Arctic Monkeys, Björk and Nick Cave will perform headlining sets.
The full lineup has been announced for Barcelona’s Primavera Sound and it leaves little to be desired. The festival will return to Parc Del Fòrum between May 30th and June 2nd, featuring headline sets from Björk who plays in support of her recent album Utopia, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The National and Arctic Monkeys.
Also among those announced are Vince Staples, Tyler, The Creator, Migos, Belle And Sebastian, Four Tet, Nils Frahm, Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Thundercat, Slowdive, Charlotte Gainsbourg and a host of others.
In typical Primavera fashion the lineup is incredibly eclectic and with so much on offer, narrowing down your options of who to watch may seem like a daunting task. To make things easier, here’s a run down of our 10 must sees across the weekend.
10. John Maus
Opportunities to see philosopher by day, musician by night John Maus do not come by often, with six years passing between the release of his most recent album and 2011’s We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves. If that wasn’t reason enough to catch Maus’ set, his notoriously energetic live show has recently been dialled up another notch as he tours alongside a full band in support of Screen Memories.
9. Thundercat
Virtuoso bass guitarist Thundercat earned his stripes playing with Suicidal Tendencies, contributing to Kendrick Lamar’s critically acclaimed album To Pimp A Butterfly and releasing a slew of solo albums on Flying Lotus’ label Brainfeeder with whom he has also collaborated with.
8. Ariel Pink
Ariel Pink is a stalwart of the lo-fi, avantgarde, off-kilter and sleazy realms of contemporary indie rock. His recently released LP Dedicated To Bobby Jameson proved to be one of his one intimate and accessible yet, with ‘Another Weekend’ being a personal highlight.
7. Art Ensemble Of Chicago
Forming in 1969, the Art Ensemble Of Chicago are one of the most enduring acts dedicated to avantgarde and free jazz in contemporary music.
6. Four Tet
Kieran Hebden’s live shows are known for their unpredictability, with a discography that spans everything from ambient soundscapes to collaborations with jazz drummer Steve Reid. It is also well-documented that Hebden reworks his compositions live and occasionally incorporates glimpses of his expansive and varied record collection to proceedings. Expect anything from pulsating techno to transcendental ragas, Don Cherry to Placebo.
5. The Internet
Following the success 2015’s Ego Death The Internet’s members focused their attention on debuting solo material. All of their efforts were released to high praise and recent performances from The Internet have also seen band members perform select cuts from the aforementioned releases, meaning that Primavera will be one of the first times that Steve Lacy performs his songs on European soil. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill.
4. Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Ruban Nielson led band Unknown Mortal Orchestra recently shared a glimpse of their forthcoming album which will see them at their fuzziest yet. With four albums soon to be under their belt, the band have an eclectic back catalogue with a host of songs perfect for a sunny day in Barcelona.
3. Deerhunter
Three years have passed since 2015’s Fading Frontier and after a quiet spell, Deerhunter have slowly begun announcing tour dates. Given the length of time, it’s wholly possible that a new album may be around the corner.
2. Björk
Need I say any more?
1. Tyler, The Creator
Tyler’s 2017 album Scum Fuck Flower Boy proved to be his most introspective and accomplished body of work to date. Trading out abrasive raps and drums for unpredictable chord progressions, nods to The Gap Band, lush vocals and an overall shorter album length, Flower Boy is refined, and dare I say *mature*. A recent performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk series also put any question of his musicianship to rest. Witnessing Tyler’s evolution in a live capacity is something that simply shouldn’t be a question.
Immerse yourself in a weekend of all night music, beautiful weather, tapas and 25c cans of Estrella. Purchase tickets here.
Words by Sam Wilkinson.
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