Bay Artists some the best acts at Outside Lands

 

By Atticus Morris
The Guardsman

Attending a music festival is usually like having hors d’oeuvres at some upscale soirée: you get a little of everything, without having your appetite fully satiated. And so it went with the fourth annual Outside Lands Festival, Aug. 12-14.

This year the festivities were extended back to the original three days, having been pared down to two in 2010. Headliners, which included Muse, Arcade Fire, MGMT and The Shins, among others, generally delivered the goods as expected – particularly New Mexico art/folk/world music outfit Beirut, who played an amazing set as the sun went down on the final day; and the epic 90- minute performance from Montreal’s Arcade Fire, which closed out the festival.

One of the many pleasant surprises of the weekend was how well the local talent held up against all the national and international acts. Bay Area artists playing on the side stage were some of the best performances of the entire festival.
Among the most memorable:

Ty Segall
When it comes to rock music, there’s an undeniable “San Francisco sound” that has emerged over the past few years. It’s a noisy garage band kind of thing with a general emphasis on function over form and attitude over technical ability. Ty Segall stands out as probably the noisiest and garage-y-est of the lot.

The sheer energy and volume of this kid’s songs are impressive enough on his recordings, but in a live setting he’s nothing short of astonishing. In the course of an hour he probably blew through 15 or 16 songs, never letting up on the intensity.

Segall’s latest album “Goodbye Bread,” released in June, draws on the entirety of a long DIY musical tradition spanning from ‘60s surf rock through late ‘70s – early ‘80s punk to ‘90s grunge, without ever sounding derivative or contrived. It’s rock in its purest most genuine incarnation, and demonstrates forcefully that after more than half a century the genre has enduring relevance.

Tamaryn
Tamaryn were another local band who blew some minds on Friday afternoon. Their hauntingly beautiful guitar-heavy mix of murky atmosphere and ethereal melody, anchored by vocalist Tamaryn’s hypnotic croon, transferred unbelievably well in the cold and foggy “summer” weather.

The weather heightened every aspect of the band’s sound – the inherent enveloping quality of the music became a blurry sea of noise: wave after wave of guitar washed over the audience, and Tamaryn’s other-worldly vocals spread out across the ambiance like fog across the city.

When producer and guitarist Rex John Shelverton expertly bent his chords it had a profoundly hallucinatory effect, like he was bending reality.
Tamaryn’s debut full-length “The Waves,” released near the end of 2010, was one of the year’s best records. A shimmering masterpiece of pristine melody and gauzy layers of noise stretched over humming bedrock of guitar fuzz, that recalls the heyday of ‘90s shoegazer rock.

Tune-Yards
Oakland’s Merrill Garbus is a New England transplant who records and performs under the name tUnE-yArDs, making music that defies simple categorization. Her songs are sonic experiments – amalgams of folk, pop, free jazz and electronic music.

Her live show – as captivating as it was stunningly original – consisted of her literally “building” the songs in front of the audience. In lieu of an actual drummer, were a snare drum and a floor tom, which she used to bang out rhythms. She would capture and loop the performances using guitar pedals, layering in tambourine and other percussive elements as needed.

Her voice she manipulated in a similar manner, singing and looping wordless melodies at varying pitches into oddly beautiful harmonic structures.
Once she had this framework constructed, she was free to play her ukulele and sing using the full range of her voice, and the range of Garbus’ voice, which she uses as an instrument, simply has to be heard to be understood.

Her full-length debut “W H O K I L L” was released back in April and is sure to make plenty of “best of ” lists by the end of the year. It’s a powerful statement of uncompromising artistic integrity.
Wye Oak
Although Wye Oak isn’t from the Bay Area, it seems obligatory that they be added to this list. The Baltimore duo have been recording as Wye Oak since 2008. They gave a stellar performance Sunday afternoon, despite lackluster attendance and the clear physical discomfort of vocalist and guitarist Jenn Wassner, who was apparently unfamiliar with San Francisco summer weather.

Executing their signature fusion of indie rock, melancholic pop and electronic bliss flawlessly, they left the small but devoted audience mesmerized.
Their latest album “Civilian”, released by Merge Records in March, is their most sprawlingly ambitious offering to date and among this year’s best releases so far.

It’s an incredibly dynamic record, which runs the gamut from acoustic guitars and sweet vocals to cacophonous crescendos of percussion and feedback (sometimes managing to do so in the course of a song). This is an act not to be slept on.

So after three days of music, it can be said that this was a thoroughly satisfying return to form from an event that had dipped a little bit in quality last year. Can’t wait to see what next year will bring.