Optimus Primavera Sound 2013 Preview

Last year, Barcelona’s amazing Primavera Sound Festival expanded to the other side of Iberia, to Oporto, Portugal, in Optimus Primavera Sound. Oporto welcomes most of Primavera Sound (as...
Optimus Primavera Sound 2013 Preview

Optimus Primavera Sound 2013 Preview

Last year, Barcelona’s amazing Primavera Sound Festival (QRO recap) expanded to the other side of Iberia, to Oporto, Portugal, in Optimus Primavera Sound.  Oporto – like Barcelona non-Castilian, and also its country’s second city – welcomes most of Primavera Sound (as well as a few extras) the weekend after, Thursday to Saturday, May 30th to June 1st:

 

THURSDAY, MAY 30th

Optimus Stage

James Blake, 02:15

If you didn’t live in London, you might never have heard of dubstep, so you probably would have been surprised when people started talking about ‘post-dubstep’, in the form of highly-hyped Brit James Blake (QRO live review). But the former singer of (actual) dubstep outfit Mount Kimbie (QRO photos at a festival) has been making massive waves with his self-titled debut (QRO review) and now the new Overgrown, so see for yourself what all the fuss is about (QRO photos at a big venue).
James Blake
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, 23:35

Amid the iconic & iconoclastic artists at Optimus Primavera Sound 2013, maybe no one is more of both than Nick Cave. First in post-punk outfits The Boy Next Door and The Birthday Party, then fronting his own Bad Seeds (QRO photos), Nick Cave’s work has spread widely across genres, years, and countries (he started in the late seventies in Melbourne). Cave went harder rock went he invented side project Grinderman (QRO photos at Primavera Barcelona ’11), most recently on 2010’s Grinderman 2 (QRO review) but also 2008’s Bad Seeds release, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! – yet for this year’s much-acclaimed Push the Sky Away (QRO review), he’s brought much of his epic gothic nature.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The Breeders, 21:00

It’s not Optimus Primavera Sound without a few artists performing their classic albums in full – one of those is The Breeders (QRO live review) performing their classic Last Splash in full (QRO live review performing Last Splash) for its twentieth anniversary (which is good because, while Last Splash is still amazing, their later material, like 2008’s Mountain BattlesQRO review – isn’t…).
The Breeders
Also:

Merchandise, 18:55 QRO photos at a festival
Merchandise

Palco Super Bock

Deerhunter, 01:00

No one was more prolific in 2008 than Deerhunter’s singer/guitarist Bradford Cox (QRO live review), who not only put out the well-received Microcastle (QRO review), but also included a second disc of all-original bonus material, Weird Era Cont. (QRO review) – and oh, yeah, released a solo record (as Atlas Sound, who played Primavera Sound Barcelona last year – QRO photos), Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel (QRO review) that beat ‘em both. And, after a hiatus & Atlas Sound’s Logos (QRO review), 2011 saw Deerhunter (QRO photos outdoors) reach even higher thanks to Halcyon Digest (QRO review) – and this year they follow it up with Monomania. Known for electric shows whether as the Sound (QRO live review) or with Deerhunter (QRO live review outdoors), Cox & Deerhunter (QRO photos outdoors) have been as prolific with the festivals (QRO photos at a festival), including Primavera Barcelona in 2009.
Deerhunter
Dead Can Dance, 22:10

The singular Dead Can Dance (QRO photos) mix everything from African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Gregorian chant, and Middle Eastern mantras in an ethereal gothic dark wave.
Dead Can Dance
Wild Nothing, 19:50

Sun-soaked, fuzzy, dream pop that should go well with a sun-soaked festival. Wild Nothing (QRO live review) is Jack Tatum’s wonderful solo project (QRO live review), and with Nocturne (QRO review), the follow-up to his wonderful first album Gemini (QRO album review) out last year, there’s sure to be plenty of new music afoot (QRO photos at a festival).

Also:

Guadalupe Plata, 18:00
Wild Nothing

 

 

FRIDAY, MAY 30th

Palco Super Bock

Four Tet, 00:15

U.K. post-rock electronic musician Kieran Hebden, also who’s remixed everyone from Andrew Bird (QRO live review) to Radiohead (QRO live review), tours once more as Four Tet (QRO photos outdoors), on the back of last year’s Pink.
Four Tet
Swans, 21:10

An influential act who’s been a regular at Primavera Sound Barcelona is New York’s post-punk pioneers Swans (QRO live review) – Swans played Barcelona back in 2011, with frontman Michael Gira playing Primavera Barcelona solo last year (QRO photos).
Swans
Neko Case, 18:50

While she first got notice as the main lady of indie-rock collective The New Pornographers (QRO live review), Neko Case (QRO photos outdoors) has also crafted her own solo career (even had her voice on an episode of Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force…). She hasn’t released any new solo material since 2009’s Middle Cyclone (QRO review), but hopefully there will be some new songs in the mix at Optimus Primavera Sound.

Also:

Dear Telephone, 17:00
Neko Case

Palco Pitchfork

Julio Bashmore, 04:00

Glass Candy, 03:00

Now coming up on fifteen years together, the Portland, Oregon electronica duo of singer Ida No & instrumentalist/producer Johnny Jewel have moved from their noise rock-meets-electropop origins to incorporating such diverse sounds as Italian disco & Marilyn Monroe as Glass Candy.
Glass Candy
Do Make Say Think, 01:25

One of the best bands in post-rock is Toronto’s Do Make Say Think (QRO photos at a festival). Sort of a post-rock version of Canadian alt-rock collectives like Broken Social Scene (QRO spotlight on), if the outfit’s got a leader, it would be mad musical scientist Charles Spearin (QRO interview) – also of Broken Social Scene.
Do Make Say Think
METZ, 23:55

Both loud and skilled, METZ (QRO live review) come ready to rock and impress at Optimus Primavera Sound.

Also:

Melody’s Echo Chamber, 22:20

SVPER, 21:00
METZ

Optimus Stage

Blur, 01:25

If you’re going to Optimus Primavera Sound and you’re not going to see Blur, you’ve got to really question what you’re doing there – and whether or not you like music. The definition of nineties Brit-pop, Blur crafted some of the best, most enjoyable songs of that decade or anything other – “There’s No Other Way”, “Sunday Sunday”, “Girls & Boys”, “Parklife”, “The Universal”, “Charmless Man”, “Song 2”, “Coffee & TV”… the list goes on & on. “Song 2” might be the best two minutes of music (“Woo-hoo!”), while “The Universal” has one of the best music videos ever.

The twenty-first century wasn’t as kind of the band, as guitarist Graham Coxon (QRO live review) left, and the band sunk into hiatus as singer Damon Albarn explored super-groups like The Good, The Bad & The Queen (QRO album review) and Gorillaz (QRO album review). Tony Blair left office, Brit-rock rivals Oasis declined – ‘Cool Britannia’ was no more.

But Britain & Brit-pop came back in full force last year, with the London Olympics – and the closing concert in the new Olympic Park, by Blur! The reunion has kept up as one of the best & most beloved in this century/millennium of alt-reunions, from outshining fellow nineties Brit reunioners The Stone Roses at Coachella last month (the crowds were far bigger for Blur than for the day’s nominal headliners) to headlining Optimus Primavera Sound.
Blur
Grizzly Bear, 22:50

Things have gotten very big for Grizzly Bear (QRO live review), surprising many who thought the humble, intricate Brooklyn outfit (QRO live review) was too complex for mass appeal. Yet mass appeal is what the group has gotten off of recent records Shields and Veckatimest, as their sonic beauty transcends (QRO photos). They’ve even played Stephen Colbert’s ‘ColbChella’ (QRO photos at ColbChella ‘012), which is surely a highlight in any act’s career, even compared to playing Primavera Barcelona ‘10 (QRO photos at a festival).
Grizzly Bear
Local Natives, 20:00

Silver Lake’s Local Natives (QRO photos at a festival) have been riding the alt-country/folk wave, but seem to be doing it better than most, charting in 2010 with debut Gorilla Manor and last year’s Hummingbird (QRO review), moving up to headliner tours (QRO live review), and well-received on the festival circuit (QRO photos at a festival).

Also:

Memória De Peixe, 17:55
Local Natives

ATP Stage

Fuck Buttons, 03:25

The eclectic, expansive electronica of U.K.’s Fuck Buttons (QRO live review) comes to Optimus Primavera (QRO photos outdoors). Hopefully the duo of Andrew Hung & Benjamin Power (QRO live review) have some new material, as they haven’t released an album since 2009’s Tarot Sport, their follow-up to prior year’s debut Street Horrrsing (QRO review).
Fuck Buttons
Hot Snakes, 01:55

San Diego’s Hot Snakes mixed DIY and hardcore up until their 2005 break-up, which saw members join/form groups such as The Night Marchers (QRO photos) and Obits (QRO album review), but 2011 brought a reunion that has kept on going.
Hot Snakes
Meat Puppets, 00:25

‘The Brothers Meat’, as Kurt Cobain called Curt & Cris Kirkwood of The Meat Puppets (QRO photos outdoors) in the seminal MTV Unplugged session where they sat in with Nirvana (QRO DVD review), have been through major ups & downs, including break-ups & jail time. But the seminal eighties (QRO live review) punk rock act helped birth the ‘cowpunk’ genre, and have kept it up (QRO photos) with post-reunion records like 2009’s Sewn Together (QRO review), 2011’s Lollipop (QRO review), and the new Rat Farm (QRO review).
Meat Puppets
Shellac, 23:00

Famed producer Steve Albini started in eighties punk act Big Black, and keeps him hand in the performing side of the game fronting Shellac – who are coming off four years in a row at Primavera Sound Barcelona (QRO photos at Primavera Barcelona ’11).
Shellac
Rodriguez, 21:30

Back in the seventies, Detroit’s (Sixto Diaz) Rodriguez put out two records of folk music that found little attention – except in South Africa.  Rodriguez disappeared so completely that there were rumors he’d committed suicide, but determined fans searched and found him, as was chronicled in the Academy Award-winning documentary, Searching for Sugar Man, which also saw him received in South Africa like Cheap Trick once were at Budokan (QRO live review).  The film also seriously revived his musical career – including fame at home & elsewhere abroad.
Rodriguez
Daniel Johnston, 20:00

Singer/songwriter/artist Daniel Johnston (QRO video interview) first came to notice thanks to fans of his like Kurt Cobain & Thurston Moore, and his struggle with bipolar disorder & fame was chronicled in the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. While still not on an even keel, he still produces & performs (QRO live review) work that can reach into the brilliant, such as “Life In Vain” (QRO video).

Also:

OM, 18:30

Ghostigital, 17:25
Daniel Johnston

 

 

SATURDAY, JUNE 1st

Optimus Stage

My Bloody Valentine, 01:20

If Blur (see above) invented & perfected Brit-pop in the nineties, Dublin’s My Bloody Valentine did the same for shoegaze. 1991’s seminal Loveless is still beloved around the world (even though it almost bankrupted their label at the time), but after it the band became inactive – only to reunite in 2007, hitting the festival circuit (including Primavera Barcelona 2009), headlining and even curating them. Earlier this year, the band stunned and delighted fans by announcing Loveless’ follow-up was finally on its way – and then released m b v online the next week (crashing their server…).
My Bloody Valentine
Explosions In the Sky, 22:45

There might not be a more important or beloved post-rock band that Explosions In the Sky (QRO photos at a festival).  The Austin band (QRO photos at an Austin festival) basically introduced the epic, vocal-less concept that is ‘post-rock’ (QRO photos outdoors) into both the indie-sphere (QRO photos at a festival) and the wider world (including at Primavera Barcelona ‘11 – QRO photos – and providing the theme song to Friday Night LightsQRO soundtrack review), and made the Top Twenty on the Billboard charts with 2011’s Take Care, Take Care, Take Care (QRO review).
Explosions In the Sky
Dinosaur Jr., 20:20

Back & better than ever is Dinosaur Jr. (QRO photos at a festival)! In the late eighties and early nineties, one of the biggest & best bands in the punk-grunge revolution was Dinosaur Jr. (QRO live review), combining a hippie-punk ethos (and artwork) with feedback-driven guitar from the legendary J Mascis (QRO solo album review). The trio (QRO live review) was also characterized by Mascis’ controlling tendencies, leading to the departure first of bassist Lou Barlow (QRO solo album review) for his Sebadoh (QRO live review) and eventually even beloved drummer Murph, with Mascis retiring the ‘Dinosaur Jr.’ moniker in 1997.

But then the band reunited (QRO live review outdoors) – with original line-up! – to tour their re-release of old, Barlow-era records (QRO photos at a festival in St. LOUis). And they kept going (QRO photos at a festival), putting out three new records that are some of their best yet, Beyond (QRO review) and Farm (QRO review), with I Bet On Sky coming out last fall (QRO review). So revel in the glory (QRO photos at a festival) that is Dinosaur Jr. (QRO photos) – but bring your earplugs, because J’s ‘circle of amps’ is a force to be reckoned with (QRO photos at a festival).

Also:

Manel, 17:55
Dinosaur Jr.

Palco Super Bock

Liars, 00:10

Though 2001’s They Threw Us All In a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top got Liars (QRO photos outdoors) labeled ‘dance-punk’, they’ve since shifted radically, losing old fans, but gaining new ones (QRO photos at a festival), especially with 2010’s Sisterworld (QRO review) & last year’s WIXIW (QRO review), including live (QRO photos) and at festivals (QRO photos at a festival), like Primavera Sound Barcelona 2009.
Liars
Los Planetas, 21:30

Back in the 2001 inaugural Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, one of the best bands was Spain’s own Los Planetas, who now come to Oporto.

Also:

The Drones, 19:05

The Glockenwise, 17:00
Los Planetas

ATP Stage

Headbirds, 03:15

Titus Andronicus, 01:55

Straight outta Jersey comes Garden State pridesters (QRO photos outdoors at a festival) Titus Andronicus (QRO photos at a festival), who were hitting all fifty hard (QRO photos out-of-state) even before (QRO photos at a festival) the release of their Civil War-inspired The Monitor (QRO review) – though last year’s Local Business (QRO review) was a big of a retread. But they’re not afraid of playing overseas (like at Primavera Barcelona ’10) or outdoors (QRO photos outdoors).
Titus Andronicus
Nurse With Wound, 00:25

Avant-garde artist Steven Stapleton, a.k.a. Nurse With Wound (or just ‘NWW’), has been bending genres for over thirty years now.
Nurse With Wound
White Fence, 23:00

The more psychedelic-pop White Fence (QRO photos at a festival) teamed up last year with Ty Segall (QRO album review) for Hair.
White Fence
The Sea and Cake, 21:30

There’s no band as truly ‘easy to listen to’ as The Sea and Cake (QRO live review) – and that’s meant as a compliment, a serious compliment. At almost two decades now, The Sea and Cake (QRO photos outdoors) have remained the steadiest of hands in the Chicago post-rock scene (QRO live review), most recently with 2012’s Runner (QRO review) and 2011’s The Moonlight Butterfly (QRO review), and before that 2008’s Car Alarm (QRO review) and 2007’s Everybody (QRO review). Before their members split up again for their various other projects (such as John McEntire’s work in Tortoise – QRO live review – or as producer on Broken Social Scene’s Forgiveness Rock RecordQRO review), catch them at Optimus Primavera Sound (QRO photos at a festival).

Also:

Paus, 20:00

Degreaser, 18:30
The Sea and Cake

Palco Pitchfork

The Magician, 04:00

Fucked Up, 03:00

While Holy Fuck (QRO live review) lost the Polaris Music Prize in 2008, that kind of a name didn’t stop Fucked Up from winning it the following year with Chemistry of Common Life (though it almost derailed The Pool Parties at Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn – QRO photos), and the band followed that up with singles collection Couple Tracks (QRO review) and 2011’s concept rock opus, David Comes to Life. Whether their hardcore music lives up to praise rarely given to hardcore is still up for debate, but what isn’t is how nuts the crowd goes (QRO photos at a festival) for this act out of Toronto (QRO photos outdoors), with singer/frontman Damian Abraham bringing it, shirtless and crazy (QRO photos at a festival), like at Primavera Barcelona 2009.
Fucked Up
Dan Deacon, 01:20

One of the acts bringing the wild, DIY element to Optimus Primavera Sound is Dan Deacon (QRO photos). The Baltimore native (QRO photos outdoors) is a man of many talents, including throwing his own DIY festivals & tours, like 2009’s ‘Round Robin’ tour (QRO live review) with No Age (QRO live review) & Optimus Primavera 2013’s Deerhunter (see above). But he’s still best known as an electronic musician, most recently with last year’s America (QRO review) and 2009’s Bromst (QRO review), which get wild live (QRO live review), whether with his fifteen-piece backing band (QRO live review) or Deacon standing & playing from in the crowd (QRO photos, outdoors at a festival), like at festivals (QRO photos at a festival) like Primavera Sound Barcelona 2009.
Dan Deacon
Savages, 23:50

The new band of the year for most, the quartet from London debut at the Optimus Primavera Sound (QRO photos at a festival) ready to deliver their thrilling live experience of post-punk and noise in their first ever visit to Spain, hot off the release of Silence Yourself (QRO review). A test to see if the hot-blooded Spanish audience responds to an even hotter-blooded band.
Savages
Daughn Gibson, 22:20

Former Pearls and Bass drummer Daughn Gibson (QRO photos at a festival) recently broke out on his own with last year’s All Hell.

Also:

L’Hereu Escampa, 21:00
Daughn Gibson

 

 

For festival website, go here: http://www.optimusprimaverasound.com/index

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