Pitchfork Music Festival 2024
Dry Cleaning at Pitchfork Music Festival ‘22 (Photo Credit: Pooneh Ghana)
Chicago. Pink Line. Ashland. Union Park. Wouldn’t you know it? Pitchfork Music Festival is less than a day away, and PizzaFM’s scored a couple of press passes. All your favorite indie and alternative artists will be there, including headliners Black Pumas, Jamie xx, and Alanis Morissette. As the event unfolds, we’ll give you that hot-and-ready wall-to-wall coverage of the event we’re known for, including daily breakdowns on the blog and pictures/videos of the festival on the PizzaFM social media. Keep your eyes peeled for our coverage throughout this weekend.
While we are quite excited to discover new and unfamiliar music this weekend, here are some artists we know that we are especially excited to see.
Owen’s Picks:
Jamie xx
(Photo Credit: Laura Jane Coulson)
As a longtime fan of this British electronic artist and member of The xx, I was super excited to see Jamie xx on the bill this year. His upcoming release of In Waves is the first full length LP produced nine years since his critically acclaimed album In Colour (2015). He did drop a few odd dance singles in 2022, which signaled a shift towards a more serious experimental club sound. But much like their album artwork, they lacked the same color and warm energy that his earlier productions captured. With three teaser singles from the upcoming album released, you can certainly feel a sense that Jamie is returning back to the chromatic and summery sound of his early work while still continuing to push in a new direction. Listening to his new track “Baddy On the Floor” with Honey Dijon evoked memories of me dancing to the bright and powerful techno of Sofia Kourtesis just two years ago. His headline performance on Saturday (strangely following Carly Rae Jepsen) is certain to bring a perfect fun and energetic sound to the festival.
ML Buch
(Photo Credit: Ani Liv Kampe, Agnete Hannibal Petri, and ML Buch)
Marie Louise Buch is a Dutch electronic artist that crafts some of the most ethereal and otherworldly electronic pop currently out there. While she certainly borrows recognizable sounds and aesthetics from established digital/internet art and music movements, she crafts these ideas into unique sonic and visual identity that I can only recognize as her own. Listening to her 2023 album Suntub feels like stepping into a vast timeless landscape with its glimmering guitars, synthetic brushy drums and spacious atmosphere. Having such an mystical persona, it will be interesting to see how her music and image is presented on the outdoor summer stage.
Other Artists:
In no particular order, I highly recommend checking out these other artists:
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Ambient jazz harp wizardy.
Latest Release: Spaces 1.8 (2021)
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Eclectic post-punk from the Chicago youth scene.
Upcoming Album: Ministry / Energie
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Essential 1970s Ethiopian jazz and funk.
Notable compilation album: Wede Harer Guzo (2016)
Ian’s Picks:
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette: you all know her, you’ve all heard her. After the explosive success of her alternative post-grunge album Jagged Little Pill in 1995, Morissette has distinguished herself as an extremely influential artist in both the rock underground and the public consciousness, constantly reinventing herself and her music throughout her career. As a relatively new fan of her work, I’m excited to get to hear more of it at Pitchfork, including her new work from the storm before the calm (2022) and Such Pretty Forks in the Mix (2020). With a new album on the way according to Variety, Morissette has plenty to deliver— and I look forward to hearing it all at the festival.
De La Soul
Legends of the 80s and 90s alternative hip hop scene, De La Soul is having a resurgence in the 2020s. With an album in the works and tours a-plenty, the group seems emboldened in an age of hip hop clearly modeled after their own unique style of jazz rap. Having worked alongside Native Tongues greats like A Tribe Called Quest and Queen Latifah back in the day, De La Soul unfortunately tends to evade top hip hop artist lists, though their massive influence on alternative hip hop cannot and should not be understated. Tragically, the group lost member Trugoy the Dove in 2023, and I can’t imagine the impact this must have had on the group. It’s a blessing I can see them in concert, and I’m looking forward to hearing some of the most influential artists in all of alternative hip hop.
Other Artists
Here are some other artists I’m looking forward to seeing (and learning more about) this weekend:
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Chicago experimental glitch hop.
New release: The Legend of ABM (2024)
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Punk and alternative for a new age.
Latest release: HELLMODE (2023)
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Electro-R&B fusion from Cincinnati.
Top song: "Selfish Soul" (2022)
During the festival, we’ll keep you updated with the latest happenings, so stay tuned into the blog here, as well as our Instagram @pizzafm.
Tickets for the event are still available to purchase at https://pitchforkmusicfestival.com/.
