Laneway Festival Artist Profiles : Hip-Hop, Indie Rock, and In Between

One day away, friends! We’re up to the end of the week and that means tomorrow September 14 will be the event this has all been leading up to. St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival has landed on U.S. soil for the first time, and we as Michigan residents have to thank the festival organizers and promoters for choosing our state to showcase such a diverse and talented lineup of artists from the music world. All 24 of Laneway’s artists have been profiled by us during this past week with the conclusion of this article. We’d like to thank our readers and supporters of Laneway for taking a glimpse into the hard work of these artists and why their contributions to Laneway are significant (and of course, why you are going to have so much fun tomorrow!). Let us now look at the last six artists from the indie genres of rock, folk, electronic and hip-hop…

Youth Lagoon

  • Taking the Derrick Stage from 1:25-2:10 pm
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Trevor Powers has been recording under the alias Youth Lagoon since 2010, and since that time he has concocted a neo-psychedelic type of haze that has produced 2011’s The Year Of Hibernation and most recently 2013’s Wondrous Bughouse. The themes in Youth Lagoon’s music have always had an air of loneliness, partially due to the fact that Powers grew up in Boise, Idaho, a city that isn’t as impacted by music culture the same way a city like San Diego, California is (Powers’ birthplace). Youth Lagoon hits on many levels to draw listeners into his work — the ambiance, the electronics, the emotion — get caught up in it all starting at 1:25 on the Derrick Stage.

Phosphorescent

  • Taking the Roscoe Stage from 2:15-3:00 pm
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Phosphorescent is a name fairly new to the music game, but the musician behind Phosphorescent is no amateur. Matthew Houck has been working as a singer-songwriter since 2000. He first started off with the moniker Fillup Shack and released a limited album pressing titled Hipolit. Starting in 2003, Houck took the Phosphorescent name and has released 6 full albums and an EP, with his most recent work being 2013’s Muchacho on Dead Oceans records. Phosphorescent’s mellow indie-folk sounds will be highlighted on the Roscoe Stage from 2:15 until 3 pm.

Frightened Rabbit

  • Taking the Roscoe Stage from 3:55-4:40 pm
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Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit are an indie folk/rock band who have been active since 2003, but were never conceived originally as a band. Frightened Rabbit’s lead singer/guitarist Scott Hutchison planned for a solo project, but gained 4 more members down the line to turn Frightened Rabbit into a fully realized band who have released 4 full albums, 5 EPs, and a slew of singles in their careers. 2013’s release from the band Pedestrian Verse has had them touring harder than ever, and they will be welcomed to the Roscoe Stage by Laneway starting at 3:55 pm.

Deerhunter

  • Taking the Roscoe Stage from 5:35-6:25 pm
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Deerhunter are a band known for their image almost as well as their music. Leader of the pack Bradford Cox has been notorious for wearing sundresses on stage and smearing his skin with blood, which makes us as an audience wonder what we can expect from their set at Laneway. With a dash of Sonic Youth-style lovely noise, a little disco, and a pinch of bubblegum pop, Deerhunter create a style of indie rock which doesn’t sound typical for this time. Unusual as they are, Deerhunter have still managed to garnish praise from dozens of publications, media outlets, and of course, fans of their eccentric style. Catch Deerhunter on the Roscoe Stage at 5:35 pm.

Run The Jewels (EL-P & Killer Mike)

  • Taking the Meadow Stage from 5:45-6:30 pm
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Both EL-P and Killer Mike are tremendously bad-ass on their own, but together, they have spawned Run The Jewels, a collaboration a long-time coming. Back in 2012, EL-P produced Killer Mike’s album R.A.P. Music, which received universally positive reviews for Killer Mike’s lyrical prowess and EL-P’s synth-boom production. Killer Mike then made an appearance on EL-P’s album Cancer 4 Cure, and their next pursuit together became this year’s Run The Jewels, made available through a free digital download for anyone to pick up. The intensity and sense of humor will make for a fantastic show beginning at 5:45 pm on the Meadow Stage.

The Dismemberment Plan

  • Taking the Derrick Stage from 6:30-7:20 pm
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Back in 2003, The Dismemberment Plan called it quits. They had released 4 albums and a couple of EPs up to that point, but the band made no future plans for anything musical. In 2007, they played a one-time reunion show in Washington D.C. which started a tease that lasted up until the release of their latest album of new material in over a decade. The Dismemberment Plan defined the genre of dance-punk and brought new wave back from the 80s, and it’s a fortunate thing that they haven’t been gone for good. Uncanney Valley is full of the confident sound that the band has rightfully earned starting out in the early 90s and reuniting to a larger audience of fans than ever. In their past live performances, The Dismemberment Plan have been known to get the crowd involved and up on stage, so make sure you are in a great place in front of the Derrick Stage at 6:30 pm to catch this show.

We hope we will see you at St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival tomorrow at Meadow Brook Music Festival in Rochester Hills! Gates are at 11 am, be sure to check Laneway’s official website for any last-minute information and download their festival app for your phone to set up a personal itinerary for yourself with start times and alerts. Read about the other 18 artists performing at Laneway here at Detroit Sounds Like This, and visit us next week for more photos & articles pertaining to Laneway after it’s all finished!

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