Pre-Fest Excitement for Pitchfork Festival 2024
In honor of Pitchfork’s infamous 0.0-10.0 ratings scale for albums, KCSB’s Will Bacaj scores his most anticipated sets of the upcoming festival weekend.
words by: Will Bacaj
After Conde Nast fired several of Pitchfork’s editors and placed the website under the umbrella of GQ Magazine in January, outside observers have wondered about the future of the most influential music outlet of the 21st century. Fewer longform features have graced the front page of Pitchfork and their prior flow of album reviews has dwindled since the restructuring earlier this year.
Against this backdrop of corporate changes and an ever-shifting media landscape, longtime readers and music fans have been left speculating about the future of Pitchfork’s music festivals. Since hosting the first official edition of the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago in 2006, Pitchfork has expanded to other editions in cities like Paris, Berlin, and London, and held their first ever Pitchfork Festival in Mexico City this past March.
Friday July 19, 2024
Rosali: 9.8
Rosali Middleman’s music is meant to be listened to outdoors as the sun dapples your skin and the lyrics rip your heart. Hopefully David Nance and Mowed Sound will be there to provide the backing sounds, as they did on the record. I cannot wait to get a vicious sunburn during the early afternoon while being engulfed by songs like “Hills on Fire” and “My Kind.”
Tkay Maidza: 9.0
Tkay Maidza may have first hopped on many people’s radar due to her reinventive cover of the Pixies “Where is My Mind” for 4AD’s anniversary compilation Bills, Aches, and Blues (40 Years of 4AD), but the Australian singer/rapper’s original music is even better than her covers. Songs like “Out of Luck” and “Ring-a-Ling” should get the audience going in extremely satisfying fashion.
Yaeji: 8.5
In researching the lineup for Pitchfork, Yaeji was a revelation to me. The wonderfully repetitive hook to her song “Raingurl” has been rooted in my brain for the past couple of weeks. The New York DJ’s debut LP With a Hammer dropped in 2023, earning her a well-deserved “Best New Music” tag from Pitchfork. Her whispery ASMR-adjacent vocals and genre-blending electronica should make for a dancey good time as the sun begins to dip on Friday afternoon.
Sudan Archives: 9.0
I’ve seen Sudan Archives live three times and Brittney Parks is an ace performer every time, no matter the setting or the size of the stage.
Her set at the scaled-down 2021 edition of Desert Daze melted many an uninitiated mind as she pulled a violin up to her chin in the middle of her R&B tracks and let it rip. The Sudan Archives set at SoHo in Santa Barbara, two weeks after the release of her instant classic album Natural Brown Prom Queen in 2022, is one of the best club shows I’ve ever seen. Her blend of live vocals, violin and looping made for a live set that was equal parts hypnotically mesmerizing and unabashedly fun. Her guest appearance at Life Is Beautiful in 2023 for a remixed rendition of “Selfish Soul” was easily the best part of Odeza’s headlining set.
We’ll see if there are any new tracks in the setlist Friday, but songs like “Freakalizer,” “Chevy S10” and “NBPQ (Topless)” are always guaranteed to hit live. Never miss a chance to see Sudan Archives if you can help it.
Saturday July 20, 2024
Wednesday: 9.7
MJ Lenderman and Karly Hartzman put on a great set at the Ojai Deer Lodge in December without the rest of the band, so I cannot wait to get blasted with the full force of their cathartically sludgey sound. With MJ Lenderman releasing a new solo record in September and a full tour to follow, this might be the last chance we get to see Wednesday as a full band for a while. I’ll take any and all songs Wednesday want to play in their setlist on Saturday, but I’m especially hoping to hear “Chosen to Deserve” or their cover of Gary Stewart’s “She’s Actin’ Single, I’m Drinkin Double.”
De La Soul: 9.5
Since the tragic passing of member Trugoy the Dove last February, De La Soul’s music has been experiencing a well-deserved revival as younger generations have explored more of their work beyond their Gorillaz collaborations. After nearly a decade of their music being stuck in sample-clearing purgatory, the first 6 De La Soul albums were finally remastered and added to streaming in March 2023. I’m curious to see how the remaining members Posdnuos and Maseo will honor Plug 2 live, but if it’s anything like the final run of A Tribe Called Quest shows in 2017, we might be in for the most entertaining session of group therapy in Chicago.
Jessie Ware: 10.0
Every song on Jessie Ware’s 2023 album That! Feels! Good! is an absolute heater, and gave her the crown as the queen of disco-inflected pop music. With her new single with Romy, “I Get Lifted,” Jessie has kept her hot streak rolling into 2024 with aplomb. Every clip I’ve seen of Jessie Ware’s live shows looks like a gloriously glammy dance party. No matter the setlist, I cannot wait to bear witness to her set.
Carly Rae Jepsen: 8.8
Speaking of hot streaks, the last two Carly Rae Jepsen records, 2022’s Loneliest Time and 2023’s Loveliest Time, have been some of my favorite pop releases of the decade. I’ve seen Carly twice in the past two years, and she and her band absolutely bring it live. Carly has a preternatural ability to connect with her audiences and give them the full charm offensive. It’s hard to avoid grinning from ear to ear when Carly is onstage. “Psychedelic Switch” is an undeniable pop song that will hit even harder as Carly guides the crowd from the golden hour into the night.
Jamie xx: 9.0
I’ve always been more partial to Romy when it comes to the solo endeavors of The xx’s alumni, but the three released singles for the upcoming Jamie xx record In Waves are undeniably spectacular dance music. “Baddie on the Floor” and “Treat Each Other Right” have been personal playlist staples for the month of July leading up to Pitchfork Fest. If Jamie xx brings out Robyn for a rendition of the new single “Life,” I might keel over and die of acute happiness.
Sunday July 21, 2024
Hailu Mergia: 9.5
Since the reissue of his 1985 record Hailu Mergia & His Magical Instrument by Awesome Tapes From Africa a decade ago, the Ethiopian keyboard and accordion maestro of the Walias Band has experienced a resurgence that revived his music career, bringing his special blend of Ethio-jazz to new audiences across the world. His 70s and 80s output is unimpeachable, but his comeback records Lala Belu and Yene Mircha are fantastic in their own right. No matter which songs Mergia deigns to play, this should be the perfect set for a hot Sunday afternoon in Union Park.
Crumb: 9.5
Crumb first came on my radar due to their brilliantly trippy nighttime set at Desert Daze in 2021. Their brand of dreamy psychedelic rock lulls you into a state of comfort before making you question whether or not the walls are, in fact, moving. Their first two LPs Jinx and Ice Melt are personal late night listening classics, but their new record AMAMA is another after-dark banger. Their set won’t be long enough to get to all of my favorite songs, but I would love to hear AMAMA tracks “The Genie” and “(Alone in) Brussels.” Here’s to hoping!