The TOC guide to Intonation Fest

Saturday 24

Favourite Sons
1pm. Brooklyn’s Favourite Sons sound like—what else?—yet another band from Brooklyn, which is to say highly redolent of skuzzy Lower East Side post-punk from the days of yore. They’ve got a knack for sideways riffs and melodies, though, while singer Ken Griffin strikes a nice balance between stylized crooning and agitated blurting.

Erase Errata
1:30pm. San Francisco’s Erase Errata captures the improv-heavy jagged-edge rock of New York’s old-school no-wave scene. The group’s new Nightlife (Kill Rock Stars) lightens up the music a little while darkening the lyrics, which take a directly political turn. It follows the departure of guitarist Sara Jaffe for grad school, which gives a hint of the brainpower behind the band’s brand of racket.

90 Day Men
2pm. Chicago’s math-rock resurgence only took the scene so far—since in the end, no one really likes math. Maybe that’s why 90 Day Men smartly began expanding their influences to include more unlikely sources: inspirations more atmospheric and quirky than simply complex.

Devin the Dude
2:30pm. Devin the Dude grew up in various towns across America before settling in Houston, just in time for that city’s cough syrup–inspired screwed ’n’ chopped hip-hop renaissance. Since then he’s worked with everyone from Dr. Dre to De La Soul, his self-effacing everyman persona disguising some pretty low-key—but frequently inspired—rhymes.

Jose Gonzalez
3:10pm. The name shouts South of the Border, but Jose Gonzalez is yet another inspired Swedish polyglot whose careful assimilation of melancholy folk icons such as Nick Drake allows him to produce a pretty convincing proxy.

Chromeo
3:50pm. Chromeo, Chromeo, where for art thou, Chromeo? Why, playing its campy but club-friendly brand of synth pop in broad daylight, of course—where everyone will be able to see you dance like a big dork.

High on Fire
4:35pm. There’s loud, and then there’s High on Fire loud. Featuring former members of sludge-rock legends Sleep, High on Fire takes the rumbling riffs of metal and reduces them to a primal ooze of evil and amplifier overkill.

The Stills
5:20pm. The Stills’ strong debut, Logic Will Break Your Heart, got the Montreal group lopped in with several New York luminaries, most notably Interpol, but the band frequently professed amusement at being included in the new wave of the new-wave genre. It must have been serious, too, as album No. 2, Without Feathers, marks a huge change in direction that’s liable to cost the band as many old fans as it may gain new ones. Any act that risks it all to try something different is okay with us, and there’s no question the shift has helped the group grow into a more impressive live draw.

Roky Erickson
6:05pm. See “A long, strange trip,” page 103.

Boredoms
6:55pm. Japan’s foremost sonic terrorists have never been predictable, but the Boredoms’ tour habits have become the least predictable thing about them. Stateside stops are increasingly infrequent, and who knows when the band will next make it to these shows, so take advantage of every chance you’re given.

Ghostface
7:50pm. Nearing 40, Ghostface (the “Killah” comes and goes) is not your typical hip-hop star. In fact, stardom often seems the last thing on his mind, considering the Wu-Tang rapper’s gift for bizarre, stream-of-consciousness tracks. The thing is, the guy just keeps getting better, with his latest, Fishscale, being his most forceful and immediate disc to date.

Lady Sovereign
8:45pm. Make way for the S-O-V! Tagging herself “Feminem,” the U.K. grime scene’s diminutive jokester has a knack for the Great White Wonder’s clever internal rhymes, as well as his penchant for potty humor. A typical Lady Sovereign set features just as much belching as rhyming, but she’s no joke: Sov signed with Def Jam in the States, which shows that the many fans on hand for her set aren’t the only ones who have high expectations.

The Streets
9:20pm. That the Streets helped galvanize the U.K.’s long nascent hip-hop scene was a feat in itself. That the group followed its smash debut with an even better disc—and a concept album, at that—says a lot about Streets mastermind Mike Skinner’s skills. The guy even managed to make an album about the perils of fame, this year’s the hardest way to make an easy living, that was as self-effacing as it was infectious. In other words, Skinner’s sole scheduled (as of press time) U.S. appearance justifies his headliner slot, where his party-hearty personality and rhyming slang should prove as welcome on a summer evening as a couple of Britneys. See “A night in the life,” page 80.

Sunday 25

Tyrades
1pm. Despite its egalitarian ethos, punk still produces far too few female musicians. Singer-screamer Jenny Tyrade would (rightly) not want to be reduced to a gender, especially since there’s no question she boasts a pair of balls more imposing than many of her male peers (save her equally gonzo bandmates). She sounds like she’s ready and willing to bite your head off.

Bill Dolan
1:30pm. Deeply talented indie guitarist Bill Dolan has been around the block a few times, most memorably in 5ive Style, but this afternoon should give him some fresh notoriety. Today he teams with Tortoise’s fierce John Herndon and Isotope 217’s Matt Lux for a set worth coming early for.

Panthers
2pm. While they proudly pledge allegiance to a host of prog-rock dinosaurs—from Magma to King Crimson—Panthers aren’t fooling anybody. These dudes are punk rock intensity all the way, with the simple 1-2-3-4 discarded in favor of jagged guitar edges and free-jazz freakouts.

Constantines
2:30pm. Constantines continue to draw comparisons to the Clash, Bruce Springsteen and Fugazi—hardly a bad thing. Those big names attest to the Canadian band’s impassioned and inspiring live shows, traits only hinted at by the group’s record.

Rhymefest
3:10pm. Just a few years ago it was all too easy to complain Chicago couldn’t hold its own in world-class hip-hop. Now such a statement would be just plain lazy. Rhymefest has been a fixture in the underground for a while now, and even got some mainstream attention when childhood friend Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” (which Rhymefest co-wrote) became a hit. He’s set to get some solo hits to his name with his upcoming Blue Collar.

Annie
3:45pm. Anne Lilia Berge-Strand makes perfect dance-pop as smart as Madonna and as catchy as Kylie. In other words, she’ll never make it big, but as far as anyone who’s heard her debut, Anniemal, no doubt thinks, she’s a star already. That’s because the disc spilleth over with disco anthems (some courtesy of fellow Norwegians Röyksopp as well as mash-up king Richard X) that don’t skimp on the fun or the funk. It’s like the best of the ’80s skipped right over the ’90s and arrived just in time to join the here and now.

Lupe Fiasco
4:20pm. As a Friend of Kanye, Chicago MC Lupe Fiasco’s already got hype in his corner. He’s also got high expectations set for him. But fortunately the self-proclaimed nerd has got the hip-hop goods as well. After some strong singles, guest spots, false starts and countless mix-tape masterpieces, he is set to finally release Food & Liquor, an album already familiar to many who buy their records on sidewalks and out of car trunks.

The Sword
4:55pm. Big, loud and so dumb it’s smart, Austin, Texas’ the Sword is hard at work putting the muscle back in stoner rock. The music’s over the top and right onto your head, crushing you like an anvil falling from the hallowed hard-rock heavens.

Blue Cheer
5:30pm. Named after a strain of LSD, Blue Cheer emerged in the late ’60s as a leader of what eventually became known as heavy metal and instantly served as a pronounced template for heavy music over the next four decades. Constant lineup changes hurt the band, but all those ex-members and new pals make reunions that much easier. The latest lineup includes founders Dickie Peterson and Paul Whaley, and they should really sear some eyebrows.

Jon Brion
6:15pm. On Friday nights, Jon Brion holds court at an L.A. club called Largo, where friends like Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple and Brad Mehldou frequently pop in—but just as often, Brion reigns as a one-man-band. It’s an amazing sight to watch the behind-the-scenes genius give a tour of pop history, mixing originals with choice British Invasion (and beyond) covers that he constructs one instrument at a time. That the extremely busy composer, producer and session musician is leaving his comfy confines for this fest is a generous gift you’d be foolish to refuse.

Robert Pollard
7:15pm. Robert Pollard just doesn’t know how to take some time off. Even before the purportedly final show by his long-standing indie-rock effort Guided By Voices, a band that made the Who and Genesis cool to thousands of kids who had no idea GBV was making the Who and Genesis cool (they were), Pollard was hitting the stores and the road as a solo act. Considering he was the heart and soul of—and primary songwriter for—GBV, it’s no surprise that solo Pollard doesn’t veer too far from his previous endeavor, which is a smart move if he wants that free beer to keep flowing.

Dead Prez
8:15pm. Putting the politics back in hip-hop, Dead Prez spits with enough fire that you suspect it wants a little bit of politics put back in everything. That’s slightly ironic, since its last album, RBG: Revolutionary But Gangsta, tones down the militant stance a tad; but with too much emphasis placed solely on booty shaking these days, it’s good to have something important to shake it to.

Bloc Party
9:05pm. The next big thing, or the next big has-beens? No question, Bloc Party has the skills to live up to the hype, and the highlights of its debut, Silent Alarm, were enough to earn the U.K. act an instant following. But ears will be pricked for signs of new material, giveaways as to which direction the group will take its anthemic, dance-friendly art rock.