Treefort Preview
By Remington Jensen
March brings another round of talented artists to Boise, Idaho for 2019’s Treefort Music Festival. This article will be highlighting five artists – of my own choice – to pay attention to and potentially see at the concert series. Chosen artists have their locations and times of performance with their write-up, and if an artist you enjoy has slipped my list there will be a Spotify Playlist at the end of this post with many other Treefort artists to preview before the event lasting from March 20thto March 24th.
JPEGMAFIA– Wednesday, March 20th| Knitting Factory (416 S 9thSt) 8:00 pm – 8:50 pm
Hot off an acclaimed 2018 album, Baltimore producer and MC Barrington Hendricks makes his Boise debut at 2019’s Treefort Music Festival. His album Veteran was picked up by a handful of publications – to name a few: Pitchfork, Tiny Mix Tapes, NME, Quietus and Wire – and deemed by these companies as one of the best albums of 2018. His original approach to hip hop rivals – and sometimes parodies – the mainstream, with tracks so overblown with bass and distorted snares it would only make sense that he made this 2018 record with a conscious juxtaposition to modern culture in mind.
mewithoutYou– Saturday, March 23rd| Knitting Factory (416 S 9thSt) 9:10 pm – 10:10 pm
Known largely for their two most critically acclaimed records from the 00s – Catch for Us the Foxes and Brother, Sister – the art rock, post-hardcore Pennsylvanian outfit mewithoutYou will bear their unique sound another time to Boise. The band’s recent album [Untitled] from 2018 brings even more of their signature sound, with ethereal synths balanced up alongside krautrock drumming, just another example of the uniqueness of a band nearing their 20thanniversary. Though it won’t be their first time in Idaho, it will be the first time Aaron Weiss and the rest of mewithoutYou will be performing at Treefort, bringing their spoken word, angularly philosophical and spiritual virtuosity with them.
American Football– Saturday, March 23rd| Knitting Factory (416 S 9thSt) 10:30 pm – 11:40 pm
Touring in support of their third LP, the Midwest emo band American Football, who made waves in the late 90s with their self-titled debut, will be making a stop in Boise for this year’s Treefort Music Festival. Since 1999’s release of American Football (LP1), their blend of math-rock, post-rock and indie-rock has soared their debut to the top of critic’s lists and has carried them well into the new millennium. Their third LP takes a slight misdirect from their second record, leaning away from their typical guitar-based emo music and hybridizing it with ambient rock and dream pop. American Football (LP3) releases March 22nd, 2019, with the band’s first absence of a house on their album cover.
Dan Deacon– Saturday, March 23rd| El Korah Shrine (1118 W Idaho St) 12:10 am – 1:20 am
As a collaborator with Adult Swim, Future Islands and Matmos, producer Dan Deacon has been making small yet supple jumps in the genre of indietronica plunderphonics for over 15 years. His albums of importance trickled out in the late 00s with interesting projects — notably 07’s Spiderman of the Rings and 09’s Bromst — blending pop, noise, indie and electronic into a psychedelic culmination of a multitude of eras. Following these career defining records, While Deacon continued to create music through the form of collaborative EPs and Film Scores, his 2015 LP Gliss Riffer was a strong return to form in this new decade, reviving his energetic and hypnotic glitch pop sound that will be brought to this year’s Treefort Music Festival.
Black Moth Super Rainbow– Sunday, March 24th| El Korah Shrine (1118 W Idaho St) 11:40 pm – 1:00 am
Known for his multiple aliases such as Tobacco, Demon Queen, and his most recent project Malibu Ken – a collaboration album between him and established abstract rapper Aesop Rock – producer and instrumentalist Thomas Fec has been landmarking himself as one of the most influential neo-psychedelic artists. From 2007’s hypnagogic disco record Dandelion Gum to the glitched-out indietronica beats on his 2016 Tobacco album Sweatbox Dynasty, Fec has been busy for more than 15 years making a defined name for himself in the new generation of trippy composers. Black Moth Super Rainbow’s vocoded psychedelic pop will be visiting Boise for the first time at 2019’s Treefort Music Festival.