Wednesday, June 05, 2013

PRIMAVERA SOUND 2013 REVIEW

Originally published on thebomberjacketcom

A lot had changed for the 13th edition of Primavera Sound, most notably that the festival was no longer “San Miguel Primavera Sound,” but “Heineken Primavera Sound.” The difference is relevant, because a lot of the local Spanish elements of the festival haven’t been as emphasized in more recent years (and the Primavera organization has been called out on it once or twice). Don’t get me wrong, Primavera Sound is an amazing music festival, but as this was my third year in attendance, it was hard not to notice (or realize) some things. Spanish groups rarely got set times later than 6 p.m., and the attendance of those sets reflected the low amount of exposure they were actually getting. Although it’s cool that additional concerts were organized for the entire month beforehand and most intensively during the festival week, it’s debatable whether or not that meant that groups were pushed out of the festival to play at a bar the week before. Primavera has become a veritable booking force in Spain–particularly in Barcelona. It organizes concerts for nationally touring bands and also for local groups, but during the time in Barcelona I had more than one band mention to me how hard it was to book a show without the Primavera stamp of approval.

Pitchfork Music Festival Paris 2012 Wrap Up

Pitchfork Music Festival at La Grande Halle. | Photo by Oliver Peel (konzerttagebuch.de)

Primavera Sound 2012 Wrap Up

San Miguel stage, photo by Dani Cantó

Published on thebomberjacket.com

The Parc del Forúm is an excellent location for Primavera Sound, because the Spanish heat gets intense, particularly in the front row crowds, but there’s always a cool sea breeze that hits you just at the right moment. The three main festival days were full of a lot of excellent performances and I even had the chance to catch some of the shows at other sites. For example, Yann Tiersen played on Sunday at the Arc de Triomf with the crowd in the rain and lightning behind them.

I also had the opportunity to hang out with a lot of the Spanish bands and labels that I’ve been interviewing as there were some booths set up for labels from all over Europe. I spent some time with Beach Beach and a really nice guy from their label La Castanya. The band’s live set was excellent as well, and I was bummed that I didn’t get to see another buddy of THE BOMBER JACKET, Picore. Overall, the festival went down well, filled with a lot of really nice people and memorable moments. A bunch of them are listed below.

Primavera Sound 2012 Wishlist

Published on thebomberjacket.com

Barcelona’s Primavera Sound is one of the best indie music festivals that Europe has to offer (if not the best). They’re able to gather some of the most interesting and talented international acts out there, as well as showcase lesser-known bands, particularly Spanish ones. It takes place in the Parc del Forum, a breathtaking stone park that is right on the Mediterranean Sea and is studded with trees (that you can even pick berries from) and modernist architecture. Bands play with the backdrop of sailboats and Barcelona’s signature cinderblock cubes (or cindercubes) that jut out of the water in every direction.

I went to Primavera Sound last year and crossed a bunch of names off my list of bands to see before I die. Among them were Sufjan Stevens, Animal Collective, Deerhunter, The National, M. Ward and Belle & Sebastian. The festival unofficially started yesterday, and officially starts tomorrow (May 30). This year has just as many heavy hitters, including Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum, but I’ll get to that.

Watch a teaser below.

SXSW: The Bomber Jacket Wishlist from Jen and Drew

Below is a pretty good round-up SXSW wishlist from The Bomber Jacket's editor and freelance writer Drew Fortune. Published here.

thebomberjacket.com

Dr. Dog at 2010's SXSW, playing at Ceder Street Courtyard

Two years ago in 2010 I flew down to Austin, Texas to embark on an debacherous, adventurous week at South by Southwest Festival. I was covering the music portion of the festival as a college journalist. The week was positively arduous and long, with hardly any sleep and excessive amounts of alcohol. I carried my camera and my field recorder with me everywhere, catching bites of sound and images of glory from Daedelus’ DJ set to the deafening crowd roars at Andrew WK shows.

Andrew WK at 2010's festival

The morning after the festival was over, I was half-awake and melted into a chair at an airport gate, drinking a beer and going over my notes for an article. Next to me was a guy doing the same thing, with a worn-out backpack adorned with pins from his favorite bands. I leaned over and introduced myself, and he told me he was also a music journalist, and that the week had also been his first experience at SXSW.

Drew Fortune and I both cannot attend SX this year. It is a true disappointment. To celebrate our two-year friendship, we’ve decided to post a “SXSW Wishlist” for all of you lucky people who are enjoying the Texas heat and barbecue sauce. Have a beer for us, and check out our list of the top-20 shows you should attend. Note that the *asterisked* links bring you to our own coverage of some of the musicians.

#10

Drew: 12th Planet, Skrillex’s buddies. If nothing else, this will be the show to see and be seen at (if you’re into that kinda thing). 3/17 @ Beauty Bar Backyard

Jen: Fiona Apple. One of our favorite 90s babes is back, and she’s starting her comeback at SXSW. 3/14 @ Stubb’s

Drew: **Titus Andronicus. Lineup changes shouldn’t affect the amateur historian New Jersey punks. 3/15 @ Belmont

Jen: SBTRKT. British sex on the dance floor. 3/17 @ The Madison

Drew: The Drums is my favorite discovery of 2012. Like Joy Division, only a tad sunnier. 3/16 @ Stubb’s

Jen: Trust. One of the latest bands to sign with Canada’s Arts & Crafts Records. Trust is Robert Alfons and Maya Postepski (from Austra). 3/13 @ Mohawk

Drew: Dinosaur Jr. Bring your earplugs (seriously). 3/16 @ Bar 96

Jen: Madi Diaz. The musician went to Berklee College of Music, and she’s now signed and living in Nashville, but she still hasn’t really been heard yet. 3/17 @ St. David’s Bethell Hall

Drew: Wayne Kramer. All I know about the Motor City 5 frontman is that he’s been supervising music for Eastbound and Down (and doing a damn good job of it). A must for any motherfuckers who wanna see the jams kicked out! 3/16 @ Swan Dive

Jen: **Cloud Nothings. Watch the young, Waldo-looking lead singer awe the crowd. 3/15 @ 512 Rooftop

Drew: Jimmy Cliff. Another legend, and a good chance to fire up that spliff and eat some BBQ. 3/17 @ The Stage on Sixth Patio

Jen: Suckers. Always a solid live band. The group’s new album Candy Salad is due out in April. 3/14 @ The Stage on Sixth Patio

Drew: **Daniel Johnston and Friends. Who knows how long any of us will have the chance to see Johnston perform…with friends no less! 3/13 @Belmont

Jen: **Das Racist. The abundantly entertaining rap threesome is something you just have to see at some point in your life, especially when you’re partying. 3/15 @ Empire Auto & Club 606

Drew: Skrillex. C’mon…who isn’t intrigued? 3/15 @ The Main

Jen: Watch Cymbals Eat Guitars‘ Joe D’Agostino as he belts into the mic and shreds nostalgic riffs. 3/16 @ The Studio by HGTV

Drew: Tenacious D. I interviewed **Kyle Gass when he was working on his musical project Trainwreck. Should be fun to see Tenacious D back in action again. 3/15 @ Haven

Jen: Bear in Heaven. These dudes have their new album out now, so they’ll be playing loads of new material. Lead singer Jon Philpot is so excellent live. The event is free and open to the public. 3/15 @ Flamingo Cantina

Drew: Jesus and Mary Chain, my “White Whale” of concerts. The year I don’t go to Coachella, they play. The year I don’t do SXSW, they play. By all means, my #1 with a bullet. 3/15 @ Belmont

Jen: **Emperor X. I don’t think there’s a musician out there quite as underrated as Emperor X. It seems as if every show is his best show. There’s no doubt in my mind that his SXSW performances will be any different. 3/14 @ The Hideout

Written by Jen Brown and Drew Fortune (written for The Onion’s AV Club, LA Weekly and Chicago Sun-Times).

In addition, The Mango Nebula would fancy:

Quilt,
Youth Lagoon,
Za!,
Grimes,
The Men,
and it would be worth it to check out The Magnetic Fields and Built to Spill, even just to say you saw them once.

But to emphasize:
EMPEROR X!
EMPEROR X!!
EMPEROR X!!!

VIDEO: Primavera Sound 2011

Below are some good videos from Primavera Sound 2011 courtesy of Pitchfork.

tUnE-yArDs ::

James Blake ::

Kurt Vile ::

Yuck ::

Male Bonding ::

PHOTOS: Primavera Sound 2011

Here are some photos of Primavera Sound that I ruthlessly stole from Pitchfork (Thurs, Fri, Sat). Two of the most amazing things I'm glad I experienced before I died were Sufjan Steven's outsider art, neon infested, strangely costumed nonsenseatorium and Animal Collective's unbelievable mesmerizing jams.

Thursday, May 26th

Glasser (21:45)