My Favorite Acts at the 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival

I switched from brown line to pink again this year--my fifth year, I believe--to get to Union Park for Pitchfork's annual music festival. The festival, as always, was plenty o' fun and had a better vibe, less crowds, and, of course, better music than a certain other, much larger festival held in Chicago. Granted, the rise in corporate sponsorship at Pitchfork was a little disappointing, as was the heat on Sunday, but neither of those things can truly put a damper on seeing some of modern music's greatest acts back to back to back to back.

The lineup this year was overwhelming; there were too many people I wanted to see. As a result I was moving around a lot, catching half a set here, a song or two there. Because of this, in my rundown below, any set that I saw and paid close attention to for over half the time is eligible to be listed. Anyhow, have a look at my twelve favorite acts this year, listed in order. While some acts certainly disappointed, I think these folks below really brought it and made Pitchfork once again the best weekend of the month--and probably the summer.

Independence Day

It's the fourth of July! America! Patriotism! Fireworks! Barbecues! The Au Pairs! The Germs! This Heat! ... Okay, so those last three exclamations may not be as universally tied to today's holiday; I think most patriots will be listening more to Toby Keith et. al. at their cookouts this afternoon. But not Il Buono! I've put together a nice little playlist--long enough to cover a barbecue, short enough to allow you to go see Cave tonight at Millenium Park--to help get us all in that ra-ra-go-America-fuck-the-British mood. Each of the songs has something 4th-of-July-related in its title, although very few, as far as I understand, are actually in support of this country or about American independence. But that's okay because they're great songs... Enough blabbering, here's the list. Go out and support your country.