Debacle Fest starts today!

preview by Sean Morrow

Debacle Fest, now in its sixth year, is back and bigger than ever with three days of great music this weekend, May 3-5, from artists serving up the best in underrepresented, underground sounds from across the country and Pacific Northwest. Take a chance and try something new this year, prepare to be surprised and be sure to drink plenty of water as this year’s Debacle Fest has an embarrassment of riches, talent-wise, to offer the discerning show-goer.

To really set the mood, take a listen to my Debacle Fest preview show from this Thursday, 1:00 to 6 am, highlighting the many varied acts at this year’s Fest. Now with sound!

Scope the festivities and lineups for this weekend’s festival below:

Friday - FRED Wildlife Refuge (8:00 pm)Debacle Fest kicks off in fine style with a lineup that promises to set the tone for the festival early with out there sounds ranging from the psych-tribal stylings of Portland’s Swahili to the arrpegiated-induced synthesizer bliss of Seattle’s Panabrite. Be sure to arrive early for Tacoma natives LA Lungs whose electro-acoustic compositions evoke intimate person memories of the past while Monopoly Child Star Searchers’ playful lo-fi analogue numbers belie their hypnotizing strangeness. It’s definitely one that skews to the introverted crowd, so considering bringing along that outgoing friend who can snap you out of your synth-induced space trance should the situation require it (hint: it will).

• • Expo 70
• • Swahili
• • Plankton Wat
• • Monopoly Child Star Searchers
• • Panabrite
• • Total Life
• • LA Lungs
• • Secret Colors
• Saturday - Highline (3:00 pm)
• This matinee show is definitely one for the noise junkie freaks out there with a bill featuring the exhilarating musicianship, pace and showmanship of Seattle duo MTNS, extreme bursts of punk fervour from Sissy Spacek, battering waves of percussion from BLSPHM and unnerving feedback drone from Stan Reed. I don’t want to put too fine a point on it, but it will be loud. RAWK (also: vegan food).
• • Sissy Spacek
• • MTNS
• • BLSPHM
• • WaMu
• • Stan Reed
• Saturday - FRED Wildlife Refuge (7:00 pm)
• OK, it’s Saturday night so by now you’ve partially recovered from yesterday’s opening bash and your hearing / internal organs are so demonstrably rattled from the matinee show at the Highline that you could handle any aural challenge that comes your way, right? Right. Headlining Oakland group Date Palms will be dishing out their particular brand of soundtrack-worthy, Eastern-tinged soundscapes in anticipation of the band’s forthcoming new album in June and you can expect a lot of wide eyes for the pulsating, lush harmonium drones of Mind Over Mirrors. Again, arrive early in order to catch trio Biosexual whose catchy synth-pop tunes balance an industrial iciness with warmer, tropical overtones.
• • Date Palms
• • John Wiese
• • Nate Young
• • Matt Carlson
• • Mind Over Mirrors
• • Marielle Jakobsons
• • Gabriel Saloman
• • Morae
• • Biosexual
• Sunday - MOTOR NIGHT - The Lo Fi Performance Gallery (8:00 pm)
• A.K.A. Debacle Fest’s big party night, MOTOR is a bi-monthly night of adventurous dance music thrown by Debacle Records with their latest installment closing out this year’s Debacle Fest. Not only will the music on Sunday be adventurous, unexpected and infectious, but it’s the perfect venue to celebrate the musical community that makes a festival like this possible in the first place. But, duh, it’s also a party with a goal of getting people on that floor - arm akimbo, hips that won’t quit, etc - which shouldn’t be a problem thanks to the dynamite talent in tonight’s lineup, including prolific Chicago producer Hieroglyphic Being, hyper maximal beats from Patternmaster, Strategy’s silky disco jams and spare, warehouse vibes from Prostitutes. You can get it, Seattle.
• • Hieroglyphic Being
• • Moon Pool & Dead Band
• • Strategy
• • GOODWIN
• • Prostitutes
• • Black Hat
• • TJ Max
• • Patternmaster

For ticket information and more about the artists playing Debacle Fest visit the festival’s website.http://www.debaclefest.com/