fyf – #DKLPHOTOS

Holy Ghost! | FYF Festival | August 25, 2013

To check out pictures of other bands I was able to catch at the festival, CLICK HERE.

At the suggestion of my cousin, I decided to see Holy Ghost! rather than My Bloody Valentine as the last band at the festival. This turned out to be a good suggestion as I understood that My Bloody Valentine had a plethora of technical difficulties which put a damper on their set.

In reading up on Holy Ghost!’s history, I read that while dipping their feet in the rap game, Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser released an album produced by James Murphy, the founder and frontman of LCD Soundsystem. When their rap careers failed to gain traction, James Murphy suggested that they continue making music, but to make it dance music, thus planting the seed for Holy Ghost!.

In what I see as perfect timing, Holy Ghost!’s first album was released the same year LCD Soundsystem called it quits. Being signed to James Murphy’s DFA Records, it would appear that Alex Frankel and Nick Millhiser’s band would be the one to fill the huge gap LCD Soundsystem left behind. Performing at the festival in support of their second studio album, my impression is that they may well be on their way in doing so.

The six member band took to the stage to the applause of a raucous audience. It didn’t seem as if anybody in the crowd was weary from the two days of stage hopping and swirling dust in the air. Influenced by LCD Soundsystem and New Order (with whom they recently toured with), their set was danceable and fun. The large band (consisting of 6 member if I recall correctly) kept the energy up throughout the set.

In a moment of NYC cool (the founding members are from NY) during the set, lead singer Alex Frankel casually lit cigarettes onstage and smoked during a couple songs. It’s been a while since I’ve seen an artist do that, and for some reason I appreciated it. It was almost like having a smoke after successfully completing an arduous task as a symbol of triumph. After two days of great music, it was kinda what I needed.

September 14, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: alex frankel, alternative dance, club, concert, dance, fyf, fyf fest, fyffest, holy ghost!, indie electronic, My Bloody Valentine, New Order, nick millhiser, photos, picture, pictures, Review, synth pop, video Leave a comment

Solange | FYF Festival | August 25, 2013

To check out pictures of other bands I was able to catch at the festival, CLICK HERE.

Having been blown away by Beyonce when I saw her perform at the Staples Center earlier in the year, I thought it was only right to see her younger sister, Solange, perform. I had heard good things about her latest album, Solo Star, and even better things about her EP, True, so I ventured over to the stage where she was set to perform.

As it was when I saw Beyonce perform, I felt a little out of place. Most of the audience members were young women, but casting any uneasy feelings aside, I held my ground and braced myself for the experience. As an aside, for me, there’s really no more uneasy feeling that going to a concert “blind” without having any knowledge or sense of what was to come.

Beyonce, to put it bluntly, blew my mind. It’s hard for anybody, let alone a sister, to live up to the “Beyonce standard”. When Solanage took to the stage, all I could think about was how Solange personally reconciles the comparisons and expectations. From what I had read, Solange’s music leaned more on mid to late ’60’s soul or eccentric synth-funk than modern hip-hop, pop sensibilities of her older sis.

The crowd warmly greeted Solange to the stage and backed with a full band she commenced her set. Lacking the kind of big-budget, stage production that Beyonce incorporates into her shows, Solange relied on her personality and “vibe” to engage the audience. Her music was mature and smooth, and carried with it a style classy and sophisticated. There were no choreographed dancers, but Solange used the entire stage effectively, addressing the entire audience. When digging deep into emotional songs, close up shots of her face projected on the video screen monitors showed someone crafting her own style and meaning to the music.

I enjoyed her set, and though I can’t visualize her having the type of career or stardom her sister has already achieved, she can, and most likely will, carve out her own path and will be making her brand of music for years to come.

September 13, 2013September 13, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: Alternative R&B, beyonce, Contemporary R&B, electronic, fyf, fyf fest, fyf festival, fyffest, fyffest 2013, knowles, neo soul, R&B, Sol-Angel, solange, Solange Piaget Knowles Leave a comment

MGMT | FYF Festival | August 25, 2013

To check out pictures of other bands I was able to catch at the festival, CLICK HERE.

A member of MGMT ran by me during their set back at Coachella 2008.

The last time I saw MGMT was when they played a tent at Coachella back in 2008 supporting their debut album Oracular Spectacular. The buzz around them was huge at the time, and their singles “Kids“, “Time to Pretend” and “Electric Feel” were getting tons of radio play. I remember their set being energetic and raucous, with the band members jumping off stage to run through the packed crowd. One of the guys ran right by me.

My interest in the band tapered off a bit with their follow up album, Congratulations, probably because it wasn’t as youthful and fun as its predecessor, but having looked at the festival schedule, I decided that I would at least catch the first half of their set before heading to the tent that was supposed to host Omar Souleyman’s performance (which in hindsight, was a bad idea as Omar’s set was delayed by about 30 minutes, meaning I could have stayed for the entire MGMT set).

Taking to the main stage, MGMT’s psychedelic video images and lighting was a far cry from what I remembered about them back in 2008. I sensed that they weren’t as carefree as they were 5 years ago, but I guess that’s just something that comes with age.

In a bit of a light moment, they called to the stage Henry Winkler (aka “The Fonz”) to play a huge cowbell for a song. Gimmick or not, it was a fun moment that indicated to me that the band still had it’s youthful playfulness that made them jump off the stage, and run through, the crowd at Coachella.

The Fonz (Henry Winkler) on Cowbell. More Cowbell!!!

Keeping an eye on the time, I was simply hoping that they would play some of the songs that I knew and loved and having played “Time To Pretend” and “Electric Feel”, I left their set with a smile on my face and skip to my step.

The setlist, sourced from setlist.fm was:

Alien Days
Time to Pretend
Introspection (Faine Jade cover)
Weekend Wars
Your Life Is a Lie (Joined by Henry Winkler on cowbell)
Electric Feel
Mystery Disease
Siberian Breaks
Kids

September 12, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: Andrew VanWyngarden, art noise, concert, electric feel, electronic, fyf, fyf fest, fyf festival, fyf festival 2013, fyfest, fyffest, fyffest2013, indie electronic, indie pop, kids, mgmt, music, neo-psychedlia, pop, psychadelic, Review, time to pretend, video Leave a comment

Shlohmo | FYF Festival | August 25, 2013

To check out pictures of other bands I was able to catch at the festival, CLICK HERE.

Earlier in the day I had watched Tom Krell p/k/a How To Dress Well perform, and having done some research before the festival about different projects he had worked on, I found a video on youtube of a track How To Dress Well performed on produced by Henry Laufer p/k/a Shlohmo called “Don’t Say No”.

Intrigued by the sound and the fact that he was apparently working with Tom Krell, I decided to buy his latest LP “Bad Vibes” and after a couple spins on my record player, I decided that I’d put him on the list of acts I wanted to check out at the Festival. I’m not a big fan of DJ sets- I’m more of a live band kinda guy- but having enjoyed Flying Lotus in the past year at the Hollywood Bowl, I decided to swing by the tent where he was performing to check out a bit of his set.

As the “house lights” dimmed, and the smoke machines started pumping out a thick mist over the stage, Shlohmo came up to his DJ console and started his set. His live set was a little different than I had expected. “Don’t Say No” and “Bad Vibes” are very moody records, extremely ambient in there overall approach . The live set still carried the eerie mysticism of the music that I had purchased and watched before the festival, but during the fifteen minutes that I watched, it didn’t feel as lo-fi as maybe I had wanted. Missing was the interstitial feedback and ambient hisses that gave “Bad Vibes” its unique sound. The live show was almost too “clean.”

Don’t get me wrong. The music was good … the filled tent of bobbing heads was proof of that, and I love “Bad Vibes” (which sounds amazing on vinyl) …. but like I said, I’m more of a live band kind of guy.

September 11, 2013September 11, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: alternative, bad vibes, beats, concert, DJ, don't say no, drum and bass, dubstep, fyf, fyf fest, fyf fest 2013, fyfest, fyffest, fyffest 2013, hip hop, house, indie electronic, indie rock, left field hip hop, producer, Review, shlohmo, video Leave a comment

!!! (ChkChkChk) | FYF Festival | August 25, 2013

To check out pictures of other bands I was able to catch at the festival, CLICK HERE.

Nic Offer of !!! (ChkChkChk) getting into the audience during their set.

MI0003521993 — !!!’s latest album cover.

Over the past 5 months, while perusing a local store, I kept noticing an album cover for a band that I wasn’t familiar with (see right). The band’s name was !!! (pronounced ‘ChkChkChk’) and a record store employee told me that they were from Northern California and described their style of music as dance. I didn’t ask to hear any of the music play on the store sound system, and for some reason I neglected to look them up online each time I got home, but I was often reminded of them often because the cover to their LP was always staring me in the face whenever I entered that record store .

Fast forward to the FYF Festival, I noticed that they were listed as an early evening set. I decided to check them out, and anticipated an energetic set. I was not disappointed. A large band consisting of 8 members, the music was groove centric, the band was tight, and the lead singer was singing and busting moves all over the stage. In fact, the lead singer’s energy was off the charts and it spread into the audience as everybody around me was bouncing to their tunes. My first impression was that !!!’s sound was if David Byrnes of the Talking Heads started up in the 2010s, with splashes of LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip. Take a listen/look at the video clip below to make your own opinion.

Nic Offer of !!! "saluting" the crowd. — Nic Offer of !!! “saluting” the crowd.

The photographers in the press pit left after their second song, and Nic Offer, the lead singer, yelled out, “Hey, where you guys going?!?! I’ll only get cuter and cuter as the set goes on!” He laughed into the mic, and the band kept the set rolling. His stage manner had a likable, cocky air to it and it was infectious, as everybody was, while eyes transfixed on the stage, moving to the rhythm. The vibe was so positive that time seemed to pass instantly. When their set had ended, I was left wanting more, and it was a good indicator that I should probably purchase that LP to add to my collection and catch them when they are back in town.

September 5, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: !!!, alternative, alternative rock, ChkChkChk, club, club music, concert, dance music, electronic, electronic music, fyf, fyf fest, fyf fest 2013, fyffest, fyffest 2013, indie electronic, indie rock, live, photos, pic, pics, pictures, pop, pop music, Review Leave a comment

No Age | FYF Festival | August 25, 2013

To check out pictures of other bands I was able to catch at the festival, CLICK HERE.

No Age rocking the FYF Festival for the 7th time.

No Age is a two-person, lo-fi punk band based in Los Angeles. They performed earlier in the summer as part of Santa Monica Pier’s Twilight Concert series, but I wasn’t able to attend the free concert, so I figured I swing by their set at FYF to check them out.

No Age have the distinct honor of being the band who’s played the festival the most-seven times, with the festival being in its 10th year- and they played like it. I don’t have any of their albums, but they definitely played songs that I’ve heard before (a video snippet below of “Fever Dreaming” is a song that I’m sure you’ve heard before too).

They shred through their set with a vigor that translated well with the audience, as the crowd became of rolling mosh pit of raucous teens with bodies surfing left and right. I could see the security guards catching bodies falling from the railing up front. Lots of fun and a lot of energy. If you were looking for a nice little post-punk pick me up during the day, these guys were it.

Setlist sourced from setlist.fm:

No Ground
Circling With Dizzy
C’mon, Stimmung
Lock Box
Teen Creeps
Fever Dreaming
I Won’t Be Your Generator

September 5, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: dean allen spunt, drum and guitar, fyf, fyf fest, fyf fest 2013, fyfest, fyffest, indie rock, lo-fi, los angele, los angeles rock band, no age, noise pop, noise rock, post punk, punk, punk music, punk rock, punk rock music, randy randall Leave a comment

How To Dress Well | FYF Festival | August 25, 2013

To check out pictures of other bands I was able to catch at the festival, CLICK HERE.

How To Dress Well's double mics. — How To Dress Well’s double mics.

Though he released a highly acclaimed album back in 2010, I didn’t become familiar with Tom Krell’s (p/k/a How To Dress Well) music until earlier this year. While I was reviewing the various acts that were slated to perform at the festival this year, I clicked on the musician’s link from the FYF Festival website and thereafter spent the next hour playing his music. I was hooked, and circled his 5:20pm set time as “must attend”.

I spent the months leading up to the festival buying albums of all of the artists that I was interested in, when I purchased How To Dress Well’s 10” EP “Just Once”. It may be one of the best purchases I’ll have made this year. Limited to 1000 copies, that vinyl is described as a one time-only, orchestral release, part of proceeds from sale of which went to MindFreedom.com to benefit those with mental health issues. It was recorded in the memory of one of Tom Krell’s friends and was simply, amazingly, hauntingly beautiful.

I was able to get up front for his set. While the stage hands were setting up, a DJ was spinning some 90s era music. An Aaliyah song started to play and I noticed Tom offstage singing along. When he took to the stage, he was accompanied by a keyboardist and a violinist. Using the a two-microphone technique, he jumped into his set opening with a new song tentatively titled “For Cyril.” Amazing. And it kept on coming.

His music, with sparse drums and layered, falsetto vocals, set a mellow vibe as haunting as the recordings I had purchased. It may have been a rather dark set for the middle of the day- which Tom acknowledged half way in when he introduced an upbeat song with, “This is a dance song, because it’s too early to be this dark”- but I was loving every minute of it. He further made light of the dark set by also telling the crowd that it was his mom’s birthday. He mixed R. Kelly’s “I Wish” into one of his songs to his audience on their toes. At the end by telling the audience that if there was anything he would want to impart on the audience before he left, it was to be, “Be nice to people.” A simple message amongst complex, stunning music.

His set met my expectations, save but a few technical difficulties, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any more intimate club gigs that he may have in Los Angeles in the future.

The setlist was sourced from setlist.fm:

For Cyril (New Song)
Suicide Dream 1
Cold Nites
No More Death
& It Was U
Ready for the World
Set It Right
Repeat Pleasure (New Song)

Tom Krell p/k/a How To Dress Well with his violinist.

Tom Krell p/k/a How To Dress Well with his keyboardist.

September 4, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: Alternative R&B, concert, fyf, FYF 2013, fyf fest 2013, fyffest, fyffest2013, how to dress well, htdw, indie electronic, lo-fi R&B, love, photos, pictures, R and B, R&B, Review, tom krell, video, vocal loops Leave a comment

Pional | FYF Festival | August 25, 2013

To check out pictures of other bands I was able to catch at the festival, CLICK HERE.

Pional was the act right before How To Dress Well, so I decided to watch his set and try to get a good spot for the next act. Pional is a Spanish producer, remixer and electronic musician from Madrid and is highly regards as a “mainstay” of the national electronic music scene in Spain.

I hadn’t heard of him before, but his music reminded me a little of Yeasayer. When he was singing, he was very reliant on vocal effects so it was hard to gauge whether his singing ability was any good. It was a decent vibe, but I had a tough time really enjoying the music because I spent most of the time trying to think of what other artist’s it sounded like. The crowd around me, who were much younger than myself (no drinking bracelets), were having a good time, but I think that could have been partially because of the GHB (or whatever clear liquid substance) they were passing around.

September 3, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: electronic, electronic music, fyf, fyf fest, fyf fest 2013, fyffest, house music, madrid, music producer, pional, pop, spain, synth Leave a comment

The Orwells | FYF Festival | August 25, 2013

To check out pictures of other bands I was able to catch at the festival, CLICK HERE.

I wasn’t planning on catching their set, but I got to the festival grounds early enough to catch the tail end of a rock band from Elmhurst, Illinois: The Orwells. They are a young band … literally … the oldest member- lead singer Mario Cuomo- is 18, and the rest of the band members are 17, and their music, loud and energetic, seemed to be the soundtrack for a new, young, wave of punk fans.

Mario Cuomo, dressed in a Chicago Bulls jersey- and only a Chicago Bulls jersey- kept the audience of his peers moving to the music, encouraging them to get the party started in the midday sun, which they happily obliged. Before you knew it, kids started crowd surfing.

The youth and punk music. There really isn’t a better pairing. As long as they keep on writing catchy tunes like “Mallrats (La La La)” (a sample video is below), they could very well be performing on main-stages at music festivals in the near future.