The Official ACL Blog for like Eight People!
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One Liner: Annoyingly genre-less rap/singer with Caribbean flairs
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is hip hop, soul, electronic, and R&B mixed up Home: Akron, Ohio Poster Position: 19 Weekend Two Only.
Friday at 1:45 on the Miller Lite Stage
Thoughts: I'm just generally in a bad mood right now, and all I can think as I listen to this is that I hate it. Sorry, if this is your favorite thing in the world, but I've rolled through all 15 or so songs from this guy and I just wish I'd never heard any of it. Just feels like someone is trying really hard to tap into this little zone between hip hop and reggae and indie and its all just making me frustrated that I don't want to hear the artists on this year's poster.
His top track was on the soundtrack to the suicide show from a year or two ago - 13 Reasons Why. I never watched it. I don't want to watch a show about suicide, at all. It's like a friend of mine told me to watch Beartown, which I was then excited about, until it dawned on me that it was the rape show. Dammit. Anyway, "Favorite Drug" was the song used on that soundtrack, and it is this guy's biggest hit by a ton, with 7.4 million streams.
Got that care free Caribbean feel because of the drums and the dorks going wooooooooaaaaaahooooooooeeewwwwww! every once in a while. It's just fine. It's a fine song. Shut up. I think it is the whispery vocals and the autotuning that make me angry. I don't know what it is. Shut up.
No real albums, just singles and two EPs. Two of his other songs have over a million streams, but I'm going to give you the only one in his top ten from the newest EP. "Rockin and Wavin," with 100k streams.
Got those Caribbean feels again from the little xylophone hits. But also a little more dark, with the sounds that kick in during the chorus. Again, that song is fine. I'm sure it inspires some people to be good people or something. It inspires deep and lasting malaise in me. I want it to stop.
I mean, more than likely we aren't even having the Festival anyway. Stupid Delta variant is going to make the whole damn thing get shut down. But just in case we have it after all, I will not go see this guy.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but this is hip hop Home: Austin! Poster Position: 21 Weekend Two Only.
Friday at 1:15 on the Tito's Stage
Thoughts: Now I'm gonna be singing the Doors all afternoon. This is not named after the Doors song, but a Wikipedia search brings up loads of references to Storm Riders in Chinese/Hong Kong/Japanese fiction/movies/video games. But this isn't any of that, this is a married couple - Ghislaine “Qi Dada” Jean and Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone - who have won Austin Music Award's Band of the Year three times. And yet I don't think I've ever heard one of these songs, and only two of them have more than five figures of streams on Spotify. Seems weird.
"Our name comes from a group called Sweet Honey in the Rock. They have a song called “Ella’s Song”…taken from a speech from Ella Baker. They talk about passing the torch to the young who will “run against the storm.” We chose Riders Against the Storm in the vein that we are the generation that follows those [who] made a tremendous commitment to freedom." So there you have it. Nothing to do with the Doors. Also, these are the kind of folks who will say things like that they want their music to "bring spiritual application to people's everyday lives."
Their top single is called "Holy Water," and isn't on either of their albums. 36k streams. Live version, but you'll get the gist.
From their interviews, it sounds like they were some of the hip hop trailblazers here in Austin, opening up the door for some of the folks who have come along since then. They started a dance party called Body Rock ATX eleven years ago with someone called DJ Chorizo Funk, which grew into an event with some 800 people there before the pandemic hit. August 29 is Riders Against the Storm Day in Austin.
"Mali," featuring local Austin guy Mobley, 100% sounds like Kanye West. I had to stop what I was doing with work and pull up Spotify to see what was going on. Totally sounds like a copycat Kanye track. The lady's hook on "Magik" sounds like she's going for Lauryn Hill's part in "Fu-Gee-La."
Their top streamer from the 2021 album is "Is It?" with 10,497 streams.
Strangely, that video is from 2011, despite this song being from their brand new album. The beat is definitely high energy, and the raps are solid. The "go go go go go go" part at the end is a little tired. Ah, but the version on the album has a different beat - a little more of a techno sound an less of a used-up hip hop beat. Interesting that they kept the same lyrics for the new version, still lamenting Katrina and Bush's response to it. Seems like they could have changed it with the beat to be a little more topical. And instead of the "go go go go" thing, they just play out the techno beat for a while at the end. Odd.
I'd go watch this. I'm just interested to see some local hip hop on the big stage at ACL, and these guys seems to be one of the O.G.s to the scene. The big drawback now is that this is a really early slot on day one. Not so sure I'll make it in the gates by then.
Good gravy, man. I know half of the point of the Kanye West experience is just for everyone to be mad and annoyed and for the controversy surrounding everything he does to actually make the streaming numbers go higher than they normally would have, but this is too much. Almost two hours of absolute drivel masked as deep thoughts. 27 songs, when maybe eight would have been a statement twenty-times as powerful. I think the biggest issue I have with this, and this is a knee jerk reaction after listening only a few times, is that the beats here are just plain terrible. If he was working on this album for YEARS, and yet the best he could do for "Jail" is to just make something that sounds like a child made her first ever beat with Abelton, its just awful. His first few albums had some of the cooooooolest beats people had heard. He crushed that aspect of the game! And now its throwaway crap beats. And I know he's trying to be deep on the lyrics and showing his struggles with mental health and his love for Jesus, but none of it is interesting - no cool turns of phrase, no interesting metaphors or clever wordplay. Just sucks.
I fired this up yesterday in the car, while my teenager was driving me around town to practice driving with his permit. We also had the youngest in the backseat. We all agreed, which is somewhat of a rarity for me and the kids these days when it comes to music, that this album is butt. They laughed out loud at some of the terrible repetition in here. Ugh.
Wikipedia Genre: Electropop,House, nu-disco Home: France Poster Position: 6 Weekend Two Only.
Sunday at 7:30 on the Miller Lite Stage
Thoughts: This dude was here in 2016, but billed as Porter Robinson and Madeon. It is more EDM stuff that sounds just like the last EDM stuff you listened to. The nice thing is that Madeon's top track is also featuring Porter Robinson, so it's like they never split up at all! Back in 2016, this had 2.5 million streams, but now it is racked up to 161.4 million streams. This is "Shelter."
Listening to that track - I'd have difficulty saying which artist is which, to be honest. Both guys have a similar sound of soft synth pop electronic. Maybe Madeon is a little groovier than Porter Robinson. Maybe? This guy is French, and according to Wikipedia, came to fame through a YouTube video called "Pop Culture." Here you go.
Huh, pretty cool. Like a super short clip mash of a Girl Talk song, but with much tinier chunks of songs. Fun to guess at what all is in there. I hear Coldplay, Buggles, Madonna, Daft Punk... think that's all I get. Pretty rad. Wikipedia says 39 songs are in there. Wikipedia also mentions a lot of video games and shows that have used his music, and says that his song "Finale" continues to be used for X Games broadcasts.
Well, since then, his music is more of the usual pop electro. Here is his second-most streamed track, called "You're On," which has 67.1 million streams.
Something about that tune is very French to me. Not bad, nice groove, still don't care to go listen to it again. However, for me, the list of people that are similar artists on Spotify is a used barf bag of electro: Tiesto, Zedd, Deadmau5, Krewella, etc. No thanks. I'm sure it is fun stuff live to jam out to, but not my thing.
Home: Gary, Indiana Poster Position: 8 Both Weekends.
Saturday at 5:20 on the T-Mobile Stage.
Thoughts: I really like this guy. In this age where most rappers leave me unimpressed and wishing for a return back to the olden days of hip hop, Gibbs brings good beats and a dexterous flow with cool stories and turns of phrase that are fun again.
I've reviewed of a few of his albums in the past, and Alfredo almost cracked my top albums of 2020 list. Alfredo ended up nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammys (but lost out to Nas' King's Disease), so I almost have good taste.
Freddy Gibbs & Madlib - Bandana.(2019) Dude. I like this guy. I already knew I liked Madlib's production, but Freddie Gibbs is legit. The beats are strong, the flow is nice, the lyrics are good. Huh. The track with Killer Mike (from Run the Jewels) and Pusha T is very cool. The one with Anderson.Paak bangs too. I'm a little surprised that I don't know more about this guy - he seems legit (although maybe just going by boring name Freddie Gibbs instead of making up a Lil' name is hurting the guy). He also has a few good skits in here - the guy who might go to death row cracks me up (which sounds weird, but trust me). The top track is "Crime Pays" with 23.5 million streams.
Good video - not the best song on the album. The beats are cool because they seem more like samples - tasting of old school soul vibes (with the exception of the trap-ish first half of "Half Manne Half Cocaine"). And Gibbs just fires all over them - his delivery is fast and brash and powerful and lithe. I dig the overall vibe of the album.
Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - Alfredo. (2020). The opening track isn't a big time track - it sounds like a guitar lick from an old Funkadelic song, looped around to allow Freddie to freestyle all over it. I think Gibbs has one of the best rap cadences around right now - he can speed up and slow down and fit himself right into the beat like a bouncing slice of silly putty. Maybe its just these beats, which are almost all laid back and smooth as hell, that fit Gibbs so well, but it just feels like both sides created their half of the wheel for each other to fit together perfectly. I loved their collaboration last year - Bandana - and am likewise on board with them here. Like, the beat of "Something to Rap About" feels like you are in a lounge in the 70's, sipping on a smooth cocktail, your lady on your arm, smiling at the other folks coming in the door and tipping your drink their way. "Baby Shit" feels like I'm floating in a modernist pool on a space station after having too many drinks. "Skinny Suge" is like they took a noodling session from a Dead song, added a killer beat, and then gave it heroin. I thought "Scottie Beam" was going to be the top track, but it's actually "Something to Rap About" (probably because it features Tyler the Creator). Just over 5 million streams. But that one doesn't have an official videJuo, so I'm going "Scottie Beam" instead. 10.9 million streams.
Damn. That video was unexpectedly explicit as shit right there at the start. I mean, I knew from the lyrics he was pissed at cops, but hey-o. I'm not in love with Rick Ross. On the one hand, I like the insult of "you need a dictionary to write your raps," but on the other hand, what does Spider-Man have to do with a pinnacle? He can go hang out on the top of a building? So can a pigeon? Anyhoo, if you are in the mood for music that sounds exceedingly chill, but the lyrics are actually pretty damn hard, then go right here.
Real name is Fredrick Jamel Tipton. Which is fascinating. He chose this as his rap name? Seems like Tipton would have been more memorable to me. In one interview I read, he said his mom is not a big Freddie Gibbs fan. In another interview, there is this exchange when he's asked about the name: " “That’s my real name. You wanna see my ID?” And like that, it’s settled. Gibbs hits his blunt and leans back in his chair, exhaling as he waits to see what else I’ve got. He has no interest in what I’ve heard, or in explaining that Fredrick Jamel Tipton became Freddie Gibbs after Tommy Gibbs—Fred Williamson’s character in the 1973 blaxploitation flick Black Caesar. He’s not going to tell me that he legally changed his name or what prompted it. Freddie Gibbs is Freddie Gibbs, that’s all I need to know, and that’s how this is going to go." So, there you go.
He's from Gary Indiana, but for some reason I thought he was a Detroit guy. His Wikipedia says that he went to Ball State University to play football, but got expelled, so then he enlisted into the Army, but got a dishonorable discharge soon thereafter for smoking weed. Keeping in that same vein, he originally signed with Interscope Records but got dropped by the label before he ever released an album.
After that, he started releasing mixtapes like crazy. According to Wikipedia, that finally paid off with the release of Baby Face Killa in 2012, which had a bunch of big collaborators and a song featured on Grand Theft Auto V's in-game radio stations.
The thing is, those two albums I have discussed up above only barely scratch the surface of the guy. He's got 19 albums listed on Spotify (some of them are re-releases or a version that is just the beats from the album, but still). 2018's Freddie is HARD. Like, after re-listening to Alfredo and being all relaxed like I just left the spa, you turn on Freddie and the beats are more like the school bully loaded your ass into the big industrial dryer in the gym and turned it on tumble dry. No track on that album cracks 10 million streams, so it looks like it didn't hit the big time. But it's a tough, brawny trip into Freddie's world.
2012's Baby Face Killa, that mixtape mentioned above, is soooooooo looooooonnnnnnngggg. Freaking 18 songs and an hour and thirteen minutes? Damn! But the beat on "Kush Cloud," with Krayzie Bone and SpaceGhostPurrp is a cool, spacey track like something from early A$AP Rocky or latter day Radiohead. The top track from that album is the second one, "Still Livin'," with 8.4 million streams.
Man, the OJ chase was so weird. I still dig the old Bronco, though. This song came out in 2013, but it literally sounds like it could have come out right now. Has a little taste of the trap drums, bouncing 808s - good head bobber. I like it.
Oh, I forgot about this one - "Old English" - with Young Thug and A$AP Ferg - this single came out in 2014 and was hot stuff for a while. 57.6 million streams.
Just a single, not on any of his albums, and he's the second rapper who comes along on the track. So, if you were to try to rank those, I'd easily put Thug's verse last, and then Gibbs comes along with so much more bravado and power to his vocals. Just cleans it up.
As of now, his last album was still 2020's Alfredo, but he has three singles that have been released in 2021. "4 Thangs" with Big Sean, "Gang Signs" with ScHoolboy Q, and "Big Boss Rabbit." I like all three new tunes - his flow continues to rule - although the first one is too short. Here is "Gang Signs," which is the one with the most streams at 17.3 million.
Poor sad bunny. Sweet ride, though. Looked like a hard day for Mr. Bunny there, but pretty profitable! And just because the intro to this video made me laugh, here is the one with Big Sean.
I'd absolutely go see this guy live. I don't think there is a better rapper on the poster.
One Liner: Soul pop and R&B like Norah Jones tried to make modern pop
Wikipedia Genre: R&B, Alternative R&B
Home: NYC Poster Position: Late addition Weekend One Saturday at 12:50 on Lady Bird Stage.
Weekend Two Sunday at 1:45 on the Miller Lite Stage.
Thoughts: I'm sure that, somewhere, there are people who come to this festival and they are freaking pumped about seeing up and coming R&B artists. Just deeply jazzed about hearing the next Sade or Alicia Keys before they hit the big time. I have never met that person, or those people, but maybe they exist? All I know is that it feels like I just did this when I reviewed Raiche yesterday. I need more grimy rock and roll who want to come into the mainstream, and less pretty voices singing innocuous lyrics about being "worth it" while generic hip hop beats spool out in the background.
And that rant is totally unfair - this music has a nice groove, her voice is great, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. But it really feels like we have received a bumper crop of this particular thing this year. Lots of Travis Barker clones and lots of female R&B.
And on top of that, SHE WAS JUST HERE! I'm even more annoyed now. Here is my review from 2018.
Thoughts: Reading this 2017 article about her, she seems like a lovely person and her sole album, 2017's 3:33am, sounds like a cathartic (and slightly depressing) experience everyone should enjoy. I have to say it missed me. Nothing on here is bad, just more like not my style of music - alt-R&B or soul pop are the two best ways I could describe it. Got some danceable stuff to it, but nothing overtly party-centric. That article says that her sister called it "tribal soul," so OK. That means nothing to me. How I about I give you something for you to taste test it yourself. She had an "album," that is only 7 songs long, from 2017, and then an EP from 2018 called Conexao. Her most listened to track is from that album, this is "Way Back" with 7.5 million streams. Has a British feeling, like uh, who was the lady who came to ACL a year or two ago with all the sassy dance tunes? Jess something. Jess Glynne. Good voice, kind of generically basic 90's Brit dance track. Not bad, just not something I'm going to keep listening to by choice. Her currently most popular track, and second most-listened to, is "Love Me Right" from that new EP. 6.5 million streams. Again, pretty plain jane track and very nice vocals over the top. Again, not my thing. If you are into this modern day Sade type stuff, then go get some. Not for me.
Since then, she has not released a new album (4 years ago!) but has released a few new singles. Just to be completist before I move on to something else, here is that most recent single - "HEAT," with 12 million streams (which is surprisingly good!)
The track is with someone named Paul Woolford - which may explain the streaming numbers because he's some hotshot DJ who has worked with Sam Smith and Lana Del Rey among others. Don't care for it. I hope she has a great crowd.
Wikipedia Genre: Indie pop, lo-fi, bedroom pop, indie rock, dream pop, alternative
Home: Horten, Norway Poster Position: Late addition Both Weekends.
Saturday at 2:20 on the Lady Bird Stage.
Thoughts: Exceedingly confessional music right here. Her first track on her only album just immediately dives into her emotional issues and chemical imbalance. Like, she's immediately singing about cutting herself and jumping in front of a bus. It's kind of a lot, especially when the chorus of the song is kind of sunny and sweet. A little later she's singing about how she needs to get off because she hasn't had sex in months. She doesn't hold back on revealing herself! Speaking of which, one of her singles has a photo of her lifting her sweater (I assume it is her) over her head so that you see her chest. She really shares a lot!
This is an indie pop project of a 22 year old Norwegian singer-songwriter named Marie Ulven Ringheim. She originally made music as Lydia X, but then got her new moniker after trying to identify herself in a crowd to a friend via text messages. I like that origin story. I'm sure just about everyone has done that before - I'm in the blue hoodie to the left of the VIP section! I'm in the yellow hat just in front of the chair zone!
Here is an interesting tidbit: "In mid 2020, she became a popular symbol of queer identification on the online platform TikTok, where users would adopt the common phrase, "Do you listen to Girl in Red?" as a way of asking if someone was a lesbian." That seems like a very imprecise way to gauge lesbianism. I'm listening to her right now, and am very old, so I wouldn't understand the underlying issues with that question, and then would become a presumptive lesbian. Freaking TikTok. Actually, I'm going to go test this on my child. [actually goes and asks his 13 year old daughter if she listens to the girl in red] She just gave me a confused look, when I clarified it was a musician, she said "I don't know who sings anything, I just listen." When I clarified that this was a coded question about her sexuality, she flushed and called me weird. Fair enough!
Ulven herself says that she thinks it is dope that she became a meme within LGBTQ culture. Which, I'm sure she does! But this is a funny bit from an NPR interview: "I realized it was a thing when everyone was commenting, "Do you listen to girl in red" on everything I was posting on TikTok or Instagram, and people DM'ing me like, "Do you listen to girl in red?" I was like, "Um yeah... is the world having a stroke right now or what is happening?" It was really funny." That would be pretty surreal, to be the artist at issue, but not know what people were talking about with those comments.
Too much talking, not enough actual music! Her top track is "we fell in love in october," with 251 million streams. That's a crapload of streams for an indie Norwegian artist!
A 2018 single, that one uses more guitar than most of the tracks on her new album. Cute little song. Sounds like something a child wrote - "you look so pretty and I love this view" and then a chorus of "my girl, my girl, my girl, my girl," and "my world, my world, my world, my world," etc. I mean, she's gotten a quarter of a billion damn streams from it, so she's tapped into the exact thing that a shitton of people want to hear. I like it too.
Second-most streamed is "i wanna be your girlfiend," with juuuust shy of 200 million streams.
That one isn't as good to me - way more of a bedroom pop guitar song that sounds like she is literally recording it in her bedroom and then adding some effects afterwards. But, if she's the meme for lesbians, it would also make sense that this could be their theme song to sing to all of their Hannahs who they want to next-level it with.
I'll give you one more, this is the most streamed of the tracks on the new album, with 44.5 million, called "midnight love."
You can tell that she's traded in the guitar-forward sound for more electronic sounds - the whole album is like this. Less guitar and more synth and drums machines. I generally like the album. It makes me a little uncomfortable, with the oversharing and weird topics, but the sound of it is actually really good.
When I started this, I figured there was no way I'd go watch her, but honestly, I liked it. I might go check her out if the lineup fits right.
Home: I'm going to guess he's from Austin? Poster Position: Late addition Both Weekends.
Sunday at 1pm on the Tito's Stage
Thoughts: We've reached the part of the poster where the band doesn't even have Spotify. Not a good sign. There is something called Calder the Band, but that doesn't seem anything like Calder Allen. On YouTube, a search for Calder Allen brings up a dude who looks like he might still be in high school. His two uploaded videos are a Spanish project and a video about Slope and Direct Variation, that must have been for a math class that I long ago forgot about. Calder caught a nice fish one time. I tried "Calder Allen musician," and got this video of two children singing in a church?
Not bad! But nothing else on YouTube appears to reflect the sounds that this artist plans to make for us at ACL. The internet tells me only this: "Calder Allen, who comes from a talented family: he's the grandson of Terry & Jo Harvey Allen, son of Bale Creek Allen, and nephew of Bukka Allen." Okey doke! Seems like, if he were so damn talented, that he'd have his music available on the Internet for people to hear!
One Liner: German rapper with English confessional lyrics.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, it's rap and maybe like alternative rap.
Home: Berlin Poster Position: Late addition Weekend Two Only.
Saturday at 12:05 on the Miller Lite Stage.
Thoughts: My kid played a song the other day that I figured had definitely been relegated to the basement of the one hit wonder memory banks - Gym Class Heroes' "Cupid's Chokehold." Apparently, the song regained fame through TikTok. The first thought I had when listening to this band was of that band - kinda lite rock, kinda rap, kinda whiny, kinda cheesy.
Three albums - 2018's Backin Toronto, 2018's Blessings in Disguise, and 2020's Growing Teeth. In a strange development, non of his top ten tracks appear to be from those albums, they are all singles. Most of the songs are at least short!
"For a Minute" is the top streamer by a mile, with 29.4 million streams (vs. the next closest at 5.1 million). I'm guessing that hit on a playlist or TikTok or something.
Not terrible, just nothing special either. Do you remember anything about it after just listening to it? Those guitar licks and basic beat have been used 80,000 times. It looks like it found its way onto the Good Vibes playlist along with Surfaces and Dayglow and Doja Cat. That may be the official playlist of ACL now.
I read a background piece on him, and his background is interesting. Born in Cape Town, he moved to Germany when he was young and worked on his rapping skills by watching YouTube with friends. he ended up moving to Toronto to get into the English-language rap scene. Which is a weird move to me. I know they speak English up there, but wouldn't NYC be the epicenter of English-language rap? Good question - what is the center of the rap universe? Maybe it is Atlanta right now? I know L.A. would lay claim, Houston would try, Miami, Detroit, New Orleans, and Chicago would like to be brought up, but Atlanta feels like where more big artists currently reside or represent. Anyway, this kid chose freaking Toronto. He spent two years there and then moved back to Germany to live in Berlin.
His second-most streamed is "All My Friends Are Stoned." 5.1 million streams.
Hey! Another simple guitar lick and basic Casio beat! Lookie there! I think it must be that the lyrics are fun and he is very open about what is going on with him in each of these songs - that has to be the attraction here.
Here's one more, just because I think its better than both of those other ones - even if it will make all the owls in your neighborhood come over to see what is going on.
Seems like a nice kid, glad he's got a slot at the show, but I won't go do it.
One Liner: R&B gal and one good sample of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, I'll peg it as R&B Home: Massachusetts Poster Position: 19 Weekend Two Only.
Saturday at 5:20 on the BMI Stage
Thoughts: This is another one where a simple search on Wikipedia brings up a treasure trove of information, none of which has to do with this woman. Six people on Wikipedia have this last name, including a silver medalist for the Canadian Summer Paralympics the year I was born. Otherwise, this is a plane maker. Or an R&B singer, I guess.
All photos I have seen of her involve fingernails that would make Wolverine blush. In the one interview I read of her she name checks Erykah Badu twice, so maybe she wants to collaborate at the Fest.
The song that hits just perfectly for me is all because of the sample. Did you love the Dead Presidents soundtrack? One time, a million years ago, a friend and I went in to a record store down on the Drag in Austin because he had some credit he wanted to spend there. He had several discs he wanted to buy, one of which was that Presidents of the United States album with "Peaches" and "Lump" on it. Being that this friend was always in a perpetual fog of marijuana, beer, and whatever other substance he came across, he grabbed the Dead Presidents soundtrack instead and bought that. When he figured out his mistake, he was sort of pissed, but just decided to give me the disc. Which was awesome - that soundtrack is an absolute pile of bangers. Almost all 1970's soul, funk, and R&B - Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Isaac Hayes, Al Green, Aretha - and one track that I hadn't been familiar with before, "I Miss You" from Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. This track samples that song, and so it is the immediate standout to me - much better than the rest of the generic trapp-ish stuff on her Spotify. "Complicated" has 988k streams.
For real, go listen to that soundtrack. Also, Harold Melvin took on special meaning once Snoop Dogg once decreed that "you without me is like Harold Melvin without the Blue Notes." Which I didn't understand in 1993, but then came to understand in like 1996.
Not a fan of the song "Money Pies." That title grosses me out. Of course, that is her top track at 1.1 million streams.
The old started from the bottom now I'm here track. If you have money pies and get to count and talk to your money, then I don't think you still have to hang up your laundry. You can afford a dryer by then. "Drive," which is the title track to her one album, and her fifth most-streamed track, pushes that indie-girl-nasal voice thing too much in my opinion.
Strong voice and pretty face, she may be the next big thing in R&B. Not my thing.
One Liner: Powerful voiced, soulful pop lady with a great kiss-off song
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia - soul, R&B, pop Home: NYC Poster Position: Late Addition Weekend Two Only.
Saturday at 1:35 on the BMI Stage
Thoughts: She's on the Songwriter's Hall of Fame website because she won a scholarship to the Clive Davis School of Recorded Music. Killer voice - soulful belting stuff. She claims influences from Amy Winehouse and Lauryn Hill, and I can see it. She's only 18 though.
The big hit is a pretty good kissoff song for GenZ kids. "What a Shame" pairs a power voice with some clever wording and a good chorus. 40.6 million streams.
"What a shame, baby what a shame, coulda been with me 'stead of whats her fuckin' name." I really like, and yet also deeply hate, when she talks like the new girl. Sounds like my daughter and it makes me cringe deeply into the crust of the Earth. But it's spot on and I dig it. Catchy tune.
Her second-most streamed is "Gasoline" just over 4 million streams.
Another solid set of lyrics where it feels like I can really see what she is talking about with her man hiding behind his screen and avoiding her. The angle of that video is making me ill though...
She's kinda got the whole package going. Great voice. Good lyrics. I won't be at the Fest for Weekend Two Saturday, so I won't get a shot at her, but she's got me on her side right now.
Woohoo! Love when the actual schedule is available! I hate to see the music I'll miss because of conflicts and the bands who get stuck with the early slots, but gets me all lathered up about what I'm really gonna see!
Immediate issues:
Nane at the 1pm slot on Friday! Come on! How are they going to be the next big band with that slot?
Machine Gun Kelly getting a 4pm slot is kind of surprising, figured he'd be bigger than that.
Black Pumas vs. Megan Thee Stallion is too bad.
White Reaper is going to win, but I'm bummed to miss Katie Pruitt on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday works out really well - it is the weakest day, but making it so I can do Pheobe Bridgers, Freddie Gibbs, Modest Mouse, Jack Harlow, and then leave without watching either headliner is pretty solid. They very well could have made it so that the good stuff was at the same time.
Sunday looks like I'll be watching a lot of football at a bar before coming to the Park. Unless one of those bands I haven't heard yet brings the fire, I don't need to be there until 4:30. That is too bad.
Jeez. Sunday is pretty bare. Sad to miss Tierra Whack, but I'd rather see St. Vincent.
One Liner: Quasi-country singer with a great voice and very good debut album
Wikipedia Genre: Americana, alternative country, alternative rock, folk, pop Home: Nashville Poster Position: Late Addition Weekend One Only.
Saturday at 3:20 on the BMI Stage.
Thoughts: I've actually heard of her! Hooray for me! I reviewed her only album in the midst of the pandemic lockdown.
Katie Pruitt - Expectations. Read about her in some sort of Who's Next! article about up and coming artists, and after giving her top single a shot I liked it well enough to try out the whole album. Pretty good - you'd call it county, but not in the same way that most of country music sounds. More like the Taylor Swiftian, ballad love-song type of Country, or the alternative-country stuff of Kacey Musgraves, or the soft-blues of John Mayer at times (see "Expectations"). Hell, I hear Miley Cyrus in "My Mind's a Ship That's Going Down." She can crank it with her voice, like on the album closer "It's Always Been You," and she has some confessional tunes like "Loving Her," a pretty tune about being nervous to use a girl's name in a song for fear that people would figure out that she was gay. I thought "Grace Has a Gun" was going to be the top track here - its got a great set of lyrics and a haunting wooooaahhhh of a chorus that sticks in my head. But instead, it was "Out of the Blue" that tops the stream count with 1.4 million.
Another one with John Mayer-esque guitar licks and sound. And otherwise, just a nice little love song. This album has been a welcome surprise. I find myself singing along to little snippets of it when I'm wandering around the house or walking the dog. Has catchy little bits and a great voice, I like it.
Cool! In 2017, she was awarded something called the Buddy Holly Price from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. That certainly sounds badass. "The Holly Prize is an award made possible by Songmasters and administered and juried by the SHOF as a tribute to the legacy of SHOF inductee Buddy Holly. Since 2010, the Holly Prize annually recognizes and supports a new “all-in-one songwriter “— an exceptionally talented and inspired young musician/singer /songwriter whose work exhibits the qualities of Holly’s music: true, great and original." Past winners don't ring many bells, but I've heard of Ben Howard and Sylvan Esso!
Wikipedia Genre: Pop rock, Latin rock, Musica Latina Home: Austin! Poster Position: Late Addition Weekend One Only.
Saturday at 5:20 on the BMI Stage
Thoughts: She was last here in 2016. Back for another attack! She's got a damn pretty voice, but I've got no clue what she is saying on a bunch of these tracks, so I can't really provide much guidance here. See, the problem is that I'm an idiot. I wish I could go back to 7th grade Jack and kick him in the balls for deciding to take French instead of just taking Spanish like any normal freaking Texan kid. Sadly, I think I did it to follow a girl. La femme. So now, I can order strawberries or potatoes or ask what time it is, in stupid French, but I can't vibe along with this lovely lady as she sings in Spanish OR act like an insufferable prick by ordering my Mexican food in high school Spanish with lots of rolling of the R. "Hola, seniorrrrrita! Yo quiero dos of them there migas tacos con flour, extra queso, por favorrrrrrrrr. Muy pronto!" Well, actually, I could do that part, but anyway, I don't speak Spanish and its dumb. J'demand le poisson, sil vous plait. Idiot.
Two albums, 2007's Hanging Spoons and 2014's Up.Rooted. So no new albums since she last came in 2016? That seems weird. I guess she has a newer EP on Spotify, just not whole albums. But wait! Don't just click away from here, some of this is in English! And its pretty! Here is "Fire Water," which has 92k listens on Spotify.
Like a nice song from a Glee group for a bit. "The Sweet Sound of Your Name" is also damn pretty. Oh snap! Tiny Desk? TINY DESK!
The first track on there is that same "Fire Water" track and hot damn. She fine. And she sounds great. All sort of soul and groove in a very stripped down track. According to the information on her website, I have my damn head in the sand since I've never heard of her. "An eight-time Austin Music Award winner, Chavez and her band swept the 2015 awards, winning Musician of the Year, Album of the Year (Up.Rooted), Song of the Year (“Siete-D”), Best Latin Band, and the Esme Barrera Award for Music Activism and Education, while placing in six other categories." Dang. She is Austin music. April 2 is Gina Chavez Day! The mouth trumpet she plays at about 8:30 in the Tiny Desk is fantastic. How awesome is that? I play a pretty mean mouth trumpet myself. Can't speak Spanish but I can play the mouth horn! Jack for the win! Her most streamed track on Spotify is also the last song on that Tiny Desk, called "Siete-D." Its got just under 108k streams on Spotify, so I guess I'm not alone in missing out on this gal, but she deserves more listens. I just wish I knew what she was saying in this song.
I may not understand, but it don't stop my hips from moving all over the place.
But her current top song is a barn-burning one - "La Que Manda" - with 52k streams.
I just don't think I'd go watch this stuff - not understanding the lyrics is a deal killer for me. I like the vibe overall, but I just don't see it being much more than a space filler.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, calling it Indie. Home: The Moon Poster Position: BMI Stage Weekend Two
Saturday at 12:05 on the BMI Stage
Thoughts: Love to find artists like this, who choose the worst possible names for their band name. Spotify lists over 50 artists who use just "Gigi" as their artist name (and of course a million that use that word in conjunction with some other word or punctuation or something. A couple minutes of internet sleuthing didn't get me to any definitive answer here, so I'm just going with the top entry here.
One song, "Sometimes (Backwood)" that somehow has gathered up 16.9 million streams. Seems like this has to be the right artist, right?
Lovely! Sounds like I should be in a coffee shop working on a macbook while this guy holds forth in the corner.
Weird thing is that I can't find out anything about the guy. Searching for the name gets me nothing helpful. Searching with the song included just gets me pages of the lyrics and youtube videos of covers and proof that this is a TikTok song. So, I tell you NOTHING! He has a good song though!
One Liner: Top shelf raunchy pop with raps that sound like Nicki Minaj
Wikipedia Genre: Hip hop, pop, R&B, pop rap Home: L.A. Poster Position: 2 Both Weekends.
Saturday at 6:20 on the Lady Bird Stage.
Thoughts: I feel like this is going to be a post where someone tells me to stay in my lane. I've never understood the appeal of what little I have heard from Doja Cat. I recall seeing some sort of Twitter dust up about her years ago and going to check out a few tracks, and feeling underwhelmed. More recently, when my teenage daughter saw this lineup, she was excited about seeing Doja on there, so I have a feeling this is going to be a show I don't need to attend. But, I just wrote all of that before diving into her music at all. Let's go on a voyage of musical discovery, shall we?
Real name is Amalaratna Dlamini.
"Kiss Me More" is her top single, with a whopping 530 million streams. One interesting thing about the current state of music is that I have definitely never heard this song before. Released in 2021 and apparently very popular. It feels like a massively popular song from 20 years ago would have been inescapable, even if I didn't listen to that particular genre's radio station. Like, I wasn't searching our Mariah Carey back in the day, but I sure as hell heard a bunch of her songs a million times. But, this single is a pretty good little pop song.
Catchy, danceable groove. And the lyrics kinda made me grin. Nothing ground-breaking or new to any of it, but perfectly pleasant dance pop. But the lyrics are also a little nasty - and a few songs later, I'm realizing that she got a penchant for some nasty lyrics. "Dick" (I know, the title should have fully explained this) would make a great companion piece with "WAP" in the Fox News Moral Freakout Broadcast. A lot of these tunes sing explicitly about her P and the action it receives.
Oh, wait, I recognize one of these - "Say So" has even more streams - 806 million! - and is a fun little disco party that feels tailor made to do some serious roller skating to. Oh! I thought that Nicki Minaj was on that track - Doja's raps sound just like she is copying Nicki. Interesting. The groove and funk of that track is very fun. Again, sounds like something that Dua Lipa started before.
Interesting (to me at least) aside here - I saw something on Twitter not long ago - one of those question prompts where someone throws out a prompt and then waits for everyone to respond with their answer. Said something to the effect of "what was a lie the older generation told us." And someone I follow answered with "that disco sucks." Which stuck in my head for two reasons. One, because I think that's true. Disco is flipping fun and catchy and groovy and funky. Two, because I saw a response that stuck in my head saying that it was racism that caused people to start claiming that disco sucked, as white folks tried to destroy the popular black music of the time. Fascinating. But glad it is on the comeback swing right now, because more fun is a good thing to me.
Three albums - I think the first one is the one that put me off of her in the first place. 2018's Amala starts with an ode to cunnilingus and never really moves on from that sort of crass subject matter. The big track is "Candy," with 207.4 million streams.
I always find it interesting when a hit song doesn't get a video made to go along with it. Seems like, once this one blew up, they would have come along afterwards and made a visual for people to see. Pretty good track - the bass is great and the sugary innuendo is legit.
She's been controversial for a long time, but last year she was "cancelled" (temporarily, it would appear) for some bad acting. "While videos and photos of Doja Cat saying the N-word, stripping, and hanging out in an alleged alt-right Tinychat room went viral, internet sleuths unearthed more insensitive videos, tweets, and even music." If you want to run through all of the controversies about her, you can read them all here. I think she's just an insensitive idiot or looking for attention. Actually, that doesn't even have all of her controversies, as I see that she's also said dumb shit about COVID.
Honestly, I kinda like the new album. 2021's Planet Her has some fun tunes. Dammit. "Get In To It (Yuh)," even though the name of the song is horrible, actually made me look up from my work and check out the song name, because its a snappy good time. And "Kiss Me More" got stuck in my head while I just made lunch. "You Right," featuring The Weeknd, is actually good. Dadgum. I had expected to be able to crap all over this stuff, but its actually good pop music. Kind of doubt I'd see it, just because she is likely up against Modest Mouse, Phoebe Bridgers, or Jack Harlow, but this is surprisingly good.
Wikipedia Genre: Indie rock, Southern rock, alternative rock, power pop, folk rock Home: Seattle (but then moved to South Carolina) Poster Position: 4 Both Weekends.
Sunday at 4:30 on the Lady Bird Stage.
Thoughts: I always forget about Band of Horses. I really liked those first two albums, but then they just kind of fell off my radar entirely and I rarely even think about going back to those old albums. From looking at their Spotify, it looks like those old albums are still their main thing, as their top five streaming songs are all either from those albums or are new versions of the same songs from those first two albums. Now, I'm remembering that I liked pretty much all of these albums.
Right after they first hit the scene, they kind of got washed out by The Avett Brothers, Fleet Foxes, My Morning Jacket, and Mumford & Sons, in my mind, and prior to them it felt like The Jayhawks and Son Volt had already done a lot of this shambling, country rock, semi-jam sound before. But I'm kind of annoyed that this happened to me. I like a lot of these songs, and I should have kept the albums in my rotation.
The band was initially formed in Seattle by Ben Bridwell, but has gone through several lineup changes over the years. Feels like half of the Wikipedia article is about people who came and went. I don't know if anyone else ever looks at those charts of band membership that sometimes pop up on Wikipedia, but from looking at the one for this band, Bridwell is the only consistent member of the band for the whole run. Which makes sense, his voice is the common thread here. Very distinctive voice, I feel like I can tell it is a Band of Horses song whenever he starts singing.
Since formation, they moved to South Carolina. Honestly, either place sounds right to me. I don't know if this actually happened, but when I think of them, I think of that terrible Fox show called The O.C. My wife watched that show, and I have some recollection of hearing a song from another part of the house and being like, "hey, what is that cool ass sounding song," then realizing it was background music on a Fox teenager drama and therefore probably sucked, but determining that I liked it anyway. Nice backhanded compliment?
They first played ACL in 2010. They were last at ACL in 2016, which was also the last time they had any new music. So, hopefully a new album is on the way so that we are not just about to get the exact same set from five years ago. I guess it would have to be slightly different, since two of the main members left in 2017, but still without new tunes what does it matter?
The top track, by a mile, is "The Funeral," with 265 million streams on Spotify. This is from their first album, 2006's Everything All the Time.
You have to love that kick in on that song as well. All soft and lovely and then the guitars get serious and the drums start mashing. From reading the comments on there, it looks like lots of people found the song through How I Met Your Mother, which I never watched. This whole album is good stuff - I actually own the little round piece of plastic that old people used to purchase in order to listen to the sounds of music.
But their next album (2007's Cease to Begin) is even better to me, with one fantastic song that I used to use as a lullaby for my kids ("No One's Gonna Love You"), another big hit ("Is There a Ghost"), and a song about an ex-player for the Seattle Supersonics who I dug as a child ("Detlef Schrempf"). A little bit of everything for everyone there. Here is "No One's Gonna Love You," which clocks in at 70.8 million. (with another 33 million for one live version and another 59 million for a different live version, all three of which are in their top ten on Spotify).
Damn pretty song, and such a nice sentiment.
Then they put out two more albums of similarly chilled and pleasant rock, 2010's Infinite Arms (a Grammy Award nominee, and has two songs I think are great still, "Bluebeard" and the lovely "Evening Kitchen") and 2012's Mirage Rock, before 2016's excellent Why Are You OK.
The new one just keeps the same sound and fire going, and I like it a lot. The opening track just shows the whole range right there. "Dull Times/The Moon" starts off with 4:30 minutes of laconic, spacey rock, just slow and breezy and comfortable with flowing harmonies. Then a buzzing guitar lick starts lapping fire at the base of my hammock stand, some more guitars join in, and then the drums, bass and vocals kick in for a pretty solid jammy sounding rock and roll song. The tune puts them in the same conversation for me as the My Morning Jacket folks, maybe a little less epic, but that same kind of harmonic, shaggy, and flavorful rock and roll. That opener and "Whatever, Wherever" were both standout tracks to me on first listen, but I'm warming up even more to the countrified sound on "Country Teen" and the loose 80's party vibe of "Casual Party." Here is that last one, their most listened to track from this new album, with just 13.2 million streams many years after release.
That video is like a trip through the extras from the Star Wars Cantina scene, while on bad drugs. But good tune. I'd definitely like to see them play this stuff live. We'll see how the schedule shakes out, but I'm hopeful.
Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia but an Alternative R&B sort of thing Home: Wisconsin Poster Position: 19 Weekend One Only.
Friday at 1:45 on the Miller Lite Stage
Thoughts: The guy has an exceedingly smooth voice, but I've never much cared for the R&B or alternative R&B worlds. It's like easy listening for youth who grew up listening to trap music. He doesn't have a Wikipedia to read, but the one interview I read with him cited Curtis Mayfield and Frank Ocean as his influences. I've never understood the love for Ocean - I know that it is almost universal among critics, but I just don't care for it.
He says his friends tried to make an Odd Future-type group at one point, which they called Unusual Past. He decided to keep the "Unusual" part and just tack that on to his name to make his band name. Also, his grandfather toured with Curtis Mayfield as his drummer.
He only has six songs, and two of those are versions of the same song, so he's not quite on top of the world just yet. But one of the singles has more than 10 million streams, which is pretty good. This is "Amber."
Especially on the chorus, the dude has a really nice voice. Smooth and bright and full. I guess the tune is pretty catchy, but it just isn't my joint. His second-most streamed track is "Pine," with 1.5 million streams.
I dig the funkier action underneath that one. According to the interview I read, he pictured this one based in a roller rink, which makes sense. Apparently all they could afford for the video shoot was a parking garage though. He also said it has to do with jealousy, which is colored green, which is why the song is named "Pine."
Doubt I would do this one. Great voice, not my jam.
One Liner: Jazzy pianist who makes purely fun music and plays with Stephen Colbert's Late Show
Wikipedia Genre: Jazz, R&B Home: Metairie, Louisiana Poster Position: 7 Weekend Two Only.
Sunday at 7:30 on the T-Mobile Stage
Thoughts: I've heard a few of these tunes before, but I wouldn't have been able to ID this guy beforehand. I think I thought that the songs I had heard before were actually by John Legend. He is the bandleader and musical director for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and looks like the dude from the Pixar movie Soul (for which he co-composed the music and won an Academy Award). He was born in Louisiana to a musical family and became a piano mastermind while attending Julliard. His usual band is called Stay Human, but for some reason they aren't listed on the poster here for this performance.
Lots of albums, and honestly I'm really enjoying the later ones. The early stuff is more piano-focused and straight jazz. Like, the ten minute opening song from his first album is all jazzy piano scatting with flute and trumpet be-bopping along over the top. For ten minutes. For the people who dig that, I bet it's great, but that isn't going to be my bag. This is "Misunderstood."
Lotta gentle cymbals going on in there. It's great! I can tell he is very talented! But it still doesn't mean I want to hear a whole show of that while standing in a dusty field. Luckily, his more recent albums are not that jazziness. He's now pushed the piano-forward stuff out of the way in favor of a more funky pop sound. Which is legit!
One of the tunes from Soul is his top streamer - this is "It's All Right," with just over ten million streams.
The other thing that this reminds me of right now is Leon Bridges. That same style of soulful and lovely voice. "CRY" makes me think of Gary Clark Jr. "WE ARE," with its awesome choir/marching band breakdown reminds me where this dude is from. His next top streamer, which I've heard on the radio some, is fun as hell. "I NEED YOU," with 4.6 million streams.
I mean, if that bouncy little bass line and hand-clap action at the start doesn't affect you at least a little bit? You're dead inside. Sorry to tell you. It's overly earnest, but I'm loving it anyway. Gimme someone putting themselves out there and having a good time all day over the mopey shit that half of this poster has ended up being. I'mma give you one more, just because. "Freedom," with 2.6 million streams and another fun video.
Brings to mind that diddy diddy bop rap song from US3 that came out in the mid-90s. Such a purely joyful song. Inject it into my veins. And yeah, I know that mostly I like rock and rap that is not so pure and innocent, but this stuff just jams.
As of now, the kids are scheduled to come with me on Sunday of second weekend, and unless something major is up against this guy, I'm 100% going to make them go enjoy this joy with me.
Oh wait! Tiny Desk!
That organ on "Cry" is devastating. Just so full of feeling and soul. That whole show is funky and fun.
Wikipedia Genre: House, EDM Home: Norwich, England Poster Position: 6 Both Weekends.
Sunday at 5:30 on the Miller Lite Stage.
Thoughts: More house music. Wikipedia says that he originally started under the moniker Christophe D'Abuc back in 2002, and gained some notice through the early 2000's before shifting his sound in 2015. He's done a lot of remixes of other people's songs - Calvin Harris, Jess Glynne, Missy Elliot, etc. But he has released a huge pile of singles for himself as well. His first big single was "Changes," released in 2006.
Don't love it. It's fine, just more of a pop dance song, and less of the house/EDM that he's shifted into now.
The issue with a track like "Boneless," which is good, bouncy fun, is that it is credited to Steve Aoki, Chris Lake, and Tujamo. When three EDM guys join up on one song, whose song is it, really? It's not like they have three beats fighting for attention here, there is just one, cohesive sound coming here. Who actually made that? 115 million streams though, so its hitting.
Either way - whoever is really in charge of it, that is a fun track. Could absolutely see a crowd getting stupid when it kicks in after the first build. Also, this video makes my man look like some Jason Sudeikis SNL character who is trying to be young and cool when he is so obviously not.
I like a lot of these tunes, but after a while, when listening to the whole package on Spotify, you get down to some of the remix versions that are significantly less enjoyable. "Sabb and PRC Freaks' Freaking Out Remix," as an example, is deeply annoying and should be used to torture prisoners of war at Guantanamo. Unfortunately, the only album the guy has is just that - one real song and then five remixes of that song, and listening to that album as a whole makes me wish for the sweet release of death.
One more track, a 2018 single, is his currently most popular and second-most streamed. "Turn Out the Lights." 80.9 million streams.
Less interesting to me than that last one. Not bad, just nothing all that memorable or interesting coming from the beat or the lyrics. I'm sure a big crowd of drug-addled teens will have fun jumping around to this guy in October, but I think I'm in good shape.
