The Pygmalion Music Festival 2013 will take place in the lovely city of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (the cradle of ace bands like Headlights, Hum, National Skyline,  Castor, National Skyline & Gazelle)  from the 26th to the 29th of September, taking place in Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and sprawling around to other venues, including Canopy Club, Urbana Civic Center Outdoor Annex, Independent Media Center, Highdive Outdoor Annex, The Highdive & The Art Theater.

Tickets can be bought for the whole festival or only for venues (link). Some of the rather excellent bands playing are Warpaint, Breeders, Foxygen, Youth Lagoon, Daughter, METZ, Damien Jurado, Psychic Twin, Murder By Death, Jenny Hval, Perfume Genius, Caveman,  On An On,  Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons, Dessa, Bleached, Jonathan Rice, Little Green Cars, Spectrals, Young Empires, San Fermin, and Larry and His Flask.

Our selected sextet  (we really struggled to choose 6, but we need to keep this preview snappy):

Murder by Death – Weird western music cleverly disguised as rock. Rich in themes and sounds, a perfect monster of storytelling songs. Our review and interview.

Psychic Twin – The band that traveled back in time, Flight of the Navigator style and brought the 80s dream wave groove with them.  Reviews and interview.

Saturday Looks Good To Me – Ever spent 30 hours awake and started to get that “am I awake or asleep” sensation? This band is the sounds you start to hear at hour 31, when reality blurs out. Our short story style review.

Warpaint – Do we really need to make a case for them? Trippy, psychedelic and with thick atmospheres that like the incense in a church, will stay with you all day.

The Dirty Feathers – “Do not listen in your shitty laptop speakers” warns their Bandcamp. We do agree. Get on the trippy boat and go for this psychedelic gem of a band.

On and On – Gorgeous dreamy stuff from Minneapolis. Best consumed on vinyl and good earphones.

Besides the excellent musical selection that should please both the newcomer and the discerning-taste connoisseur, there’s also a literary event (Pygmalion Lit Fest) and an arts and crafts fair (The Made Fest).

Pygmalion Lit Fest, (free) is organised in collusion with Hobart, another literary magazine ,the Department of English at the University of Illinois  and their literary journal, Ninth Letter. The full line of confirmed authors can be consulted here.

During The Made Fest (free event!),  you will find vintage and handmade goods for your collection. The Made Fest is carried out on September 28th, at the corner of Market St. and Main St.

For more info and up to date news, check any of these links:

Pygmalion Music Festival Website. Facebook. Twitter.

Pygmalion Lit Fest Website. Facebook. Twitter.

The Made Fest Website. Facebook. Twitter.