Top 20 Songs of the 2000s: Another Opinion

Everyone has their list of the top 20 songs of the decade whether they know it or not. And everyone uses different criteria to make that list. My process was to take my subjective favorite songs from the decade and then try to pick the objective best 20 of those. While I didn't have a hard rule, I made an effort to keep it one song per artist for a little more variety. Thus, this isn't a true top 20. Also, the order would probably change on any given day. I'm kind of surprised that some bands didn't make the cut (The Strokes, The Knife, McLusky), but they will all certainly appear on any future albums of the decade list. Anyway, enjoy.

20. "You Know You're Right" - Nirvana
Why: This might be cheating a bit because it was recorded in the '90s, but it's my favorite Nirvana studio song by far and, I think, their best. Listening to it makes me sad that we tragically didn't get to hear an album of this stuff.
Best Part: 0:57 - "Paaaaaaaaiiin!"

19. "Paper Tiger" - Spoon
Why: It's an odd song, to be sure, built on a few austere organ chords. But because it is odd, it stands out on Kill the Moonlight and becomes that great album's heart.
Best part: 2:43 - "I will be there with you when you turn out the light."

18. "Emily Kane" - Art Brut
Why: It's a perfect punk-pop song. Not pop-punk. That shit sucks.
Best Part: The last, fist pumping minute.

17. "PDA" - Interpol
Why: I'm pretty sure I have Turn on the Bright Lights to thank for getting me into anything British from the '80s. It's a very big thanks. "PDA" is, by a nose, my favorite song from that album.
Best Part: 3:55 to the end. It's pretty.

16. "Toxicity" - System of a Down
Why: It perfectly straddles the line between rock and metal and is a killer song in either genre.
Best Part: 3:02 - When Tankian's incredible voice comes back for an encore.

15. "Kissing the Beehive" - Wolf Parade
Why: It's long, it's weird, it has some uncomfortable time signatures, and it has distinct parts, but it's probably the high point of Wolf Parade's lifespan, including anything they do from here on out.
Best Part: 10:27 - The reprise of the chanting first heard at the 3:36 mark.

14. "Hounds of Love" - The Futureheads
Why: Best cover ever.
Best Part: 2:24 - When the drums reset everything and the Futureheads begin to tear through to the end.

13. "The Grudge" - Tool
Why: Story time. I was in Myrtle Beach for post-exams when Lateralus came out. I went with two friends to buy it (along with REM's Reveal, and Weezer's Green Album) at some mall we found somewhere. One of these friends is a huge Tool fan and had been waiting for this album for, I don't know, six years or something. We got back to the house we were renting and went to separate rooms to listen to it on the Discmans (Discmen?) we brought for this one purpose. We must have started listening at about the same time because right after "The Grudge" ended on the copy I was listening to, my friend came into my room with the biggest fucking smile I have ever seen plastered on his face. I knew why.
Best Part: 6:58 - Maynard's scream.

12. "Empty Cans" - The Streets
Why: Spoiler alert: he finds his money. It was in the TV. In the TV. Yes, you're right, that doesn't make any sense. And it doesn't matter.
Best Part: 3:30 - When the piano kicks in. Might be my favorite three notes of any song I've ever heard.

11. "Kissing the Lipless" - The Shins
Why: Oh Inverted World was cute. This first song from its follow up was a statement announcing that The Shins were serious and were here to stay.
Best Part: 0:52 - When it, sort of shockingly, picks up.

10. "A Certain Romance" - Arctic Monkeys
Why: It's a really, really smart song disguised as NME hype-of-the-week. Alex Turner is good.
Best Part: 2:06 - "There's only music so that there's new ringtones"

9. "Postcards From Italy" - Beirut
Why: How did a teenager write this? God, this is heartbreaking.
Best Part: 1:08 - When the horns kick in.

8. "Leaf House" - Animal Collective
Why: Play it in the fall when it's raining. You'll see.
Best Part: 2:00 - The abrupt change from sleepy to uplifting.

7. "The Rat" - The Walkmen
Why: Needs no explanation.
Best Part: 2:30 - "When I used to go out I would know everyone that I saw / Now I go out alone if I go out at all"

6. "Time For Heroes" - The Libertines
Why: Every decade, there's a song that just sounds like England. This is the '00s version.
Best Part: 1:24 - "There's fewer more distressing sights than that of an / English man in a baseball cap".

5. "Reckoner" - Radiohead
Why: The best band of the decade's best song of the decade. This does not automatically make it the best song of the decade. Anyone using this logic (best player on best team) to vote for Mark Teixiera for AL MVP over Mauer is a fool and an asshole.
Best Part: The fade-out at the end.

4. "Goin' Against Your Mind" - Built to Spill
Why: It's just fucking epic.
Best Part: 5:30 - "Thought it was an alien / turned out to be just God."

3. "3rd Planet" - Modest Mouse
Why: While "Float On" is, understandably, the more popular song, "3rd Planet" is the band's best.
Best Part: 0:55 - "Your Heart felt good / it was dripping pitch and made of wood / and your hands and knees / felt cold and wet on the grass to me." One of my favorite lyrics ever.

2. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" - The Arcade Fire
Why: I've heard this song maybe a hundred times and it still gives me cold chills.
Best Part: 3:00 - When the tempo picks up again, this time for good.

1. "Hey Ya!" - Outkast
Why: Lost of great songs have a simplicity that makes me think "I could have done that if I knew how to play a guitar/use Protools/use a 4-track." Not this one. It is expert and mad, complicated, unique, and perfect.
Best Part: 2:46 - "Shake it like a Polaroid picture."

--Jim Powers

Top 20 Songs of the 2000s

I mentioned in the last post that Pitchfork recently listed what they thought were the top 500 songs of the 2000s. It was a pretty good list, and as I was reading it I found myself thinking, "Yeah, that would be on mine," (or "Who the hell is Jackson And His Computer Band?"), and as this list was forming in my brain, I grabbed a pen and started to jot them down. Of the 30-35 that came to mind, 20 seemed to really stick out as songs that "define the decade." What does that mean? That means ten years from now they will all be lumped together on some terrible compilation album that can only be purchased by dialing some 1-800 number. No, actually, it really doesn't mean anything. These are just songs that I have a feeling I will remember. And these aren't necessarily my favorite songs of the decade, although some of them are, and the others I like very much (that was a prerequisite), but more like songs from 2000-2009 that I feel have the ability to pull numerous people into the wonderful world of music and are damn good. The number one song notwithstanding, there really is no significance to the order, it took approximately two minutes to put together and just seemed right at the time. This list is not comprehensive, and no less than five seconds after this is posted, some song will pop into my head that should have been on it, but I'll just save that for the comments. Feel free to do the same. Here we go:

20. "Stuck Between Stations" - The Hold Steady
19. "Wolf Like Me" - TV On The Radio
18. "The Funeral" - Band Of Horses
17. "Last Night" - The Strokes
16. "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley
15. "99 Problems" - Jay-Z
14. "Clocks" - Coldplay
13. "All My Friends" - LCD Soundsystem
12. "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" - Wilco
11. "The Rat" - The Walkmen
10. "Chicago" - Sufjan Stevens
9. "Mr. Brightside" - The Killers
8. "Such Great Heights" - The Postal Service
7. "Float On" - Modest Mouse
6. "Idioteque" - Radiohead
5. "Do You Realize??" - The Flaming Lips
4. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" - The Arcade Fire
3. "Paper Planes" - M.I.A.
2. "Hey Ya" - Outkast
1. "Fell In Love With A Girl" - The White Stripes

"Fell In Love With A Girl" is not the best White Stripes song from the past decade. "Seven Nation Army" probably is. In fact, it probably isn't even the best White Stripes song from White Blood Cells. "Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground" might be. But this song matters more and here's why. I remember watching the MTV Video Music Awards in 2002 back when the VMAs were a total train wreck, but also extremely watchable if not completely unavoidable. (I presume they are now just a train wreck.) The usual suspects were there: Eminem, Nelly, Avril Lavigne, etc. But because of a pretty cool lego-like animated video, so were the White Stripes. They seemed out of place, the song seemed out of place, and I loved it. Maybe it wasn't as monumental as my memory suggests, but at the time it seemed to hint that decent rock music was seeping back into the mainstream for the first time in about ten years. And if the other 19 songs are any indication, it is one of my earliest memories in what turned out to be a pretty good decade in music.

--Alex Crisafulli

7 Random (And Mostly) Musical Observations To End The Summer

1. Well, it ended over two weeks ago, but Jim DeRogatis is still hammering away at Lollapalooza. (I think he has officially reached "curmudgeon" status.) He is now calling it...wait for it..."Wal-Mart on the Lake." Well done. I grew up in a town of 16,000, and had no idea all those years I was going to a "Lollapalooza by the Burger King" to buy socks. Maybe Lincoln, Illinois, is more hip than I ever knew.

2. Walking around DC, I have seen a lot of these "Michael Jackson: August 29, 2008 - June 25, 2009" memorial t-shirts. Has anyone else noticed that MJ's picture on these shirts is usually circa 1984, and not circa 2003? Wonder why that could be? Hey, speaking of which...

3. ...the night he died, I decided out of all the possible tributes that seemed to be everywhere, I would watch whatever MTV had whipped up. Seemed fiiting, right? Problem is, I realized at that moment I had no idea what channel MTV was on. I was going to search my DirecTV guide but then realized I didn't really care and just watched CNN. That's how far MTV has fallen. And it has been that way for awhile. I guess it doesn't really matter, Youtube has essentially rendered MTV obsolete anyway.

4. Pitchfork recently unveiled what they considered to be the top 500 tracks of the 2000s. Numbers 500-200 are worth a skim, 199-21 can be read if you have time, and check out their top 20 because I thought they were pretty solid. Later this week, I'll post what I think are the top 10 or so songs of this decade. (Yes, hold on to your butts.)

5. Staying on Pitchfork, the Lala add-on to their revamped site is fantastic. Today, as I was reading Joe Tangari's review of the Arctic Monkeys' new album Humbug, I utilized the Lala play feature along the way and thought to myself, "Tangari is exactly right. The song 'Potion Approaching' DOES in fact opt for Zeppelin-ish start-stop passages that read just like 'Achilles Last Stand' but recast as a Britpop tune before shifting completely into a seesawing, almost mild-like psychedelic mid-section." I couldn't have written it better myself. (Honestly, I couldn't have, album reviews are harder than they seem. I think I would rather tell an Aristocrats joke at someone's wake than have to write album reviews for a living.) And still staying on Pitchfork...

6. ...I don't feel all that comfortable making light of this, since it is for charity, but I had to laugh when I read this story about an ebay auction for a shirt designed by Jeff Mangum. (For what it's worth, I'm not laughing at the charity, I am laughing at Ryan Dombal's c-jerk write-up.) Last I saw, the highest bid for the shirt was $305, with the proceeds going to help homeless children in Mongolia. And if a t-shirt that didn't look like it would survive more than three or four cycles in the wash just wasn't your thing, you also could have bid on a vinyl copy of Neutral Milk Hotel's first album On Avery Island. Oh, but that wasn't all! What if I were to tell you that the record was autographed by Mangum, and (AND!!!) even had his thumbprint?! Might that be something you would have been interested in? Of course it would! The highest bid I saw was $164.27 and that was with nine hours to go. But sorry, the bidding is over. (Why was the autographed record going for so much less than the t-shirt?) And I know that the homeless problem in Mongolia is a pretty serious issue today for most Americans, so if you missed out on the auction, please check out this link. (Okay, maybe I am sort of making fun of the charity, and that makes me feel like a jerk. So honestly, click on that link, you'll learn some pretty interesting facts about homeless children in Mongolia. For starters, it appears Richard Gere may or may not be one of them.)

7. Two things help heal the wounds of a disappearing summer. The beginning of football season (for all of us Bears fans, I must say, it's gonna be a good year, I can just tell), and fall concerts. For whatever reason, September and October just always seem to be stock-full with great shows. This was definitely true in Chicago, and it's still true in DC. I'm not sure if every band is trying to get one last tour in before winter rolls around, or if they're just looking to have a return to normalcy after a summer of music festivals, but my fall is pretty much booked and I am not complaining. So if you happen to live near a music venue, be sure to check out the schedule. Your favorite band is probably stopping by soon.

--Alex

2009 Lollapalooza: Sunday (From Miles and Miles Away)

Lollapalooza was this past weekend in Chicago. I heard it was a great time, but I wouldn't know. Well, not really. I was actually 700 miles away in Washington, DC, where this past Sunday it was a typical August day in the District: hot, humid, and feeling like hell. It was in the mid-to-high 90's and may have been the hottest day of the year. After spending the morning on a walk running some errands and braving the hellements, I said screw that, and headed indoors where my air conditioner was working at such a furious pace, it was actually yelling "fuck you" at every Smart Car that drove by.

I knew some of my friends were at Lollapalooza, and I also knew that iClips.net was video streaming portions of the festival. It was also hot in Chicago, and just because my friends were sweating themselves silly in Grant Park, didn't mean I had to be. I put on an old pair of Umbros (yep), grabbed a lemonade and tuned in. This is what I saw:

The first band I caught was the Airborne Toxic Event. I have never really listened to this crew, and they seemed intriguing (sort of like Interpol only without the sharp looks and deodorant), but what struck me was how great the video feed was. Clear and crisp with great angles of the stage, crowd, and city. That's what I call production. For those wondering where the price of their ticket was going, it was so people like me who didn't buy a ticket could also enjoy the festivities. Thanks! And let me tell you, this is the way to take in a festival. Whenever I got bored with the Airborne Toxic Event, I would check out my fantasy baseball team (currently in 2nd place, no big deal), walk over to my kitchen and make a drink, or just lie down on my bed and take a power nap. This is the life. Oh, and if you think for a second that I wasn't texting my friends and asking them rather mockingly how the weather was at Grant Park, you're crazy.

According to iClips, Dan Deacon would be featured next. This is something I really wanted to see. A lot of people said that his last album was really good, but I could never bring myself to listen to it. Deacon has just always seemed like one of those acts that needs to be seen and heard, and not just heard. (I have made a promise to myself to listen to a Dan Deacon record very soon.) After preparing a bowl of Edy's Double Fudge Brownie ice cream and returning to my computer, it came to my attention that the feed was down. I have no idea what happened, but do know that iClips user korm5421 was not happy about it. He posted about three or four angry messages. (If you scroll through the message board, you'll see that he was complaining nearly every five minutes the entire day.) By the time the feed rebounded, Deacon was onstage with what looked like an entire marching band, and he had somehow commanded the massive crowd to create a large hole near the center of the stage. One guy was in the middle doing some slow dance moves, and the surrounding crowd was mimicking him. Once the music got going, the crowd just erupted and went crazy. People were jumping, crowd surfing, and rioting. It kind of made me wish I was there, but that thinking ended with my next bite of ice cream.

The Kaiser Chiefs were up next. They did not sound well, and I headed to the living room and turned on the television where I was immediately treated to a live concert on HDNet by the Barenaked Ladies. Now seemed as good of time as any to stick my face in the fan. Luckily, I soon found Major League on AMC. Great movie, but boy does it suffer without the curse words.

I faded in and out of sleep and eventually made my way back to my computer for the Cold War Kids. It was at this point where I tried to watch the band and the movie at the same time. I wasn't accomplishing either objective so I turned off the television. As the band was playing "Hospital Beds" I noticed some guy crowd surfing. I know it has been said countless times, but it really does look douchey when someone is crowd surfing at a completely inopportune time. Really, it does. I learned this the hard way at GG Allin's funeral. (Too soon?)

Snoop Dogg was next on the feed. Holla. The crowd looked absolutely enormous, and I don't think I have ever been in a crowd that big. At one point I think I heard Snoop (shockingly) say, "Put your motherfucking hands in the air," but I can't verify this because I was too engulfed in a mesmerizing profile about great white sharks on 60 Minutes. Allegedly, the recent increase in shark attacks on humans might be connected to humans increasingly seeking out great white sharks. Yeah, and Snoop might be high. At the end of Snoop's set (great white sharks trump Snoop, but Andy Rooney does not), he led the crowd in an impressive chorus of "Na na na na/Na na na na/Hey hey hey/Snoop Dogg." Believe me, it sounded much cooler than it reads.

Fuzzy guitar lovin' Silversun Pickups were stuck with the task of following Snoop. Always fun. I wasn't digging them at first, and even found lead singer Brian Aubert to be slightly annoying any time he tried to scream out a note. However, I thought they got stronger as they went on, and by the time they closed with "Lazy Eye," I was really feeling it. That's an incredible single, and they nailed it. (Although I texted my friend Bret who was there right afterwards to express my enjoyment, and he told me that he thought they sucked. Maybe just maybe, watching the festival over a computer in a different time zone doesn't exactly capture the experience.)

The next three hours were just filler for me (Portugal. The Man, STS9, Neko Case), until the day's headliners, Jane's Addiction and the Killers, were set to close out the weekend. The iClipse site was still listing the 11:30 cst timeslot as TBA, so I had no idea who I would get to watch, and rather than just spend the next few hours staring at my computer, I killed a couple of hours and watched Iron Man on Netflix. Cool movie.

One of the reasons I am sort of relieved I wasn't at Lollapalooza is because it would have sucked having to choose between Jane's Addiction and the Killers. I love both. I realized I was a big fan of the Killers right about the same time it was decided that they were no longer cool. Interestingly enough, this same thing happened to me in high school with OJ Simpson. (Too soon?) But speaking of high school, Jane's Addiction, pretty much the namesake of the festival, was one of my favorite bands way back when, and I have never seen them. So I probably would have decided to linger near their stage, but man, it would have been a tough decision. Good thing at home I had iClipse to make the decision for me. Problem is, when the schedule popped up, it said we would be watching Jane's Addiction but only from 11:30 to 11:45. Fifteen minutes? We were given Bat for Lashes for an entire hour, but only get Jane's Addiction for 15 minutes? Oh, well. Also, the schedule was on central standard time, so this meant I had to stay up until 12:30 am. On a work night, no less. No matter, I was going to do it.

I grabbed a book and laid down on my bed to kill the final hour. I was naive, I didn't stand a chance. I think I fell asleep approximately ten minutes later, only to wake up around 2:15 am with all the lights and computer still on, and 3 Nights in August lying on top of me. I got up and turned out the lights, and briefly considered playing a few Jane's Addiction tracks before officially calling it a night, but thought the better of it. Sometimes you just have to be there.

--Alex

Why Are Certain Chicago Music Critics Still Whining About Lollapalooza?

Ever since Lollapalooza reinvented itself with the parnternship of Perry Farrell and C3 Presents and arrived at Chicago's doorstep in 2005, it hasn't exactly been welcomed with open arms by everyone. It seems every year on the heels of the festival the main music critics in town line up to take their shots, be it at the lineup, the corporate backing, or with misplaced comparisons to the Pitchfork Festival. Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times seems to annually slam the festival, or, if he must, begrudgingly deliver compliments in a backhanded fashion. Last Friday, Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune was the latest to get his digs in, with a piece entitled Lollapalooza Promoters Still Searching for Chicago Identity. Kot seems to argue that Lollapalooza hasn't done enough to embrace and identify with Chicago. He writes:

But questions remain about how fully Lollapalooza has embraced and been embraced by Chicago beyond the considerable revenue it brings to the local economy. In staging the biggest annual rock festival in the city’s history on Chicago’s showcase property, C3 is held to a particularly high standard. So far it has executed a hugely successful festival with few hitches. But the organization remains at arm’s length from the city’s music community – more of a formidable interloper than a trusted accomplice.

Questions remain? Questions from whom? Probably not from those that bought the 225,000 tickets. Also, the fact that Lollapalooza has recently signed on to remain in Chicago through at least 2018 should quell any questions as to where their loyalties lie. And my guess is the last sentence in that paragraph stems from the "radius clause" that is in the contract for all of the bands that play Lollapalooza, which basically restricts them from playing local venues 90 days before or after the festival. I agree that these clauses are stupid and wholly unnecessary, but they are pretty typical for all large festivals. And the bands that play Lollapalooza never seem to have much trouble arranging an aftershow, or even playing the city a few days before or after the festival. The policy seems to be, ask the promoters if you can play, and they will let you play. If there has been a case of a band being refused a show after asking , I have not heard of it.

Not saying that I would have heard about it. I am a mere casual observer and fan of live music, I am not on the inside, nor privy to some of the politicking that goes on in certain Chicago music circles. That being said, I wonder if the bitterness directed at Lollapalooza is less about the radius clauses and more about the promoters not kissing the right asses. And I am not wondering rhetorically, I am asking because I don't know.

What I do know is, I can't think of a single person that I have talked to that has had a negative experience at Lollapalooza since its rebirth in Chicago. The main (and nearly only) complaint that comes to mind is the size of the crowd, which can make it difficult to maneuver from stage to stage. (And the off-shoot complaint, which is that the large crowd sometimes results in poor or non-existent cell phone service.)

Even more stupid, in my opinion, is this idea that the festival hasn't fully "embraced Chicago." In recent years, Chicago heavyweights Wilco and Kanye West have headlined Lollapalooza. I seem to remember Lupe Fiasco on a stage as well. And even small time and relatively unknown local acts like Cameron McGill have been included. I guess Oprah needs to be invited to appease some of these people.

I have heard others complain about the lack of Chicago "identity" at the festival. Oh, brother. Lollapalooza is stationed in Grant-freakin'-Park, under the glow of arguably the most beautiful skyline in the world. And second, does it really matter? Does the music not suffice? Last year everyone seemed to enjoy Radiohead just fine. Are you telling me it would be a much more fulfilling experience if everyone was up to their necks in stuffed pizzas and crooked politicians, too?

Everyone should just enjoy Lollapalooza for what it is, which is a world-class, three-day rock music festival that is slowly becoming a staple of Chicago summers. The Chicago identity and mutual embrace will slowly come, and the kinks will slowly go. But in the meantime, speaking as a former Chicago resident not yet 18-months removed, just feel lucky to have something so great in your backyard.

UPDATE: Almost right on cue, here is DeRogatis's annual whiny column from Saturday's Sun-Times. I am pretty sure it's the same article every year, he just changes the names of the bands.

--Alex

2009 Pitchfork Festival: Sunday

In the five years (or four, if you are worried about semantics) of the Pitchfork Festival, I cannot think of a better day of music than what was offered last Sunday. The day started with Frightened Rabbit, who, last year, released one of my favorite albums ever, and ended with the Flaming Lips, who are one of my top-five favorite bands of all-time. Sandwiched between were about three or four acts that were as good as anyone I saw on Saturday. (Oh, and before we get started, a few people have asked me why there are no pictures. And the reason is, I am still trying to milk life out of the same camera that I dropped in a beer during Dinosaur Jr at last year's festival. It still sort of works, but pictures taken during the daytime are very fuzzy and hardly viewable. My friend Brendan pointed out that if I am willing to purchase a plane ticket from DC to Chicago to attend this festival, it might be time to go ahead and pony up for a new camera. Never!)

When writing about David Foster Wallace's highly-acclaimed novel, Infinite Jest, Walter Kirn of New York Magazine wrote, "Next year's book awards have been decided...the competition has been obliterated." When it comes to break-up records, this is how I feel about Frightened Rabbit's The Midnight Organ Fight. (Side note: I will give anyone $50 if they can somehow credibly verify that they, in the last year, have walked into Tryst in DC on 18th Street and not witnessed someone reading, trying to read, or pretending to read Infinite Jest. I'm not kidding, fifty bucks.) The album really is that good, and that is why we made sure we were at Union Park by 1:30. Frightened Rabbit opened with "The Modern Leper," which will sound like a hit song the very first time you hear it. But The Midnight Organ Fight is a break-up record through and through, and their excellent song "Good Arms Vs. Bad Arms" ends with the line, "I am still in love with you/Can't admit it yet," only conspicuously Hutchison didn't sing this part. I notice these things. They ended the set with a hard-charged "The Greys" which eventually morphed into something I didn't recognize. The band brought more energy than I was expecting or knew was capable from the Scottish four-piece, and before long only drummer Grant Hutchison was left on stage menacingly scowling at the crowd, and pounding on his drums before triumphantly throwing his arms up in the air, and strutting off stage. For something so inocuous and most likely forgotten by 95% of the crowd, it gave me goosebumps and may have been my favorite moment of the weekend.

In between bands I spotted a skinny, raggedy kid with shaggy hair walking around with scissors and a sign that read "Cut my hair." Festival goers would randomly come up and grab the scissors and take a few snips. I saw him a couple of hours later and his hair looked great. And by "great," I mean "fucking awful." But hey, way to save $8!

Ever watched a band from a distance and thought, "Wow, I am going to start listening to them more as soon as I get home"? This was my line of thinking during Blizten Trapper, who sounded excellent. What was amazing was how many of their songs from their last two albums stuck out in my mind as they were playing them. It really felt like hit song after hit song. And I believe they had the same time slot and the same stage as their fellow Brawny-Paper-Towels-sponsored band, Fleet Foxes the year before. I can almost guarantee right now there is a band from the Pacific Northwest with a propensity to grow decent beards, that is unknown at the moment, but is two months away from signing with Sub Pop, and four months away from an 8.7 rating on Pitchfork that will be on this stage at this time in 2010. It will happen, you just watch.

And speaking of bands from the Pacific Northwest that will now be receiving more air-time in the Crisafulli household, the Thermals gave me just what I wanted out of a band at a music festival. They were loud, energetic, and even played some covers. Hell, they opened with a cover--Sonic Youth's "100%." They also played some Nirvana, the Breeders, and Green Day. But most impressive, during their set was this guy that was standing in front of us with a yellow Michael Jackson t-shirt that danced throughout the entire set. He didn't stop once and danced well the entire time.

If Hamilton Leithauser of the Walkmen isn't the best frontman alive, then he is one of the best. Everytime he belted out one of his trademark wails, the crowd around me would "oooh" and "aaah" as if they were watching a 4th of July fireworks display. However, something happened during their set which I feel compelled to share. Right as the Walkmen started to play "The Rat," a guy next to me fainted. He just went out cold and hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Luckily, I was standing next to a doctor (she requested not to be named, so we will just refer to her as Aud***). I immediately summoned Aud***'s attention, pointed out the guy on the ground, and assumed we were in good hands. Bad assumption. Aud*** took one look at him, and turned her attention back to the Walkmen. To her defense, "The Rat" is one of the best rock songs ever. But be that as it may, we had a doctor in the house, and the guy I saw that ended up finally attending to this poor sap was smoking marijuana moments before this happened. Aud*** will tell the story a bit differently, but this is exactly how I remembered it happening. (For those worried, the guy that went down came to a few moments later and after some water seemed okay and headed to a less crowded area.) As for the Walkmen, they played mostly stuff from last year's You & Me (voted best album of 2008 in some circles), only reaching back for the aforementioned "The Rat" and a few tracks from A Hundred Miles Off. They were great, but as I have said before, we expected that.

Scott brought up an excellent point concerning M83. They had the same vibe that Spiritualized did last year. They were onstage, we were minding our own business, and about a third of the way through, everyone seemed to realize something great was happening. I was in this camp and will be listening to a lot more of M83. Leading non-crooner Anthony Gonzalez still needs some lessons in throwing down though.

I still don't understand the fascination with Grizzly Bear, but you know what, God bless 'em because 18,500 hipsters can't be wrong. (Actually, they can be wrong, and often are wrong. Most notably every morning when they get up and pick out something to wear.)

I had been excited for weeks to see headliners the Flaming Lips in this setting: Chicago, my favorite music festival, with friends, and under the glow of the Willis Tower. Alright, so maybe not everything was perfect. But Willis Tower be damned, when Wayne came out in his patented rubber ball and surfed the crowd just before the band played "Race for the Prize," at that moment it was perfect. Unfortunately, perfection can be fleeting, and the Flaming Lips were actually a bit disappointing. They were participating in the "fans write the setlist" gimmick that was present on Friday, only Wayne didn't seem like he really wanted to be involved. Not that I can blame him, and I actually enjoyed it when he seemed to be mocking the entire premise. Problem is, that seemed to dominate their set, and I'm not sure they played more than nine songs. And I hated the way they played "Fight Test" and "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Part 1." Hated it. They were slow and stripped down, almost as if we were watching Wayne sing them acappella in the shower. And Wayne kept trying to get everyone to sing along, but that's pretty hard when the tempo is completely unpredictable. The following day, Jim stated, "I had to go home and listen to those songs to remember what they sounded like and why I actually like them. That's...that's not good!" No, no it isn't. They did hit "Bad Days" from my favorite Flaming Lips album, but even that sounded stale. (Wayne dedicated the song to Sun Times music critic/journalist Jim DeRogatis, who has written a biography on the Flaming Lips. DeRogatis was promptly booed. Imagine if the Bears were to win the Super Bowl and Brian Urlacher gave the game ball to Jay Mariotti. It was kind of like that. But do not feel sorry for DeRogatis, I am sure at this point in his career he can handle it.)

I was starting to get restless and realized that they had only played a handful of song with twenty minutes remaining before the 10pm neighborhood curfew took effect. Not cool. What was cool was the Flaming Lips' set and stage show which is never disappointing, and the large screen monitors provided by Pitchfork that showed the enormous crowd that was still sticking around for the final act of what had been a long weekend. It was amazing how large the crowd was and I can definitely say there has never been a crowd like that at one stages in the, albeit brief, history of this festival. It was truly amazing. And the band did pick up momentum with their final two songs: "She Don't Use Jelly," which was accompanied by the video on the large screen behind the band, which was a nice step back in time, and "Do You Realize" which was deservedly voted number one in terms of songs fans wished the band to play. That song is nearly worth the price of admission alone, and though it wasn't a perfect Flaming Lips' set, it was a good note to leave on.

--Alex

2009 Pitchfork Festival: Saturday

Saturday's lineup of the 2009 Pitchfork Festival was a bit weak when compared to Friday and Sunday. Nevertheless, we made an honest effort to arrive at Union Park somewhat early. Jim and I were staying at a friend's place in Edgewater and took the Damen Bus the entire way. Is it really necessary for the bus to stop at every half block? Why doesn't the CTA just have it stop at every single residence along the way and get it over with. We could have gotten there faster had we walked backwards.

No matter, we made it before 2:30, and that is when hardcore whatever band, Fucked Up, from Toronto was set to play. I wrote over a month ago (yet, just two posts ago) that Fucked Up's set was destined to be the highlight of the weekend, so I was filled with a decent amount of anticipation. They emerged, led by singer Damian Abraham who looks like the cross between a fat guy and another even fatter guy, and immediately launched into "Son the Father," which is most likely the best song from their 2008 album The Chemistry of Common Life. The crowd was pretty into it, and the band was doing their best to make sure the crowd stayed into it, but, unfortunately the sound was pretty weak. (This has been a slightly onerous reoccurring theme that pops up at every Pitchfork Festival.) I almost felt like it needed to be louder, especially Abraham's vocals. Other than that, things were fine, and like David Yow the night before, Abraham spent a decent amount of time in the crowd. He was even on top of the crowd at one point. Who said indie rock fans are weak? Abraham killed other time by chewing on beach balls and wearing one on his head. I thought he was pretty fantastic. He also awarded the crowd with a 9.9 Pitchfork rating and declared us better than the Animal Collective record (Merriweather Post Pavillion) which he claimed sounds like Phish. This killed me. I love Animal Collective, and I really like that album, but I also love a contrarian.

Fucked Up ended their hour long set with several members of the band leaping into the crowd. We are talking pretty good leaps, too. Instruments in hand, and everything. Other than "Son the Father," the other song I remember sticking out fairly well was "Twice Born." They were not the highlight of the festival, but despite the shaky sound, they fought through it all pretty well. Fucked Up, my compliments. (I just did a Google search and found that the last sentence has never been printed anywhere before on the Internet. I am pretty proud to be the first.)

Right after Fucked Up, Audrey sent me a text and asked if I had heard about Thax Douglas. Word was spreading that Thax had died. It wasn't true, Thax is alive and well. I think everyone had just mixed Thax up with Walter Cronkite. Honest mistake.

Somehow after Fucked Up, I was unaccounted for until the second half of Lindstrom's great set on the B stage. This is over a three hour window, and I have no idea what I was specifically doing during this time. I may have just been standing in line for the bathroom. For whatever reason, on Saturday, every bathroom line was out of control. It seemed as if the park was much more crowded than previous years, although I read that festival organizers stated that they sold the same amount of tickets as the previous year, and the bigger crowd may have been a result of the unseasonably cool and comfortable temperature. Meaning people were staying longer. That's plausible. And the lines for the bathrooms were rectified by Sunday as organizers scrambled to have more port-a-potties trucked in. And that is what makes this festival fantastic. The port-a-potties. No, but honestly, organizers do as much as they can to make sure everyone has a comfortable experience. It is crowded, but never scary. The lines for food, beer, and bathrooms can be long, but are rarely offensive. And the food is unbelievable. I never thought I would be able to eat so well at a festival. Fruits, vegetables, pizza, whatever you want, they have it.

However, I think the main reason I don't remember seeing much music during this time was because I was catching up with friends that I had not seen in some time. And that might be my favorite part of this weekend. We were all somewhat near the stage where the Pains of Being Pure at Heart were playing, and they are a good band, but I was more interested in talking with my friends. Every year it's a reunion of sorts. They could put the worst possible lineup in front of us and we would probably buy a ticket and head out there. Hmmm, on second thought, perhaps we are morons.

As mentioned, Lindstrom was pretty exciting, but we were mostly lingering near the stage for Matt and Kim who were set to play shortly. I have always really liked Matt and Kim, especially live. They both need ritalin, and they played a lot from their latest album Grand, which is a step up musically and production-wise from their previous effort. But they still managed to squeeze in crowd favorites like "Yea Yeah," "5k," and "Silver Tiles." I originally regretted that I missed Beirut, but, in turn, that would have meant missing Kim trying to dance Beyonce-style, and Matt rocking out not only the beginning to "Sweet Child O' Mine" but also the intro to "The Final Countdown." Clearly, I made the right call.

Saturday was nearly over save for the headliner, the National. I really like the National, they are a very good band, but they are not a headliner. We left halfway through their set, hit an outside patio in Wicker Park, and had some beers. We talked about whatever, and I began to think about the Flaming Lips.

(Sunday rundown coming tomorrow...hopefully.)

--Alex

2009 Pitchfork Festival: Friday

The last time there was a post on NQL, Michael Jackson was alive and the Cubs’ season seemed to be dead. Well, things have changed, and if morticians can dig up old bones in a graveyard, certainly I’m entitled to exhume NQL. It is especially appropriate since last weekend was the annual Pitchfork Festival. For the most part, I like Pitchfork. They commit some sins, but the festival is not one of them. It is far and away the best music festival I have been to, it is where this site was born, and therefore, it is time for a post.

I hate flying, but my flight to my old Chicago home was surprisingly pretty painless. Any disaster from last year was avoided. I hit Union Park at what I thought was a decent time, but Tortoise was long gone and Yo La Tengo was already playing. Not a huge deal, I have seen Tortoise plenty of times, and since two very long days of music were waiting for me, I could handle not seeing every single note played on Friday. Friday also featured a scenario where ticket holders were allowed to vote for what they wished to be the set list from each band. I am not wild about this scenario. I would rather hear what Yo La Tengo wants to play, and not what the guy standing on my right wants Yo La Tengo to play. But nevertheless, it is an interesting idea, and certainly would not detract much from the weekend. For those unaware, the Friday lineup was Tortoise, Yo La Tengo, the Jesus Lizard, and Built to Spill. It was like watching an old-timers’ game, except interesting and worthwhile.

As mentioned, I showed up during Yo La Tengo, and they happened to be playing “Autumn Sweater” from I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One. Good omen, I like that song. I looked around for my friends (my cellular phone was not working at the moment) before realizing I was in the wrong spot. I needed to go to the Jesus Lizard stage. My old friend Jim from Louisville is the biggest Jesus Lizard fan I know, and as much as we all love Yo La Tengo, it was important to be front and center for what was about to happen on the other stage. Knowing lead singer and resident maniac, David Yow, has to be nearing 50, I was curious if he still had the antics in him that has made him somewhat legendary. (Speaking of which, I think David Yow has looked 50 for the past 20 years. Has he ever looked young?) It was kind of like watching an old athlete come out of retirement, but instead of wondering whether he could still throw a 50-yard spiral, I was curious if he still had the drive to leap off the stage, and crowd surf naked. It is a subtle difference. Convinced the Jesus Lizard’s first set in their hometown in some time could range anywhere from awesome to a complete debacle, I wanted to be close enough to make the call. It was pretty much both.

The noisy rockers came onstage, Yow said a few things into the microphone about some upcoming shows that they are set to play at the Metro in November, the band started into their first song “Puss” from Liar and within seconds Yow flung himself into the crowd. It was great, and there are plenty of Youtube clips that captured the scene if you want to check it out. The twenty foot radius of rabid fans that formed around him was pretty much mayhem. I was being pushed, shoved, elbowed, stomped on, you name it, and I pretty much fine with it. And Yow kept his pants on for the entire show. Let’s call that a win-win. After about five songs, I had had enough and retreated just beyond the pit of grease balls who seemed to be enjoying their opportunity to anonymously try and hurt someone. As I watched the rest of the Jesus Lizard’s set, I noticed Jim near the front of the stage, for whatever reason, holding his shoes up in the air, but refusing to budge from his prime (or terrible, pending on your point of view) spot. As we found out later, during the roughhousing, Jim’s shoes somehow came off. So did his socks. The shoes were found. The socks were not. I cannot think of many other bands who could inspire those last two sentences. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you…the Jesus Lizard.

I had never seen indie rock heroes Built to Spill before this night. Well, shame on me. We somehow managed to get a decent spot near the right of the stage, although we were without Jim, who was still missing in action from the Jesus Lizard’s set. Luckily, a girl in front of us was inexplicably holding a crutch up in the air. I got Jim on the phone and told him to head for the crutch. About five minutes later and still no Jim, the girl put the crutch down. Me, along with several other people, reacted with a simultaneous “Noooo,” as apparently I was not the only one using it as a point of reference. She reluctantly agreed to put the crutch back up in the air. A guy in my group assured her it would only take him about an hour to find us. She sort of found that funny. (He never found us, and the crutch was lowered about ten minutes later.)

Built to Spill was fantastic and it may have been my favorite set of the weekend. They opened with “Liar” from You in Reverse, and kept pretty strong momentum throughout the set. Great beards, too. As mentioned before, since it was a “fans write the set list” night, they hit a lot of what would be expected: “You Were Right,” “Goin’ Against Your Mind,” “Strange,” etc. Very conspicuously absent was “Car.” Really? No “Car?” Are you telling me the masses of people did not vote “Car” as one of the top ten songs that would have liked to have heard Built to Spill play? Someone jumpstart those riots in Iran, we have some more voter fraud on our hands!

(Saturday rundown coming tomorrow...maybe.)

--Alex