Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview

• Fun Fun Fun Fest Preview

  The blurbing of Fun Fun Fun Fest

• SATURDAY PREVIEW

• Okkervil River

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• The New Pornographers

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Neurosis

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Emma Pollock

  BY DARCIE STEVENS

• Saviours

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Witchcraft

  BY AUDRA SCHROEDER

• Of Montreal

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Busdriver

  BY DARCIE STEVENS

• SUNDAY PREVIEW

• Ocote Soul Sounds

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• MC Chris

  BY MARC SAVLOV

• Against Me!

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Battles

  BY AUDRA SCHROEDER

• Murder City Devils

  BY DARCIE STEVENS

• The Cave Singers

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• The Saints

  BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

• Celebration

  BY AUDRA SCHROEDER

Busdriver

There's a thin line between dance-floor antics and intelligent rap. Project Blowed alum Busdriver, né Regan Farquhar, blends the two without blinking. Blasting Boom Bip's beats through Eighties synth creep to the delight of middle-class kids everywhere, the L.A. MC's fifth solo disc is doused in political frustration and fueled by syncopated lyrics halfway between percussion and poetry. Like Mos Def on Adderall fronting TV on the Radio, Farquhar spits so fast his teeth sweat, but for every hippie-bashing ("Kill Your Employers") and tongue-lashing ("Less Yes's, More No's"), there's a goth-tinged burner ("Go Slow") and an old-school beat ("The Troglodyte Wins"). Despite his outspokenness and obvious talent, Busdriver is cursed by shitty chorus syndrome, when the edge dulls and the singing just gets in the way. He's a college-radio buffet that's seriously considering its place beneath this heat lamp – equal parts indie rock, hip-hop, consumerism, and activism. (7:40pm, Stage 3)