’t show on mine,” said another. Whether the rain would ever cease became a focal point of discussion, and the eventual consensus became yes, soon it should be done.
 
Not wanting to miss Rocky’s set, fest-attendees without a poncho or umbrella turned to a last resort: garbage bags. Eventually, every spare garbage bag that was once hanging on its garbage can home had been made into a makeshift poncho. So it’s back to Rocky. For just a couple songs more, the crowd soaked up all of the crew’s show. Rocky, who wore his usual gold grills, braids, and monogrammed jacket maintained the party, even in the rain. It seemed no matter what Rocky did, it couldn’t be wrong. Although much of his set had been used to chat, adoring fans couldn’t get enough and fed into chants of Rocky’s name and threw their hands up for the ever-present hand bounce. Ultimately, though, Rocky decided to end on a softer note by thanking fans for their support. “I just want to tell y’all that I love ya, straight up.”
 
The rain continued.
 

Azealia Banks’ new mixtape is killin’ it. THIS is what I wanted to hear from Banks since I first heard her. It’s attention-grabbing, musically interesting, and completely avoids redundancies. Future review to come. For now, though, download the mixtape via her Twitter.

Some songs just have a charm- an inexplicable twinkle. When I listen to ‘Where Damage Isn’t Already Done’ by The Radio Dept. I feel something inside of me light up. It’s an overwhelming rush of happiness. I don’t know how else to say it. Whenever the song comes on I want to sit outside and smile. I want to smile until it hurts and smiling becomes a chore. The combination of the drums and guitar during the chorus are serene. It’s perfect. There are very few other tracks that ignite this sort of reaction in me. This is my summer 2011 jam, or, really, my overall jam. I’m hoping they perform it at Pitchfork Music Festival this year. Dear god I hope they do. There’s no place I’d rather hear this track than a park in the middle of Chicago with all my closest friends surrounding me. It might even bring tears to my eyes.

Where Damage Isn’t Already Done- The Radio Dept.

Oh hey, blog readers, long time no talk. How’s it going? Summer treating you well?

Mine has been stressful and routinely blogged about on my other Tumblr. I won’t go into details because this is a music blog, and if you are truly interested in reading rants and journalism woes, you can click that lovely hyperlink.

As far as summer music goes, there has been quite a bit. Much of the music has been older, but I’ve only recently discovered it.

Number one in iTunes as of late? Adele. I absolutely love her. Yeahhhh, she’s a Billboard top hits celeb, but I’m down with that. If every horrible female musician (ehm, Katy Perry) that was on the Billboard Top 20 morphed into Adele, I’d be the happiest little soul-lover in the world. Somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon, though. Depressing. Adele’s most recent album is called 21 and it came out in January. Geeze, I really missed out on that release. At least I’m getting it now, though, eh? For those of you who have somehow evaded hearing her gorgeous voice, Adele does soul. Very piano based soul. It’s perfect for sitting in your room with headphones on and writing music….not that I’m doing that right now or anything. I’m putting up my favorite track, ‘Set Fire to the Rain.’

Adele- Set Fire to the Rain

Up next we got Cults: Pitchfork’s favorite darling couple. I was a bit apprehensive to download this album; I figured it would be the same as anything else they released. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this is an album filled with pop-goodness. The music type is one we are all familiar with, from She & Him to Smith Westerns to Tennis, it’s that retro 1960s throw-back. This isn’t a complaint by any means. I love these vintage, low-fi groups. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Cults has become my go to bike music. (right after Fleetwood Mac) I’m giving you guys the track ‘Never Heal Myself,’ which has a super groovy bass and drum part. Let’s just go ahead and call them my Best Coast for summer 2011.

Cults- Never Heal Myself

That’s all I have for you right now, sorry if this post wasn’t exhilarating, I’ll try more next time. I’ll find you guys total underground bands. oOoOoO

So…I’m lazy. Yeah, I am. Would it be cool with everyone if I just uploaded a track, didn’t provide any form of context or description, and let it simply suffice to say it’s good? Well, that’s the path I’m going to start taking. …after this post.

Tonight’s soundtrack has been that of Horrors’ front man, Faris Badwan’s new group, Cat’s Eyes. I first heard their song ‘Not a Friend’ back in January and absolutely loved it. I mentally filed them into the back of my head and hoped I’d hear more of their material in the future. That day is upon us. Hallelujah! Their self-titled album is actually really, really awesome. If I had to give it a genre I’d say, “goth pop.” The sound is super eerie at times, but also very catchy. I’d imagine this is what Go-Go dancers in a James Bond movie would listen to while snorting their cocaine and smelling their millions of dollar bills. To complement Badwan’s deep voice there is Rachel Zeffira- a Canadian opera singer. The album has a delicate beauty that can truly only be understood upon listening.

I’m putting up ‘I’m Not Stupid,’ which is probably my favorite track on the album. I love the background vocals. So gorgeous. I’m also putting up ‘Over You,’ which demonstrates the dichotomy between all of the tracks on the album. Enjoy!

Cat’s Eyes- ‘I’m Not Stupid’

Cat’s Eyes- ‘Over You’

I’m slightly ashamed to admit this right now, but I am addicted to a song by The Sounds. I’m sitting in class, in the back, and silently shaking my butt in my chair to the song ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’ off of their new album Something to Die For. I can’t help that it’s catchy, okay!!?! To make myself feel a bit better, I’m going to get you all addicted to it as well. Muahaha. Deal with it. I know that in the end, you will only thank me. I should probably confess that I haven’t listened to any other tracks on the record, so I can only speak on behalf of this one track. GET YOUR DANCE ON.

The Sounds- ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’

oh my poor little music blog, how I have neglected you. Finals are on the way, and all my classes have kicked into high gear, so instead of a post I’ll send you the link to my radio show. I play a buncha new songs, and you can view the playlist for the show on the Facebook page. Like the page, listen to the show and check out the playlist!