First of all, the thing that is going to bug everyone this year, is the rain. It is gonna be a floodin’, which is too bad, because last year’s festival was epic due to the combination of friends, great bands, and good weather, which allowed everyone to just linger on the festival site. What is nicer to sit there in the sun with cute boys and cute girls walking from stage to stage and enjoy the music of Toro Y Moi. Instead, what we are getting this year is people in ponchos and our jeans hanging onto our skin for dear life. It is also tough for the organization, because you know less people are going to come to the event you’ve put so much hard work in. You cannot blame people for staying home though, for if you have been soaking wet for two days, are you going to go a third? Also, it is hard to enjoy the more delicate bands while sneezing every five seconds.
So hopefully there will be enough bands that can convince people to come and stay even when Northfork is being evacuated. At least the line-up boasts some intriguing names, including Washed Out, who has been the talk (toast even?) of the town in recent months with his album Within and Without. Part of that chillwave scene whose kids are slowly branching out, Washed Out perhaps embodies that once coined term the most with his elegant electronical sounds and dreamy atmosphere. Perhaps more immediate is the sound of Jamie Woon, another big name on the bill. A curious mix of perhaps even R&B and groove/beats. His singles ‘Lady Luck’ and ‘Night Air’ are good examples of his sound. Little Dragon is immediately after and not nearly as accessible, though they have been making waves this year as well. It also is sort of slowcore electro, but a bit more out there.
There will be something to dance to as well, naturally. Drawing curtains on the first day is Kap Bambino, who blew up De Reunie (which, not for nothing, now is a ruin) a few years ago with hard beats and sheer enthusiasm. She is going to work it, no doubt about that, the question is whether or not the big stage will allow them to capture the same electrifying energy. I think too many onlookers for that. She is going to try though, no doubt. SBTRKT is a bit too experimental for my liking. He has made an absolute killer track with ‘Look at Stars’, but the rest is a bit too rough for a house and disco guy like me. Tuesday is catchy electro day with first Fenech-Soler and then the even poppier Architecture in Helsinki. Both well worth a dance to I reckon, and don’t let me putting them together fool you as they are completely different bands, especially in appearance. Ending De Affaire are Mount Kimbie with, after, Gesaffelstein, who personally I don’t care much about for it isn’t as smooth as I like my dance music, but surely both are big names and are good programming. Mount Kimbie is a proper name for that slot of the festival, and Gesaffelstein is coming fresh off the Pitch Fest in Amsterdam. So it might not be me, but I think plenty of people will find what they are looking for right there.
Okay, so I said there was something to dance to and I’m talking about bands for fuck’s sake. But there is also a rather large dance part in De Affaire. For me it is kind of too bad that the perhaps strongest day in terms of bands also features the dance scene I perhaps best fit in, which is Drift on Saturday. Brent Roozendaal and company are going to play some house sounds, and if one after that still wants to get it on one can go to the venue Doornroosje (which is right across from me) to hear the Trouw Amsterdam residents spin some records. Which is going to be not too shabby I reckon. Monday is dubstep night, which you won’t be seeing me at that’s for sure, and Tuesday has got some interesting names with Eskmo and 2562, who has made some waves this year with his output. So definitely some people who know their stuff are getting it on. Wednesday up-and-comer Palmbomen will do his thing, but I saw him at 05 Days Off and walked out, so I’m going to guess I’ll be voyeuring how kids younger than me get into the act with Dananananakroyd’s energetic live show at the same time. Thursday Planet Rose curates the night with a slight techno edge, and Friday will see the new kids on the block strut their stuff. If you are the kind of person that revels in saying, Oh yeah, I saw him ages ago when he was playing in the rain for like twenty people, that is your day right there.
For the people who don’t like the beats and rather hear singer-songwriters conjure up angelic music, then the Sunday has a few. But as for personal reasons I will be arriving late on Sunday I won’t have a chance to hear for example James Vincent McMorrow and Olafur Arnalds, who is a bit of the resident artist this year with some specials shows lined up as well. Though a bit more lo-fi and with a bit more edge, Dirty Beaches might be worth your while as well. Our Crazy Zany Radio Sunday contributor Craig Cady interviewed him for the NY Press and he was very high on him, so there you go.
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