Intro | Friday | Sunday
1:45 PM The Dutchess & the Duke Last year’s She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke (Hardly Art) has become pretty much required listening for garage rockers on their “feelings of emotion” days, and with good reason. Over a sparse, folky backdrop—acoustic guitar, touches of percussion, occasional twangy, Brian Jones-y electric leads—Jesse Lortz and Kimberly Morrison sing memorable melodies in sweet, sad harmony, frequently sounding like a poppier, less antagonistic Dylan. What they lack in originality they more than make up for in durability—you can listen to these songs again and again without wearing them out, and Lortz’s lyrics are a major factor in that. His nihilistic fantasies, full of pistol-packing Cubans and hard-living women, are salted with abstract poetic imagery, but his touch is so expert that they still feel like verite sketches. The Dutchess & the Duke also headline the Hideout tonight; they’re bringing a full backing band, and for their festival set they’ll even have a string section. a Balance Stage —MR
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1:45 PM Plants and Animals Ever since I got hooked on the painfully infectious whistled melody that opens “Feedback in the Field,” Plants and Animals‘ standout 2008 album, Parc Avenue (Secret City), has been a regular part of my rotation. The Montreal trio’s winding epics combine progressive psych rock, elements of acoustic roots music, and soulful vocals touched with Freddie Mercury-style melodrama, but everything hangs together thanks to the band’s sharp pop sensibility. When I saw them at Schubas in March, they seemed surprised they’d sold the place out, but I’m sure it won’t be the last time—in fact I expect they’ll sell out the show they’re headlining at Schubas tonight. a Connector Stage —KW
3:35 PM Bowerbirds With the release of their new sophomore album, Upper Air (Dead Oceans), Bowerbirds are attracting predictable comparisons to indie-folk big shots like Bon Iver and Iron & Wine, but Phil Moore and Beth Tacular (now joined by drummer Matt Damron and, for this tour at least, former member Mark Paulson and Megafaun bassist Brad Cook) are careful to stick to the genre’s strengths: rather than piddle leisurely around in a folky trance, they wield acoustic guitar, piano, and accordion with beautifully operatic precision, their arrangements rising and falling along with each airy vocal melody. a Balance Stage —KW
6:15 PM Doom One of only two hip-hop artists at Pitchfork this year, veteran rapper Doom (formerly MF Doom) is an underground titan, and on his first album in four years, Born Like This (Lex), he’s still delivering the kind of dark, elliptical rhymes that earned him his reputation—no lightweight party jams here. His gruff delivery and busy, consonant-crammed flow, loaded with internal rhyming, pair perfectly with the brooding, banging tracks, most of which he produced himself (though Jake One and the late J Dilla also contribute), and midway through the album he yields the stage to an unexpected guest—a recording of Charles Bukowski reading bits of his poem “Dinosauria, We.” With any luck we’ll get the real Doom behind the trademark metal mask—he’s rumored to have dispatched lip-synching proxies to past gigs. a Aluminum Stage —PM
8:40 PM The National Formed in Brooklyn by a bunch of friends from Ohio, this five-piece band plays urbane, melodramatic indie rock that nonetheless has a dusky, jangly, back-porch feel, and though it takes a little patience, once you fall under its spell you’ll start to notice that the lyrics are really cool and poetic. If the Pitchfork crowd is as large and as drunk as it was last year, I doubt it will have such patience—but I guess the people who already know the words won’t need it. Good luck, the National. a Aluminum Stage —AS
