The schedule of set times for Sasquatch 2011 is now posted so everyone can plan their epic weekend of music.

Here’s what my schedule is looking like….

Friday

- Against Me!

- Death From Above 1979

- Foo Fighters

- DJ Anjali and The Incredible Kid

Saturday

- Alberta Cross

- The Radio Dept.

- K-os

- Aloe Blacc

- Trailer Park Boys

- Wolf Parade

- Pink Martini

- Iron and Wine

- Matt and Kim

- The Glitch Mob

- Robyn

- Sleigh Bells

- Bassnectar

Sunday

- Typhoon

- Wheedles Groove

- Fitz and the Tantrums

- Other Lives

- Beach House

- Mad Rad

- Das Racist

- The Flaming Lips

- Modest Mouse

- Ratatat

Monday

- Wavves

- Young the Giant

- Old 97′s

- Chromeo

- Scott Aukerman and Paul F. Tompkins

- Foster The People

- Best Coast

- Skrillex

- Major Lazer

Check out the set times and plan your weekend here

One week left see everyone there.

      Sleigh Bells are a noise music duo from Brooklyn, New York.  The band consists of Alexis Krauss (vocals) and former Poison The Well guitarist Derek E. Miller.  The duo had a great 2010 with the release of their debut album “Treats”.

       In 2009 Sleigh Bells were signed to M.I.A.’s NEET Records in 2009 and quickly released a 7 song EP.  This recording gained a lot media attention as artists to look for in the future.  Pitchfork put their song “Crown On The Ground” as their best songs of 2009.  Miller helped M.I.A on her song “Meds and Feds” from the album “MAYA” and then began recording “Treats”.

     I saw Sleigh Bells open for The Black Keys at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland this past November and they put on a great show.  There was a huge wall of amps set up which really accentuated their noise rock sound.  Alexis’ vocals were a little shot, but its understandable with how much screaming she does and the fact that they’d been touring a lot.  In the end Sleigh Bells had a high energy that definitely got the crowd moving and psyched for the headliners.

Be sure not to miss this unique and fun band when they perform at the Banana Shack on Saturday, May 28th.

Sleigh Bells Myspace

Sasquatch 2011 

Skrillex performing Monday May 30 in the Banana Shack

Sonny Moore, who is known professionally as Skrillex, is a breakbeat,house, dubstep DJ from Los Angeles CA.  Before becoming a DJ Sonny was the lead singer for the Screamo band From First To Last.  In 2007 Sonny split from From First To Last and went to record as a solo artist, embarking on the AP tour in 2007 .  A solo record “Bells” was made but Moore has said that it won’t be released.

In 2008 his DJ alias Skrillex was introduced to Los Angeles nightclubs.  He released his first EP “My Name Is Skrillex” for free download on June 7, 2010.  Moore then signed a contract with Mau5trap records and  toured with Deadma5 later on last year.  Skrillex also released his second EP “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” last year.  The title track from the album became a huge hit along with the song “Kill Everybody.”

Skrillex is one of the artists that I can’t wait to see perform because I just recently started getting into his music.  The first song that I heard of his was “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” when my friend had it as her ring tone.  That song immediately got me hooked, the bass drop that he put in is one of the sickest I’ve ever heard.  He almost puts extra distortion into his wobbles so that it sounds more like a guitar.

Sasquatch official site

Skrillex official site

Sasquatch Myspace

Matt and Kim performing on the Bigfoot stage at Sasquatch on Saturday May 28.

Matt and Kim are a pop/rock duo from Brooklyn New York.  The band, formed in 2004, consists of Matt Johnson (keyboard/vocal) and Kim Schifino (drums/vocals).

The band got its break in 2009 after the release of their album “Grand”.  Matt and Kim scored  major hits with the songs “Daylights”, and “Lessons Learned.”  In 2010 the duo released the follow up album “Sidewalks” which I think is a step forward for the band.  On the new album they bring in some more eclectic sounds to their music.  Their new single “Cameras” has a great hook at the intro and some really creative lyrics.

Seeing Matt and Kim live is a total blast.  I think they have a goal of bringing as much energy to the crowd that is humanly possible.  Both performers are natural showmen on stage; cracking jokes, standing on their instruments, throwing beach balls into the crowd, and stage diving.  I got to see Matt and Kim at Outside Lands 2009 and I have been a fan ever since.  They put on one of the best performances of the weekend and drew the biggest crowd to the smallest stage at the festival.  At the end of their set the sun came out just as they started playing “Daylight”, which was very fortuitous.

Matt and Kim official site

Matt and Kim Myspace

Sasquatch official site

Major Lazer, Diplo (left) and Switch (right), will be performing at Sasquatch on Monday May 30 in the Banana Shack.

Major Lazer is a collaborative music project between producers Diplo and Switch which started in 2009 with the album “Guns Don’t Kill People … Lazers Do.”  The original idea came when the two created a cartoon character, a one armed Jamaican ex commando who battles various forces of evil named Major Lazer.  On stage they are joined by Skerrit Bwoy, who is probably the best hype man that you’ll ever see.  Skerrit is famous for daggering and stage diving during the Major Lazer shows he is also the vocals behind the bands biggest hit “Pon De Floor.”

I got a chance to see Major Lazer perform at Portland’s Music Fest NW last summer, and it was probably the most fun that I have had at a show.  The Roseland Theater was packed with people by the time Diplo hit the stage to start the show everyone was cheering ‘Major….Lazer”.  Skerrit Bowy daggered, got people to wave their shirts in the air, stage dived, and did his famous ladder routine.   He also tweeted the day after saying how much he loved the show.  The only draw back was that Diplo did the show solo and Switch wasn’t on stage.  Hopefully, for Sasquatch that isn’t the case.

Recently in 2010 Major Lazer released an EP titled “Lazers Never Die” which contains two new tracks and some remixes of tracks from their 2009 debut album.  Diplo has also released a couple of great compilations titled “Blow Your Head: Diplo Presents Dubstep” and “Riddimentary: Diplo Selects Greensleeves.”  “Blow Your Head” is a great collection of the best artists from the underground dubstep movement.  “Riddimentary” was just released and it’s the ultimate companion album to Major Lazer.  Diplo selects and mixes an awesome collection of classic reggae artists such as: Barrington Levy, Gregory Issacs, and Triston Palma.

Diplo's new reggae compilation "Riddimentary"

Major Lazer Myspace

Sasquatch Official Site

Bassnectar, appearing on the Bigfoot stage at Sasquatch 2011 on Saturday May 28

Bassnectar (Lorin Ashton) is a DJ/Producer who hails from Santa Cruz, California.  He is known for his energetic live shows and amazing light shows.

Bassnectar’s style of music combines mainstream music with the “wobble bass” that is used by many dubstep artists.  The most prominent characteristic though is Bassnectar’s use of different tempos during his songs.  This creates what he calls, “omni-tempo maximalism,” and describes it as, “an algimation of every sound I’ve ever heard mixed with ultra wicked basslines.”

Ashton recently released two EP’s in 2010 “Timestretch” and “Wildstyle”.  His new single “Basshead” is an amazing mix of heavy dubstep with a great mainstream hip hop hook that grabs you from the beginning.

I saw Bassnectar twice while attending college at the University of Oregon in Eugene.  The first one was actually my first electronic music concert and it was a small venue that was about the size of a school gymnasium.  It was a totally different experience the second time around, Bassnectar played to packed house at a concert hall called the McDonald Theater.    I would say that seeing him perform made electronic music one of my favorite genres to listen to.

Bassnectar Official Site

Sasquatch 2011 Website

This year will be my first time attending Sasquatch.  I will be up at the Gorge for all four days.  This years festival is bigger than ever, a fourth day (Friday May 27th) was added with The Foo Fighters headlining the first night.  The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse,  Death Cab For Cutie, Wilco, and The Decemberists will also be making appearances at the Gorge this Memorial Day Weekend.  2011 marks the ten year anniversary of the festival.  Tickets sold out on Monday February 14,  pretty much as soon as they went on sale.

Bands That I’m Excited To See

This will be my third time seeing The Foo Fighters, and after hearing their new single I'm more excited than ever

This will also be my third time seeing Bassnectar live. His music is amazing, and it transcends so many different genres of electronic music.

Fitz and The Tantrums are my favorite new artists right now. Their debut album "Pickin' Up The Pieces" is simply amazing, every song is so well composed and expertly produced.

This will be my second time seeing Major Lazer live. This DJ duo of Switch and Diplo always get the party started, last September they got sold out crowd in Portland bouncing off the walls.

Ratatat is a band that I've always wanted to see live ever since I first heard their music. Seeing them just might make my weekend.

This is going to be my third time seeing The Decemberists live, and it will be the most special since it will be at Sasquatch. The new album "The King Is Dead" is their best yet, and it reached number one on the Billboard charts.

Wallpaper, performing at Peter's Room 1/30

Wallpaper is an energetic party duo from Oakland that is just starting to make it big.  They just played Treasure Island Festival in SF last year.  Seeing them open for Dan Deacon in October of 2009 was quite an experience.  They came out and gave a great 30-40 minute set that got the crowd dancing and on its feet.  The band consists of Ricky on vocals and a protege who makes some seriously sick beats.  Their music is all about getting smashed and having the best time that you possibly can.  They have a lot of videos that you can see on their myspace (I put one of the more creative ones below for the song “T Rex”).

K. Flay, performing with Wallpaper at Peter's Room 1/30

Supporting Wallpaper at this show will Oakland’s K. Flay who is currently just starting her solo career.  Some of you may know her from her appearance on the Zion I hit single “Coastin” a couple years ago.  Since then she made a free mix tape that you can download called “Mashed Potatoes” and now has an EP up on Itunes as well.  I saw her appear with Zion I at Outside Lands 2009 to perform “Coastin” which was a highlight for me.  One thing that fans would not expect is that she is a Stanford alumni with a double major in Psychology and Sociology.  She grew up in Chicago listening to her dad’s classic rock and dancing to the music of Parliament and Funkadelic.  On stage she is a one woman whirlwind performer; she makes her own beats, plays guitar, and sings/raps.  Her charming stage presence has led to her performing with Snoop Dogg, 3 Oh 3, and Passion Pit.

The show is at Roseland’s Peter’s Room, this Sunday January 30 at 8 PM.

Tickets are 10 dollars and can be bought here.

Wallpaper Myspace

K. Flay Website

Easy Star All Stars are showing the influence that their Pink Floyd tribute album “Dub Side of The Moon” has on the music  world by releasing an album of remixes called “Dubber Side of The Moon”.  All of the songs from Dub Side have been revisited by DJ’s from all over the world, some of the songs even done multiple times.  Artists featured on this new compilation include: 10 ft Ganja Plant, The Dubphonics, Groove Corporation, Alchemist, Mad Professor, Dreadzone, and Michael G of Easy Star.

The result is a new set of bass heavy interpretations that make for an even more spacey experience than the original album.  I actually like this CD more because it is geared more towards my love for electronic music.  Alchemist does an insane dubstep mix of “Money” that brings new meaning to the song and is really relevant to the greedy culture that we live in today.  Dreadzone also does a great drum and bass remix of the song “Us and Them” which was one of my favorites from the original Pink Floyd album.

I would recommend this album to fans of Easy Star’s other releases, because even though it is an album of remixes the feel of the original “Dub Side of The Moon” is still there.  This album is also a must for fans of the new dubstep genre of electronic music, because all of the songs are very bass heavy and edgy.

The Black Keys was the first of the two, it took place on Tuesday December 7th, and that definitely got the week started right.  They are currently on tour supporting their new album “Brothers”, which recently got named as the #2 on Rolling Stone’s best albums of 2010 list.  Opening for the Keys were The Morning Teleportation and M.I.A’s NEET recording artists Sleigh Bells.  I had never heard of Morning Teleportation but I definitely liked what they performed, it was a nice funky upbeat indie rock sound, I recommend checking them out in the future if you get the chance.  Sleigh Bells were the next band to perform and being a fan of their debut album “Treats” I was excited to see them live.  The guitarist Derek was awesome and I absolutely loved how they played some Slayer as their intro music.  Vocals needed some work though I could barely hear Alexis, it also was probably because her voice is strained from the songs requiring a lot of screaming and yelling.  Finally it was time for The Black Keys and they didn’t disappoint at all, starting out the performance with “Everlasting Light”.  The duo then launched into some older songs before playing through most of “Brothers” and hits from the album “Attack and Release”.

I had a day in between to rest and then on Thursday it was time for Danger Mouse and James Mercer’s new band, Broken Bells.  This performances was a gem to see at the Crystal Ballroom, they played through their whole album and had a great band supporting them on stage.  Mercer provided great live vocals and commented a couple of times during the show how much fun he was having on stage.  It was also cool how they extended the visualizer that you get with Itunes LP to be the backdrop for the live performance. Broken Bells released a self titled album earlier this year and I haven’t heard any news of a second one in the works. Danger Mouse has done a lot of one time projects, but this one just seems way too good for there to just be one CD.

Squid from 94/7  took photos each night, check them out here

I also put a couple videos from the Broken Bells show on my Youtube Favorites

Until next time have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.