The best mixtapes are eclectic, showcasing a broad range of styles and artists and thus encouraging listeners to explore unfamiliar catalogs. This year Pitchfork booked so many acts from in and around Chicago that one song from each would fill a side of a 90-minute cassette, so I made a streamable mix for the occasion. All 12 artists have released music in the past year, and it’s almost all available on Spotify—the lone exception, the AACM Great Black Music Ensemble‘s Live at the Currency Exchange, Volume 1, can be purchased at their performances.
- Lala Lala, “I Get Cut”
Postpunk band Lala Lala gleefully twist anthemic indie rock into off-balance shapes, pelting it with quick rhythmic bursts to keep everybody on their toes. On the verses Lillie West sings with dry restraint about surviving trauma with the help of love, and on the chorus she hollers with enough force to suggest she can overcome anything.
Sun 7/21, 6:15-7:15 PM, Green Stage
- Mavis Staples, “One More Change”
Pop music would be so different without Mavis Staples, and she’s still flexing her creative muscles. When she leans into the earthiness of her voice on the chorus of the relaxed blues number “One More Change,” she supercharges it with that special Staples gravitas.
- Grapetooth, “Trouble”
Indie-pop misfits Grapetooth marry dazed synths and a campfire acoustic-guitar melody for a song that evokes a euphoric late-summer night.
