Sasquatch Extras

With this year's stellar Sasquatch lineup, there were bound to be schedule conflicts, and the resulting tough decisions to make. Overall, I was comfortable with my choices. I skipped Okkervil River (whom I had seen a month before) in favor of of being rocked completely by M.I.A., and opted for the sunshine pop of The Little Ones over the guitar jamming of Built to Spill. Following are some acts I missed out on.

Vince Mira with the Roy Kay Trio
Of all the acts I missed at Sasquatch, I wish I could have seen Vince Mira most. While watching Fleet Foxes perform on the main stage, suddenly you heard Johnny Cash's 'Ring of Fire' blasting out of the speakers on the Yeti Stage, followed by the crowd over there going nuts. I thought to myself, "Why are they getting so excited over a Johnny Cash recording?". As I later found out, it wasn't a recording of Johnny Cash, but rather Vince Mira covering him, and the crowd had good reason to be excited.

Vince Mira sings exactly like Johnny Cash, but what's really incredible is that Vince Mira is a 15 year-old Latino kid. A lot of people could probably do a good Johnny Cash impression, but it's just unbelievable to watch Vince Mira and hear that voice coming from his mouth. Many people have taken notice, as Vince has performed on Ellen and Good Morning America. His album was even recorded at Johnny Cash's cabin in Nashville and produced by John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny Cash and June Carter.

See for yourself why both Vince Mira and Ellen are awesome:


The Stranger- "Sasquatch Saturday: Vince Mira Almost Caused a Riot"
Vince Mira MySpace


Battles

Photo Credit: losanjealous.com

I missed seeing Battles in order to catch Flight of the Conchords on the main stage, but I bet they would have been fascinating live. The technically experimental band features ex-members of Helmet and Don Caballero, and its songs can be intricate and strangely catchy. As a kind of gimmick, drummer John Stanier raises his crash cymbal as high as possible, and part of the fun of watching them live must be the anticipation of waiting for him to hit it. On the song 'Atlas', Tyondai Braxton sings with a vocal pedal that warps his voice into a high-pitched squeal. A YouTube viewer noted that the song sounds like a demented nursery rhyme, and it's true. The song has an irresistible quality and it's hard not to sing along, "the singer is a crook, ohh wayyy oh"

'Atlas' on Jools Holland, with lyrics from Drowned in Sound printed below. Inhale a helium balloon and sing along:

People won't be people when they hear this sound
That's been glowing in the dark at the edge of town
People won't be people, no
The people won't be people when they hear this sound
Won't you show me what begins at the edge of town

The singer is a crook
The kitchen is the cook
The scissors are the barbers
The singer is a crook
The chorus, full of actors


Throw Me The Statue
Throw Me The Statue specializes in catchy indie-pop- the kind with xylophones and hand-clap beats. This time, the schedule conflict was with Beirut, who played one of their last shows before going on hiatus. Below is Throw Me The Statue's ode to obsession, the video for 'Lolita'.


Throw Me The Statue MySpace