The latest update to October’s Moogfest adds nearly two dozen more acts to an already packed lineup. And there’s more. In a press release, the festival says, “Think we couldn’t add anything else? In the weeks ahead, we’ll be sharing details regarding this year’s panel discussions and workshops, art exhibitions and installations, interactive experiences, and more of what the Moogfest 2011 weekend has in store for attendees. That’s right, we’ve got more coming and it’s all for your entertainment.”
The bands and performers announced today include:
• TV on the Radio — Indie-rock band from Brooklyn with Tunde Adebimpe, Kyp Malone, David Andrew Sitek and Jaleel Bunton.
• Special Disco Version — LCD Soundsystem sideproject of DFA’s James Murphy withPat Mahoney.
• St. Vincent — Former The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens’ touring band member Annie Erin Clark, whose 2007 solo debut was Marry me.
• Flying Lotus — California-based experimental multi-genre producer and laptop artist a.k.a. Steven Ellison.
• Zomby — Dub-step producer from the U.K., and one of a number of Moogfest musicians who is fond of masks.
• SBTRKT — Says Rolling Stone, “Ambitious like James Blake, and freewheeling like the London dubstep scene he’s lit up for two years, SBTRKT (real name Aaron Jerome) tries a lot of things on his debut — and succeeds at most.”
• Yacht — Oregon-based electro-pop duo Jona Bechtolt and Claire Evans which expands to a five-piece for touring.
• John Maus — Synth-pop guitarist/vocalist from Minnesota.
• Childish Gambino — Hip-hop artist/actor/comedian a.k.a. Donald Glover a.k.a. Troy Barnes on Community.
• Beats Antique — Electronic and world-fusion group from San Francisco, Calif.
• The Drums — According to RCRD•LBL, The Drums are “The NYC indie-pop four-piece that materialized seemingly out-of-nowhere mid 2009, looking, sounding, feeling just too good to be true. The Drums have hit upon exactly what so many indie bands of Now have been selling their souls to find out: what makes a really important band? As it turns out, it doesn’t take the reinvention of any wheel. It just takes four friends, a clear-cut vision, and an all-consuming self-belief in every single note that leaves them.”
• Baths — California-based electronic musician Will Wiesenfeld.
• Savoy — Electro/house and club trio from Boulder, Col.
• Araabmuzik — Rhode Island-based hip-hop record producer Abraham Orellana.
• Cloudland Canyon — According to Memphis Flyer, “Cloudland Canyon, authors of the terrific new experimental rock album Fin Eaves, is a hard-to-define outfit co-founded by Kip Ulhorn, a Memphis native who returned to the city in 2006 after time spent in Knoxville and New York City.”
• Fareed Haque + Math Games — From the band’s website: “The Math Games Trio is an electronica jazz/funk groove band perfect for festival rave or night club settings. It is Fareed Haque’s latest project and it will be bringing their hip new sound to the road. Moog guitar enthusiasts will not want to miss this band, as the new and innovative instrument will be Fareed’s ax of choice for shows.”
• Grimes — The Guardian says, “This Canadian artist’s outer-limits pop is ethereal and electronic but always accessible – even at its most atonal.”
• Mimi Goese & Ben Neill — Collaborators since 2006, art/pop musician Mimi and Ben draw inspiration from 19th century Romantic compositions and “the natural beauty of New York’s Hudson Valley.”
• Moon Duo — From the band’s website: “Moon Duo was formed by Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips and Sanae Yamada in San Francisco in 2009. Inspired initially by the legendary duo of John Coltrane and Rashied Ali, Moon Duo counts such variant groups as Silver Apples, Royal Trux, Moolah, Suicide, and Cluster as touchstones. Utilizing primarily guitar, keyboards, and vocals, the Duo plays space against form to create a primeval sound experience.”
• Warm Ghost — Brooklyn-based alt-music duo of sound designer/electronic artist Paul Duncan and guitarist/engineer Oliver Chapoy.
• EOTO — Boulder, Col.-based electronic/jam duo of Michael Travis and Jason Hann.
• Fine Peduncle — Neo-soul musician Cole Murphy, from Knoxville, Tenn.
Better check with the proper authorities concerning that hip hop producer.
I would be more than willing to shell out the high dollars for this festival if I thought I would actually get to see all of the acts that I wanted to. Based on stories from friends attending last year, I feel confident that holding this festival indoors is the wrong way to do it. I’m sure the local economy loves it because they get to insure that everything is inside the city limits as well as the associated public or private venue, but I couldn’t care less. If I spend 150 to 200 dollars on a ticket, I don’t expect to have to wait in a line for potentially hours to possibly not get into an event that I’ve helped fund. As someone who has attended many music festivals throughout the country, there has never been a time at any of those when I could not at least stand in the back and hear the music regardless of how packed it was. This thing should be held at Deerfields or some similar space. As many hotels as there are in Asheville, I’m sure those will pack out just the same, and the local downtown economy will see a boost.