The BTB Top 6 “Must See” Sets – Day For Night
#6. Wrestlers
The Houston natives (formerly known as Bagheera) made a splash in 2014 when they released “Say Anything”; a track co-produced by Indie-Pop darling, Twin Shadow. They rode that wave all the way through 2015, bolstered by the strength of their recent double single release entitled, “Perennial.” Nearly 400,000 streams later, they have become a staple of one of the nation’s most prominent, forward thinking tastemaker series, Red Bull Sound Select. Wrestlers continue to enjoy glowing accolades from fans, media and music industry powerhouses across their nation. Their performance at Day For Night will cap off a stellar 2015 and serve as a highly anticipated homecoming for the duo-turned-quartet. With no signs of slowing down, we are sure to see a true break out year for our Texas brethren in 2016.
Wrestlers perform live on Sunday December 20th at 6:00PM on the Blue Stage at Day For Night
#5. Battles
Let’s be real for a minute…the music of Battles probably isn’t for everyone. It can be weird, if not abrasive at certain points. And while some of you may echo our love for the complexity and confusion of their experimental approach to rock and roll, others may be frantically scrambling to skip to whatever is coming up next on the playlist. Their 2015 release, “La Di Da Di” was certainly no departure from the psychedelia-drenched math rock that initially garnered the attention of critics and psych-rock fans back in 2007. But the fact is, the concept driving Day For Night is full immersion and non-apologetic experimentation. And if there’s one thing that Battles does well, it’s immersing an audience in a peculiar world of auditory art. That alone makes them the perfect fit for the inaugural year of the self-proclaimed “World’s First Computational Music Festival.” DO NOT MISS THIS SET.
Battles perform live on Saturday December 19th at 8:15PM on the Green Stage at Day For Night
#4. Death Grips
If you haven’t had the hypnotic pleasure of experiencing the ever-allusive Death Grips in person, then please heed our advice—GO SEE DEATH GRIPS. It’s difficult, if not entirely impossible to explain to a Death Grips newbie exactly what to expect out of this set. Is it Hip Hop? Is it Punk? Is it Metal? Or is it purely performance art? The answer is yes. And it’s awesome. You have to feel it to truly understand it.
Death Grips perform live on Sunday December 20th at 6:00PM on the Red Stage at Day For Night
#3. Nicolas Jaar
If you love experimental electronic music as much as we do, then Nicolas Jaar has probably been on your radar for quite some time now. Following in the ambient footsteps of IDM greats such as Aphex Twin, Nicolas Jaar has found a way to keep his sound interesting, without that ugly tinge of self-indulgence that so often mars the perception of truly experimental acts within festival culture. 2015 saw the long-awaited release of “Nymphs I-IV”, a series of two-song EP’s dripping in the subtlety that made us fans of Jaar’s music in the first place. To say that we’re excited to see a Nicolas Jaar set in the deeply artistic environment of an event like Day For Night would be a grotesque understatement.
Nicolas Jaar performs live on Sunday December 20th at 5:15PM on the Green Stage at Day For Night.
#2. Flying Lotus
Simply stated…We Love FlyLo. The grandnephew of John Coltrane has been channeling the traditions of his jazzy lineage by creating some of the most complex, yet somehow listenable hip-hop and electronic music arrangements of the 2000’s. And while his work with Brainfeeder artists and Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming makes his influence on pop-culture undeniable, his presence is oftentimes taken for granted by the casual listener. 2015 will serve as the year that all of that changed. Bolstered by his contributions to Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly”, Flying Lotus has now achieved the mainstream recognition that he never really asked for. He now has two Grammy nominations under his belt: one for Best Dance Recording (“Never Catch Me”) and another for his production credits on Kendrick’s most recent masterpiece.
Flying Lotus performs live on Sunday December 20th at 7:30PM on the Red Stage at Day For Night.
#1. Kendrick Lamar
Is it cliché to put a festival headliner as the #1 must see on a list like this? Sure. But once in a generation, a performer comes along that is so electrifying and so unifying, that it is impossible to downplay their greatness; even in the face of massive mainstream success. Kendrick is that artist. There just isn’t much to be said about KDot that hasn’t already been said. Kendrick is the undisputed King of 2015. “To Pimp A Butterfly” was the album that we all needed, long after everyone told us that the album was dead. Few artists are able to bridge the gap between critical acclaim and massive radio play, while still exceeding the oft-times unreasonable expectations of a jaded hip-hop community. To put it lightly, it’s a rarity in modern music culture. But somehow, Kendrick did it. And he did it while attacking a difficult subject matter with so much ease and class that even President Obama has been publicly singing his praises. Kendrick now deservedly leads the pack with a total of 11 Grammy nominations—and holds a legitimate shot at winning every single one of them. His 11 nominations in one year is second only to Michael Jackson’s all-time record of 12 nominations. Only time will tell the full legacy of Kendrick Lamar…but one thing is for sure—we are witnessing the rise of one of the all-time greats in real time. And you have a chance to be a part of it live, and in the flesh at Day For Night.
Kendrick Lamar performs live on Sunday December 20th at 9:30PM on the Red Stage at Day For Night.
