Friday Fun Fun Fun Fest Blurbs
FFF Friday by the blurb
Fri., Nov. 8, 2013
The Tontons
12:35pm, Orange stage
Good bet the Tontons won't be Houston's best-kept secret much longer. Led by indie princess Asli Omar, the road warrior quartet recently squeezed in recording sessions for a follow-up to 2011 EP Golden. Bun B's favorite band stirs a dreamy drank of rocking indie-pop and a whole lotta soul. – Thomas Fawcett
Ratking
1pm, Blue stage
Wanna know what life's like around the murky, confined corners inhabiting the New York City underground? Take a spin on Ratking's Wiki93. Last May's introduction from this young Manhattan trio elicits every turn and swerve of a hellbent E train, a devilish tour of modern youth culture journeying from the too-hip Lower East Side towards the Diplomats' Harlem neighborhood that raised Wiki, Hak, and Sporting Life to rap. – Chase Hoffberger
Mac Demarco
3:15pm, Orange stage
A SXSW breakout last seen opening for Phoenix, Montreal's Mac DeMarco cuts slacker jams that sound like West African guitar-pop on a warped tape deck. He put out two sleeper hits in 2012: Rock & Roll Night Club, a sardonic FM-themed EP of roxy music, and 2, which, in terms of vibe, had more of a neon glow to Kurt Vile's smoke-ring haze. – Austin Powell
Little Boots
4:10pm, Blue stage
Little Boots emerged in a salvo of blond electronic-pop artists; La Roux, Lady Gaga, Little Boots ... it was a delicious alliteration. Now that electronics have wormed their way into widespread proliferation, the British artist has settled into channeling another blonde: Kylie Minogue. – Abby Johnston
Kurt Vile
5:20pm, Orange stage
Kurt Vile makes me wonder if Philadelphia isn't the East Coast's Austin. Through his solo career, the Philly guitarist has created effortless, unhurried folk-rock so hazy and transporting that it could've been written, joint in hand, on the shores of Lady Bird Lake. 2013's Wakin' on a Pretty Daze remains a perfect soundtrack to Austin's endless summers. – Abby Johnston
The Walkmen
6:25pm, Orange stage
Seven albums in 10 years have helped make the Walkmen one of the most recognizable names in indie rock. Scour their catalog to see how the NYC quintet's grown up. Once detached and desperate, Hamilton Leithauser and crew have matured, tightened, and pieced together two recent albums that possess a previously unrealized fluidity, most notably last May's Heaven. – Chase Hoffberger
Lupe Fiasco
7:25pm, Blue stage
Strapped like a backpack to 2006 debut Food & Liquor and subsequent single "Kick, Push," Lupe Fiasco now eyes next year's Tetsuo & Youth, the Chicago MC's fifth in eight years. Fiasco's hoping it's a doozy, one to ward off bad juju surrounding last year's Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 and 2011 dud Lasers. – Chase Hoffberger
RJD2
8:45pm, Blue stage
Producer RJD2 became an underground darling with 2002's Deadringer, an instrumental opus that put him in the same breath as DJ Shadow. Fresh off fifth LP More Is Than Isn't, the Midwest beatsmith – whose side projects include Soul Position, the Insane Warrior, and Icebird – continues to expand the footprint of hip-hop with soundscapes that draw from indie rock, disco, and Bay Area funk. – Thomas Fawcett
