The Living Music List #2: On Music Festivals and Weird, Wild, Wonderful Convergences
Followed by a supersized set of fresh music recommendations
Just want to see the new music recommendations? Click the button below to check out the Living Music List. Otherwise, read on for this week’s reflection and the full list of new additions to the LML summarized.
P.S. You can check out the previous issue of The Living Music List here.
Reflection
Hello, friend.
How has the week treated you? Are you happy the weekend is here again like I am? I say that as if I didn’t start writing this on Wednesday, getting ahead on my assignment that’s due EOW.
EOW.
Shit. Work acronyms for deadlines are bleeding into this blog already. And here I thought starting a Substack would be low-stakes.
End of week. That’s a phrase that every 9-5 job should be afraid of.
Weekends. Our time. Uninhibited, inalienable, American Dream™-type shit.
My last weekend actually lasted 4 days, because I decided to strand myself smack dab in the middle of a crowded music festival. And man, several days later and I am still coming down from that high (not literally, Mom, Dad, and coworkers who might be reading this).
That music festival was Beardfest. An annual gathering in southern New Jersey where plenty of part-time and full-time weirdos alike congregate to camp, party, make art, and side-step carelessly to jam bands among the Pine Barrens.
Between the towering, thin tree trunks, atop sandy soil that stained the soles of our feet a disgusting dark gray, surrounded by a small, temporary village of tents, canopies, and RVs, we danced.
Wandering in the Woods
I’m fortunate enough to attend Beardfest with a group of almost 20 friends who’ve made it their mission to participate and contribute to the festival every year. As someone who has been to very few music festivals, I always haphazardly prepare and forget a few things. I never worry though, because I know that, in 4 days, my friends will set up and then tear down what could be a new country with its own GDP.
Besides, once you’re there, there are few items that matter. Sunscreen, bug spray, and some drinks in our coolers full of half-melted ice. Fun outfits, of course, though some would say that clothing seems optional there. Food, sure, but there are some fantastic food trucks that sell everything from vegan “chicken” sandwiches to fresh sushi to soft-serve ice cream.
Most of the time at Beardfest, we wander. We leave our dying phones behind in our tents. We carry only that which does not inhibit our ability to move, which usually means a beer in hand and some cash in a pocket, just in case we want to browse the many tables of handmade clothing, trinkets, and other art sold by small business vendors.
As we wander, we tend to oscillate between the two stages at Beardfest: the beach stage and the forest stage. The lineup alternates between the two, which means you could, theoretically, see every single artist playing the fest. Doing so, however, seems quite impossible to me considering the distractibility of our monkey brains.
There’s simply so much to see, even though the area and population is relatively small compared to big-name festivals.
Four separate “classrooms” provide space for a variety of workshops led by festival goers, in which one might join a small group learning to process grief, blow glass, or meditate. There’s even a children’s classroom—there are a surprising amount of families with small children at Beardfest—where the kids can roam around a nature playground, listen to stories, and sing together.
Theme camps and art camps invite you into their vibrant abodes to feast on their eye candy and public offerings, be it hanging alien sculptures made from discarded nicotine vaporizers or a self-serve cereal bar with nearly every brand of cereal and every kind of milk you could imagine.
Large tapestries hung between trees are constantly painted, some even communally. A disc golf course stretches back into the woods at the far end of camp. String lights twinkle around the communal areas and within camps, reminding you that you are never alone in the dark here.
Because, of course, there are hundreds of kindhearted people existing within all of this. Fellow wanderers strut down the dirt paths, many in flamboyant costumes, happily striking up conversations or passing on compliments to our group’s get-ups. “Happy Beard!” is both a greeting and a goodbye thrown around between attendees like peace signs.
Some Much-Needed Live Music
And then there are the bands.
There are outfits like the spacey girl rock group, Gloss, who capped off their set with a gleefully celebratory cover of “Loveshack” by The B-52’s. Equally rousing were Ocean Avenue Stompers, who marched their final songs from the beach stage into the forest, performing a horn-driven rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” as the crowd encircled them and sang along.
Other bands like Muscle Tough and MonoNeon funked up the place with tasty bass licks and wobbly wah-wah synths.
Moon Hooch howled at the waxing gibbous moon through their gleaming saxophones, before Thumpasaurus delighted the beach crowd with wacky animated visuals accompanying their left-field psych pop.
Nik Greeley & The Operators took the beach audience to church with righteous jams led by Greeley’s undeniably infectious frontman charisma.
Charisma is contagious at Beardfest, though, as evidenced by a Beardfest icon like Zach LoPresti, one of the festival’s founders. Put plainly, LoPresti is one of the most talented guitarists I’ve ever seen shred on stage. He’s also shockingly adaptable, providing guitar support to several groups who play at the fest each year, in part because he’s also helped educate many of the musicians in those groups.
LoPresti is joined by his gang of friends in their band Out of the Beardspace, who headline the festival every year, often playing both Friday and Saturday nights. On Saturday, this year, their 2-hour forest stage set was certainly melt-worthy.
On top of the bands, two performance groups, Rompus and Tamed Flame, accompany the music with live, reactive dance and fire spinning, respectively.
Lightning In A Bottle
You may be reading and thinking “I’ve never heard of any of these people.” That, in my opinion, is one of the keys to the magic of Beardfest. It’s a small festival, with many independent bands whom those outside of the Philly music scene have never stumbled upon.
And yet, you can approach a stage at any hour with certainty that you are in for an entertaining and impressive performance—even if you have no idea of a band’s name or purported style at the start. This is, obviously, a huge treat for insatiable music lovers like me who are always searching for new artists to follow. Beardfest hosts a treasure trove of them every single year.
That is part of what makes Beardfest truly feels like lightning in a bottle. When they had their tenth anniversary festival a couple of years ago, and the well-known Dopapod jammed the night away, I had wondered: Is Beardfest finally making it?
I see now how misguided that thought was. Sure, Dopapod was one of their most recognizable bands on paper, but since then, the lineups have still felt low-key. The family still feels familiar and friendly.
The truth is that Beardfest made it many years ago. They are doing their thing the right way, unapologetically.
Convergences
The heart of this festival is in the people and their—our collective desire to make and share art with each other. That was even clearer this year when the festival program booklet detailed the theme and art camps on the first few pages, before the music lineup.
It’s not that the music is unimportant or an afterthought, but that the core philosophy of this festival seems to be centered around community. Being together and sharing whatever it is you may have to offer, in knowledge, skill, or simple kindness. The musicians on stage are one example of that, soundtracking the gathering while the rest of us converge to express our weird identities, niche interests, and just causes.
These are the goals I takeaway each year from Beardfest: To express ourselves individually and as a collective. To bask in the glow of flaming dragonstaffs flowing perfectly in sync with tracks played by real, live musicians. To feel completely free to be whoever we want and need to be. To enjoy the beauty and serenity of the natural world around us. And most importantly, to enjoy each other’s company.
I look forward to continuing to join this annual convergence, where weird, wild, and wonderful moments occur. Where art is made and shared. Where we can all remember that “social media” existed long before the internet.
Music Recommendations
Hello again, friend.
Thank you for reading this far. I hope you enjoyed the reflection and maybe even feel compelled to find a festival near you this summer. To any Beardfest friends reading, thanks for making this year a memorable one. See you next year.
Now, it’s time again for new music recommendations. This week, I have a huge list of additions to The Living Music List, including a special list of Beardfest band highlights. And don’t miss the new ambient recommendations at the end.
Happy listening.
The Living Music List—Beardfest ‘24 (Special Edition)
Note: The following recommendations are not all *new*, but they are some of the newest releases from the bands of Beardfest 2024. Most are available on major streaming services.
Third Person by Gloss (single / R&B/soul)
Like Moths To a Flame by Out of the Beardspace (album / rock)
Jelly Roll by MonoNeon (single / funk/pop)
Nowhere Else to Go by Too Many Zooz and Moon Hooch (single / dance/jazz [note: Too Many Zooz has also appeared at Beardfest in the past!]
Hard by Thumpasaurus (album / psych pop)
Sprezzatura by Octave Cat (album / electronic/rock)
Darkness & Demons by Star Kitchen (single / R&B)
Brooklyn Sessions by Everyone Orchestra (album / rock)
Pot Frownies by Muscle Tough feat. John Swana (single / alternative)
Revolution Sabar by Aba Diop & the Yermande Family (album / worldwide)
Finally (Money Comes) by Ben Arsenal, Katerina Sky & TerryTheVoice (album / dance)
Hold On Me by Nik Greeley and The Operators (single / R&B/soul)
Home by TreWay & The Now Generation (single / R&B/soul)
kƏ'myo ōnƏdē by Kuf Knotz & Christine Elise (album / hip-hop/rap)
Concentrated by 5AM, ZONE Drums & Keith Wadsworth (single / electronic)
Perfect by Fat Mezz (single / rock)
Revive by Blendmode (EP / rock)
Banshee Tree by Banshee Tree (album / alternative)
Lonely Since the Day We Met by Velvet Rouge (single / singer/songwriter)
Desperate Man by Sean Daniels & The Law Abiding Citizens (single / bluegrass)
Star Destroyers by Star Destroyers (single / R&B/soul)
Slump by Improvement Movement (album / folk)
Loudmouth Soup by Koser (album / indie rock)
care about myself by N3WYRKLA [part of Sakred Collective] (single / R&B/pop)
Beardfest 2022: Full Band Live Improv by Edenspore (album / singer/songwriter)
The Magician by Heavy Meadow (album / alternative)
Naptime & Meditation by Sean Youngman (album / worldwide)
Space Race by Kyle Rowe (Space Race) (album / jazz)
Watching the Distant Storm by Lotus (single / electronic)
Additional notes on missing artists: Youba Cisshokho only has music videos available on their website. Sean Daniels & The Law Abiding Citizens and Star Destroyers are only available on YouTube. Sean Youngman’s music is available on Bandcamp and Soundcloud. Mike Greenfield is part of the band Lotus, but performed a separate DJ set at Beardfest. Ocean Avenue Stompers and Crickets and Cicadas do not have any streamable songs that I could locate.
The Living Music List—All Genres
Note: All of the below projects are available on major streaming services.
Tuesday by Toro Y Moi (single / alternative)
:) by The Japanese House (single / alternative)
Why Lawd? by NxWorries (album / hip-hop/R&B)
Sonido Cósmico by Hermanos Gutiérrez (album / worldwide)
BILLY by SWAVAY (EP / hip-hop/R&B)
Stung! by Pond (album / alternative/psych)
DOPAMINE by Normani (album / pop)
As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again by The Decemberists (album / alt folk)
HEAT by Tove Lo (EP / dance)
HARDSTONE PSYCHO by Don Toliver (album / hip-hop/rap)
New World Depression by $uicideboy$ (album / hip-hop/rap)
The Cleanest of Houses Are Empty by Carly Cosgrove (album / alternative)
Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain by Raveena (album / R&B/soul)
Active Agents and House Boys by British Murder Boys (album / dance)
Box for Buddy, Box for Star by This Is Lorelei (album / pop)
Rebuild Repeat by Hockey Dad (album / indie pop)
The Sweater Club by Jelani Aryeh (album / alternative/indie pop)
Fluids in Motion by Azu Tiwaline, Forest Drive West (EP / electronic)
All At Once by Ebbb (EP / alternative)
Daffodils & Dirt by SAM MORTON (Album / alternative)
Big For You by Zsela (album / pop)
Fire by Kittie (album / metal)
Scream from New York, NY by Been Stellar (album / alternative)
Grush by µ-Ziq (album / electronic)
I Tried To Freeze Light, But Only Remember a Girl by Jahnah Camille (EP / indie pop)
WeirdOs by O. (album / alternative)
Afraid of Tomorrows by The Mysterines (album / alternative)
Good Together by Lake Street Dive (album / alternative)
The Secret of Us by Gracie Abrams (album / pop)
CRASH by Kehlani (album / R&B/pop)
The Living Music List—Ambient
Note: All of the below ambient projects are available on Bandcamp.
Expanse by Mick Chillage (album / drone)
Fragmented Patterns by Pietro Zollo (album / minimalist)
Soft Power by Ezra Feinberg (album / electroacoustic [note: not includes some features from Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Mary Lattimore , David Moore of Bing & Ruth, and more!])
Night Moss by Teahouse Radio (album / drone)
Morning Jewel (2024 remaster) by Michael Stearns (album / new age/environmental [note: originally released in 1979])
speak, thou vast and venerable head by Loula Yorke (album / drone)
Sisters Extrapool by Bass Communion (album / dark ambient)
Contemplate by Innesti (album / drone)
Dreams without Words by Martin Stürtzer (album / space)
Neon Twilight by Beyond the Ghost (album / dark/jazz)
Cosmos Episode 23 by Eguana (album / psybient)
Phantasmora by Cities Last Broadcast & Fractalyst (album / dark ambient)
Earth Prism by Illuvia (album / drone)
In the News
Before I go, I wanted to mention a few pieces of news from the music world:
Dirty Hit, the independent label owned by The 1975, is launching a new electronic imprint called DH2. The new offshoot of the label will be led by George Daniel, the drummer and producer for The 1975. Early members of DH2 include Daniel himself (finally, some proper solo work!), Kelly Lee Owens, Oscar Farrell, and TimFromTheHouse. An already sold-out launch party for the imprint will take place on July 11 in London.
Tyler, The Creator is cancelling his headlining gigs at two festivals, Lollapalooza and Outside Lands. He will be replaced by Megan thee Stallion and Sabrina Carpenter.
Suno, a generative AI music platform, is coming under fire due to users creating music that promotes hate speech and extremism. (Sigh.)
That’s all for today’s issue. Thanks for reading, friend. Until next time.
Your friend,
Melted Form
Remember to listen to the hum, buzz, & hiss of the world around you—there is music to be heard there.
Want to suggest music for me to listen to? Have questions? Leave a comment or email me at meltedform@substack.com. You can also join my DM chat on Substack.
