I went to Sasquatch reluctantly this year, my sole reasons were to see Bjork and The Arcade Fire. I honestly didn’t think I would like much else on the bill, though, so I was perfectly happy to sit back and accost people at The Stranger’s booth (Yeah, I was the one making all the cute boys take their shirts off!…and thanks to that wonderful girl who passed us the doobie, telling us she loved us…hope you enjoyed that Babeland gift bag!) and listen to bands playing the Wookie Stage all afternoon.

The Blow

Eric pulled me, somewhat reluctantly, to The Blow’s show at the Yeti Stage. The moment she started I turned to Eric and said, “Wow she’s like a funky Meryn Cadell!”

“I don’t know Meryn Cadell, but she’s definatley funky.” Eric replied.

Well this is Meryn Cadell.

Mind you, that song, from her Angel Food For Thought album, is nearly 15 years old now, but can you see what I mean? The sampled beats, the snarky, slightly ironic, but sweet nouveau-feminist storytelling. It’s all there.

Meryn Cadell release 3 albums inthe ‘90’s, then faded into obscurity. Her albums are back in print now however, and she’s recently come out as a female-to-male transexual as well. Taking all the ideas in her past work to completely different levels of meaning.

Bjork’s Brass Band

In 1997 my friend Jeremy Deller, got the idea that rave music was not that far removed from the music of the working class “company” brass bands that are familiar to many in Great Britain. He started working with one in particular,The Williams Fairey Brass Band, eventually putting out an album called Acid Brass.

In the liner notes to this album there’s a description of Bjork dancing in the front aisle of their concert, going crazy over the brass arrangements of the classic acid house tunes.

Below are two samples:

808 State - Pacific 202
Jeremy Deller Presents The Williams Fairey Brass Band - Pacific 202

The KLF - What Time Is Love?
Jeremy Deller Presents The Williams Fairey Brass Band - What Time Is Love?

This has got to be the historic genesis of the idea of putting a 16 piece brass band behind her in her current arrangements.

What do you think?

As for her concert as a whole, I thought the brass band ended up too much in the background during the first 30 minutes, but the second two-thirds of the show slayed me. Those lasers formed this weird fake roof over the concert which seemed to pull everyone in a little tighter and make the Gorge seem like a real tribal gathering. Absolutely brilliant.

Quick Note:

Things I Loved: Arcade Fire, Electrolane, Grizzly Bear, free PBR behind The Stranger booth, straight volunteer fire fighters from Idaho telling me to “never change that gay thing, dude! You’re awesome bro’!”

Things I Didn’t Like: Citizen Cope, Manu Chao, part-timers working Crowd Management, having no fresh air in a fucking open air venue, where the fuck was Sarah Silverman?, and that horrible comedian at the wookie stage: “Do you guys wanna here my rape jokes?” and “I used to hate MTV….” Yeah, right up until they started paying you for your crap-tastic show!