ON LAND FESTIVAL

On Land is San Francisco's best locally-grown music festival, though I rarely hear people talk about. Organized by local label Root Strata (run by one-time Tarentel member Jefre Cantu-Ledesma (and did I see him play bass in Thingy once?)), this year's event features the very best in blissfully droney experimental electro-acoustic music(s). Here's the four day line-up:

September 2nd
Barn Owl
Starving Weirdos
Pulse Emitter
Danny Paul Grody
Rene Hell
En

September 3rd
Oneohtrix Point Never
White Rainbow
Pete Swanson
Operative
Golden Retriever
Aster (Eli Keszler &
Ashley Paul)
Robert A.A. Lowe

September 4th
The Alps
Zelienople
Xela
Date Palms
Grasslung
Metal Rouge
Le Révélateur

September 5th
Charalambides
Grouper
Dan Higgs
Bill Orcutt
Ilyas Ahmed
Common Eider, King Eider
Higuma

There are at least two artists playing each day I'm dying to see. Pulse Emitter's "Meditative Music" CD-R series has been consistently intriguing, and Danny Paul Grody's recent record Fountain has been on heavy rotation all year. I haven't seen Barn Owl perform yet, though I've heard they're great live, and Rene Hell's new record for Type, Porcelin Opera, is pretty badass.

The second day features Daniel Loptin doing his Oneohtrix Point Never jams (I've posted tracks from his side project Games here) alongside Portland dronester White Rainbow, Pete Swanson of once-awesome and now defunct noise band Yellow Swans, and Robert Lowe solo (onetime front-man of 90 Day Men,  more recently performing under the Lichens moniker).

I'm super excited to hear Date Palms on day three, a duo featuring Tape Chants guru Gregg Kowalsky performing Indian ragas? And then day four, Daniel Higgs (once of Lungfish), Grouper, Common Eider, King Eider (Rob Fisk's new band (founder of Deerhoof)), etc.

I've been waiting for this one all year and have already acquired tickets for the 3rd and 4th if anyone's interested. Tickets can be had through Cafe Dunord or at Aquarius Records. Not to be missed, for sure...