2015 in Albums: My 5 Favorites

2015 may well come to be seen as a transitory year in many facets of life, and few of those are so clear as in the world of music. With the last of the euro-tinged EDM that dominated the first half of the 2010s fading out of the public conscience, 2015 saw the sound of the decade began to solidify. The amalgam of southern hip-hop snare rolls, bouncy tropical house, the funk of the era formerly led by Prince, and the power ballads setting the stage for the late release of Adele was what permeated the culture. What’s more, we saw the complete dominance of streaming services in what may well be seen as the end of the digital download era. It was a year of diversity, a year of change, and a year of excitement as entrepreneurial artists seized the sounds of modern music software and instruments to create some incredible works. It’s my pleasure today to tell you a bit about five of the releases that defined my own year, as well as the year of many others.

5. Panda Bear – Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper

After the bleak Tomboy and a series of critically acclaimed releases as part of Animal Collective, Panda Bear looked simultaneously inward and outward for his fifth album, the ambitious Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper. Melding his signature psychedelic sound with hip-hop drum programming inspired by the likes of J Dilla and A Tribe Called Quest, Panda Bear comes face to face with his own mortality in a haze of bubbling synths and murky bass lines. First single “Mr. Noah” is the weirdest and catchiest song about a dog getting bitten on the leg that you’ve ever heard; follow-up “Boys Latin” uses delayed vocals to create a fog of tenor as Panda Bear laments on the shadow moving in. Between and beyond those two are a series of auditory hallucinations, with highlights like “Come to Your Senses” leaving the listener questioning whether they themselves had been swept up in Panda Bear’s stream. Late-game standout “Tropic of Cancer” finds Panda Bear grappling with death through the lens of his father’s mortality over an ingenious sample of “The Nutcracker Ballet”. My personal favorite of the album, “Butcher Baker Candlestick Maker” evokes the musical image of water streaming peacefully over rocks, with the ambient vocals contrasting as perfectly as the reflection of the blue sky.

4. Majical Cloudz – Are You Alone?

Don’t let the hip-hop tinged spelling of their name fool you – Majical Cloudz are dead serious about their craft, and their sparse yet layered music reflects their commitment. Lead singer Devon Welsh’s plain but powerful voice is paired with the flowing, minimal soundscapes of producer Matthew Otto to create a world draped solemnly in white, the color of the ghosts of the past. In comparison to their previous effort, the sublime Impersonator, Otto allows his electronic influences a little bit further out of his leash; brushed snares urge the momentum of “Control”, and an echoed but muted drum machine perfectly carries the ever-building title track. On that title track, the duo speak equally to a lover, a friend, and even the world of music itself; “Do you hear what I’m saying?” becomes frustrated and desperate in that context, though it is not belittled by any other interpretation. Therein lies the genius of Majical Cloudz – these lyrics are charged, but relatable. These instrumentals are familiar, but chilling, like a look back at an old photograph faded by age. By the time the album reaches the lonely sidewalk dirge of “Downtown”, Walsh has contorted his voice into the exact middle of a wail and a whisper from a mouth curled into a knowing smile. “If suddenly I die, I hope they will say,” he says turning toward the infinite city sky, “that he was obsessed, and it was okay.” That kind of raw honesty and emotion is the perfect vessel to deliver the kind of craft that Majical Cloudz deals in. You begin to feel the emptiness of the streets that they describe, and the magic of their collaboration seeps through the cracks.

3. Shlohmo – Dark Red

The aptly named “Ten Days of Falling” begins with a hazy synth that quickly blooms into an almost operatic series of organ chords, only to give way to a screeching minor synth line atop building electronica stabs as the listener takes a swan dive into Shlohmo’s hazy world. That flair for the dramatic is the driving force behind Dark Red, whose name accurately depicts the thick, cloudy smog that creeps from behind each piece. “Emerge From Smoke” takes a crushed arpeggio line and accents it with sparse, breathy bits that simulate a digital take on a guitarist’s slides. From there, Shlohmo adds his tightly controlled hip-hop drum sequences that landed him an acclaimed collaborative EP with Jeremih earlier this year and brought him into the same breath as the likes of Baauer and Clams Casino. The lines between electronica and trip-hop blur even further on “Slow Descent”, which begins somewhere in the VIP lounge of a club and ends up as a breakneck drum ‘n’ bass odyssey over half-time synth melodies. “Apathy”, the lone collaborative effort with D33J, is the furthest foray into the world of southern trap, but still retains the compositional and melodic tropes of Shlohmo’s dark, rhapsodic electronics. To deftly move between these worlds is to fully embrace the sounds of mid-2010s electronic music; to innovate as Shlohmo does is another beast entirely. By the ending chords of “Beams”, one has to gasp for air, finally surfacing from the brash waves of Dark Red’s sonic ocean with a newly invigorated appreciation for what lies in the murky deep.

2. Jamie xx – In Colour

Coursing through the veins of opener “Gosh” is the blood of 90s house infused with the intoxicants of early hip-hop turntablism; the dizzying speed changes that momentarily halt the track are clever nods to Jamie’s own past as a master of the spinning wax. Retrofuturism is the name of the game on the debut solo album from the quiet producer of The xx, and the way that Jamie pulls from the past in ingenious sampling decisions create a world all his own adorned with historic relics on every wall. From the 90s-indebted breakbeat of “SeeSaw” to the shrewd chorus of “Loud Places”, the producer brings modern sounds together in perfect concordance with the ghosts of years past. Nowhere is this better executed than the year’s least expected hip-hop masterpiece, “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” featuring the unlikely but perfect pairing of Young Thug and a sample of 50s acapella group The Persuasions. Though it’s hard not to be distracted by Thug’s amphibious and sometimes charmingly gross rhymes, the glue here is the masterstrokes of Jamie’s steel pans and perfectly compressed bass lines. In Colour at times feels like the ideally minimalist canvas art of an artist too long left behind the scenes, the craft of a perfectionist finally ready for exhibition. Each carefully crafted instrument has its place, and no song feels overcrowded; even relatively ambient tracks like “Hold Tight” use each individual chord in perfect tandem. By the ending stomp of “Girl”, Jamie has cleverly broken down the divisions between triplet and four-on-the-floor time while continuing to hone his signature sounds. The poignant chorus of “Loud Places” puppeteers a defeated-sounding echo of the past, lamenting, “I will never reach such heights”. If In Colour is any indication, Jamie xx will not only reach those heights, but also breezily surpass them.

1. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly

2015 was the year that the conscious American was forced into uncomfortable contemplation on the plight of their black brothers and sisters by horrific systematic violence against such names as Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, the Charleston church massacre victims, and countless others. From there, movements from #BlackLivesMatter to Concerned Student 1950 rose to echo the anger boiling over the pot, the sound of a generation tired of complacent maintenance of the racist structures of their nation. At the top of the year, Kendrick Lamar released his long-awaited follow-up to his acclaimed debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, giving musical voice to the frustrated and righteous fury of the black man and woman at exactly the correct time. The clear symbolic and chart hit was “Alright”, which found an exasperated Kendrick acknowledging the struggles that he and his kin face, but fortuitously exclaiming the now-iconic chorus: “we gon’ be alright.” Those words, bellowed over a pounding beat by Pharrell Williams, were repeated at countless marches and protests throughout the year, and will forever be contextualized as the anthem of a year in which black America rose with confidence to give a much-needed shake to dust-covered national attitudes. Behind the social support that elevates To Pimp A Butterfly, however, is one of the most perfect rap albums this side of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The album is strung together, loosely at first but taught as bridge wire by the finale, by a continuing poem that gives way to a chilling moment when Kendrick is revealed to have been reciting those words to the ghost of Tupac Shakur. This reverence to the history of black American music is reflected throughout the project’s running time; jazz (“For Free?”), funk (“King Kunta”, “These Walls”), and the tropes of classic rap (“Institutionalized”, “How Much A Dollar Cost”, “Complexion”) are seamlessly introduced to Kendrick’s signature lyrical style with increasingly impressive results. It’s a testament to his refusal to adhere to modern hip-hop standards that the closest thing to a 2010s trap “banger” here is “The Blacker The Berry”, a stinging indictment of the kind of hypocrisy that leads a black man to weep over Trayvon Martin and then turn around and kill one of his brothers in gangbanging. No moment here is too uncomfortable for Kendrick to tackle, most painfully displayed in “u”, a breakdown of Kendrick’s own inner demons underscored with the clinking of glasses and the choking back of tears to audibly paint a portrait of a man damn near broken under the weight of his own savior status. But he never does break, and in fact uses his own pain as steam to power the antithesis of that track – “i”, the positivity anthem that rap fans weren’t ready for when it released the year prior. The world wasn’t ready, but the unrelenting chorus of “I love myself” was exactly what it needed to hear. “i” is the beating heart of To Pimp A Butterfly, and it succinctly defines the modus operandi of the work as a whole: to lift. To Pimp A Butterfly aims directly at the heart of a generation with ears wide open for Kendrick Lamar, and it pierces. It leaves no white American unswayed, no casual rap listener able to ignore the historical context of the genre and the pain on which it was built. But most importantly, it gives a rally cry to a generation of black Americans desperately in need of one. As our nation moves toward a more cognizant future, the echoes of “we gon’ be alright” will sound from the many, and that positivity will shine a light through the darkness of our past.  

~

Chris Orzeske's Top 5 Albums of 2014

Best of 2014

5. Clean Bandit - New Eyes

“If you gave me a chance, I would take it/it’s a shot in the dark, but I’ll make it.” Those words blasted through our radios more and more as the year progressed. By the end of it all, English quartet Clean Bandit and their breakout single “Rather Be” were almost as ubiquitous on this side of the pond as on theirs. Perhaps the one downside of such a perfectly crafted piece of pop becoming so, so popular is that the song’s impressive parent album often goes unnoticed.

New Eyes, the band’s debut, is much more than the collection of first single similarities that so many modern pop albums are. Displaying their classical roots, the sound of live strings permeates nearly every track on the album. From seafaring stabs on the chorus of “Come Over” to full-on classical movement recreations on the opener “Mozart’s House”, the band misses no opportunity to add classical flavor to modern dance music.

Perhaps one of the most interesting pieces on the album is British single “A+E”, which has criminally not been pushed yet in America. An enticing classical opening section gives way to an irresistible dance plod, complete with the trademark bleeps and steel pan synths that Clean Bandit has made their signature. The four have an unmatched knack for melding pop sensibility with classical melody.

The influences displayed range from southern trap on the title track to island music on “UK Shanty” to the aforementioned classical flavorings. For a record on paper so across-the-board, the result is surprisingly cohesive and compelling. When pop music is viewed through a serious lens, the results are often great. Through the lens of the strict structure of classical music, the result is the catchy, danceable, melodically complex and intrinsically appealing sound that you know from “Rather Be”. It would be criminal to assume Clean Bandit to be just a one-trick pony, when they’re more like an entire herd moving in unison to the sound of strings and techno beats.

4. Beck - Morning Phase

A full twenty years since “Loser”, Beck is still pushing the boundaries of rock music. After dabbling in glitch, crunchy alternative, hip-hop and psychedelia, where is an enterprising oddball rocker to turn? As it happens, the call is a long-requested return to the acoustic melodies of his heavily acclaimed Sea Change. Where that album was rooted in melancholy loneliness, Morning Phase deals instead in wide-eyed optimism with folk-rock flavor. Gone is the breakup-inspired, tearful sunset of Sea Change in favor of a sunrise companion piece with appropriately bright soundscapes.

To begin the album with a song called “Morning” is no coincidence. “Morning” sounds like the sigh of relief at 7am after a terrible night of red eyes and broken memories. The simple brushed drums and solo guitar four-chord progression gives way to a cascade of vocal harmonies, courtesy of a choir of Beck’s. The man’s own voice is an instrument he proudly wields like Hendrix’s guitar.

Early standout “Heart Is A Drum” chugs along on a repeated guitar line, swaddled in ethereal synth waves and reverb-powered vocal sighs. Following track “Say Goodbye” seems to tread more traditional bluesy Beck territory, but expands to include his now-trademark vocal harmonies and a banjo line you didn’t know you wanted until it enters. Synth organ waves buoy held vocal wails on “Unforgiven”, and the almost-overproduced-but-not-quite “Blue Moon” stands as a welcoming first single.

The general positivity of Morning Phase persists in feeling up until and through the epic closer “Waking Light”. In a culmination of all of the tricks he’s displayed throughout the album, “Light” slowly builds into a string-heavy cavalcade to close the album on an essentially-Beck note of all possible technical capabilities in full force. Morning Phase stands both as the perfect closure to Sea Change and a wonderful display of Beck’s raw talent in its own right. Is it an unexpected sound in the midst of an experiment-fueled musical era never more similar to Beck’s own heart? Sure, but leave it to Beck to leave us happily surprised time after time.

3. Isaiah Rashad - Cilvia Demo

Rap music in 2014 became a very fickle beast. In a world in which Bobby Shmurda hits the top 10 by wailing that “Mitch caught a body ‘bout a week agoooo” and iLoveMakonnen lights up radio by singing entirely off-key about weekday club excursions, it’s hard to see a place for traditional lyricism in the fray. Record label Top Dawg Entertainment has made its name as a beacon in a murky sea of punchlines and distorted 808s as modern rap’s guiding force towards the past, with mainstays like Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul recalling yesteryear’s rhyming passion and Schoolboy Q inserting the same spirit into today’s sounds.

Enter Isaiah Rashad. Alongside fellow new signee SZA (whose silky R&B can be heard on two Cilvia Demo tracks), Rashad has emerged as TDE’s latest hip-hop wunderkind. It’s not hard to imagine Rashad’s incessant flow and sharp rhymes fitting snugly in the rap scene of nearly 20 years ago, in the era of Wu-Tang and NWA. From the beginning of electric piano-led head-nodder “Webbie Flow” opening the album, the feeling of something both familiar and brand new is omnipresent.

But it’s his brutal personality that anchors Rashad to the modern era throughout the disc. He tackles the feelings of loneliness and desperation in his career path over a steel-pan skeleton on “Heavenly Father”, a show of raw honesty and vulnerability that wouldn’t have been as warmly received in a pre-808s & Heartbreak world. And the boastful Scarface referencing “Brad Jordan” could have easily been recorded on by a Future or a Kevin Gates, albeit likely not with the same fury and lyrical acrobatics.

The sarcastic musings on substance of “Menthol” betray Rashad’s dissatisfaction with the materialistic and molly-popping modern rap scene. “Thought the remedy was balling, I’m falling darling, I’m done/Finna be a workaholic, an alcoholic or some’” are bitter slams on the cashwise attitude of today’s young stars. Though only 23, Rashad speaks with the brutal honesty of a man with the glamorous world in his rearview.

His soul-soaked honesty carries through the project. Here is a young man with a story to tell and the talent to tell it in rhyme. With incredibly tight production from the likes of Sounwave and The Antydote, the result is an album as fresh as it is nostalgic, as haunting as it is optimistic. “At least we fell in love with something greater than debating suicide,” he laments on standout “West Savannah”, and it’s one of the most beautiful lines from a new rapper this year.

2. Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright In The End

One of the year’s most shockingly impressive projects came from perhaps the least likely source. Weezer, after a disappointing string of albums through the latter 2000s and culminating with an odd collection of songs tied together with a picture of Jorge Garcia, had had just enough of being modern rock’s perennial joke. After entering the studio with The Cars’ Ric Ocasek, who had previously assisted with their heavily acclaimed blue and green albums, the band emerged with their best piece of work in over a decade.

Clocking in at just over 40 minutes, Everything Will Be Alright is Weezer’s heftiest work since 2005’s Make Believe. In spite of the longer running time, the album feels like the band has finally cut the fat that plagued their recent works. Gone are the experimentally dance-leaning cuts and Lil Wayne features, replaced with pure, unadulterated power pop. Lead single “Back to the Shack” finds lead singer Rivers Cuomo apologizing for their transgressions and promising a return to form. Admittedly hard to swallow upon its release, it now sits proudly at the start of the album as a vindicated mission statement.  

Weezer has always shined brightest on its catchy pop-rock hooks; as such, the highlights of the album are the ones you’ll be singing to yourself for days after hearing. “Lonely Girl”, calling back almost immediately the sounds of Bleach-era Nirvana, gets its point across with a 3-word chorus repeated ad nauseam (and that’s in no way a bad thing). The silly historical rock of “The British Are Coming” ends up as the coolest thing that could possibly end up in a high school history lesson, and though “Da Vinci” has a hook without any real meaning, Cuomo’s earnest moans leave the listener at a “loss for words” all their own.

If it sounds a little corny, that’s because it is. And that’s the beauty of truly artistic pop music – a band’s own sound captured in the ultra-polish of a homogenized medium. That’s not to say you’ll be able to predict every turn. Opener “Ain’t Got Nobody” is about as rock as they come, and “Cleopatra” evokes the folk-rock movement that gained steam this year. And of course, Ocasek’s influence means a few proto-Cars tracks like “I’ve Had It Up To Here” and “Foolish Father”, which are always a welcome addition.

The ambitious three-song suite at the album’s close sums up the work in a concise statement: this is Weezer, and we’ve still got it. As the listener finds themselves enveloped by crashing guitars and wailed vocals, the sounds and feelings of days gone by creep back. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you’d been transported back to 1994, when “Buddy Holly” still ruled the radio. In fact, you haven’t. It’s 2014, and Weezer is determined to continue their legacy. And for the first time in almost a decade, that’s a good thing.

1. FKA Twigs – LP1

From its whispery onset to its cacophonous finale, FKA Twigs’ first full-length (quite literally titled) is a journey in both sound and feeling. Its eye-catching portrait cover is fitting; a woman painted in makeup with glazed eyes and the ghost of a smile barely having quit her lips, simultaneously personal and hollowly reminiscent of the listener’s own sensualities. But most importantly, it looks like nothing you’ve ever seen before in an album cover. Likewise, the album breaks new sonic ground effortlessly and continuously by delving unabashedly into emotion with a perfectly poised dive.

The chaotic intro, one of many contributions from modern production weirdo Arca, sets the tone with what can best be described as a quiet storm of flickering percussion, reverb-soaked vocal coos and pure, beautiful lust. Without one intelligible word rising above the fray, Twigs paints a picture in jittery computerized sound that expresses her thoughts better than any essay or memoir ever could. Similarly evocative highlights like “Hours” forego R&B tradition for a blend of instrumentation to endorse statement; in the aforementioned track, the chorus of “I could kiss you for hours” merges with a vast soundscape complete with whispering synths mimicking a desert wind, holding her bold sexuality as beauty against emptiness.

Such vastly empty soundscapes and traveling percussion lines contrast throughout the album with Twigs’ raw, pained vocals. Rather than background noise, however, the instrumentals serve as scaffolding to underscore her words - at no point is her heartfelt vocalizing not center stage. Therein lies the beauty of the album, which almost better understood as a collection of beautiful acapellas built with exoskeletons of synths into the physical incarnations of Twigs’ inner monologues.

It’s the wordlessness that speaks volumes. In “Video Girl”, Twigs reflects on her previous life as just that – a nameless backup dancer silently attempting expression. You can feel her pained restraint as she sighs, “You’re gonna get yourself broke one day”, followed by a quiet “Is she the girl that’s from the video?” It’s as though her bottled emotions exploded in a studio, caking the walls with spindly snare rolls and ratcheting knocks.

Breakout single “Two Weeks” is a haunting show of pain; a woman alone, asserting her superior sexuality to an absent ex-boyfriend who has since moved on. The phrase “I can fuck you better than her” has never felt so full of regret. The chorus erupts as a symphony of breathy vocals, half-time drum lines, rolling ticks and moaning sighs. There may not have been a closer auditory representation of pure, vulnerable lovemaking yet created in modern music.

In an era of quiet judgment attached to any mention of the word “sex”, Twigs’ straightforward and unashamed approach to intimacy is incredibly refreshing. There’s a quiet strength underlying her every word; one track, “Kicks”, reminds her absent lover that she can and will get her kicks without him, and – oh yeah – that she has a beautiful body of which she is very proud. The blend of sheer spirit and technological musicianship is something to behold. If there’s one absolutely essential music release this year, it’s this monument to human sexuality hiding behind a woman’s makeup-covered face.

LouFest 2014 In Review, pt. 6

We left Cherub a little early to get moderately close for the next act. Who was it again? Well, they certainly confused me when they opened their set with the unmistakable hype of A$AP Rocky and Skrillex cut "Wild For The Night". We ran into the crowd as the song died down, and we were soon being serenaded by...

Grouplove

Again, in full honesty, I'm not too much of a Grouplove fan. I first heard of them from "Tongue Tied", as did many in the tightly packed crowd. But it was the eclectic album cuts like "Lovely Cup" and "Shark Attack" that really impressed me.

The five-some did away with their one-hit-wonder title pretty quickly, winning the crowd over with warm guitars and steady drumbeats. "Tongue Tied" was crammed in the middle of the set, almost unnoticeable amongst the stacked amount of album cuts. My two friends Kenzie and Sara, huge Grouplove fans, were having the time of their lives, and I couldn't have been happier to see it.

As someone not very familiar with the group, perhaps my favorite part of the set was an inspired cover of Beyoncé's "Drunk in Love". Beyoncé is one of my biggest weaknesses, and they were clearly aware. Although a rapped Jay-Z verse just wasn't in the cards, the cover was a compelling argument for Grouplove fanhood.

After Grouplove finished their set, we pushed our way into the tightest-packed crowd of the weekend for close spots at... wow, I still can't believe this...

OutKast

As Matt & Kim's power-pop faintly floated through the impatient crowd waiting for the rap act of the century, we stood like sardines with no room for movement whatsoever. But knowing that Big and Dre would soon be out in front of us, we stuck it out.

I, like many suburban children of my age, first heard of OutKast in the blur of childhood thanks to smash hits "Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move". It wasn't until I picked up a used copy of "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" as a teenager that I began to dive deeper into their legendary albums. Among their extensive back-log, "Aquemini" stuck out to me as a favorite thanks to their pioneering blend of rap lyricism with jazz and rock influenced instrumentals.

So it was with baited breath that we waited, and the wait went fast. They started with "B.O.B", rushing our heartbeats to match the 154 bpm pace. They closed by reminding us that they do it for "The Whole World", rolling out an exclusive from the Big & Dre Greatest Hits pack. And everything in between was magical.

"Don't everybody like the smell of gasoline?"

"Old school players to new school fools, cats keep it jumping like kangaroos"

"I'm sorry Ms. Jackson, oooh, I am for real..."

The hits kept rolling, and the quotables were quoted. My favorite track of theirs, "SpottieOttieDopalicious" came relatively quickly with a beautiful full-band rendition highlighting the song's furtive horn line. Big Boi's solo set included the extremely-hyped "Kryptonite" and the lightning pace of "GhettoMusick" before jumping into "The Way You Move" with Sleepy Brown to add a silky smooth breakdown.

For André's solo section, he serenaded the crowd with "Prototype" and "She Lives In My Lap" before blasting into "Hey Ya!", shooting most of us back to 2003 in instants. The duo reunited for "Roses" and "So Fresh, So Clean", the latter featuring a backdrop of cows tip-toe-wing-in-their-jawwdinz through a field.

It's clear that I loved the set. What really stuck out to me, though was something almost entirely unrelated to the music. At the start of the set, as the curtain dropped, each bandmember had their hands up. André's famously shifting jumpsuit message read "Can One Rest In Peace And Violence?", a chilling statement to make just miles away from the recent terrors in Ferguson. It was a tasteful tribute and solemn reminder that even as we danced, the world kept turning. To take such an important case to the festival frontlines was a very respectable move on André's part, and the moment was one that would stand out to me above the whole weekend.

The weekend was over almost as soon as it started. We headed back to Columbia on coffee and the familiar post-concert high. LouFest killed it this year, and I can easily say that I'll be heading back to Forest Park in '15!

LouFest 2014 In Review, pt. 5

We stuck around at the from of the Bud Light stage after Portugal. to secure front row seats. We were among several OutKast fans who had been camping there already and were waiting for the last set of the day. We had a few more to see yet, but for now, the seats were secured for...

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

How about a rock band from New Orleans fronted by a soulful singer with a talent for the Trombone? Trombone Shorty may have been an out-of-the-blue choice for many, but we were more than excited to see him break out jams like "Hurricane Season" and "Buckjump".

Trombone Shorty himself was on top of his game, bringing out his full vocal range as well as some fine-tuned trombone playing to impress the crowd of thousands. Though many seemed to be unaware of the band, they were soon won over. The sheer energy of the set was mostly unrivaled throughout the day.

It's easy to forget the backing band with such a prevalent frontman, but Orleans Avenue held down the fort with ease. A notable alto sax player lent a hand to some of the more horn-filled numbers, while the drummer was as tight as he sounded on the album. Trombone Shorty may have been playing in a park in St. Louis, but we were all on Orleans Ave for an hour.

Having said goodbye to our friends still waiting for OutKast, we headed back to the Forest Park stage for the last time to dance to...

Cherub

A personal favorite of mine, Cherub is an easy go-to for dance grooves and disco revival fun. They started their high-energy set with the brilliantly cheeky "<3", featuring lyrics about taking a sledgehammer to a car.

Though a sizeable amount of the crowd was clearly only there for closer "Doses & Mimosas", the two-piece performed an unfazed and strong set drawing from all 3 of their albums. Of particular note was the partially acapella "Disco Shit", which still managed to whip the crowd into a frenzy despite almost no collective lyrical knowledge.

Sexual anthem "Work The Middle" was appropriated by our back-of-the-crowd crew as an excuse to start a swaying dance circle to the chorus of "back and forth, back and forth." What started small quickly grew to 30-plus festivalgoers, and once the beats kicked back in, the dance-offs began. Through a powerful cover of Calvin Harris' "Feel So Close", we and dozens of strangers fist-pumped and showed off our questionable moves. It was one of the most unique and memorable moments of the whole weekend, and I couldn't have asked for it to happen at a better set.

The set wound down, and as "Doses" blasted through the park, we headed back to the main stage for the remainder of the fest. I'll continue shortly with reviews of Grouplove and OutKast!

LouFest 2014 In Review, pt. 4

So, day one was over. Day two, though. Oh man. It was hard to believe going in that I would be seeing OutKast in a few very short hours. But back to the beginning of the day, we started things off with...

Old Salt Union

I'm not the biggest bluegrass fan in my house, but man were these guys good. Fiddles, fiddles everywhere! The upright bass was a nice touch, certainly not something common among the rest of the act. It was a sunny way to start a sunny day.

Unfortunately, we only stayed for a few songs before heading over to Pretty Little Empire and the food stations, and my only video was interrupted by my roommate talking about how proud he was that he used a waterless toothbrush to brush that day. It happens.

So, after some gyros and tacos for good luck, we decided to forego the main stage Empires set in order to get good spots for...

Glass Animals

Given how excited I was for their set, I was maybe most curious about how Glass Animals' trippy sound would translate to a live atmosphere, especially at a paltry 1:30pm time slot. But through the beaming sun and sweaty crowd, the unmistakable guitar strums of "Hazey" penetrated the thick air. Frontman Dave Bayley wasn't shy at all about showing off his falsetto, sounding just as airy and atmospheric as he does on record.

Hit single "Gooey" was an ecstatic sing-along, albeit with much less punch on the drum kick than in the studio version. Similarly, "Toes" had the crowd nodding in agreement with the mantra: "I got toes, and I can smile."

The highlight was - and I still can't believe they actually played this - a funked-out cover of Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" formerly confined to a b-side on the "Gooey" single. The lads brought their all into the left-of-center rendition complete with bass plucks and "ahhh-OOH" harmonies.

We actually had the pleasure of meeting Dave after the set, and I thanked him personally for "Love Lockdown". A very nice guy. This caused us to be a bit late, but we still showed up a few songs into...

Portugal. The Man

I had missed the Portugal set in Columbia last year, so I was anticipating this one as we headed over to the tune of "Purple Yellow Red & Blue". Due to how tired we were after Glass Animals, however, Portugal became a chill set to which we swayed from sitting spots just outside of the crowd. Their loud pop-rock carried far beyond the reaches of the main stage, with the opening synths of "Modern Jesus" ringing clear even from the water station across the park.

Some bands just work well on a main stage, and Portugal fit the bill. Opting to play hits like "Purple" early on, the remainder of the set was comprised mostly of deep cuts, proving the prowess of what some may have called a one trick pony.

Just when I thought I had Portugal's set pinned down as just another festival-rock show, they changed my tune with one of the funniest cover moments of the festival - "Dayman" from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I'm not really sure how to describe just how great this was. Luckily, I have video:

We skipped out on Young & Sick in order to secure good seats at the main stage. I'll continue shortly with my reviews of Trombone Shorty and Cherub!

LouFest 2014 In Review, pt. 3

After Yo La Tengo, we waited in the crowd through the distant sounds of The 1975 in order to secure the best, front-row spots for...

Cake

Dear god. When I first heard "Short Skirt / Long Jacket" as the theme from Chuck, I never expected to see Cake live. I certainly never expected to even become a fan of theirs; "Jacket" had to grow on me from an initial annoyance of an intro to a shower-singing staple complete with shouts of "GETS UP EARLY" and "STAYS UP LATE".

When singer John McCrea came out in a trucker hat smacking a vibraphone like it was the last day of his life, the crowd morphed into one huge singing machine. Favorites like "Shadow Stabbing" and "Frank Sinatra" translated beautifully to a live setting complete with an energetic horn player (now becoming a trend at LouFest, seemingly) and keyboardist underlining every note with a thick brass sharpie.

Despite the curious absence of "The Distance", the band rolled out most of their hits proudly. When the likes of "Love You Madly" and "Jacket" started out, they were received with the warmth of an old friend who hadn't been seen in years. The na-nas in "Jacket" were transformed into a multiple-part crowd chorus which continued through the end of the song and set, even continuing as people left for Arctic Monkeys. "Madly" was especially well-received; it seemed as though every audience member knew every word.

The highlight of the powerful set was "Sheep Go To Heaven", an even better sing-along somehow than "Jacket". My friends, non-Cake fans who had followed me for lack of another option, were laughing hysterically as McCrea had us all repeat the mantra: "sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell". The set could actually be summed up well with a line from the song: "as soon as you're born you start dying, so you might as well have a good time".

Arctic Monkeys

Finally, it was time for day one to come to a close with brit-rock darlings Arctic Monkeys. I had missed their set in Columbia at The Blue Note, so I was excited to see, as my other friend puts it, a true "middle school classic". We had sacrificed a good spot at this set for our front-row at Cake, but that was okay because the lads were loud. Damn, were they loud.

They started off with "Do I Wanna Know?", which surprised me as it's currently their "song" for much of the audience. But the rest of the hour-and-a-half set was packed with songs from throughout the Monkeys' timeline. "Brianstorm" seemed a little weird set to a light show shaped like the AM logo, but it successfully whipped the crowd into the frenzy it was always designed to incite. By the time "Flourescent Adolescent" came on, the barriers between the new and old fans had mostly dissolved.

Though I'm not the biggest fan of the Monkeys, I was very pleased to hear those mid-2000s jams that I had almost forgotten. Mixed in with their much-matured new material, it shows a band clearly unafraid to evolve and push the limits of their sound. For a band that was almost pigeonholed with the rest of the "emo" movement thanks to "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor", they made a strong case for their status as an enduring and respected rock act.

And with that, the first day was done. I'll continue shortly with day two, featuring Old Salt Union and Glass Animals!

LouFest 2014 In Review, pt. 2

After dancing our wavy hearts out to Washed Out, next up was...

RAC

You may know RAC for his remixes, and, as such, he opened the set with 3 of his best. The likes of Two Door Cinema Club ("Something Good Can Work"), The Temper Trap ("Sweet Disposition") and Lana Del Rey ("Blue Jeans") filled the air in extra-poppy editions. Just when the crowd seemed to be wondering if the group had any original songs at all, bandleader André Anjos proved his worth by breaking into the refreshingly guitar-driven "Tear You Down".

Anjos provided a bit of band trivia by informing the crowd that he had actually proposed to his wife in this very park. His wife - stationed over on keyboard - clarified that she had, of course, said yes. It was one of the only crowd interactions of their set, but it was a fun reminder of the humanity of this remix machine.

Perhaps the highlight was crowd favorite "Cheap Sunglasses", featuring up-and-coming pop singer Matthew Koma. By the time its opening keyboard notes floated through the crowd, however, the absence of a lead singer was becoming painfully obvious. Each band member had wonderful instrumental performances, but hearing prerecorded vocals on every track got a little odd after a while. When the band's name stands for "Remix Artist Collective", though, it's kind of to be expected.

Future Islands

It was back to the main stage for synth-pop giants Future Islands. Though we elected for a spot to lay outside of the crowd, the beachy melodies of the band made a hell of an impression even from afar. 

Though we only stayed for a short amount of time, we danced with our bad selves to "Seasons (Waiting On You)" like our lives depended on it. It was a fun surprise to hear post-hardcore influences in the form of a few songs featuring screamed melodies at a festival otherwise buoyed by safe pop-rock and fun dance beats.


Yo La Tengo

A good friend of mine by the name of Ryan has championed Yo La Tengo to me for years. So, when they were announced as Kelis' replacement on the lineup, I made sure to make room in my schedule for them. After hearing a few of their songs, I actually decided to leave Future Islands early in order to get the best spot possible for them. They had actually become one of my most anticipated acts solely due to my unfamiliarity with them; I had never seen a true "jam-rock" show prior to this. So I had high hopes and an open mind going into the 30-year-veteran act's set.

Unfortunately (I'm so sorry Ryan), Yo La Tengo ended up as my biggest disappointment of the weekend. However, I have to admit that it was entirely my fault that they disappointed. While they opened with my favorite song by theirs ("Mr. Tough"), the entire rest of the set was comprised of songs I didn't know and extended jam seshes. After about 10 minutes of one jam showered in distorted bass and screeching guitar, I found myself checking my watch only to see that we weren't even halfway through.

That said, even though the music wasn't quite my cup of tea, by god were they talented. And I mean talented. Each member of the three piece played each instrument and several pieces of percussion, and they played each one well. Lead singer Ira Kaplan in particular showed his guitar prowess during the extended jams, playing each note with the passion that only such a seasoned rocker can. Though by the latter half of the set I was waiting for the final note, I remained impressed the entire time with the sheer talent being displayed on the stage. Though I don't know that I'd go to a Yo La Tengo show on my own, they certainly left me inspired to pick up the guitar again.

Oh, and did I mention that they're all over 50? I cannot stress this enough - Yo La Tengo was probably the single most musically impressive act of the festival, despite not quite being what I expected genre-wise. Perhaps going into their set only knowing them for latin-tinged songs like "Mr. Tough" was a bad idea.


I'll continue shortly with the final acts of day one, Cake and Arctic Monkeys!

A Small Project / LouFest 2014 In Review, pt. 1

So, I haven't posted on this blog in several months. I planned to write between shifts of my job, but the summer kind of sped by to be honest. I've had some terrible writer's block, too, so that definitely wasn't helping. But here I am, three weeks into my junior year of college, and I'm feeling the itch to write something. And what better to write about than the music festival I just got back from?

LouFest 2014!

It. Was. Great. I had an amazing time at LouFest last year and jumped at the chance to buy tickets to this one. It didn't hurt that the lineup included some amazing names - Glass Animals, San Fermin, Washed Out, RAC, Cherub, Cake. Oh, and OUTKAST.

I've got some videos and a decently accurate memory of the shows I saw (which will only deteriorate the longer I wait), so let's get to it!

San Fermin

So we started out Saturday with one of my most anticipated acts of the weekend. I hadn't heard of San Fermin before the lineup had been announced, but I fell in love with their song "Sonsick" almost immediately after hearing it. A little further digging into their catalog found me their song "Renaissance!", a similarly hypnotic song which I almost didn't recognize as them thanks to the lead singer switch-up. Unlike Rae Cassidy's soaring, catchy melodies, the husky voice of frontman Ellis Ludwig-Leone is firmly grounded with a low growl.

San Fermin filled the Bud Light Stage with no less than eight members including the two lead singers, a guitarist, a drummer, a violinist, a trumpeter and an impressive tenor sax player. Where the daunting task of opening the main stage at the fest got the best of Youngblood Hawke last year, San Fermin rose to the challenge. Each instrumentalist got a solo, and each displayed their immense talent succinctly.

While founder Ludwig-Leone's deep tenor was in full display, the band's previous female lead, Rae Cassidy, left about a year prior. She was replaced by Charlene Kaye, a woman with a powerful voice built for loudness. Unfortunately, this didn't translate well to "Sonsick". Where Cassidy's voice was able to easily flow through the high notes in the chorus, Kaye struggled while allowing the horn section to take center stage. Kaye's inability to match Cassidy's high range was highlighted in a few other songs, but was mostly forgotten thanks to her otherwise stunning pipes.

We hit the Nosh Pit for lunch during SKATERS, but we were still able to hear the familiarly bubblegum-rock melodies of "I Wanna Dance (But I Don't Know How)" from across the park. From afar, it certainly sounded good.


Washed Out

Back at the main stage, we closed our eyes and swayed to and fro to the waves of synths provided by Ernest Greene, otherwise known as Washed Out. In what must have been the most beach-ball-filled set of the weekend, Greene matched his reverb-soaked vocals with a very capable backup band to bring a live flair to his usually computerized instrumentals. It was particularly cool to hear songs like "New Theory" with heavily distorted guitar replacing the opening synth, or "Eyes Be Closed" with a double-layered tom/kick.

Interestingly, with three albums to choose material from, Greene mostly stuck to his debut EP, Life of Leisure. This was entirely okay with the crowd, however, with favorites like the aforementioned "Eyes Be Closed" and "Feel It All Around" turning into passionate... well, not sing-alongs. More like sway-alongs?

As a big electronic music fan, I'm always interested to see how electro-tinged bands like Washed Out fare in a live setting. For this particular set, the consensus seemed positive. I remember getting chills when the opening string samples of "It All Feels Right" boomed through the speakers over Greene's perfectly crafted live setting. For an act so heavily rooted in electric psychedelia, Washed Out at LouFest gave more of a rock vibe than I ever expected.

I'll continue my LouFest experience shortly with set reviews from RAC, Future Islands, and Yo La Tengo!