Things I Saw at the Pitchfork Music Festival (2011)

This is the second time that Erin I have attended the Pitchfork Music Festival (the first time being in 2009), and while the bands have always been a big draw, we attended primarily tell sell our humble screen-printed rock n’ roll posters at the coinciding Flatstock Poster Festival. Even so, with there being two of us, there is always the opportunity for one of us to sneak off to see some one band or another, and this year was no different.

Here is what I saw / what I learned / observed:

EMA – It’s a hot Friday afternoon (the afternoons only got hotter as the weekend wore on) and the awkwardness of EMA in glare of sun was more than apparent. This music is definitely better suited for brick-lined basements. Still, despite it all, she managed to pack some punchiness into her dark, gothic, grit-punk, and her half-baked rock moves were definitely amusing (albeit in a humorously awkward way). All I really was planning to do was watch her set until she played “California”, but she played “California” last so I ended up seeing the whole set. Good move, EMA, good move. “California” ended up being pretty anticlimactic and yet it still gave me chills – I’, not going to pretend to understand why.

Health - HEALTH

Health
HEALTH
(2007, Lovepump United)
9.0/10

Ok, this is my third attempt to start this review. The first two failed based on my lazy stabs at description, using out-there band equations and referencing similarly caustic art noise that has been released this year (and there has been more than a successful few). All and all, this album deserves to stand alone. It is safer that way really because Health’s self titled release on Lovepump United is like tiger at the zoo that must be segregated from the rest of the pack because of its spastic temper and careening mood swings. This isn’t to say that Health can’t be hospitable and friendly, it’s just that once the band bears its teeth you have already lost a limb. The attack is sharp and quick which is part of the reason why Health runs through they're eleven song set in under thirty minutes. That’s all the time it takes for the band to clear away the meat from the bones. The real beauty of the band is in its ability to tie together a full range of disharmonic sounds and influences and pack it into a pleasantly accessible whole. It is a hardcore noise-punk blast of shoegazer pop trash fixed to heavy, pounding drums – kind of like a dreamsicle with gravel on it. It only seems proper that the perfect way to listen to the album involves corralling a large group of people into a room, locking the door, turning out the lights and turning Health up to eleven. It may not be healthy but it sure is fun!

-Mr. Thistle