Pizza Preview: #p4k2k16

The weekend of Chicago's second biggest, third oldest, and most hippest music festival is almost upon us. EDM heads are stocking up on gum and hula hoops, hipsters are staying indoors to be extra pale this weekend, and across the city, Chicago's music nerds are getting ready for the 2016 Pitchfork Music Festival. In case you've been living under a rock and/or been so consumed by Pokémon GO you've forgotten what year it is, this year's festival returns to the friendly confines of Union Park. The lineup looks incredible, with performances by Sufjan Stevens, Beach House, Thundercat, and many other acts sure to dazzle and delight. I'm very excited (read: BEYOND PUMPED) to officially rep the Pizza Family at the festival this year, so I'll be loitering on the festival grounds all weekend, grabbing interviews if I'm lucky. Here are the vitals on some of the artists I'm most looking forward to seeing this weekend: Describing Oneohtrix Point Never as 'eclectic' is a bit of an understatement. OPN is from the Aphex Twin and Venetian Snares school of electronic music; the synths and samples are just tools, and what you hear is a work of sonic art that unfolds before you on stage. Armed with a Juno-60 and a world-class smolder (see above), Daniel Lopatin aka KGB Man aka Chuck Person, the man behind the magic, has crafted soundtracks for anime films and art exhibits and is a three-time Best New Album producer according to Pitchfork reviewers. He's clearly got the goods. Replica remains one of the strongest noise albums of the decade, and was the original jam to my all-nighters writing up lab reports in undergrad. Last year's Garden of Delete is a schizophrenic acid trip through glitch, future bass, and modern electronic composition, and was simultaneously released with a surrealist collection of tweets, blogs, and videos as an "alternate reality project". If that doesn't sound cool to you, do not see this man perform, and get out of my face because we can't be friends. As you might surmise from his name, BJ the Chicago Kid is one of the hometown heroes of this year's festival. He's a soulful singer-songwriter, he's cool with Hannibal Buress, and he made one of my favorite Christmas albums...what's not to love? He first showed up on my, and many other people's, radar a decade ago as a feature on Kanye's single Impossible. Since then he's been busy, releasing mixtapes, plenty of dope singles, and this year's In My Mind. BJ is the quintessential modern Chicago soul rapper, and his dulcet tones bring the R&B/hip-hop LP to life, aided by guest appearances from Kendrick, Chance, and others. Inspired, and at times paying homage to James Brown, Carl Thomas, and other greats of Chicago soul, the album is stacked from top to bottom and stands as proof that not all modern rappers are all about pimpin' hoes and slammin' Cadillac doors. This is the perfect singer to go listen to if you're looking to ♫feel soulful♫ this weekend. A few months ago, Twin Peaks played a show at the Accord, also featuring Tomblands and Strange Faces. Later that night, through a set of circumstances that remain mysterious to me, the band partied at my house, and although I was too drunk to make proper friends, I downed some drinks and talked about Goodwill with the garage punk band's drummer Connor and bassist Jack. For those of you who know me well, you're already aware that bands that have guitars and more than one person singing are outside of my usual listening, but there's no denying that Twin Peaks rock. They are great guys, and they make great music. The garage punk band has been doing their thing since 2010, and they're returning home to play this Friday, when they will undoubtedly get the entire audience on their feet and, at the very least, vigorously head-nodding. For the unfamiliar, this year's Down in Heaven was recorded in a friend's living room in Massachusetts, and it goes all the way from analog power pop to hard punk/blues. It's the perfect album to feel angsty but also mature, like drinking a six pack under the overpass, but then carrying the bottles to a recycling bin because saving the planet is important. All in all, the most likely band of the weekend to start a radically inclusive mosh pit. The Sun Ra Arkestra (please, go check out their website, very Space Jam official website vibe) is playing on Sunday, and it's gonna be the jazziest and grooviest show of the weekend hands down. If you're a fan of classic jazz, chances are you are already counting the hours until seeing this legendary band perform, but if you like saxophones, pianos, ancient Egypt, space, or the radical use of sequins, you need to stop reading this right now and go buy a ticket to Sunday. Seriously. I'll wait. OK, if you're still on the fence, let me break it down for you: Sun Ra is one of the most prolific jazz artists of all time, and released more than a hundred albums from 1956 through the 90s. He was a highly controversial figure for his early support of modal jazz and the use of electronic keyboards in big bands, and was one of the most important pioneers of free jazz in the 50s and 60s. The man himself has since passed away and is out there somewhere orbiting Saturn, but the ever-changing Arkestra is still active, and has toured every year since officially reforming in 2004. The band leader this weekend, Marshall Allen, has been with the Arkestra since 1958, and is a legendary avant-garde saxophonist in his own right. Also, there is a band member named Kash Killion on cello and sarangi. Seriously, go listen. Over 40 bands in total will appear this weekend, and I think it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say many of the city's most interesting people will as well, based on my arbitrary standards of hipness...and as of writing, tickets are still on sale, so I hope to see you there, dear reader.