Rest Fest is on it’s way, and if you don’t already know, it’s a music festival that takes place in historic St. Josephs Church in Albany. This year’s festival takes place on on Sept 7th, 8th and 9th.
The full lineup will be released on August 7th. They’ve been releasing details slowly and here’s what we’ve got so far:
Brian Dewan — Brian’s an artist who’s made cover artwork for David Byrne, They Might Be Giants and Neutral Milk Hotel. Dewan’s music is a solo effort with him playing the autoharp, electric zither, organ, and accordion. Brian’s sound is definitely a throwback, which many people will enjoy.
The Loom — Brooklyn based indie rock band. The Loom have played almost every major festival and have been touted as “the next big thing” by The New York Times. They incorporate a bunch of left-field instruments such as mandolin, French horn, banjo, ukelele among others.
Hop Along — Female fronted indie rock which is much more airy than most. I really love three pieces and this is no different. Front-woman Frances Quinlan has been in Albany a few times, but not too many with her full band. Also nuts their album was recorded over a two-year period.
Common Prayer — Another Brooklyn-based indie band. Quite relaxed and melodic, easy and fun to listen to. The BBC has called their album “one of the year-so-far’s most recommended under-the-radar releases.”
Mount Eerie — Washington-based lo-fi band. Sounds like Bon Iver with much less shrieking and many more harmonies.
The Kamikaze Hearts — Albany based porch-rock. They will be reuniting for this Rest Fest. You may recognize member Matthew Loiacono of Matthew Carefully and Rosary Beard. No bandcamp link, but they’ve got a bunch of videos on YouTube.
Let’s talk about Snoop Lion
When I first heard about Snoop Dogg’s recent announcement that he’d be changing his name to Snoop Lion and pursuing down the path towards a reggae album, my first reaction was admittedly a bit negative.
I kind of found the whole thing funny for some reason. Thinking that the dude doesn’t really need to give us any more evidence that he smokes a lot of weed and that Snoop Lion as a name just didn’t roll off the tongue just showcased my initial ignorance towards what Snoop is doing, embarrassingly enough.
In actuality, this career choice is about moving forward, moving away from his established role in rap and starting fresh towards a new (re)discovered passion. It’s not just a genre swap for one album; it’s a whole commitment towards a new persona and life path. We’ll learn to like the name change, because it’s not going anywhere. Snoop is as Snoop does. I’ve always respected that.
Vice Media has produced a feature-length film that share’s the aptly-titled album’s name, Reincarnated, which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The trailer for the film is what opened my eyes to what Snoop actually is doing and I absolutely can’t wait for the opportunity to see the film in full.
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