Monsters Of Folk

Oh the dreaded supergroup. How many of the sums did not live up to the promise of the parts? It is often the case that what seems like a good idea on paper, just doesn’t come together in practice. These Monsters Of Folk put the lie to that notion and dish up one of the tastiest albums of the year. Each of the principles: Jim James Of My Morning Jacket, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes and M.Ward brings what makes them unique as individual performers to the party but at the same time the songs all sound like collaborations. Opening with Jim James’ falsetto, the band doesn’t sound like a group of guys backing each other, they really sound like they all participated and gave it their all. The real sign of success to me is that after a song or two, I stopped trying to figure out who did what or wrote which, it was just a pleasure to listen to such a beautifully crafted album. And craft is exactly what it is. The sound of songs like "Whole Lot Of Losin'" (M.Ward vocal) or "The Right Place" (Jim with a country twang in his voice) "Losin' To Head" (Jim with a straight ahead vocal this time) or Conor Obersts' magnificent "Map Of The World" is most reminiscent of the more pastoral inclinations of the Beach Boys or The Beatles.
Stylistically, they live up to the billing and, for the most part keep things pretty acoustic. Of course with the sonic genius of Mike Mogis on board there are sweeps and swoops and squeals here and there. The album closer shows them all off perfectly. It is beautiful and melodic with Jim's voice in his perfect range, and everyone fully engaged in making it soar with musical invention. This really is an exhilarating record.
Paul Epstein

Monolith

Even though it was a rainy and cold Saturday, I still had to see the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s headline at Monolith. I got there a little late in the day, hoping the sky would clear up, but it was such a great line-up I had to stick it out when the weather didn't cooperate. I caught M. Ward’s soulful singing, MF Doom’s amazing Hip-hop show, Girl Talk's fun mash-up of eighties tunes & dance music that had tons of people on stage dancing, and Of Montréal put on such a great visual display that we were dancing and grooving to the beat despite the fact it was getting cold. The Yeah Yeahs Yeah’s played to a thinning crowd, but those hearty enough to stay til the end had a blast!

Sunday the weather was so much better and the people watching was in full force, just as much fun as Saturday, but without the chilly breeze. It turned into a beautiful day filled with lots of familiar faces, and Monolith was a great place to not only connect with the people I knew but also a fun place to meet new people. I caught the Dandy Warhol’s spacey set, The Thermals rocked me, Glitch Mob put the beeps and clicks out there like none other, and Passion Pit was slammed with hipsters and put on a high-energy show. Method Man and Redman brought us back to old school hip-hop days with a reminiscent homage to the 80s and 90s. Phoenix was moved to the main stage which was much more appropriate seeing that they are the next big thing with their great fusion of pop and euro rock. Chromeo pumped the bass to a big crowd of dancing folks. Then the evening ended with another great headliner Mars Volta, who simply rocked the asses off the crowd. All in all I had a great time at this festival and look forward to seeing who the line up will be for 2010! - Natasha