Music Blog

Panda Bear, (no, not this one, but) the one man act that is Animal Collective's Noah Lennox, is at his best when he pairs his shimmering Pet Sounds-turned-inside-out melodies with the kind of heavy, dirty beats that have been the hallmarks of his main band's output over the past few years.

He showed this off and even perhaps proved it Wednesday night for MusicFest NW's opening night at the Crystal Ballroom with crowd pleasers like "Comfy in Nautica" (from 2007's Person Pitch) working the crowd into a sedate frenzy, if such a term makes sense. The appearance of what might be called a "soft mosh" at this show was no accident, the lush mush of Panda Bear's sound pairing with the psychedelic images being projected behind him to create a kind of audio/visual tribal experience. It may not be everyone's flavor-- the more meandering, drone-y excesses can be particularly off-putting-- but it'd be difficult not to feel something coming away from Wednesday's show.

See all of our photos from Wednesday here.

Onward then, into the first full night of festival action tonight. It begins early-- with the Washed Out/ Phantogram/ Ra Ra Riot trifecta beginning at 4:30 at the Wonder Ballroom-- and ends late (or early, if you want to see it that way) with several midnight sets, including Justin Townes Earle on our stage at Berbati's. Other sure bets include a night at the Crystal Ballroom with Ted Leo & the Pharmacists and The Thermals and Reporter and Cold Cave at Holocene. If you're intrigued by oddity and mystery and the possibility of a big return on your risk, find yourself at the Ash St. SAloon at 11 for Brazilian garage rockers Garotas Suecas. I'm there based on one whole single they put out this past summer.

Oh by the way, come find us at Berbati's over the next three nights to say hello, get free swag and to just maybe score an invite to our PDX Rx day party this Saturday at Mississippi Studios. mbilly, Frank Turner, Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside and the aforementioned Justin Townes Earle are tonight's bill. See you out and about, perhaps!

And if you don't happen to be out, you can catch all of our coverage of this year's MusicFest NW action right here, including photos, reviews and more. Like us on Facebook for still more, and follow our Twitter action for occasionally relevant, always up to the minute insights on what we're seeing and hearing.

Tagged: MFNW 2010