Mk.gee

One Liner: Hard-to-compartmentalize guitarist experimenting in woozy alien vibes
Wikipedia Genre: Indie, alternative, lo-fi
Home: New Jersey

Poster Position: Top Quarter - Line 3
Sunday.
Both Weekends.

Ladybird Stage at 7:30.

Thoughts:  Top billing for something I have never heard of.  Never ceases to surprise.  And the music itself is sort of a surprise too.  Not sure how to really quantify it.  There are guitars involved, but some of it comes off as alternative R&B more than indie or alternative, as Wikipedia claims this is.  Pitchfork called his debut album one of the best albums of the first half of the 2020's.  I sometimes hear Tame Impala, I sometimes hear Prince, I sometimes hear Frank Ocean (or what I think Frank Ocean probably sounds like).  Not sure how this dude holds such multitudes.  But after running with it for a few days, it just feels like a vibe.  Not even really music, just auditory vibe.

Michael Todd Gordon explained to the world that his stage name is pronounced McGee with his first EP in 2018.  Because that was the title of his first EP.  Strange.  Even more strange is this explanation in some magazine called Amadeus: "The "Mk." part of the name is a shortened form of his first name, and "gee" is a phonetic representation of how his last name, Gordon, is often mispronounced."  Who in the hell is mispronouncing Gordon as gee?  That is whackadoodle.  Homie was born and raised in New Jersey, and started playing piano at age 6.  After graduating, he moved to L.A. to attend the USC Thornton School of Music, but dropped out so that he could jam, man.

After running through this, I am realizing that I dig bits and pieces.  I can't give a full recommendation, but parts of this are enjoyable.  I think I like the style of the early EPs more than the current sound - I hear some Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Tame Impala in the old bits.  2024's Two Star & The Dream Police was that debut album that Pitchfork liked so much.  His top tracks are mainly from that disc.  Like "Alesis," which tops his streaming numbers at 30.8 million.  (which doesn't sound like numbers for a top guy, but maybe he's still launching?)

He played that on SNL.  Not sure the tune itself is that interesting to me, but lyrically it made me take notice.  For Eric Clapton to call this guy out as someone who "has found things to do on the guitar that are like nobody else," I'm not sure I hear anything on the guitar in that song that blows my mind?  "Western" sounds like a Tame Impala song.  "ROCKMAN" is his most recent single, and already has 22.8 million streams.

He also played that on SNL.  That one has a smidge of those Prince guitar sounds I mentioned.  But it kind of feels more like an 80's pop R&B track to me.  Like, Molly Ringwald should be longing for some douchebag with big hair while that plays.

He was previously the guitarist for someone called Dijon.  I have not heard of that person.  Half of the Pitchfork review is about that dude, more than this dude.  Which is odd.  Anyway, I want you to hear one of the old ones too, even though you would expect he is going to do the new schtick at the Fest.  This is the top track from 2018's Pronounced McGee - "You" with 30 million streams and a definite Unknown Mortal Orchestra guitar tone.

Definitely more traditional indie pop kind of thing, as opposed to those two more smeared-together , genre-bending, oddly arranged tunes up above.  Not sure what I think overall.  I guess I could see going to this, since the ending of Sunday night is pretty much a wasteland for my musical tastes.  We shall see.