Tag: Hailu Mergia

Music Festivals by William Ruben Helms

It’s spring and y’all know what that means! Summer festival announcement time! So let’s get to it.

Woodsist Festival is a collaboration between:

  • Woodsist, an indie label founded back in 2006 by Woods‘ Jeremy Earl. Founded in Brooklyn, the label is currently based in Stone Ridge, NY. For more information on the label, check out: https://www.woodsist.com
  • Impact Concerts, the Hudson Valley’s premiere concert and festival producer, creating carefully curated music and lifestyle events showcasing internationally renowned artists alongside local crafts, food, libations and cannabis. For more information on the production company, check out: https://www.impactconcerts.com. 
  • Arrowood Farms, a Hudson Valley-based sustainably-minded farm, brewery, distillery, dining and event destination that regularly hosts concerts and festivals including Woodsist Festival, Dirt Farmer Festival, Felice County Fair and Follow The Arrow Festival. For more information, check out https://arrowoodfarms.com. 
  • Ground Control Touring is a boutique booking agency based in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, offering international tour booking services to a tightly focused roster of artists. Their hands-on approach to the careers of their clients has taken the recent form of producing bespoke festival and curatorial properties alongside them, including both Woodsist Festival and Felice County Fair in the Hudson Valley and additional events elsewhere throughout North America. For additional information, check out: http://www.groundcontroltouring.com

Started back in 2009, the inaugural Woodsist Festival took place in Brooklyn and featured a lineup of Thee Oh Sees, alongside acts like Beach Fossils, Real Estate, and Kurt Vile. Since then, the festival has taken place in several different locations including Big Sur, Point Reyes National Seashore and Pioneertown, CA. The festival has been presented at its current home of Arrowood Farms since 2019 in partnership with Ground Control Touring and Hudson Valley-based concert promoters Impact Concerts. The festival has played there annually since 2021.

Woodsist Festival returns to Accord, NY‘s Arrowood Farms. Taking place September 21, 2024 – September 22, 2024, this year’s lineup, which was curated by Woods’ Jeremy Earl, features headliners Yo La Tengo, Real Estate and Jessica Pratt, along with Woods, Haliu Mergia, the acclaimed Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Jeff Parker, Ethan de L’Aïr, The Messthetics, 75 Dollar Bill Big Band, Rosali, Mystic 100s, Florry and Sylvia on two alternating stages.

Arrowood Farms will also feature food from local Hudson Valley-based vendors and craft beer brewed directly on site. Tickets go on sale April 26, 2024 at 10:00AM ET and are available via www.woodsistfestival.com. 

Music Festivals by William Ruben Helms

With Spring just around the corner, that means Summer Festival announcement season is upon us. So let’s get to it.

Founded back in 2006, Pitchfork Music Festival has proven to be one of the most welcoming, accessible and rewarding festival experiences in the global festival circuit, hosting 60,000 music fans of all ages from across the globe in Chicago, one of my favorite cities in the world. Each year, the festival prides itself on a distinct blend of discovery and tradition through showcasing the best up-and-coming acts, touring stalwarts and legends like.

Through a collection of its varied vendors and an annual specialty record fair, the festival works to support local businesses, while promoting Chicago arts and food communities as a whole.

The 18th edition of the Pitchfork Music Festival returns to Chicago’s Union Park, and will take place Friday, July 19, 2024 through Sunday, July 21, 2024. Yesterday, festival organizers announced the festival’s headliners and its full lineup.

Pitchfork Music Festival’s first day will feature headliner Black Pumas, along with sets from Jai Paul, 100 gecs, Jeff Rosenstock, Yaeji, Sudan Archives, Amen Dunes, billy woods & Kenny Segal, Tkay Maidza, Doss, ML Buch, Rosali, Angry Blackmen, and Black Duck.

The festival’s second day will be headlined by Jamie xx and will feature sets from Carly Rae Jepsen, Jessie Ware, De La Soul, UNWOUND, Bratmobile, Wednesday, Water From Your Eyes, Sweeping Promises, feeble little horse, Hotline TNT, Kara Jackson, L’Rain, and Lifeguard.

The festival’s last day will be headlined by Alanis Moriseette and will feature sets from Brittany Howard, MUNA, the legendary Grandmaster Flash, Les Savy Fav, Crumb, Jessica Pratt, Mannequin Pussy, Hailu Mergia, Model/Actriz, Nala Sinephro, Maxo, Joanna Sternberg, and Kenya.

The full lineup is below:

Full lineup:
 
FRIDAY
Black Pumas
Jai Paul
100 gecs
Jeff Rosenstock
Yaeji
Sudan Archives
Amen Dunes
billy woods & Kenny Segal
Tkay Maidza
Doss
ML Buch
Rosali
Angry Blackmen
Black Duck
 
SATURDAY
Jamie xx
Carly Rae Jepsen
Jessie Ware
De La Soul
UNWOUND
Bratmobile
Wednesday
Water From Your Eyes
Sweeping Promises
feeble little horse
Hotline TNT
Kara Jackson
L’Rain
Lifeguard
 
SUNDAY
Alanis Morissette
Brittany Howard
MUNA
Grandmaster Flash
Les Savy Fav
Crumb
Jessica Pratt
Mannequin Pussy
Hailu Mergia
Model/Actriz
Nala Sinephro
Maxo
Joanna Sternberg
Akenya
 

Tickets are on sale right now, and they include single and three-day passes in three tiers — General Admission, PLUS and VIP:

General Admission tickets are $109 for a single day pass and $219 for a three-day pass.

The Pitchfork PLUS upgrade, which includes a range of exclusive amenities is $199 for a single-day pass and $399 for a three-day pass.

The Pitchfork VIP upgrade, which includes offerings such as side-stage or front of stage viewing at the two main stages, unlimited access to backstage lounges, complimentary beverages, daily catered meals, mobile charing stations, tarot readings, massages, access to reserved parking and more. The Pitchfork VIP upgrade is $379 one a one-day pass and $699 for a three-day pass.

Payment plans are available for all ticket types. More details are available here.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Los Angeles-based psych pop act Amo Amo can trace their origins to mid-2017 when a group of dear friends — Lovelle Femme, Omar Velasco, Justin Flint, Shane Mckillop and Alex Siegel — got together for an impromptu jam session in Los Angeles with My Morning Jacket‘s Jim James.  As the story goes, the individual members of the quintet had premonitions that they all shared a deep psychic bond, which would lead to a revelation creatively and through sound. Five months later, the band emerged with their Jim James-produced, self-titled, full-length debut, an effort that featured their viral hit “Closer To You,” a track that has amassed over 3 million streams, appeared in an Apple ad campaign and has received airplay on KCRW and KCSN.

Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the band opened for Poolside, Jonathan Wilson, Hailu Mergia, Os Mutantes and for My Morning Jacket at Red Rocks. The members of the Los Angeles-based quotient were also the backing band for Karen O‘s and Danger Mouse‘s latest project Lux Prima. And adding to a breakthrough year, they collaborated with Poolside on “Around The Sun,” which was hailed as a “Song You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone.

Earlier this year, the members of Amo Amo signed to Poolside’s Pacific Standard Records.  Last month, the band released “Canta,” a mesmerizing and breezy track that sonically seemed indebted to JOVM mainstays Pavo Pavo with a healthy dash of Tropicalia and trip hop, complete with a sinuous bass line, shimmering guitars, stuttering beats, ethereal vocals and a rousing hook.  Centered around shimmering and atmospheric synths, shuffling beats, reverb-tinged guitars, a sinuous bass line, ethereal vocals and an infectious hook, the band’s latest single “Missed Connections” continues on a similar path as its predecessor —  and while the song seems to nod at early 80s Stevie Nicks, it expresses a longing that feels all too familiar.

“‘Missed Connection’ explores themes of isolation and the absence of human connection within our technology-obsessed culture — a message which feels especially resonant in the current climate of pandemic and social distancing,” the members of Amo Amo explain. “The song expresses a deeply felt yearning for reconnection, not only with one another but with all forms of life and with Earth itself.

Canta EP, which will feature “Canta” and “Missed Connection” is slated for a June 19, 2020 release and its scheduled to coincide with the Summer Solstice.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Los Angeles-based psych pop act Amo Amo can trace their origins to mid 2017 when a group of dear friends — Lovelle Femme, Omar Velasco, Justin Flint, Shane Mckillop and Alex Siegel — got together for an impromptu jam session in Los Angeles with My Morning Jacket‘s Jim James.  As the story goes, the quintet’s individual members had a premonition that they shared a deep psychic bond that would lead to a revelation in sound. Five months later, after a month-long recording retreat in the California vineyards, the band emerged with their Jim James-produced, self-titled, full-length debut, which featured their viral hit “Closer To You,” a track that has amassed over 3 million streams, appeared in an Apple ad campaign and has received airplay on KCRW and KCSN.

 

Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the band opened for Poolside, Jonathan Wilson, Hailu Mergia, Os Mutantes and for My Morning Jacket at Red Rocks.  The members of the rising Los Angeles-based psych pop act were tapped as the backing band for Karen O‘s and Danger Mouse‘s latest project Lux Prima. And adding to a breakthrough year, they collaborated with Poolside on “Around The Sun,” which was hailed as a “Song You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone.

Earlier this year, the members of Amo Amo signed to Poolside’s Pacific Standard Records. Continuing the massive momentum they’ve received over the past couple of years, the band’s first single on Poolside Records, the mesmerizing and breezy “Canta” is centered around a sinuous bass line, shimmering guitars, stuttering beats, ethereal vocals and a rousing hook. And while evoking an ecstatic swoon, the track sonically will draw comparisons to JOVM mainstays Pavo Pavo with a healthy dash of Tropicalia and trip hop.

Specifically released on Earth Day, the track as the band explains advocates for communities living symbiotically in the world: “The beauty, cooperation & abundance found in nature embodies the earth’s deep love for us all. Each part of life sings its existence and contributes to this great love song! Bees pollinating flowers, whales singing to one another, even when one being dies to nourish another we see the cycles & interconnectedness of life. ‘Canta,’ meaning ‘Sing’ in Spanish, asks us to think deeply about what it truly means ‘to love’ & implores us to do our part to care for all life, all earth, with our actions.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Formed back in 2014, the New York-based Anbessa Orchestra — Wayne Tucker (trumpet), Eyal Vilner (alto sax), Eden Bareket (baritone sax), Nadav Peled (guitar), Dor Heled (keys), Ran Livneh (bass) and Eran Fink (drums) — have received attention locally and elsewhere for a sound that’s heavily influenced by 60s and 70s Ethiopian funk, soul and jazz: their repertoire features interpretations and arrangements of classic material from the period that has largely influenced their sound, as well as original compositions heavily influenced by the same period.

Adding to a growing profile, the act has shared stages with Ethiopian music legends like Hailu Mergia and Hamelmal Abate — and they’ve contributed material to Beyond Addis, Vol. 2,  a compilation series dedicated to new. original music inspired by Ethiopia that also included contributions from The Daktaris and Manu Dibango. Along with that their latest album Negestat, which translates to Amharic Kings has received airplay from KCRW, WNYC and WFUV.

The New York-based septet’s latest single is the hypnotic “Tch’elema (Darkness).” Further establishing the act’s enormous and vibrant sound, the expansive composition is centered around shimmering and arpeggiated keys, a propulsive, stomping rhythm and explosive blasts of horns and some expressive and dexterous soloing. Unsurprisingly,  “Tch’elema” is arguably the funkiest track I’ve heard in a few months — and while displaying some impressive musicianship, the composition manages to capture the energy and feel of their live sound.