a little selection of songs i've become enamored with of late. please click through to youtube to listen to the whole selections.
{Artist : Daughter | Song : Medicine}
{Artist : Princess Chelsea | Song : The Cigarette Duet}
{Artist : San Cisco | Song : Awkward}
{Artist : Foxyen | Song : San Francisco}
{Artist : Calvin Harris | Song : Sweet Nothing ft. Florence Welch}
{Artist : Alpine | Song : Villages}
{Artist : Cults | Song : Go Outside}
{Artist : Message to Bears | Song : Mountains}
{Artist : Ane Brun | Song : Do You Remember}
{Artist : Flight Facilities | Song : Crave You ft. Giselle}
{Artist : Beat Mark | Song : Purple Glow}
{Artist : The Strokes | Song : One Way Trigger}
{Artist : St. Vincent | Song : Cheerleader}
As I mentioned on Monday, my super sweet guy got us tickets to Treasure Island Music Festival on Sunday, October 14th. We caught the bus in San Francisco across the bridge to Treasure Island, and the fun began!
The Bold Italic is one of my favorite publications, in addition to featuring great content about SF and the various people, places, and things to eat, do and see, they feature great art and design and have awesome articles. Their booth was chock full of cool stuff to lust after. Their Washi Tape selection had me drooling.
After some initial wandering and poking around in all the neat booths and pop-up shops we had to take a spin on the ferris wheel, because, well, ferris wheels are awesome. And Mario had never been on one. I know! What? I couldn't allow this injustice to continue so we bought tickets to a non-plussed guy at the ticket counter and climbed aboard. Mario seemed only slightly terrified and the view from the top was so cool, the city spread out across the glittering bay and the crowds of people milling below us, all set to the music of the first band of the day. We geeked out and snapped a bunch of pics of us being cute.
This was my first real festival, and I was totally digging the vibe. The people were eclectic and stylish and everyone seemed so happy to be out in the beautiful weather, enjoying some amazing music. This was definitely my kind of scene.
Some of my favorite acts included Best Coast, whose Cali-Surf Rock vibe was perfect for the setting. Miss Johanna Newsome totally blew my mind with her awesome weirdness and insane harp-skills. She played a few songs from her new album, which is now on my 'To Buy' list. Hospitality, The War on Drugs and Wild Belle all made impressions too. Ty Segall put on another amazing set, his energy is so intense, you can't help but get sucked into the music and next thing you know, your thrashing around in the pit with the rest of the mob. M83 was actually great, which was cool because I didn't really know what to expect from an electronic group, but they put on an amazing show and got everybody dancing.
My favorite of the whole night was easily Gossip. Beth Ditto is my idol (one of them, anyways) and in addition to knocking me on my ass with her amazing voice, the girls got stage presence. She chatted and joked with the crowd in between songs and her personality was so infectious. Completely cemented my girl-crush on her. I was too busy dancing to snap any picture of their set, but you should know it was amazing. I had everyone in our vicinity dancing with me and, as we left, an older security guard woman nodded at Mario and I and said "Damn, that girl can dance!" Haha, I have been known to cut a rug.
This lovely lady is actually an installiation that was at Burning Man a few years ago and now dances eternally on the shores of Treasure Island. "Bliss Dance" is the product of locally based sculptor Marco Cochrane, who might be offering an iPad app for download soon that can control the 1,000+ LED lights that illuminate her from within. Yay for technology and art making things way cooler and more interactive for the public.
So, as far as first festivals go, I'd say mine was pretty epic. Next year I hope to get tickets to both days to really experience the full, multi-day festival effect. You all should tell me about your favorite festivals to attend, too. I'm already making plans to make this a regular part of my life.
My amazing man was generous enough to purchase me a ticket to this years Treasure Island Music Festival as a very awesome birthday present and I have been just FREAKING OUT because the lineup for the day we are going is crazy good. So, because I am crazy impatient and obsessive, I put together a little mix tape of the bands I'm dyeing to see this Sunday. So here you go, and for those of you who don't get to go sit on the grass and listen to music in the warm San Francisco sunshine this weekend...be jealous. Be very, very jealous.
Artist: Hospitality
Song: Friend of Friends
These cats hit the stage around 12:40 over on the Tunnel Stage, fairly early in the lineup for sunday, but I'm still pretty stoked to see them. Lead vocalist and guitarist, Amber Papini has that odd sort of sweet, twee sounding voice that plays well on dreamy, gauzy harmonies, like in Argonauts, but also spins really well on more fun, poppy tunes, such as Friends of Friends, the video for which stars Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development awesomeness and has been included for your listening/viewing pleasure/amusement.
Artist: The War on Drugs
Song: Come to the City
These guys are awesome. This video also actually sums up how they make me feel. Hailing from Philidelphia, PA their heavily Americana-influenced tunes remind me of the endless summers and wonders of being young. Riding through the orange light at dusk, pumping Springsteen and Petty into the humid, heavy air. These guys begin producing nostalgia inducing jams around 1:25 at the Bridge Stage.
Artist: Wild Belle
Song: Backslider
2:05 on the Tunnel Stage, Brother-Sister duo, Natalie and Elliot Bergman make some awesome, chilled-out dance tunes that you can't help but groove to.
Artist: Ty Segall
Song: People These Days
I've been into Ty Segall for a minute, a guy took me to see him a while back and he put on one hell of a show. I'll never forget him flinging himself into the audience along with his mic stand, drenched in sweat and wailing his lungs out. The crowd was ecstatic, and, even though he totally kicked me in the head while he crowd surfed, I was pretty stoked myself. Catching him at 3:35 on the Tunnel Stage for sure.
Artist: Johanna Newsome
Song: The Book of Right On
My dear friend, Amanda, turned me on to Johanna Newsome about two years ago, and her weird, little girl voice and insane harp-shredding have enraptured me ever since. This song in particular makes little shivers go up and down my spine, and the story behind the song "Monkey and Bear" is so sad and beautiful. I'm excited to witness her beautiful story telling and incredible musicianship for the first time at 4:20 on the Bridge Stage.
Artist: Best Coast
Song: The Only Place
These guys are like, the ultimate Cali Music. Their fun, surf-pop infused songs are perfect for the West Coasts endless summer and definitely get me jonesing for the beach. These guys are from LA and have been around since 2009 and will be gracing the stage in SF at around 6 on the Bridge Stage.
Artist: Devine Fits
Song: Would That Not Be Nice
Divine Fits are a super group of sorts, with members from both Spoon and Wolf Parade, and their first year off the ground seems to be going well with a world tour and a couple of festivals both in the States and Abroad lined up. They take the Tunnel stage around 6:45pm.
Artist: The Gossip
Song: Heavy Cross
I'm not really sure if The Gossip needs any introducing. I mean, lead singer, Beth Ditto is a force of nature almost as powerful as Hurricane Sandy, but for those of you who haven't discovered these guys yet, please, listen and learn. I'm clearly a big fan of The Gossip, and their really the band I'm most stoked to see this weekend, since their new album, A Joyful Noise, was released in May and this song is probably on the set list.
Artist: M83
Song: We Own The Sky
This French electronic band, and this song in particular, were kind of inescapable in 2008. This song featured in Travis Rice's epic snowboarding film, That's It That's All (which is insane, by the way, and you should check it out). They should be fun to check out towards the end of the evening on the Bridge Stage.
It should be an awesome day, with beautiful weather in the forecast, and I'm so excited to check out some of these bands for the first time on stage. Hope to see you there!
