Day Eighty-Eight - 7.16.10 - Pitchfork Music Fest Day One - Swede Home Chicago

And the Swedes take Day One... Dylanesque singer songwriter Kristian Matsson, a/k/a The Tallest Man on Earth, started the afternoon off with an inspired set of his folsky songs. KM's uniquely strained and grisly voice sounded amazing as it poured over a crowd that was warming up for the day (figuratively and literally... 90+ temps). A criminally short set (30 mins) cut this rising star's momentum off early, but TTMOE was a great way to start the festival.

A couple of hours after TTMOE graced the Connector Stage, his Swedish "sister" Robyn, as he called her, and her lab suit clad backing bad laid down the set of the day, and maybe the entire weekend (only time will tell) on the Aluminum Stage... Over the span of her past couple of records Robyn has become quite the darling over at Pitchfork, not to mention a mega pop star in Europe, but for some reason not in the US. Perhaps the music is too progressive, to dance-oriented, too thoughtful, or too good for American radio. Robyn powered through a pulsing selection of her recent tracks, and was met warmly with the cheers and dancing of thousands of adoring hipsters. And Robyn danced as well, oh did she dance, nearly non-stop, through the entire set. Popping, locking, thrusting, grinding, stalking across the stage, and hyping the crowd up with impunity. She showed us in no uncertain terms that great pop music can make anyone smile and can make anyone dance... and the crowed loved her for that...