The Roundtable: Summer Happenings
What are you looking forward to the most this summer in the music world?
Wes Soltis – I hate the winter in Chicago with a passion of ten thousand suns (which is ironic, because I don’t really like the summer, either), but the activities that the Chicago summer brings are hard to dispute. Chicago gets two major festivals in Pitchfork and Lollapalooza, great neighborhood festivities almost every weekend and some great music that comes out of Millenium Park on a nightly basis. Music thrives in the summer; so I ask you – Musically, what are you looking forward to most in the summer?
Amy Dittmeier - What I’m looking forward to the most is actually exploring my music collection. At last count I have 80 GB of music, which iTunes tells me is roughly 41 days worth, and I’ve probably listened to about 1/16 of that. I’ve found since I was so busy with school and work that I frequently stuck to the safe songs on my iPod and iTunes, stuff I know that I wouldn’t be disappointed in. I go through these weird stages where I become obsessed with an artist and everything and everyone they’ve ever been connected with, but this hasn’t happen in a while. It’s just been Nine Inch Nails for the past two months (though I’m not upset about that. Trent Reznor forever).
Excluding music I have to listen to for the site, I really don’t have time to sift through all this music on my hard drive and find some new material to fall in love with. So this is the summer I go through it all. The summer I will listen to every Bob Dylan album I own. I will find new and exciting bands that I downloaded because I knew they would be new and exciting if I only listened to them. Maybe I’ll finally listen to all those bootleg Whiskeytown albums I found forever ago. God knows I won’t be getting a full-time job any time soon, so why don’t I just chill out and listen to the new Wilco and the Specials and watch my summer roll by.
Alyssa Vincent - Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but much like the rest of the world, I'm feeling the effects of the recession. Most notably, in my lack of festival plans for this summer. While the Lollapalooza line-up makes me want to cry with its gorgeous diversity, and the idea of seeing Matt & Kim at the Pitchfork Music Festival gets me hot and bothered, I'm going to have to skip out on them. However, money woes won't completely ruin my summer. I may not attend festivals, but I will be listening to the new Regina Spektor CD non-stop. She is one of my favorite female vocalists, and the girl knows how to beat the hell out of a piano. I haven't even heard tracks from it, and it's already shaping up to be my ideal summer album, given her ability to be the perfect background music for any scenario.
Cory Roop - I know it's totally a cop out answer, but the best thing about this summer has to be Lollapalooza. Three days of music in downtown Chicago...how can you top that? Yes, the "headliners" are kind of weak this year, but the plethora of amazing acts on the smaller stages more than make up for having Tool and Jane's Addiction headlining this bitch. If I end up seeing the Decemberists, Neko Case, the Arctic Monkeys and Snoop Dogg all in one day, my head will probably explode from the sheer amount of awesome. There isn't a single event this summer that can top Lolla. Period.
Lisa White - I love summer in Chicago. The horrible winters are worth the cool summer evenings spent drinking beer outside with friends, biking and walking the lakefront path and the plethora of summer festivals. Musically I’m looking forward most to the Pitchfork Music Festival this summer.
I always enjoy Pitchfork Fest. The line-up is enjoyable, it’s cheaper than Lolla or other destination festivals and the atmosphere is low key. I’ve spent some of my favorite summer afternoons lying on a sheet napping with friends in Union Park as music floats through the air. And this year with headliners The Flaming Lips (a favorite live act of mine) and bands I’ve enjoyed live before (Grizzly Bear, Beirut, The National), the festival is a shoe-in for one of the most enjoyable weekends this summer.
Posted by Wes Soltis on May 22, 2009 @ 12:00 am
